203 Elemental Formation

Chu Li departed the Leisure Cloud Pub, and he made his way down the alley. The alley was quiet; he could clearly hear the sound of his boots as he stepped on the quartzite road.

Halfway into the alley, he caught a whiff of a faint fragrance brushing across him. Then, Chu Li saw Mei Aoshuang land onto the ground in front of him.

Chu Li sighed. "Valley Leader Mei Aoshuang, I will not agree to it even if you kill me. Forget it!"

Mei Aoshuang asked coldly, "Why?"

Chu Li saw how determined she was, so he could only use his last resort. "If it was the Green Deer Cliff, I wouldn't object. But Tai Hua Valley… Hehe."

Mei Aoshuang raised her eyebrows. Her eyes glimmered with a chilly glow.

The aura and energy from the surroundings started to seep into Chu Li's body. He utilized King An's heart technique and condensed his inner energy, making it more pure and compact.

Mei Aoshuang inhaled a breath as she contained her piling anger. "The Green Deer Cliff may be strong, but however strong they can be, they can only turn Chen Ying into a Grandmaster. And it would take a long time for them to get there. I foresee something more than thirty years. But for me, I can turn Chen Ying into a Grandmaster in five years!"

"Five years?" Chu Li frowned.

Mei Aoshuang thought that he did not buy it. So, she scoffed, "The heart techniques of our Tai Hua Valley is mystical. It requires a specific quality in a person. If that quality is complemented by our heart techniques, one would be able to take huge strides of improvements!"

Chu Li nodded as if he finally understood something.

For a person with no foundation of martial arts, it took him one year to achieve Innate Mastery. So, achieving the Grandmaster's boundary within five years was believable.

Not forgetting that Mei Aoshuang was already a Grandmaster at such a young age. Hence, what she said had some logic in it. If not, she would not have begged Chu Li for Chen Ying so meticulously. Based on her character, it was already a miracle that she had talked so much to someone like him.

Mei Aoshuang could see that Chu Li was finally starting to consider, so she began to feel more energized. She continued, "Chen Ying's physical qualities are better than me, so her cultivation will naturally be faster. Five years may be an overestimation for her. If she has a quick understanding of martial arts, I believe that it would only take her three years!"

Chu Li gave her a fist salute. "Valley Leader Mei Aoshuang, I'm terribly sorry. I still can't say yes."

"Why?!" Mei Aoshuang became anxious. She took a step forward. "Five, or even three years is all it takes to become a top-notch Grandmaster. By then, she would have nothing to be afraid of. Don't you think that's a good thing? Why must you entrap and restrict her to become a normal person?"

Chu Li replied, "What's the benefit of becoming a Grandmaster? Can you be truly invincible?"

"Besides an Enlightened Master, who else can be invincible?" Mei Aoshuang scoffed.

Chu Li replied, "So she can't become invincible, then there will still be danger. What's the good in that?"

By having stronger martial art skills did not mean that one would be safer. It was like hiking up a mountain — the scenery at the foothills may be ordinary, but there was no danger. Though as you ascend higher up the mountain, the weather would become more volatile. If then you did slip and fall, it would be the end for you.

Chen Ying had not stepped into the martial arts world, so she was still living a normal life. Moreover, she had the protection of the Public House and she would not be exposed to any sort of danger. Yet once she entered the martial arts world, no matter how strong she might be, there would still be enemies everywhere. Only danger awaits.

However, the most important thing of all was that Chen Ying and the rest of the girls had a shadow of their past in them. Neither one of them would be suitable for cultivation. They would not be able to cope with the demands of breaking through the boundaries of Innate Mastery or Grandmaster's boundary, because that would require a tranquil state of mind.

Their past would be an insurmountable obstacle for them as it would block their path to enlightenment. It was likely that they would not even achieve Innate Mastery after cultivating for a whole lifetime.

The only suitable path for them was the Sun Cultivating White Tiger Portraits.

So long as they could cultivate the Sun Cultivating White Tiger Portraits to the highest level, they would not fear even the strongest of Grandmasters. On top of that, the cultivation of the body was very deceptive as it would not draw unnecessary attention, and they could hit back at crucial moments of danger. It was a one-hit kill.

Chen Ying's physical qualities were only good because she had cultivated the Sun Cultivating White Tiger Portraits. She was the fastest to reach enlightenment amongst all the other girls. Thus, Mei Aoshuang admired her that much.

Yet, of course, Chu Li would not tell all of that to Mei Aoshuang. She may not necessarily believe him, and he was not willing to reveal their dark secrets.

