Now that he made up his mind to go out for his quest, Lu Li set off on preparing. After some a.n.a.lysis with Lu Ling, Lu Li decided that this journey was not too dangerous as long as he could keep it concealed.
The key was not to let the Zhao Family learn about this, or get noticed by others on his way to the Red Stone Mountain.
Lu Li and Lu Ling studied the map in detail and decided to leave the County via the east city gate and take a detour to the Red Stone Mountain.
The Red Stone Mountain was at the southeast of the Ice Abyss. Anyone from the Wu Ling County going to the Ice Abyss usually took the state highway close to the north city gate. Hence, taking the east route would make it less easy for Lu Li to encounter the scouts or warriors of different families.
Because of the Beast Upheaval at the Ice Abyss, the Red Phosphorus Hawks flew about randomly, so there should not be too many of them in the Red Stone Mountain. Suppose many of the Stone Rats also ran off, Lu Li and Liu Yi already ran into some Stone Rats in the cave last time. Therefore, there could be not too many Xuan Beasts on the Red Stone Mountain now.
Lu Li was known among just a handful of people. If Lu Li were to sneak into the Red Stone Mountain in disguise, took a detour on his way back after he stole some eggs of the Red Phosphorus Hawks, he should be safe.
When they sorted these out, Lu Ling started preparing Lu Li"s package. Lu Li once again retreated into his cultivation. He planned to set off when he got a bit stronger after he opened up the 11th energy channel completely.
On the afternoon three days later, Lu Li emerged from his closed-door cultivation. After three whole days of flus.h.i.+ng his energy channel, he finally opened up the 11th.
Lu Ling had already prepared the dried meat, clean water and tent for Lu Li. Instead of leaving immediately, Lu Li waited for the night to fall entirely. He carried his bundle, covered up most of his face with a bamboo hat on his head, and left the Liu Family quietly with Little White. Taking some detour, he went towards the east gate.
Lu Li was very cautious, throwing some zigs and zags here and there. After making sure that n.o.body was following him, he ran towards the east gate. Even though his behavior was kind of strange, he carried the Liu Family Token with him, so he managed to leave the city easily.
However, he underestimated the scouts of the Zhao Family…
Just as Lu Li left the gate, two warriors in plain clothes appeared in the alleyway in the corner. The two were clearly warriors of the Zhao Family. After throwing some looks at the east city gate, they disappeared into the alleyway.
Lu Li did not join the External Clan of the Liu Family which denied him of opportunities to be in contact with the rest of the warriors. He had no idea what the top scouts of each family were capable of.
What he was even less aware of was that the Liu Family and the Zhao Family all had their own spies hidden in each other"s family. Apart from the top cla.s.sic secretes, they basically knew everything about each other.
That being said!
Lu Li had chosen a good time. Now it was late in the night. When the scouts reported the information to the No. 1 young master of the Zhao Family, Zhao Rui, he was dining and wining in the biggest brothel in the Wu Ling County. He sure was not in the mood to hunt down Lu Li.
Of course, he valued Di Ba and Di Huo. After Di Huo joined the Zhao Family, he gained enough resources which would help him to breakthrough to the Spirit Sea Realm soon. He would make a great help for the Zhao Family.
Zhao Rui sent someone to go out of the county to follow Lu Li first after he considered it. The next day, they would leave the county to hunt down Lu Li first thing in the morning. He also sent words to the scouts over at the Frigid Cloud Mountain, asking them to keep an eye on Lu Li"s whereabouts.
As far as Zhao Rui was concerned, Lu Li leaving the Wu Ling County by himself already sealed his fate wherever he went, i.e. dying without a burial place. He, the young master of the Zhao Family, could excuse himself from the Wu Ling County if he could not kill such a n.o.body as Lu Li.
Di Huo was at Zhao Rui"s side now. Di Huo was smiling from ear to ear after he heard the arrangement. He was eager to leave the county with Zhao Rui the next morning and cut Lu Li into pieces.
Stomp, stomp!
On the official highway on the east, Lu Li ran on fast all by himself. He was still very close to the Wu Ling County, so he would still easily encounter warriors of different families. Lu Li figured the further away he was from the county, the safer he would be.
Yet he was worried about it too much. The Beast Upheaval had not been settled down entirely yet, so n.o.body was walking outside the county after dark. In the cold wind, Lu Li walked on for six hours without running into a single person.
"It"s about time now for me to find a place to have some sleep."
