Great Li Martial God

At that moment, the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit's eyes flickered, and he lowered his voice toward Li Musheng, "Young hero, there is no need to waste words on this dog emperor. Why not simply take him down directly?"

"Then use that powerful interrogation method of yours. I guarantee this dog emperor will tell you everything he knows and hand Daoist Qingyu over without a word of resistance."

The interrogation method the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit was referring to was naturally the Life and Death Talisman.

He had personal experience of it, and was firmly convinced there was no one in the world who could endure that kind of terrifying agony.

But Li Musheng looked at the Great Xuan emperor before them, rubbed his chin, and said, "If that would work, you would not need to tell me. The problem is, the one in front of us is not the real man."

At those words, the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit, Zhao Kuang, and the others all went momentarily blank, then every one of them turned to look at the white-haired elder in the dragon robes.

"Sir... you mean he... is not my father?"

Crown Prince Zhao Kuang's expression turned unsettled, the earlier look of panicked helplessness fading gradually as a flash of stunned fury surfaced in his eyes.

Zhao Muning studied the white-haired elder carefully, then shook her head slowly, "It has been a long time since I have seen Father Emperor, but this person, whether in appearance, bearing, or even the weight of authority he carries, is exactly as I remember him."

But before he could finish, Li Musheng flicked a finger.

In the next instant, the white-haired elder's expression changed sharply and his figure shot backward, while an endless surge of blood mist poured in from all sides of the stone chamber, converging before the white-haired elder in an instant.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, it condensed into a blood-colored phantom in his exact likeness.

The blood-colored phantom was wreathed in demonic light from head to toe, its aura terrifying, and it raised an arm and extended one finger from on high, pressing down toward Li Musheng from a distance.

But before the strike could land, the blood-colored phantom shattered and dissolved, and at the same moment, the white-haired elder who had been shooting backward came to a sudden halt.

At some unknown point, a finger-width hole had appeared through the center of the white-haired elder's forehead, front to back, without a sound.

Zhao Kuang and Zhao Muning came to their senses, both somewhat stunned. The Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit showed a flash of delight, but then, remembering what Li Musheng had said before, gradually reined his expression back in.

Just then, the white-haired elder with the hole through his forehead stood frozen in place, his clouded eyes looking straight at Li Musheng, "Truly a young man of boundless promise. In all my life, I have never encountered a talent as formidable as you..."

The elder's voice was aged and dignified, yet entirely devoid of emotion. Only the light in those eyes was visibly dimming.

"You are not my father. Who exactly are you?"

Zhao Kuang stared at the white-haired elder and suddenly demanded in a sharp voice. The elder only turned his eyes slightly toward Zhao Kuang, "Kuang, Father is naturally your father... but the throne of Great Xuan is not an easy seat to fill. Take care of yourself."

As the white-haired elder's words ended, he closed his eyes slowly and fell straight backward, dropping into the dark passageway behind him with a heavy crash.

Only the dull reverberation of the sound lingered in the silent underground space.

After a moment, Zhao Kuang turned to look at Li Musheng, his expression caught between shock and uncertainty, "Sir... what exactly is happening?"

Li Musheng was quiet for a moment in thought. Beside him, the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit's expression shifted slightly, and he asked with puzzlement, "Young hero, are you truly certain the dead dog emperor is a fake?"

At those words, Zhao Muning also turned to look at Li Musheng with an unusual expression.

"Of course."

Li Musheng gave a slight nod. What the others did not know was that the white-haired elder in the dragon robes had in fact already been a corpse. What everyone had seen was nothing but a puppet. The one truly operating it from behind the scenes was someone else entirely, and that person was likely concealed somewhere deeper in the passageway ahead.

Just at that moment, a thunderous rumbling of metal gears suddenly rang out from within the stone chamber's passageway.

Then, from the dark tunnel, came the sound of footsteps.

Zhao Kuang and the others snapped their heads around, and the footsteps drew steadily closer, clearly advancing toward where they stood.

Everyone fell silent, their eyes fixed hard on the passageway.

Before long, in the view of Zhao Kuang and the others, a Daoist nun in gray robes walked slowly out of the darkness of the passageway.

The Daoist nun's hair was fully white and hung loose around her shoulders, but her face did not look particularly aged. Her brows and eyes carried an expression of gentle kindness.

She swept a slow look over the people before her, and finally let her gaze settle on Li Musheng, asking quietly, "Young man, was it you who forced your way into this Great Xuan imperial palace tonight to rescue this poor nun?"

At those words, Li Musheng said nothing, only looked the Daoist nun over from head to toe.

