Xiao Shi looked up and gazed at Chu Li with clear and shiny eyes. “You didn’t kill him?”

　　Chu Li smiled and said, “He’s a powerful person. Forget about killing him, I was lucky enough to escape!”

　　Xiao Shi blinked her glassy eyes as she now seemed interested. She then continued, “Is the Young Lord of the Crouching Bull Mountain really that powerful? He’s only from a first-class sect.”

　　Chu Li had always portrayed himself as a tremendously competitive person. Every enemy of his had never won against him. Only a force like the Four Major Sects was able to put him in his place.

　　The disciples from the Four Major Sects were the cream of the cream. They had profound foundations and were certainly no match for the High Duke’s Public House. However, Chu Li still had the upper hand. Nonetheless, he could not win a simple fight with a first-class sect, which surprised Xiao Shi. This made her curious too.

　　Chu Li said, “He had the Cloud Slashing Treasure Manual.”

　　“Hmm—?” hummed Xiao Shi as she was shocked. She pursed her lips and laughed. “Someone actually had the Cloud Slashing Treasure Manual?”

　　Chu Li added, “I’m guessing that he already had it for a few years and mastered it during that whole time. His Cloud Slashing Power and Cloud Slashing Sword Technique were both highly polished, and his powers were incredible. If it wasn’t for the help of the formation, I would not have escaped.”

　　“That’s quite interesting. There’s actually a youth that you can’t triumph over! … Is the Cloud Slashing Treasure Manual really that powerful?” Xiao Shi chuckled.

　　Although Chu Li could not be considered as the topmost master amongst all the youths, he was not far from that. So far, Chu Li had been able to repress or even eliminate minorities such as Fa Yuan, Lu Yurong, and Meng Zhi at will.

　　Chu Li nodded. “The Cloud Slashing Treasure Manual is an advanced antique study. The person who created this heart technique is really powerful.”

　　When he modified the Seven Forms of Divine Blade into the Seven Forms of Godly Sword, it needed him to make an enormous effort in order to do so. Since it was already difficult to revise a martial art on its own, creating one from scratch must have been even more difficult. Chu Li admired the creator greatly.

　　“Advanced? How quick?” Xiao Shi became even more interested.

　　“I really don’t know. It’s so fast that I’m worried that he’ll create more trouble in the near future.” Chu Li shook his head.

　　Xiao Shi suggested, “How about you ask someone to practice it?”

　　“Lady, how about you do it?”

　　“I won’t. I don’t want to train at all. Fighting and killing is dull!” Xiao Shi rejected his notion without hesitation.

　　Xiao Shi really had no interest in practicing the martial arts.

　　“Then I’ll do it myself. Zhuge Tian relied on the Cloud Slashing Power and Cloud Slashing Sword Technique when I fought him. He pushed me to retreat step by wicked step. I was hugely aggrieved!” Chu Li continued.

　　“Haha…” Xiao Shi could not help but laugh.

　　Chu Li shook his head and broke into laughter too. She was so happy after hearing that he had suffered such a loss.

　　Xiao Shi asked, “Isn’t his father much more powerful than him?”

　　“Much more superior. After all, he’s the lord of a sect. He has profound and superb cultivation skills.” Chu Li nodded.

　　“Then you’ll have to be wary. Don’t let him know that you’re the murderer. If not, he’ll seek revenge for his son. Then you’ll only be able to escape for the fight,” Xiao Shi said.

　　Even if Chu Li could not win the fight, he could run away. Xiao Shi was not bothered that he suffered those losses. It was alright even if he was no match for Zhuge Tian.

　　Chu Li nodded again. “Are these antiques good enough?”

　　“Yes, I’ll play around with them for a few days. If you want to earn money from them, I’ll sell them for you,” Xiao Shi replied.

　　“Forget it. Just leave them.” Chu Li shook his head.

　　“Up to you.” Xiao Shi lowered her head and picked up a jade portrait.

　　Chu Li returned to his own courtyard and started studying the Cloud Slashing Treasure Manual.

　　Nowadays, the Imperial Residence of King An was very quiet. Previously, when Chu Li killed ten Grandmasters at once, the incident completely suppressed those people who were ready to cause trouble.

　　—

　　Chu Li dissipated all his inner energy and started to cultivate the Cloud Slashing Power.

　　In order to maintain the purity of the Cloud Slashing Power, he imitated the cultivating condition of a person who was benign of practicing any type of martial arts. Chu Li’s body was empty without the slightest sign of inner energy. Spiritual force did not enter his body. He only relied on the motion of the spirit of his meridian based on the Cloud Slashing Power, which was transported to his vacant vessel.

　　Chu Li’s spirit was powerful. Soon enough an essence transformed into inner energy.

