A bright moon hung in the sky, its moonbeam cool and refreshing.
Chu Li sat on a small boat, as the moonlight shone onto the glittering surface of the lake. Xue Ling was sat on the other end of the boat.
Chu Li was sat cross-legged with a guzheng on his lap. Beside him, a white jade cup, filled with golden-yellow fine wine, rocked gently with the movements of the boat.
"Cong Cong..." Chu Li plucked the strings on the guzheng.
Xue Ling's thin eyebrows immediately furrowed, and she revealed an embarrassed expression.
Chu Li's guzheng was ear-piercing; the sound was not in tune at all. It was obvious that he did not receive professional training on playing the guzheng, and he just played it blindly on his own instead.
However, Chu Li was enjoying himself. He had learned calligraphy and painting when he was still in the temple, but he had never learned to play the guzheng. When he saw Xiao Qi playing guzheng during the day, he developed a sudden interest to play guzheng. In such a beautiful setting — the moonlight, the lake, beautiful people, and good wine — playing the guzheng would be so elegant.
It was a pity that no matter how talented he was, he would not be able to produce a beautiful tune from the guzheng, because the sound he played was too ear-piercing and unbearable to listen to.
Chu Li revealed smiled as he found it very interesting.
Xue Ling, on the other hand, felt that his guzheng was a fly in the ointment, she could hardly endure any more of the noise. So she rapidly stood up and said, "Master, allow me to play it!"
Chu Li lifted his head and smiled. "You're familiar with playing the guzheng?"
"I know a little."
"Very well, go ahead." Chu Li gave the guzheng a light push and it was as if an invisible hand was holding it, it floated away until it slowly descended in front of Xue Ling.
When Xue Ling stretched out her hands to receive it, she let out a long sigh of relief. Her ears finally did not have to suffer!
"What song would Master like to hear?"
"A song that fits the current beauty situation will be fine." Chu Li smiled lazily and looked up at the night sky. The night was tranquil and the surroundings were quiet. Moreover, although the Jade Guardian Island was ablaze with lights, it was very quiet here.
He had come here to adjust his mood so that he could deal with the killing intent created by Sentient Menace. Adjusting one's mood was like adjusting the strings on the guzheng, the balance of elasticity must be just right.
As the sound of guzheng echoed in the quiet night, it traveled along the surface of the lake and over into the distance.
Even though the Protectors of the Jade Guardian Island heard the sound of the guzheng, they did not complain. After all, Chu Li was the Lady's confidante. As long as he did not go overboard, they would turn a blind eye to his actions and pretended as if they did not see or hear anything. All of them knew about this.
Chu Li closed his eyes and swayed gently to the rhythm of the music. While listening to the music, his soul became lively and relaxed.
In his mind, he visualized the image of the Sun Cultivating White Tiger Portrait again. Then, a tiger appeared in his mind as if it jumped out of the void, demonstrating various postures and forms. At the same time, a surge energy from the night sky entered into his body.
While music from the guzheng softly sounded, Xue Ling lowered her head and focused on plucking the guzheng, exposing her snow-white neck.
Chu Li suddenly floated up into the air slowly until he was sitting in the air, a foot away from the ground. There was no wind but he was floating on his own, with his blue robe fluttering.
Although Xue Ling witnessed the strange phenomenon, she was not surprised, simply because she was used to it. Her hands did not stop; they continued to pluck the strings on the guzheng. With the sound of guzheng, Chu Li's blue robe shook vigorously as if it was blown by a fierce wind. Whereas Xue Ling, who sat opposite of him, only felt the gentle night breeze that caressed her face.
After two hours, Xue Ling was still strumming the guzheng gently. She then fixed her eyes on Chu Li, and his face looked so serene. It seemed like he was in deep sleep deeply but in fact, he was sitting cross-legged in the air and this would not work hand in hand with sleeping.
"Hu…" Chu Li suddenly let out a whistle.
His soft whistle traveled outwards, echoing throughout the Public House.
Xue Ling's eyes glinted. She thought she had caught a shadow of a fierce tiger flashed on his body. However, the shadow disappeared after it flashed twice, and it left her wondering if her eyes had tricked her.
When Chu Li opened his eyes, he floated down back onto the boat, where he slowly rehearsed the seventy-two styles of Sentient Menace.
The moment Xue Ling saw him move, she knew that this was a critical moment for him. So although her hands were tired, she still insistent on playing the guzheng.
In the midst of the gentle sound of guzheng, Chu Li rehearsed the moves twice before he slowly ended it.
Suddenly, his body released golden rays of light. Just as suddenly as it appeared, the golden rays retreated back into his body and disappeared, leaving no trace behind. He had resumed the guise of someone who did not know martial arts.
