Chapter 223: Grandmaster

　　Chu Li met his gaze and he gradually went into a trance.

　　He was on Jade Island Guardian. As the lake breeze blew gently with a faint floral scent in the air, he and Xiao Qi were sitting in the gazebo.

　　Xiao Qi was dressed in a snow-white clothing; her bright eyes were like autumn water, glistening beautifully while it reflected his figure. At this moment, he had forgotten everything.

　　Chu Li stared blankly at her. There was a strong impulse in him to pull her into his arms.

　　When this impulse emerged, he no longer had his usual restraint. He just reached out his hands and hugged her instead. Instantly, a faint fragrance wafted into his embrace and he could feel a soft, warm body in his arms. Her suet-white jade-like face was in close proximity to him. Her gentle breath was as fresh as an orchid.

　　The moment Chu Li hugged her soft and warm body, it was as if he had attained the world. Ecstasy surged like the billowing tide and swallowed him like a huge wave.

　　He had an intense urge to roar at the sky and sang loudly.

　　He could no longer restrain the strong impulse. So, he lowered his head to kiss her delicate light-pink lips.

　　However, his lips touched something cold — something as cold as ice.

　　Suddenly, the originally soft and warm body became as stiff as stone.

　　He lowered his head and looked carefully. Xiao Qi’s limpid bright eyes were closed, her face was blue, and she had no breath. The body in his arms was just her cold and rigid corpse.

　　His overwhelming sense of ecstasy dispersed all of a sudden. He was now devastated as he performed Eclipse Purloin.

　　Lighting struck as if it wanted to destroy everything.

　　He held Xiao Qi and hid in the Martial Arts Hall. Although the copper tower blocked the lightning, he knew that he could not hide from it forever. The Life and Death Scripture had rescued him previously, so this time, he will not die.

　　However, Xiao Qi did not wake up in his arms, even with Eclipse Purloin. Her delicate body was still stiff, cold, and lifeless.

　　He already knew that Xiao Qi would not wake up. He knew that he had lost her completely.

　　“Ah…” He roared at the sky and flew out of the Martial Arts Hall as he held Xiao Qi. He flew straight into the sky, welcoming the lightning onto him.

　　A thick lightning struck down. Immediately after, the huge word “Zhi”in the sky was reflected in his mind and the scene that was playing in his mind stopped at this moment. Then, his body disappeared instantly.

　　He neither had an end or a beginning, and neither did he think or have any thoughts — he was almost at the stage of attaining eternal nirvana.

　　It seemed like it had been a long time, but it also seemed like it had just been a short while; Chu Li slowly woke up.

　　He was still standing in the void. However, there was no Xiao Qi nor lightning and he was not on the Jade Island Guardian as well. What a dream.

　　At this moment, he was strangely calm. He had no sadness nor joy, no constraints nor attachments. He was light-hearted, carefree, and unrestrained.

　　The giant who was sitting in the void had already closed his eyes as if he had gone into meditation, while he sat there motionlessly.

　　Chu Li suddenly laughed out loud, but his laughter shattered the void in front of him.

　　The giant slowly disintegrated as it turned into numerous words. These strings of words formed into a lightning shape that was made out of the word “Zhi”, and it instantly stuck his forehead.

　　“Bang…” Rays of golden light flashed past his eyes and he went unconscious.

　　When he slowly woke up, he found himself sitting cross-legged on the ice bed, displaying the same posture as the middle-aged man before.

　　He flew down the bed and suddenly paused.

　　The world seemed to have become different all of a sudden. The feeling when he entered the Innate Mastery’s Boundary re-emerged. The shell between him and the world was broken. The world in his body and the world outside his body blended together seamlessly — a complete harmony between man and nature.

　　An epiphany came to him, and he threw out a gentle punch.

　　“Chi!” With a soft howl, the energy from his fist burst out and hit the ice wall next to him, emitting a crisp “Pa” sound. A white imprint then appeared on the ice wall.

　　Aside from the power of this fist, the most important point was that his inner energy could be transmitted out of his body — it was the Grandmaster’s Boundary!

　　He looked down at the crystal-clear waist tag and touched it again. However, he felt nothing. It was just a piece of waist tag made out of an exotic material that felt strangely cold when touched. It felt colder than ice.

　　He had actually stepped into the Grandmaster’s Boundary with this piece of waist tag!

　　There had never been an unexpected event that was more joyous than this!

　　He recalled the scene and looked into his own mind. The giant who was sitting cross-legged appeared in the void of his mind again; it sat there motionlessly as if he would sit there forever.

　　Several heart techniques appeared in Chu Li’s mind.

　　So, he picked a heart technique and read it. The giant slowly opened his eyes, which were calm, with no sadness nor joy in them. He stood up and slowly performed each movement. There was a total of 81 movements, and each incantation was for nine movements.

　　Heavenly Demonic Power.

　　It was different from the orthodox inner energy heart technique. This one cultivated inner energy in the midst of movements. The body moved but the mind was calm.

