Chu Li watched the place with his Omniscient Mirror skill. Ding Weisong looked as feeble as a seventy-year-old man. It seemed that the secret technique had taken a huge toll on him.
He stealthily crept into the boiler room and stood silently beside Cheng Wenhui.
Cheng Wenhui did not notice anything odd, as he continued his cultivation to recuperate his health. He felt exhausted, and his reflexes were badly impaired.
Chu Li reached out his hand to block Cheng Wenhui's temple, but stopped himself after second thoughts. The temple of a body cultivator might differ from that of a martial artist. It was highly probable that his palm strike would not be effective enough, which would then give Cheng Wenhui a chance to forcefully fend him off.
Chu Li let out a cough.
Cheng Wenhui was startled and opened his eyes. Color drained from his face when he saw Chu Li. He got up and prepared to flee.
Chu Li reached out his hand and pressed him down, stopping him, "You've already drained every single ounce of your energy, why bother trying? Let's have a proper talk!"
"What is there to talk about?" Cheng Wenhui seized the opportunity to activate his secret technique. He wanted to strike Chu Li with the element of surprise.
Chu Li asked, "Where did you keep your Art of White Tiger manual?"
"What white tiger?" Cheng Wenhui was taken aback by that, and revealed a puzzled expression, "What are you talking about? What tiger arts?"
Chu Li smiled. For a moment then, he felt impressed by Cheng Wenhui's acting. "Let's change the topic then. I'm sure you have earned a lump sum of money all these years, where did you hide them?"
"What is it that you want?" Cheng Wenhui replied coldly.
Chu Li smiled, "I could imagine that you have kept the bank notes in a secluded place, rigged with your very own traps, rendering access to only yourself, am I right?.... You have earned quite a lot, to not spend them quickly and saving them for the older days, don't you think it's stupid?... Brother Ding, do you really think you could live that long?"
"That's none of your business!" Cheng Wenhui scoffed at him, "What? You want to get your hands on the bank notes?"
Chu Li said, "How about you use them to buy back your life, eh?"
"How much do you want?" Cheng Wenhui jeered at Chu Li.
Chu Li laughed, "To buy the company of a pretty lady from the New Moon Brothel alone would cost nearly ten thousand taels. For a man of your character, you don't go to lowly places like New Moon for girls, right?"
"Just give me a number, how much?" Cheng Wenhui scoffed.
Chu Li thought for a moment, and then reached out his left hand. He said, "Five hundred thousand taels!"
"...Alright, deal!" Cheng Wenhui replied in a low voice.
A wide smile etched out on Chu Li's face, "Well brother Ding, you're quite a generous man!"
Cheng Wenhui reached inside his robe and took out a stack of bank notes. He gave them to Chu Li, "There's a hundred thousand taels in there. Just hold on to it for the time being, I will pay you the rest later on!
Chu Li was just about to reach for the bank notes, when Cheng Wenhui suddenly threw out a palm strike towards him.
Chu Li retreated and dodged it.
Cheng Wenhui retracted his fist, and shook his head, "Remarkable!"
He exhaled disappointingly, knowing that he had blown his one and only chance to take his enemy down. This Chu Li, is indeed a cunning fella!
Chu Li smiled, "Brother Ding, that was not nice at all!"
"Fine, I give up!" Cheng Wenhui sighed, "The bank notes are all yours. After this, I will give you the remaining four hundred thousand taels. I will gather the money as soon as I can."
"When will you be able to give them to me?" Chu Li did not take the bank notes from him, but smiled instead, "I think it's better for you to give them to me once you've collected the whole sum!"
"I won't be able to do that right now." Cheng Wenhui shook his head. "I can't even walk straight right now, and the money can't be retrieved by anybody else!"
This time, his face appeared more yellowish than ever, as if he had just applied some ginger extract.
If he decided to use the hidden technique again, he would be so incredibly worn out that even talking might seem like an impossible task for him.
Chu Li took a glance at the bank notes on Cheng Wenhui's hands, and smiled, "I know there's something on those bank notes, I better not touch them."
