Great Li Martial God

According to the record on the final page of the Azure Dragon Profound Darkness Scripture, the Azure Dragon True Seal would gradually take solid form as the cultivator continued absorbing Azure Dragon True Qi, and would ultimately undergo a complete transformation into a supreme true dragon commanding the azure darkness and divine thunder.

But Li Musheng was well aware that at the end of certain martial technique manuals, the creators would include their loftiest imaginings about the pinnacle of that technique, or conjure up a vague and intangible cultivation realm entirely from their own minds.

In reality, there was no concrete basis to prove that these flights of fancy could ever truly be realized.

While the Azure Dragon Profound Darkness Scripture was undoubtedly a martial divine technique, this business of the Azure Dragon True Seal transforming into a supreme true dragon had, to some degree, the flavor of boastful exaggeration and empty promises.

That said, Li Musheng had no intention of erasing the Azure Dragon True Seal that had appeared in his elixir field.

After all, the Azure Dragon True Qi was genuinely extraordinary, and he was curious to see whether the Azure Dragon True Seal would undergo any real changes in the future.

With that thought, Li Musheng gathered his mind, confirmed that no remaining traces of Azure Dragon True Qi were left behind, and called for Cang Yinyue and the others to leave.

Coming out of the Dragon Lock Well, Bu Chengyang and Ah Bin exchanged a glance and suddenly became extremely guarded, both wearing expressions full of anxious worry.

Li Musheng had not only obtained the Azure Dragon Profound Darkness Scripture, a martial divine technique the martial world dreamed of, but had also extracted every last trace of Azure Dragon True Qi from beneath Dragon Lock Well Ward, and on top of that had claimed the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword, a Great Li divine artifact.

Any single one of these pieces of news, if it spread, would be enough to shake the entire martial world of Great Li. Anyone with even a modicum of scheming ability would not hesitate for a moment before thinking about silencing them permanently.After all, if these things came to light, Li Musheng would not only have to face the Great Li imperial court, but would also have to contend with trouble from every faction of the martial world.

At this moment, Bu Chengyang had even quietly prepared himself to fight with everything he had at any time.

No matter how powerful Li Musheng was, and no matter how slim his chances, he could not simply sit and wait to die.

As for Ah Bin, he had already given up entirely. For Li Musheng to do away with him would be no more difficult than crushing an ant.

Any resistance on his part would be utterly futile. He was better off calmly accepting whatever fate awaited him, and if he had to die, at least he ought to die with some shred of dignity.

However, what left both Bu Chengyang and Ah Bin somewhat dumbstruck was that Li Musheng paid almost no attention to them whatsoever.

After leaving the deep well, he simply left behind a single remark that the two of them could not quite make sense of, then took Cang Yinyue with him and departed of his own accord.

From beginning to end, Li Musheng had not made any move against them, and had not even said a single word of warning or reminder about keeping what they had witnessed to themselves.

Watching the retreating figures of Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue, Ah Bin vigorously rubbed his own face, then turned his head toward Bu Chengyang beside him with an incredulous expression, saying, ”He really just... left like that?”

Hearing this, Bu Chengyang’s expression shifted, and he shot Ah Bin a fierce glare, saying, ”Would you prefer he slap you to death before leaving?”

”I never said anything of the sort.”

Ah Bin shrugged, and with Li Musheng now gone, he finally let out a long breath of relief.

”But what did he mean just now, telling us we’d better not stay with the Great Yan Sword Sect anymore?”

Ah Bin turned the words Li Musheng had left behind over in his mind, his eyes darting about as he said, ”Could he have been hinting that I should betray the sect and follow him? But when I tried to do exactly that earlier, he flatly refused me.”

Ah Bin wore a puzzled expression. Beside him, Bu Chengyang’s gaze shifted slightly, and after a moment of quiet thought he said slowly, ”Just now I heard that Miss Cang address him as Your Highness. His true identity very likely traces back to the Great Li imperial family, and he may well be one of Great Li’s princes.”

Hearing this, Ah Bin shook his head repeatedly, saying, ”I was present at the Great Li imperial family’s Heaven Worship Ceremony two years ago and caught a distant glimpse of Great Li’s princes. He was not among them. And besides, if he truly were a Great Li prince, why would he be going to the bother of seizing his own dynasty’s Imperial Dragon Divine Sword?”

As he spoke, Ah Bin suddenly seemed to have a thought and his expression turned to one of surprise as he said, ”Wait, now that I think about it, there is actually one prince I never got to see.”

Bu Chengyang furrowed his brow slightly, saying, ”You mean the Eighth Prince that Emperor Yuanwu recently acknowledged?”

”Exactly him.”

Ah Bin nodded, though with some uncertainty, saying, ”But from what the rumors say, that Eighth Prince who grew up among the common people apparently came from some remote small town. It seems impossible that he could possess such terrifying martial Dao cultivation.”

Bu Chengyang was silent for a moment, then raised his eyes toward the direction Li Musheng had gone and let out a soft sigh, saying, ”That man cannot be judged by ordinary standards. Even if his identity truly is that of Great Li’s Eighth Prince, there is actually nothing particularly strange about it.”

With that, he turned to look at Ah Bin and said, ”Regardless, you and I had best keep absolutely tight-lipped about today’s events and not breathe a single word to anyone outside. Act as though nothing happened at all. Otherwise there is no guarantee he won’t change his mind in the future and come to settle accounts with us.”

Hearing this, Ah Bin immediately nodded again and again, saying, ”Martial Uncle can rest easy. I know how to handle myself. After working as a spy for Six Doors all this time, I know perfectly well what should and shouldn’t be said.”

Bu Chengyang gave him a look, then waved a hand and said, ”Alright. If you have nothing else to attend to, you may go on your way. The plan to seize the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword has failed this time, and I’ll come up with an excuse to report back to the sect.”

Ah Bin agreed and turned to leave, but after a moment’s thought he turned his head back and asked quietly, ”Martial Uncle, are we still going to keep staying with the sect?”

Bu Chengyang glared at him and said, ”What are you afraid of? He never forced us to betray the sect. Besides, the Great Yan Sword Sect is a top-tier power of the martial world, one that even the Great Li imperial court must treat as an equal. Of course we continue to stay.”

”Furthermore, every bit of martial skill and sword technique you and I possess was taught and cultivated by the sect. If you have even a shred of conscience, you would never have asked such a question.”

Hearing this, Ah Bin shrank his neck down.

He grumbled inwardly, thinking that for all the high-minded talk, he could not quite recall who it was that had been the first to suggest betraying the sect, and had even told him not to breathe a word of it to anyone.

But naturally Ah Bin did not dare say any of this aloud. He pursed his lips, slipped into the alleyway, and vanished from sight.

...

Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue returned to the secluded back alley and boarded the carriage, preparing to head back to the Tianjin Guards headquarters.

Cang Yinyue sat across from Li Musheng with the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword in her hands, its entire length gleaming like translucent jade and green gemstone.

She opened her mouth several times, yet each time found herself at a loss for what to say.

Li Musheng glanced at her, waved a hand, and said, ”Keep that Imperial Dragon Divine Sword. If anyone asks, just tell them I gave it to you.”

As he said this, he raised an eyebrow slightly. This trip had yielded considerable gains.

But the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword was something that would very likely bring certain complications down the road.

Not that Li Musheng particularly minded.

He was equally indifferent to the possibility of Bu Chengyang or Ah Bin letting slip the matter of the Azure Dragon Profound Darkness Scripture and the Azure Dragon True Qi.