Thinking of it, he took a good look at Zhaoying. This was the woman he used to love deeply but became his humiliation, and now he must defeat her to regain his dignity as a man!
He took a deep breath, made up his mind and suddenly jumped a step back.
"Junior Sister Zhao, I am going all in now!"
Zhaoying sheathed her sword. "Brother Zhuo, we should end this here. I am not a match for you. I cannot believe that you have achieved innate mastery!"
"Junior Sister Zhao, you didn't lose just yet!" Zhuo Feiyang said in a menacing tone. "Your Swallow Reversal is indeed skillful, come and show me what you've got!"
He activated his Blazing Sunder.
Immediately, he could feel his blood boiling, as if it was fueled with gasoline and on fire. He felt so hot as if he was burning and was desperate to jump back into the lake.
But after the burning hot an indefinite strength followed closely - powerful and strong.
His eyes were blood red, every inch of his muscles seemed to be jumping. He had a strong urge to kill for bloodshed. Without fulfilling it, he would not be satisfied.
'Tssssk!' He drew his sword and stabbed fast like lightning, emitting a swoosh sound in the process.
Zhaoying swerved to the side to avoid the stab. She was shocked. She did not expect him to be that fast. Seeing his bloodshot eyes, he looked terrifying and demonic, as if he wanted to eat her alive.
Out of self-defense, she drew her sword out from her sheath.
'Bing...' Both blades clashed. Zhaoying felt a strong power surge from her sword, numbing her hand. The sword fell out from her hand, and something sharp poked the tip of her throat. ZS gush of cold air could be felt.
Zhuo Feiyang tilted the tip of the sword from Zhaoying's throat, and sheathed it back into its scabbard. He said lightly, "thank you Junior Sister Zhao, for letting me win."
Zhaoying forced a smile, "I am impressed, Brother Zhuo!"
She fondled her neck, the gush of cold air seemed to still be there as if the sword was still at the tip of her throat. She dare not move.
She had this sudden gut feel, that Zhuo Feiyang actually wanted to kill her but he controlled himself and sheathed his sword. This was not the Zhuo Feiyang whom she knew. The old Zuo Feiyang was selfish and self-centered, but this … was merciless.
Zhuo Feiyang gave a fist salute, "Junior Sister Zhao, we shall chat again next time!"
He turned and strode away. Hopping into the boat, he told Bai Zhijie, "let's go!"
Bai Zhijie paddled and the boat glided back out into the lake.
Zhuo Feiyang sat cross-legged at the front of the boat, meditating. Bai Zhijie noted that his face was blood red in color, and asked softly, "Master, are you alright?"
Zhuo Feiyang responded lightly, "Yes."
Bai Zhijie heaved a sigh of relief, but was secretly worried. His master had been obsessed in his cultivation recently, to the point of locking himself up and cultivating the whole day and refusing to rest. He was concerned that if Zhuo Feiyang did not achieve innate mastery in time, he may be consumed by it.
The boat arrived at the island where Zhuo Feiyang resided. Bai Zhijie slowed the boat and stood quietly, so as to not disturb Zhou Feiyang.
'Ouh!' Zhou Feiyang suddenly spat a mouthful of blood into the water.
The blood dissolved in the water, dying the splash red and slowly diluted to a light color.
"Master...?" Bai Zhijie was shocked.
Zhuo Feiyang's face turned pale, but seemingly felt better after spitting blood. He heaved and wiped his mouth.
He glared at Bai Zhijir, "don't make such a big fuss, I'm fine."
"Understood," Bai Zhijie answered hurriedly.
Zhuo Feiyang reached out his hand and looked at Bai Zhijie impatiently.
"Help me out of the boat! Can you pay more attention, please?!"
Bai Zhijie hurriedly helped him out of the boat. If this was in the past, Zhuo Feiyang would have never allowed people to help him.
