208 Study

Three days later, Chu Li stood in front of a vast lake, overlooking its entirety.

The mirror-like lake joined the blue sky with white clouds on the horizon, like two mirrors folded together. It was flat and empty. There was nothing else in sight.

He knew that Tai Hua Valley was on this lake.

However, when he looked over the lake, there was nothing above its surface. Could it be that Tai Hua Valley was located underneath the lake?

Chu Li immediately denied that idea.

Mei Aoshuang had extraordinary intuition, she could feel it as soon as he neared. Therefore, he no longer went close to them. Chu Li could come here directly because he saw this lake from He Binghua's mind previously and knew that this was where the Tai Hua Valley was.

The Tai Hua Valley he saw from He Binghua's mind was a waterside pavilion. It was on the lake, not at the bottom of the lake.

This was weird. It could stay hidden on the lake and could not be seen. Could it be a Formation?

Chu Li thought of the "Tian Yan Gou Chen" that he was studying recently.

He could only study it for about two hours a day. After two hours, Xue Ling would come and disturb him, rambling on about the matters in the Public House first, then about the matters in the martial arts world and finally about the matters in the town. She was so well-informed that he was actually marveled.

She was recently learning to dance with Bi Liu. Bi Liu came to the Public House every day.

Bi Liu heard a lot of news in the New Moon Brothel and told Xue Ling when she had nothing else to do. Xue Ling, then, told Chu Li and this coincided with Chu Li's intention.

He let Bi Liu teach her dancing because he also had the intention of letting Bi Liu become his informant.

The Startling Cloud Association was now a large force and they had well-informed sources, but after all, their forces only covered one or two towns and the people they dealt with were mostly from the martial arts world. So, the news they obtained were mostly of the martial arts world.

The New Moon Brothel was different. Those who went to there were either rich or of high status, so their conversations were about the matters of the imperial court or about the infighting between the mayor and the Imperial Inspector.

Chu Li looked over the lake for a while but did not feel Chen Ying's presence, so he might as well stay in the woods by the lake he thought. The surrounding aura gushed into his body, keeping him warm and nourished. He could make use of this free time to calm his mind and analyze the Formations in "Tian Yan Gou Chen".

Tai Hua Valley

On the crystal clear and calm lake, a few towers and waterside pavilions were scattered on the lake, joined together by trestle bridges in the middle. A gust of wind blew, creating ripples on the lake and a refreshing air drifted in the air.

Sun Lihua brought Chen Ying to a waterside pavilion and pointed at the horizontal inscribed board. "This Starry Night Waterside Pavilion is now yours."

Chen Ying looked at this waterside pavilion: the windows of all four walls were opened and white chiffon curtains were let down. A gust of wind blew and the curtains fluttered. It actually had a sense of idyllic to it — it was indeed a feast for the eyes.

"Thank you, Sister Sun Lihua."

"Don't be so polite. We are a family from now on." Sun Lihua pulled her into the waterside pavilion and laughed. "Tell me if you have everything you need. You can't go out of the valley for three years — you poor thing."

Chen Ying laughed. "It is quite okay."

"Master Chu Li is really cautious," Sun Lihua said with a smiling face. "Okay, take a rest. I'll come again in the evening to call you for dinner… After dinner, we will watch a contest. Sister He Binghua and Sister Zhu are having a competition."

"Why do they have a contest?"

"To fight for a Taihua Gold Pill," Sun Lihua said. "This time Sister He Binghua went out of the valley with us so it got delayed. Sister Zhu has grown impatient waiting for her."

"Taihua Gold Pill?"

"This is a special medicine of our valley. No matter how severe your injury is, taking this pill will heal it instantly. If you are not injured, taking it will help you enhance your physical constitution. It is worth a few years of painstaking cultivation!"

"How did they end up fighting for it?"

"Valley Leader will take out a Gold Pill every month and then by drawing lots, twenty people were chosen to compete for this Gold Pill." Sun Lihua shook her head. "I was unlucky. I got chosen last month but I lost to Sister Huang in the end."

Chen Ying's bright eyes glinted and she soon understood the wonderfulness of this method and laughed. "What if someone is always not chosen?"

"Those who are chosen twice cannot participate anymore this year. If someone has always not been chosen, she can compete in the last month," Sun Li Hua said. "In short, everyone has a chance. It just depends on your luck and martial arts. For instance, this time Sister He Binghua has bad luck because Sister Zhu is very powerful."

