Great Li Martial God

At those words, Fourth Prince Li Zi’s expression shifted at once, and he frowned and clasped his hands in a bow, asking, ”Your Majesty the Empress, does even the imperial palace have no way of dealing with that Eighth?”

The Empress, seated on her golden jade throne, glanced at him and said, ”Whether the palace has a way of dealing with him or not, no one will move against him before His Majesty gives the order.”

First Prince Li Xuan and Fifth Prince Li Qing exchanged a look, then clasped their hands in a bow toward the Empress and asked, ”Does Mother know roughly when Father might emerge from seclusion?”

The Empress shook her head again. A trace of helplessness crossed her composed and dignified face, and she said, ”I am not certain myself. To speak plainly, I am more anxious than any of you, and hope His Majesty will emerge from seclusion soon.”

”Too many things have happened in this period, good and bad alike, and none of them are matters this Empress can easily decide on her own.”

At those words, the assembled princes all fell silent.

But at that very moment, an elderly eunuch suddenly came hurrying into the hall and bowed before the Empress on her phoenix throne, reporting in an urgent voice, ”Your Majesty the Empress, word has just come in. After the Eighth Prince left the Tianjin Guards headquarters again, he went to the Huo family’s residence. It appears he has struck against the Dugu family’s people once more.”

At those words, every prince in the hall was momentarily taken aback, while the Empress furrowed her brow deeply. Even so, she asked nothing further and simply waved a hand, saying, ”You may withdraw for now. This Empress is already aware of the matter.”

At the same time, Fourth Prince Li Zi’s expression went through several rapid changes, and he immediately turned and bowed toward the Empress, saying, ”Your Majesty the Empress, I have made up my mind. I will stay in the palace for the time being and wait here for Father to emerge from seclusion.”

”I ask that you be so kind as to arrange accommodations for me.”Before he had even finished speaking, Sixth Prince Li An quickly followed with a bow of his own, saying, ”I am of the same mind as my Fourth Elder Brother. I also ask that Your Majesty the Empress arrange a place for me to stay for a while.”

At those words, the Empress glanced at the two of them, gave a slight nod, and instructed a eunuch to lead them to their quarters within the palace.

First Prince Li Xuan turned his gaze to Fifth Prince Li Qing and said, ”Why not stay here in the palace with me for a time, Fifth Brother? It has also been a while since I kept Mother company.”

Li Qing did not hesitate in the slightest and agreed at once, while the Empress’s gaze settled on Li Xuan and she said, ”That is thoughtful of you, Xuan. The Eighth conducts himself without any restraint, so you would all do well to lie low for now.”

...

Over the following two days, the four princes quietly took up residence in the palace, while Li Musheng remained within the Tianjin Guards headquarters and did not go out.

But on this particular day, a piece of news came drifting from Yun City into the Great Li imperial capital.

”Have you heard? Not long ago, the Martial Saint of Yuming Mountain was ambushed and killed by a powerful expert in secret. Word is that they have now identified the killer.”

In a prosperous tavern in the capital, two patrons were whispering to each other.

Throughout the entirety of Great Li’s martial world at this moment, beyond the news of the Eighth Prince Li Musheng destroying Falling God Peak and killing the Second Prince the very day he returned to the capital, which still spread everywhere in a roiling clamor, the other piece of news that had swept through the martial world was unquestionably the death of Mu Tianxing, the Martial Saint of Yuming Mountain.

The death of one of only two Martial Saints in existence was, without argument, a momentous affair for the entire Great Li martial world, and had sent profound shockwaves through every faction.

”Who? Who killed our Great Li martial world’s Martial Saint?”

One of the patrons cried out in shock. The man was clearly a martial world figure, and one who had held Martial Saint Mu Tianxing in the deepest esteem, for his words carried an unmistakable edge of anger. He was evidently furious at whoever had cowardly ambushed the Martial Saint.

At that, the man who had spoken first glanced quickly around in all directions, then lowered his voice and said, ”The person who ambushed and killed the Martial Saint is someone of no ordinary standing. I am telling you this, but you must on no account spread it around. If you do, neither of our lives may be worth much.”

”Do not worry. These words will pass only between the two of us. Not a third person will hear them.”

The questioner made three solemn assurances, and only then did the other man give a nod and say, ”According to what the people of Yuming Mountain found in their investigation, someone witnessed the killer’s true face that night. And the one who ambushed and killed the Martial Saint was none other than Great Li’s own Eighth Prince.”

”What? It was the Eighth Prince?”

The patron cried out in shock yet again, and the surrounding guests who had been straining their ears to catch the news also immediately showed expressions of disbelief.

Before long, the entire tavern broke into an uproar, as everyone quietly began discussing, almost without realizing it, how Li Musheng had ambushed and assassinated the Martial Saint.

Some doubted the information was accurate and suspected Yuming Mountain had made an error in their investigation.

