240: Chapter 20 Returning to Suzhou

Seeing that Wu Ya Zi intended to pass on the position of Sect Head of the Xiaoyao Sect to him, Meng Li pondered for a moment and decided to accept.

Because holding the identity of the Xiaoyao Sect Sect Head would make it somewhat easier for him to obtain The Supreme Skill of the Eight Desolations and Six Combinations from the Old Woman of Tian Shan later on.

The power of Lingjiu Palace was not something he valued highly, as he had no intention of stirring up trouble.

As for the Four Swordsmen Mei, Lan, Zhu, and Ju, the four sets of twins...

Meng Li recalled carefully and vaguely remembered that in this version of the Tian Long TV series, they were treated like the four great retainers under Murong Fu—they were halved: the original four sets of twins, Mei, Lan, Zhu, and Ju, were reduced to just the twins Mei Jian and Zhu Jian.

This immediately diminished their appeal considerably.

Various thoughts flashed through his mind in just a few breaths.

Meng Li made up his mind, but he did not immediately agree verbally. Instead, he asked Wu Ya Zi, "I wonder what duties I would have to fulfill as the Sect Head of the Xiaoyao Sect?"

He then added a brief explanation: "I have a family business in Suzhou that needs managing, and I also plan to create my own martial arts. If the affairs of the Xiaoyao Sect are numerous, I fear I won't be able to attend to everything."

Having learned about Meng Li over the past few days, Wu Ya Zi knew his words were not false. He stroked his beard and said, "You don't need to worry about that. The Xiaoyao Sect is not populous, and our conduct values freedom and following one's heart; there aren't many trivial matters."

"After you become Sect Head, you only need to act normally and occasionally take disciples to teach, ensuring the Legacy of the Xiaoyao Sect does not break."

The Xiaoyao Sect is not populous?

Meng Li felt slightly surprised but understood in an instant.

Wu Ya Zi simply hadn't counted Lingjiu Palace. That was normal.

From what was known, Lingjiu Palace should be the force developed by the Old Woman of Tian Shan herself after the three elders of the Xiaoyao Sect separated; it belonged exclusively to her personally. If the Old Woman of Tian Shan acknowledged it, it could naturally be counted among the Xiaoyao Sect's followers. If she did not acknowledge it, Lingjiu Palace would be her separately established faction, requiring distinction from the Xiaoyao Sect.

Excluding Lingjiu Palace, the Xiaoyao Sect truly didn't have many people currently.

The Old Woman of Tian Shan, Wu Ya Zi, Li Qiu Shui.

Su Xinghe.

The Hangu Eight Friends.

A Bi.

For such a large School, across four generations, there were fewer than twenty people—truly not populous!

However, this was actually a good thing for Meng Li.

Fewer people meant fewer matters, which suited his disposition.

Thus, Meng Li happily said, "Since that is the case, I accept this position of Sect Head."

Wu Ya Zi immediately laughed, "That is excellent."

Next, he summoned Su Xinghe and briefly explained the situation.

Su Xinghe had no objections whatsoever to this.

Subsequently, the few of them conducted a simple ceremony.

Wu Ya Zi handed the Seven Treasures Ring, which symbolized the Sect Head of the Xiaoyao Sect, to Meng Li.

Just like that, Meng Li preempted the Opportunity originally meant for Xu Zhu by several years, becoming the third-generation Sect Head of the Xiaoyao Sect.

He carried no psychological burden regarding this.

Because intercepting Opportunities was something he had done many times and was already accustomed to.

At the same time, this matter was beneficial, not harmful, to Xu Zhu.

The original focus of demi-gods and semi-devils was on what everyone desperately sought but could not obtain. Xu Zhu's greatest pursuit was simply to remain at the Shaolin Monastery, eat vegetarian meals, and live a peaceful life. Becoming the Sect Head of the Xiaoyao Sect, the Sovereign of Lingjiu Palace, and the Prince Consort of Western Xia later on, though seemingly glorious and wealthy, contradicted his heart's desires.

Now, without these Opportunities, Xu Zhu might achieve what he truly desired.

The reason for adding the word 'might' was that Xu Zhu's background was a pitfall.