Once ashore, Zhuo Feiyang pushed Bai Zhijie away and walked slowly but steadily back to his courtyard. He nodded his head, greeted and smiled politely when he met someone he knew on his way back.
Upon laying down on his bed, Zhuo Feiyang went limped as mud. It was fortunate that he only used one strike with the Blazing Sunder, otherwise, he would not have it that easy.
The Blazing Sunder was indeed tyrannizing. He recalled the sword strike he made and it was truly as fast as lightning. It was infallible! Even Chu Li would not be able to dodge such a lightning strike!
"Hehehe…" Zhou Feiyang laughed aloud.
——
The next evening, Chu Li returned to the East Garden. The plants were a handful to care for there, and if one was careless, something would definitely go wrong. He was worried about Lee Yue, hence he will visit every two days.
Lee Yue and Zhaoying greeted him as soon he came ashore.
Chu Li smiled at Zhaoying, "Junior Sister, did you just come out from seclusion?"
"Brother." Zhaoying was dressed in a lake green robe, looking as lovely and gentle as usual.
Chu Li observed her attractive features and her slender figure. His love for her deepened, but he knew that he should be patient. He smiled at Lee Yue, "Brother Lee, is there another problem?"
"Not the flowers!" Lee Yue waved his hands, replying, "nothing to do with the flowers!"
He handed a fiery red invitation card to Chu Li. "Erm, this, Zhuo Feiyang sent this over!"
Chu Li glanced at it but did not accept the card. "A battle invitation? Silly. Throw it away!"
Lee Yue widened his eyes, "you are not accepting it?"
Chu Li laughed, "of course not! I'm a Scribe, not a Protector!"
"Hoho, you are a wolf in sheep's clothing," Lee Yue laughed while shaking his head towards Chu Li. "Do you really feel that it's decent to not accept the invitation?"
Chu Li was the first Scribe in the Public House to achieve innate mastery.
Chu Li replied, "I don't have the time to play with him, I'm not going to accept it!"
Lee Yue shook his head, sighing, "Zhuo Feiyang is also now Innate Master. He went to the Tower of Ranking this morning, and now he's a rank six Protector!"
Lee Yue shook his head and sighed."He is going to be more arrogant than before, his genius name will be louder now!"
Chu Li smiled, "about him being a genius? He was already loud enough about it before this."
Lee Yue disagreed, "it's different this time, Chu Li. Zhuo Feiyang is now called the best young master in the Public House!"
"Oh…?" Chu Li furrowed his brows and looked at Zhaoying.
"Junior Sister, not even you could take him down?"
Zhaoying shook her head and replied, "Brother, Brother Zhao is now an Innate Master!"
"Aren't you also near innate mastery? Besides, with your swordsmanship, defeating a fresh innate should not be a problem."
Zhaoying pursed her lips, and answered reluctantly, "I was not able to defeat one of his strikes!"
"Interesting, he must have improved tremendously!" Chu Li laughed as he entered the courtyard.
The three of them sat around the stone table. Wisps of white smoke came out from the small furnace made out of red soil as Lee Yue skillfully made tea for all of them.
He served the tea, and asked Chu Li, "come, try and see if the tea I made could surpass that pretty maid of yours?"
"Pretty maid? " Zhaoying looked at Chu Li, puzzled.
Chu Li glared at Lee Yue. He shrugged and kept his mouth shut.
Zhaoying looked at Chu Li. "Who is this pretty maid that Lee Yue was talking about, Brother?"
Chu Li smiled, "don't listen to what he said."
Zhaoying looked towards Lee Yue and snorted, "Brother Lee, are you lying to me?"
Lee Yue quickly shook his hand. "What I said just now wasn't important! Forget about it!"
"Brother Lee…!" Zhaoying stared at him angrily.
Lee Yue explained hurriedly. "Chu Li has a maid, she's pretty…but of course, not as pretty as you are!"
"I should congratulate Brother Chu!" Zhaoying turned to Chu Li with a faint smile. "It must be great to have a pretty maid! Do bring her along next time, I'd like to meet her!"
