Great Li Martial God

At those words, an unusual look immediately crossed Zhao Muning's mind.

Going around in circles, her father the emperor had once again become Li Musheng's target after all.

But the current situation was very different from what it had been before.

Earlier, while Zhao Muning had seen that Li Musheng's movement technique was extraordinary and his martial cultivation was well above her own, she had not actually witnessed him act, and her wariness of him had been limited.

But now, he had cleared all nine levels of the Mystic Mechanism Palace at his leisure, subduing the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit in a single move.

This terrifying level of cultivation had filled her with the same uncontrollable dread that the surrounding martial world experts all felt toward Li Musheng.

Even if she had the heart to redirect Li Musheng's attention away from her father, she was now carefully hesitating about how to raise the subject.

At the same time, Li Musheng had no further intention of questioning the Grand Manager of the Treasure Assembly Trading House or the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit. He simply rubbed his chin, swept his gaze over everyone in the ninth-level hall, and said, "There is now an opportunity in front of all of you. An opportunity to free yourselves from the Great Xuan imperial palace's control and leave this lightless Mystic Mechanism Palace."

With that, Li Musheng fell silent.

Li Musheng had said he wanted to find the Great Xuan emperor. If Li Musheng succeeded, he could force the emperor to produce the antidote and free them from the poison in their bodies.

Then, with the emperor in hand, they could walk out of the Great Xuan imperial palace, after which the sky would be wide open for them, and they would never again need to spend their days imprisoned here guarding this tower.

These martial world experts naturally had no desire to remain under the Great Xuan imperial palace's control. The only thing was, they also understood that Li Musheng would not help them for free, and moreover, whether this plan could succeed was still entirely uncertain.

And so for the moment, no one could make up their minds, and the hall fell into a momentary quiet.

"What do you want us to do?"

At that point, the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit, who had suffered enough of the Life and Death Talisman's torment, suddenly spoke, looking toward Li Musheng.

Having already been struck with the Life and Death Talisman and experienced its horror firsthand, he had no other choices available.

After all, the Great Xuan imperial palace's poison was going to kill him eventually, while Li Musheng could make him wish he were dead at any moment.

Given that choice, there was nothing to think about.

He would rather die at the Great Xuan imperial palace's hands than be tormented by Li Musheng.

At that, faced with the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit's question, Li Musheng gave a quiet nod, "What I want you to do is simple. Find the Great Xuan emperor for me."

At those words, the hall was quiet for a moment.

The Grand Manager of the Treasure Assembly Trading House, head still in his hands, looked long and deep at Li Musheng, and an unreadable expression flickered in the depths of his eyes.

The Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit was quiet for a moment, then said, "The Great Xuan emperor has countless powerful experts around him. Drawing him out within this imperial palace would likely be even more difficult than clearing the Mystic Mechanism Palace."

At those words, Li Musheng said nothing.

The Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit's eyes, beneath that curtain of loose hair, glanced at Li Musheng, and then immediately reversed his tone, "Of course, that is a different matter entirely if the young hero is acting personally."

As he said this, the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit paused, then said in a low voice, "From my observations over the years, there is likely a hidden passage somewhere in the Mystic Mechanism Palace that leads to a certain secret location within the palace. I say this because on a few occasions the Great Xuan emperor has appeared here without coming through the Mystic Mechanism Palace's doors."

Li Musheng's expression shifted, and he looked at the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit, "You have seen the Great Xuan emperor?"

"I have indeed."

The Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit's voice was raspy, and he explained, "Over all these years, the Mystic Mechanism Palace has held more than just these five people. For some of the most important among them, the Great Xuan emperor came personally to ask questions."

"Even so, I have no idea what the Great Xuan emperor is scheming. And though I once tried to find that hidden passage, the Mystic Mechanism Palace is riddled with mechanisms, and I never managed to locate it."

At those words, Li Musheng furrowed his brow slightly, then shook his head, "Finding a person is already troublesome enough. There is no need to spend time hunting for mechanism passages on top of that. And even if I found one, the Great Xuan emperor would not necessarily be on the other end."

As he said this, Li Musheng looked at the others in the hall and said suddenly, "All of you, think carefully. What is the best way to find the Great Xuan emperor? Whoever comes up with something useful, regardless of how this ultimately turns out, I promise I will personally clear their poison and bring them safely out of the Great Xuan imperial palace."

At those words, the expressions of the gathered martial world experts all shifted.

Li Musheng's martial cultivation was there for all to see. To have his personal promise was something any of them would desperately want.

Moreover, Li Musheng had shown from beginning to end that he treated the Great Xuan imperial palace as though it were nothing.

That extreme confidence, in the eyes of the assembled martial world experts, suggested that perhaps Li Musheng could even find a way to deal with the strange poison in their bodies without the Great Xuan imperial palace's antidote.

And so, each of them harboring a small thread of hope of escaping the Mystic Mechanism Palace, they ultimately decided to throw their lot in with Li Musheng.

After all, given the current situation, they did not dare refuse Li Musheng.

If they won the gamble, they might truly regain their freedom. Even if they lost, the worst outcome would probably be remaining under the Great Xuan imperial palace's control, spending the rest of their days in this lightless tower.

After all, if the Great Xuan imperial palace killed them, finding another group of martial world experts of comparable strength would not be easy.

...

"We go to the Xuanqing Palace. That is the Great Xuan emperor's sleeping quarters. He may very well be there right now."

"Not necessarily. That old emperor might be spending the night in one of his consorts' chambers. I suggest we first capture some of the emperor's close attendant eunuchs or the Ceremonial Directorate staff and find out his exact whereabouts before trying to seize him."

"That approach has issues too. The Great Xuan imperial palace is enormous and finding those eunuchs would not be easy. Besides, the truly close attendants are always at the emperor's side, so finding them is essentially the same as finding the Great Xuan emperor directly."

"This whole matter needs to be handled carefully. If we cause too large a disturbance and the old emperor gets wind of it, capturing him becomes even harder."

...

The martial world experts all talked over each other, but in the moment no one could come up with a truly good solution.

Zhao Muning stood to one side and said nothing. Every person in the room was trying to figure out how to seize her father. The fact that she was not interfering or obstructing them was already saying something. There was certainly no way she was going to join the discussion.

And at that very moment, the plump old man who had been so attentive toward Li Musheng and smooth in his conduct throughout seemed to have thought of something.

His eyes were darting around, and he looked extremely hesitant, clearly debating whether to share what he had thought of with Li Musheng.

After all, his idea was not exactly honorable, and would very likely cause things to escalate into a serious situation, which was an extremely dangerous prospect for all of them.

Li Musheng, who had been observing everyone, naturally noticed the plump old man's unusual state.

He raised an eyebrow, then suddenly pointed at him, "I knew all along you were someone useful. Come, tell me what you are thinking."

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