The two rode their horses for four hours, traveling quite far ahead. As they neared the exit to the Mountain of the Raging Tiger, Chu Li reined in his horse.
Zhao Ying was aware of it, and stopped her horse as well. She looked to the front and was alert, as the people in front her did not seem to be normal robbers.
Chu Li looked to the far side and muttered, "We'll have to be careful this time around."
"Allow me, Chu Li." Zhao Ying felt not quite competent enough.
Chu Li shook his head.
Three large bald men walked out slowly. They looked similar to the previous six, middle-aged.
"Who are you people?" Chu Li menacingly asked.
"Do you intend to rob us? In this peaceful world with rules and regulations?"
"Was it the both of you?" A bear-sized man walked closer towards them and stood ten meters away from Chu Li. His gaze was as sharp as the shine from his knife, "Was it the both of you who killed my subordinates?"
"I don't understand," Chu Li shook his head. "Who are your subordinates?"
"Good! Young man, trying to act dumb?" The bald man laughed and glared at Zhao Ying. She felt as if there was a knife pointed directly at her heart. She took a quick breath, controlled her fear, and stared back at the man.
Chu Li furrowed his brows and looked at the man, "What foolishness? I'm already silly. Let's be a little more straightforward, shall we? What do you kind gentlemen plan on doing?"
"It wasn't you guys?" The large man looked at them, top to bottom.
His subordinates would not let go of the beautiful lady in front of them. Looking at the aura of the two, they do not seem to be adept in martial arts. Those who could even kill his subordinates must not have been normal masters. Had he really mistaken them for the killers?
"You muddle-headed goose!" Chu Li said in a breath. He drew his blade, "We know some martial arts! If we really wanted to fight, there'd be a chance of us winning! I'm telling you now though, we have no money on us!"
"Hmm. If that's the case, then leave the lady. You can just go right off," The large man waved off his hand, "Get out of my sight before I get angry!"
Chu Li's expression darkened. He struck with his blade, "No, you guys leave!"
His swordplay was soft and strengthless. He came off as an amateur. Gentle, slow, and did not pose a threat.
In only a few moments, the large man had already been entranced by Zhao Ying' beauty, finding her to be perfect at every angle. She was truly a rare creation of God! He would never let go of her. It would be nice to have her on a bed.
"Watch out, Master!" A loud scream caught his attention. He quickly channeled his inner energy, but he felt a strong pain in his chest. He widened his eyes and glared at Chu Li.
Chu Li pulled out his sword and backed off, leaving the blood to spurt out of him.
The two other men rushed towards Chu Li, two knives striking down, mimicking waterfalls, ferocious and domineering.
Chu Li stepped ahead, and ducked out of the way and curved behind one of the men. In a flash of light, the tip of his sword pierced through one man, he immediately pulled out his sword and struck the heart of the other man before they had a chance to react.
In the blink of an eye, Chu Li had struck three enemies three times, and pierced through all their hearts.
He stopped and used his sword as leverage to maintain stability. His face was as pale as snow.
Zhao Ying was startled as to what happened. Chu Li looked like a demon during his swordplay. It was like flowing light, Zhao Ying felt a chill down her spine. The sword skill she witnessed was completely impossible to defend against.
"Sister Zhao Ying!" Chu Li said as he lightly coughed.
Zhao Ying came to her senses. She quickly went to support Chu Li.
"Brother Chu Li..are you alright?"
She knew that there were consequences to the strikes he made, watching his complexion worsen. Once that sword skill was decided to be used, one had to go all in, and it may even overstretch one's capacity. Zhao Ying exclaimed to herself that she should learn such a move.
Chu Li waved off his hand and refused the offer to help,"A little rest is what I need. It isn't suitable to stay here for too long, we need to go!"
He had underestimated the hegemony of the Infinity Sea of Azure. With three times the power, the pressure that was born by his meridian was nine times, from the usual three! If it were not for the strength of his meridian, he would have most certainly died.
