“However, the Saint won’t come to the Ji Dynasty so easily,” Xiao Shi said. “Once the news gets out, those from the Tempest Temple will surely not let go of this opportunity. To eliminate the Saint is to eliminate the next Bishop, so it’ll be a huge loss for the Holy Church of Light, especially since it’s not easy to produce a Saint.”

　　“Isn’t the Saint supposed to be a woman from the imperial family?” Chu Li asked.

　　Xiao Shi shook her head. “The Saint is selected from within the Li Dynasty by using a special secret technique… The Holy Church of Light has a secret technique that is specially used to choose a Saint. The chosen candidate will have an exceptional aptitude and after being personally trained by the Bishop of the Holy Church of Light, her martial arts abilities will be unparalleled. When the Bishop of the Holy Church of Light passes away and goes to the Outland, the Saint will then challenge all the top-notch masters of the nation. Since no one will be able to defeat her, she’ll directly be able to achieve the Heaven God’s Boundary.”

　　Chu Li frowned.

　　No matter how confident he was, he would never dare to claim that his aptitude was the highest.

　　However, the Holy Church of Light was capable of using their secret technique to seek out the woman with the highest aptitude from within the Li Dynasty. Then, after being personally trained by an Enlightened Master, the Saint will inherit her mystical art and ancient knowledge. A famous teacher trains a fine student. Catching with the Saint’s level will be as hard as trying to climb up to the skies.

　　He could imagine that as this legacy was being passed down from generation to generation, each Bishop of the Holy Church of Light would continue to perfect her disciple training method which she had inherited from her predecessor. With this continuous process of perfection, the other factions could never stand against her.

　　In having the highest aptitude, she was already given an advantageous starting point, so being trained by an Enlightened Master would place her far ahead of everyone else. A Saint that had been cultivated in such a manner would naturally be a most superior figure and it would be inevitable for her to also become an Enlightened Master.

　　Xiao Shi said, “The Saint of this generation is the Li Dynasty’s Princess Ming Yue.”

　　Chu Li slowly nodded.

　　He recalled hearing of this name before but did not know much about the person.

　　The information possessed by the Secret Guardians Hall was also limited due to the mysteriousness of this Princess Ming Yue, who had almost never appeared in public. He had only heard from the rumors that she was a woman of great elegance and beauty.

　　As the Saint of the Holy Church of Light, she had been fervently cultivating in isolation at the Great Light Peak of the Holy Church of Light, so very few people had actually seen her face.

　　Xiao Shi sighed. “The Holy Church of Light is already the Li Dynasty’s state religion and now that the Princess has become the Saint, both parties are now even more closely in contact with each other. With the support of the Li Dynasty and after having acquired the second half of the Great Light Scripture, the Holy Church of Light will certainly become more powerful and will inevitably surpass the Tempest Temple.”

　　“Well, there’s nothing we can do about that,” Chu Li replied, shaking his head. “No one could’ve stopped them.”

　　“It’s all because of the lack of action from the four major sects.” Xiao Shi huffed. “They clearly know that they shouldn’t allow the Holy Church of Light to keep growing stronger because it will endanger the martial arts world of the Ji Dynasty and yet they’re reluctant to send their people to the Li Dynasty out of fear of the losses they might have to suffer.”

　　Chu Li said, “It’s understandable though. Just take a look at how many martial arts masters the Holy Church of Light has lost after sending their people into the Ji Dynasty!”

　　He himself had killed quite a number of Grandmasters from the Holy Church of Light. It was also very likely that the four major sects had been secretly eliminating them. Therefore, the number of their martial arts master who had perished in the Ji Dynasty would definitely be way more than he could imagine.

　　The same would happen if the four major sects sent their people to the Li Dynasty. Even a powerful dragon would not be able to defeat a snake in its own territory. They would be at a great disadvantage if they were to enter the other party’s home ground.

　　“In ten years’ time, the Holy Church of Light may grow much stronger and become the sole figure of power. When that happens…” Xiao Shi sighed. “I’m not sure how things will be like.”

　　“My Lady, you’re worrying too much.” Chu Li smiled. “What the four major sects lack aren’t mystical arts and ultimate skills, but martial artists.”

　　“Ah… I certainly hope so,” Xiao Shi replied.

　　Chu Li fell silent.

　　Xiao Shi’s bright eyes flickered to him. “Are you still planning to go back there tonight?”

　　Chu Li nodded. “Those people from the Holy Church of Light would never let the matter drop. I have to return and monitor the situation.”

　　“Off you go then.” Xiao Shi waved a hand at him. “I’ll stay here for a few days and get some good rest.”

　　She had been in a state of anxiety over the past few days and although she did not let it show in front of Chu Li, her heart had been rather restless. Now that she was finally able to calm down, her whole body felt tired and unwilling to move around.

