King An glanced at the Protectors and smiled. He could not care less.

　　He knew that his actions were not right, however, he was too excited to give a damn. Under the drive of his inner demon, he struggled to maintain his usual composure.

　　So what if he was not in the right? They would not betray him either way to side with Chu Li.

　　That palm strike made clear his intentions were to kill Chu Li, and yet, here they were. Besides, he wanted to make it clear to the Protectors that Chu Li was their enemy. It was better to distance themselves as far away from him as possible.

　　That way, Chu Li would be isolated, and his position as Head Chief would have little influence over them.

　　‘So what if he had grown even more powerful? He was the owner of the Imperial Residence while Chu Li was just a chief,’ King An thought to himself. No matter how powerful he was, Chu Li was not going to beat him; he was the owner. The Protectors were smart enough, they knew what they had to do.

　　He turned to look at Xu Ning who was under a pine tree and smiled. “Revered sir Xu Ning, are there any chances of Chu Li coming back alive?”

　　Xu Ning pressed his palms together in front of his chest and sighed. “The Head Chief is superior in the martial arts and is more scheming than others. It is not impossible for him to escape.”

　　“Hehe,” King An shook his head as he smiled. “Revered sir, you really overestimate him. No matter how clever he is, it is useless during a fight. If schemes were sufficient, then I wouldn’t need to pour all my efforts into cultivating martial arts.”

　　Xu Ning replied, “Your Royal Highness, I personally think that the Head Chief will make it out alive.”

　　“Alright, if you insist, revered sir, I will not force you,” smiled King An. “From what I saw, the two men from the Amethyst Mountain excel in martial arts. No matter how strong Chu Li is, I doubt he will make it back.”

　　“Understood.” Xu Ning pressed his palms in front of his chest and held his tongue. He did not say any more.

　　King An likewise understood his temperament and did not force Xu Ning to agree with his opinion. He then turned his head and looked at Zheng Lide. “What do you think, Commander Zheng?”

　　“The Head Chief is indeed better in scheming, we shouldn’t look down on him,” said Zheng Lide. “Even if he’s in a desperate situation, it’s not impossible for him to wriggle free.”

　　“Hehe, you guys think so highly of him!” King An shook his head and broke into a smile.

　　“Alright, now I really want to see how he’ll get out of this dilemma… is it possible for us to reach Chong Ming Town by tomorrow if we pick up the pace?”

　　“We will reach earliest by nightfall, even if we move as fast as we can,” said Zheng Lide.

　　King An nodded. “Forget about it then, let’s wait till daylight. Go and inform Xiao Tieying that I want him to come out and welcome us. Hehe, how interesting!”

　　Zheng Lide responded with a closed fist salute.

　　However, Zheng Lide silently criticized him. Doing this would only serve to make Xiao Tieying mad.

　　Xiao Tieying was a proud man. It was very dangerous to incite him like this. The Royal Highness was complacent of his position and felt that Xiao Tieying would not dare do anything reckless.

　　No matter how King An viewed the situation, he was still just a subordinate who could very well bear the brunt of Xia Tieying’s rage. He needed to be more cautious.

　　“I’m not going to go into isolated cultivation when I head back this time,” King An turned his head and looked at Xu Ning before smiling. “I think Chu Li made a point, my qualifications don’t compare with his. I can’t beat him through martial arts cultivation.”

　　Xu Ning replied plainly, “Your Royal Highness, the Head Chief was just trying to lower your confidence. He does not want you to go into isolated cultivation because he was worried about the competition!”

　　“Oh-?” King An furrowed his brow. “What do you mean by that, revered sir?”

　　Xu Ning slowly continued, “Your Royal Highness, your progress in cultivating martial arts that were lost in transmission is rapid. Although the Head Chief has greater qualifications, he still possesses a natural shortcoming.”

　　“And what’s that?”

　　“His background.”

　　King An muttered, “His background…”

　　Xu Ning nodded. “The Head Chief is from the Public House, and the martial arts he has cultivated is not top-notch. But how can they be compared to what Your Royal Highness cultivates? I never heard about any special studies from the Public House. It’s difficult to consider them at the same level as the Four Major Sects.”

　　“Mm…” King An slowly nodded. “That’s true too. If that’s the case, then he was just trying to provoke me and pull me down. Does he really not want me to cultivate?”

　　“That’s right,” Xu Ning nodded. “If he is not afraid of the Royal Highness being in isolated cultivation, then why did he bring it up in the first place?”

