White-Robed Chief

The best thing he could do now was merge Maha-Vairocana’s Immobility Scripture into the Omniscient Mirror.

Maha-Vairocana’s Immobility Scripture and the Omniscient Mirror were similar in the sense that both of them required him to be absolutely still in his inner state and maintain a calm mindset in order to observe and deal with everything around him.

While the Omniscient Mirror could not defeat the Divine Light Body, it had many other wonderful functions of its own, so it was much more useful than Maha-Vairocana’s Immobility Scripture.

Therefore, if he managed to integrate the Immobility Scripture into the Omniscient Mirror, it would take the Omniscient Mirror to the next level.

If not, he would not be able to use Maha-Vairocana’s Immobility Scripture while circulating the Omniscient Mirror. Likewise, when circulating Maha-Vairocana’s Immobility Scripture, he would not be able to use the Omniscient Mirror. This would become a great inconvenience.

He had become used to the feeling of having the Omniscient Mirror by his side at all times, which allowed him to constantly observe his surroundings and remain in control of any situation. If he were to suddenly replace it with Maha-Vairocana’s Immobility Scripture, it would feel like he had lost one of his senses. He would feel extremely uncomfortable, and his martial arts might become affected.

Together, they returned to the Tianshu Courtyard in a flash.

Upon arriving at the Tianshu Courtyard, there was a slight change in Chu Li’s expression.

Xiao Shi asked, “What’s wrong?”

Chu Li huffed. “Why is King An back?”

“Is he back?” Xiao Shi looked surprised.

“He probably returned to the residence in secret,” Chu Li muttered. “You should feign ignorance for now.”

Xiao Shi frowned. “What is he planning to do?”

Chu Li shook his head.

Xu Ning was by King An’s side, so he could not read King An’s thoughts.

“Zhu Tianhua, go to the cultivation courtyard and invite Revered Sir Xu Ning over,” Chu Li instructed in a loud voice.

“Understood, Head Chief!” Zhu Tianhua’s voice echoed from a different courtyard.

Following this, the sound of a door opening could be heard as Zhu Tianhua left with vigorous strides.

Chu Li’s Omniscient Mirror zoomed in on Zhu Tianhua and watched him as he arrived in front of the cultivation courtyard and knocked on the door. When no one came to answer the door, he tried to force it open, but found that it was blocked by an invisible force and would not budge.

Zhu Tianhua did not believe in ghosts, so he took a deep breath and warmed up his muscles before pushing the door with all his might.

Chu Li shook his head while smiling to himself.

On the other side of the door, a purple-clothed elderly man was standing a few feet away with his hands behind his back. He was circulating his inner energy beneath his feet to seal off the courtyard’s entrance door; only a person with a higher cultivation level than him would be capable of opening the door.

Chu Li frowned. Aside from this elderly man in purple, there was another old man dressed in purple who stood hidden near King An. Without the Omniscient Mirror, it would have been very hard to notice the man’s presence.

These two old men in purple were clearly top-notch masters whom King An had recently recruited.

At the moment, King An was standing on a small martial arts field in the cultivation courtyard and was turning a deaf ear to the noise outside as his eyes gleamed with determination. His cultivation level had improved way faster than Chu Li expected, and he was currently practicing a fist technique in a slow and patient manner. He seemed to be concentrating fully on his clenched fist.

Xu Ning approached him and said in a low voice, “Your Royal Highness, Head Chief wishes to see me. I’ll be back soon!”

“Be careful.” King An knitted his brows together and exhaled sharply. “As expected, Chu Li has many informants. I can’t believe we’ve already been noticed!”

He had kept his return a secret, so almost no one knew about it. No one had been coming over to the cultivation courtyard either and yet he had been discovered. This showed just how many sets of eyes and ears Chu Li had throughout the residence.

After joining his palms in obeisance and giving him a bow, Xu Ning opened the door and exited the courtyard.

Zhu Tianhua nearly knocked into Xu Ning when the door opened. He hurriedly backed away and put his palms together. “Revered Sir Xu Ning, Chief is asking to see you.”

Xu Ning gestured for him to take the lead.

Zhu Tianhua then led him to the Tianshu Courtyard.

Chu Li took this opportunity to read King An’s mind and learn the identity of the two elderly men.

It turned out that these two old men in purple were High Officials of the Imperial House.

This showed that the Emperor had been paying close attention to these princes. Although he had not intervened when he found King An in an unfavorable situation, he had sent these two High Officials with top-notch cultivation levels from the Imperial House to prevent further assassination attempts.

Meanwhile, King An’s reason for returning was to investigate Chu Li.

