Chapter 34: Chapter 34

The monk raised his head and stared at Chu Li as he thrust his palm at Chu Li’s sword while letting out a deep groan.

Chu Li moved his sword and directed the tip of it towards the center of the monk’s palm.

The monk did not stop as he welcomed the tip of the sword with his palm.

“Ding…” In the midst of a clear ring, Chu Li’s sword vibrated at the force as his inner energies seeped through the weapon towards his opponent. However, all seemed to be stopped by an invisible barrier of force. His inner energies could not find a way through into the monk’s veins.

Chu Li was taken aback at sight of this. What an almighty move Sentience Menace was. It was truly astonishing as it could even protect its user from inner energy blows.

Chu Li took a step back and attempted another strike.

“Ding…” The monk deflected the strike with a palm on his chest, the tip of the sword again meeting with the center of his palm.

The monk was stunned himself. Chu Li’s strike went for the exact same spot where he had struck earlier. He was amazed by Chu Li’s deft swordsmanship.

Chu Li affirmed his steps and realigned the inner energy on his sword before striking again. His speed was as fast as lightning.

“Ding…” The monk naturally raised his palm again to protect himself, as he was struck on the same position again.

His palm was beginning to feel numb as his Sentient Menace powers began to give way. His facial expression changed, as he did not dare to let Chu Li strike him again. He moved forward and took the opportunity to attack.

“He!” He let out an anger loaded breath as his palm struck Chu Li. The monk wanted to force his opponent to retreat.

However, Chu Li did not retreat. Instead, he charged forward, which took the monk by surprise. Chu Li swung his sword towards the monk again, this time with a steeper, and a quicker change of pace.

“Ding…” Chu Li struck the same position again.

The monk looked even gloomier now, as he started to fear his opponent. Chu Li’s sword skills were too much to handle. If they carried on like this, it would not be long before his defeat.

He could feel his blood boiling as his Sentient Menace powers began to wane. He changed his tactics, and started dealing blows with his fists instead of palms. He let out a punch. It was as swift as the wind, cruel and heavy.

“Ding…” Chu Li’s sword met with the monk’s knuckles.

Soon after, Chu Li continuously struck with his sword, it was as fast as lightning, and it was a scene to behold.

The monk began to give in, he stopped trying to dodge the sword altogether. When he saw the sword coming, he would block it with either his fist or his palm. He would even use the sleeves of his cloak to defend himself, so long as the sword refrained from striking him in the same position again and again. The soft material of his cloak was turned into a weapon by his swift movements and astonishing strength.

The two battled incessantly, and no one seemed have an edge over the other. The monk could not avoid Chu Li’s sword, and Chu Li could not dissect the powers of his Sentient Menace move. In the blink of an eye, the two had already exchanged over hundreds of blows.

Zhao Ying watched intently as her bright eyes widened. She was amazed by Chu Li’s skills with the sword, but at the same time she could not take her eyes off the old monk’s powerful hits. It was clear that the monk had not wasted his lifetime on nothing, as his martial arts skills were above the rest.

“Bam!” suddenly, there was a dull sound. Out of the blue, Chu Li changed from swinging his sword to throwing a punch, as the two’s fists landed on each other. The dull sound startled them and forced them both to take a step backward away from each other.

Chu Li retreated one step and sheathed his sword. He waved his raw fists and charged towards the monk. Another minute passed as they exchanged another string of hundreds of blows.

The monk’s facial expressions looked abysmal. Never in a thousand years would he expect Chu Li’s inner energy to be of this level. Wave after wave, it seemed like Chu Li had an infinite pool of inner energy.

The Sentient Menace move could block the blows from a sword and a punch, its powers were great. However, its only downside was that it consumed a lot of energy. To keep up with the demands of the technique’s consumption, one had to possess an enormous amount of inner energy to make up for the difference in replenishment and consumption of inner energy.

Even though the monk had an enormous amount of inner energy, he was still afraid that he could not hold on any longer. Especially against an opponent like Chu Li, whose every strike was as fierce as the other. Every blow that Chu Li dealt was accompanied with a great amount of inner energy. It forced him to fully unleash the maximum potential of the Sentient Menace skill move, which in turn cost him more of his inner energy.

After a couple hundred more hits, the monk began to feel exhausted. Ever since he attained Innate Mastery, he rarely felt like this. Usually, it would only take a few quick exchanges with the Sentient Menace before he obilerated his opponents.

“Pom!” it was another dull hit. Their two’s palms met once more. Suddenly, the monk turned around and walked away.

Chu Li spat at him. “Why are you rushing to leave?”

