White-Robed Chief

Suddenly, Chu Li stretched out his palm and slammed it.

"Boom!" A hole was blasted open on the ground.

Chu Li was shocked. He had only used a mild amount of force, so he did not expect the power to be so great.

Once the palm energy seeped out of his palm, it seemed to have absorbed spiritual energy from the surroundings in an incredibly swift fashion, strengthening the force in the blink of an eye. This palm energy was strange too, as it was like dynamite.

Chu Li let out a smile, and then a sigh immediately after.

It was a shame because it was indeed not suitable to use the Heavenly King Palm now. To use Heavenly King Palm at a place where spiritual energy was scarce, would be like forcing a dragon down shallow waters.

The place he was in now, the Hundred-Thousand Hills, was rich with spiritual energy, which was comparable to ancient times. Once Heavenly King Palm energy leaves the user's body, it would absorb surrounding spiritual energy, and increase its own force. However, once outside the Hundred-Thousand Hills, the palm energy would not be able to absorb as much spiritual energy as within the Hundred-Thousand Hills, and its power would be weakened as well.

The true strength of Heavenly King Palm lied in its unique palm energy. Without a rich source of spiritual energy, its power would be reduced. Then, it would not have been able to achieve the height of its staggering, formidable power during ancient times.

"You've succeeded in cultivating it?" Xiao Qi asked nonchalantly.

"I've wasted my efforts cultivating this. It's not suitable to be used outside this place." Chu Li sighed.

"What's wrong?" Xiao Shi asked curiously.

Both women were donned in white, and their fair-skinned hands had been dyed a shade of green; a result of the rich juices that came from the fruits they picked.

Chu Li explained the full story of Heavenly King Palm to them.

Xiao Qi furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head. She felt that it was inevitable. There were too many ancient skills that were eliminated in this modern era, and Heavenly King Palm was just another example of that.

Xiao Shi smiled as she said, "It won't be that bad to use it here though, you were going to see the Spirit Tiger anyway, right?"

A smile etched on Chu Li's face. "You're right," he said and nodded.

Xiao Shi's words offered him some consolation. He would cultivate to become an Enlightened Master one day, and he would be doing it at the Hundred-Thousand Hills. Plus, the Hundred-Thousand Hills was key. If he had Heavenly King Palm to deal with the spirit beasts, he would be able to do his things more effectively.

However, his Heavenly King Palm was only at a novice stage. If he wished to master it completely, he had to continue cultivating.

"Will you be able to beat Liang Yinge with this?" Xiao Shi asked.

Chu Li shook his head.

"Is this guy so hard to deal with?"

"He has been concealing his true capabilities all this while. He only ever displayed six, seven levels of his martial arts," Chu Li said. "With that kind of perseverance, I admit that I'm not his match. He is truly a strong enemy."

"If you can't beat him, does that mean you fail to fulfill King Ping's terms?" Xiao Shi frowned.

"Don't worry. I can make it for King Ping but it's still too soon to deal with Xu An. There's no need for us to rush it, we still have ten more years you know."

"True," Xiao Shi said and smiled.

Xiao Qi gently threw a palm at Chu Li.

Chu Li understood what she was trying to do. He unleashed his Heavenly King Palm.

"Boom!" A loud blast came from the very center of their palms, and a gust was produced. Dirt and dead grass were blown to both sides of the ground as if a tornado had just swept through the place. Xiao Shi and Xiao Qi were both blown to one side.

Xiao Qi quickly reached out her hand to get a hold of Xiao Shi. She gave Chu Li an astonished look.

"Powerful, right?" Chu Li smiled as he said.

"Impressive!" Xiao Shi praised.

She knew for sure that the force Chu Li had just used was about the same as her own, and still, it ended up this way, she was completely blown away. There was no doubt now about how strong Heavenly King Palm's palm energy was.

"It's so powerful. Even if its powers were reduced, it would still be quite powerful right?" Xiao Shi commented.

Chu Li pondered for a moment then said, "I can go back and try."

"Yes, let's go!" Xiao Shi immediately responded.

She picked up the basket and put all the fruits in it. She could hardly contain her excitement to go back.

Chu Li grabbed both women's hands, then vanished from Spirit Cranes Peak immediately after and reappeared at his own little courtyard.

Xiao Qi struck out her palm once again.

Chu Li returned it with his Heavenly King Palm.