After hearing what Chu Li said, Mei Aoshuang flew off the handle. She could not believe that a man would behave this way. He held a high position in the Public House, but he was so close-minded. How could strong martial arts not allow somebody to lead a carefree life? In fact, one would be more susceptible to attack.

Right there and then, she wanted more than anything to let Chu Li know what the true meaning of being carefree was!

After she was done talking, she threw out a palm strike. Under the orange rays of the setting sun, her hand looked as white as jade. It was almost like it was applied with a layer of rouge.

A turbulent wave of force swarmed at Chu Li's direction as if a giant rock was thrown towards him.

Chu Li had cultivated the heart technique that he got from King An for weeks now. So, his inner energy was exceptionally pure. He stretched out his hand and took in the incoming force by taking a step back sideways.

"Pom!" The quartzite road quivered. The spot where he stomped at appeared dented. The force that he had taken in from his opponent shot down on his body like a jackhammer.

Chu Li blinked away and reappeared behind Aoshuang. He then pressed his palm on her back.

"Pom!" Mei Aoshuang's body shuddered. Along with the dull sound, the invisible block of air that shielded her was immediately struck open with the force of Chu Li's palm strike.

Cold shiver trickled down her spine. Chu Li's speed was too fast and she did not manage to respond in time.

Chu Li took two steps backward, then shook his head and said, "Valley Leader Mei Aoshuang, if I was using a treasure sword just now, I wonder what would've happened to you? I hate to say I told you so, but even a Grandmaster would be exposed to certain danger. Farewell."

After that, in just a blink, he vanished from her sight.

Aoshuang rushed towards where he was standing at, but she could only hit his shadow.

She angrily threw a fist in the air, and she stomped her feet. "Pom!" The quartzite tiles beneath her cracked as the dull sound rang out once more.

She was on the verge of losing her mind.

A Grandmaster like her, losing to a mere Innate Master, how embarrassing was that? She could not believe it. She intended to teach Chu Li a lesson, but the opposite happened.

She was stretched to the breaking point. The fury piled up under her chest and it could not dissipate.

"Chu Li— Chu—!" She gritted hard on her snowy white teeth and stomped on her feet again. Then, she left the place.

…

For two days following that event, Chu Li had stayed inside the Thousand Herbs Garden. He was trying to stay away from Mei Aoshuang.

However, he had also set aside some time to visit his little island.

Under the supervision of Xue Ling, the carpenters worked a hectic schedule. Upon seeing her capability to maintain order among the group of carpenters who would often find excuses to laze around, Chu Li applauded her.

Though Master Xiao never returned. It seemed like he had decided to stay at the Huay Public House, but Xiao Qi did not seem to care at all. However, Chu Li speculated that something was going on between their Public House and the Huay Public House.

It was early morning, and the air was fresh.

Chu Li was amid cultivating the Sentient Menace move when Su Ru paid him a visit. She was dressed in an apricot-yellow gown.

Chu Li retracted his moves and proceeded to join her at the gazebo.

After Xue Ling served them some tea, she stood beside Chu Li.

Su Ru took a small sip of the tea. She smiled and took out a small wooden box from her sleeves before she handed it to Chu Li. "This was borrowed to you by the Lady."

A smile was etched on Chu Li's face. He received it and opened it.

Inside the box was a yellowing notebook laid on a layer of satin. On the cover of the book, it wrote "Natural Laws of Qilin" in a metallic silver ink. The words were carved with such force that it looked as though they were about to break away from the paper.

Su Ru said, "The Lady has ordered me to supervise you on this. She's limiting your study time on this book to a maximum of one hour per day."

Chu Li could not wait to flip over the cover of the book.

"Hey!" Su Ru yelled. "Did you not hear what I just said?!"

Chu Li had his eyes fixed on the book. So, he gave her a half-hearted reply, "I know, I know. One hour per day."

"It seems like the Lady's worries are justified!" Su Ru scoffed.

Chu Li stared at the contents of the book with full focus. It was about elemental formation.

He had read a few elemental formation books before, but the previous ones only wrote about the basics and not the real technique. On the other hand, this book was different. There was an invisible force that blocked his memory — a similar situation to when he first read the Life and Death Scripture a long time ago. It was evident that the book possessed great power.

He was quick to indulge himself in the book as time passed unknowingly.

It felt like only a few minutes had passed when Su Ru patted his shoulder. She gently called out to him, "Chu Li, time's up!"

Chu Li shifted his glance from the book to her. He then stared at her with a dissatisfied look.

Su Ru said, "If you don't stop now, I'll have to tell the Lady!"

