Great Li Martial God

”Is there any news about the Eighth Prince in recent days?”

At Li Zhi’s question, Shen Qiming glanced at him quietly, and a look of hesitation appeared on his face.

Li Zhi’s cold gaze shifted over to him, and he said, ”Say whatever there is to say. Could it be any more startling than what you told me last time?”

At those words, Shen Qiming drew a slow breath and lowered his head, saying, ”That Eighth Prince returned to the capital a few days ago.”

At those words, the figure of Li Zhi, lit by the dim glow of the lamp inside the cell, went absolutely still for an almost imperceptible instant. But almost at once, he returned to his usual composure.

He kept his gaze on the letter in his hand and asked without any change of expression, ”Has he made any move since returning?”

Shen Qiming, seeing that Li Zhi showed no visible reaction, felt a slight shift in his gaze, and immediately replied, ”The Eighth Prince went directly to the Second Prince’s residence upon returning to the capital, and then...”

He paused briefly, and as Li Zhi’s gaze shifted toward him, continued, ”The Eighth Prince killed the Second Prince and a martial world expert within the residence, and afterward went to the Huo family’s old residence, where he seriously injured a group of Dugu family members...”

”He killed Li Que?”

Li Zhi suddenly cut Shen Qiming off, a flash of shock and disbelief crossing his eyes, and an involuntary cold sweat appeared on his back.At those words, Shen Qiming gave a quiet nod and said, ”The matter has already spread throughout the capital. The palace has dispatched Six Doors and the Hidden Intelligence Bureau to jointly investigate, but as of yet nothing has come of it.”

Li Zhi, however, paid no attention to Six Doors and the Hidden Intelligence Bureau’s investigation.

He understood perfectly well that given Li Musheng’s current standing and reputation, and the martial cultivation powerful enough to destroy Falling God Peak, neither Six Doors nor the Hidden Intelligence Bureau would be in any position to handle him. Nor would they realistically pursue a case against Li Musheng, or attempt to bring him in.

”After returning to the capital and killing Li Que, has he done anything else? Has he moved against any other princes? Or shown any intention of reopening the true and false prince case?”

Li Zhi fixed Shen Qiming with an intent stare as he asked.

What he was most concerned about was whether Li Musheng would move against him.

Feeling the sharpness of Li Zhi’s gaze, Shen Qiming immediately straightened up and made sure not to leave out a single detail as he recounted everything he knew about Li Musheng.

”After returning from the Huo family’s residence to the Tianjin Guards headquarters, the Eighth Prince has not left the compound again. A considerable number of officials and factions in the city have sought audiences with him, and he has seen none of them. He seems entirely indifferent to all of it.”

Shen Qiming spoke slowly, his gaze resting on Li Zhi before him.

He found in his master the same thing he had seen that day when he had brought word of Li Musheng destroying Falling God Peak.

Loss of composure.

That was something he had never once seen in Li Zhi before.

In the past, Li Zhi had always given him the impression of someone who had everything in hand, who could face even the most dire situation without the slightest change of expression.

Even when the true and false prince affair came to light and Emperor Yuanwu had flown into a rage and thrown him into the imperial prison, he had remained completely unruffled, not showing the slightest hint of panic or fear.

It was only these two times, when news of the Eighth Prince had come, that Shen Qiming learned his master was capable of being afraid.

Now, hearing everything Shen Qiming had said, Li Zhi finally withdrew his gaze.

But then he went suddenly and completely quiet, as though carefully and seriously turning something over in his mind.

”You are certain he has done nothing else? Has he given the Tianjin Guards any orders concerning me?”

Li Zhi looked at Shen Qiming again and asked, and Shen Qiming shook his head, saying, ”As far as your servant knows, the Eighth Prince has taken no action against Your Highness. He appears to have only instructed the Tianjin Guards to search for things like Qilin Blood and similarly intangible matters.”

At those words, Li Zhi held Shen Qiming’s gaze for a moment, then looked back down at the letter in his hand and asked nothing further about Li Musheng.

After a short while, once he had finished reading the letter, Li Zhi’s entire bearing underwent a sudden and sharp change, casting off the heaviness that had weighed on him moments before.

”As I expected, what I have been waiting for is finally about to happen.”

Li Zhi closed his hand, and the letter in his grip turned to ash in an instant.

Outside the cell, Shen Qiming looked up and saw that Li Zhi had changed completely in the space of a moment, and a puzzled look crossed his face as he clasped his hands in a bow and asked, ”Your Highness, is there good news?”

Li Zhi’s expression gradually settled into its usual calm, and he closed his eyes and returned to his cultivation, saying, ”There is no harm in telling you.”

