Great Li Martial God

At that very moment, Murong Xiaoya, who had passed through the elderly servant’s encirclement in an instant, appeared above him.

The Vermilion Bird phantom spread open behind her back, terrifying and commanding, with fire blazing in every direction around her as though burning through the sky itself. She looked down at the elderly servant below and said flatly, ”You are far from capable of killing me.”

The moment those words fell, the Vermilion Bird phantom behind Murong Xiaoya swept a wing through the air toward him from a distance.

In the next instant, the elderly servant’s heart was split open and dissolved into a mist of blood, which then condensed into a thread of refined blood carrying an extraordinarily powerful aura and merged into Murong Xiaoya’s heart.

At the same time, Murong Xiaoya’s aura surged upward once more at a terrifying speed. Her entire body was engulfed in blazing flame, like a great sun hanging in the sky, and the overwhelming pressure she gave off was frightening beyond measure.

Very quickly the Vermilion Bird phantom dissolved, the flames around Murong Xiaoya faded, and the molten gold vortexes in her eyes slowly drew back and stilled.

She returned entirely to her composed state, leaving only a slender figure standing suspended above the sea of fire consuming the Bai estate.

At that point Murong Xiaoya looked down at her own heart, and as though noticing something, let out a quiet sigh on her pale face.

But she immediately returned to her expression of cold indifference, and turned slowly to look toward a part of the city in the distance, ”Han Cuiyuan. Now only you remain.”

The moment those words fell, her figure vanished from where she stood.At the same time, in the streets and lanes surrounding the Yuan family estate, which had already become a sea of fire, a considerable number of city residents and martial world wanderers had gathered around.

The fires had appeared without warning. The Yuan estate was now burning without a single Yuan family member coming out to fight the flames, and this naturally set everyone to speculating that the Yuan family had likely been wiped out by arson.

Among that crowd, an unremarkable old man in coarse clothing stared at the blazing fire before him with an expression of deeply unsettling joy, his eyes reflecting the flames and filled with wild, frenzied excitement.

”Kill, keep killing, my dear niece...”

”That refined blood will make you stronger and stronger. When I devour the Vermilion Bird Bone, I will receive all the power you have accumulated...”

”Heh heh... I will be without equal in the world...”

The old man murmured to himself in a low voice, and as he spoke his entire body began to shudder violently from sheer excitement.

The people around him, assuming he was having a fit, moved away from him one by one without exception.

...

On an empty and silent street, the carriage rolled steadily onward.

Inside the carriage, Li Musheng was contentedly scratching the cat with one hand while continuing to refine the Azure Dragon Profound Darkness Scripture with his mind.

The Azure Dragon Profound Darkness Scripture, however, was no longer purely concerned with absorbing Azure Dragon True Qi. Now that the ability to absorb Qilin Blood had been incorporated, the name of this supreme art would probably need to be changed at some point.

”Your Highness, we have arrived.”

Wu Shang’s voice came from outside. Li Musheng withdrew his thoughts, gave the large cat a pat on the head, then stepped down from the carriage together with Hu Rui’an.

But the moment they touched the ground, more than a dozen martial artists suddenly burst out from the Mei family estate, all moving at tremendous speed as they rushed to push past Li Musheng’s group and flee.

Seeing this, Li Musheng raised an eyebrow.

In the next instant, every one of those who had tried to push past them suddenly froze, all stopping dead in their tracks at the same moment and rendered completely unable to move.

”I have only just arrived. Where is everyone running to?”

Li Musheng said this, then glanced at Hu Rui’an, saying, ”Find out what has happened. If there is anyone with authority over the Tianjin Guards matter among them, we cannot let them escape.”

Hearing this, Hu Rui’an folded his hands in acknowledgment and immediately moved, appearing in front of the person leading the group in the blink of an eye.

What surprised Hu Rui’an, however, was that the person at the head of the group turned out to be a noblewoman.

The woman was dressed in fine silk and brocade, carrying herself with a dignified and composed bearing, though her face at that moment was full of urgency and shock.

Hu Rui’an’s eyes moved slightly as he looked her over, then ventured, ”Could you be Lady Cainong?”

Hearing this, Mu Qingxia looked at Hu Rui’an before her and instinctively moved to speak, finding to her surprise that she could do so.

”You... who are you?”

The moment she realized she could speak, Mu Qingxia immediately said with urgency, ”Why have you sealed my acupoints without cause? I have urgent business to attend to right now. Please release the seal first and we can discuss matters once I have handled things.”

Hearing that the person before him was indeed that particular individual, Hu Rui’an’s eye twitched slightly.

He felt a quiet admiration in his heart. Worthy of His Highness indeed.

This woman, Mei Yan’s wife, was known throughout the martial world as Lady Cainong. Her martial cultivation was extremely high, and the Rainbow Divine Technique she practiced was shifting and unpredictable, formidably powerful, and had once allowed her to roam the martial world entirely unchallenged.

Her strength even surpassed his own. Yet in front of Li Musheng, she was the same as all those fighters who knew only a few rudimentary moves, sealed and frozen in place in an instant, as though there were no meaningful difference between any of them.

This reminded Hu Rui’an of something Commander Fu Qiwen had once said, that before a truly supreme martial artist, even someone with a Heaven-Human level cultivation was probably nothing more than a slightly larger ant.

The thought filled Hu Rui’an with a momentary sense of helplessness. A martial level like that was likely beyond anything he could hope for in this lifetime.

But he quickly composed himself and turned to look at Mu Qingxia before him, saying, ”Lady Mu, I am Hu Rui’an, Deputy Commander of the Tianjin Guards central headquarters. I am here regarding the deployment order for Sheng Province...”

However, upon hearing Hu Rui’an’s identity, a flicker of confusion passed through Mu Qingxia’s eyes, as though she could not understand how someone of Hu Rui’an’s strength had been able to seal her acupoints.

But she did not dwell on this, and suddenly cut him off in a cold voice, ”My son is in danger. I must go to his aid immediately. Since you are with the Tianjin Guards, release the seal at once. Whatever else there is can wait until later.”

Hu Rui’an could naturally sense the shift in her attitude, but after years of navigating official circles he was not particularly bothered by it. His attention was on something else entirely, and he said with a puzzled expression, ”Something has happened to Mei Yanyu? What is the situation?”

Mu Qingxia, however, clearly had no intention of explaining. The fact that even Elder Mu had personally sent a signal meant that Mei Yanyu’s situation at that moment was certainly dire.

With her mind entirely on her son, Mu Qingxia had no attention to spare for answering. She only pressed Hu Rui’an to release the seal, and by the end was shouting at him with fierce urgency.

At that point, Li Musheng glanced over in their direction and said, ”It was I who sealed your acupoints. Commissioner Hu has no way of releasing them. As for your son meeting with trouble, what does that have to do with us?”

Then Li Musheng gave Hu Rui’an his instructions, saying, ”Stop wasting time with her. Bring her back into the Mei estate. Tonight we have them issue the deployment order and send every member of the Tianjin Guards to Lan Province without delay.”