White-Robed Chief

Xu Anxia and Zheng Gongming were sitting in the main hall, leisurely enjoying their tea.

Chen Siyu was much different from Xu Zhichun. Her martial arts skill was not notable at all. However, they still needed to prevent masters from ambushing her. Ever since Lady Chen Siyu became the faction leader, they had never left the Xu Residence.

The four main leaders and two guardians decided to not spread the news about the former leader’s death and only told the public about his illness. They had informed the public that he was resting on his bed and that his position had been transferred over to the Lady.

“Uncle Zheng Gongming, can the Lady even be a good faction leader?”

Xu Anxia stood up and paced around the room. It was suffocating for him to keep sitting. The main hall was lit brightly as if it were still daytime.

Zheng Gongming was sitting on an armchair. He stroked his beard and closed his eyes, looking like an old man entering meditation.

“Uncle Zheng Gongming—!” Xu Anxia angrily exclaimed.

“Uncle Zheng Gongming!”

“You, you—”

Zheng Gongming opened his eyes and continued to hold onto his beard as he shook his head.

“We as guardians can’t do much. We’ll just have to fulfill our responsibility! We’re counted as high ranks in the faction, of course we need to care about this!” said Xu Anxia.

Zheng Gongming smiled.

“You’re going way beyond your power then. Our responsibility is just to protect the leaders. We don’t have to care about anything else!”

“I don’t think they have good intentions!” Xu Anxia scoffed.

“All of them are cunning old foxes. Do you think that Lady Chen Siyu can actually win them over?”

“You underestimate Lady Chen Siyu too much!” Zheng Gongming lightly remarked.

Xu Anxia shook his head.

“It doesn’t matter how smart the Lady is, she’s still so young while they have years of experience. Their martial arts foundation is deep too! Even the subordinates listen to them. It would probably just end up being useless even if Lady Chen Siyu tried to speak up!”

“Take it easy. Youth is Lady Chen Siyu’s double-edged sword,” said Zheng Gongming.

Xu Anxia twitched his mouth. “How long do we have to wait? If the leader can’t even boss people around, she might as well not be one!”

Zheng Gongming smiled.

“Faction leaders look grand and are of well-regard from the outside, but deep inside they work their hearts out. Not one of them is excused from this task. Do you think that all faction leaders simply need to have an awe-inspiring presence and then they just live an easy life?”

“Elder Masters have a high prestige, they can’t really do anything.” Xu Anxia twitched his mouth.

“They all think for their own good! It’s too hard for Lady Chen Siyu to actually do anything to them! You can tell me all of this here and it’ll still be fine, but you’re better off not going outside and spouting all this nonsense!” Zheng Gongming said.

“Be careful of the consequences of your words!”

Xu Anxia smiled. “I’m not dumb. I’ll only whine in front of you!”

“It’s simple. Our mission is to just protect the leader. Don’t let anyone have a chance of harming them. There’s no need to care about anything or anyone else. You go ahead and concentrate on breaking past the innate mastery boundary, that’s the most important thing for you right now!”

“Got it—” Xu Anxia unwillingly answered.

He felt that he was only one thin slice of paper away from the innate mastery boundary, but was just simply unable to break through. Xu Anxia was very impatient.

“Who’s that!?”

Zheng Gongming suddenly stood up. His lazy attitude seemingly dissipated. He held onto his longsword and quickly glared at the elder that just stepped into the main hall. His face immediately soured, it was the Palm of Mountain’s Split, Zhao Lun!

Zhao Lun had snuck into the main hall without making a sound, and Zheng Gongming did not even realize it! The Light-body Technique of his definitely far exceeded his own level. His skill level was far superior!

“Who are you?” Xu Anxia drew his sword and rushed towards the elder dressed in black.

The elder in black was thin and short. He looked dried and skinny, like a farmer from the rural areas. But the temples on his head were bulging high up, and both of his acute eyes were sharply blinking. His hands were especially large and it was extremely eye-catching.

Zhao Lun’s expression did not change. He simply waved his palm to meet Xu Anxia’s sword.

‘Ding!’

Xu Anxia’s sword dropped onto the floor.

He staggered two steps back. There was already blood in the corner of his mouth. Xu Anxia stared at the elder in black, surprised.

“It’s Zhao Lun, the Palm of Mountain’s Split!”