　　“That’s true,” King An slowly replied. You could see the gears in his head spinning rapidly. “Although he might have been doing this on purpose to cause misunderstandings, the Yi Public House’s martial arts is indeed very ordinary. If they were truly special, they wouldn’t have fallen to this extent… Chu Li’s abilities are truly impressive for him to cultivate such ordinary martial arts to this level.”

　　“Yes, the Head Chief is a rare genius, but unfortunately…” said Xu Ning as he shook his head.

　　Those who could cultivate the divine power from the Titanium Temple were geniuses. Moreover, Chu Li’s wisdom was greater than his. If he was fated to meet the Titanium Temple, then it was possible for them to be the disciples of the same faction.

　　Even so, he was not going to help him. Everything has its own action and consequences, nothing could be forced. He was not yet a disciple of the Titanium Temple, therefore, he did not have to stick his nose into trouble.

　　After King An had finished wallowing in his new-found joy, he had a few bites of the wild game. He thought that the meat tasted average, so he threw it aside and laid down in front of the campfire. He laid sideways, similar to the Golden Lohan’s Power position, and started to meditate. With that, he entered his cultivation boundary.

　　His fighting spirit rose again. He wanted to completely defeat Chu Li with his martial arts. King An knew he could only progress to once he defeats Chu Li; once this happens, it would force him to focus on his cultivation, giving him a great advantage to fight for the Emperor’s throne.

　　——

　　After midnight, Zheng Lide and the others sighed to themselves. They still had not seen Chu Li return. Inwardly, they thought that the Head Chief was probably dead by now.

　　However, some Protectors thought that their situation was unfair. The Head Chief was facing off against great martial arts master but did not receive any help.

　　It was a pity that the Royal Highness watched Chu Li fall into a desperate situation without batting an eyelid. He even made things worse for Chu Li instead of lending a helping hand. The Head Chief was truly unlucky to have met such a prince.

　　None of them realized that nearby, a shadow was slowly creeping up on them.

　　Once the shadow was close enough to the fire, it suddenly propelled itself towards King An.

　　“Tsk!” A hissing sound could be heard as a vulgar figure appeared in front of King An. Both his palms were glowing red as he pressed his right palm onto King An.

　　King An was in his meditative state, so his reaction time was at its peak. His heart immediately sensed the danger the moment it appeared.

　　Unfortunately, Chu Li’s right palm already landed on his back before he could respond.

　　“Wah!” Exclaimed King An as he flew backward. He knocked over the campfire as his robes caught fire. The Heaven’s Thunder Palm had caused major damage to his body.

　　The spiritual force of the Golden Lohan’s Power rushed out to block the attack, but the Heaven’s Thunder Palm was too fierce. Although the spiritual force of the Golden Lohan’s Power was very refined, it could only block some of the force. It was just enough to stop the Heaven’s Thunder Palm from reaching the precordium.

　　The damage caused by the Heaven’s Thunder Palm’s increased as his Cinnabar field was immediately destroyed.

　　“Hmm–!” King An was in overbearing pain, but he did not scream. He held back the urge to yell as hard as he could and only lightly groaned instead. He rolled on the floor several times to extinguish the fire before picking himself up from the floor and dashing toward the woods. He intended to get away from the vulgar man’s assassination attempt via the forest.

　　Unfortunately, under the effect of the Heaven’s Thunder Palm, the strong palm energy made one’s inner energy explosive and violent. This allowed the user to have swift body movements and techniques. He immediately caught up to King An and struck with his right palm, which was glowing red from the harnessed power.

　　The strike landed on the back of his waist, instantly destroying his liver.

　　The vulgar man then darted in front of Xu Ning and called out, “Chu Li, if you don’t show yourself, I will kill everyone from the Imperial Residence of King An!”

　　The night sky was silent, there was no answer.

　　Xu Ning pressed both of his palms together in front of his chest and chanted the Buddha’s name, ” Almsgiver, why do you continue to sin by killing? The sea of bitterness is boundless.

　　Turn your body and return to the shore!”

　　His voice was gentle and soothing, such that one could not help but be persuaded to follow the command.

　　The vulgar man turned his head and scoffed, “You, Little Monk! Stop with your bewitching words. We from the Amethyst Mountain won’t be tricked by that sorcery. Watch out for my palm!”

　　His palm energy was extremely fast. Before Xu Ning could respond, his palm landed on Xu Ning’s chest.

　　“Bam!” Xu Ning’s chest bulged for a moment as it cleared the palm energy from the vulgar man.

　　“Hmm, how interesting!” The vulgar man lightly scoffed and turned into a flash of flowing light before charging toward Zheng Lide.

　　Zheng Lide tried to defend himself, but he realized that he was clumsy and slow compared to his opponent. He had no time to react before the palm landed.