Great Li Martial God

The others from the seven major sects heard what the young woman said and immediately looked curious, pressing her, "Were you able to make out what the large cat wrote?"

At those words, the young woman's brow was deeply furrowed as she stared at the scratches the large black cat had made, her expression straining considerably as she attempted to decipher them, "The marks at the front are completely incomprehensible. But these two characters here should be 'gold.'"

As she said this, she raised a hand and pointed at another section of marks, "And this one is roughly the character for 'demonic,' though it has too many strokes and the cat appears to have left half of them out. As for the character after it, that one is simpler and should be 'core.'"

At those words, every one of the disciples from the seven major sects changed expression sharply, "Gold?"

"Demonic Core."

In an instant, every person from the seven major sects snapped their attention to the large black cat crouching before the door, and a look of wariness flashed in all their eyes.

The Demonic Core was a matter of the utmost importance. That a large black cat knew about it was deeply suspicious, and not something to be disregarded.

Some among them even let a quiet killing intent surface in their eyes. The plans they were discussing could not be allowed to leak. If this large black cat spread the news, the consequences could be lethal.

The large black cat, crouched where it was, watched the young woman struggle to make out a few of the characters it had written. Though not entirely satisfied, it gave the assembled group a grudging nod, indicating that she had at least some perception and had guessed the right words.

Seeing this, the people from the seven major sects exchanged glances with one another, and none of them made a move against the large black cat right away.

After all, they wanted to understand what this cat was actually doing showing itself to them, and whether there was someone else behind it.

Their eyes shifted, and they all looked once again at the young woman from before.

The young woman observed the large black cat for a moment, and her expression gradually became somewhat more serious.

After a brief hesitation, she addressed the enormous black cat tentatively, "Are you saying... you have a Demonic Core, and you want to trade it to us for gold?"

The words fell, and the room went suddenly silent.

In the next instant, every person turned to stare at the large black cat with startled expressions.

And then they saw the large black cat look at the young woman, let out a meow, and slowly dip its large head in a nod.

"This is..."

The disciples of the seven major sects were momentarily stunned, clearly finding this difficult to believe.

The young woman who had understood the cat's meaning pressed down her shock and confirmed once more, "You truly have a Demonic Core?"

"Meow."

The large black cat let out an impatient cry, indicating that she should stop asking unnecessary questions.

Then it raised its paw and began gesturing again, the meaning clearly being to ask how much gold they could offer.

Wasting no time at all, it had moved directly into the negotiation phase.

At the sight, the people from the seven major sects gradually came back to themselves, exchanged looks, and began transmitting to one another through true qi in low voices.

Some were suspicious of the large black cat, feeling its behavior was too strange for an ordinary cat, and that it might very well be some scheme of the demonic world.

Others argued that the large black cat appeared to have no hostile intent, and that it had chosen to reveal itself, meaning it had almost certainly been aware of them for some time already.

If it meant them harm, quietly slipping away and bringing back demonic experts or court soldiers to sweep them all up in one net would have been the obviously superior choice.

While the two sides of the group debated, the young woman watched the large black cat closely and continued to engage it, "How much gold would it take for us to obtain the Demonic Core from you?"

At those words, the large black cat narrowed its eyes slightly, and raised one paw.

The young woman tried tentatively, "One hundred taels?"

The large black cat showed a flash of contempt and immediately shook its head.

"One thousand taels?"

The young woman asked again, but the large black cat shook its head once more.

"Ten thousand taels of gold?"

The young woman's brow creased, and she shook her head vigorously, "We could not produce that much gold. Ten thousand taels is nearly equal to the combined income of the seven major sects over many years."

At those words, the large black cat's face showed a clear expression of disdain, and in those two round green eyes of its, two words practically floated to the surface, “broke peasants."

After all, the large black cat had followed Li Musheng into the treasury of Falling God Peak and seen mountains upon mountains of gold and silver. Its standards had been thoroughly ruined. Its expectations were simply on another level.

And to think that the respected seven major sects of Great Xuan's martial world could not even produce ten thousand taels of gold. It found it difficult not to look down on them.

The disciples of the seven major sects could see clearly that the large black cat was regarding them with utter contempt, and a good number of them stopped their quiet transmissions, feeling at once ashamed and irritated.