"Understood!" Zhao Ying quickly nodded.
"Stab them!" Chu Li said.
Zhao Ying clenched her teeth and picked up a knife from the floor. She forced her resolute self, and stabbed the men on both sides of their chest, unwilling to behead them. Chu Li did not force her into it but he exclaimed to Zhao Ying as she threw the knife away, "The knife isn't so bad, is it?"
Zhao Ying startled. She was busy panicking the during the confrontation and had not realized that the knife was incredibly sharp.
"Keep it, it's a good one. You can even have a look at the rest!" Chu Li said.
Zhao Ying walked and picked up the two other knives. She swung it at the tree next to her, and she could tell that the knife was unusually sharp. They may not be sharp enough to slice metal like soil, but it was already much sharper than normal knives.
"Let's keep all of them. Let's go," Chu Li nodded,
"Yes!" Zhao Ying nodded.
They cleaned the knives and removed the scabbards before tying them onto the saddle. They continued their journey.
Chu Li sat on his horse motionless. Zhao Ying regularly took quick glances over at Chu Li and his complexion.
"Chu Li, shall we find a place to rest?"
"There's no need. We need to keep moving. We have to leave the boundary of the Raging Tiger."
"Are you hurt?"
"It isn't that bad."
"We are rushing this bad, what if we met another group of robbers again?"
"I will leave it to you, Zhao Ying."
"Me--?" Zhao Ying was startled
"I am so useless!"
She embarrassingly admitted.
Chu Li broke into a smile, "Your rank is still low!"
"But I am a Protector, and you are a Scribe!" Zhao Ying clenched her teeth and said, "I'll take over the next one!"
Chu Li smiled and nodded.
"I shall leave the rest to you, Zhao Ying!"
"Hopefully we don't run into any more of them…" Zhao Ying sighed.
Right as she muttered that, another wave of men came out after 15 minutes of travel.
"Hehehe…" Ten large men laughed as they broke out of the woods and stood in a line, blocking the duo's way.
They were wearing short brown tops. Their hair was messy, and they each held long knives with a fierce look. They glared at Zhao Ying, and looked incredibly eager. It was as if they had won the lottery!
Zhao Ying turned and looked at Chu Li, Chu Li's face was still incredibly pale.
Chu Li smiled in return.
Zhao Ying took a deep breath, pressed on her saddle.
"Hey! What you guys trying to do !"
A topless man lazily walked out and stared at Zhao Ying.
"Haha! Little lady, receive my greetings! Us brothers invite you to pay a little visit to our encampment!"
"Not interested, we're in quite the hurry!" Zhao Ying scolded them.
"Come and experience a luxurious life in our encampment! You'll definitely enjoy it! I promise that you'll never want to leave!" The topless man laughed, "It's even better than the lives of gods!"
Zhao Ying' face soured.
"If you don't plan on leaving, don't blame me for anything that happens." Zhao Ying pretty face went down. "If you are not leaving, don't blame me for being rude!"
"Little lady, we're genuinely sincere!" The large man smiled, "Who's that pretty boy over there?"
"None of your business!" Zhao Ying replied.
"Seems like he's the lover of this little lady. He looks a little sick, and badly hurt! Why don't we bring them to our village? We have doctors there! We can treat him!"
"There's no need!" Zhao Ying disregarded what the man said.
Chu Li shook his head and sighed.
"It's time to take them down. Don't take too long with them."
"Understood!"
"I shall repeat once more, hooligans. Leave, or I will kill you!" Zhao Ying threatened the men.
"Come on then, I'd like to experience your martial arts, little lady!"
The crowd laughed, "Yes! Let's see what this little lady's got!"
Zhao Ying was not completely ignorant, albeit being pure. She understood what they had meant when they said those things. Her beautiful face was gloomy. She drew her sword and engaged the enemy.
The big guy avoided it easily, his huge body was unusually agile.
