“Let’s head there together!” Zhou Jinchun said hastily.

　　Chu Li shook his head. “I’ll go alone.”

　　“Unity is strength,” Zhou Jinchun persuaded him.

　　Chu Li threw him a sideways glance. “You’re both a burden to me and you’ll get me into trouble!”

　　After all, Zhou Jinchun and Ji Xin were affected by the side effects of the secret skill. Their abilities were nearly crippled, which rendered them incapable of fighting with others. Although Mo Qianjun noticed this, he feigned ignorance. He even thanked them generously and made them leave. If anything happened to them here, they would only burden Chu Li!

　　“You…!” Zhou Jinchun glared at Chu Li angrily and Chu Li did the same too.

　　Zhou Jinchun snorted sullenly and spoke, “Fine, fine, I’m a burden, happy now? Are you fine on your own then?”

　　“One small dish, please!” Chu Li cried.

　　Ji Xin was furious too. He sneered, “If you can locate Junior Sister Li, then what are you waiting for?”

　　Chu Li could find Junior Sister Li, yet he did not do so. Instead, he lollygagged and could not care less about Junior Sister Li’s situation. It was extremely infuriating!

　　“Hold on, I need to see what Altar Leader Mo is up to, in case he gets the better of us!”

　　“Altar Leader Mo!” Ji Xin gritted his teeth as he recalled Mo Qianjun’s diabolical nature. His worry about Li Ruolan’s condition resurfaced and he urged Chu Li, “Why don’t you go there right now?”

　　Chu Li glared at him impatiently. “Take out your Pills of Energy!”

　　Zhou Jinchun and Ji Xin handed him two bottles of pills respectively. They knew that Chu Li was in a serious need for those pills as he lacked the required cultivation level. Without the Pills of Energy, his inner energy would run out quickly and he would not have the means to carry on with his mission.

　　“Wait for my good news!” Chu Li waved his arm and walked out with big strides. He exited the Town Defense Prefecture before he left Falling Autumn City and headed for the Taoist temple twenty-five kilometers away.

　　His speed was incredibly fast as his Omniscient Mirror reflected everything that occurred near him. Soon, he could see Li Ruolan in his mind’s eye.

　　The ancient Taoist temple sparkled under the warm sun, looking livelier than before.

　　Li Ruolan was sitting by a stone table in the front courtyard of the temple. Wen Tingdao was opposite her and he was clad in a blue outfit.

　　Wen Tingdao gave a fist salute and smiled. “Miss Li, we invited you over as we genuinely want you to be our guest. We harbor no ill will!”

　　“By resorting to this method?” Li Ruolan chuckled coldly. “Using Senior Brother Ji as a pawn to lure me here? Is this your way of welcoming guests?”

　　She had received a letter at midnight enclosed with Ji Xin’s jade pendant. Her concern had overwhelmed her. Out of anxiety, she tracked down the courtyard, traveled twenty-five kilometers until she came to this Taoist temple and saw Wen Tingdao.

　　However, the moment she saw Wen Tingdao, she knew she had fallen into his trap.

　　Wen Tingdao laughed as he flapped his folding fan. “If I didn’t invite you this way, you wouldn’t have came here, Miss Li. You’re a difficult guest to invite and I could only resort to this method!”

　　“Junior Brother Zhao will never agree to you!” Li Ruolan said wanly, “You’re just wasting your time!”

　　“Hehe…” Wen Tingdao folded his fan and tapped his palm with it. “Did you assume that we got you here to threaten Young Master Zhao? Well then, you assumed wrong. We’re not as despicable as you think!”

　　“Hmph, despicable!” Li Ruolan let out a sardonic laugh.

　　If they were not the despicable ones, who else was?

　　Pretending not to hear that, Wen Tingdao grinned. “Miss Li, we invited you to be our guest. We didn’t do so by force, but we merely used an out-of-the-box method. Still, an invitation is an invitation and not imprisonment. If you don’t like it, Miss Li, you can leave anytime; we won’t stop you!”

　　“For real?” Li Ruolan frowned in disbelief.

　　Wen Tingdao smiled. “Miss Li, you’re free to go now!”

　　Li Ruolan stood up and could not wait to leave. When she approached the entrance of the Taoist temple, she turned around and saw Wen Tingdao fiddling with his cup, smiling at her. He showed no signs of stopping her.