Cheng Wenhui forced a smile back, "Nonsense!"
"You've applied poison on the bank notes, anyone who comes in contact would die before they reach seven steps... Brother Ding, tell me, where did you uncover the Art of White Tiger?"
"What is Art of White Tiger?" Cheng Wenhui asked with a doubtful look, "Is that, a martials arts secret technique?"
Chu Li sighed, "Brother Ding, you're forcing my hand. Goodbye then!"
Once he had finished talking, he appeared right behind Ding Weisong in a single blink. His sword gave out a chilly glow and it sliced through his enemy's throat. Ding Weisong succumbed to an instant death.
If it was on another occasion, Cheng Wenhui's body cultivation would have prevented the sword from taking his life so easily. Chu Li had baited him to use his secret technique twice consecutively, resulting in a complete drainage of his strength and powers. At that time, he was weak as a kitten, and stood no chance against Chu Li's sword.
Chu Li exhaled sharply as he pulled out his sword, wiping it on his victim's clothes. He tore off a chunk of Cheng Wenhui's clothing, and used it to wrap around his bank notes. He kept them in his robes, and stealthily left the mansion. He then quickly made his way out of town.
The moonlight was soft, and the night was young.
Chu Li could be seen in the heart of the forest, dashing from one corner to another, just like a shuttling shadow. He was rushing towards the very place Cheng Wenhui had hidden his Art of White Tiger manual.
He had also found out the person who requested Ding Weisong to murder him. It was Feng Shicai, the father of Feng Wen. He was a big name in the martials arts world.
But Chu Li decided not to approach Feng Shicai just yet.
He could imagine the people from the Temple of Tempest waiting for him there, waiting for him to fall into their trap. Besides, it could be a better idea to let Feng Shicai live scot-free for a while. Right now, his priority was to locate the Art of White Tiger manual, and then master the Sentient Menace skill move. With that, he would then be ready to take on his enemies from the Temple of Tempest, and finally take down Feng Shicai.
The Imminent Skyline skill move would drain a huge amount of inner strength but would grant him supernatural speed. He only needed a night's time to cover over a thousand miles. At the end of his journey, he arrived at a mountain.
The sun had just risen, it shined brightly across the landscape. Chu Li stood at the base of the mountain and glanced upwards. All he could see was a snow-covered mountainside. The peak was shrouded by clouds.
Chu Li pulled off his Imminent Skyline move, and before long, he had reached a cavern halfway up the mountainside.
The surroundings were covered in ice. Every step on it felt as hard as rock, it did not feel like soft fluffy snow at all.
A cavern opening was completely covered by ice, looking no different than the ice wall around it. If he had not known the exact location of the cavern earlier, he would have missed it.
He used the force of his palm to break through the thick ice, granting himself passage into the cave opening. He avoided all the booby traps along the way. In the heart of the cave, he came across a rickety stone table. On top of it were white porcelain bowls and plates. There were also leftover crumbs of dried meat and bread.
This was Cheng Wenhui's secret hideout. Besides going downhill for kill missions or odd visits to town to loosen up, he would spend the rest of his time in this place. And that was precisely why nobody could locate him.
There was a wooden box on top of the stone table. Chu Li picked up a shard of ice from outside the cave and pried open the box. He found a yellowing book inside, which looked exactly like the Art of White Tiger manual that Su Ru gave him the other day.
Chu Li used the ice shard and hit hardly at the box, breaking it apart.
He used his sword to pick out the thin book.
The cover wrote, "Art of White Tiger". The four big words were carved in gold and silver ink, and the style of the font looked just like the one he had seen before. It was clearly written by the same author. But what was missing was that it did not specify whether the book was the first or second volume.
Chu Li knew, that Ding Weisong had not realize that what he was cultivating was only a half of the manual. He must have thought that the Art of White Tiger only comprised of six diagrams. But even so, Cheng Wenhui had only managed to imagine one of the diagrams. He was not capable of doing the same for the other five, since it would render him a major headache whenever he tried to.