Zhao Ying put her Swallow Reversal to use, it was light and elegant, but the large man avoided all the attacks easily, without a weapon, even. He was even teasing Zhao Ying during the exchange. Zhao Ying got even more infuriated, and her swordplay was getting fiercer.
Chu Li shook his head and kept silent. These situations would be all treated as experience. She needed to stack them up by herself. If she never started at a disadvantage, she would never learn.
Fifty strikes through and Zhao Ying was getting impatient. She had never thought that the pervert in front of her would be so hard to deal with. She realized that she could not even take him down. She felt hopeless knowing that there were nine more to go.
"Use your wisdom, not your strength."
She heard a whisper from Chu Li.
Zhao Ying understood what he meant. She was unable to mess this up, Chu Li needed to be protected. To make matters worse, he was hurt and unable to fight. If she failed, both of them would die here.
She calmed herself down and thought of an idea.
Her swordplay stabilized and regained its lightweight and fluid movements. Her power was much higher than before.
The large man furrowed his brow. Her blade was hard to face. He never thought that this gentle little lady had such great swordsmanship. It was taking him longer than expected to take her down and this was making him look weak in front of his brothers.
"Brother! Do you need our help!?" The crowd asked the man as they were laughing, "If you can't take her alone, we can help you! We have to take her down!"
The crowd laughed. They were entertained and they made a lot of weird noises.
Chu Li shook his head. These words only served to interrupt one's thoughts. As he witnessed the men be so unrestrained, he believed that they must have committed many crimes in the name of the Raging Tiger.
He took a deep breath and furrowed his brows. He thought if he could eliminate the Raging Tiger, he could stop all the disasters. He should not leave them alone, but he was too weak. It would have been incredibly hard for him to take down the entire village.
"Shut it! All of you! Don't spout nonsense, I can do this myself!" The large man shouted.
"She is quite tough, brother, don't force yourself! Leaving some crumbs for your buddies isn't so bad is it?"
"That's true brother, you can't be taking all the good stuff!"
"It's very rare to have such a pretty lady come by. I've not met one in a long time! My heart is itching, brother! Can't you be any quicker!?"
"Shut the hell up! All of you!" The large man yelled. He switched up his pace, using fiercer strikes compared to before. It looked as if there were palms of metal clashing off against a longsword.
*Clang!* The palm and sword clashed against each other. Zhao Ying' sword was redirected. She was surprised. The huge impact almost disarmed her. This man was brave, he was willing to take on a sword with his bare hands!
The palm and sword continued to clash. Zhao Ying' sword kept being redirected by the man, and the impact was getting stronger and stronger.
Chu Li looked at Zhao Ying as if she was a swallow in a tornado. She would be engulfed at any moment, but she still flew as hard as she could. He nodded to himself. Zhao Ying could truly come to a point where she was not gentle anymore if she was pressured to.
"A—!" The large man screamed in pain. Zhao Ying pulled her sword and stepped back.
In shock, the large man held onto his shoulder and stared at Zhao Ying.
Zhao Ying face looked gloomy, she coldly glared at the line of men behind him. "If you guys don't plan on leaving, he'll feel the consequences!"
"HAHAHA…" The crowd laughed.
"See, brother? Now you're at a disadvantage."
"Told you not to leave the good stuff to yourself. In the end, you still need our help…"
The crowd laughed at him, ignoring Zhao Ying and Chu Li completely.
They had already seen Zhao Ying' skills. One may not be able to take her down alone, but they could beat her if they were to strike together! Chu Li was not even considered a threat since he could not move.
They were imagining how nice it would be to hug such a beautiful lady in their arms. All of them wore smiles.
Zhao Ying stared at the men in disgust and suddenly rushed towards them like a swallow flying elegantly into a crowd. She immediately damaged the two of them. The rest were angry and surrounded her. She was in a dangerous situation and could be taken down at any moment.