"Xue Ling, thank you." Chu Li sat down with his legs crossed. He then picked up the white jade cup, took a sip of wine and smiled.
The sound of guzheng stopped abruptly and Xue Ling took her hands off the guzheng's strings. Her hands were shaking slightly. "Master, did you cultivate successfully?"
"It went up a level." Chu Li smiled and nodded.
Xue Ling's cold expression broke into a faint smile. "Congratulations, Master!"
"It was thanks to your help… I will help you out tonight." Chu Li grinned.
If it was not for her music that kept his state of mind clear, his Sun Cultivating White Tiger Portrait would not have leveled up when he was cultivating.
As the Sun Cultivating White Tiger Portrait advanced a level, he had achieved the mastery of Sentient Menace's third level without additional effort. Moreover, he had successfully accomplished the training of the muscles and now, he had entered the state of meridian training.
Completing the training of muscles allowed his strength to increase by one fold, making him incredibly strong with infinite strength.
Xue Ling did not utter a word. She just stared at him with curiosity.
"I will give you a hand."
Xue Ling did not quite understand.
"Well… it's almost midnight and you're supposed to train by now, isn't it?"
Xue Ling looked up at the moon. "Then let's go back?"
"We'll do it here." Chu Li stood up and sat down at the center of the boat. He pointed towards his opposite side and said, "Sit there with your back towards me."
Xue Ling was curious but she did not ask further. She pushed the guzheng away as she stood up. Then, she walked to the opposite side of where Chu Li was, turned around and sat down slowly with her back towards him. They were just a foot away.
A faint fragrance assailed his nostrils and her beautiful back entered his view. Chu Li tried to keep his eyes away from her slender waist and round bottom. "I'll assist you in channeling your inner energy, so just relax."
"Okay." Xue Ling was even more curious.
Chu Li put both his palms on her back, and refined the inner energy flow from his palms into her body. As it flowed, it circulated along the route of Crescent Cryptic's heart technique.
However, Xue Ling was genuinely surprised by how she could feel the flow of Chu Li's inner energy.
The inner energy circulated the Crescent Cryptic perfectly although the flow of it was too fast. Not only was it ten times faster than its normal speed, it was much similar to the difference between walking and riding a horse!
In just a short while, her energy center in her abdomen felt sore from being distended.
Hence, Chu Li took his hands away slowly. "Try to practice it once on your own."
Xue Ling channeled her inner energy, and it flowed so smoothly; it was as if she had cultivated it by herself. Very quickly, it had circulated along her meridians once. The progress of her cultivation tonight was worth a month of her self-cultivation!
She turned her head and stared at Chu Li with wide eyes.
As the both of them were within reach of each other, she could feel Chu Li's breath on her face. Yet feeling uneasy about this situation, she jerked away.
She asked hurriedly, "Master, has your inner energy channeling always been this fast?"
"Yes."
"Is this the difference between a genius and a mediocre person?"
"It's more than that." Chu Li giggled. "It's the speed of one's inner energy, the width and tenacity of one's meridians, the capacity of one's energy center, as well as one's comprehension. There are many aspects regarding one's cultivation."
"Lady Xiao Qi told me that my aptitude is mediocre. Is my aptitude really that bad?"
"Lady Xiao Qi would never lie."
"I used to think that I can make it up with hard work, but…" Xue Ling shook her head lightly and her eyes glazed over.
"Working hard is better than not putting in any effort at all."
Xue Ling scoffed, "My cultivation for a month is only worth a day of Master's cultivation. No matter how hard I try…"
She helplessly shook her head, feeling dispirited.
"Your aptitude is average but you have good fate." Chu Li encouraged her. "Because even if you're lazy, I won't help you. That's why it's true that hard work can make up for your lack of talent. So work hard, Xue Ling!"
Xue Ling's mood instantly brightened up, and she pressed her lips together tightly. "I will not give up!"
Later in the evening, Chu Li assisted her with her cultivation.
The cultivation of Crescent Cryptic was difficult. Moreover, because Xue Ling's spiritual force was not strong enough, it was very difficult for her to cultivate. Yet for Chu Li, he had no such problem. Hence, her cultivation progress became exceptionally fast, and it advanced at a tremendous pace.
Other than helping her with her Crescent Cryptic cultivation, Chu Li had also imparted her the Minute Pulse Cleansing Technique to toughen her meridians so that it can withstand Chu Li's powerful inner energy channeling.
Though there were two reasons as to why Chu Li was helping her with the channeling of her inner energy: one was to return the favor for helping him just now; secondly, it was because he wanted to train her. As his maid, it would bring trouble in the future if her martial arts was too weak. Besides, she could only truly help him if her martial arts was strong.
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