If his background were exposed publicly by Xiao Yuanshan later, as in the original drama, he might not be able to establish himself at the Shaolin Monastery and achieve peace.

However, this had little to do with Meng Li.

He briefly considered it and then cast it aside, continuing to discuss martial arts with Wu Ya Zi.

...

One month later, Meng Li had almost emptied Wu Ya Zi's lifetime learning. He left Leigu Mountain with Wang Yuyan and returned to Suzhou.

Initially, Meng Li wanted to strike while the iron was hot and go to Lingjiu Palace to ask the Old Woman of Tian Shan for The Supreme Skill of the Eight Desolations and Six Combinations, as well as techniques like Tianshan Broken Plum Hand and the Life and Death Talisman.

Later, after careful thought, he decided to take it slow and deal with that later.

Because his gains from Wu Ya Zi were substantial, he needed time to digest them.

Furthermore, bringing Wang Yuyan to Lingjiu Palace was somewhat inconvenient.

If Wu Ya Zi could immediately recognize her relationship with Li Qiu Shui just by Wang Yuyan's appearance, the Old Woman of Tian Shan probably could too. Given her relationship with Li Qiu Shui, which was like fire and water, knowing Wang Yuyan's identity might lead her to hate by association and try to kill her.

Although Meng Li was confident he could protect Wang Yuyan safely, he did not want unnecessary complications to arise.

Since they had no fixed return date and nothing pressing to do, the two were not in a hurry on their way back.

Due to habits from his previous two lives, Meng Li took Wang Yuyan on a tour while heading home.

The young girl was delighted that she could be alone with Meng Li and also travel around.

The two traveled without incident until they reached Suzhou.

Upon arriving, Meng Li did not go directly to Canhe Village but took the Opportunity to first take Wang Yuyan to Manda Mountain Villa.

As soon as they entered the villa, Li Qingluo, who had received news, walked out from the inner courtyard, her steps carrying a hint of urgency.

Upon meeting them, she spoke to Wang Yuyan in a sarcastic tone, "You still know how to come back! I thought you were having so much fun outside that you forgot you had a home."

Although these words seemed to be a complaint directed at Wang Yuyan, Li Qingluo's eyes kept darting towards Meng Li.

Meng Li noticed this, kept his eyes on his nose and nose on his heart, and pretended not to see.

Wang Yuyan failed to notice the underlying issue and immediately offered an explanation, "Mother, you can't blame my cousin and me; the road was just too long."

As she said this, her gaze was somewhat evasive, clearly lacking confidence.

Then, Wang Yuyan's eyes shifted, and she changed the subject, "I brought you gifts. They were all carefully selected by my cousin and me. Take a look quickly."

Hearing about gifts, and ones carefully selected by the two, Li Qingluo looked surprised: "Is that so?"

Immediately, she became somewhat interested: "Then I must take a good look."

As soon as she finished speaking, Li Qingluo followed Wang Yuyan's lead to look at the gifts.

Upon seeing them, she felt slightly surprised.

Because although the gifts were not exactly precious, they suited her taste and were things she liked.

This proved that what Wang Yuyan said was true; they had been carefully selected.

Immediately after, Li Qingluo thought for a moment and understood. The person who selected them should not have been her daughter Wang Yuyan, but Meng Li. This was because she understood Wang Yuyan; she knew her daughter couldn't possibly be so clear about her preferences.

First, Wang Yuyan was still young and lacked that kind of thoughtfulness.

Second, the relationship between mother and daughter hadn't reached the point where she would be so attentive to every detail.

Thinking of Meng Li being so thoughtful, the resentment in Li Qingluo's heart dissipated considerably, replaced by a bit of joy and sweetness.

However, she did not show much on the surface, merely softening her expression somewhat and saying coolly, "You are thoughtful enough."

After speaking, Li Qingluo summoned a maid and instructed her to take the gifts to her room.

Seeing this, Wang Yuyan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the matter of her being late due to playing around was settled.

Meng Li saw this and seized the opportune moment to propose leaving: "It's getting late; I should head back now."

Li Qingluo, however, insisted, "Since you're here, why not stay for dinner? You can tell me about your adventures along the way."

Without waiting for Meng Li's response, she turned and ordered someone to prepare dinner.