"Boom!" a loud, dull blast followed. A gust was formed between the two of them, and Xiao Qi took a step backward. She shook her head.

That was vastly different from the power they had witnessed earlier, despite it being stronger than any other usual palm energy.

"It seems that you can only use it back there," Xiao Qi stated and shook her head.

Xiao Shi frowned. "The spiritual energy here is already quite rich. If it were outside, things would get worse."

Chu Li planted Glory Will's Tree in his courtyard, so the spiritual energy here was several times richer than any other place. The air here was refreshing too, making cultivating martial arts two to three times faster. The palm energy of Heavenly King Palm would not get any better outside this place.

"Seems that I can't be using this," Chu Li said.

"Let's find another skill," Xiao Qi replied.

Xiao Shi frowned. "Is really no other way?... Can you perhaps alter your heart technique?" she suggested.

Chu Li shook his head in response.

Right now, he was still yet to understand the secret behind Heavenly King Palm. How did it manage such immense power? It should be related to the characteristic of spiritual energy absorbed. After all, spiritual energy is different from inner strength. As to what makes them different, nobody knew for sure.

Though he had Omniscient Mirror, Chu Li still could not understand the difference that lied within.

He was already preparing to do his own research. With Omniscient Mirror, he had an advantage over others. Maybe he could get to the end of this mystery, and then modify Heavenly King Palm, turning it into a palm technique that was more suited for people of this era.

"There is currently a change in the royal court. The Crown Prince has begun his caretaker rule," Xiao Qi said.

"He's already starting to rule this soon?" Chu Li furrowed his eyebrows.

To be a caretaker ruler as a Crown Prince, was like carrying out an Emperor's duties with the status of a Crown Prince. He would handle all affairs of the royal court, making all the decisions. Only the major decisions would require him to seek the Emperor's permission. With this, the Crown Prince's power had reached its peak.

"It seems that the Emperor has made up his mind to assist King Jing in getting to the throne," Xiao Qi said.

"Did the royal court make any significant moves?" Chu Li asked.

"The Crown Prince is making a major reshuffle of the court." Xiao Qi frowned as she said, "He has removed plenty of officers from their power. Those corrupt ones have all been taken out!"

"The henchmen changes as the chief changes. He has already begun installing his favorite officers in power." Chu Li sighed.

There was not one officer in the royal court who was not corrupt. The officers who were eliminated had only ended up this way because of their political stances, but not from their corrupted acts.

"Yeah, it's pretty obvious." Xiao Shi frowned as she said, "With this current situation, even if Xu An returns in the future, he wouldn't be able to get a strong foothold in the royal court either."

The royal court would soon be full of the Crown Prince's loyal followers from top to bottom. Once Xu An returns to the royal court, he would certainly have a hard time and would be cast out by those people. It would be extremely difficult for him to perform in that situation, and he would never make it to the throne.

"Does King An have any of his own people in the royal court?" Chu Li asked.

Xiao Shi shook her head. "His officers only hold lowly positions, they wouldn't have enough authority. Besides, most of them pledged loyalty to King Jing. Even if his people were in there, they wouldn't show up either after seeing how weak our forces are."

Chu Li nodded in silent agreement.

"Chu Li, Head Chief of King An's Imperial Residence, I challenge you to a battle!" Suddenly, a loud cry spread through the sky.

Chu Li furrowed his eyebrows and scoffed. "Lu Guangdi!"

"Has he come out of his isolated cultivation?" Xiao Qi frowned.

"Seems like it!" Chu Li scoffed.

Through his Omniscient Mirror, he saw Lu Guangdi standing before the main entrance of King An's Imperial Residence. He was dressed in blue, his eyes glowing brightly like gemstones. His whole face looked like a piece of white jade, emitting gemstone-like illuminations. It was evident that his cultivation had improved drastically.

"You need to be careful!" Xiao Qi said.

She could hear the vengefulness in Lu Guangdi's voice. That voice contained immense inner strength, which was a far cry from the previous him.

Lu Guangdi had really done wonders too. It was impressive how he managed to improve his martial arts so much in such a short time. It was like he had transformed into a completely different person.

However, Chu Li had managed a similar feat too when he was at the royal mausoleum back then. Thus, it did not come off as too much of a surprise for him. Such was the state for top-notch martial arts sometimes. Once one advances to another level, there would be a drastic boost in one's power.