Chu Li coughed and laughed, "It was arranged by Chief Su. Yes, she's pretty but you are way prettier! Only Lee Yue felt that she was pretty! His tastes sure are different from the norm, right?"
Lee Yue widened his mouth as he was about to deny what Chu Li said about him, but he knew that his mouth had already invited enough disaster. He swallowed his words with resentment.
Zhaoying glared at Chu Li. The more he explained, the surer she was that the maid was a beauty. Especially since she was assigned by Chief Su, the maid was a beauty for sure!
Lee Yue diverted the topic quickly, "Brother, are you sure you want to reject the invitation?"
Chu Li smiled as he shook his head.
"Zhuo Feiyang is going to spread this news all over just to bring down your reputation!"
Chu Li burst out laughing, "I'm just a Scribe."
Lee Yue tilted his head looked at Zhaoying.
Zhaoying remarked, "I agree with Brother, there is no need to accept the invitation."
Lee Yue sighed, and shook his head. "I don't think Zhuo Feiyang will back off that easily! A genius like him will not accept defeat, especially by you, Brother. To him, this is a huge insult and he will definitely find a way to revenge it!"
"Let him be then. I will not accept it regardless," said Chu Li.
Lee Yue added, "Given his character, he will probably do whatever it takes when he's desperate."
Chu Li laughed again. "Well then, if he attacks me, I'll simply remind him of the rules of the Public House."
Zhaoying pondered and thought of something. She furrowed her brows.
Lee Yue could be right. Zhuo Feiyang had always been a genius who was always flattered and admired by everyone. He especially could not accept defeat, and to make matters worse, he was defeated by Chu Li. He would have somehow found a way to force Chu Li to accept his invitation, and he might even do something idiotic for it.
——
The sun set and shined its crimson gold rays onto the surface of the lake.
Bai Zhijie came ashore, pushed the door open to the courtyard and entered it.
Zhuo Feiyang was practicing his swordsmanship. He glanced over at Bai Zhijie without a pause.
"How was it? Did Chu Li accept the invitation?" he asked.
Bai Zhijie shook his head. "Master, Chu Li declined to accept your invitation."
Zhuo Feiyang sneered and laughed in delight. "Hmph. Such a scoundrel. He's afraid of me now! I shouldn't have gone to the Tower of Ranking if I had known earlier!"
Bai Zhijie hesitated, but said nothing.
"What else? Tell me," grunted Zhao Feiyang.
Bai Zhijie looked at him, and murmured, "Miss Zhao also went to the East Garden, will she…?"
"Nonsense!" Zhuo Feiyang stopped him in mid-sentence, his handsome face dark and somber. "Junior Sister Zhao never liked us fighting each other!"
"Yes," Bai Zhijie nodded his head quickly. "Chu Li is shameless. He hid away immediately like a turtle hiding in its shell as soon as he realized how good you are. He is not a man!"
"This bastard is always up to his petty tricks!" Zhuo Feiyang scoffed. "With Junior Sister Zhao there, he still did not accept the invitation. This made him look even less of a man!"
If it was himself, in front of the woman that he loved, he would never back down no matter what. Even if he could not defeat his enemy, he would still charge into battle. This was about a man's bravery and dignity! He will not allow himself to be a coward!
"Master, what should we do now?" Bai Zhijie asked.
"If he really doesn't want to accept the invitation, then there's nothing we can do about it. He doesn't even go to the training halls! He always hides in the East Garden. We can't scold him even if we wanted to!"
"I'll write another letter to tell him off! I don't believe he is able to stand strong!" Zhuo Feiyang scoffed again.
Bai Zhijie smiled. "Alright! I will personally send the letter to him, just to see his expression when he reads it!"
"Such bravery! Aren't you scared that he will take it out on you?"
Bai Zhijie laughed. "That would be great! The Third Lady is known to be strict. Chu Li will not escape punishment even if he is under her!"