Zhao Kuang, the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit, and the others beside him looked somewhat at a loss. Though every one of them immediately guessed at her identity, they still felt as though the way things had unfolded was somehow not quite what they had expected.

They had never imagined that Daoist Qingyu, who Li Musheng had been searching for all this time, would simply walk out on her own.

"This poor nun is from the Azure Cloud Temple. My Daoist name is Qingyu. Though I can see you seem uncertain about my identity."

The gray-robed Daoist nun, seeing that Li Musheng had not answered her, turned back to glance at the Great Xuan emperor's corpse in the passageway and let out a quiet sigh.

"After the Great Xuan emperor sent experts to seize this poor nun from the Azure Cloud Temple and bring me to this palace, he did everything in his power to extract the Longevity Scripture from me."

"But this poor nun had made a promise to the Grand Master that the scripture would never be passed to anyone outside. I would sooner die than yield, and so I used a secret technique of our temple's to seal off all six senses, becoming a kind of 'living dead.'"

As she said this, Daoist Qingyu shook her head slowly, "This poor nun had thought this would make the Great Xuan emperor give up, and that if he could not learn the Longevity Scripture's whereabouts from me, he would at worst take my life and the matter would end there."

"But what this poor nun could not have anticipated was that the Great Xuan emperor had already entered the demonic path and successfully cultivated a supreme demonic art called the Soul-Searching Technique."

"Even with my six senses sealed, he was able to use this demonic art to search through my memories."

At those words, the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit's eyes instantly filled with shock, "The Soul-Searching Technique?"

He immediately turned to Li Musheng to explain, "Young hero, I have heard of this demonic art in the Great Xuan martial world. By all accounts it is sinister and unpredictable, and traces its origins to the Demonic Patriarch. It was once a part of the supreme demonic art known as the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Art."

"But ever since the Demonic Patriarch fell, only fragments of the Soul-Searching Technique occasionally surfaced in the martial world. Because it was incomplete, its power was greatly diminished, and it had long since lost the ability to truly search souls."

"I would never have thought the Great Xuan emperor could collect the complete version and successfully cultivate it."

Though these words were addressed to Li Musheng as an explanation, they also served as an implicit warning, reminding him that the Soul-Searching Technique had long been considered lost, and whether the Great Xuan emperor had truly cultivated it was difficult to verify. One should therefore be wary of Daoist Qingyu in front of them being deceptive.

At this, Daoist Qingyu looked at the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit and gave a slight nod, "What this benefactor says is not wrong. The Soul-Searching Technique does indeed belong to the legendary Demonic Patriarch. But this benefactor knows only half the story. The demonic path the Great Xuan emperor entered is in fact the complete legacy of the Demonic Patriarch himself."

At those words, the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit, Zhao Kuang, and the others all showed expressions of startled alarm, and immediately voiced their doubts in a flurry, "Even the three great demonic sects of the martial world never obtained the Demonic Patriarch's legacy. How could the Great Xuan emperor have gotten hold of it?"

"And the martial world says the Demonic Patriarch's Heaven-Devouring Demonic Art is sealed within nine Demonic Cores, and can only be revealed when all nine are gathered. The nine cores are not yet complete. Where would a full demonic legacy come from?"

...

Faced with the chorus of questions, Daoist Qingyu only shook her head, "This poor nun only learned of this after being brought to the palace. The Great Xuan emperor actually carries another identity in the martial world."

As she said this, Daoist Qingyu looked at Zhao Kuang and Zhao Muning, and slowly continued, "Your father is the sovereign of Great Xuan, but he is equally the Cult Master of the Sun and Moon Demonic Cult, one of the three great demonic sects."

"Father Emperor... he is the Cult Master of a demonic cult? How can that be?"

Zhao Muning found it difficult to accept what Daoist Qingyu was saying, while Zhao Kuang, though his expression also showed shock, said not a single word, his gaze resting on the corpse of the Great Xuan emperor in the passageway.

"The talk of Demonic Cores is nothing more than rumor even within the demonic circles of the Great Xuan martial world. No one has ever been able to confirm whether it is true or false. But the Demonic Patriarch's legacy of arts and teachings does truly exist."

Daoist Qingyu turned to look at the passageway behind her and let out a quiet sigh, "If you do not believe this poor nun, you are welcome to look for yourselves in the secret chamber at the far end of this passageway. All of the demonic arts the Great Xuan emperor cultivated, and every piece of evidence connecting him to the Sun and Moon Demonic Cult, are kept there."

"After seeing it for yourselves, you will understand that this poor nun has not spoken falsely."

At those words, the others said nothing. They glanced at the passageway in the stone chamber, then instinctively looked toward Li Musheng.

