Great Li Martial God

The Theft Saint's movement technique did indeed have its merits. Once Li Musheng refined and perfected it to its utmost limit, it would give him another technique comparable to his Shadowless Divine Stride.

And moreover, this was considerably simpler than developing from scratch a new movement art of similar elusive and endlessly varied quality.

"The Sunflower Acupoint Sealing Hand has been taught to you. You can go on your way now."

Li Musheng glanced at Bai Xiaotang, who had slowly drifted to his side, and waved a hand.

At those words, Bai Xiaotang stopped where she was but said nothing, let out a few noncommittal sounds, and then trotted off toward Cang Yinyue and Shen Anran nearby.

"Sister Yinyue, Sister Anran, can I come with you to the Great Xuan capital? I have never been to a big city in my whole life. I hear the capital is incredibly bustling."

Bai Xiaotang hooked herself onto Cang Yinyue's arm with cheerful familiarity, blinking up at her with the picture of well-behaved innocence.

Over these past days, Cang Yinyue and Shen Anran's sympathies had been well and truly captured by this street beggar girl, and they had taken very good care of her, leaving them genuinely fond of each other.

"Of course, it is nothing more than going the same direction."

At those words, Bai Xiaotang's face lit up with pleasure, and she quietly glanced at Li Musheng from the corner of her eye.

Li Musheng paid it no mind, his attention on studying and refining the Theft Saint's movement technique.

And so Bai Xiaotang continued along with them.

Several more days passed, and Li Musheng's group finally arrived in Xuanan City, a garrison city fifty li east of the Great Xuan capital.

The group planned to rest there for half a day before pushing straight through to the Great Xuan capital, after which Li Musheng would go to the imperial palace and carry out the rescue.

Once the rescue was complete, they would wait here for the blue-robed Daoist to deliver the Tianqi Secret Treasury key, exchanging the person for the item to complete the deal as arranged.

But the moment they arrived in Xuanan City, they found the situation there was not quite right.

The number of mounted soldiers and armored troops on the official road was far greater than usual, and the roads were all blocked off in layers with checkpoints, with travelers and merchants being strictly searched and verified before being allowed to pass.

Li Musheng's group joined the long queue of carriages waiting to enter the city. Cao Gaoshan sat in the coachman's seat, looking at the wall of Great Xuan soldiers ahead who had fortified Xuanan City like an iron drum, and furrowed his brow, "I just heard the people around us talking. Apparently something major has happened at the Great Xuan capital, and there is a military lockdown across the whole area within a hundred li."

At those words, Shen Anran and Cang Yinyue exchanged a glance inside the carriage, then looked toward Li Musheng sitting across from them.

"A few days ago, Great Li's court had already come to blows with the Three-Sect Alliance, and Great Wu, Great Xuan, Great Zhou, and Great Chu have all been massing troops along the borders, each of them eyeing Great Li hungrily."

"And yet Great Xuan seems to be dealing with its own internal fire right now. I wonder what happened."

Bai Xiaotang heard the two women talking, and her eyes gave a subtle flicker, then she raised her hand, "I can probably guess what happened."

At those words, Cang Yinyue and Shen Anran both looked at her, and Li Musheng also raised an eyebrow and glanced at Bai Xiaotang.

Seeing their attention on her, Bai Xiaotang produced the item she had stolen from the Sun and Moon Demonic Cult members and said with casual confidence, "This item has a Demonic Core sealed inside it. The situation Xuanan City is in right now is probably because of these Demonic Cores."

At those words, Cang Yinyue and Shen Anran both showed unusual expressions, evidently having never heard of Demonic Cores before.

At that, Cao Gaoshan's expression shifted outside the carriage, and he said, "A Demonic Core? I have heard something of those before."

"Great Xuan currently has three great demonic sects, and a very long time ago those three sects were actually all one. At that time, the demonic path produced a once-in-a-millennium figure of staggering genius."

"That demonic genius was extraordinarily talented, and with a single technique called the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Art, he swept the entire martial world, draining the cultivation of countless martial experts and killing without number, until every martial faction in the land trembled at his name."

"He was even revered by countless fanatical demonic cult followers as the 'Patriarch of the Demonic Path.' But later, the righteous sects of the martial world pooled the greatest experts under heaven and set up an ambush for the Demonic Patriarch at the Sun and Moon Sacred Mountain, surrounding and killing him through combined force."