Others found it entirely plausible, reasoning that after destroying Falling God Peak, Li Musheng had set his sights on claiming the Martial Saint title for himself, and had made a detour to Yuming Mountain on his way back to the capital to assassinate the Martial Saint.

After all, judging by the reckless and unrestrained conduct attributed to Li Musheng in every rumor, this was completely in keeping with his manner of doing things.

...

At that same moment, inside a private room of the tavern.

Youshan, the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion Master, dressed in his scholar’s robes, was gathered with several of the Pavilion’s responsible figures from Shangyang City.

The sounds of the tavern’s patrons discussing the Martial Saint’s death naturally drifted clearly into everyone’s ears.

But clearly the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion’s people had already learned of this, and none of them seemed particularly surprised. They simply turned their gazes toward Youshan, who sat composedly in the seat of honor.

”Master, may we ask what has brought you to summon us here today?”

A middle-aged man in a short jacket spoke up, and Youshan shook his head, letting out a quiet sigh, and said, ”Some time ago, I gave the order for the Pavilion to strike against that Eighth Prince. This was my mistake as Pavilion Master, and it is a fault for which I must answer for letting my personal motives bring harm to the Pavilion.”

As he spoke, he swept his gaze over the assembled figures in the private room and said in a measured voice, ”And so I have already decided to step down from the position of Pavilion Master. As of today, I am no longer the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion’s Master.”

At those words, the assembled responsible figures of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion were all taken aback at once, and someone immediately urged him in a rush, ”Master, please do not act rashly. The Eighth Prince concealed himself so thoroughly that there was no way we could have known about him in advance. You cannot be blamed for this.”

Youshan waved a hand and said, ”The fault was genuinely mine. I wished to repay a debt of gratitude, but I had no right to drag the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion into it. What I did before was wrong, and you need say nothing more.”

As he spoke, he lifted the tea cup from the table and held it toward the assembled group, saying, ”All of you have worked alongside me for many years. Today I shall use tea in place of wine, as a farewell to everyone.”

Seeing this, the assembled responsible figures of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion exchanged glances, and in the end said nothing more, all raising their cups and draining them in one go.

”With today’s farewell, may we meet again when fate allows.”

Youshan set down his tea cup and rose to his feet.

At that moment, however, the middle-aged man in the short jacket hurriedly stood and clasped his hands, saying, ”Master, please wait. Your wisdom and foresight are without equal, and on the eve of your departure, I have some questions I would like to ask. I hope you will be willing to share your thoughts.”

At those words, Youshan, who had been about to leave, glanced at the man, then stopped and gave a nod, saying, ”Ask whatever you wish. Anything I am able to answer, I will share without reservation.”

The middle-aged man in the short jacket showed a slight shift in his expression, then looked out through the private room’s door toward the tavern below and asked in a low voice, ”Does Master believe the death of the Martial Saint of Yuming Mountain truly has anything to do with that Eighth Prince?”

At this moment, Youshan could hear, drifting into his ear, the waves of discussion rising from the tavern below. He thought quietly for a moment, then said, ”Since the news has come from Yuming Mountain, whether it is true or false, it will inevitably spread across all under heaven and send an enormous shock through all of Great Li.”

”However, as for the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, we should not involve ourselves in this matter.”

”Why is that?” the middle-aged man in the short jacket asked, looking puzzled.

Youshan let out a quiet sigh and said, ”Naturally because of that Eighth Prince. Due to my earlier misjudgment, the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion already has a grievance with him. And the Martial Saint’s death has come too suddenly, and now points directly and unmistakably at the Eighth Prince as the culprit. All of these events together are like an invisible hand pushing things forward without pause, and the ultimate target is clearly that Eighth Prince.”

As he spoke, Youshan gave a slight shake of his head and said, ”How all of this will ultimately unfold, no one can say at this point. But it has only just begun. When the storm truly arrives, it would be best for us to remain on the sidelines and watch. Otherwise we may very likely become wreckage in the tempest.”

At those words, the middle-aged man in the short jacket fell into a thoughtful silence.

At that moment, another responsible figure in the private room suddenly spoke up toward Youshan, asking, ”Does Master think the Old Man of Heavenly Mechanism will seek out that Eighth Prince?”

It was common knowledge that the Old Man of Heavenly Mechanism possessed uncanny foresight and the ability to perceive both the heavens and the earth. Many Martial Saints in the martial world, and even Martial Gods, had in the days before they rose to greatness shared certain very deep and particular ties with the Old Man of Heavenly Mechanism. Now that this Eighth Prince was so young and already shaking the world, being an undisputed martial genius without rival, the Pavilion’s people naturally suspected that the Old Man of Heavenly Mechanism would not let such a remarkable figure pass him by.

Youshan was quiet for a moment without speaking, and in the end only shook his head slowly, saying, ”It is difficult to say. The old man sometimes acts in ways that leave no trace to follow, like an antelope hanging by its horns in the night, and we cannot begin to guess what is in his mind.”

