Li Ruolan frowned.

　　Ji Xin glanced at Li Ruolan’s hands and shook his head. “Wen Tingdao is extremely cunning. He won’t give up that easily.”

　　Li Ruolan said, “Senior Brother Ji, what happened between you and this fellow? The Sword Moon Sect is the leading sect of the Fu Dynasty.”

　　Among the five dynasties that existed in the world, Fu Dynasty was the leader.

　　Ji Dynasty was the weakest, followed by Zheng Dynasty, Li Dynasty, and Qiu Dynasty. Fu Dynasty was the most powerful and the center point of the world. To the people of Fu Dynasty, the other four dynasties were poor and barren.

　　Li Ruolan knew that the leading sects of the Fu Dynasty were not the Four Major Sects, but the Eight Major Sects, where the Sword Moon Sect was one of them.

　　Ji Xin explained, “A disciple of the Sword Moon Sect came to our Li Dynasty and murdered a number of people. The Holy Church of Light can’t just sit there and do nothing, so I’ve sworn to kill him. My situation was no different from your current one and that was how I got involved with Wen Tingdao.”

　　“Their sword techniques are bizarre,” Li Ruolan remarked with a frown.

　　Deviousness and boldness were polar opposites, but they existed simultaneously within the Sword Moon Sect’s sword techniques. It had caused unexplained discomfort among people which usually resulted in their failure to react properly and it had, imperceptibly increased the sword technique’s might.

　　Ji Xin said, “I suffered a loss because of him. His sword techniques are diabolical and he is a crafty fellow. Be extremely careful of him.”

　　Li Ruolan nodded gently. “Senior Brother Zhao, has he left?”

　　Chu Li raised his voice. “Wen, if you don’t leave at once, you shall have a taste of my blade!”

　　“Haha…” Wen Tingdao showed up without warning and shook his head. “I never expected a hideous fellow like you to protect Ji Xin!”

　　Chu Li stared at him coldly.

　　Wen Tingdao rushed towards Li Ruolan. He then grinned. “Pretty lady, it’s too bad we can’t be together!”

　　Li Ruolan’s face, which was covered by a white veil, tightened. She glared at him with her large, pretty eyes — no emotion could be found within them.

　　Wen Tingdao shook his head and sighed. “What a cruel beauty! Ji Xin, what a man you are! You depend upon this lady and ultimately, her junior brother to help you. I feel so ashamed for you!”

　　Ji Xin snarled. “Wen, shut up!”

　　“You can’t blame me for telling the truth.” Wen Tingdao laughed. “You’re a handsome fellow. Aside from your good looks, you pale in comparison to this junior brother of yours. If I were a woman, I won’t be attracted to an attractive but useless person like you!”

　　Ji Xin’s expression darkened and he sneered, “You’re no more powerful than I am!”

　　“I’m still more powerful than you.” Wen Tingdao smiled. “This time, if it wasn’t for your junior brother’s presence, I would have taken your life. You should be grateful to this junior brother of yours. His parents might not have given him an attractive face, but he’s young and skilled in martial arts. You are nothing compared to him!”

　　Chu Li frowned. “Wen Tingdao, stop it with your nonsense. Driving a wedge between us won’t give you an advantage, so get lost!”

　　Wen Tingdao was vicious indeed. The words spewed by him were like daggers that pierced Ji Xin’s heart.

　　Normally, Ji Xin would not care about those remarks.

　　However, under such circumstances, he was incapable of defending himself in front of Li Ruolan. Instead, she and even Chu Li had to assist him, which bothered him a lot. Wen Tingdao’s words were highly influential and powerful. Despite knowing this was all part of Wen Tingdao’s plan, Ji Xin could not stop himself from brooding over those comments.

　　Ji Xin let out a cold laugh. “Wen Tingdao, don’t be cocky. One day, I’ll crush you!”

　　“Haha!” Wen Tingdao guffawed. “You’ll only become weaker than me. With a beautiful woman like her by your side, how would you be able to concentrate on your training? What do they say about beauty being the cause of a hero’s downfall is true!”

　　Ji Xin scoffed, “So what if you rely on words? You’re just a fast-talker!”

