Lu Guangdi glared at these ten masked men.

　　 Their body sizes and shapes were different, the skills they used varied, and some were even using swords and knives. However, most were still fighting barehanded, their skills were precise and strong, yet they were mostly complex and difficult to differentiate. It was very difficult to tell which sect they were from.

　　 “Bam bam bam bam bam bam…” An endless flurry of explosions rang out as the palm energies clashed, it was like a storm had struck. The dirt on the ground was knocked up as wilted leaves started to flutter about.

　　 “Tink tink tink tink…” Elder Xu and Elder Hu’s hands struck the swords and knives, creating a clear and crisp sound, almost as if they were the clanking of metal.

　　 The duo, just using their bare hands, had somehow managed to push their enemies back.

　　 The ten assailants were slowly moved back towards the woods as they were being bombarded by the two old men’s attacks.

　　 Suddenly Elder Xu and Elder Hu retreated. Seeing their enemies retreat into the woods, they stopped pursuing any further. They were experienced veterans, so they were naturally cautious when performing their duties. They knew that entering an unfamiliar woods was akin to entering enemy territory. Furthermore, their priority right now was Lu Guangdi, if they entered the woods right now, it might just be a distraction scheme from the enemy.

　　 As the ten figures finally retreated into the woods, they saw that the two old men stopped pursuing them. Thus, they all disappeared into the woods.

　　 Lu Guangdi looked extremely angry as he glared over at the disappearing silhouettes.

　　 Elder Xu said, “Although these fellows were quite strong, they were by no means the best of this martial arts world. They must not have known that we were escorting you, Young Master Lu.”

　　 Lu Guangdi shook his head. “If they knew that you two legendary Elders were with me, they would probably have gotten the help of someone stronger!”

　　 “Or maybe just give up? They should know better!” Elder Hu chuckled.

　　 He himself did not believe in what he just said. The two of them had miraculous levels of cultivation, but it was not reflected at all in their outward appearance. No matter how passers-by looked at them, there would be no way anyone would realize their true strength. In fact, some might even think that they are weaklings.

　　 Lu Guang chuckled as he shook his head.

　　 “The rest of this journey is not going to be easy for us.” Lu Guangdi eyed the two elders as he made a fist salute. “Seniors, I shall thank you in advance, I’ll leave the rest of it to you two!”

　　 “Young Master Lu, you’re too kind.” Elder Hu waved his hand and smiled. “We’re only fulfilling our orders, if you had to thank someone, please thank Miss Lu and His Highness the Crown Prince.”

　　 “Alright.” Lu Guangdi nodded.

　　 Looks like Chu Li actually jinxed him, this road back to the Tide-listening pavilion would not be easy.

　　 Elder Hu proposed, “Since they already left, let’s just start resting up. I have a feeling that there would be more battles to come later on, so it’s better to rest while we can.”

　　 “Seniors, if we really face a life-or-death situation, please escape, you don’t need to mind me.” Lu Guangdi said.

　　 Elder Xu and Elder Hu shook their heads as they smiled. “We’re under the orders to risk our lives to protect you, Young Master. Naturally, we’ll fulfill the task given. If we’re still alive, Young Master Lu shall stay alive; if we aren’t alive, then Young Master will still stay alive. Don’t fret over it.”

　　 “Sigh…” Lu Guangdi was actually quite happy, but he forced out a grateful yet helpless expression on his face.

　　 —

　　 On the evening of the second day, they started a campfire and continued to rest beside the woods.

　　 The temperature today was quite low as a cold wind blew in the area. As the breeze hit his face Lu Guangdi was already at his limits, he was almost freezing to death.

　　 After sticking as close as he could to the campfire and finally warming himself up, it felt almost like he was rejuvenated. He started to hate that weak body of his, and in turn, his hatred for Chu Li burned even more.

　　 As his hatred for Chu Li grew more and more, the motivation for his retraining also grew. Unfortunately, all he had was the motivation. His body had been injured by Chu Li, there was still no progress on recovering his cultivation.

　　 He pulled out that white jade pendant and fiddled a little with the intricate design on this jade pendant. He had a strong urge to just toss this jade pendant to the ground and stomp it into dust, but unfortunately, with his current weak strength, wanting to crush this pendant into dust was an impossibility.

　　 With that in mind, his rage towards Chu Li grew even further. He swore that he would kill him. No matter what he had to do, he would definitely kill Chu Li!

　　 As Elder Xu and Elder Hu saw him gritting his teeth, they helplessly shook their heads.

