White-Robed Chief-Chapter 1075: A Deal
"You're a guard of the Outer Mausoleum?"
"Who are you?"
The middle-aged man shook his head. "Who I am isn't important, what's important is that I can help you leave the Imperial Mausoleum!"
"Hehe, leave the Imperial Mausoleum!" Lu Xuzhou smirked and shook his head. "Once one enters the Imperial Mausoleum, they'll forever be an Imperial Mausoleum Protector. There's no way to leave. Only a fool will believe you!"
The middle-aged man dully replied, "Are you still an Imperial Mausoleum Protector once you leave Ji Dynasty?"
"It's impossible to leave Ji Dynasty." Lu Xuzhou shook his head. "I can tell that you don't know how things go around here. The moment I leave, a master will be hot on my trail. There's no way to escape!"
"I have a way to help you escape," the middle-aged man said. "Just as how I put you here."
"Do you know how great the Imperial Mausoleum's masters are?" Lu Xuzhou coldly answered, "You think that just because you put me here, you can take me away? You're underestimating the Imperial Mausoleum Protectors!"
"I have a way to get you to Fu Dynasty," the middle-aged man remarked. "They won't be able to pursue you if they don't realize it."
"It's no use." Lu Xuzhou shook his head.
The middle-aged man raised an eyebrow.
Lu Xuzhou sighed. "There's a Protector in the Imperial Mausoleum who possesses divine power. There's no point running to the ends of the earth when I can be easily pursued by divine power! I've reconciled with this fact. What are you planning to do? There's no such thing as a free lunch. Surely, it comes with a price. Could it be that you're trying to pry within the mausoleum?"
The middle-aged steadily retorted, "That's right, I wish to take a look inside the mausoleum."
"You're bringing death upon yourself," Lu Xuzhou commented. "There's nothing to see inside the mausoleum."
"Oh—?" The middle-aged man solemnly snorted. "Isn't it where the secret of Enlightened Masters lies hidden?"
"Hehe..." Lu Xuzhou chuckled before he shook his head. "There's no secret to be an Enlightened Master. One would reach that boundary at the right cultivation level. Of course, there's no point in researching if one's cultivation level isn't on par. There are so many Protectors in the mausoleum yet no one became an Enlightened Master!"
"It's better than nothing," the middle-aged man answered. "So there's a master with divine power inside the mausoleum?"
"That's right," Lu Xuzhou replied in a grave voice. "So don't go throwing your life away. You won't be able to shake them off once you enter inside the mausoleum. You'll be discovered at the very first second!"
The middle-aged man asked, "What divine powers do they have?"
"I heard it's the All-seeing Divine Power." Lu Xuzhou snorted.
The middle-aged man frowned. "Could it be a senior monk of Titanium Temple?"
"Yes." Lu Xuzhou nodded.
The middle-aged man frowned even more as he fell deep into thought.
He really did not know of this. He was not afraid if it was a senior monk of Titanium Temple as his Maha-Vairocana's Immobility Scripture was capable of restraining Titanium Temple's divine power, but it would not work the same for Lu Xuzhou.
"How about this? I'll gift you a Titanium Sarira bead to suppress the divine power," the middle-aged man spoke in a low voice.
Lu Xuzhou was surprised. "You have the Titanium Sarira?"
Chu Li raised his wrist before he dully remarked, "You mean this?"
The string of beads wrapped around his wrist was the Titanium Sarira. Different from the common Sarira, these fine and crystal-clear beads emitted a strange aura that could be detected by the sharp senses of the Grandmasters.
He removed the beads from the wrist and hurled it to Lu Xuzhou.
Retrieving it, Lu Xuzhou rubbed the beads between his fingers for closer inspection before he nodded. He lifted his head to look at Chu Li. "It is indeed the Titanium Sarira. Who are you?"
"You don't need to know who I am," the middle-aged man listlessly replied. "I'll send you to Fu Dynasty and gift you two Titanium Sarira beads if you tell me the situation in the Imperial Mausoleum. Do we have a deal?"