　　Li Ruolan felt a great surge of absorption power from her palms and suddenly, a wave of inner energy had been consumed. Following that, Chu Li raised his arms.

　　“Swoosh!” A crisp sound could be heard.

　　With a swift movement, Wen Tingdao defended himself with his sword and retreated to the forest. After that, a laugh resounded from the depths of the forest. “As a way of giving face to Zhao Dahe, I shall spare your life today, Ji Xin. However, you can’t stay beside Zhao Dahe forever. We’ll eventually meet again one day!”

　　Ji Xin gripped the hilt of his sword tightly until veins were visible on his hands.

　　Chu Li shook his head. Ji Xin’s emotions had been affected.

　　After noticing that the absorbing power on Chu Li’s back had dissipated, Li Ruolan removed her palms. “Senior Brother Ji, he’s trying to mess with your emotions. Don’t fall for his trap.”

　　Ji Xin forced a smile. “I know, this fellow is too evil!”

　　“Senior Brother Ji, it’s remarkable that you’ve escaped from him with your life,” Li Ruolan commented. “His cultivation level is higher than yours and he’s also skillful at manipulating others. No doubt, he’s a difficult person to tackle and I’m sure he’s a formidable figure in the Sword Moon Sect too.”

　　“He’s a rising star in the Sword Moon Sect.” Ji Xin gave a slight nod.

　　When Li Ruolan commented that he was not as skillful as Wen Tingdao, he seemed fine with the remark, but he sighed. “He’s similar to someone like Junior Brother Zhao, but he’s weaker than him.”

　　Chu Li said, “I owe everything to Senior Sister Li’s assistance, or else I wouldn’t have been able to chase him off on my own. I agree that he’s a tricky person to deal with and you must be careful of him, Senior Brother Ji!”

　　He felt thankful for Li Ruolan’s wits. She had made Wen Tingdao out to be a tough enemy so that Ji Xin would not seem so incompetent, as if it was normal to be defeated by Wen Tingdao and it was a miracle that he could escape in one piece.

　　By doing so, she had lessened the feeling of uneasiness within Ji Xin.

　　Words were as powerful as weapons. If one was not careful, his state of mind could be influenced and should this happen, his martial arts abilities would also be negatively affected. Sometimes, this was a matter of life and death.

　　Furthermore, this sort of comparison was normally complemented by talent and experience, which was what people nowadays referred to as “emotional quotient”.

　　Chu Li spoke, “Senior Brother Ji, you must not let him get you down. He’s a master of manipulation and deception.”

　　“The Sword Moon Sect is truly skilled in assassinations.” Ji Xin nodded slowly with a grave expression etched on his face. “They have a secret technique known as Flowers of Illusion and it’s challenging to tell what is real and what is fake — his physique and his sword techniques are like that. You stopped him before he could show off his skill in front of Junior Sister Li. I’m sure this suppression must’ve driven him mad!”

　　After he spoke, he laughed. The thought of Wen Tingdao suppressing his skill gave Ji Xin a feeling of pleasure.

　　“Senior Brother Ji, you ought to stop talking and heal your wounds,” Li Ruolan said in a soothing manner.

　　“I’m fine.” Ji Xin shook his head.

　　Suddenly, he frowned. His injuries began to worsen as he could feel intense pain.

　　“Treat your wounds now,” Li Ruolan said.

　　So, Ji Xin obeyed. He then sat cross-legged on the ground and closed his eyes before he began to meditate.

　　Likewise, Chu Li closed his eyes and remained silent.

　　Li Ruolan looked at Ji Xin and let out a sigh.

　　She knew the effectiveness of Wen Tingdao’s remarks. Senior Brother Ji might have kept quiet, but he had taken those comments personally. In the future, she must maintain her distance between herself and Junior Brother Zhao. They could no longer be close to each other.

　　Or else, this inner struggle of Ji Xin’s would only take a turn for the worse which would affect his mental state.

　　She stole a glance at Chu Li. When illuminated by the nearby bonfire, his ugly face did not look that repulsive. Instead, it gave off an unusual sort of aura.

　　She thought about Junior Brother Zhao’s luck. He was both fortunate and unfortunate, or else he could not have been so ugly. Perhaps the heavens bestowed him such luck in order to make up for his unfortunate appearance.