They made their move at midnight and took possession of the stockaded village without making much noise.

　　After further consideration, they did not massacre the entire village and decided to kill only the leader and allow those who surrendered to live. Out of the three hundred people in the village, over twenty people died at their hands. Thus, Chu Li’s men would take their places and live there.

　　Chu Li stood in front of a forest outside the village as he exchanged some final words with Xu Cihang and Fan Yang.

　　As the morning sun shone over the forest, the swaying shadows of leaves danced around them.

　　Chu Li looked at the two men. “Elder Fan, Elder Xu, what are your plans after this? Do you wish to spend your last years here or go back?”

　　“We want to go back.” Xu Cihang sighed.

　　Fan Yang said, “We wish to live and die in our homeland. We’ll feel more comfortable staying in the Li Dynasty.”

　　They knew that they would certainly end up dying or getting killed if they returned to the Sharp Vigor Battalion, yet they wanted to remain in the Li Dynasty. Life would not always turn out the way one wished it would. If they had any chance of leaving the Sharp Vigor Battalion, they would never choose to settle down in this village.

　　Chu Li took out two secret manuals from his inner pocket and handed the two books to them. “These are secret manuals for the Bone Shrinkage Skill. Once you cultivate it to a certain level, you’ll be able to change your appearance.”

　　He took out two jade tags from his inner pocket and gave those to them as well. “Present this tag when you come to find me.”

　　Xu Cihang and Fan Yang sighed in relief and gave a fist salute.

　　They felt grateful toward Chu Li for his thoughtful and meticulous arrangements. After all, they would not be completely safe even if they managed to change their appearance, because they would still stand out like cranes among chickens as Grandmasters, and it would be easy to notice their presence and identify them in a crowd.

　　Thus, they would not be able to conceal their identities for a long time and would be convicted of a greater offense if they ever got caught.

　　However, things would be different if they could become Chu Li’s subordinates since Chu Li was a disciple and a branch leader of the Holy Church of Light. As long as they managed to join a branch of the Holy Church of Light, it would be like having a protective talisman, and they would not have to worry about being investigated by the military.

　　Therefore, they would only be able to live peacefully and safely by becoming Chu Li’s subordinates. If not, it would be better not to go back and live in a constant state of anxiety.

　　“Alright then, you should go back to the village now.” Chu Li waved a hand and said, “Since I’ve performed a meritorious deed, I believe I’ll be promoted to the position of a centurion when I return this time. I’ll try and see if I can make arrangements for you two to leave the Sharp Vigor Battalion and become my subordinates. If I manage to make that happen, then you can go back and join me. If it doesn’t work out, you two should stay here first… Keep them under control and just kill anyone who misbehaves. Don’t let them get into trouble, or both of you might get dragged down with them!”

　　“Understood.” They gave a fist salute.

　　Chu Li nodded before gliding into the forest and disappearing from their view.

　　…

　　As the sun began to set, there was a momentary cease-fire in the ongoing siege war at Falling Autumn City.

　　A thick scent of blood lingered in the air outside Falling Autumn City. There was no one left outside the city, but the screams and groans of wounded soldiers kept echoing in Yang Ping’s ears.

　　Yang Ping had a gloomy look on his face as he patrolled the city wall along with a few protectors. Soaring Eagle Cavalry had been put in charge of guarding the eastern gate and defending the eastern wall of the city.

　　He rested his palms on the city wall and looked down at the vast land outside the city.

　　The sky started turning dark, so he could not see too far ahead of him. Nonetheless, he could still make out the bloodstains on the ground, the broken fragments of weapons used to attack the city, a few boulders that had been stained with blood, as well as some broken armor and arrows.

　　All the bodies of their dead soldiers had been brought away to be cremated to prevent the spread of diseases.

　　“Ah…” Yang Ping shook his head and sighed.

　　This siege war had been very brutal. Soaring Eagle Cavalry had lost another fifty men during the day.

　　Although they had received four hundred soldiers from elsewhere as reinforcements to make up for their losses, these were new soldiers without any battle experience. No matter how well-trained they were, these soldiers would not be of much use to them. Thus, it might seem like Soaring Eagle Cavalry had enhanced their strength, but that was not really the case.

　　“General, look at who that is!” Jiang Jinfu suddenly called out.

　　Yang Ping turned his gaze and noticed a person slowly walking toward the eastern gate under the fading evening light.

　　Judging by the person’s silhouette, he could tell that it was Zhao Dahe. When he saw the bundle of cloth tied to Zhao Dahe’s waist, Yang Ping knew for sure that it contained Zhu Wuji’s severed head.

　　Chu Li suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned his head to look at the three people who were charging toward him.

　　Monk Zhi Shan’s red cowl fluttered in the wind as he glided over with two other elderly men to surround Chu Li.

　　Chu Li frowned and muttered coldly, “Zhi Shan, I was just about to seek you out and get my revenge!”

　　Monk Zhi Shan had a tall and sturdy physique and joined his palms in reverence. “Namo Amitabha…”

　　His mighty chant echoed loud and far.

　　The martial arts masters in the city heard the faint sound of his voice but decided to ignore it.

　　Despite their extreme hatred for Monk Zhi Shan, there was nothing they could do to harm him.

　　Fortunately, the military already had set up camps and battle formations all over the city. Due to the suppressive effects of the battle formations, martial arts masters would be left with only ten to twenty percent of their martial arts powers when they entered a battle formation. This meant that the gap between them and normal soldiers would be very small, so it would take just a few soldiers to overpower a martial arts master.

　　Consequently, Monk Zhi Shan no longer dared to come to the city.

　　Chu Li looked at the other two elderly men. One wielded a blade while the other wielded a sword.

