Great Li Martial God

At the same time, among Falling God Peak’s various peaks, things were clearly far from calm.

The sudden move by the Falling God Peak grandmaster and several honored elders had surprised everyone.

The various Peak Masters and others, though some had vaguely guessed something, could not bring themselves to believe it in their hearts.

”Jade Martial Sister, what is your view of this?”

The Fifth Peak Master Ouyang Mingqi looked toward Hundred Refinements City with a furrowed brow.

The mirror image of Yumian Jiao studied the dark cloud-filled sky with an expression that had grown somewhat grave, and was silent for a moment before saying, ”All I can say is that we still greatly underestimated the martial cultivation of the Great Li martial artist in Hundred Refinements City.”

Hearing this, Ouyang Mingqi turned to look at her, his eyes carrying an unreadable quality, saying, ”According to what the messenger from Hundred Refinements City said, the Great Li martial artist appeared to be very young. Looking at things now, their martial cultivation may even have surpassed the Scarlet Fire Honored Elder’s. This one has truly never heard of the Great Li court producing such a terrifying martial artist.”

The mirror image of Yumian Jiao slowly shook its head, saying, ”Sometimes even things seen with one’s own eyes are not necessarily the truth of the matter. As far as we are concerned, regardless of this person’s age, they currently have only one identity, and that is our enemy.”

”The only thing we need to worry about now is whether the grandmaster and the other honored elders can bring this person down. This matter is a matter of life and death for Falling God Peak.”

At those words, Ouyang Mingqi’s expression also became grave, and after a brief consideration he asked, ”Could it be that Martial Sister is worried that even with the grandmaster and the others acting, they still may not be able to deal with the person in Hundred Refinements City?”The mirror image of Yumian Jiao swayed gently in the empty air, let out a sigh, and said, ”Before all of this I would not have had a single doubt or worry. But now...”

She did not continue.

After things had gone wrong in Hundred Refinements City, from Hundred Refinements Peak Master Zheng Yunfeng to the Scarlet Fire Honored Elder, every encounter with the person in Hundred Refinements City had produced a result beyond her expectations.

At that moment, Yumian Jiao had begun to deeply doubt her own judgment, and without quite meaning to had developed a faint distrust of even Falling God Peak’s most powerful existences.

Ouyang Mingqi seemed to understand Yumian Jiao’s mood, and after a silence suddenly looked toward the distant sky, asking, ”If the grandmaster and the others also lose this time, what does Martial Sister intend to do?”

The mirror image of Yumian Jiao glanced at Ouyang Mingqi, her eyes shifting slightly, then she turned away and said in a calm tone, ”Naturally I would stand or fall with Falling God Peak.”

Hearing this, Ouyang Mingqi withdrew his gaze, looked at Yumian Jiao for a moment, and narrowed his eyes slowly without saying anything.

Then both of them turned together to look toward Hundred Refinements City, clearly both wanting to see the outcome for themselves.

...

At the same time, the elderly man Wu Yong, Lin Tang, and the others were moving through the mountain woodland, looking back from time to time toward Hundred Refinements City.

”Wait. Everyone stop.”

At that point the full-figured woman Lin Tang suddenly spoke.

Her figure came to an abrupt halt and she turned to look toward the sky above Hundred Refinements City.

Hearing her, Wu Yong and the others furrowed their brows, but they were already far from Hundred Refinements City and there was no danger in the immediate surroundings, so none of them continued forward.

”What is it?”

Wu Yong stopped and looked at Lin Tang with puzzlement, and she pointed at the rolling black clouds and lightning in the sky and said firmly, ”Once again an innate divine gift of overwhelming power, and it is clearly the Falling God Peak grandmaster and the others making their move. Did none of you stop to think about why?”

Hearing this, Wu Yong and Sui Zhen exchanged a glance, then furrowed their brows in thought for a moment.

Very quickly, both of them had their pupils suddenly contract, as though they had finally guessed something.

Lin Yuer beside them also reacted the same way, and then looked at her elder sister with some disbelief, saying, ”Could someone capable of wielding such terrifying fire as an innate divine gift truly be defeated at that prince’s hands?”

Wu Yong and Sui Zhen both looked at Lin Tang as well, though it was clear both of them harbored deep doubt about this even as they vaguely suspected it.

At that Lin Tang shook her head, saying, ”We are too far away to be certain, but every sign suggests that what Little Sister said before is continuing to gain weight.”

Hearing this, Wu Yong and Sui Zhen both showed unusual expressions and asked, ”What did Momo say?”

Lin Yuer beside them glanced at the two, then drew a long breath and said, ”Momo once quietly told us that the prince’s martial cultivation has already reached... the level of number one under heaven.”

