Great Li Martial God

The entire jade pool radiated a faint, ghostly green luminescence, casting a dim and hazy glow over the surrounding darkness.

At this moment, there were no figures anywhere around the pool’s edge, yet the vast expanse of space centered on it was blanketed by an invisible shroud of True Qi.

This meant that anyone whose martial Dao cultivation fell short would find it utterly impossible to draw even a step closer.

Bu Chengyang swept his gaze around the chamber and, finding no other exits, let his eyes settle on the deep pool before him.

He was just about to speak when Li Musheng had already taken Cang Yinyue with him and moved toward the water ahead.

The True Qi blanketing the surroundings posed not the slightest hindrance to either of them, and in the blink of an eye the two plunged beneath the surface and vanished.

Seeing this, Bu Chengyang shook his head, then grabbed Ah Bin by the arm and swiftly dove in after them.

”Martial Uncle, please be gentle, don’t take your frustrations out on me.”

Buffeted by the powerful True Qi leaking from Bu Chengyang’s body and subjected to his rough handling, Ah Bin immediately whimpered under his breath.

Hearing this, Bu Chengyang shot him a glare and said in a low, stern voice, ”You’d better read the room. Keep your head down when the time comes and don’t cause any trouble for me. Otherwise even I won’t be able to save you.”Ah Bin’s eyes flickered, and he glanced toward the deep pool. Seeing that Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue had already disappeared beneath the surface, he quickly lowered his voice and said, ”Martial Uncle, are we really just going to give up on the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword?”

Bu Chengyang narrowed his eyes slightly and said with a cold laugh, ”If you want it, go take it yourself. Just make absolutely sure you don’t drag me into it.”

”Huh?”

Ah Bin stared blankly for a moment, thinking to himself, has Martial Uncle Bu always been this thoroughly defeated?

A Heaven-Human expert refusing to act and instead telling him to go seize the sword, how could someone still drawing breath say something so utterly heartless?

Still, Ah Bin just as thoroughly held his tongue. If Bu Chengyang himself didn’t dare, there was no way he was going to be stupid enough to walk to his own death.

After following the others into the deep pool, Bu Chengyang held his breath with Ah Bin in tow and descended toward the dim, bluish-green glow emanating from the bottom of the water.

Drawing nearer, Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue were both floating in the water, their gazes fixed on what lay ahead on the pool’s floor.

There, a broad expanse of bronze foundation tinged with verdigris stretched across the bottom, from which nine enormous bronze chains, each as thick as a grown man’s thigh, coiled around the hilt and blade of a towering bronze sword three zhang in height, binding it to the pool floor without so much as a tremor.

Around the bronze sword, eleven martial experts of formidable cultivation were locked in combat with one another.

Among them, two elderly eunuchs with disheveled hair and python-patterned robes stood back to back beneath the bronze sword, together propping up a martial True Qi barrier spanning several zhang in every direction, blocking the other nine from getting through.

The nine varied widely in strength. Apart from three who had reached the Heaven-Human Realm, the remaining six were at the level of Martial Dao Grand Master or half-step Heaven-Human.

Yet at this moment, both sides were clearly in a state of deadlock, and the Great Qi remnants had not yet managed to bring down the two Great Li experts guarding the sword.

The moment Li Musheng’s group of four arrived, those at the pool’s floor naturally spotted them at once.

Among the Great Qi remnants, an elderly man in a violet robe continued striking the True Qi barrier before him while casting an appraising look at Li Musheng and the others.

The cultivations of Cang Yinyue and Ah Bin he could discern almost at a glance. From the aura emanating from Bu Chengyang, he could also determine with reasonable confidence that the man was a Heaven-Human expert. Only Li Musheng gave off not the faintest ripple of True Qi, leaving him unable to see through the man at all.

Even so, he did not let down his guard. Instead, he took the initiative to transmit his voice through True Qi in the water toward the four of them, saying, ”I trust the four of you have come here for the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword as well. We are now just one step away from breaking through the obstruction.”

”Why not lend us your strength? Once we’ve dealt with these two eunuchs together, we can then each rely on our own abilities to compete for the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword.”

The two elderly eunuchs beneath the bronze sword glanced at Li Musheng’s group of four, but said nothing.

The newcomers had clearly come for the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword, which put them squarely on the opposing side. There was simply no possibility of winning them over or joining forces.

At the same time, faced with the violet-robed elder’s call to action, neither Li Musheng nor Cang Yinyue responded, while Bu Chengyang shook his head and transmitted his voice back through True Qi, saying, ”There is no rush on our end. It would be far more appropriate to wait until they have worn each other down before making our move to seize the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword.”

Bu Chengyang could sense at this moment that among the three Heaven-Human experts from Qingshan Tower, it was the violet-robed elder who spoke that possessed the greatest martial Dao strength, enough to even hold a slight edge over himself.

He knew Li Musheng’s abilities were formidable, but if it came to actually fighting over the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword, they would be facing a combined assault from five Heaven-Human experts.

For the sake of caution, letting the opposing parties drain each other’s strength first while they reaped the benefits from the sidelines was undoubtedly the best choice.

At this point, however, Li Musheng was not the least bit conflicted over whether to act. The one thing he was conflicted about was something else entirely.

He transmitted his voice to Bu Chengyang through True Qi, saying, ”The legendary Great Li divine artifact, the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword, actually looks like this? It’s enormous. Three or four storeys tall, is this something a normal person could even wield?”

The Imperial Dragon Divine Sword was far too large, and the thing was simply too conspicuous. He was mulling over how to carry it away.

Hearing this, Bu Chengyang furrowed his brow, looked toward the bronze sword standing atop the bronze foundation, shook his head, and said, ”To be honest, I have never laid eyes on the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword myself. But by all reasoning, it really shouldn’t be a sword this large.”

Li Musheng wore a contemplative expression.

According to rumor, the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword had been forged from meteoric iron fallen from beyond the heavens, yet the sword before him appeared to be made entirely of bronze, which didn’t quite match up either.

Even so, he couldn’t work it out, and chose not to dwell on it further.

No matter how large the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword turned out to be, getting his hands on it first and then seizing the Azure Dragon True Qi was what mattered.

Beyond that, he had no use for the sword, so it seemed he didn’t really need to concern himself with lugging it around everywhere.

With that thought, he raised an eyebrow, then lifted his hand and pointed toward the bronze sword bound by the chains a distance ahead.

In an instant, the bronze sword that had been planted into the pool floor seemed seized by an enormous invisible hand, and was wrenched sharply upward.

The nine bronze chains as thick as thighs that had been coiling around the blade were immediately yanked by a force of overwhelming, unstoppable power, and with a series of dull, thunderous cracks they snapped apart all at once.

The massive shards of shattered bronze chain flew outward in every direction, sending surging waves crashing through the water and slamming indiscriminately into everyone gathered around the bronze sword.

In that instant, both the two elderly eunuchs and the assembled members of Qingshan Tower had their expressions change drastically.

The two elderly eunuchs stared in disbelief at the bronze sword tearing free from the ground, utterly unable to fathom what force could have bypassed their True Qi barrier and seized the sword directly.

As for the people of Qingshan Tower, they were both furious and stunned. Someone had snatched the prize right from under their noses, and they had not detected it in the slightest.