”The Hidden Kill Pavilion is moving against him. And the one acting will be a Kill-Saint of the Hidden Kill Pavilion. Moreover, the Pavilion Master himself may very likely make an appearance as well.”

Shen Qiming naturally knew who Li Zhi’s ”him” referred to, and his expression shifted immediately.

He had known something of the Hidden Kill Order matter, but the secret details of a Kill-Saint and the Pavilion Master personally acting were beyond anything he had been aware of.

”If a Kill-Saint of the Hidden Kill Pavilion is acting, does the Eighth Prince have any chance of withstanding the assassination?”

Shen Qiming spoke with a thoughtful expression. With his level of knowledge, he genuinely could not determine whether Li Musheng, who had led the Tianjin Guards to destroy Falling God Peak, was stronger, or whether the legendary Kill-Saint of the Hidden Kill Pavilion, with all their fearsome reputation, was the more formidable of the two.

But then something seemed to come to him, and he looked urgently toward Li Zhi again, saying with a look of startled disbelief, ”Your Highness, I have heard a rumor spreading recently through the Great Li martial world. Apparently the Eighth Prince made a stop at Yuming Mountain on his way back from Falling God Peak and ambushed and killed the Martial Saint there.”

At those words, Li Zhi opened his eyes again and fixed his gaze on Shen Qiming, ”He actually ambushed and killed the Martial Saint?”

Shen Qiming gave a nod, saying, ”The report came from Yuming Mountain itself. It should be reliable.”

Li Zhi said nothing, only shaking his head slowly, ”What that Martial Saint of Yuming Mountain’s actual martial strength was, I do not know for certain. If this is true, it suggests his cultivation may be comparable to a Martial Saint’s.”

At those words, Shen Qiming immediately furrowed his brow and said, ”But I have heard that the Eighth Prince’s martial strength is said to be comparable to a Martial God’s, and that he may well become the fourth Martial God in the entire martial world...”

At those words, Li Zhi shook his head, saying, ”The title of Martial Saint in the martial world originally came from the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion. There is no denying that a Martial Saint’s cultivation sits at the very top of the martial world, but as I recall, Martial Saint Mu Tianxing never actually came to blows with any of the four great sects.”

”Whether he was stronger or weaker than the Head of Falling God Peak or the Primal Yin Grand Master and the others, the martial world actually has no settled answer on that.”

As he said this, Li Zhi withdrew his gaze, his expression thoughtful, ”And so whether Li Musheng’s cultivation truly surpasses that of a Martial Saint is equally unsettled.”

Shen Qiming gave a slow nod, and then could not help asking curiously, ”Does Your Highness believe the Eighth Prince will be able to survive the Hidden Kill Pavilion’s Kill-Saint and that Pavilion Master acting against him?”

Li Zhi was quiet for a moment, and then let out a quiet sigh, saying, ”Regardless of whether he withstands the Hidden Kill Pavilion’s attempts or not, the Pavilion will not truly take his life in the end.”

”Why is that? Is it out of consideration for the Eighth Prince’s status as a Great Li prince?”

Shen Qiming asked with a puzzled expression, and Li Zhi gave a nod, then shook his head, saying, ”His identity is naturally part of it, but more importantly, you need to understand clearly what kind of person Li Musheng really is.”

At those words, Shen Qiming paused for a moment, then it suddenly came to him, ”The Eighth Prince is a martial genius without equal in all of history.”

”But in that case, even if the Eighth Prince fails to withstand all three assassination attempts, would the Hidden Kill Pavilion still allow him to take over as the next Pavilion Master out of regard for his talent?”

Li Zhi glanced at Shen Qiming, his eyes narrowing slightly, and said, ”Whether the Hidden Kill Pavilion makes him the next master or not, I have no interest in that. What I care about is time. Time is what I need most right now.”

As he said this, a flash of regret crossed Li Zhi’s eyes.

Over the years, much of his energy had gone into court affairs and building his own network of influence, and his cultivation had suffered for it.

Even so, relying on his formidable natural talent, he had still broken into the Martial Dao Grand Master realm before the age of twenty.

By any measure in the martial world, that rate of advancement was exceptional.

And yet compared to Li Musheng, he was not merely a little behind.

During these days in the prison, Li Zhi had sometimes found himself wondering: if their circumstances had been switched, if he had been the one in that remote martial arts school in the small city of Shun’an, training with nothing to distract him and no one to answer to for over a decade, would he have reached the same terrifying level of cultivation Li Musheng had now?

Though Li Zhi had confidence in his own martial talent, this was a question he still had no answer to in his heart. Or perhaps it was simply an answer he was unwilling to look at directly.

”I need time. Given enough of it, I will one day reach the same martial realm he has.”