For a person who intended to kill him, Chu Li did not intend to let him off the hook lightly. There would be dire consequences in the future if he were to let this monk go. He focused his inner energy onto his feet and took a few big steps towards the monk’s back. In a split second, the monk turned towards around and threw a fist.

Chu Li had anticipated that hit. He knew that the power of the punch would be huge. It was the Tempest Temple’s very own “Mountain’s Thrust Palm”. A move so deadly it was capable of breaking rocks. When added with inner energy, its powers were as strong as the Infinite Azure Sea move.

He knowingly took a step aside and cleanly dodged the hit before using his momentum to throw a hit at the monk.

“Pom!” the monk almost missed the block, as the two’s palms met with each other again.

He staggered a step behind. Chu Li clearly had no mercy as he immediately threw another punch. The monk could not adjust his stance in time and suffered a direct hit to his chest that forced him to take another step back..

The Sentient Menace move allowed him to absorb the strength of the hit, but it could not do anything about the velocity, which was what forced him to backstep.

Chu Li followed up with another hit, striking the exact same position on his opponent’s chest. The monk made a loud groan as he raised both his fists in the air in a desperate attempt to block. However, it was useless as he had already lost his stance and thus could not dodge Chu Li’s lightning fast hits in time. As he stumbled backwards in response, he suffered another three direct hits from Chu Li.

“Pu!” The monk could not hold on any longer. His mouth involuntarily opened and he spat out a stream of blood.

Chu Li was as calm as the waters. He did not even hesitate before throwing another jab.

“Pom!” another one of those dull sounds. Except this time both the monk and Chu Li took two steps backward simultaneously.

A sly smile was etched out on the monk’s face, as he thought to himself, ‘What about this hit, eh kiddo? No matter what it takes, I will make you pay!’

The monk’s bloody spit earlier was all part of a ruse to let him spring out this surprise strike. He had just surprised Chu Li with another hit of Mountain’s Thrust Palm, and he was certain that the mere flesh on Chu Li’s body was definitely not capable of sustaining this strike.

Chu Li took two steps backward. In the meantime, his foot had dug a footprint that was about 3 inches deep. His inner energies had been channeled in entirety towards the ground.

Apparently, Chu Li had expected the surprise hit too. The block he made with his hand may have looked weak. On the contrary, he had actually absorbed the hit perfectly by directing the force downwards through the sole of his foot.

“You…” the monk looked disappointed. He saw Chu Li’s dug in a foot, and instantly knew that he was in trouble.

“Heh heh…” Chu Li let out a cold laugh as he looked untouched. “Monk, you’ve almost exhausted your Sentient Menace powers, am I right?”

“Amitabha…” For a moment, the monk’s face turned solemn as he held his palms together and muttered a prayer. He breathed sharply and conceded. “Almsgiver, I admit defeat. I will forget everything that happened in the Raging Tiger Troupe’s ravine. We are now even!”

“Then I thank you for that, monk!” Chu Li looked delighted.

The monk put his palms together as he bowed to Chu Li, and left.

Chu Li bolted across and appeared in front of the monk, blocking his way out. “Why are you in such a hurry?”

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“Almsgiver Chu, what do you think you’re doing?” the monk exclaimed.

Chu Li smiled and said, “Whatever it was that you were thinking of doing to me earlier, I intend to do to you.”

“Almsgiver Chu Li, it was just a friendly combat, why ruin the peace?” The monk shook his head and continued, “My Temple and your Federal House have never crossed paths since the beginning of time. Let’s not change that because of today’s encounter, shall we?”

Chu Li shook his head, seemingly disagreeing with him. “You cannot say that, monk. You alone do not represent the entirety of the Tempest Temple, just like how I alone do not represent the Yi Public House as well. This is a personal matter between you and I. Come on monk, let’s finish it!”

“I am not your match.” The monk shook his head and sighed. “Almsgiver Chu you are a gifted fighter, and I am truly impressed. But if you insist on killing me, then I will not stop you, nor will I resist!”

Zhao Ying spoke lightly, “Senior…”

Chu Li glanced at Zhao Ying, and then at the group of girls, then back to the monk. The grin disappeared from his face as he said, “You were a tough opponent, monk!”

The monk smiled, held his palms together and replied, “If that’s the case, I will leave now.”

He turned to face the other direction. Chu Li wanted to stop him in his tracks but was held back by Zhao Ying. “Forget it, senior. Let him go!”

“Sigh…” Chu Li shook his head and let out a long sigh.

“To forgive is divine, right?” Zhao Ying hurriedly added on to what she said, “Plus, the monk was an important figure from the Tempest Temple.”