"… Fine." Chu Li reluctantly closed the thin book. He sighed. "It's a true eye-opener!"

He felt like the door to this world had been pushed open before his very eyes as the wonders and mysteries of martial arts emerged before him.

In the previous world of his past life, this book would serve no purpose because over there, this kind of power which could allow someone to alter elements did not exist. Shifting the formation would be a waste of time, like a gun without bullets.

However, it was an entirely different case in this world. There were mysterious energies in this world that were strong and endless. Mere mortals would not be able to drive that amount of energy.

It would be as astonishing as controlling a spirit beast. Controlling spirit beasts would garner an immense amount of energy, but not all people would be able to do so.

If it backfired, the huge amount of energy would consume the user and there would be terrifying consequences.

That was the reason as to why out of a hundred people who attempted to learn the elemental formation, ninety or even more would end up dead. Since the beginning of history, the number of people who had successfully driven the powers of elemental formation was extremely rare — almost as rare as the number of Enlightened Masters.

Chu Li had only managed to convince Xiao Qi by telling her that it would help his mission to assassinate King An.

He knew it was impossible for him to step into the boundaries of an Enlightened Master in half a year's time. He did not know when he would go to the Amethyst Mountain. Even if he went there now, it would also take more than half a year for him to become an Enlightened Master.

To become immensely powerful in such a short time frame, his only choice was to learn the elemental formation.

Xiao Qi hesitated at first, but Chu Li's remarkable achievements all these while had convinced her that Chu Li might be able to master the elemental formation.

Although she was confident about it, she remained cautious. She sent Su Ru over to supervise Chu Li, and to make sure he would not study it for more than an hour per day. She had taken the precaution to prevent Chu Li from getting too indulged in the elemental formation because too much of it would drive him crazy.

"Sigh…" Chu Li felt a little melancholy when he returned the book to Su Ru. "Oh, how good it would be if we have the spirit beast's blood."

Studying the elemental formation exhausts a lot of energy. In just an hour, Chu Li's head began to feel heavy. Besides the trauma he had sustained when cultivating the Omniscient Mirror last time, it was the first time he had felt this bad. Even practicing martial arts for 24 hours straight would not feel as bad as this.

If he had the spirit beast's blood, he would be able to inscribe the weird symbols on the Nine Dragon's Tripod Cauldron. With that, he would be granted with an endless amount of energy and it would certainly help with his ordeal.

After that hour of studying, he felt that he had begun to understand the elemental formation. He felt that he was making good progress.

The wisdom from his past life helped him a lot. Knowledge in particle physics had helped him to have a better observation of the world, more thorough than any other typical person. That was why it was easier for him to understand the main concepts of the elemental formation.

"Spirit beast's blood?" Su Ru laughed. "We can't even find a spirit beast, how do we even get its blood?"

Chu Li chuckled. "We don't have the luck of our grand ancestor."

"The blood of a wild beast wouldn't do the trick?" Su Ru asked. "Some rare beasts are quite strong too."

"Wild beasts…" Chu Li pondered. "I think we can try."

"What do you want to do with the blood of a beast?" Su Ru asked. "Don't tell me you want to use it to produce pills?"

Chu Li smiled. "You're close."

"Then, what about wild birds?" Su Ru wondered. "There are several wild birds on White Skull Hill. They have devoured quite a few people. They were planning to have those wild birds killed because once they tasted human flesh, they would yearn for more."

Chu Li turned his head around and replied, "Xue Ling, commission a task to the Martial Arts Hall. Ask them to get me two full bottles of the beasts' blood. I want fresh blood."

"Sure," Xue Ling promised.

Su Ru put the book back into the box, then kept it in her sleeves. "I'll come back tomorrow."

She left the place after she spoke.

When Xue Ling returned, she told Chu Li, "Master, it's been quite a while since I've traveled outside of the Public House. Why don't we go for a stroll?"

In fact, she had received orders from Su Ru to keep Chu Li occupied. She came up with this idea to prevent Chu Li from constantly grinding the elemental formation in his head.

"There's nothing interesting out there," Chu Li said.

Xue Ling bit her red lips and grinned. "Why don't we go to New Moon Brothel?"

Chu Li laughed. "You have quite the courage!"

The New Moon Brothel was Chong Ming Town's first ever brothel. To ensure that Chu Li would stop thinking about the elemental formation, she had to make the sacrifice.

"Do you dare to go there, Master?" Xue Ling scoffed.

Chu Li gave it a serious consideration. He then thought, 'No matter how sneaky Mei Aoshuang was, she would not step foot into the New Moon Brothel.' So, he smiled. "Alright then, I'll accompany you!"