He had received news that quite a few martial arts masters had entered the Imperial Residence, and apparently, four of them were from Amethyst Mountain. This had caused him to fly into a rage and as he became determined to get to the bottom of this matter.

If there were martial arts masters from Amethyst Mountain about, then the person who had crippled his cultivation would have to be Chu Li!

He had initially suspected this was the case. Since there had never been any enmity between him and Amethyst Mountain, it was truly odd for them to cripple his cultivation so suddenly. He had suspected Chu Li to have been behind the incident but had quickly dismissed the thought.

This was because Meng Jian’s death had caused Chu Li to become a sworn enemy of Amethyst Mountain. Furthermore, Chu Li himself had previously been the target of an assassination attempt by Amethyst Mountain.

He had never imagined that they would ever work together. If this were really the case, the person who had ordered the Amethyst Mountain disciple to cripple his cultivation would have to be Chu Li.

He wanted to seek revenge and did not wish to wait until he had recovered his cultivation to do so!

Since he could not kill Chu Li, he would kill someone Chu Li cared about — his own Princess Consort, Xiao Shi!

Upon discovering this, Chu Li’s eyebrows twitched as an intense murderous intent surged from his heart.

Chu Li would not have felt angry if King An was targeting him, but King An’s target was Xiao Shi. Chu Li was instantly filled immense rage, so much so that he wanted to kill him right there and then.

“Chief, Revered Sir Xu Ning has arrived,” Zhu Tianhua reported from outside the courtyard.

“Revered Sir, please come in,” Chu Li said as he suppressed his murderous desire.

Xu Ning stepped into the Tianshu Courtyard and joined his palms in obeisance. “Chief Chu.”

Chu Li smiled and held up his hand to gesture for Xu Ning to sit down and talk.

Xiao Shi quietly entered the house.

Xu Ning kept his palms joined together. “When did you return?”

Although they were in opposing parties, the two men were not enemies. Since Chu Li had a deep relationship with the Titanium Temple, the two of them were respectful toward each other.

Chu Li replied, “I’ve just returned today. Revered Sir, have you heard of the Mind Illumination Scripture?”

“The Mind Illumination Scripture?” Xu Ning was taken aback. “Do you mean the Holy Church of Light’s Mind Illumination Scripture?”

Chu Li nodded.

Xu Ning said, “I have heard a little about it. The Mind Illumination Scripture’s full name is the Great Mind Illumination Scripture of Wisdom and Enlightenment. Based on what I’ve heard, this scripture came from Outland. By cultivating it to the highest level, one will be able to attain a Deva’s infinite wisdom.”

“Is it similar to having the Eye of Insight?” Chu Li asked.

Xu Ning paused for a moment. “If one can master it perfectly, it’ll be more powerful than the Eye of Insight.”

“Is there any way to taper its powers?” Chu Li asked.

Xu Ning replied, “Maha-Vairocana’s Immobility Scripture.”

Chu Li sighed helplessly and nodded. “Thank you for helping me dispel my doubts.”

“The Mind Illumination Scripture won’t work on you, Chief Chu,” Xu Ning said.

He knew that there was an unusual force in Chu Li’s body shielding him from all divine powers. Since the Mind Illumination Scripture was also a type of divine power, it would not be able to invade Chu Li’s body.

“That’s exactly what I’m worried about,” Chu Li replied with a sigh.

Xu Ning joined his palms in obeisance and said nothing more. Then, he stood up and took his leave.

…

When Chu Li returned to the courtyard in Ben State City of the Li Dynasty, he sat in a daze by the stone table.

In his mind, there was a mirror on the back of the huge Buddha’s head as the Buddha sat cross-legged on the lotus seat with his hands in a mudra. He was chanting Maha-Vairocana’s Immobility Scripture while golden lotuses floated around before dissolving into the Buddha’s body.

He had vaguely found a way to begin merging the two.

However, unfortunately for him, this was merely the preliminary stage of merging. What he aimed to do was to assimilate the Buddha into the round mirror. This would be a slow process since it was not something he could easily accomplish.

Miss Ruolan suddenly came gliding in while carrying a young man in her arms. He seemed to be around Chu Li’s age, but there was a huge gap in their appearances.

Although he was unconscious, he still looked very handsome.

Miss Ruolan soon revived him and then left the courtyard.

The young man slowly came out of the house and sat down in front of Chu Li.

“I’m Bai Qian. What’s your name, brother?”

Chu Li gave him a fist salute. “Zhao Dahe!”

Bai Qian chuckled and said, “Zhao Dahe. What a plain name you have!”

Chu Li laughed. “My father gave me this name. There’s nothing I can do about it. I’m from a small town. Are you from around here?”