　　Instead, Wen Tingdao gestured for Li Ruolan to leave.

　　A crease formed between Li Ruolan’s eyebrows. “What are you all trying to do?”

　　“We just want to show our sincerity.” An amiable smile appeared on Wen Tingdao’s handsome face. “We want to trade the Less Ultimate Sword’s techniques with Young Master Zhao for Detachment Pills.”

　　“This is sincerity?” Li Ruolan scoffed.

　　Wen Tingdao nodded and smiled. “Doing what needs to be done shows our sincerity!”

　　Li Ruolan’s expression darkened.

　　She immediately understood the threat behind Wen Tingdao’s words.

　　This time, she was allowed to leave safely. However, if she refused to hand over the Detachment Pills, she might not be able to leave next time.

　　“Oh right, Miss Li, this is the first half of the Less Ultimate Sword’s manual!” Wen Tingdao removed a thin book and tossed it to Li Ruolan.

　　The thin book fell in front of Li Ruolan.

　　Without flipping the pages, she grabbed it.

　　Wen Tingdao grinned. “If Young Master Zhao wishes to trade, he can place the Detachment Pills at the usual spot. We’ll also put the second half of the sword manual at the usual spot. If he’s worried, he can go there and have a look at the sword manual before handing over the Detachment Pills. We are very sincere, aren’t we?”

　　“Very sincere, indeed!” A deep voice boomed and Chu Li stepped into the temple.

　　Wen Tingdao maintained his grin but a crease appeared between his brows.

　　He had failed to detect Chu Li’s presence!

　　Chu Li shook his head. “Wen Tingdao, why bother with all your tricks? Take out the second half of the sword manual and we can trade now!”

　　“Junior Brother Zhao!” Li Ruolan gasped.

　　“Really?” Wen Tingdao’s smile grew wider.

　　Chu Li snorted. “The Less Ultimate Sword can only be traded with two Detachment Pills!”

　　“Huh?” Wen Tingdao’s expression sank. “Two pills?!”

　　Chu Li nodded. “Only two. Originally, I wanted to give you all three pills, but you screwed up, so you only get two. If you bother Senior Sister Li again, you will only get one pill.”

　　“Are you pulling our legs?” Wen Tingdao exclaimed. “What’s the point of getting two pills?”

　　Chu Li said, “Two pills are enough if you lose a finger!”

　　“What if I lose two fingers?”

　　“Then you’ll only regenerate half of each finger.”

　　“Four pills!” Wen Tingdao lowered his voice. “Or else, this deal is off!”

　　“That’s great.” Chu Li waved his arm. “Did you really think that the Sword Moon Sect has a stranglehold over our Holy Church? If you offend us, we’ll enter the Fu Dynasty and get rid of your sect. H*ck, I can use the Detachment Pills and let the other sects take care of your Sword Moon Sect disciples. Can you endure that?”

　　“You wish!” Wen Tingdao shook his head and laughed. “The martial arts world of the Fu Dynasty will never obey the Holy Church of Light!”

　　“I’ll get someone from the Fu Dynasty to take the lead.” Chu Li’s lips twitched. “I bet the Sword Moon Sect has a lot of enemies too, am I right? Hmph, till then, all hell will break loose and you’ll be the culprit!”

　　Wen Tingdao remained quiet. Yet, there was a slight change in his expression.

　　Ultimately, he would not want to cause a rift between himself and Chu Li over a few Detachment Pills.

　　After all, Chu Li was a rare and talented pill-refining master. Wen Tingdao might be able to acquire other unique pills from the former one day. If he went by the Sword Moon Sect’s modus operandi, he would not have been so gentle and would have forced Chu Li to hand over the Detachment Pills by holding Li Ruolan hostage!

　　“I shall add a bottle of Strengthening Pill then!” Wen Tingdao scoffed. “This is our secret medicine!”

　　Without a change in his expression, Chu Li replied, “Alright, it’s a deal!”

　　Strengthening Pills were good stuff. In the martial arts world, if a person got hurt and lost too much blood, his inner energy would be insufficient to heal him. Hence, his blood essence would need to be replenished. In that sense, the Strengthening Pills could restore one’s blood essence quickly which was vital to wounded people.