The two rode their horses for four hours, traveling quite far ahead. As they neared the exit to the Mountain of the Raging Tiger, Chu Li reined in his horse.
Zhao Ying was aware of it, and stopped her horse as well. She looked to the front and was alert, as the people in front her did not seem to be normal robbers.
Chu Li looked to the far side and muttered, "We'll have to be careful this time around."
"Allow me, Chu Li." Zhao Ying felt not quite competent enough.
Chu Li shook his head.
Three large bald men walked out slowly. They looked similar to the previous six, middle-aged.
"Who are you people?" Chu Li menacingly asked.
"Do you intend to rob us? In this peaceful world with rules and regulations?"
"Was it the both of you?" A bear-sized man walked closer towards them and stood ten meters away from Chu Li. His gaze was as sharp as the shine from his knife, "Was it the both of you who killed my subordinates?"
"I don't understand," Chu Li shook his head. "Who are your subordinates?"
"Good! Young man, trying to act dumb?" The bald man laughed and glared at Zhao Ying. She felt as if there was a knife pointed directly at her heart. She took a quick breath, controlled her fear, and stared back at the man.
Chu Li furrowed his brows and looked at the man, "What foolishness? I'm already silly. Let's be a little more straightforward, shall we? What do you kind gentlemen plan on doing?"
"It wasn't you guys?" The large man looked at them, top to bottom.
His subordinates would not let go of the beautiful lady in front of them. Looking at the aura of the two, they do not seem to be adept in martial arts. Those who could even kill his subordinates must not have been normal masters. Had he really mistaken them for the killers?
"You muddle-headed goose!" Chu Li said in a breath. He drew his blade, "We know some martial arts! If we really wanted to fight, there'd be a chance of us winning! I'm telling you now though, we have no money on us!"
"Hmm. If that's the case, then leave the lady. You can just go right off," The large man waved off his hand, "Get out of my sight before I get angry!"
Chu Li's expression darkened. He struck with his blade, "No, you guys leave!"
His swordplay was soft and strengthless. He came off as an amateur. Gentle, slow, and did not pose a threat.
In only a few moments, the large man had already been entranced by Zhao Ying' beauty, finding her to be perfect at every angle. She was truly a rare creation of God! He would never let go of her. It would be nice to have her on a bed.
"Watch out, Master!" A loud scream caught his attention. He quickly channeled his inner energy, but he felt a strong pain in his chest. He widened his eyes and glared at Chu Li.
Chu Li pulled out his sword and backed off, leaving the blood to spurt out of him.
The two other men rushed towards Chu Li, two knives striking down, mimicking waterfalls, ferocious and domineering.
Chu Li stepped ahead, and ducked out of the way and curved behind one of the men. In a flash of light, the tip of his sword pierced through one man, he immediately pulled out his sword and struck the heart of the other man before they had a chance to react.
In the blink of an eye, Chu Li had struck three enemies three times, and pierced through all their hearts.
He stopped and used his sword as leverage to maintain stability. His face was as pale as snow.
Zhao Ying was startled as to what happened. Chu Li looked like a demon during his swordplay. It was like flowing light, Zhao Ying felt a chill down her spine. The sword skill she witnessed was completely impossible to defend against.
"Sister Zhao Ying!" Chu Li said as he lightly coughed.
Zhao Ying came to her senses. She quickly went to support Chu Li.
"Brother Chu Li..are you alright?"
She knew that there were consequences to the strikes he made, watching his complexion worsen. Once that sword skill was decided to be used, one had to go all in, and it may even overstretch one's capacity. Zhao Ying exclaimed to herself that she should learn such a move.
Chu Li waved off his hand and refused the offer to help,"A little rest is what I need. It isn't suitable to stay here for too long, we need to go!"
He had underestimated the hegemony of the Infinity Sea of Azure. With three times the power, the pressure that was born by his meridian was nine times, from the usual three! If it were not for the strength of his meridian, he would have most certainly died.