It was because he did not have enough mindpower. His brain was scorched because he could not withstand the intensity of the tiger's powers. Therefore, he was not able to properly imagine and cultivate it.
Chu Li skimmed through the six diagrams rather quickly, and he was soon immersed in a deep thought. He decided to combine the picturing of both volumes on the spot. All twelve images flashed across his mind, spinning around quicker and quicker. Suddenly, his imagination snapped, all the projected images were gone. His mind was engulfed by darkness.
Chu Li was however very composed, thanks to the help of his Omniscient Mirror. He stayed put and continued the imagining calmly. Even though there was only nothingness in his mind, he did not panic at all.
"Woooo..." A howl was heard.
His whole body shuddered with the loud sound, as a huge wave of energy entered the space from nowhere. The last time, his cultivation had only produced energy surges as tiny as needles. But now, it transformed into a huge wave, cascading into his body. He felt like the force was tearing his muscles apart, shattering his bones into pieces.
The pain overwhelmed him like a huge wave from an ocean. He could not help but shuddered.
The long howl of the tiger shattered the darkness, revealing a bright light in his mind. A white tiger then appeared, its size ten time larger than the previous one he had seen. Its paws were landed in mid-air, its fur standing on their own ends, and vibrated like a strong wind had blew across them.
Dragons with the clouds; tigers with the wind. Now this, is the real white tiger!
The giant tiger imitated each of the acts from the manuals. There were in total twelve actions, and it performed them with a kind of fearsomeness.
The excruciating pain he felt earlier had dissipated. Suddenly, Chu Li's body felt warm, and the energy wave surrounding him turned into spring water, moisturizing his body.
Chu Li opened his eyes and looked at himself. His clothes were drenched wet, and his whole body smelt pungent. It made him feel like puking.
He hurriedly discarded his clothes, and immediately ran outside, rolling himself on the snow on the ground. It left a blackish mark on the snow, as if a layer of diesel had been poured onto it.
Chu Li went back into the cavern and put on some new clothes. He destroyed the secret manual, turning it into ashes. Then, he wrapped the bank notes and made his way downhill.
Chu Li watched the place with his Omniscient Mirror skill. Ding Weisong looked as feeble as a seventy-year-old man. It seemed that the secret technique had taken a huge toll on him.
He stealthily crept into the boiler room and stood silently beside Cheng Wenhui.
Cheng Wenhui did not notice anything odd, as he continued his cultivation to recuperate his health. He felt exhausted, and his reflexes were badly impaired.
Chu Li reached out his hand to block Cheng Wenhui's temple, but stopped himself after second thoughts. The temple of a body cultivator might differ from that of a martial artist. It was highly probable that his palm strike would not be effective enough, which would then give Cheng Wenhui a chance to forcefully fend him off.
Chu Li let out a cough.
Cheng Wenhui was startled and opened his eyes. Color drained from his face when he saw Chu Li. He got up and prepared to flee.
Chu Li reached out his hand and pressed him down, stopping him, "You've already drained every single ounce of your energy, why bother trying? Let's have a proper talk!"
"What is there to talk about?" Cheng Wenhui seized the opportunity to activate his secret technique. He wanted to strike Chu Li with the element of surprise.
Chu Li asked, "Where did you keep your Art of White Tiger manual?"
"What white tiger?" Cheng Wenhui was taken aback by that, and revealed a puzzled expression, "What are you talking about? What tiger arts?"
Chu Li smiled. For a moment then, he felt impressed by Cheng Wenhui's acting. "Let's change the topic then. I'm sure you have earned a lump sum of money all these years, where did you hide them?"
"What is it that you want?" Cheng Wenhui replied coldly.
Chu Li smiled, "I could imagine that you have kept the bank notes in a secluded place, rigged with your very own traps, rendering access to only yourself, am I right?.... You have earned quite a lot, to not spend them quickly and saving them for the older days, don't you think it's stupid?... Brother Ding, do you really think you could live that long?"
"That's none of your business!" Cheng Wenhui scoffed at him, "What? You want to get your hands on the bank notes?"
Chu Li said, "How about you use them to buy back your life, eh?"