Thinking of it, he took a good look at Zhaoying. This was the woman he used to love deeply but became his humiliation, and now he must defeat her to regain his dignity as a man!
He took a deep breath, made up his mind and suddenly jumped a step back.
"Junior Sister Zhao, I am going all in now!"
Zhaoying sheathed her sword. "Brother Zhuo, we should end this here. I am not a match for you. I cannot believe that you have achieved innate mastery!"
"Junior Sister Zhao, you didn't lose just yet!" Zhuo Feiyang said in a menacing tone. "Your Swallow Reversal is indeed skillful, come and show me what you've got!"
He activated his Blazing Sunder.
Immediately, he could feel his blood boiling, as if it was fueled with gasoline and on fire. He felt so hot as if he was burning and was desperate to jump back into the lake.
But after the burning hot an indefinite strength followed closely - powerful and strong.
His eyes were blood red, every inch of his muscles seemed to be jumping. He had a strong urge to kill for bloodshed. Without fulfilling it, he would not be satisfied.
'Tssssk!' He drew his sword and stabbed fast like lightning, emitting a swoosh sound in the process.
Zhaoying swerved to the side to avoid the stab. She was shocked. She did not expect him to be that fast. Seeing his bloodshot eyes, he looked terrifying and demonic, as if he wanted to eat her alive.
Out of self-defense, she drew her sword out from her sheath.
'Bing...' Both blades clashed. Zhaoying felt a strong power surge from her sword, numbing her hand. The sword fell out from her hand, and something sharp poked the tip of her throat. ZS gush of cold air could be felt.
Zhuo Feiyang tilted the tip of the sword from Zhaoying's throat, and sheathed it back into its scabbard. He said lightly, "thank you Junior Sister Zhao, for letting me win."
Zhaoying forced a smile, "I am impressed, Brother Zhuo!"
She fondled her neck, the gush of cold air seemed to still be there as if the sword was still at the tip of her throat. She dare not move.
She had this sudden gut feel, that Zhuo Feiyang actually wanted to kill her but he controlled himself and sheathed his sword. This was not the Zhuo Feiyang whom she knew. The old Zuo Feiyang was selfish and self-centered, but this … was merciless.
Zhuo Feiyang gave a fist salute, "Junior Sister Zhao, we shall chat again next time!"
He turned and strode away. Hopping into the boat, he told Bai Zhijie, "let's go!"
Bai Zhijie paddled and the boat glided back out into the lake.
Zhuo Feiyang sat cross-legged at the front of the boat, meditating. Bai Zhijie noted that his face was blood red in color, and asked softly, "Master, are you alright?"
Zhuo Feiyang responded lightly, "Yes."
Bai Zhijie heaved a sigh of relief, but was secretly worried. His master had been obsessed in his cultivation recently, to the point of locking himself up and cultivating the whole day and refusing to rest. He was concerned that if Zhuo Feiyang did not achieve innate mastery in time, he may be consumed by it.
The boat arrived at the island where Zhuo Feiyang resided. Bai Zhijie slowed the boat and stood quietly, so as to not disturb Zhou Feiyang.
'Ouh!' Zhou Feiyang suddenly spat a mouthful of blood into the water.
The blood dissolved in the water, dying the splash red and slowly diluted to a light color.
"Master...?" Bai Zhijie was shocked.
Zhuo Feiyang's face turned pale, but seemingly felt better after spitting blood. He heaved and wiped his mouth.
He glared at Bai Zhijir, "don't make such a big fuss, I'm fine."
"Understood," Bai Zhijie answered hurriedly.
Zhuo Feiyang reached out his hand and looked at Bai Zhijie impatiently.
"Help me out of the boat! Can you pay more attention, please?!"
Bai Zhijie hurriedly helped him out of the boat. If this was in the past, Zhuo Feiyang would have never allowed people to help him.