　　Chu Li smiled and nodded, disappearing in a flash after standing up.

　　…

　　As the night deepened, the moon rose high up in the night sky.

　　As Chu Li was absorbed in cultivating the Life and Death Scripture, a strong wave of spiritual energy came surging in from all directions and was transformed into the inner energy of the Cloud Slashing Power. It was swiftly flowing according to the heart technique of the Cloud Slashing Power as it became increasingly refined.

　　He had advanced into the next stage in his cultivation of the Life and Death Scripture. Before he could notice any other changes, the most obvious difference he had found was the widened range, which had been increased from a radius of five hundred meters to a thousand meters. The spiritual energy extracted was far more refined than before, containing more vitality.

　　After the extracted spiritual energy entered his body, one circulation of the Cloud Slashing Power was equal to ten of his previous circulations, which was a clear proof of how refined it was.

　　He believed that the speed at which he could catalyze the growth of spirit herbs would be up to ten times faster than before.

　　When using this spiritual energy for healing, the effects would also increase by ten times.

　　By advancing to this level of the Life and Death Scripture, he had indirectly elevated the purity and power of his Cloud Slashing Power. If he were to go up against Fang Qingyang again, he should be able to fight him.

　　Meanwhile, following his progress on cultivating the Life and Death Scripture, the observation range of his Omniscient Mirror had also been significantly expanded as everything within a six-mile radius became clearly visible to him.

　　While the Omniscient Mirror was observing his surroundings with greater clarity, a spark of light that seemed like a blazing sun suddenly appeared within its field of vision and came rolling toward him from the west.

　　This time, the Omniscient Mirror did not crack at the magnitude of its light and continued to observe this blazing sun, which in fact turned out to be Fang Qingyang!

　　Fang Qingyang was moving at an incredible speed, traveling almost as fast as light. Within the blink of an eye, he had crossed the distance of six miles and arrived at King An’s Imperial Residence.

　　Chu Li whistled. “No one is allowed to come outside!”

　　This long whistling sound echoed through the whole of King An’s Imperial Residence, drifting clearly into everyone’s ears.

　　Fang Qingyang appeared in Chu Li’s courtyard in the next instant like a flash of light, standing with his hands behind his back as he calmly sized Chu Li up.

　　Chu Li opened his eyes and looked at him.

　　Fang Qingyang was clad in a green tunic that gave him an air of grace and eminence while his eyes glistened like stars in the winter night, his gaze hard and intense.

　　“You’re really still alive!” Fang Qingyang said flatly.

　　Chu Li stood up. “Thanks to you, I survived!”

　　“This time, I’ve come specifically to take your life.” Fang Qingyang scanned his surroundings before he said, “I heard that you care a lot about Princess Xiao. I hate to resort to such despicable measures, but if you plan to escape, I will have to kill Princess Xiao.”

　　Chu Li smiled. “Princess Xiao has already left.”

　　“Where can she hide?” Fang Qingyang replied, unflustered. “There’s nowhere else she can go but the High Duke’s Public House. I can go to the High Duke’s Public House to kill her too. Will you be able to stop me?”

　　Chu Li shook his head. “She’s not at the High Duke’s Public House either.”

　　“I’ll kill everyone else at the High Duke’s Public House then,” Fang Qingyang said. “You came from the High Duke’s Public House. I believe you care for them as well, don’t you? So don’t force my hand!”

　　Chu Li scoffed. “Very well then. If you kill those people at the High Duke’s Public House, I’ll kill the disciples of the Holy Church of Light. Let’s see which one of us manages to kill more people!”

　　Fang Qingyang frowned.

　　There had been quite a number of disciples from the Holy Church of Light who had died at the hands of Chu Li, so he did not mean these words as a joke. Chu Li would not hesitate to kill the Church’s disciples. What a wretch!

　　Arriving at this thought, his murderous desires intensified and he said calmly, “Alright then, let’s battle it out!”

　　Chu Li replied, “That’s what I’d like to hear!”

　　He had just finished speaking when he appeared behind Fang Qingyang in a flash, activating the Imminent Skyline.

　　Fang Qingyang vanished suddenly.

　　Their bodies moved in flickers and flashes like two clouds of shadow, twinkling and dashing about under the moonlight at an unbelievable speed.

　　“Tsh!” Two flashes of light charged at Chu Li.

　　This time, Fang Qingyang did not vanish and stood in his spot waiting for Chu Li to appear behind him before throwing a flying blade at close proximity. The blade plunged into Chu Li instantly.

　　A purple-gold radiance flashed over Chu Li’s body. Chu Li did not try to avoid it and threw a flying blade at his opponent too.

　　“Tsh!” The two of them were stabbed almost simultaneously.

　　At such close proximity, there was no way to dodge the swiftness of the flying blades and before they could even use their hands to shield themselves, the blades had already pierced through their bodies seamlessly.