“Well…” The Four Grand Elders hesitated.

　　 They were not sure if they should recognize him as the sect leader. After all, he had not proven himself worthy of the position. Moreover, their former sect leader did not perform an official handover, so Zhe Ying had clearly obtained the position by force.

　　 Chu Li huffed and asked, “Honorable Master, is it better for me or Fu Qingya to be the sect leader?”

　　 “Sect Leader Fu was very qualified,” Elder Du replied and exhaled sharply.

　　 Chu Li shook his head and said, “He basically governed the sect by doing nothing and going along with the flow. Has he ever done anything significant since he became the sect leader? He has just been following the same old routines and accomplished nothing at all, right?”

　　 “That’s precisely what we like about him,” Elder Du replied and nodded. “If he kept going around breaking the sect rules, he would be a disaster for Heavenly Demonic Sect!”

　　 “Honorable Master Du means to say that I should behave myself, right?” Chu Li asked with a huff.

　　 Elder Bai chuckled and replied, “Zhe Ying, you’re too adventurous and bold in the way you handle matters. If we were to let you become the sect leader, we can hardly imagine what will become of Heavenly Demonic Sect. That’s not a reassuring thought at all!”

　　 Chu Li said, “Don’t worry. I will create a brighter future for Heavenly Demonic Sect! … Once I become an Enlightened Master, our Heavenly Demonic Sect disciples will then be able to move around openly in the world!”

　　 “Even if you managed to become an Enlightened Master, we would still have to live in hiding. We can’t move around in the open,” Elder Li replied gravely. “Our current way of living is more in line with the Heavenly Demonic Power’s inner state.”

　　 “Fine, suit yourselves,” Chu Li said in resignation. “In any case, I’m going to be the sect leader from now on! … Oh, that’s right. I’d like to issue my first order as the sect leader!”

　　 The Four Grand Elders exchanged a glance among themselves and nodded helplessly. This could be taken as a sign that they had recognized Chu Li as the sect leader.

　　 Chu Li secretly sighed in relief and proceeded to say, “Send ten disciples over to Fairy’s Capital in the Ji Dynasty and have them infiltrate all the Imperial Residences.”

　　 “The Imperial Residences?” Elder Du shook his head anxiously. “We can’t send anyone to the Ji Dynasty. It’s too dangerous.”

　　 Elder Bai nodded in agreement. “Tempest Temple and Titanium Temple are both there. It might be okay to send them to a few remote places, but it’s too dangerous to have them go to Fairy’s Capital.”

　　 “I doubt they’ll get caught so easily,” Chu Li muttered and pursed his lips. “Can we let them use sariras of eminent monks to conceal their Heavenly Demonic Energy?”

　　 “That’s possible, but the sariras of eminent monks will also suppress their Heavenly Demonic Power,” Elder Du replied and frowned. “This idea won’t work, because it’ll cause them to be crippled of their Heavenly Demonic Power in the long run.”

　　 Chu Li asked, “Are our Heavenly Demonic Sect disciples that useless?”

　　 The Four Grand Elders found his words very unpleasant to the ear, so they frowned deeply in disapproval.

　　 Elder Li replied, “Our Heavenly Demonic Sect disciples can survive very well in the Fu Dynasty!”

　　 “In that case, we can only move around in the Fu Dynasty,” Chu Li muttered and shook his head. “How boring that would be!”

　　 The Four Grand Elders sighed in resignation.

　　 Heavenly Demonic Sect was already quite fortunate to be able to thrive well in the Fu Dynasty. If they had been capable of moving around the world unhindered, they would have gone to other countries as they pleased and would have nothing to fear. In that case, there would not be any reason for them to live in hiding here as they could have done anything they wanted and moved around freely from country to country without the slightest worry.

　　 “I’ve made my decision!” Chu Li waved a hand and said, “I’ll try to think of something. Meanwhile, you guys go ahead and pick out ten candidates. These disciples should be quick-witted and must be able to withstand loneliness. Wait for further notice before sending them there.”

　　 Chu Li wanted to find a way to help the disciples of Heavenly Demonic Sect conceal their Heavenly Demonic Energy. The Earth Matrix and Reincarnation Scripture was one of his preliminary ideas, but he still had to think this through in more detail since he did not have a deep enough comprehension of the Earth Matrix and Reincarnation Scripture just yet.

　　 “Sect Leader, why would you send our disciples to the Ji Dynasty?” Elder Du asked. “Don’t tell me you really plan to continue living in the Ji Dynasty disguised as Chu Li?”

　　 “Of course.” Chu Li nodded. “Living as Chu Li is much better than being here. Don’t come and disturb me!”

　　 “What about Heavenly Demonic Sect?”

　　 “Just think of this as me going into isolated cultivation,” Chu Li said impatiently and waved his hand. “I’ll be back if anything happens. Oh, by the way, help me find a way to acquire the Dragon Taming Technique!”

　　 “… Understood.” The four of them nodded helplessly.

　　 Chu Li waved at them and vanished abruptly.

　　 The Four Grand Elders looked at each other in dismay. The situation felt quite surreal to them.