"According to the accounts, at the moment of his death, the Demonic Patriarch used his lifetime of demonic cultivation to absorb the martial cultivation and life energy of the majority of the attacking experts, then detonated in a self-destruct that condensed everything into nine Demonic Cores which scattered in all directions, and were then taken away by members of the demonic factions."

...

Cao Gaoshan finished recounting what he knew about the Demonic Cores, and Cang Yinyue and the others gave a slow nod. But they then looked at Bai Xiaotang again and asked, "Is there something particularly special about these Demonic Cores? Otherwise what could cause the Great Xuan court to make such an enormous fuss?"

At those words, Bai Xiaotang gave a light nod, tossed the item in her hand a couple of times, and said breezily, "As far as I know, a single Demonic Core by itself does not seem to have much of a use. But there is a legend in the Great Xuan demonic circles that if someone could gather all nine Demonic Cores and swallow them, they would inherit the complete demonic cultivation left behind by the Demonic Patriarch, and would also obtain that long-lost supreme demonic art, the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Art."

At those words, everyone showed unusual expressions, and Cao Gaoshan furrowed his brow outside and suddenly asked, "Do you mean to say that someone has already gathered all nine Demonic Cores?"

If a single Demonic Core was useless on its own, it naturally could not cause this kind of stir on its own.

And the current situation so clearly indicated that some member of the demonic factions had managed to gather enough Demonic Cores to constitute a genuine threat, which was why the Great Xuan court was taking it so seriously.

At those words, Bai Xiaotang went momentarily still.

Then she stopped tossing the item in her hand and did not dare reach out to catch it, just letting it fall.

Cao Gaoshan's words had snapped her to attention in an instant. The Demonic Core she was currently holding was a burning piece of trouble.

And she was now blithely heading straight toward the Great Xuan capital with it, which was essentially walking straight to her death.

Besides, she did not practice demonic arts, so the Demonic Core was useless to her. She might as well throw it away right now.

But at that point, the dropped and sealed Demonic Core flew on its own into Li Musheng's hand.

Li Musheng had examined the item before, and had sensed a very powerful force sealed within it, but beyond that had not found anything particularly noteworthy, and had not given it much thought.

Now, having heard the background and purpose of the Demonic Core, he did feel a flicker of curiosity.

Gathering nine Demonic Cores was by no means easier than gathering seven Tianqi Secret Treasury keys, and yet somehow these demonic cultivators had actually managed it.

The only question was whether the reward from gathering nine Demonic Cores could match the effort they had put in.

"We will hold onto this for now. I will see what the situation actually looks like when the time comes."

Li Musheng pocketed the Demonic Core, then returned to quietly analyzing the Theft Saint's movement technique, ignoring the look of blank astonishment on Bai Xiaotang's face.

Bai Xiaotang watched the burning piece of trouble transfer into Li Musheng's hands, stared for a moment, then let her gaze drift to Cang Yinyue beside her and asked quietly, "Sister Yinyue, I have been wanting to ask for a while, are you all heading to the Great Xuan capital for something important?"

At those words, Cang Yinyue shook her head, "It is not that I am unwilling to tell you, but this matter is of considerable significance, and we do not want to involve you."

As she said this, she gently patted Bai Xiaotang's hand, "Before we enter the Great Xuan capital, we should probably part ways for the time being. Once we have finished our business, you can come and find us again."

Bai Xiaotang's eyes moved slightly, and she gave an almost imperceptible glance toward Li Musheng, then did not press any further.

During one night on the road, she had suddenly woken with a start from her sleep as a flash of realization hit her.

She had finally remembered, belatedly, where she had heard the name "Li Musheng" before.

The Eighth Prince of Great Li, who had destroyed Falling God Peak, one of the four great sects of the Great Li martial world, who had killed the Martial Saint of Great Li's Yuming Mountain, whose martial cultivation was said to rival a Martial God's...

Though Great Xuan and Great Li were separate nations, she had of course heard of Li Musheng's reputation.

The reason the name had not come to mind immediately was that most people in the martial world referred to him as the Great Li Eighth Prince, and rarely mentioned his actual name.

And once she realized who Li Musheng truly was, Bai Xiaotang understood exactly what kind of person she had run into.

The very next morning, her entire attitude had done a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn, and she never again made any noise about getting revenge on Li Musheng.

In the time that followed, after spending a period carefully observing Li Musheng up close, Bai Xiaotang found that beyond coercing her into writing out the technique, he was actually nothing like the fearsome reputation that preceded him.