Once ashore, Zhuo Feiyang pushed Bai Zhijie away and walked slowly but steadily back to his courtyard. He nodded his head, greeted and smiled politely when he met someone he knew on his way back.
Upon laying down on his bed, Zhuo Feiyang went limped as mud. It was fortunate that he only used one strike with the Blazing Sunder, otherwise, he would not have it that easy.
The Blazing Sunder was indeed tyrannizing. He recalled the sword strike he made and it was truly as fast as lightning. It was infallible! Even Chu Li would not be able to dodge such a lightning strike!
"Hehehe…" Zhou Feiyang laughed aloud.
——
The next evening, Chu Li returned to the East Garden. The plants were a handful to care for there, and if one was careless, something would definitely go wrong. He was worried about Lee Yue, hence he will visit every two days.
Lee Yue and Zhaoying greeted him as soon he came ashore.
Chu Li smiled at Zhaoying, "Junior Sister, did you just come out from seclusion?"
"Brother." Zhaoying was dressed in a lake green robe, looking as lovely and gentle as usual.
Chu Li observed her attractive features and her slender figure. His love for her deepened, but he knew that he should be patient. He smiled at Lee Yue, "Brother Lee, is there another problem?"
"Not the flowers!" Lee Yue waved his hands, replying, "nothing to do with the flowers!"
He handed a fiery red invitation card to Chu Li. "Erm, this, Zhuo Feiyang sent this over!"
Chu Li glanced at it but did not accept the card. "A battle invitation? Silly. Throw it away!"
Lee Yue widened his eyes, "you are not accepting it?"
Chu Li laughed, "of course not! I'm a Scribe, not a Protector!"
"Hoho, you are a wolf in sheep's clothing," Lee Yue laughed while shaking his head towards Chu Li. "Do you really feel that it's decent to not accept the invitation?"
Chu Li was the first Scribe in the Public House to achieve innate mastery.
Chu Li replied, "I don't have the time to play with him, I'm not going to accept it!"
Lee Yue shook his head, sighing, "Zhuo Feiyang is also now Innate Master. He went to the Tower of Ranking this morning, and now he's a rank six Protector!"
Lee Yue shook his head and sighed."He is going to be more arrogant than before, his genius name will be louder now!"
Chu Li smiled, "about him being a genius? He was already loud enough about it before this."
Lee Yue disagreed, "it's different this time, Chu Li. Zhuo Feiyang is now called the best young master in the Public House!"
"Oh…?" Chu Li furrowed his brows and looked at Zhaoying.
"Junior Sister, not even you could take him down?"
Zhaoying shook her head and replied, "Brother, Brother Zhao is now an Innate Master!"
"Aren't you also near innate mastery? Besides, with your swordsmanship, defeating a fresh innate should not be a problem."
Zhaoying pursed her lips, and answered reluctantly, "I was not able to defeat one of his strikes!"
"Interesting, he must have improved tremendously!" Chu Li laughed as he entered the courtyard.
The three of them sat around the stone table. Wisps of white smoke came out from the small furnace made out of red soil as Lee Yue skillfully made tea for all of them.
He served the tea, and asked Chu Li, "come, try and see if the tea I made could surpass that pretty maid of yours?"
"Pretty maid? " Zhaoying looked at Chu Li, puzzled.
Chu Li glared at Lee Yue. He shrugged and kept his mouth shut.
Zhaoying looked at Chu Li. "Who is this pretty maid that Lee Yue was talking about, Brother?"
Chu Li smiled, "don't listen to what he said."
Zhaoying looked towards Lee Yue and snorted, "Brother Lee, are you lying to me?"
Lee Yue quickly shook his hand. "What I said just now wasn't important! Forget about it!"
"Brother Lee…!" Zhaoying stared at him angrily.
Lee Yue explained hurriedly. "Chu Li has a maid, she's pretty…but of course, not as pretty as you are!"
"I should congratulate Brother Chu!" Zhaoying turned to Chu Li with a faint smile. "It must be great to have a pretty maid! Do bring her along next time, I'd like to meet her!"
