Chapter 318: Riverside

　　Chu Li reappeared in his small residence.

　　Spiritual energy from the Glory’s Will Tree surged into him, his spirit shook in that instant, the spiritual energy from the Glory’s Will Tree was truly a holy healing item.

　　Two hours later, his wounds had stabilized, he will fully recover in another few days.

　　Xue Ling rushed to return, and saw Chu Li sat under the Glory Will’s Tree, and heaved a sigh of relief.

　　Chu Li lifted up his head to look her in the eyes.

　　“Master, are you wounded?” Xue Ling frantically spoke, “Elder Xi went to look near the river, and found a corpse there, Second Lady recognized it to be someone from the Imperial Residence of Prince An, master, is this the work of Prince An?”

　　Chu Li asked, “Where did Second Lady go?”

　　“Second Lady couldn’t rest easy, insisted to follow along, no one could convince her otherwise.” Xue Ling replied.

　　Chu Li shook his head.

　　An icy chill enveloped Xue Ling’s face, “This Prince An!”

　　Chu Li smiled as he said, “I’m fine, just some minor wounds.”

　　“Did Prince An take advantage of an opportunity to scheme against you?” Xue Ling said.

　　Chu Li replied, “Yes.”

　　He decided not to spread the news regarding Yue Jintao.

　　“How despicable!” Xue Ling hollered, “The look on elder master’s face was too terrible to gaze at! …Is there a need to inform the Second Lady? I believe she urgently needs to hear of this.”

　　As they chatted, a knocking sound on the door came from outside.

　　Xue Ling rushed to open the door.

　　Siao Shi was dressed in her lunar white gown, a white veil over her face, stood outside the door, Yang Xu followed closely behind her.

　　“Had Chu Li returned?” Siao Shi peeked into the residence.

　　Xue Ling stepped aside.

　　Siao Shi strolled into the residence, and arrived before Chu Li.

　　Yang Xu stopped just in a distance, Xue Ling instinctively stood at the back as well.

　　Siao Shi narrowed her brows and pointed out, “You’re wounded again?”

　　The aroma from her body swirled in Chu Li’s nose, alluring to one’s heart.

　　Chu Li smiled as he replied, “Just some minor ones, nothing severe.”

　　“Another one of Prince An’s doings?” Siao Shi sternly replied, “Sent Gu Yue to assassinate you, yes?”

　　Chu Li smiled as he replied, “Prince An truly does think highly of me, Gu Yue waited to strike when I was in heated battle with Yue Jintao, Ding Jian kidnapped Chen Xue and Deng Xin, forced me into a corner from fleeing, then there was Meng Zhi at the end, scribe second-in-command, …..Prince An plotted schemes well, calm when unmoved, then wave after wave upon setting plans in motion!”

　　“You killed Gu Yue, which meant you paid a great price?” Siao Shi asked.

　　She didn’t train in the martial arts, yet familiar with the workings of it, she became a splendid healer from her experience in long term sickness, she wanted to treat her own body in the past, and thus read many medical books, as well as books depicting the martial arts.

　　Gu Yue was beyond any grandmasters, killing him was no easy feat.

　　Chu Li grinned, “Though both sides suffered greatly, my body is sturdy, able to hold out.”

　　Siao Shi hollered, “And what of Ding Jian?”

　　“Killed as well.” Chu Li grinned, “For daring to play such a ploy, if I had not countered with a massive scheme of my own, and not strike fear in their hearts, Prince An will be more relentless than ever!”

　　Siao Shi heaved a sigh, “From my perspective, send the two girls into Tai Hua Valley, you can still protect them as you did now, but what if they entered the Imperial Residence in the future?’

　　Chu Li fell silent.

　　Siao Shi continued, “Tai Hua Valley is protected by formations, out of the reaches of Prince An, plus their bodies are in great conditions, suitable for the teaching of martial arts within the Tai Hua Valley, Mei Ao Shuang has a cold exterior yet a warm heart, she’s likely to accept them.”

　　Chu Li muttered, “If Third Lady was here…”

　　He sighed as he said this, filled with mixed feelings once more.

　　After departed from each other for a while, it felt like more than a decade had passed, his mind missed her so, memories of her latched on stronger the more he thought about it, he didn’t want to think of her any further, any more will only pain his heart.

　　Siao Shi said, “Allow me to say it.”

　　“… Difficult.” Chu Li said, “Most likely she will decline the request, ……best that I ask Chen Xue and Deng Xin first.”

　　Siao Shi rolled her eyes, turned around, “Treat your wounds then, ……so that you may regain your strength!”