”Even so, I believe he will go and meet that Eighth Prince in person. After all, the man is truly extraordinary, far surpassing any Martial God of past generations at the same age.”

”As for whether the old man will come to have a deeper association with him, that is something no one will ever know.”

At that point, Youshan swept a look over the assembled figures in the private room and said, ”Living within the Great Li dynasty, I know that all of you must be paying close attention to that Eighth Prince right now, and that is understandable.”

”But there is one thing I must remind you, and that is this: that Eighth Prince stands at the height of his power, his brilliance blazing for all to see, and right now far too many eyes are fixed on him. If the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion simply follows the crowd and stares at him as everyone else does, it becomes easy to overlook things that are not so readily seen.”

At those words, the middle-aged man in the short jacket furrowed his brow slightly and immediately asked, ”What does Master mean by that? We are not clever enough to follow, so could you speak more plainly?”

Youshan shook his head slowly and said, ”Do not sell yourselves short. Do you still remember the Sixth Prince I had you look into some time ago? He is precisely the sort of existence that the world most readily overlooks.”

”And from what I have observed of that Sixth Prince, he is absolutely not a simple man. He is very likely every bit as much a case of biding his time in the shadows as that Eighth Prince is, and when the day finally comes for him to make his move, it will surely shake all under heaven.”

Having said this, Youshan said no more on the subject and continued, ”The Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion made its predictions long ago: the world will not remain peaceful in the days to come. It will be an age of extraordinary talents rising together and great powers competing for dominance. After all, the five-way division of the world has lasted a hundred years now, and unification is the way of things.”

”If all of you wish to navigate this kind of age with ease and make the most of it, you must see deeper and broader than everyone else, and never be swept along by the current.”

At those words, all of the assembled figures in the private room showed unusual expressions.

And at that moment, Youshan had already turned back toward the door of the room and walked out, saying, ”Everyone, I have said what I came to say. Until we meet again.”

With that, his figure stepped forward and vanished from sight.

By the time everyone came back to their senses, he was already nowhere to be seen.

The middle-aged man in the short jacket opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing at all.

Before long, the responsible figures of the Great Li Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion exchanged a few words with one another and prepared to leave one by one.

But at that moment, a voice like a clear, flowing spring suddenly rang in everyone’s ears, ”Leaving so soon? Are you not going to discuss who the new Pavilion Master will be?”

At those words, every single person’s expression changed at once, and they all immediately looked around in every direction.

Then a young woman in a pale yellow dress came drifting lightly in through the room’s window and appeared before the assembled responsible figures of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion.

The young woman held a writing brush in one hand and a bound booklet in the other, her brush moving across the pages with inspired ease, sweeping strokes flowing like a dragon, recording something without pause. Meanwhile her gaze moved unceasingly over the assembled people in the room, as though she were identifying each of them one by one.

”So it is the Star Lord!”

The middle-aged man in the short jacket spoke up suddenly, apparently recognizing the young woman’s identity at a glance.

The surrounding responsible figures of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion exchanged glances, then bowed toward the girl one by one, saying, ”We pay our respects to the Star Lord.”

Song Xingwei snapped the booklet shut with a sharp crack, her crescent-moon eyes narrowing slightly as her gaze passed over each person in the room in turn, saying, ”I recorded every word you just said, without missing a single one. Since every one of you is so reluctant to let go of that former Pavilion Master, as I see it, you might as well simply stop working here and leave the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion along with him.”

At those words, the assembled responsible figures of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion immediately waved their hands in denial, saying, ”The Star Lord misunderstands. Today it was Master Youshan who invited us here himself, to say his farewells to us. Not one of us has the slightest intention of leaving the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion.”

Song Xingwei flopped down into a seat at the table with a casual thud, poured herself a cup of wine, and said with a dismissive curl of her lip, ”The way I saw it, you were all asking him this and that, hanging on his every word. You were being awfully attentive!”

As she said this, she brought her hand down on the table with a solid bang, saying, ”That Youshan let his personal feelings come first and nearly brought the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion to ruin. He is a criminal to the Pavilion.”

”If I had not caught it early enough and reported the matter to the Old Man of Heavenly Mechanism, this Great Li branch of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion would probably have had the Eighth Prince come knocking and clean the whole place out in one go.”

The assembled responsible figures of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion immediately exchanged glances with one another. Even so, the middle-aged man in the short jacket appeared to know the full story.

It was this very Star Lord before them who had gone and reported the matter to the Old Man of Heavenly Mechanism, resulting in the former Pavilion Master Youshan being stripped of his position on the spot and driven out of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion.

Moreover, the woman had a resounding reputation across all five nations’ branches of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, and the list of Pavilion higher-ups she had reported and brought down over the years was too long to count.

Even so, bringing down a Pavilion Master was surely her greatest achievement to date.

If word of this spread, her reputation within the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion would grow even more illustrious.