　　That inner energy slowly flowed and grew more concentrated in his body. It did not become stronger but was being purified continuously. At last, it was as if a strand of real hair was floating inside his meridian.

　　Chu Li pondered for a moment and suddenly smiled.

　　The Cloud Slashing Power had the same origins as the Heavenly Demonic Power.

　　It was totally different from a common heart technique in the martial art world.

　　A normal heart technique involved the absorption of a spiritual force or essence that strengthened one’s body. Followed by the transport of the circulatory cycle, one’s inner energy would gradually grow. On the other hand, the Cloud Slashing Power was merely pure inner energy which was compressed and agglomerated to become an even purer force. It would not expand alone and would only grow by engulfing someone else’s inner energy.

　　When Chu Li tried to infuse the spiritual force into himself, it could not be absorbed.

　　Similarly, the Heavenly Demonic Power also strengthened oneself by engulfing external energy; it was a picky devourer. The Heavenly Demonic Orb was dismissive of any normal inner energy. Only when extremely pure inner energy flowed into his body then would it engulf.

　　The Cloud Slashing Power was not picky instead, it could engulf all sorts of inner energy. It then activated the heart technique for purification.

　　Chu Li realized that he could use the Cloud Slashing Technique to engulf normal inner energy to purify it, which could be then engulfed by the Heavenly Demonic Orb. Theoretically, his speed to elevate the Heavenly Demonic Power would vastly increase from the purification process.

　　Chu Li regarded the Heavenly Demonic Power as his hope to achieve the Enlightened Mastery’s Boundary. This was the essential foundation of the Trayastrimsa; as soon as he mastered it to the extreme, Chu Li would be able to enter the Enlightened Mastery’s Boundary indefinitely.

　　Before this, Chu Li had always suffered from the development of the Heavenly Demonic Power, thus, he needed to fight top-notch masters to engulf their inner energies. However, there were not many of those existing masters. If he solely relied on them, Chu Li was unsure of when he would actually be able to become an Enlightened Master.

　　The Cloud Slashing Power gave him tremendous hope with the power he needed to solve this dilemma. Chu Li no longer needed to rely on those top-notch masters, nor did he have to go through any huge risks to increase his power.

　　The power of the Cloud Slashing Power was quite exceptional as well. It was bizarre and unusual, so there were very few ways to counter its erratic behavior.

　　The Cloud Slashing Sword Technique was exceptionally fast and unparalleled. It was the fastest sword technique that Chu Li had ever seen.

　　If he could incorporate the technique into the Seven Forms of Divine Blade, Chu Li could assimilate both speed and ingenuity in the present world. It would actually even be able to surpass his own sword technique.

　　As he pondered more about it, Chu Li grew even more excited. He then took the secret manual out to study its sword technique.

　　When he modified the Seven Forms of Godly Sword, Chu Li did profound research in the chapters on sword techniques. Therefore when he looked at another form of sword technique, it was as if he was dismembering an ox-like a skillful butcher. He was able to deconstruct it easily.

　　The Cloud Slashing Sword Technique required the coordination of the Cloud Slashing Power. Only with an extremely pure inner energy could one unleash his attacks in abnormal speeds. The heart technique of the sword technique was especially spectacular as through the activation of several meridians, the sword could achieve its fastest potential.

　　Unknowingly, a night had passed.

　　He had not slept for the entire night. Chu Li then arrived at the Crouching Bull Mountain in the early morning and saw two men in his formation.

　　Qiao San was laying on the ground in a slumped posture. A layer of stubble had grown on his lower jaw that gave him a haggard look.

　　On a contrary, Zhuge Tian looked refreshed. He was stretching out his limbs.

　　Chu Li shook his head and disappeared at once to return to his courtyard.

　　Leng Qiu and Leng Qing were already practicing in the courtyard. When they saw him, the two ladies greeted him and continued their practice with the swords.

　　Chu Li smiled and arrived at the Tianshu Courtyard.

　　After having breakfast with Xiao Shi, he left the residence. Four men including Qin Jin were already waiting outdoors. They looked solemn as they perused through their surroundings to prevent anyone from attacking them.

　　Chu Li said with a smile, “It has been quite quiet lately, there’s no need for you to be so tensed up.”

　　Qin Jin scanned their surroundings and shook his head. He said, “I feel that the atmosphere has grown more off than usual. I’m guessing that someone is about to do something.”

　　“I have the same feeling too, Centurion, be careful,” Feng Jing added.

　　Chu Li smiled and nodded, then he left the Imperial Residence and walked towards the Secret Guardians Hall.

　　As Chu Li was halfway to his destination, a carriage suddenly went sideways and blocked his path.