She knew of the influence of the Tempest Temple as the world’s strongest religious group. They influence on the world was so massive that it was as if they were omnipresent. Even the Public House often had to concede to them by refraining from irritating the temple. If the Tempest Temple had their sights set on Chu Li, it did not matter to them how powerful he was.

Ever since the inception of the Tempest Temple, they had never failed in apprehending and killing a single traitor or fugitive.

Chu Li watched as the monk disappeared from his view. He shook his head and said, “This old monk, he won’t just let anyone off lightly. He won’t give up on me.”

“So what then? It’s not like he could beat you, right senior?” Zhao Ying smiled widely.

She didn’t know that Chu Li’s martial arts were this good. What a maestro he was! This old monk from the Tempest Temple had clearly achieved innate mastery for a long time. He was extremely skilful. Plus, he was tasked to embark on missions outside the temple which meant that the temple trusted him enough to not bring shame to the temple while he was in the outside world. That said, he must have been one of the top figures in the institution, but surprisingly, he could not beat senior Chu Li!

Chu Li sighed. “He would return and cause me havoc, that’s for sure!”

“Senior, if we could avoid killing someone, best we avoid it. Plus, if you had really killed him, it would enrage the Tempest Temple. Once they set their sights on you, can you escape their wrath? Don’t tell me you want to hide in the Public House forever and bore yourself to death?”

“Sometimes, you’ve got to take the kill when you can.” Chu Li shook his head.

He had seen through the heart of the monk. There was not a single sign of gratitude in him. There was only hatred. The old monk tried everything to kill him. If he chose to let him go, he would only be another of his problems. That is why he went for the kill.

“You hear me out, if anyone is from the Tempest Temple, we can’t kill them.” Zhao Ying stressed.

Chu Li knew that Zhao Ying was only worried about him. He smiled. “Alright, I’ll do it for you. I’ll let him go this time!”

“Now that’s the right thing to do!” Zhao Ying grinned cheekily.

The group of girls was divided into two factions. The elder ones chose not to leave the ravine, as they wished to be isolated from the outside world as it was more peaceful and quiet inside. Nobody would be there to judge them for who they were.

The younger ones wanted to leave with Chu Li. After all, they were still young with a drive to explore the world outside instead of just staying in this boring old ravine.

In the end, about fifty of the girls followed them out of the ravine. The remaining hundred stayed behind.

There were horses just outside the ravine, and it was enough for them to ride home. Those who did not know how to ride a horse sat with those who knew. By dusk, they left the area.

Zhao Ying initially wanted to stay the night in the ravine and only leave tomorrow, but Chu Li insisted otherwise.

The group started their journey while it was still dark at night. They moved very slowly with one torch in everyone’s hands.

When it was midnight, they took a respite at a small forest. Chu Li asked them to gather around a tree, forming a giant circle of many rings.

Zhao Ying sat at the outermost ring of the circle, while Chu Li leaped onto the tree.

“Senior, since the Raging Tiger Troupe troupe is now gone, there won’t be any more robberies, right? Zhao Ying leaped onto the tree and stood beside Chu Li. A faint fragrance wandered into Chu Li’s nostrils. “Plus, robbers don’t strike at this hour of the day, right?”

Chu Li shook his head.

“You’re worried about that old monk?”

“Yes.”

“Is he really that evil?”

“If you think that just because they practice the teachings of Buddha, it makes them good men, then you are making a foolish mistake.”

“But someone out of the Tempest Temple can’t be that evil, right?”

“Good and evil, are two extremes of a spectrum.”

“If you’re good you’re good, if you’re evil you’re evil, isn’t it straightforward?”

“If you take the old monk’s perspective, I have murdered someone from his temple, hence he must kill me as retribution. By the name of the Tempest Temple, he would think that he is merely delivering justice. But in our perspective, it is an act of evil.”

“If you put it that way, then of course it’s an act of evil.”

Chu Li shook his head and asked, “…Do you have brothers in your family?”

“Yes, two brothers.”

“Let’s say one of your brothers was disobedient. He attacked your father and escaped from the house. You were in the process of locating him to catch him back, but before you manage to find him, someone else had already killed him. What would you do?”

“…” Zhao Ying gave him the cold eye.

Chu Li laughed. “Well, I was just making an example. But will you take revenge for your brother?”

“Hmph, of course!” Zhao Ying replied angrily.

Chu Li waved one hand in the air, and continued, “Now back to the topic. In our perspective, the monk wants to kill us, so he is a dangerous bad guy. He could even endanger those who are close to us, so that is why I said, we must kill him!”

Zhao Ying creased her eyebrows. She started to feel that the world was more complicated than what she had thought.