"How much do you want?" Cheng Wenhui jeered at Chu Li.
Chu Li laughed, "To buy the company of a pretty lady from the New Moon Brothel alone would cost nearly ten thousand taels. For a man of your character, you don't go to lowly places like New Moon for girls, right?"
"Just give me a number, how much?" Cheng Wenhui scoffed.
Chu Li thought for a moment, and then reached out his left hand. He said, "Five hundred thousand taels!"
"...Alright, deal!" Cheng Wenhui replied in a low voice.
A wide smile etched out on Chu Li's face, "Well brother Ding, you're quite a generous man!"
Cheng Wenhui reached inside his robe and took out a stack of bank notes. He gave them to Chu Li, "There's a hundred thousand taels in there. Just hold on to it for the time being, I will pay you the rest later on!
Chu Li was just about to reach for the bank notes, when Cheng Wenhui suddenly threw out a palm strike towards him.
Chu Li retreated and dodged it.
Cheng Wenhui retracted his fist, and shook his head, "Remarkable!"
He exhaled disappointingly, knowing that he had blown his one and only chance to take his enemy down. This Chu Li, is indeed a cunning fella!
Chu Li smiled, "Brother Ding, that was not nice at all!"
"Fine, I give up!" Cheng Wenhui sighed, "The bank notes are all yours. After this, I will give you the remaining four hundred thousand taels. I will gather the money as soon as I can."
"When will you be able to give them to me?" Chu Li did not take the bank notes from him, but smiled instead, "I think it's better for you to give them to me once you've collected the whole sum!"
"I won't be able to do that right now." Cheng Wenhui shook his head. "I can't even walk straight right now, and the money can't be retrieved by anybody else!"
This time, his face appeared more yellowish than ever, as if he had just applied some ginger extract.
If he decided to use the hidden technique again, he would be so incredibly worn out that even talking might seem like an impossible task for him.
Chu Li took a glance at the bank notes on Cheng Wenhui's hands, and smiled, "I know there's something on those bank notes, I better not touch them."
Cheng Wenhui forced a smile back, "Nonsense!"
"You've applied poison on the bank notes, anyone who comes in contact would die before they reach seven steps... Brother Ding, tell me, where did you uncover the Art of White Tiger?"
"What is Art of White Tiger?" Cheng Wenhui asked with a doubtful look, "Is that, a martials arts secret technique?"
Chu Li sighed, "Brother Ding, you're forcing my hand. Goodbye then!"
Once he had finished talking, he appeared right behind Ding Weisong in a single blink. His sword gave out a chilly glow and it sliced through his enemy's throat. Ding Weisong succumbed to an instant death.
If it was on another occasion, Cheng Wenhui's body cultivation would have prevented the sword from taking his life so easily. Chu Li had baited him to use his secret technique twice consecutively, resulting in a complete drainage of his strength and powers. At that time, he was weak as a kitten, and stood no chance against Chu Li's sword.
Chu Li exhaled sharply as he pulled out his sword, wiping it on his victim's clothes. He tore off a chunk of Cheng Wenhui's clothing, and used it to wrap around his bank notes. He kept them in his robes, and stealthily left the mansion. He then quickly made his way out of town.
The moonlight was soft, and the night was young.
Chu Li could be seen in the heart of the forest, dashing from one corner to another, just like a shuttling shadow. He was rushing towards the very place Cheng Wenhui had hidden his Art of White Tiger manual.
He had also found out the person who requested Ding Weisong to murder him. It was Feng Shicai, the father of Feng Wen. He was a big name in the martials arts world.
But Chu Li decided not to approach Feng Shicai just yet.
He could imagine the people from the Temple of Tempest waiting for him there, waiting for him to fall into their trap. Besides, it could be a better idea to let Feng Shicai live scot-free for a while. Right now, his priority was to locate the Art of White Tiger manual, and then master the Sentient Menace skill move. With that, he would then be ready to take on his enemies from the Temple of Tempest, and finally take down Feng Shicai.
