As a graduate student in history, Yan understood the temptation of imperial power better than anyone else. There were many cases in the five-thousand-year Chinese history. For example:

　　Xuanwu Gate Incident in the Tang Dynasty: Li s.h.i.+ming, the younger prince, killed his brother, thus ascended to the throne. He sat on the dragon chair stained with the blood of his brother.

　　Jingnan Incident: A duke named Zhu Di, in the name of killing the traitor minister around the emperor, brought the army to the capital city of Jinling and defeated his nephew Zhu Yunwen, thus became the new emperor.

　　Yan never expected himself to fall into the struggle of imperial power one day.

　　The deprivation of the opportunity of his father, Prince Li Wuming, as the only successor of the emperor happened so abruptly that he was caught unprepared. Only a short period had pa.s.sed since he joined the Dahuang Palace, and therefore, he got no time to arrange everything.

　　"Young Master, what's next?" Wu Zhongmou asked, rather worried.

　　Yan Li exhaled heavily as his anxious eyes gradually restore the brightness, "In the end things will mend. Presumably, the capital will be in chaos for a period of time, and when everything is settled, they should give me a hard time. Uncle Wu, pack up. Follow me to the Dahuang Palace!"

　　"Yes! "

　　Noticing that Yan Li was not affected by this news, Wu relieved a little and turned away.

　　A few hours later, Wu Zhongmou and Ling Er came to the Palace with Yan Li. Those guards were stationed temporarily in the town of Luoxia.

　　Time was pressing. The stronger he was, the more possible it was for him to survive. After Yan Li helped Uncle Wu and Ling Er settle down, he began to practice the Commanding the Thunder.

　　Taking out the book, Yan Li pondered over its profound meaning for two hours before he started the meditation.

　　The more powerful the warrior's mental strength was, the shorter the time for him to enter meditation. The ordinary warriors in a large family of martial arts would use incense to soothe themselves before the meditation.

The incense could bring the warriors peace and quietness; thus, it would be easier for them to meditate.

　　Of course, Yan Li didn't need such a thing since he had strong mental strength. He could start the meditation whenever he would.

　　Sitting cross-legged, as his eyes keeping low looking at the nose tip, Yan Li was like a peaceful old monk.

　　Once into the state of meditation, Yan saw the five elements surrounding him, which were easy to distinguish:

　　Golden gold elements, green wood elements, blue water elements, red fire elements, and yellow soil elements.

　　Soon, another kind of elements in cyan appeared in his sight. He knew that these were the wind elements. Suddenly, blue-and-white elements occurred in chaos.

　　"Thunder elements!"

　　Yan Li felt happy deep from his heart. Following the first-level instruction of the Commanding the Thunder, Yan controlled his inside vigor to run in a certain route.

　　As time went by, more and more thunder elements gathered around him, making the crackling sound in the void every now and then.

　　"Suck! "

　　Suddenly, all of his pores opened, producing suction to gather the thunder elements into his body.

　　The thunder elements in his body were far too lively, but were under the control as he had strong mental strength. Then he started to practice a round of Xiao Zhou Tian[1] following the prescribed route.

　　The thunder elements ran inwards him and were absorbed into the Qi sea during the first round.

　　For an instant, one of the nine Qi circles was lit up. All nine bright Qi circles embodied the accomplishment of the first level of the Commanding the Thunder.

　　The world was static during the practice. As Yan immersed in the practice, he could not feel the elapsing of time. Ling Er sent him meals outside the door.

Seven days went on like this, and seven Qi whirls were lit up inside Yan. As he tried to continue, he felt extremely tired. Soon he realized that it was because of overworking, so he took a pause immediately.

　　Suddenly, smelling something disgusting, he raised his arms and saw some sticky black things stained on his skin.

　　He knew these impurities excluded from his body were produced as he refined the thunder elements. In this process, he had refreshed his body so as to remove those impurities.

　　Yan stood up, opened the door, and took a deep breath. He got revitalized in the fresh air.

　　"Young Master, you have done!"

　　Waiting outside, his maid Ling Er walked to him with joy as she saw Yan went out of the door. With a strange face, sniffing, she subconsciously pinched her nose, "Young Master ... You smell bad! "

　　Under the circ.u.mstance, Yan Li decided to make fun of Ling Er. He opened his arms and came at her, saying, "Ling Er, how dare you dislike me. Let your Young Master hold you!"

　　"Ah! Don't! "

　　Ling Er exclaimed and ran away.

　　"Haha!"

　　A rather cheerful laughter burst out from her back, lasting for quite a long time.

　　After bathing and dressing, the bad smell disappeared. He regained his charm.

　　Later, Ling Er brought him some food. After having the meal, he called Uncle Wu to ask the latest news in the Palace.

　　During his holing up, people including Xue Zhan called on him, but left soon as they knew he was engaged in the practice.

　　"Well. Young Master. Lin Jingyun broke into the Yuan realm and was promoted as an in-door disciple!" Uncle Wu reported.

　　"I see!"

　　Yan nodded without any surprise, because Lin could easily break into a new level with such talent.

　　"What's going on in the imperial city?"

Yan suddenly lowered his voice.

　　Uncle Wu's eyes sank, speaking slowly, "Prince Wuming isn't well. Recently, many officials impeached him on the imperial court!"

　　"They b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!"

　　Yan Li's eyes shone with coldness. Though his father was no longer the successor, those people still brought him into danger.

　　"How did my dad react?" Yan asked following a short silence.

　　"As usual, your father is making merry all day in the mansion!" Wu Zhongmou said carefully.

　　On hearing this, he shook his head disappointedly, "Father. How can you still waste time pursuing pleasure at this critical moment!"

　　With three souls in one body, Yan Li considered Li Li and Yan Li the same person, so Li Wuming was his father in this life.

　　"Is Yan Li here?"

　　Just then, the door of the courtyard was kicked opened, and two young men dressed the in-door uniform came up.

　　Uncle Wu's eyes turned cold, but Yan Li but shook his head, stood up, and went out of the hall. As his eyes sweeping over their faces, he said, "s.h.i.+xiong, what can I do?"

　　"This is the challenge letter from s.h.i.+xiong Ye!"

　　A man's wrist moved slightly. A letter flew in an arc shape. Yan nipped the letter with his fingers which posted in the shape of a flower. Three big characters—挑戰書 (challenge letter)—were on the cover.

　　Getting a little excited, he opened the letter and saw a sentence written in a proud way:

Yan Li, see you in three days at noon on the ring.

by Ye Tianyu

　　A challenge letter from Ye. It was somehow out of his expectation. Yan hesitated for a second, looked up to the two disciples, and said:

　　"Please reply that I will come three days later!"

　　The two disciples hummed indifferently and turned away while Yan Li smiled a playful smile.

[1] Added by the translator: in English the Small Universe, a meditation art.