After all, this was the first time in any of their lives that they had been looked down on for being poor, and by a cat no less.

"Setting aside the matter of gold for a moment, how would you prove you actually have a Demonic Core?"

Someone from the seven major sects spoke up, and without really noticing it, they had stopped treating the obviously perceptive large black cat as a mere animal, and were now simply talking to it as one would talk to a person.

And everyone had already looked the large black cat over. It did not seem to be carrying anything resembling a Demonic Core on its person.

The large black cat slanted a look at the speaker, showing no intention of answering that question at all.

It simply flicked its paw in a dismissive gesture and, with some visible reluctance at the thought of taking a loss, lowered the asking price down to one thousand taels of gold.

"One thousand taels of gold... we could not produce that immediately either."

The young woman shook her head helplessly, then added, "We could make a partial payment first and write a promissory note for the rest, but only if you first let us confirm you truly have a Demonic Core."

At those words, the people from the seven major sects exchanged glances, then gave a slow collective nod.

To be honest, their real focus was the Demonic Core. If the large black cat genuinely had one, paying a certain amount of gold was not a particularly large problem.

The large black cat sat where it was and slowly swept its gaze over the assembled group of paupers from the seven major sects, an expression of contemplation on its face.

The Demonic Core was tucked beneath its belly, but it was somewhat reluctant to do business with these people.

A bunch of people with no gold trying to get something for nothing and walk off with its Demonic Core. Nice dream.

Still, the large black cat had been at this since the previous night and had not slept properly, and its patience was nearly exhausted. It was genuinely not eager to keep running around the city looking for demonic world figures.

With that thought, the large black cat's green eyes swiveled, and it fixed its gaze on the young woman from before, then raised a paw and beckoned at her, and turned to walk back out toward the courtyard.

Seeing this, the young woman's expression shifted, and she frowned, "It's... taking us to see the Demonic Core."

At those words, the others around her showed unusual expressions, and someone immediately lowered their voice, "Should we grab the cat?"

"The cat isn't what we should be focused on. It's whoever is behind this cat. Think about it, when have you ever seen a cat this perceptive? Whoever owns something like this is clearly no ordinary person."

Someone spoke up in careful warning. The enormous fat black cat, aside from looking down on them for being poor, had shown no hostility whatsoever from start to finish.

If they acted rashly and ended up provoking someone they could not afford to cross, that would be a far worse mistake.

"Then what do we do? Follow it? What if it's a trap?"

"We should not linger here. The immediate priority is to leave this location. As for the Demonic Core, I suggest each of the seven sects send one capable person to follow and see what happens."

"If anything seems off, pull back immediately. If the large cat genuinely has a Demonic Core, make absolutely sure to secure it."

The various people from the seven major sects exchanged views and came to a decision. A portion of them would follow the large black cat, while the rest would immediately abandon the current location and withdraw.

The young woman from the Inviting Moon Palace who had deciphered the large black cat's writing was among the seven who would follow.

The large black cat saw that the people from the seven major sects were following, let out a meow, and transformed into a black streak, bounding across the roof ridges and moving rapidly away.

Seeing this, the people from the seven major sects all showed unusual expressions.

The large black cat's speed was genuinely remarkable. To keep pace without being left behind, every one of them had to push themselves to their limit.

Before long, the large black cat came racing back to the inn, and in a flash appeared in the room where Cao Gaoshan was staying.

After advancing to the Heaven-Human Realm, Cao Gaoshan spent most of his time in his room consolidating his new level of cultivation. Seeing the large black cat arrive, he slowly opened his eyes, though he did not understand why it had come to him.

The reason the large black cat had come to Cao Gaoshan was naturally that aside from Li Musheng, Cao Gaoshan was the one person who could most reliably understand its meaning.

The large black cat gestured its intentions to Cao Gaoshan.

Having understood roughly what the large black cat had in mind, Cao Gaoshan showed a somewhat unusual expression.

He had not expected Li Musheng to have given the Demonic Core to this cat, and even less expected that the mercenary creature was planning to sell it.

He was not quite sure what to say about that, but he did not refuse the large black cat. He followed it down to the inn's main hall.

By that time, the seven people who had trailed the large black cat had already entered the inn.