　　“You’re from Hai Cang Mountain and Royal Blade Palace?” Chu Li calmly asked.

　　“Correct. Zhao Dahe, we’ve come to seek our revenge!” the elderly man with the blade replied grimly. “You owe us a life!”

　　“Same here!” the elderly man from Hai Cang Mountain said.

　　Chu Li shook his head and said, “You guys aren’t capable of blocking my path.”

　　“We’ll see about that!” The Hai Cang Mountain elder let out a cold laugh. “You’ve taken our treasure swords, haven’t you?”

　　Chu Li’s expression darkened as he was reminded of Li Ruolan.

　　Back then, they had gotten their hands on two treasure swords, so he had kept one for himself and given the other sword to Li Ruolan. Today, that treasure sword was still around but she was already gone.

　　He turned his gaze to Monk Zhi Shan and abruptly flicked his wrist.

　　“Ding!” A lunar chakram emerged from Monk Zhi Shan’s sleeve and warded off his Light Blade.

　　Chu Li vanished and reappeared over ten meters away in a flash. The people on the city wall were in awe when they saw his superb Time Steps.

　　Monk Zhi Shan also vanished abruptly and reappeared right in front of Chu Li while thrusting his palm forward.

　　The elderly men from Royal Blade Palace and Hai Cang Mountain launched their attacks at the same time. The sword moved at lightning speed while the blade contained thunderous force. Both of their movements were incredibly fast.

　　Chu Li wanted to make his way to the eastern gate but Monk Zhi Shan kept blocking his path and made him move further away from the eastern gate instead.

　　Some of the onlookers became anxious. However, they did not dare to go down and leave the city. They would be no match for Monk Zhi Shan anyway without the suppressive effects of their battle formations, so they knew that they would not be of much help to Chu Li. In fact, they might even get themselves killed.

　　Chu Li suddenly received Monk Zhi Shan’s attack by striking his palm against Zhi Shan’s.

　　“Boom!” When both of their palm energy collided, the impact created a deafening noise. Then, their palm energy underwent irregular and abrupt changes as their palms met. Since it kept transforming back and forth between Yin and Yang in an unpredictable manner, it was impossible to properly guard oneself against it.

　　Monk Zhi Shan looked at Chu Li in surprise.

　　He never expected that Chu Li’s palm energy could change at the same rate as his. Clearly, Chu Li had attained a higher level in his cultivation of the Earth Matrix and Reincarnation Scripture and had gained a deeper understanding of this scripture. This would mean that Chu Li had become a huge threat. When Zhi Shan realized this, his murderous intent grew immensely and he stopped trying to feel out Chu Li’s skills.

　　“Tsh!” A solar chakram appeared and shot toward Chu Li from a close distance like a white streak of light.

　　Chu Li turned his body sideways while throwing out a flying blade.

　　The white streak of light swept past Chu Li while the flying blade shot into Monk Zhi Shan’s sleeve and hit his wrist.

　　Chu Li had improved greatly in his Nature Restoration Manifestation during his time on the battlefield. He could not be sure whether it was due to the killing intent that filled the battlefield or the effects of the military flags. Nonetheless, he had indeed achieved rapid improvement as his analytical and anticipatory abilities had been enhanced to a large extent.

　　He had already anticipated Monk Zhi Shan’s movement, so he was able to take precautions and prepare a counterattack in advance as shown in his Light Blade attack.

　　Chu Li abruptly swung his blade at the Hai Cang Mountain elder at lightning speed.

　　The elderly man moved his sword to receive the attack but the fierce and unyielding force in Chu Li’s blade suddenly became soft and gentle as it slid along the blade of the man’s sword until it reached the hilt of his sword. The elderly man was shocked and hastily moved backward.

　　A grave look appeared on Monk Zhi Shan’s face as he had never suffered such a severe injury. It would be harder to deal with Chu Li’s flying blades now that he could no longer use his left hand.

　　Zhi Shan’s murderous intent grew even stronger. It would be too scary to allow such a formidable figure to keep progressing in his cultivation.

　　Not much time had passed since they last saw each other, but Chu Li was already showing such significant improvement. The rate of his advancement was truly terrifying.

　　They were enemies to each other since Zhao Dahe would surely try to avenge Li Ruolan’s death. Given that it was impossible for them to make peace, he had to take this opportunity to kill Zhao Dahe before the guy became too powerful!

　　Chu Li disappeared from where he stood and reappeared two hundred feet away, which placed him closer to the eastern gate.

　　He launched a blade the moment he reappeared and then shot out two more blades right after that.

　　When Monk Zhi Shan appeared, he hastily pulled out his lunar chakram to block the first blade.

　　As the other two blades appeared immediately after the first one, he could only use one hand to block one of the blades and had to move his body to avoid the other one since he could not move his left hand.

　　Chu Li vanished instantly and moved closer to the eastern gate once again.

　　Monk Zhi Shan disappeared in a flash.

　　Right after he reappeared, two flying blades reached him at the same time, and he was forced to dodge one of the blades while moving his right hand to ward off the other.

　　Instantly, two more flying blades shot toward him, giving him no time to catch his breath.

　　Chu Li vanished again to escape the persistent attacks of the sword and the blade.

　　Monk Zhi Shan could not catch up with him this time. Otherwise, he would not be able to avoid the approaching flying blades.

　　The two elderly men from Hai Cang Mountain and Royal Blade Palace increased their speed with flushed faces.

　　Both of them had been attacking him to no avail and were not even capable of diverting Chu Li’s attention so that he would struggle to fight off Monk Zhi Shan. Instead, Chu Li seemed unflustered by their continuous attacks.