Which only made her more curious about him. After all, Li Musheng was said to be a once-in-an-age martial genius, and even the Tianqi Emperor in his youth was reportedly not his equal.

And so Bai Xiaotang had not left after learning the Sunflower Acupoint Sealing Hand, but had simply lingered on without going anywhere.

"Everyone out of all vehicles. No one may enter until they have been searched and their identities verified. Anyone whose purpose is unclear, or who is not a registered resident of Xuanan City or the capital, is forbidden from entering."

At that moment, several mounted soldiers raced past the queue at speed, shouting the latest entry requirements at the top of their voices.

The crowd still waiting in line immediately erupted in uproar.

It was plain that the conditions for entering Xuanan City had suddenly become far more stringent, and a great many people in the line no longer met the requirements to get through.

"Our disguised identities will not get us in either," Cao Gaoshan said, frowning as the courier soldiers passed by, then spoke toward Li Musheng inside the carriage.

At those words, Shen Anran lifted the curtain and glanced outside, "Can we go around Xuanan City to reach the Great Xuan capital?"

Cao Gaoshan shook his head, "This is the only road to the Great Xuan capital. The surrounding terrain is all rough and hostile. Going around would take an unknowable amount of time."

Before he had finished speaking, a disturbance suddenly broke out among the people in the queue.

Several dozen people dressed as ordinary civilians suddenly erupted and charged directly toward the soldiers guarding the city gates, blatantly attempting to force their way through.

"As expected, you demonic rats could not hold yourselves back."

At the instant the disturbance broke out, a voice like a thunderclap rang out from the city wall above.

The next moment, soldiers surged toward the gates from every direction, and more than a dozen martial world experts dropped from the battlements to intercept the rushing demonic cultivators.

The nearby crowd scattered in panic, none of them willing to get caught up in the chaos and suffer for it.

Seeing this, Cao Gaoshan, in the coachman's seat, suggested, "How about we take advantage of the confusion and push into the city?"

Li Musheng remained completely composed, "Not a bad idea. Though you will need to move quickly."

As he said this, Li Musheng glanced at the two sides currently clashing at the city gates. With Xuanan City's defenders prepared, the demonic cultivators were already beginning to fall behind, and would likely be beaten back before long.

Cao Gaoshan noticed this as well, and without another moment's hesitation, snapped the long whip in his hand and drove the carriage charging directly toward the gates.

At the same time, surging true qi of heaven and earth converged upon Cao Gaoshan, forming an invisible vortex of force centered on him that continuously pushed the surrounding crowd out of the way, allowing the carriage to race forward unobstructed.

"Sure enough, there were hidden stragglers who slipped through."

Those at the top of the walls spotted Cao Gaoshan's carriage immediately, and several more figures dropped down to strike at the carriage.

But in the next instant, the figures who had just descended all went flying back the way they had come, returning to where they started as they sailed upward and landed back on the battlements.

"There is actually a Heaven-Human expert among them. Looks like I will need to step in personally."

The same rough, booming voice rang out again from the high walls, and then a powerfully built figure as solid as an iron tower came dropping from above in a blur of black, a massive war axe in hand.

The axe swept out a terrifying crescent of cold light capable of splitting mountains, and came crashing down toward the speeding carriage with the force to cleave stone and earth.

In an instant, the air shook and rang, the enormous axe stirring up a fierce gale that sent the dust and dirt of the ground swirling into the air.

A heavy crash rang out.

But in the next moment, the powerfully built figure went flying backward, the massive axe wrenched from his grip and driven blade-first into the thick city wall, burying itself completely out of sight.

Cao Gaoshan's carriage vanished into the cloud of dust, the nearby fighting experts and soldiers thrown aside, as it burst through the checkpoint at the gates and raced into the city, disappearing into the distance.

Before the surrounding soldiers could even react, the general who had been sent flying skidded to a rough stop, then turned back to look with a darkened expression.

Li Musheng's carriage had already turned onto the city's inner streets and was on the verge of disappearing from sight.

"There was someone else of power inside that carriage. But looking at it, they do not appear to have been using demonic arts. They are probably not from the demonic factions."

Three figures appeared behind the Xuanan City commander at that moment, and a plainly dressed young woman spoke.

Standing at the young woman's side were two white-haired elderly women, both utterly silent and composed.

At those words, the Xuanan City commander immediately turned around and saluted the young woman, "Your Highness the Seventh Princess, the person in that carriage had unfathomable martial cultivation. When your servant clashed with them, I was not their equal after even one exchange."