　　He opened his eyes and moved according to the actions of the giant in his mind. At the same time, he chanted the incantation in his mind. A strange energy entered his body him from the void, and it made him unbearably hot as if he was in a furnace.

　　As he performed the movements without stopping, streams of energy entered his body without a single pause as well. His body became increasingly hotter but he endured the burning pain and did not stop his movements.

　　When he had done 36 moves, even if he had the Omniscient Mirror to suppress his senses, his body stopped by itself and he was covered in sweat. Once his sweat oozed out, it immediately turned into ice. However, black grease was discharged together with the sweat. In just a short while, his whole body was covered with black ice.

　　As he shook his body lightly, the black ice broke.

　　His whole body became so light that he could fly. It seemed that he had become a little lighter. He also experienced a thorough transformation that strengthened his physique significantly.

　　His body and spirit became more in sync. His actions became smoother and a feeling that he would be able to control his own body with ease emerged. He could even control the movements of his hair, as well as the opening and closing of his sweat pores.

　　With a thought, the giant in his mind stretched out his left hand and his palm slowly became bigger.

　　He rehearsed the Heavenly Demonic Power again. Yet, no different than the first time, it was as if he was performing the thirty-six moves in a furnace. It was unbearably painful.

　　When he stopped, he looked down and saw that his left palm was bigger than usual. As expected, he could transform his body as he wished.

　　He tried with his right hand again and it became smaller.

　　His body became retractable and so, he experimented with it excitedly. He could change his height as well as his shape. He could even change his face, but he still could not change subtle details. He could only stretch or shorten it, making it wider or thinner.

　　Changing the shape of his face slightly would change the position of his facial features, so it will be as if he was turning into another person. Even if someone saw him face to face, that person would not recognize him.

　　After several rehearsals of Heavenly Demonic Power, a trace of energy was produced in his body. It was like the inner energy but different from the inner energy. It was erratic and indistinct.

　　The strange thing was that this energy was not in the energy center in his abdomen, but in his heart instead.

　　He pressed the ice table gently. The surface of the table was unaffected but a muffled “Bang” sound could be heard from the ground. Again, it revealed a white imprint.

　　The inner energy of the Heavenly Demon was invisible and adjustable.

　　Shapeless, formless and changed at will — this was the real, supreme Heavenly Demon.

　　His gaze swept across the cave and with a wave of his sleeve, the broken fragments of the black ice on the ground turned into powder and disappeared.

　　Another heart technique appeared in his mind — the Heavenly Demonic Light-body Technique.

　　The energy in his heart circulated the Heavenly Demonic Light-body Technique. His body gradually faded as if he blended in with the air. He was turned into mist and drifted away.

　　…

　　Rising Sun Faction was shrouded in repression.

　　All the disciples talked softly and acted cautiously, for fear that they would cause a big commotion.

　　In the evening, Sun Xiaoyang came out of the main hall and returned to his own house. He let out a long sigh as he threw himself onto his bed. It was as if his whole body had come apart.

　　Master was like a different person. His usual smiling face had turned into a gloomy one and his eyes were frighteningly cold.

　　Standing next to his master, he did not even dare to breathe loudly. His held heart was in his hands the whole day, for fear of angering master.

　　There was no news since master’s senior entered the Formation. Hence, it had left his master in a very bad mood.

　　He was also worried about his master’s senior and brothers. There had been no news for almost a year and he wondered how they were or if they were still alive.

　　Unfortunately, he was incompetent. He had practiced martial arts for more than ten years but he was still in the Acquired Mastery’s Boundary. He was the big brother of the Rising Sun Faction and he had the best talent. So naturally, he had the highest chance to enter the Innate Mastery’s Boundary. However, the result made his master and his master’s senior disappointed. He could not enter Innate Mastery’s Boundary no matter how hard he practiced.

　　The more anxious and hardworking he was, the more he felt that the Innate Mastery’s Boundary was out of reach.

　　Every time he saw the disappointment in his master’s eyes, his heart was as if it was being poked by needles. If he could exchange 50 years of his life to attain Innate Mastery’s Boundary, he would not hesitate to do it. He would do anything as long as it gave him the chance to enter the Innate Mastery’s Boundary.

　　“Sun Xiaoyang?” Suddenly, a voice sounded.

　　Sun Xiaoyang sat up vigorously as he reached out his hand and pulled out his sword. “Who is it?”

　　He saw a blue-robed youth sat at the table, looking stunningly handsome. He was smiling meaningfully at him.

　　“Who are you?” Sun Xiao Yang pointed the longsword at him.

　　Chu Li said plainly, “Do you want to enter the Innate Mastery’s Boundary?”

　　

1. 之 (Chinese pinyin: Zhi) is a word with multiple meanings—a homonym. It can be an auxiliary word with no meaning. It can also mean “of” or as a pronoun “He”, “she”, “it”, and “this”. Apart from that, it may be a verb which corresponds to “go” or “leave”.

　　

2. Referring to his teacher.

　　

3. A form of address for the first disciple of Rising Sun Faction.