The Imminent Skyline skill move would drain a huge amount of inner strength but would grant him supernatural speed. He only needed a night's time to cover over a thousand miles. At the end of his journey, he arrived at a mountain.
The sun had just risen, it shined brightly across the landscape. Chu Li stood at the base of the mountain and glanced upwards. All he could see was a snow-covered mountainside. The peak was shrouded by clouds.
Chu Li pulled off his Imminent Skyline move, and before long, he had reached a cavern halfway up the mountainside.
The surroundings were covered in ice. Every step on it felt as hard as rock, it did not feel like soft fluffy snow at all.
A cavern opening was completely covered by ice, looking no different than the ice wall around it. If he had not known the exact location of the cavern earlier, he would have missed it.
He used the force of his palm to break through the thick ice, granting himself passage into the cave opening. He avoided all the booby traps along the way. In the heart of the cave, he came across a rickety stone table. On top of it were white porcelain bowls and plates. There were also leftover crumbs of dried meat and bread.
This was Cheng Wenhui's secret hideout. Besides going downhill for kill missions or odd visits to town to loosen up, he would spend the rest of his time in this place. And that was precisely why nobody could locate him.
There was a wooden box on top of the stone table. Chu Li picked up a shard of ice from outside the cave and pried open the box. He found a yellowing book inside, which looked exactly like the Art of White Tiger manual that Su Ru gave him the other day.
Chu Li used the ice shard and hit hardly at the box, breaking it apart.
He used his sword to pick out the thin book.
The cover wrote, "Art of White Tiger". The four big words were carved in gold and silver ink, and the style of the font looked just like the one he had seen before. It was clearly written by the same author. But what was missing was that it did not specify whether the book was the first or second volume.
Chu Li knew, that Ding Weisong had not realize that what he was cultivating was only a half of the manual. He must have thought that the Art of White Tiger only comprised of six diagrams. But even so, Cheng Wenhui had only managed to imagine one of the diagrams. He was not capable of doing the same for the other five, since it would render him a major headache whenever he tried to.
It was because he did not have enough mindpower. His brain was scorched because he could not withstand the intensity of the tiger's powers. Therefore, he was not able to properly imagine and cultivate it.
Chu Li skimmed through the six diagrams rather quickly, and he was soon immersed in a deep thought. He decided to combine the picturing of both volumes on the spot. All twelve images flashed across his mind, spinning around quicker and quicker. Suddenly, his imagination snapped, all the projected images were gone. His mind was engulfed by darkness.
Chu Li was however very composed, thanks to the help of his Omniscient Mirror. He stayed put and continued the imagining calmly. Even though there was only nothingness in his mind, he did not panic at all.
"Woooo..." A howl was heard.
His whole body shuddered with the loud sound, as a huge wave of energy entered the space from nowhere. The last time, his cultivation had only produced energy surges as tiny as needles. But now, it transformed into a huge wave, cascading into his body. He felt like the force was tearing his muscles apart, shattering his bones into pieces.
The pain overwhelmed him like a huge wave from an ocean. He could not help but shuddered.
The long howl of the tiger shattered the darkness, revealing a bright light in his mind. A white tiger then appeared, its size ten time larger than the previous one he had seen. Its paws were landed in mid-air, its fur standing on their own ends, and vibrated like a strong wind had blew across them.
Dragons with the clouds; tigers with the wind. Now this, is the real white tiger!
The giant tiger imitated each of the acts from the manuals. There were in total twelve actions, and it performed them with a kind of fearsomeness.
The excruciating pain he felt earlier had dissipated. Suddenly, Chu Li's body felt warm, and the energy wave surrounding him turned into spring water, moisturizing his body.
Chu Li opened his eyes and looked at himself. His clothes were drenched wet, and his whole body smelt pungent. It made him feel like puking.
He hurriedly discarded his clothes, and immediately ran outside, rolling himself on the snow on the ground. It left a blackish mark on the snow, as if a layer of diesel had been poured onto it.
Chu Li went back into the cavern and put on some new clothes. He destroyed the secret manual, turning it into ashes. Then, he wrapped the bank notes and made his way downhill.