At those words, Wu Yong and Sui Zhen both froze, and stood in place for quite a long time without speaking.

At that point the full-figured Lin Tang withdrew her gaze, saying, ”Before, we felt Little Sister might be exaggerating because of her feelings for that prince, so we held it back.”

”But now it seems that even if Little Sister overstated it slightly, that prince’s strength is absolutely far beyond anything we imagined, and at the very least there is a real possibility he might actually be able to destroy Falling God Peak.”

At those words, the mountain woodland fell quiet. All four of them said nothing, and after a while, the scholar Sui Zhen hesitantly asked, ”Then what do we do now? Do we still continue leaving?”

Wu Yong was silent, seemingly still weighing what the two Lin sisters had said.

But at that point Lin Tang looked at the sky and said, ”I suggest we wait here for a while. No need to rush away just yet. We can watch how things develop, and at this point we are already far from Hundred Refinements City. Whatever the outcome, we can advance or retreat freely.”

Hearing this, Wu Yong let out a breath, then gave a slight nod, saying, ”Then let us watch here and see who comes out ahead in the end tonight, Falling God Peak or the Great Li court.”

...

Hundred Refinements City.

In the wine house not far from the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion where the hemp-robed elderly man and Lin Xunner were still hiding, they looked up at the pitch-black cloud layer above, electric serpents dancing within it, and deafening thunder filling their ears. The two of them exchanged a look.

”They came so quickly.”

Lin Xunner swallowed quietly, and under the pressure of such a spectacle, even her small body could not help but tremble.

The hemp-robed elderly man immediately channeled True Qi to help her resist the overwhelming pressure bearing down from the sky above.

Then he quietly glanced toward the roof of the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion, and said in a low voice that was just slightly tense, ”Young Master Li should be fine, shouldn’t he?”

Hearing this, Lin Xunner glanced at the hemp-robed elderly man, furrowed her delicate brows, and said, ”Grandfather, how have you still not learned? Have you forgotten what you said before? How many times have you been proven wrong already?”

The hemp-robed elderly man gave a quiet cough, his aged face looking sheepish, and said, ”I am not doubting Young Master Li’s strength. I am simply worried about him.”

Lin Xunner pursed her lips, and at that moment, from behind them inside the wine house, there came an extremely faint and subtle sound.

Under normal circumstances the sound would have been entirely swallowed by the rolling thunder above, but it still did not escape the hemp-robed elderly man’s ears.

His eyes immediately darkened and he turned sharply to look, but in the next instant his face showed a peculiar expression.

In one of the wine house’s rooms, a large cat with glossy pitch-black fur appeared, its tail held high, padding toward the two of them with measured steps.

At that point Lin Xunner also noticed her grandfather’s reaction, and turned to look. Upon seeing the large black cat, her eyes shifted at once. She had recognized who it was.

Earlier, when they had encountered Hu Rui’an’s group on the way to Falling God Peak, they had seen this cat in the group’s carriage.

The large black cat before them appeared to be Li Musheng’s pet.

The large black cat, seeing the two looking its way, paid no particular attention to them, gave a light meow, and walked over to stand beside the hemp-robed elderly man and Lin Xunner of its own accord.

It then folded its four paws together, sat down, raised its cat head toward the sky above Hundred Refinements City, and fixed its green eyes on it without moving.

Seeing this, the hemp-robed elderly man and Lin Xunner exchanged a glance. Both had recognized that this cat belonged to Li Musheng.

Even though the cat had appeared without any warning, as the old saying goes, hitting a cat means looking to its owner first. There was naturally no thought of doing anything to the large black cat.

On the contrary, Lin Xunner’s dark eyes brightened, and seeing such a large black cat she could not help reaching out her small hand to touch its fur.

But in the next instant, the large black cat’s green eyes snapped toward her, and it raised a paw as though to swipe at her hand.

Lin Xunner was startled and immediately pulled her hand back with some lingering alarm.

Unable to fight the cat or do anything to it, she could only mutter, ”This cat is so aggressive.”

The hemp-robed elderly man had no inclination to pet the cat, but kept studying it. He felt that a cat Li Musheng had taken a liking to might have some unusual quality.

And besides, the largest cat he had ever seen in his life was before him right now, which in itself was quite distinctive.

But after studying it for a while, he could not quite determine what was unusual about it.

He finally withdrew his gaze, looked up toward the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion’s rooftop, and said to the large black cat, ”You must have come to watch over your master. That is rather loyal of you.”

”But do not worry. Young Master Li’s martial cultivation is beyond this world. Nothing will happen to him.”

