Ice Jade

The next time Shen Lian returned to the Qielan mountain, the pair of father-daughter fox deities were gone without a trace; as if they were never once there.

The temple was old and abandoned. It was almost obliterated by cobwebs.

During his last trip, he was not able to tell that the cleaned and neat courtyard was just an illusion. It showed that the old fox's magical power was extremely sophisticated.

Although Shen Lian knew that the pair would have been gone, sooner or later, they would see each other again. Hopefully, by then, he had started his celestial studies.

Mingjian Peak was situated in the northeast region. The distance between the State Capital of Qing and Mingjian Peak was a whopping three thousand miles.

There were no oceans to cross. Shen Lian traveled by land.

Shen Lian stopped by a country called Dawei. The capital city was situated at the north. It had a rich tradition of roaming scholars who came here to study. Shen Lian had a beam belt, a sword across his waist and a clean face. By looks of him, one could tell that he was from a wealthy family.

The only odd thing about him was the absence of entourage.

Shen Lian brought nothing else but a pouch of golden leaves. He was traveling lighter than the so-called backpackers.

With three hundred miles to go, a sudden downpour halted Shen Lian's travel. He did not want to rush the trip so he went and look for a residence to avoid the rain.

The place that Shen Lian found was a manor with three striking characters of "Su Jia Bao", the Su's Fort.

He squinted his eyes as he felt overwhelmed by the three characters. He could not tell if the characters were carved using a knife, stick or sword in one stroke.

It was as natural as floating clouds and water streams.

"This family is probably a Jianghu family," Shen Lian thought to himself. Even if they were not from Jianghu, the person who carved the writings was an inner Qi expert. It was not an easy feat to carve these characters so naturally.

The end of the martial arts road leads to the road to celestial studies.

Shen Lian had this feeling out of a sudden.

Only sensitive people like Shen Lian would be able to feel the flow and beauty of the three characters. If one judged it from a calligraphy point of view, these writings were just average.

Shen Lian entered the hall of Su Jia Bao to find a crowd seeking shelter from the rain.

Rain during spring was cold. The kind-hearted owner lighted the fireplace which brought some warmth to the room.

A group of neatly dressed men had their knives and sword by their side. Their eyebrows oozed a strong masculine aura.

Their leader was probably the man in his late twenties. Although he was surrounded by others in the middle and his figure was not the largest, he was somewhat charismatic. Shen Lian took a glance and could sense his vitality.

There was a fireplace in the hall but when Shen Lian took a seat, he noticed a young man who was like a stove, full of energy and vitality.

It took Ling Chongxiao a lot of practice to suppress his vitality from seeping out in order to look like a normal person. Should his vitality explode, he would still outdo this young man in terms of energy level.

Of course, Ling Chongxiao was of a different level. The young man can be considered as an expert as he can be slightly compared with Ling Chongxiao.

Besides that group of people, there was also a short haired monk.

When Shen Lian noticed him, the monk smiled back without any malicious intention.

There were three other guys whom Shen Lian could not figure out their backgrounds. They were tall and big with fierce faces on.

The three men were eyeing the youth who was surrounded in the middle.

They looked at him with the desire to kill, as if they would take action in any minute.

At the same time, that young man with a cold look was secretly cautious of the three men.

It was as if they were in sync, waiting for something to happen. They were on standby to take action.

The sound of thunder kept ringing from the outside.

A smiling teenager leisurely appeared in the hall.

Although it was really chilly at that moment, the teenager had a folding fan on one hand. He looked charmingly handsome.

In terms of attractiveness, this young lad could match Shen Lian. But this lad had softer features, with a dash of wildness.

When the lad walked in, the three fierce men showed signs of relief.

The three men stood up and the other group of men too, stood up concurrently.

The atmosphere was so tensed that you could cut it with a knife.

The lad pointed at the young man. His fingers were white as jade, you could vaguely see his veins under the firelight. No one would believe this person possessed any lethality.

"So you are Lee Zhuang."

His voice was crisp and clear, just like dew droplets landing on pieces of jade.

"Yes, that would be me. I am Lee Zhuang of Shunfeng Escorts. I do not know who are you but I believed this three men who have been following me up north has something to do with you," Lee Zhuang spoke up in a powerful way. He sure had the charisma of a colonel general.

"How did you know that these three idiots are related to me?" The lad asked in a lazy tone.

The three tall, vicious, and brawny men were hit men known as the Gobi Trio in Jianghu. They were actually first-class outlaws on the run from justice.

The three of them grew up together and were like brothers. They had a special batter technique that very few people could break.

They had been quiet for the past five years and rumor had it that they fell into the hands of Ling Chongxiao. Who knew that they were actually well and alive?

Lee Zhuang could not recognize them until they started fighting.

He lost two brothers in the fight but suppressed his anger there.

He could not understand why the Gobi Trio would want to hijack their escorts.

It all started to make sense when this youth showed up.

All he could do was to delay things and wait for backup to arrive.

"Please forgive the Gobi Trio. They may be capable but they would not have the guts to rob my escorts." Lee Zhuang tried not to offend the Gobi Trio and at the same time, attempted to find out the background of this youth.

"Hehe, Mingjian Peak is nothing! Our master needs that piece of thousand-year ice jade. If you can read the situation, obediently hand over the jade now," the eldest of the Gobi Trio said.

Lee Zhuang laughed and replied, "I wonder who is this young master who is capable of making the Gobi Trio trivialize the Mingjian Peak. "

The youth smiled and replied, "Who are you to ask that question? This thousand-year-old ice jade is actually not that great of a thing. It was Ye Liuyun who didn't have the confidence and had to depend on the jade to cross the Wenxin Road. That so-called number one man of Jianghu; I don't think he's that great after all."

"I wouldn't dare to say Master Liuyun is the top man of Jianghu and I have no idea what is Wenxin Road. But he is knowledgeable, hardworking and has high moral standards. These are qualities that I respect the most. I think you might have misunderstood him," Lee Zhuang replied calmly.

"How would I have misunderstood him? I've never even met him in person. Cut the crap. I know that you were born in Fumo Temple and you're the first person under the age of thirty in two hundred years from this old temple to have mastered the Hercules King Kong Palm method. You've also reached the sixth level of the Protection Art of Golden Shield. How about this, you throw me your palm and see if my body is stronger than your golden shield. If I am uninjured, you throw another palm. If you're injured, you give me the jade. It's too much effort and bad karma to kill."