Chu Li coughed and laughed, "It was arranged by Chief Su. Yes, she's pretty but you are way prettier! Only Lee Yue felt that she was pretty! His tastes sure are different from the norm, right?"
Lee Yue widened his mouth as he was about to deny what Chu Li said about him, but he knew that his mouth had already invited enough disaster. He swallowed his words with resentment.
Zhaoying glared at Chu Li. The more he explained, the surer she was that the maid was a beauty. Especially since she was assigned by Chief Su, the maid was a beauty for sure!
Lee Yue diverted the topic quickly, "Brother, are you sure you want to reject the invitation?"
Chu Li smiled as he shook his head.
"Zhuo Feiyang is going to spread this news all over just to bring down your reputation!"
Chu Li burst out laughing, "I'm just a Scribe."
Lee Yue tilted his head looked at Zhaoying.
Zhaoying remarked, "I agree with Brother, there is no need to accept the invitation."
Lee Yue sighed, and shook his head. "I don't think Zhuo Feiyang will back off that easily! A genius like him will not accept defeat, especially by you, Brother. To him, this is a huge insult and he will definitely find a way to revenge it!"
"Let him be then. I will not accept it regardless," said Chu Li.
Lee Yue added, "Given his character, he will probably do whatever it takes when he's desperate."
Chu Li laughed again. "Well then, if he attacks me, I'll simply remind him of the rules of the Public House."
Zhaoying pondered and thought of something. She furrowed her brows.
Lee Yue could be right. Zhuo Feiyang had always been a genius who was always flattered and admired by everyone. He especially could not accept defeat, and to make matters worse, he was defeated by Chu Li. He would have somehow found a way to force Chu Li to accept his invitation, and he might even do something idiotic for it.
——
The sun set and shined its crimson gold rays onto the surface of the lake.
Bai Zhijie came ashore, pushed the door open to the courtyard and entered it.
Zhuo Feiyang was practicing his swordsmanship. He glanced over at Bai Zhijie without a pause.
"How was it? Did Chu Li accept the invitation?" he asked.
Bai Zhijie shook his head. "Master, Chu Li declined to accept your invitation."
Zhuo Feiyang sneered and laughed in delight. "Hmph. Such a scoundrel. He's afraid of me now! I shouldn't have gone to the Tower of Ranking if I had known earlier!"
Bai Zhijie hesitated, but said nothing.
"What else? Tell me," grunted Zhao Feiyang.
Bai Zhijie looked at him, and murmured, "Miss Zhao also went to the East Garden, will she…?"
"Nonsense!" Zhuo Feiyang stopped him in mid-sentence, his handsome face dark and somber. "Junior Sister Zhao never liked us fighting each other!"
"Yes," Bai Zhijie nodded his head quickly. "Chu Li is shameless. He hid away immediately like a turtle hiding in its shell as soon as he realized how good you are. He is not a man!"
"This bastard is always up to his petty tricks!" Zhuo Feiyang scoffed. "With Junior Sister Zhao there, he still did not accept the invitation. This made him look even less of a man!"
If it was himself, in front of the woman that he loved, he would never back down no matter what. Even if he could not defeat his enemy, he would still charge into battle. This was about a man's bravery and dignity! He will not allow himself to be a coward!
"Master, what should we do now?" Bai Zhijie asked.
"If he really doesn't want to accept the invitation, then there's nothing we can do about it. He doesn't even go to the training halls! He always hides in the East Garden. We can't scold him even if we wanted to!"
"I'll write another letter to tell him off! I don't believe he is able to stand strong!" Zhuo Feiyang scoffed again.
Bai Zhijie smiled. "Alright! I will personally send the letter to him, just to see his expression when he reads it!"
"Such bravery! Aren't you scared that he will take it out on you?"
Bai Zhijie laughed. "That would be great! The Third Lady is known to be strict. Chu Li will not escape punishment even if he is under her!"