Hearing this, the large black cat shot the hemp-robed elderly man a sideways look that seemed to say ”you don’t need to tell me that.”

But very quickly its eyes shifted back to Li Musheng’s figure on the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion, and with a quiet meow it settled down silently to watch.

...

On the roof of the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion.

Li Musheng sat on the ridgeline, rubbing his chin and looking at the sky above.

The vast dark clouds were pressing down as though they might engulf everything below, the sky above Hundred Refinements City growing as dense and heavy as liquid lead, with wind howling through the city and thunder rolling through the heavens.

It had to be said that the innate divine gifts of those of divine nature were in some respects genuinely quite extraordinary.

The scene above Hundred Refinements City in Li Musheng’s view was nothing more than someone using their innate divine gift to control the wind, blowing the clouds above to converge over the city, while the thunder within the clouds was the Falling God Peak grandmaster releasing lightning through their innate divine gift to build an imposing atmosphere.

But from the overall appearance of it, Falling God Peak’s people looked as though they were divine beings commanding wind and rain, and the spectacle was genuinely very impressive.

Of course, the genuine danger within it was also significant. An ordinary Heaven-Man martial artist would probably be reduced to charcoal by a single bolt of lightning from the Falling God Peak grandmaster alone.

At that point, the ink-dark clouds above roiled and boiled, and the black vault above parted slowly, revealing a simply dressed elderly man with purple lightning crackling behind him.

”Young man, so it was you who killed my Martial Brother Scarlet Fire?”

The Falling God Peak grandmaster’s voice was like rolling thunder, and lightning flickered in his eyes.

His gaze fixed on and studied Li Musheng sitting on the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion’s roof below, though his attention was not on Li Musheng’s age. He was continuously sensing the aura and martial Dao True Qi around the other person.

Very quickly, however, he furrowed his brow, because he simply could not see through Li Musheng at all. No matter how he probed, the other person appeared to be nothing more than an entirely ordinary person with no martial cultivation whatsoever.

Facing the Falling God Peak grandmaster’s question, Li Musheng gave a slow nod, then spoke to confirm in return, ”You are the Falling God Peak grandmaster? Aside from the people with you, are there any others in Falling God Peak who are more formidable than your group?”

Hearing this, the Falling God Peak grandmaster narrowed his eyes and looked at Li Musheng’s casual, completely unbothered manner, as though he were entirely beneath consideration.

A flicker of anger crossed his eyes, and he said in a cold voice, ”Falling God Peak and the Great Li court have always kept out of each other’s way and coexisted peacefully. And yet your Tianjin Guards has suddenly invaded our sect, killing our disciples, elders, and Peak Masters. This kind of unprovoked and brutal aggression will without question be condemned by the entire martial world.”

Listening to the Falling God Peak grandmaster open the conversation by immediately placing a label and delivering a grand and high-sounding condemnation of the Great Li court, positioning Falling God Peak as the victim in the right, Li Musheng shook his head. One had to say this was not without merit, being a sect grandmaster was different from the other martial artists who could only shout to fight or kill.

Before coming to blows, he still knew to position himself on the moral high ground to condemn his opponent, to maintain his and the sect’s reputation and image.

The guiding principle being that regardless of whether one won or lost, one could not afford to lose the battle of posture first.

Li Musheng, however, was clearly not Commander Fu Qiwen. Fu Qiwen might have felt obligated to argue back and forth with the other party before making a move, for the sake of the court’s face.

He had no interest in any of that. In his view, Falling God Peak, as one of the four great martial world sects, might appear on the surface to have nothing particularly wrong with it.

On this journey, it had openly maintained the dignity and image of a top martial world sect, and in most visible situations one could not see acts of outright oppression of ordinary people.

Yet in truth it was an unambiguous and undeniable poisonous growth.

Setting aside the countless dirty deeds it had done in secret under the cover of its domineering treatment of other martial world sects, whether it was Falling God Peak’s massive extraction of wealth from all those sects, which ultimately harmed ordinary people, or its disregard for dynastic law and its destruction of martial world order, it was a scourge without limit to the common people and to the nation alike.

A martial world power of this kind was long overdue for removal. Li Musheng would not feel the slightest softening of the heart, nor would he waste words on it.

He looked at the Falling God Peak grandmaster in the cloud layer and said mildly, ”Skip the speeches. None of that means anything to me and it will not do any good. Since you are all Falling God Peak’s last resort, it is time for this to end.”

As the last words fell, Li Musheng suddenly raised his hand and grabbed toward the area beneath the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion.

At the same time, the entire street below began to shake, bricks and stone surging like waves, condensing into a stone dragon dozens of yards long.