Great Li Martial God

The commotion in the Great Li imperial prison was considerable, and was felt in many parts of Shangyang City.

A carriage raced along the street, and inside, Song Xingwei lifted the curtain and looked in the direction of the prison, saying in surprise, ”Has someone tried to break out of the prison? That would be major news.”

But she clearly had no way to go and watch the excitement right now. She had been entrusted by the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion Master to pay a visit to the Tianjin Guards headquarters as soon as possible and resolve the misunderstanding between the Pavilion and the Eighth Prince.

This matter could not be delayed. It needed to be handled quickly.

Before long, the carriage came to a stop outside the Tianjin Guards headquarters gate. Song Xingwei announced herself, and was then led by a guard to the small courtyard where Li Musheng was staying.

”My dear friend, I knew I would find you here,” Song Xingwei said with a cheerful smile the moment she spotted Li Yuanling in the courtyard.

Li Yuanling was equally pleased to see her, and naturally knew the purpose of Song Xingwei’s visit. She took her by the hand and gave Li Musheng a warm and enthusiastic introduction.

Li Musheng looked the oval-faced young woman with a large booklet at her waist up and down, gave a nod, and asked, ”The letter I had the people under your Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion send to that Pavilion Master of yours, I assume was received?”

At those words, Song Xingwei went briefly blank, thinking privately that Pavilion Master Zhu Wuming had never once mentioned this to her.

But she did not dwell on it. After all, the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion had only just changed Pavilion Masters, and perhaps the previous Pavilion Master had seen the letter.And so she quickly thought on her feet and smoothly shifted the subject.

She spoke first on behalf of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, offering Li Musheng an apology for previously moving against him. She then expressed the Pavilion’s sincerity by offering to help Li Musheng with certain things within their capability at no charge.

Such as searching for the divine beast Fire Qilin and the Tianqi Secret Treasury keys.

And as for locating the Fire Qilin specifically, she had already given the instructions and could provide reliable intelligence to Li Musheng at any time.

”This token is a personal gift to Your Highness from the Pavilion Master. It is called the Heavenly Mechanism Token. If Your Highness has any needs, you may inquire for information and seek assistance at any branch of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion located throughout the martial world.”

Song Xingwei produced an antique bronze token from within her robes and presented it to Li Musheng.

At the sight of it, Li Musheng took the token with a casual hand, then nodded with satisfaction.

He had to admit, the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion was quite capable of reading the room. With their intelligence network across the martial world, finding things was going to be considerably more convenient from here on.

At that moment, Song Xingwei glanced at Li Musheng, and seeing that her good friend’s elder brother appeared to be in a good mood, she quietly let out a breath of relief, thinking that she had managed to get this done for Zhu Wuming.

In truth, Li Musheng had never had any particular intention of making trouble for the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, and having them extend such eager goodwill was a pleasant surprise on top of everything.

”Miss Song, no need to rush off. Stay for dinner. There happens to be a pot of fish stew going.”

Li Musheng called out an invitation toward Song Xingwei, and Song Xingwei’s eyes lit up. She felt a rush of unexpected pleasure.

To tell the truth, the Eighth Prince before her seemed quite easy to get along with, which was rather different from the fearsome reputation of the man who had single-handedly suppressed a room full of top experts and destroyed Falling God Peak.

But she quickly brought her thoughts back in check, having personally witnessed Li Musheng’s clash with the Hidden Kill Pavilion, and knowing exactly what the man was truly capable of.

Even so, sharing a meal with Li Musheng, the Eighth Prince whose name shook the world, was an opportunity Song Xingwei was not about to turn down, and she agreed on the spot.

With her lively nature, she then quickly struck up a warm rapport with Shen Anran and Cang Yinyue in the courtyard.

And the topics that tended to come up among women were of course roughly things like cosmetics and clothing.

Li Musheng shook his head, naturally having no interest in joining that conversation, and instead moved to one side to study the Tianqi Secret Treasury keys, while absentmindedly stroking the big black cat.

He was also turning over his plans for the days ahead.

Staying here in the Tianjin Guards headquarters was comfortable enough as far as food and drink were concerned, but it held no interest for him. He was growing restless with the stillness, and his inclination now was to leave Shangyang City and travel through the martial world.

And the one destination already in his mind was naturally White Emperor City.

He had checked the map of the five nations recently and found that White Emperor City was quite far away, and already outside Great Li’s territory.

It was a place he needed to visit, but Li Musheng still wanted to wait a little longer for a reliable lead connected to the Fire Qilin or the Azure Dragon True Qi before setting out.