"Understood!" Zhao Ying quickly nodded.
"Stab them!" Chu Li said.
Zhao Ying clenched her teeth and picked up a knife from the floor. She forced her resolute self, and stabbed the men on both sides of their chest, unwilling to behead them. Chu Li did not force her into it but he exclaimed to Zhao Ying as she threw the knife away, "The knife isn't so bad, is it?"
Zhao Ying startled. She was busy panicking the during the confrontation and had not realized that the knife was incredibly sharp.
"Keep it, it's a good one. You can even have a look at the rest!" Chu Li said.
Zhao Ying walked and picked up the two other knives. She swung it at the tree next to her, and she could tell that the knife was unusually sharp. They may not be sharp enough to slice metal like soil, but it was already much sharper than normal knives.
"Let's keep all of them. Let's go," Chu Li nodded,
"Yes!" Zhao Ying nodded.
They cleaned the knives and removed the scabbards before tying them onto the saddle. They continued their journey.
Chu Li sat on his horse motionless. Zhao Ying regularly took quick glances over at Chu Li and his complexion.
"Chu Li, shall we find a place to rest?"
"There's no need. We need to keep moving. We have to leave the boundary of the Raging Tiger."
"Are you hurt?"
"It isn't that bad."
"We are rushing this bad, what if we met another group of robbers again?"
"I will leave it to you, Zhao Ying."
"Me--?" Zhao Ying was startled
"I am so useless!"
She embarrassingly admitted.
Chu Li broke into a smile, "Your rank is still low!"
"But I am a Protector, and you are a Scribe!" Zhao Ying clenched her teeth and said, "I'll take over the next one!"
Chu Li smiled and nodded.
"I shall leave the rest to you, Zhao Ying!"
"Hopefully we don't run into any more of them…" Zhao Ying sighed.
Right as she muttered that, another wave of men came out after 15 minutes of travel.
"Hehehe…" Ten large men laughed as they broke out of the woods and stood in a line, blocking the duo's way.
They were wearing short brown tops. Their hair was messy, and they each held long knives with a fierce look. They glared at Zhao Ying, and looked incredibly eager. It was as if they had won the lottery!
Zhao Ying turned and looked at Chu Li, Chu Li's face was still incredibly pale.
Chu Li smiled in return.
Zhao Ying took a deep breath, pressed on her saddle.
"Hey! What you guys trying to do !"
A topless man lazily walked out and stared at Zhao Ying.
"Haha! Little lady, receive my greetings! Us brothers invite you to pay a little visit to our encampment!"
"Not interested, we're in quite the hurry!" Zhao Ying scolded them.
"Come and experience a luxurious life in our encampment! You'll definitely enjoy it! I promise that you'll never want to leave!" The topless man laughed, "It's even better than the lives of gods!"
Zhao Ying' face soured.
"If you don't plan on leaving, don't blame me for anything that happens." Zhao Ying pretty face went down. "If you are not leaving, don't blame me for being rude!"
"Little lady, we're genuinely sincere!" The large man smiled, "Who's that pretty boy over there?"
"None of your business!" Zhao Ying replied.
"Seems like he's the lover of this little lady. He looks a little sick, and badly hurt! Why don't we bring them to our village? We have doctors there! We can treat him!"
"There's no need!" Zhao Ying disregarded what the man said.
Chu Li shook his head and sighed.
"It's time to take them down. Don't take too long with them."
"Understood!"
"I shall repeat once more, hooligans. Leave, or I will kill you!" Zhao Ying threatened the men.
"Come on then, I'd like to experience your martial arts, little lady!"
The crowd laughed, "Yes! Let's see what this little lady's got!"
Zhao Ying was not completely ignorant, albeit being pure. She understood what they had meant when they said those things. Her beautiful face was gloomy. She drew her sword and engaged the enemy.
The big guy avoided it easily, his huge body was unusually agile.
