White-Robed Chief

Su Ru smirked. "What are you looking at?"

Chu Li pointed at Protector Chang as Su Ru laughed. "You thought Uncle Chang was dying?"

He nodded. There was no doubt that if you were speared through the heart, even the gods could not save you.

Su Ru shook her head and explained, "Uncle Chang has been stabbed many times, but because his heart is located on the right side, he has always survived!"

Chu Li burst out laughing. "I never would have thought…"

"Well, I've met two people like this before, it's nothing special," shrugged Su Ru.

Sizing Chu Li up, Xiao Qi asked him, "Was that the Eternity Blade?"

He nodded.

Xiao Qi observed him with interest. The Eternity Blade - powerful, formidable, yet risky. To use it, one needed to focus all of his energy into one shot. Not many were able to learn and understand it, what more master it. If Chu Li was able to strike continuously ten times, then he must have reached his maximum potential and pushed beyond his limits.

He smiled. "Thankfully everybody is safe."

"It was you who scared them away, boy," a deep, elderly voice answered.

Chu Li smiled nervously. The assassins had come for him, he would feel very guilty if anyone had died as a result of the attack.

"They are probably from the Ren Public House," noted Xiao Qi.

"There is no need to feel guilty," Su Ru said to Chu Li. He looked at her inquisitively.

Su Ru sighed and explained, "We are their sworn enemies, especially with their Lady, Lu Yurong. She's actually Lady Xiao's arch enemy!"

Chu Li nodded and sighed. "Ren Public House…" Great, he just made himself a new enemy.

"Yes, we are rivals with them. No need to be polite to them when we meet. In fact, we should kill every single one of them if we ever do run into them!" Su Ru scoffed.

"Understood," Chu Li responded softly. This was not the time for questions.

Where you stand depends on where you sit. Being somebody from The Yi Public House, you had to be on their side regardless of personal morals and values. It was the same for The Ren Public House – they would not rationalize good and evil with you, it was due to be a bloodbath every time they meet.

The Protectors cleaned up the mess quickly and regrouped before reporting their losses to Xiao Qi. Three were seriously injured and four others had minor injuries, whereas the rest were fine. They also picked up nine sharp Emerald-Tipped Swords.

They handed the swords to Chu Li as his spoils-of-war. The Emerald Tipped Swords were not just any sword, each of them could be sold for up to a hundred taels, which was equivalent to a little house.

Chu Li declined the swords. The Protectors had fought hard with their life, there was no way he would let them walk away empty handed.

A middle-aged Protector pushed the swords towards him. "Young Chu, if it weren't for you, all of us would be seriously injured. We are not just being polite!"

Su Ru added, "These are our customs, Chu Li. Don't be modest."

"… Alright then, I will treat you all to drinks." Chu Li sighed as he accepted the blades.

"Yes, that will be great!" Chuckled the middle-aged Protector. "Don't worry, there will be plenty of drinks to go around as we'll treat you too!"

The group of Protectors laughed heartily but looked at Chu Li strangely. Deep down in their hearts, they were terrified as the memory of how he killed with just a flick of his wrist. Barking dogs seldom bite… who would have thought that Chu Li could possibly be so ferocious!

Xiao Qi quickly warned them, "Do not share what happened just now with anybody, especially anything regarding Chu Li's martial arts skills."

Everybody nodded. They understood that Lady Xiao wanted to keep Chu Li as a secret weapon, especially since he looked and behaved like a person who did not know martial arts. He was indeed suitable to be a trump card.

Xiao Qi, on the other hand, seemed to be deep in thought. She noted that Chu Li was able to detect enemies ahead of time; this could be attributed to his practice of the dharmic base which heightened his five senses. She would feel a lot less worried if he was with her every time she went out.

The ride back was smooth as the assailants from the Tempest Temple and the Ren Public House seemed to be frightened off. The group reached The Yi Public House by evening.

Chu Li immediately returned to the Jade Guardian Island whilst Xue Ling readied a table full of dishes and brought out some good wine. Chu Li enjoyed his meal whole-heartedly, the meal taste exceptionally good considering that he had been eating bland food for the past few days.

Later that night in the courtyard, Chu Li was practicing his swordsmanship. He was trying to recollect the Hunting Shadow skill and wanted to learn and practice it and see how it would fare against Xiao Qi's fast swordplay.

Wielding his sword faster and faster, lightning-like flashes of steel glinted with each stroke, briefly blanketing him in the light. He shook his head as he continued practicing. He needed to be faster.

Xue Ling stood by the side, watching in awe and silently encouraging herself to work and practice harder.

"Knock knock," somebody was at the door.

Chu Li sheathed his sword while Xue Ling went to open the door.

It was Su Ru, looking lustrously beautiful under the moonlight. She looked into the courtyard and asked, "Where is Chu Li?"

"Chief," greeted Chu Li as he gave her a fist salute.

Su Ru waved her hand in acknowledgment before quickly turning around to leave. "Follow me!" Chu Li and Xue Ling looked at each curiously before following her deep into the woods.

They soon saw two trees placed on a thick pile of withered leaves. Chu Li took one look and carried a tree into the courtyard. Su Ru pointed at the remaining tree and instructed Xue Ling, "Plant this one here."

"Ok," answered Xue Ling.

She was so confused about the situation. Why were they planting trees in the middle of the night? However, the Chief had spoken and she needed to follow orders. She went back into the courtyard to get some tools and saw that Chu Li had already planted the tree and was now filling in the hole with soil. Su Ru was helping him, having no qualms about getting her hands dirty in the process.

Chu Li stood up and gently patted the blessed farmland soil off his hands. Then, he heaved a sigh of relief and flashed her a satisfactory smile.

Su Ru asked cheerily, "Will it survive?"

"Yes, it will!" Chu Li laughed while answering. "Now that they are all here, we can start planting the Glory's Will Tree tomorrow!"

"Hopefully we can grow the Glory's Will Tree successfully!" Su Ru smiled happily.

She had researched the Glory's Will Tree before and understood that it was a challenge to grow one successfully. With only one of the tree's wilted branch, the chances of successfully growing it was very slim.

Chu Li smiled. "You will just have to wait for the good news, Chief."

"I will," said Su Ru as she waved her hand and left.

Chu Li has already returned to his house by the time Xue Ling finished planting and watering the remaining tree. She pouted and looked up at the moon. It was now midnight, time for practice!

She practiced the Eight Forms of Crescent Cryptic for an hour before returning to her house to continue practicing on her bed. Her inner energy swirled around internally, swirling her grievances away. She was doing all this for the Crescent Cryptic, so she would endure it no matter how much she suffered!

The next morning, she woke up to cook. She spotted Chu Li squatting in front of a wilted branch, staring at it intently without moving an inch.

She consciously moved around as quiet as possible so as to not disturb Chu Li. She decided to prepare a few delicious dishes to reward his hard work.

Chu Li was staring at the Glory's Will Tree branch as he fell deep into thought. The world truly worked in mysterious ways. As soon as it was planted, the Glory's Will Tree had immediately connected and absorbed the spiritual force from the other three trees.

With the spiritual energies from the three trees, the Glory's Will Tree nourished itself back to health – indeed, this method had proved to be more effective than if Chu Li had channeled energy into it.