　　 Heavenly Demonic Sect had gotten a new sect leader within such a short amount of time. This was a truly unexpected and overwhelming turn of events.

　　 “Sect Leader hasn’t even received the legacy of the Heavenly Demon Statue,” Elder Du said quietly.

　　 Elder Bai chuckled and replied, “He’s probably afraid to do so.”

　　 The four of them began laughing among themselves. The Heavenly Demon Statue had injured Zhe Ying twice, so he had probably been traumatized by those experiences and was still afraid of touching the Heavenly Demon Statue.

　　 …

　　 It was early in the morning when Chu Li returned to Tianshu Courtyard.

　　 Xiao Qi was practicing her swordsmanship and looked like a fairy as her white clothing fluttered about while her sword flashed around at lightning speed. Meanwhile, Xiao Shi was slowly practicing a fist technique and was moving about in a gentle and graceful manner as though she was dancing.

　　 The two women stopped practicing their martial arts when they saw Chu Li appear and sat down at the stone table with him.

　　 Yang Xu came over and served them tea before silently taking her leave.

　　 “How are things going over there?” Xiao Qi asked.

　　 Chu Li nodded. “I’ve killed the culprit, so her death has been avenged! … What happened to that guy who came to challenge me?”

　　 He did not want to talk about what had happened to Shu Qingdie anymore as it made him feel bitter and guilty, although there was nothing else he could do about it. Humans were nothing more than ants in the eyes of fate. It was only by becoming an Enlightened Master that he could live a free and leisurely life. The desire in his heart grew even stronger, and he wondered if Heavenly Demonic Sect was capable of getting their hands on the Dragon Taming Technique.

　　 “He has been driven away by Younger Sister,” Xiao Shi replied with a huff. “That guy is called Lu Guangdi. He has gone to King Jing and is now King Jing’s protector!”

　　 Chu Li’s expression turned grave.

　　 Xiao Shi went on saying, “I heard it hasn’t been long since he joined King Jing’s side. He initially wanted to use you as a stepping stone to make a name for himself. Although he hasn’t been able to fight with you, he has become quite famous already. Everyone in Fairy’s Capital is aware of his high and profound cultivation level right now.”

　　 Chu Li slowly nodded.

　　 “Forget it,” Xiao Qi muttered. “Don’t end up having a falling-out with King Jing because of him.”

　　 Chu Li said, “This Lu Guangdi must be some extraordinary figure since King Jing decided to recruit him. Has King Jing been recruiting a lot of martial arts masters these days?”

　　 “No,” Xiao Shi replied and shook her head. “He’s becoming more and more cautious in the way he handles matters, so he hasn’t been recklessly recruiting martial arts masters. Lu Guangdi is the only person he has recruited so far. It seems like King Jing is desperately in need of talented people at the moment.”

　　 “That guy is exceptionally intelligent,” Xiao Qi said.

　　 Chu Li nodded thoughtfully. “In that case, I’m quite curious to meet him.”

　　 “Right now, more and more people are demanding that King Jing be made the successor to the throne, as though it’s something inevitable, so don’t offend him if you can help it. After all, he’s going to become the Emperor in the future,” Xiao Shi said.

　　 Chu Li chuckled. “Too many things can happen over the course of ten years.”

　　 Xiao Shi replied, “It seems like the Emperor has decided to make King Jing his successor. King Ping was initially a strong competitor, but since he has now given up his military power, it means that he’s backing out from the competition as well.”

　　 Chu Li smiled and made no comment.

　　 Of course, he knew that King Ping would certainly continue to compete for the throne, but this was not something he should reveal to others.

　　 Xiao Qi asked, “Is King Ping truly giving up already?”

　　 She frowned slightly and looked somewhat puzzled.

　　Xiao Shi nodded. “He’s very tactful. By doing so, he’s making it less difficult for the Emperor to manage this situation.”

　　 Xiao Qi sighed quietly. “Perhaps he has lost the motivation to compete.”

　　 She found King Ping rather pitiful. He had been working so hard at the border and had been risking his life to ward off enemies. However, he had failed to protect his wife. That was probably a very painful thing to endure.

　　 They suddenly heard the sound of footsteps approaching from outside and then saw Chief Zhu standing outside Tianshu Courtyard. “Chief, there’s an urgent letter addressed to you.”

　　 “Bring it to me!” Chu Li replied.

　　 Chief Zhu quickly walked in and presented a letter to him with both hands.

　　 Chu Li opened the letter and saw only a mark in it. No words were written on the letter.

　　 Chu Li frowned and nodded.

　　 Chief Zhu left the courtyard.

　　 “What’s the matter?” Xiao Shi asked.

　　 Chu Li replied, “I’ll be back soon.”

　　 He immediately disappeared from where he stood. By the time he appeared outside the Imperial Residence, he had transformed his appearance into that of a middle-aged man.

　　Chu Li quickly scanned his surroundings before slowly making his way to a restaurant, where he noticed Zhuo Feiyang sitting at a table beside the window on the third floor of the restaurant.