"I want to go to Fu Dynasty first," Lu Xuzhou solemnly answered.
The middle-aged man said, "No problem!"
Lu Xuzhou frowned as he looked at him, "Along with my concubine."
"... Fine," the middle-aged man replied solemnly.
With the situation coming to a head, Lu Xuzhou became hesitant and doubtful. "Who are you?"
The middle-aged man shook his head.
"... Fine." Lu Xuzhou thought about it before he clenched his teeth in agreement.
The moment the middle-aged man disappeared in a flash, Lu Xuzhou felt a sharp pain at the back of his head. As his internal alarm bells started to ring, he blacked out.
...
By the time he woke up, he realized that it was daytime. He was lying on a wide and huge bed, along with his beautiful delicate concubine beside him.
When he turned over to get up, he saw the middle-aged man sat by a desk under a window.
The middle-aged man was reading a book. At the sound of the noise, he placed the book down. Then, he turned to look at Lu Xuzhou with a smile. "This is Fu Dynasty's Splendid Tranquil City. You can take a look outside."
Lu Xuzhou was shocked. "How long has it been?"
The middle-aged man answered, "Two days."
It was really the second day.
Lu Xuzhou exited the room and found himself in a common residence comprised of three rows.
He then made his way out of the residence into the street. At the sight of the distinctive building styles, he knew he had left Ji Dynasty.
To confirm, he pulled an elder over to enquire where he was. The elder proudly told him he was in Splendid Tranquil City, a city East of Fu Dynasty.
Lu Xuzhou was in disbelief at the fact that he had left the Imperial Mausoleum and made it to Fu Dynasty in two days.
He had always dreamed of such — to be able to live a carefree life in a foreign land under an assumed identity without dealing with the dreariness and pressure of the mausoleum.
Who would have thought that his dreams would come true all of a sudden?
When he lowered his head to look at this wrist, he discovered that out of the string of beads that was wrapped around his wrist, one of them was a Titanium Sarira bead that was warming his body with a gentle aura.
He was surprised yet confused. With this, he grew even more curious about the identity of this middle-aged man.
The fact that he could subdue him was proof that he was a skilled master. Why was he helping him? Was it just to take a look inside the mausoleum?
When he returned to the residence, the middle-aged man was sitting by a stone table in the courtyard, quietly sipping a teacup in a leisure demeanor.
He went to sit down by the middle-aged man before Lu Xuzhou motioned a fist salute. "Thank you!"
The middle-aged man shook his head. "It's just a deal... I wish to know, how many Protectors are there inside the mausoleum?"
"There are thirty-six Protectors inside the mausoleum," Lu Xuzhou answered in a solemn voice. "They are all first-rate masters with three hundred years of cultivation level."
The middle-aged man gravely replied, "All thirty-six of them have three hundred years of cultivation level?"
"Yes," Lu Xuzhou said. "That's the minimum. There are some with four hundred years."
The middle-aged man frowned.
Lu Xuzhou added, "Although none of them are Enlightened Masters, they have increased their cultivation level through the secret of Enlightened Masters and have managed to break through the age limit. It's said that there is also a five-hundred-year-old freak."
The frown on the middle-aged man's face deepened.
Lu Xuzhou continued, "There are also those with divine powers amongst the masters."
The middle-aged man retorted in a low voice, "With a formation protecting the mausoleum and a treasure suppressing, surely the divine powers can't be used?"
"Yes, divine powers can't be used." Lu Xuzhou nodded. "However, escape is futile once you close in. Who can flee from a divine-power pursuit? Well, you aren't afraid of divine powers with Titanium Sarira in your possession."
The middle-aged man frowned. "I hear the inextinguishable golden body of the emperor from the last generation is there?"
"Yes." Lu Xuzhou nodded. "It's not just one golden body there."
The middle-aged man asked, "Where is it?"