　　After Xue Ling escorted them to leave, she returned to Chu Li’s side, “Master, Sister Chen Xue and Deng Xin really wanted to train in the martial arts, they envy sister Chen Ying, they wish they themselves could enter for training in Tai Hua Valley, too!”

　　Chu Li nodded slowly.

　　He was aware of the ladies’ thoughts, not wishing to be a burden, wanting to help him, repay him for what he did for them.

　　Yet the more they thought as such, the more he didn’t want to suffer through the pain.

　　From the looks of things now, he was indeed too soft hearted, and he did more harm than good instead, just as loving parents dotted their children, not allowing their children to grow.

　　—

　　At dawn, Chu Li was training Sentient Menace at his small courtyard.

　　He persisted to train Sentient Menace, not even a single break in between, yet his limits, rose little by little, relied upon the putting efforts similar to that of forming stalagmites with droplets of water.

　　It became even more clear to him, that his strengths lied not within his skills in the martial arts, but rather it was his durable body, otherwise, he wouldn’t even be alive no matter how strong he could be.

　　When speaking of the purity of inner energy, the Scripture of Duality triumphs all, but in order for Scripture of Duality to unleash its power, he’ll need to rely upon the amplification gained from Infinite Sea of Azure.

　　If he decides to clash in purity of inner energy against those old geezers who had trained for a decade or hundred of years, he could only resort to the amplification gained from Infinite Sea of Azure.

　　The weight of burden upon his meridians was too great to bear, no one else could unleash this.

　　“Master!” Xue Ling pushed open the door and entered, a folder in her hands, the ever calm face worn a smile as cheerful as the blooming of flowers, “The news has been spreaded!”

　　Chu Li didn’t stop his movements, “What news?”

　　“The news regarding your battle with Duan Lidao which ended in a tie.” Xue Ling smiled as she said, “Everyone finally knew of how incredible you are.”

　　Chu Li frowned, his movements continued without stopping.

　　Xue Ling said, “The guardsmen within the house changed their attitudes as well.”

　　“Who cares about that.” Chu Li was unfazed.

　　Xue Ling spatted, “If you were to require someone for a task, master, everyone will rush to complete it for you!”

　　“That’s good then.” Chu Li replied.

　　He was aware of the importance of reputation, it was an invisible power, sometimes deemed more important than mastery of the martial arts, able to have many more people willingly to follow orders.

　　Xue Ling smiled as she said, “Many people even felt pity.”

　　“Pity of what?”

　　“A pity that you will enter the Imperial Residence of Prince An with Second Lady.”

　　“Not like I won’t ever return.”

　　Xue Ling smiled as she replied, “Oh, that’s different.”

　　Chu Li stared at her, “Do not worry, I shall bring you along instead!”

　　Xue Ling suddenly smiled like a blooming flower, excitedly replied, “Really?”

　　She originally assumed, that she will need to remain within the House of Duke, gather intel for her master, maintain the flow of Glory’s Will Courtyard, always been trying to find a chance to request of him.

　　“There wouldn’t be as comfortable as the House of Duke, you will suffer many hardships.” Chu Li shook his head, “You probably thought the tasks there would be a breeze.”

　　“As long as I’m right by your side, master, then I will not fret whatever amount of hardships there may be!” Xue Ling smiled as she said.

　　Chu Li said, “Do not complain to me about it when you’re handling tasks in the future.”

　　“I wouldn’t leave even if I dread of it!” Xue Ling said, “For Prince An to had plotted against you as such, truly there will be many more troubles ahead.”

　　She could imagine, once entered the Imperial Residence, her master will face great difficulties in his surroundings.

　　But she was absolutely confident, that no would could triumph over her master, not even it was Prince An!

　　Chu Li gradually ended at seventy two cycles or training, returned to his small courtyard, flipped through the folder sent by Xue Ling.

　　These were all the information gathered by Xue Ling from the day before, all compiled in one day, certainly wasn’t an easy task, fortunately Bi Liu and Hong Xiu helped her out.

　　He flipped through a few files, suddenly raised his brows.

　　Xue Ling asked, “Master, something the matter?”

　　“Something’s off.” Chu Li placed down the folder, “Have you noticed the River Alliances?”

　　“River Alliances, they rose in power rapidly in recent years.” Xue Ling said, “Yet there doesn’t seem to be any inklings of crime, plus wouldn’t this be under government jurisdiction?”

　　“They rose too rapidly, something’s wrong.” Chu Li narrowed his brows and said, “The river trading in our Path of Chong Ming, will soon to be swallowed up by them.”