The Coincidence

The land was dark save for the dim moonlight cast on the structures below. The windows reflected the light, illuminating the room slightly...

Chu Li was in the west wing of the house, practicing his Sentient Menace. He routinely performed the 36 postures required for the move. When he did this, his mind was calm and he felt like he was in his own world.

The move would only be effective if he was as composed and focused as he was now. If one kept thinking about other things, then the training would not be as fruitful, regardless of how hard they trained.

Every one of his movements was shadowed by a mysterious spiritual force. It was as if a mighty power had washed over his skin and was now seeping into his body. In the end, he and the force became one.

Through the Omniscient Mirror enchantment, he noticed that his body had been changed by this mysterious force. As it progressed, his skin felt more compact and elastic.

He felt an enormous strength from within him, so strong that he could shatter the sky with a single punch.

However, he was well aware that this was only an illusion. Nonetheless, the Sentient Menace could indeed greatly increase his strength. He had cultivated it for about ten days now and felt that his strength had now doubled. The effects were truly shocking. Who knew how much stronger he would be by the end of his cultivation period.

He also noticed that whilst cultivating, a faint golden light seemed to glow across his skin. This was all too familiar to him, as the same thing had happened to the leader of the Raging Tiger Troupe. However, Chu Li was almost certain that the leader had barely scraped the potential of the Sentient Menace move, and that what he had witnessed so far was only the tip of the iceberg.

The Sentient Menace was indeed a waste in the leader's hands. If he had really mastered the skill, then he would have easily beaten anyone. His strength and his speed would improve greatly, so much so that most anyone would struggle to fight him. On the contrary, it turned out that the leader had failed to beat even him. He had brought shame to the Sentient Menace.

As he was thinking of this, Chu Li suddenly felt fearful of the Tempest Temple. Achieving complete mastery of such an immensely powerful move would allow one to wreak absolute havoc on the land if they so pleased! It was terrifying to think that the Tempest Temple nurtured such powers!

On the other hand, deep down he felt relieved at the same time. The most important element of the Sentient Menace was the ability to meditate. The deeper one's meditation, the faster the activation of power within one's body. If the state of the mind was not deep enough, then the inner energy of the user would be constantly interrupted, and as a result, no progress would be achieved.

However, since he had the Omniscient Mirror enchantment, he was capable of meditating to a deeper state of mind. This would allow him to master the Sentient Menace move without too much difficulty.

He trained from dawn till dusk while only stopping to eat once. He made sure that Li Yue was unaware of what he was up to, which was done in order to prevent him from secretly practicing the move too. It would be disastrous if that happened.

The room was dimly bathed in a warm rosy red light.

As he was about to leave the house, he heard footsteps outside accompanied by a familiar fragrance. Su Ru stood by the window and peeked inside before saying to him, "Chu Li, come on and accompany me to town for a walk!"

"Sure." Chu Li said as he stepped out of the west wing of the house.

The two exited via the south gate of the Public House before going straight to Chong Li Yuning town.

The Sun had begun to set and the whole of Chong Li Yuning town was dyed a lovely shade of orange. Smoke billowed in the air as they caught the smell of burning firewood from afar. It added a tint of life to the otherwise sleepy atmosphere. Chu Li was touched by the realness of the atmosphere surrounding him, it gave him an opportunity to take in the life that was always going around him that he would normally have to ignore.

Su Ru was dressed in an apricot colored dress. She strolled along the street cheerily and bubbly. "Look around, check to see which one of these shop lots is suitable."

Chu Li was startled. He did not realize that today was the day they were supposed to choose a shop lot for their new restaurant.

The two of them circled town as Chu Li hand-picked two shop lots. They were both situated a distance away from the main street, so the atmosphere around it was not too busy.

He felt that this location was optimal. Firstly, it was considerably quieter so as not to constantly pollute his ears. Secondly, how secluded a place does not really matter when it comes to the restaurant industry. If you are able to prepare scrumptious dishes, then people will seek out your food, regardless of how far they have to walk to reach your place. There was no need to worry about the potential lack of customers.

The town was already enveloped in darkness by the time they had made their choices.

The two made their way to the Sky Inn, Chong Li Yuning town's best restaurant.

Xiao Er, the waiter who was on the ground floor welcoming guests, saw Su Ru and hurriedly came forth to welcome her. "Chief Su, many apologies for not welcoming you earlier. Please come in!"