Zheng Gongming moved in front of Xu Anxia and drew his sword, as he coldly said, “How dare you?!”

The elder in black sneered. “Yes, it’s me, Zhao Lun!”

“Barging into the Xu Residence all by yourself, you have quite the guts!” said Zheng Gongming.

“I’m going to destroy the Xu Family. For those who are smart enough, get out of my way!”

“Such arrogance!”

“Let’s fight!”

Zhao Lun looked at Zheng Gongming with disdain.

Xu Anxia held onto his chest, laying on the floor. His facial complexion was a deathly white. He was badly injured.

Zheng Gongming struck slowly with his blade. He did not seek praise, he only sought to not be blamed.

Zhao Lun waved his palms at him.

Both of Zhao Lun’s hands were like thin fans. They were huge and wide. It looked heavy and rather dumb, but it was actually lightning quick. Every palm of his avoided the tip of the blade and instead hit the spine of the sword. His inner energy rushed into Zheng Gongming’s arms.

Zheng Gongming pulled down his face and struck.

Zhao Lun was as strong as he was made up to be. His inner energy was unique and pure. He was actually unable to dodge it. It felt like needles poking into his energy center, halting the circulation of his inner energy. Zheng Gongming’s swordplay had decreased dramatically in quality.

Xu Anxia utilized the opening when they were fighting to escape. He slowly moved to the main hall and brought out a signal arrow.

‘Boom!’

The signal arrow flew into the sky. It exploded and became a golden longsword. It was bright and eye-catching in the night sky. The whole Town of Cloud’s State could clearly see it.

Xu Anxia let out a long breath and softly fainted on to the ground.

Zheng Gongming felt reenergized immediately. The signal arrow had been loosed. Help was to arrive soon. He only needed to hold on for a few more minutes.

Zhao Lun sneered, he did not care.

He had already investigated the Startling Cloud Faction. There were only four or five innate masters here and their martial arts were not too strong. Zhao Lun had no reason at all to be afraid of them.

The Mountain’s Split he cultivated was extremely strong so it was effortless for him to face an innate master. Zhao Lun had not even lost so far. He was proud and arrogant.

However, he knew that the ones who stand out the most will always be the target of jealousy so he had to be very careful. As soon as any enemies were made, Zhao Lun would kill every single last one of them, all the way to the root to leave no worries. But even after everything, he still could not avoid the tragedy of his son’s death.

If Zhao Lun did not vanquish the Xu Family, his son would not be able to live in peace up in heaven!

‘Bam!’

Zheng Gongming’s chest was struck.

“Ah—!”

He spat out some blood but dared not to step back. He swung his sword to block the Howling Wind and Torrential Rain palm movements. However, Zheng Gongming’s situation was becoming very dire.

“Who is it?!”

A loud yell could be heard. The Thunder Clan’s Leader, Hu Hai, had arrived.

His voice was as loud as thunder. It exploded and echoed in the living room. Zheng Gongming felt even more energized.

“Hu Hai! This guy is a little tough! Let’s take him down together!” He quickly said.

“Okay!” Hu Hai delightfully agreed as he rushed towards Zhao Lun with both his fists clenched as hard as stone. He smashed his fists downwards quickly and with much force.

“Who is this guy?”

“Zhao Lun, the Palm of Mountain’s Split!” Zheng Gongming clenched his teeth as he spoke.

“This old guy!” Hu Hai scoffed and his palm met with Zhao Lun’s.

“Good, this feeling is right on point!”

Zheng Gongming took two steps back and was surprised. Zhao Lun had a reputation true to his strength. His palms were unique and exquisite, Hu Hai was no match for him!

This did not scare him, however. It only made him even more excited instead. It was only interesting and stimulating if the opponent was formidable!

“Haha—! How delightful!”

Zheng Gongming waved his fist and heartily laughed as he continuously engaged with Zhao Lun.

Their fists had already made contact at least ten times in a split second. The sounds of clashing fists echoed through the courtyard.

There was blood coming from the corner of Hu Hai’s mouth. He was hurt, but Zheng Gongming was in far worse condition. The elder’s body was trembling and wavering, he could barely support the movement of his sword. But his perseverance was indeed commendable. He was already at the edge of falling over, but instead kept holding on.

“Elder Hu, Elder Zheng, here I am!”

The Clan Leader of the Lightning Clan had arrived. He swung his sword and made an attack.