Li Zhi murmured quietly to himself. As things stood, what he hoped for most was that Li Musheng would not kill him.

As long as the man did not kill him, he would always have a chance. He would never give up.

And Li Musheng’s existence had made one thing clear to him: in this age of war between five nations and turmoil throughout the martial world, absolute martial strength mattered more than carefully cultivated networks of influence or political scheming.

Great Li’s long years of stability had made him forget that the era he lived in was one where peace was carved out through force, and only true martial power could swallow four nations and unify the world.

To become emperor, intelligence alone was not enough. If he was going to do it, he would do it as an emperor for the ages, like the Tianqi Emperor himself.

...

At that same time, not long after Yuming Mountain spread the news that Li Musheng was the killer of the Martial Saint, another piece of news arrived that was enough to shake the entire Great Li martial world.

The Primal Yin Origin Sect, the Alliance Under Heaven, and the Great Yan Sword Sect announced a formal alliance to all the martial world, and the long-anticipated ”Alliance Proclamation” was at last officially released, just as many had predicted.

More striking still, the three sects had chosen the location of their summit in Yun City.

And the very first article of the three sects’ alliance declaration was a proclamation to all the martial world that, effective immediately, every sect in the martial world was welcome to join the Three-Sect Alliance.

The three sects appeared to be intent on forming a ”Martial World League” that would gather every faction in the Great Li martial world under one banner.

Moreover, the three great sects made a considerable sacrifice of their own, offering every sect that joined the Martial World League martial arts manuals, pills, gold, and silver at no cost.

This was clearly modeled directly on what the Alliance Under Heaven had done before, now transplanted onto the Martial World League as a whole.

Indeed, there were even martial world rumors claiming that at the summit itself, the three great sects had raised a rallying call, to the effect that they would sooner distribute centuries and millennia of accumulated resources freely to every fellow member of the martial world than let any of it fall into the hands of the Great Li court’s lackeys.

...

Great Li imperial capital, Tianjin Guards headquarters.

The moment Yu Jin confirmed the news of the Three-Sect Alliance, he brought it immediately to Li Musheng.

Though Li Musheng had said not to bother him unless something truly important came up, this matter clearly qualified, so he was not overstepping by bringing it to his attention.

”Interesting,” Li Musheng said, hearing him out, and rubbed his chin.

The three great sects of the martial world were obviously trying to rally the martial world’s landlords into a united front to bring down the feudal Great Li dynasty.

But unfortunately for them, they were not the proletariat.

If it had been the proletariat rising against imperial feudalism, he might have been moved on a whim to simply let them succeed.

”This is not something to bring to me. You need to find Minister Fu and the Emperor Yuanwu who is still in seclusion,” Li Musheng said, waving a hand and showing no interest in the matter.

This left Li Yuanling, Shen Anran, and Yu Jin all exchanging glances.

They had all been somewhat troubled upon hearing the news of the Three-Sect Alliance. It was not only a significant threat to the Great Li court as things stood, but had genuinely driven Great Li into a position of trouble within and danger without.

”Come on, Elder Brother, are you really not going to do anything about this at all?”

Li Yuanling looked at Li Musheng with an expression of startled disbelief, using the expression she had recently picked up from him to convey her shock.

Li Musheng glanced at her, raised an eyebrow, and said, ”What does this have to do with me? More to the point, adopted sister, where have you been the past few days? Have you been paying any attention to finding my divine beast Fire Qilin?”

At those words, Li Yuanling lifted her elegant brows and waved a hand, saying, ”Do not worry. The search for the Fire Qilin is taken care of. I had my good friend handle it for you. All we need to do now is wait for word.”

Li Musheng gave a nod. She was reasonably reliable, he would give her that.

But at that moment, Li Yuanling suddenly propped both arms on the stone table of the pavilion and rested her chin in her hands, saying, ”I have run into a troublesome matter recently, though.”

Seeing this, Shen Anran’s gaze shifted, and she attentively said, ”If Your Highness has something weighing on your mind, speaking it aloud to someone can help. And if it is a question you cannot decide on your own, you could always talk it over with someone.”

At those words, Li Yuanling glanced at Shen Anran, thought for a brief moment, then let out a sigh and said, ”A little while ago I happened to meet someone, and helped him sort out a small problem. Afterward we talked for a bit and got along well enough.”

Shen Anran’s expression shifted, and she asked, ”He is a young man?”

Li Yuanling gave a nod, then continued, ”But for some reason, these past few days he has been constantly following me around. He has even tracked down my residence and insists on dragging me to poetry gatherings and outings and all sorts of things.”

”He even had people posted outside my residence so that the moment I leave, he finds me immediately. I am genuinely tired of him.”