Chapter 297: Choice

　　The two bade farewell as they left the Titanium Temple, both occupied with their own thoughts. They slowly descended from the mountain, without exchanging a single word.

　　Both of them were pondering the same question; should they inform His Lordship?

　　His Lordship aspired to eliminate Second Lady Xiao for good, in fear of her and the House of Duke coming in the way of his ascension to the throne, he had sent out many masters to assassinate her.

　　To suddenly inform King An that Second Lady Xiao was destined to be Queen, and that he had made one mistake after another, where else could King An hide from such shame?

　　For those of royal blood, one’s reputation preceded over everything else.

　　If he was King An instead, it would certainly be awkward for him. This did not the least bit comfort the ones who were about to bring the news, King An would fault them for this, and find ways to deal with them in the future!

　　For King An, this news would put him in an incredibly tough position. As someone of the royal blood, why would he do such a thing as apologizing to Second Lady Xiao?

　　He did send a Grandmaster after her and died she did, yet for whatever reason, she had come back to life once more.

　　That transgression alone was worthy of a deadly grudge, even if King An did apologize, what of it?

　　Ding Jian shared the same thoughts. He said, “Brother Gu, how can the Titanium Temple be of service to His Majesty?”

　　Previously he did not find anything out of the ordinary from the place, after having witnessed the Titanium Temple himself, only then he was puzzled.

　　The Titanium Temple was as neutral as it could be. Unconcerned of foreign matters, it was hard to imagine that they would assassinate for King An.

　　Gu Yue said, “Can the ways of any of these eminent monks ever be understood by us commoners?”

　　“With the Eye of the Sky’s Connection, perhaps they saw that this was King An’s destiny?” Ding Jian suddenly lit up.

　　Gu Yue nodded slowly. “Quite possibly!”

　　He shook his head again.

　　In truth, no matter who became the emperor, it would make no difference for the Titanium Temple. The Titanium Temple was different from the Tempest Temple, their apprentices rarely journeyed out of the temple, with no conflicts with the outside world. They did not care for who was Emperor, nor did they need to concern themselves with what Dynasty they were in.

　　Gu Yue waved it off in the end. “Forget about it, we won’t figure it out even if we blow our heads off, what use of wasting our efforts on thinking about it, let’s just deliver the news. Shall we explain this to His Majesty?”

　　“Best if we do then,” Ding Jian helplessly replied.

　　—

　　The study room within the Imperial Residence of King An in the Fairy’s Capital.

　　The few palace lanterns within the study room shone brilliantly as if the room itself was still in the daytime.

　　King An donned a golden robe, hands behind his back as he stood before the two, so far he had not uttered a single word.

　　He turned his head to catch a glimpse of one Xiao Monk in the distance. “Xu Ning?”

　　The Xiao Monk wore a yellow journeyman robe. Plump in size, his face reflected that of honesty as if anyone could just walk up to him and bully him, not the slightest of the image of an Eminent Monk.

　　He greeted with an Anjali Mudra. “Your Highness, Master Senior Kong Jing is the top user of the Eye of the Sky’s Connection, as unleashing it would severely affect one’s lifespan. In the past few years, Master Senior Kong Jing has never unleashed the Eye of the Sky’s Connection. If it was not for Master Senior Kong Hai, Master Senior Kong Jing would not have used it.”

　　“Is this the truth?” King An’s dashing features contracted tightly.

　　“Master Senior Kong Jing is not one to spout outrageous lies. Congratulations, Your Highness,” Xu Ning said with hands clasped into an Anjali Mudra.

　　“Great Mother who watches over all from below the heavens, what a great prophecy indeed!” King An’s dashing face grew a smile, he shook his head as he sighed, his smile was of helplessness and bitterness.

　　He gathered his emotions and glanced at Gu Yue and Ding Jian. “This matter stays in this room. If I hear of anything from this, do not blame me when I do not show any mercy!”

　　“Yes!” Gu Yue and Ding Ning hurriedly replied with sternness.

　　They held the highest of responsibilities in service to their sect, if they ended up offending King An, their sect would be burdened.

　　Upon hearing this news, they strengthened their beliefs that King An would ascend the throne, becoming the future Emperor. Their sect would then receive endless benefits.

　　“Your Highness, should we inform the Princess? Should we apologize, say that it was a misunderstanding?” Gu Yue trod carefully as he looked him in the eyes.

　　“The Princess? Old man Gu, well aren’t you a sneaky one, she’s not even the Princess yet!” King An was stunned, then he came to a realization, and stared at him.

　　“Hehe, she will be in a month, right? As long as Your Majesty does not regret your word, then the High Duke’s Public House will never back out on their word!” Gu Yue smiled as he said.

　　King An smiled in delight, he paced around with his hands behind him, his golden robe dazzling under the lights.

　　After a few steps, he shook his head and said, “Forget it, nothing needs to be said.”

　　“Is Your Highness not even explaining a little? Your Highness, I have seen the Princess’s face in person, her beauty was beyond words, a rare find beneath the heavens!” Gu Yue was surprised.

　　“Is she that beautiful?” King An was not the least bit hooked.

　　Gu Yue lifted up his right palm. “If I had spoken even a single lie of this, then let the skies strike me down with thunder!”