The inn proprietor noticed them the moment they came in and immediately identified them as people from the martial world. He gave nothing away, however, and simply kept his head down over his accounts.

The seven people looked around the hall, and then caught sight of the large black cat coming down the stairs with Cao Gaoshan.

"Everyone be careful. This is a formidable expert."

Someone immediately transmitted a quiet warning, having sensed the aura of a Heaven-Human expert emanating from Cao Gaoshan.

"The situation has gone wrong. Fall back."

The strongest among the seven was no more than a Martial Dao Grand Master, and none of them was a match for Cao Gaoshan at the Heaven-Human level. Sensing that something was off, they immediately prepared to withdraw.

At that moment, Cao Gaoshan narrowed his eyes slightly, and in an instant a formless pressure of blade intent descended upon the seven arrivals.

Every one of the seven who had been on the verge of leaving immediately froze where they stood. A fierce and dominating blade intent wrapped around them, and not one of them dared move a muscle.

It was as though the slightest twitch would see them cut in two.

The large black cat swaggered across the main hall toward the seven, then jumped up onto a chair and sat down before them.

"What did you bring us here for?"

The seven, unable to move, all looked toward Cao Gaoshan with unpleasant expressions.

Cao Gaoshan said nothing, only gestured to an inn attendant to bring over brush, ink, and paper, then set them on the table before the group and said, "If this is a transaction, naturally a written contract should be drawn up. After all, ten thousand taels of gold is no small amount."

At those words, the seven finally understood that Cao Gaoshan appeared to intend to continue the transaction the large black cat had proposed.

But immediately, someone spoke up urgently, "Wait, was it not agreed to be one thousand taels of gold just now? When did it become ten thousand?"

At those words, the large black cat curled the corner of its mouth, then gestured at Cao Gaoshan.

Cao Gaoshan saw this, his eyelid twitching faintly.

But he coughed once and said in a measured tone, "Since you have come here, the earlier terms naturally no longer apply."

As he said this, Cao Gaoshan gave the large black cat a meaningful look, and it immediately produced the Demonic Core from beneath its belly.

The moment the group caught sight of the Demonic Core, every pair of eyes sharpened immediately, and their expressions shifted rapidly.

...

Before long, the seven capitulated and signed a promissory note for ten thousand taels of gold on behalf of the seven major sects.

Beyond the value of the Demonic Core itself, they had little choice. Under Cao Gaoshan's hand, there was a very real chance they would not make it out of the inn otherwise.

The large black cat then patted down every one of the seven and took all the silver they were carrying before grudgingly allowing them to leave.

"It's real. This is genuinely a Demonic Core."

The seven emerged from the inn and looked at the Demonic Core in their hands with expressions of clear delight.

The indignity of being fleeced by the large black cat had dissolved almost entirely.

After all, securing this Demonic Core and preventing the three demonic sects from obtaining the Demonic Patriarch's legacy was an achievement of the highest order.

"Move out. The Demonic Core must not be lost."

The seven glanced back at the inn with a long, searching look, then launched into motion and departed at speed.

The large black cat crouched on the inn's rooftop and watched their retreating figures, its tail swaying lightly.

It looked down at the promissory note under its paw, and its expression was one of satisfaction.

One Demonic Core of no particular use to itself, traded for ten thousand taels of gold. Even better than it had planned at the outset.

But just at that moment, the promissory note beneath its paw suddenly lifted into the air on its own.

The large black cat's eyes changed at once, and it immediately let out a meow and shot out a paw to catch it.

But unfortunately it was not fast enough. The promissory note shot away with a whoosh, flying toward the rooftop of a building beside the inn.

The large black cat spun its head sharply to look, and saw a young woman in green standing on the nearby roof.

The young woman's dark hair flowed like a waterfall, and her features were strikingly beautiful. She raised a slender jade hand and plucked the promissory note cleanly out of the air.

The large black cat immediately flew into a rage. That was its ten thousand taels of gold. There was no way it was going to let someone steal it.

It launched itself instantly and transformed into a black streak that hurled itself directly at the woman, but the woman only raised her eyes for a glance, shifted her position with swift, fluid movements, and the large black cat sailed straight through the empty air where she had been.

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