Clearly, though they wanted to confirm whether Daoist Qingyu was telling the truth, none of them dared venture further inside. If there was some trap within, mechanisms like the Earth Vault Mystery Hall, none of them had Li Musheng's martial cultivation to escape.

Li Musheng, however, seemed to have little interest in what Daoist Qingyu had revealed about the Great Xuan emperor. He simply withdrew his appraising gaze and raised an eyebrow, "How do you intend to prove you are the real Daoist Qingyu?"

The moment the words left his mouth, Li Musheng extended one finger and looked at the gray-robed Daoist nun with a composed expression, "I will give you the time it takes to brew one cup of tea. If you can prove you are Daoist Qingyu within that time, I will take you out of here. If you cannot..."

Li Musheng pointed toward the Great Xuan emperor's corpse in the passageway, "You can lie down there with him."

At those words, Daoist Qingyu looked at Li Musheng with an expression as mild as ever, showing no sign of irritation at his manner.

"This poor nun can understand your caution. And I can roughly guess that the one who asked you to act on my behalf was Junior Brother Qingye."

Daoist Qingyu spoke in a gentle voice, "To invite a martial expert of your caliber, my Junior Brother must have paid a considerable price. In truth, he did not need to go to such lengths. This poor nun was taken in by the Azure Cloud Temple as a child and has spent decades in the Dao. I have long since made my peace with life and death."

"Indeed, though the Grand Master bestowed the Longevity Scripture upon this poor nun, I have never cultivated it, and I do not intend to in the future."

At those words, Zhao Kuang's eyes flickered, and a trace of greed surfaced in their depths, though he quickly concealed it.

Much as he coveted the Longevity Scripture that could extend one's life by two hundred years, with Li Musheng and Daoist Qingyu both right before him, he did not dare make even the slightest rash move.

And besides, what he was far more concerned about right now was whether his father was truly and completely dead. That uncertainty was like a splinter in his heart. Until it was removed, he would always be afraid of it piercing straight through him when he least expected it.

Just then, Zhao Kuang suddenly cut in with a dark expression, "Setting aside for the moment your claim that my father is a demonic cult master, there is only one thing I want to know. You were imprisoned by my father and subjected to the Soul-Searching Technique. By any reasoning, even if you survived, you should be a complete invalid. So how have you come out of this unscathed and on your own, and how do you know so many of my father's secrets?"

The Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit and Zhao Muning both furrowed their brows, watching Daoist Qingyu. It was clearly a question they shared.

Li Musheng said nothing, only silently counting time on Daoist Qingyu's behalf.

Faced with Zhao Kuang's questioning, Daoist Qingyu's expression remained undisturbed. She glanced at Li Musheng, "To be honest, I cannot think of how to prove my identity to you at the moment. Perhaps this poor nun should first clear up their confusion."

As she said this, Daoist Qingyu suddenly raised her hand in a gesture of summoning. The Great Xuan emperor's corpse that had fallen into the passageway suddenly rose to its feet, then stepped forward in a single stride to stand before Zhao Kuang and the others.

At the sight, Zhao Kuang was startled and stumbled back several involuntary steps.

But in the next instant, he saw the Great Xuan emperor, whose forehead was pierced through and who was already dead, open his clouded eyes once more and fix them on him unblinkingly.

"You..."

Zhao Kuang stared wide-eyed, and heard the "Father Emperor" before him speak, "There is no need to be frightened. He is only a puppet I am controlling. Your father has already been dead for some time."

The Great Xuan emperor then stepped back, swept his gaze over the assembled group, and closed his eyes without another movement.

At the sight, Zhao Muning's expression shifted through several changes as she asked, "If Father Emperor has already been dead for some time, why did you control his corpse to speak with us just now?"

At those words, Daoist Qingyu shook her head, "The one speaking with you just now was not this poor nun. That was the real Great Xuan emperor, and he had not yet died at that point."

As she said this, Daoist Qingyu patiently explained, "The Soul-Searching Technique is an extraordinarily peculiar demonic art. Beyond its ability to directly search through memories, it actually possesses one other remarkable function."

"That is, a practitioner of this art can continuously shift between living and dead states, or even abandon their own body entirely and seize and inhabit the body of another."

"As for your earlier question about how this poor nun emerged unharmed from the Soul-Searching Technique, that has to do with an unusual encounter I had many years ago."

Here Daoist Qingyu paused briefly, "While traveling the martial world some time ago, this poor nun came across an unnamed scripture among ordinary people by chance. Finding its contents remarkably profound and mysterious, I was curious enough to begin cultivating it."

"But what this poor nun did not expect was that the unnamed scripture was a demonic text."

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