Chapter 417: Profound Meaning: Speed
Translator: Panda_Penn Editor: Chrissy
The sudden return of Bai Xiashuang disrupted Bai Qiuxue's and Lu Li's tender moments again.
Looking at Bai Xiashuang's blushed cheeks, Lu Li felt a bit ashamed. He stood up, changed to a straight face and said, "Shuang-er, you are not a child anymore. Don't wander around like this. Be more like your sister and cultivate. The Old Man of Heaven Prison had passed away and you have on your shoulders the responsibility to make your family rise again. Your aunt, your Uncle Leng, and the others are all counting on you. Don't let them down…"
With that said, Lu Li walked out, heavy-minded. Bai Xiashuang's face was still blushing because of Lu Li's scolding. For a moment, she had forgotten the weird sensation on her bottoms. After Lu Li left, she said with shame, "What Lu Li said was right. I will cultivate starting from today. Sister, I will not fool around like this anymore."
Bai Qiuxue didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. She picked up from where Lu Li left and said, "Lu Li is right. Shuang-er, you must focus now."
Bai Xiashuang nodded. Finally, she remembered the strange feeling. She kept her eyes wide open and said with a scared face, "Sister, I felt someone touching my butt. Are there any Yellow Goblins sneaking up on us? This is too dangerous here. Let's go back to the Ling Empress City."
Bai Qiuxue almost burst into laughter but she comforted Bai Xiashuang nonetheless. Bai Qiuxue was kind of afraid of Lu Li being so forward, but at the same time, she was looking forward to it. Lu Li had just put his heart in front of her, how could she go now? A girl's mind was complicated…
Bai Xiashuang really started to behave for the time to come. She would stay in closed-door cultivation a lot. Bai Qiuxue didn't want to go out anymore. Only when Lu Li cultivated in the tornado would she stand on the deck and watch him with worry from the distance.
When Lu Li came back, Bai Qiuxue went back to her cabin to cultivate on her Xuan Energy and Soul Pond and sometimes on the Enchantment. It was a rewarding life.
The Northern Desert had grown more peaceful.
Since the birth of the empire, Yu Huashen had been executing the unlawful ones, Madam Yan would use both gentle methods and force, while Ming Yu's secret agents spread out to all corners.
Nobody dared to make trouble.
Civilians of the Northern Desert had forgotten about the Heaven Cold Kingdom, the Heaven Martial Kingdom, and the Heaven Frigid Kingdom. They behaved themselves and put their mind and soul into being a civilian of the Empire of Godly Prowess. Madam Yan started a propaganda campaign of Lu Li's achievements, making him a young hero and a legend. Many young people of the Northern Desert had regarded Lu Li as their idols and a god. The Northern Desert, of course, had gained peace.
However, this was on the surface. Many families still held hatred in their hearts but they dared not to show.
Why was that?
First of all, it was all about interest. After the unification of the Northern Desert, Lu Li took one-third of the interests, while Bai Family, Yu Family, Zi Family and other big families took one-third. As for the rest, it was divided up among all the remaining families.
These families including some fifth-rank families, for example the ones Qi Tianfan and He Jun came from. How many families were there in the Northern Desert? How many of them were of the third for fourth rank? There were more than 100 third-rank families at the Thousand-island Lake alone, let alone the ones that came from the previous three kingdoms.
Lu Li had confiscated all the mines and farms and put them under the ownership of the empire. Only a few were left for the others. Then how should the other families feed themselves? What should they rely on to train their disciples or recruit warriors for the External Clan?
Of course, those families only harbored silent resentment. The Northern Desert was a cruel place where fists ruled. They could only swear in private to vent their anger. There were so many secret scouts of Ming Yu that even swearing should be careful.
Lu Li had no choice!
He had come back to the Northern Desert for resources. The empire had just been established, and he was in great need of Xuan Crystals and Mystical Materials. He had to feed himself first, ensure that he had Mystical Materials for cultivation before he could worry about the interests of all the other families of the Northern Desert. Otherwise, what was the point of unifying the Northern Desert?
There were too many families for Lu Li to provide food to everyone. The establishment of an empire in itself represented many new forces coming into power and a reshuffle of all the forces. If Lu Li had to concern about the interests of all, he could just give this up.
Two months slipped by.
Lu Li was still cultivating in the area of demons and Bai Xiashuang and Bai Qiuxue were in closed-door cultivation as well. Yu Huashen was busy organizing wealth they collected from the families while Madam Yan was regulating the Northern Desert. Ming Yu had a lot on his plate as well.
He came and met Lu Li once and was given a mission—find someone to go down to the Ice Abyss.
This was the most dangerous place in the Northern Desert where even Human Sovereign Realm warriors found it difficult to come out once their in. Lu Renhuang was there for more than 10 years but he still hadn't come out. It was risky.
Even though Lu Li knew he would probably fail, he had to try. He was the emperor of the Northern Desert now and had many warriors to mobilize. He didn't have to go down on his own. There were many condemned prisoners in the prisons who could be sent down to the Ice Abyss.
Ming Yu found many condemned prisoners with different levels of abilities and skills. There were some special races as well, such as Green Dwarfs and Yellow Goblins.
Ming Yu promised them that they would be pardoned if they could get out and let them go free. Those convicted were excited by the prospect. They were going to die anyway, so they might just as well risk it.
There was a Beast King that died to the south of the Ice Abyss but that was not to say that there were no more Beast Kings at the Ice Abyss. Ming Yu sent someone to have a look and found one to the north.
But this was not an issue. There was only one Beast King and it could be lured away. Beast King was as powerful as a Human Sovereign Realm warrior, but at the end of the day, it was still a beast and it was not as intelligent as a human being. To lure the Beast King away was easy. If the plan was iron-tight, no casualties would be induced.
Lu Li said again and again to keep everything confidential. To the outside, he just said that Ming Yu wanted to get a special plant at the bottom of the Ice Abyss. Lu Li didn't even tell Ming Yu that Lu Renhuang was down there.
Ming Yu was an introverted man and he was not fond of asking questions. He would just carry out Lu Li's orders. He was just sending someone to the Ice Abyss. It was not hard, just a bit time and condemned prisoners-consuming.
…
"Hoy!"
Above the area of demons, a tornado rose from the waters, roaring like a dragon. Today, there was no rain or thunder, just fierce gale. A person was spinning in the tornado. He tried to break free but failed.
"Why can I not feel it?"
Lu Li didn't care that he was enduring tearing pain in every piece of his bones and muscles. He had been cultivating in the tornado for more than two months now and he had grown used to it.
Somehow, he had a strong feeling but he just could not put the pin on it. He just could not tell what the Profound Meaning was.
It was an annoying feeling and suffocating. He had been through this pain and wasted two months, but he made zero progress. Lu Li even had doubts that he had been on the wrong path. He wondered if he really could make it or if he was following the wrong direction.
But the two months was not without achievement. Lu Li's body was times stronger.
Just like when he was refining his body under the waterfall, his body was strengthened after being pulled and pushed by the tornado. Average warriors wouldn't be able to hurt him with a sword anymore…
"Waterfall?"
Lu Li felt something on this thought. He remembered how he cut and hacked with his saber years back. He remembered his fast moves. When he turned to look at the tornado again, his eyes glowed brighter and brighter.
"Fast movement is the fundamental to martial arts. Should the Profound Meaning in the tornado about speed?"
Lu Li murmured. Then he put everything behind his mind, sat on his Fate Wheel, and started meditating.