Su Ru waved calmly at him. "Just give us a seat on the 2nd floor."

"Yes, let me bring you up there," Xiao Er was smart and quick to his feet as he nodded respectfully before bringing the two up to a table on the 2nd floor.

He looked at the few tables beside the windows and asked, "Chief, do you want me to clear out those two good seats for you?"

"No need, here is fine." Su Ru nodded.

Their table was quite some distance away from the windows. Not to mention, they were surrounded by other customers, which made the place rather noisy.

Su Ru seemed unaffected by this as she sat down. "Let's just order the usual. Give him a good drink and six signature dishes. Oh and make it snappy!"

"Yes, immediately!" Xiao Er nodded enthusiastically.

Chu Li's eyes swept across the room. Suddenly, he furrowed his eyebrows after spotting something. The person seated opposite them raised his head and looked towards their direction before also turning gloomy. Then, the person spotted Su Ru. Seconds later he was on his feet and making his way toward them to offer them his greetings, "Zhuo Feiyang reporting for duty to Chief Su!"

Alongside him was Bai Zhijie. He followed suit and likewise gave Su Ru a bow of respect.

Su Ru waved at them. "No need for courtesy. We are all here to have a good meal, just go and enjoy yours."

"Yes." The two of them went back to their table and resumed eating. However, even the way they ate became gentler.

Su Ru glanced at Chu Li and could not help but grin. "Two enemies encountering each other, such a coincidence isn't it?"

"He is a regular patron of this restaurant, so meeting him here is not a huge surprise." Chu Li answered.

Zhuo Feiyang loved indulging in luxuries and made sure never to ill-treat himself. His job as a Protector granted him plenty of wages, which is why he certainly did not lack money. Additionally, he was born into a rich family, so almost all of his meals were eaten here at Sky Inn. Because Sky Inn was the best restaurant in town, their prices were steep, a normal person could not afford to eat here every day.

Su Ru laughed and shook her head. "Do you really want him to be your Protector?"

"No." Chu Li shook his head. "He can't wait to take my head off. I'll be looking to fulfill a death wish if I let him be my Protector!"

"Suit yourself." Su Ru nodded. "The choice of candidate for the role as your Protector is important. Even a small mistake on our part could end up costing us our lives. In any case, how's the advancement between you and Zhao Ying?"

"Quite okay I think."

"It's such a great opportunity, and you don't want to take it?" Su Ru grinned and said, "The two of you spent a whole month together. A girl with a guy alone for a whole month, don't tell me nothing had happened."

"Nothing at all."

Su Ru shook her head and sighed. "How useless can you be!"

Chu Li let out a bitter smile. "Chief, Sister Zhao is not that kind of person, don't scare her."

"You are..." Su Ru shook her head again. "Too humble. I know you're a smart guy, but why are you so honest and shy?"

Chu Li simply returned an embarrassed smile. "That's true. I have never lived with a woman before, have I?"

"You still seem to befriend us very well now, isn't that right?" Su Ru smiled. "I've seen you in front of the Lady, you keep your cool and do not stumble at all. You're the first guy I've seen who is actually able to do so!"

The Lady was very pretty and her beauty was unrivaled. She seemed to emanate a special kind of spiritual force, a kind that would make any man falter. So far, not a single man has been able to keep their cool in front of the Lady the way Chu Li has.

Chu Li shook his head and sighed. "The reason I can act naturally in front of Chief and the Lady is because I know my limits. There is no way I'll ever be matched with the two of you, but with Zhao Ying, it's different."

"Oh, is that so..." Su Ru nodded. "Don't tell me Zhao Ying would never date like a guy like you?"

"I doubt it!" Chu Li shook his head.

"Sigh… next time then. If I have another mission in the future, then, I will make sure to pair the two of you up so you can enjoy each other's company again." Su Ru giggled.

The two of them were sitting next to Zhuo Feiyang's table. Although their surroundings were noisy, he could hear every single word of their conversation.

He quickly figured out that the person that they were talking about was Zhao Ying. His heart skipped a beat when he realized that Chu Li and Zhao Ying had gone on a mission together! It made sense to him now, why Zhao Ying had acted the way she had when she returned. Now he knew that Zhao Ying had fallen for Chu Li!