At those words, the two elderly women behind the young woman finally looked up mildly and gave the Xuanan City commander a glance.

One of the elders gave a slow shake of her head, "It is not that the other party is too formidable. You are simply too weak. If this old woman were to strike against you, you would not last one exchange against me either."

At those words, a flush crossed the Xuanan City commander's rough face, though he did not dare contradict the elder.

He knew very well who the old woman was and what background she came from, and he understood clearly that she was not boasting when she said such things. She had every right to say them.

At that, the plainly dressed Seventh Princess looked in the direction Li Musheng's carriage had disappeared, then gave an instruction, "Have people look into who those travelers are. Even if they do not appear to be connected to the demonic factions, showing up in Xuanan City at a moment like this is something no one can afford to overlook."

At those words, the Xuanan City commander immediately acknowledged the order, then looked at the Great Xuan Seventh Princess and clasped his hands in a bow, "Does Your Highness require an escort back to the capital?"

"That is unnecessary. Have people watch the exits from Xuanan City toward the capital. I want to know the particulars of everyone heading to the capital."

The Great Xuan Seventh Princess gave the instruction, then looked at the Xuanan City commander, "All three garrison cities surrounding the capital have already sealed and closed the roads leading in. Under these circumstances, anyone still determined to reach the capital must have a purpose they do not want known."

The commander's expression shifted, and he immediately bowed low, "Your servant will follow Your Highness the Princess's instructions to the letter."

...

At the same time, having sensed that the situation around the Great Xuan capital seemed to have changed, Li Musheng's group decided not to linger in Xuanan City and instead drove straight through, then forced their way past the city's gate guards once more.

They were out of Xuanan City and continuing toward the Great Xuan capital.

"Can the Demonic Cores that Demonic Patriarch left behind really cause this much upheaval? Enough to have the Great Xuan court in such a state of alarm?"

Shen Anran showed a puzzled expression. She was from the Great Li martial world and knew very little about affairs in Great Xuan.

At those words, Cao Gaoshan, driving the carriage, offered an explanation, "Great Xuan's situation is different from Great Li and the other three nations. Among all four nations including Great Li, the attitude toward demonic cultivators is one of zero tolerance, and this holds true whether openly or in secret."

"But the Great Xuan court is different. Though officially it also issues orders forbidding the practice of demonic arts, with immediate death as the penalty upon discovery, the three great demonic sects within Great Xuan have continued to thrive throughout, and have even been growing in strength in recent years."

At those words, Shen Anran's expression shifted, and she understood what Cao Gaoshan was saying.

Only if the Great Xuan court was publicly saying one thing while privately allowing the three demonic sects to develop could such a situation arise.

In Great Li, for instance, demonic cultivators had always been killed on sight without exception, and so while practitioners of demonic arts might exist within the territory, there was no formally established demonic sect, and demonic cultivators would never dare to show their faces openly.

"Why would the Great Xuan court do something like that?"

Shen Anran looked puzzled, and at that point Bai Xiaotang raised her hand eagerly, "I know this one. It is the Great Xuan court's scheme against the seven great sects of the martial world. They want the sects and the demonic factions to tear each other apart."

At those words, Cao Gaoshan gave a nod, but then also shook his head slightly, "That is certainly the most important reason. But according to what the Great Li agents uncovered, the reason the Great Xuan court tolerates the existence of the three great demonic sects may also have another critical explanation, one that is a state secret of the Great Xuan imperial house and is not known to outsiders."

As he said this, Cao Gaoshan furrowed his brow, "Of course, that is all speculation. But the Great Xuan court's intention of using one side to grind down the other is beyond question. The three demonic sects could not have reached their current level of power without the Great Xuan court's tacit approval behind them."

"And the strategy has had results. None of Great Xuan's seven great martial world sects has yet reached the level of power held by any one of the four great sects of Great Li."

"Even so, the seven great sects are no fools. Once they recognized the Great Xuan court's scheming, they quietly formed a secret alliance among themselves, standing united to resist the court's plans together."

"And so the Great Xuan court's goal of using the demonic sects to swallow the martial world factions has never actually been achieved."

At those words, Shen Anran let out a quiet sigh, then glanced at Li Musheng, "Looking at it this way, Great Xuan and Great Li both have their own difficult problems to deal with."

Li Musheng said nothing, clearly not particularly interested in any of it.

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