Zheng Gongming let out a long breath and sat down on the floor, looking completely exhausted and lacking in energy.

“Zhao Lun?”

The Clan Leader of the Hurricane Clan and the Nebula Clan both reached the area. They swung their knives and joined the fight.

The four main clan leaders surrounded and attacked Zhao Lun with two knives, one sword, and fists. Zhao Lun realized that the situation was not looking good for him, but he did not want to retreat at all. Instead, his courage only grew as the fight progressed. Both his hands were like millstones protecting his whole body.

“I can’t go on for any longer! I’ll retreat!” Hu Hai called out and dropped flat on to the floor. He spat out some blood, illustrating just how badly injured he was.

Xu Anxia knew that he was of not much use. He quickly gave Zheng Gongming some medication and Hu Hai some drugs.

Hu Hai opened his blood-soaked mouth, tossed the drug into his mouth and chewed as hard as he could while he closely observed the fight.

The main hall was lit brightly as if it was still daytime. There were two knives and a longsword clashing with a pair of bare hands, but they were unable to forge an advantage.

Hu Hai’s mouth was filled with a fountain of blood, but he swallowed it back. He looked over to Zheng Gongming.

“Elder Zheng, this is bad. Take the faction leader and leave!”

“L-leave?”

Zheng Gongming shook his head and bitterly smiled. “I can’t even move anymore.”

“Young Xu, you go find Lady Chen Siyu.. and hide for a bit!” Hu Hai pointed at Xu Anxia.

Xu Anxia hesitated. “Clan Leader Hu, are we not going to win?”

“This old man is formidable!” Hu Hai shook his head.

“Elder Ho and the rest can only stop him for a while. They can’t hold on for much longer, quickly find Lady Chen Siyu and get out of here!”

“… Understood.” Xu Anxia clenched his teeth and left.

Chu Li and Chen Siyu were both enjoying the beauty of the moon out in the flower garden.

‘Boom!’

The signal arrow exploded in the sky, illuminating a golden sword.

Chen Siyu’s expression immediately changed.

“That’s the emergency rescue signal of the faction! Everyone is not allowed to act on their own accord, and only the Clan Leaders can issue orders and dispatch themselves!”

“It’s Zhao Lun, they can’t stop him!” Chu Li said.

“There’s guardian Xu Anxia and guardian Zheng Gongming,” Chen Siyu furrowed her brows.

“The four main clan leaders went to bury my grandfather. Zhao Lun picked a nice time to strike!”

“Zhao Lun is very formidable!” said Chu Li.

“What should we do now?” Chen Siyu looked at Chu Li.

“Do we leave first?”

“We’ll wait for a little longer.” Chu Li shook his head.

Chen Siyu felt safe as she saw a calm Chu Li.

The flower garden was eerily quiet.

After a moment, Xu Anxia ran over to them with his pale face. There was still blood coming from his mouth.

“Lady Chen Siyu!”

Yue Er followed behind him as she also hurriedly ran towards them.

Chen Siyu calmed him down and slowly asked the question, “Guardian Xu, what is it?”

“Lady Chen Siyu, Zhao Lun is too strong. Guardian Zheng and Clan Leader Hu can only barely stop him! We need to find somewhere to hide!” Xu Anxia quickly said.

He wanted to forcefully pull Chen Siyu away. Xu Anxia needed to make sure they hid from Zhao Lun before he got to them. If they were caught, they would definitely be dead!

Chen Siyu pulled her hand away as she furrowed her brows.

“Guardian Xu, why are you panicking?”

“Lady Chen Siyu, let’s go now, we have no time to waste!” Xu Anxia said hastily.

Chen Siyu’s expression was calm. “Guardian Zheng and the rest can’t hold against him?”

“They can’t!” replied Xu Anxia hurriedly.

“The four Clan Leaders are there, but they can still only last a little longer, just enough time for us to run!”

“They can’t beat him even when it’s five against one?” Chen Siyu asked.

“… YES!”

“Can we actually escape?”

“We have to at least hide for now!” said Xu Anxia.

Chen Siyu shook her head.

“Let’s go and have a look!” Chu Li said.

Chen Siyu saw Chu Li’s calm demeanor. She took a deep breath and decided to take a risk.

“Guardian Xu, lead the way!”

“L-Lady!”

Xu Anxia widened his eyes. He then turned his head and stared at Chu Li.