"I see…"

"Sister Chen Ying, you can start participating next month."

"My martial arts is weak. It will be useless even if I'm chosen."

"You can't be sure. Sometimes, if you are lucky, all of those who are chosen have weak martial arts."

Chen Ying shook her head and laughed in spite of herself.

Sun Lihua chatted with her for a while longer and then took her leave.

Chen Ying walked in and out of the pavilion, feeling extremely satisfied after examining her water pavilion carefully.

She was a little unaccustomed to living here alone. She was used to living with the other girls in Chu Li's house. Although there were a few small conflicts between them from time to time, there would always be someone to mediate between them in the end.

Now, living alone in a house felt a little deserted and quiet. Chen Ying really needed some time to adapt.

There was a total of three rooms in the waterside pavilion: a living room in the middle, a bedroom to the east and a study room to the west.

Chen Ying walked into the bedroom, opened the bag on the bed and a dark purple box was revealed.

She opened the box carefully. Inside, there were two jade bottles on top of a stack of paper. Strange blood symbols were drawn on the pieces of paper.

Chen Ying was stunned momentarily and then picked up the letter in a hurry. She closed the purple box and read the letter carefully.

In the letter, Chu Li told her about the usage of these talismans and that the two bottles contained two Taihua Gold Pills and two Spirit Blessing Pills respectively.

The purple box also had a special effect: it could isolate its content from the world's aura so that the blood talismans were suppressed and their power would not dissipate. She could take out a talisman whenever she needed to use it.

A talisman could be maintained for two days and it could help her accelerate her cultivation. When Chen Ying had finished using all the talismans, Chu Li would think of a way to send her more.

The moment Chen Ying opened the purple box, Chu Li, who was sitting in the woods by the lake, felt his heart stir and he knew where the Tai Hua Valley was instantly.

He had already made a boat and was waiting for this moment.

After jumping onto the boat, the small boat shot out like an arrow. In just a short while, the boat had sailed for more than twenty miles and slowly came to a stop.

Chu Li stood on the bow of the boat with a surprised expression, staring at the empty lake.

From his intuition, the Tai Hua Valley was not far in front of him but when his boat got close, he would go beyond that place. He could not get near no matter what.

It was indeed a Formation!

Chu Li never expected the Tai Hua Valley to be shrouded in a Formation. If he wanted to enter the Tai Hua Valley, he would need to break the Formation first. He must master the Formation before he can enter Tai Hua Valley quietly and without being caught by Mei Aoshuang.

It seemed that Tai Hua Valley had something up their sleeves too. Formation was not something that all the sects and factions in the martial arts world had.

Chu Li drove the boat back to the shore and ran all the way back to the Public House rapidly.

Right after he had returned to the Glory's Will Courtyard, he got the news from Xue Ling that Master Xiao Tieying had returned to the Public House and at the same time, the messenger from the Imperial Residence of King An had arrived too. It was truly lively.

Chu Li ignored these and used up all eight bottles of beast blood in one go to draw more than two hundred blood talismans, using a dozen blood talismans in-between the whole process. He was so tired that he became dizzy. The speed of his mental exhaustion was far faster than the replenishment from the blood talismans.

The next day, Su Ru brought over the "Tian Yan Gou Chen". He sat in the pagoda and read it. After reading it for a short while, Chu Li suddenly disappeared into thin air.

Su Ru's bright eyes widened, blinked once and turned to look at Xue Ling.

Xue Ling also widened her eyes in surprise.

"He…" Su Ru stuttered. "What is he trying to do?"

Xue Ling blinked her eyes, smiled and said, "Master might be joking with us."

"He is being shameless!" Su Ru had now completely understood Chu Li's intention. She said with a tinge of anger. "He is being overboard!"

"Chief, Master always act with propriety. Don't worry. Don't worry." Xue Ling quickly pulled Su Ru's hand. "Let's wait and see. Master will come back!"

"Very well, I will wait for him." Su Ru hesitated for a while and scoffed. "Let's see what he wants to do!"

Chu Li brought the "Tian Yan Gou Chen" with him and hid in the woods outside the Glory's Will Formation. He took out fifty plus blood talismans and began to study the Formation.

Studying "Tian Yan Gou Chen" was no different from the academic research in his past life — it was very mentally draining. During this time, the blood talismans played a huge role. It could replenish his mental exhaustion.

He studied it for two days in one go and fathomed the "Tian Yan Gou Chen" completely.