It was deep into the night now, and the weather was getting colder. Lu Li turned into a small path in the dim night and found a cave. He took a ragged tent out of the bundle on his back and sunk deeply into sleep while covered in a ragged quilt.
It was common for Lu Li to go into the mountains when he was a kid. He had spent many nights out, so he was sleeping quite comfortably. When he woke up, it was already morning. After he got up, he used a bit water to clean himself and left while eating dried meat.
"Um? Someone here!"
Lu Li could not notice the scouts in the county where it was so noisy. Yet in the wilderness, Lu Li had the sense of smell as good as beasts. He felt something was not right behind him, but he could not see anything.
Lu Li ran into many ambushes of the beasts as he travelled in the mountains for many years. His instinct was very accurate. He was sure that someone was following him on his back.
Lu Li carried on with calmness after he thought about it. After a couple of miles, there appeared a stone hill. Lu Li soon turned and vanished into the stone hill and leaned against the wall. He held his breath, readied the Heaven Kylin Sword in his hand, and prepared to engage at any moment.
As he expected…
After several minutes, very subtle noises of footsteps came up and disappeared at the stone hill. After a dozen breaths" time, two figures finally quietly turned around and went into the stone hill.
"Hoy!"
Lu Li screamed loud like thunder in a sunny day. He wielded his Heaven Kylin Sword and aimed directly at the head of the first person. The young warrior was scared to his bones. Lu Li was too fast, he could not escape. All he did was shouting, "Don"t kill me!"
"Bang!"
Lu Li slightly s.h.i.+fted his sword. He hit the man"s head with the back of his sword and reserved some of his strength. Nonetheless, the person"s head was injured and blood was spilling.
"Swis.h.!.+"
Lu Li did not mind about the first person. He swung his Heaven Kylin Sword, turned half way around, and started attacking the second person.
That person came to his senses, drew his sword out and tried to block it.
How much strength did Lu Li have now? After he consumed the Blood Refinement Pellets, his physical strength had increased to more than 33,000 pounds. When he used his Xuan Energy, it would be at least 40,000 pounds. How could a human being defend against such enormous strength?
"Clank~"
With a depressing sound and some sparkles, the person"s sword was easily knocked off. Lu Li made his move straightforward and broke the person"s shoulder and collarbone. Lu Li kicked at him, and the person was smashed off.
Since Lu Li did not know the ident.i.ty of these two, he did not kill them. He carried the blood-dripping Heaven Kylin Sword and walked towards the two warriors. Pressing his sword against the neck of the second warrior, Lu Li coldly asked, "Who are you? Why are you following me?"
The two warriors did not wear the cyan armor of the Zhao Family but rather regular warrior robes. One of them was bleeding, screaming, and cupping his head in his hands. The other was clenching his teeth while pressing down his shoulder with one hand. He stared at Lu Li but uttered not a single word.
"Hum!"
Lu Li snorted. He lifted his leg and stomped hard on the chest of this man. There was so much strength that probably all his ribs were broken. Blood came out of the corner of his mouth as his face twisted in pain.
Lu Li asked again, "I give you one last chance. If you don"t talk… then die!"
Lu Li saw something in these men"s eyes. They had come with no good intentions. Since they were enemies, Lu Li did not have to show mercy.
"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"
The young warrior under Lu Li"s foot grimaced in pain. "How dare you to hurt us? Our young master is on his way. By then, he will cut you into pieces."
"Young Master?"
Lu Li was confused. When did he offend young masters of big families? He moved his leg away and asked with some fear, "Who is your young master? We don"t have any past hatred. Why does he want to kill me?"
"Hum, hum!"
That person detected the trace of fear in Lu Li and angrily said, "Our young master is Zhao Rui, the No. 1 young master of the Zhao Family. Release us now, or else when our young master comes here, you will die a horrible death."
"Zhao Rui!"
Things were clear now. They were warriors of the Zhao Family. Di Ba was the Patriarch of the External Clan of the Zhao Family. It was most likely that Di Ba asked the Zhao Family to help him revenge. The Zhao Family had sent someone to tail Lu Li, and the young master of the Zhao Family would be here soon. It seemed like the Zhao Family realized that he went out of the county and was ready to kill him.
"Little b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"
Seeing Lu Li had some doubt, the injured man crawled up in difficulty and coldly said to him, "Surrender now and come with me to meet our young master. Or else you will most a.s.suredly die."
"Swish~"
Without out any sign, Lu Li swung his Heaven Kylin Sword and creaked open the man"s head. Then he turned around and killed the other man as well.