　　“Hmm, I shall believe you for now. This is not a pressing matter, there are still many days for that.” King An waved his hand, his expression remained blank, he was not fixated upon the lust for women, the one thing which he aspired after was the throne.

　　“Then is there a need to give word to the High Duke’s Public House? To avoid the House of Duke from overreacting, and causing any more uproars, if this were to affect the progress of the big wedding, then it will be imperfect.” Ding Jian hurriedly asked.

　　“No need to say much. The Ren Public House is in an uproar as well, if they calm down, Lu Yurong will take her place as its ruler!” King An scoffed deeply.

　　“Lu Yurong… ” Gu Yue and Ding Jian briefly stared at each other, their expressions sunk.

　　Previously they had suffered greatly because of Lu Yurong, almost losing their lives. Even King An’s royal body had suffered some wounds, this woman’s mastery of the martial arts was beyond bizarre, more cunning than anyone, truly terrifying.

　　“Forget it, all will be right so long as we don’t face her. That Chu Li seems to be a match for Lu Yurong! Let them fight against one another, we’ll just enjoy the show,” King An calmly said.

　　“Your Highness, I’m just afraid that the princess… ” Gu Yue hurriedly said.

　　“I’ve sent out so many Grandmasters after her, and still she’s escaped my grasp. Not even the Ren Public House could do anything about her. Not unless Lu Yurong took matters into her own hands,” King An calmly continued with his hands behind him.

　　“Lu Yurong might actually be willing to handle this,” Ding Jian said.

　　“We’ll speak more of this when that happens!” King An replied.

　　“Yes!” Both of them gave their fist salutes, then left the premises.

　　—

　　Dawn, atop the mountain peak outside Horse Racing Town.

　　Chu Li slowly trained his Heavenly Demon Power, his motions slowed down to a crawl.

　　Xiao Shi, however, stood nearby to train herself in a life rejuvenating fist technique, gently, slowly, similar to the ways of Taiji fist technique in the future. A beautiful pair of white palms swayed as if she was pushing against water. Ever so delicate, yet it flowed so naturally, bearing semblances to the ways of a fist technique.

　　Her eyes darted toward Chu Li from time to time.

　　Chu Li, however, shifted his entire focus into his inner body, nurturing the Heavenly Demon Power.

　　Xiao Shi was quite relaxed, not a single worry in her mind.

　　Entirely dauntless, let death take her if it must. If even Chu Li could not save her, then she was surely dead. With the both of them keeping each other company, they were not the least bit worried in unfamiliar paths, all was well.

　　Chu Li suddenly realized that the Heavenly Demon Aura did not have to be circulated along his meridians for it to work.

　　Usually, inner energy flowed like water, it had to flow within the meridians like how a river would. If it did not, and just directly traveled through his body, it would have instead harmed his body.

　　Heavenly Demon Aura was different however, it could freely swirl within his body.

　　From the looks of things, it was much more similar to the Five Grains Energy, being able to pass through his body without damaging him.

　　But compared in power, the difference between the Five Grains Energy and the Heavenly Demon Aura was between the clouds and the earth, no discussions were needed.

　　The Heavenly Demon Aura strengthened his body through consumption. Chu Li also discovered that by imbuing moves with the Heavenly Demon Aura, it would increase the speed of execution, increasing the speed of his body.

　　Compared to the inner energy within his body, the Heavenly Demon Aura possessed too great of an advantage, outmatching it by far.

　　Although the Heavenly Demon Power was great, Chu Li did not dare to unleash it as much he pleased.

　　It was said that the Heavenly Demon Power was the sworn enemy of Buddhists. Although it had been lost in transference for hundreds of years, Chu Li did not dare to gamble on the possibility that the followers of Buddha could not recognize it. If they found out that he was practicing it, the Tempest Temple and the Titanium Temple would join forces to eliminate him, a fate worse than death awaited him if that were to happen.

　　As Chu Li had witnessed the might of the Tempest Temple, as well as the Titanium Temple’s, he now understood the precarious situation the Heavenly Demon Aura placed himself in, it could not be known to the world.

　　The Heavenly Demon Power could also be used to shapeshift his face, neutralizing the powers which intruded his body. It was never intended to be used against his enemies.

　　“That’s Yang Xu, isn’t it?” Xiao Shi suddenly spoke.

　　Chu Li activated the Omniscient Mirror, he spotted Yang Xu under the protection of her eight guards, riding upon a horse, slowly passing by the foot of the mountain below.

　　“Did she come here to find us?” Xiao Shi asked.

　　Chu Li nodded and disappeared from where he stood. He reappeared at the opposite mountain peak, stepping on a tree branch to feel the breeze.

　　Yang Xu spotted him from afar, overly joyed she shouted, “Chief!”

　　Chu Li approached her, the eight guardsmen positioned themselves in front of Yang Xu, glaring at him with blades at the ready.

　　Yang Xu hurriedly said, “He’s one of us!”

　　The eight guardsmen took a step back, Yang Xu approached Chu Li. “Chief, there’s a letter here for you!”

　　She took out the letter from her sleeve and presented it to Chu Li with both hands.