　　 This Young Master Lu had gone mad from training so hard. He was always constantly training. However, his emotions were too unstable, even if Chu Li gave this white jade pendant to him in order to let bygones be bygones, he still would not be able to earn the forgiveness of Young Master Lu.

　　 They could not help but feel bad for Chu Li. Encountering such a mentally-unstable person, there was nothing he could do about it.

　　 “Be careful!” Elder Hu suddenly raised his head and shouted.

　　 Elder Xu moved over to Lu Guangdi’s side in the flash, preparing to take him away at any moment.

　　 Four silhouettes appeared to have surrounded them. Grabbing Lu Guangdi, Elder Cu leaped back, escaping the encirclement of the four attackers whilst Elder Hu took them head-on.

　　 The four silhouettes were four grey-robed elders. Their entire heads were completely wrapped in cloth, revealing only for eyes with cold, petrifying gazes.

　　 As soon as Lu Guangdi entered these four assailants’ sights, his heart instantly shuddered as he lost power in his body.

　　 His felt chills throughout his entire body. He thought to himself, ‘These four fellows must have some mystical arts, otherwise, there was no way for someone to have such a piercing gaze.’

　　 As Elder Hu faced all four of them, he started his attack without uttering a single word. As the five continued to rumble, Elder Hu was obviously at a disadvantage.

　　 These four grey-robed men had extremely high levels of cultivation. It could even be said that they were nearly at his level. With two of the grey-robed men distracting him, the other two charged towards Lu Guangdi, preparing to take on Elder Xu.

　　 With a loud grunt, Elder Xu pulled Lu Guangdi behind him as he stood valiantly in front of the kid.

　　 The three instantly entered into combat. Elder Xu could not deal with them this instant, whereas on the other side, despite losing their advantage, the two grey-robed elders were still able to hold Elder Hu back. The whole situation came to a stalemate.

　　 “Be careful!” Elder Xu and Elder Hu suddenly shouted right at Lu Guangdi.

　　 A black-robed figure suddenly emerged from the woods. He didn’t seem to be in cahoots with they grey-robed men. Almost like a streak of light, he instantly reached Lu Guangdi’s location, striking a palm right towards Lu Guangdi.

　　 “How dare you!” Elder Hu and Elder Xu roared in rage as they tried to rush over. However, they were held back by the grey-robed men’s attacks.

　　 The black-robed figure completely disregarded their roars of rage as his palm was about to strike Lu Guangdi right in the chest.

　　 Lu Guangdi gritted his teeth as he tried to garner up inner energy with all his might. However, it was all for naught, he did not even have an ounce of inner energy left as he stumbled a couple of steps.

　　 However, all of this did not help at all. No matter how intricate the footwork was, the opponent had surpassed his reaction speed so much that nothing could change what was going to happen. All he could do was to watch helplessly as his chest took a beating from the strike. Then, it felt like darkness had devoured him whole.

　　 “Young Master Lu!” Elder Hu and Elder Xu roared and started attacking like crazy, knocking back the two pairs of grey-robed men as they arrived at Lu Guangdi’s side.

　　 Lu Guangdi had been flung nearly a dozen miles away before hitting the ground hard. He laid still on the floor, almost like a broken ragdoll.

　　 As Elder Xu and Elder Hu approached him, they did not dare to touch him carelessly. They reached out and tried checking their pulse.

　　 The two’s hearts sank, Lu Guangdi had died!

　　 This kid already had his cultivation crippled, so he did not have any inner energy. Being struck by the palm of a top-level master without even a slither of defense or evasion was an automatic death sentence to someone who had their cultivation crippled.

　　 The grey-robed men and the black-robed figure disappeared like smoke, as they retreated into the woods without leaving a trace.

　　 They all knew that Lu Guangdi had met his demise.

　　 Now that their escortee was dead, the assailants knew that Elder Xu and Elder Hu would go wild.

　　 With cultivation levels as high as theirs, if they go wild in this situation, they would be monstrous foes to take on. Even if they retreated, they would most likely have casualties. Since they already reached their goal naturally, they would not risk their lives further. Running was the best option.

　　 “Sigh…” The duo of elders sighed out loud.

　　 They were ordered by Lu Yurong and His Highness the Crown Prince to protect the kid. Never would they have expected that they failed at something so simple to this point – to the point that Lu Guangdi was killed right in front of their eyes!

　　 “ARGHHHH!!!” Elder Xu suddenly roared out at the sky in a fit of rage.

　　 Elder Hu merely shook his head.

　　 “Bam!” With a loud slam on the ground, a huge crater formed. His wrath was immeasurable.

　　 Both of them felt extremely frustrated.