Zhao Ying put her Swallow Reversal to use, it was light and elegant, but the large man avoided all the attacks easily, without a weapon, even. He was even teasing Zhao Ying during the exchange. Zhao Ying got even more infuriated, and her swordplay was getting fiercer.
Chu Li shook his head and kept silent. These situations would be all treated as experience. She needed to stack them up by herself. If she never started at a disadvantage, she would never learn.
Fifty strikes through and Zhao Ying was getting impatient. She had never thought that the pervert in front of her would be so hard to deal with. She realized that she could not even take him down. She felt hopeless knowing that there were nine more to go.
"Use your wisdom, not your strength."
She heard a whisper from Chu Li.
Zhao Ying understood what he meant. She was unable to mess this up, Chu Li needed to be protected. To make matters worse, he was hurt and unable to fight. If she failed, both of them would die here.
She calmed herself down and thought of an idea.
Her swordplay stabilized and regained its lightweight and fluid movements. Her power was much higher than before.
The large man furrowed his brow. Her blade was hard to face. He never thought that this gentle little lady had such great swordsmanship. It was taking him longer than expected to take her down and this was making him look weak in front of his brothers.
"Brother! Do you need our help!?" The crowd asked the man as they were laughing, "If you can't take her alone, we can help you! We have to take her down!"
The crowd laughed. They were entertained and they made a lot of weird noises.
Chu Li shook his head. These words only served to interrupt one's thoughts. As he witnessed the men be so unrestrained, he believed that they must have committed many crimes in the name of the Raging Tiger.
He took a deep breath and furrowed his brows. He thought if he could eliminate the Raging Tiger, he could stop all the disasters. He should not leave them alone, but he was too weak. It would have been incredibly hard for him to take down the entire village.
"Shut it! All of you! Don't spout nonsense, I can do this myself!" The large man shouted.
"She is quite tough, brother, don't force yourself! Leaving some crumbs for your buddies isn't so bad is it?"
"That's true brother, you can't be taking all the good stuff!"
"It's very rare to have such a pretty lady come by. I've not met one in a long time! My heart is itching, brother! Can't you be any quicker!?"
"Shut the hell up! All of you!" The large man yelled. He switched up his pace, using fiercer strikes compared to before. It looked as if there were palms of metal clashing off against a longsword.
*Clang!* The palm and sword clashed against each other. Zhao Ying' sword was redirected. She was surprised. The huge impact almost disarmed her. This man was brave, he was willing to take on a sword with his bare hands!
The palm and sword continued to clash. Zhao Ying' sword kept being redirected by the man, and the impact was getting stronger and stronger.
Chu Li looked at Zhao Ying as if she was a swallow in a tornado. She would be engulfed at any moment, but she still flew as hard as she could. He nodded to himself. Zhao Ying could truly come to a point where she was not gentle anymore if she was pressured to.
"A—!" The large man screamed in pain. Zhao Ying pulled her sword and stepped back.
In shock, the large man held onto his shoulder and stared at Zhao Ying.
Zhao Ying face looked gloomy, she coldly glared at the line of men behind him. "If you guys don't plan on leaving, he'll feel the consequences!"
"HAHAHA…" The crowd laughed.
"See, brother? Now you're at a disadvantage."
"Told you not to leave the good stuff to yourself. In the end, you still need our help…"
The crowd laughed at him, ignoring Zhao Ying and Chu Li completely.
They had already seen Zhao Ying' skills. One may not be able to take her down alone, but they could beat her if they were to strike together! Chu Li was not even considered a threat since he could not move.
They were imagining how nice it would be to hug such a beautiful lady in their arms. All of them wore smiles.
Zhao Ying stared at the men in disgust and suddenly rushed towards them like a swallow flying elegantly into a crowd. She immediately damaged the two of them. The rest were angry and surrounded her. She was in a dangerous situation and could be taken down at any moment.