That way, his upcoming journey through the martial world would have more direction and purpose.

And at that very moment, a Tianjin Guards attendant suddenly appeared outside the courtyard and reported, ”Your Highness, there is a Daoist outside who says he has an important piece of news that Your Highness would find interesting, and wishes to request an audience.”

At those words, Li Musheng raised an eyebrow.

Over these past few days, the number of people in Shangyang City who wanted to call on him was beyond counting, but a Daoist was a rare thing.

At that, the guard, seeing Li Musheng seemed to be debating whether to receive the visitor, added, ”The Daoist says he is from the Azure Cloud Temple. He also let a trace of his martial aura show before me, and it appeared exceptionally deep and unfathomable.”

”The Azure Cloud Temple?”

Li Musheng looked at the guard. The name did sound somewhat like the Azure Cloud Sect in Wan Province.

”Bring him in, then. I would like to see what this important news is.”

Li Musheng ultimately agreed and decided to meet the Daoist.

Though if the man came to him with nothing but nonsense and wasted his time, there would naturally be no good end waiting for him.

Before long, the guard returned and brought the blue-robed Daoist Qingye and the small Daoist novice to the entrance of the courtyard.

The reason the blue-robed Daoist had brought his young disciple along was a matter of calculation. If the middle-aged man’s bargaining chip turned out to be insufficient, he could still try appealing to sentiment through the child.

It was possible that with a soft word or two, the Eighth Prince might relent and lend him the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword.

”This poor Daoist pays his respects to His Highness the Eighth Prince.”

The blue-robed Daoist was brought before Li Musheng and bowed in greeting.

Li Musheng waved the guard away and looked the blue-robed Daoist over, giving a mild nod.

He could of course sense that the man had genuine and considerable martial cultivation, which made it unlikely he had come to waste his time with trivial matters.

”Tell me. What important news do you have for me?”

Li Musheng had no patience for unnecessary preamble and looked at the blue-robed Daoist, asking him directly.

The blue-robed Daoist was himself sizing up this Great Li man who would undeniably become a Martial God, and found himself feeling some measure of nervousness.

He steadied himself for a moment and said, ”To speak plainly to Your Highness, I do indeed know a piece of news that Your Highness would find interesting. However, before I share it, I have a matter I would like to ask Your Highness to help with.”

At those words, Li Musheng’s brow furrowed slightly, though he did not refuse, and waved a hand, ”Tell me the news first. Whether it is worth anything remains to be seen.”

The blue-robed Daoist’s expression shifted slightly, but he had no interest in bargaining with Li Musheng.

Instead he showed his goodwill first, fixing his gaze on Li Musheng and saying directly, ”This poor Daoist knows the whereabouts of a Tianqi Secret Treasury key.”

At those words, Li Musheng immediately showed some interest.

Even so, he looked at the blue-robed Daoist and narrowed his eyes, ”How do you know I am interested in the Tianqi Secret Treasury keys?”

The blue-robed Daoist kept his expression even, ”This poor Daoist naturally has his own channels of information. And this particular interest of Your Highness is not a secret to those who pay attention.”

Li Musheng rubbed his chin and acknowledged that what the Daoist was saying was actually true.

What he had tasked the Tianjin Guards to do was impossible to conceal, and this interest of his had likely been noted by a great many factions already.

It was also possible that in the future, some people might try to use this to leverage him.

Just as this blue-robed Daoist before him was doing right now, though not by threatening to withhold the information, but rather by appealing to his interests in hopes of getting something out of him.

Li Musheng had actually anticipated something like this. But he did not particularly mind it, because there was no one in this world who could force him to do something he did not want to do.

Whether he agreed or not depended entirely on his own mood.

”I am indeed interested in what you have described. Tell me, what is your purpose in coming to find me?”

Li Musheng looked at the blue-robed Daoist and asked at his leisure.

At those words, a look of pleasure crossed the blue-robed Daoist’s eyes, and after a brief hesitation he said, ”This poor Daoist would like to borrow something from Your Highness.”

He had originally very much wanted to ask Li Musheng to personally go to the Great Xuan imperial palace and rescue his Elder Sister.

But on reflection, he doubted that a single piece of information would be enough to move Li Musheng to do that, and so he stayed with his original plan.

Asking too greedily might antagonize the Eighth Prince and end with him not even being able to borrow the sword.

At those words, Li Musheng found that the Daoist’s request did not seem unreasonable, ”What do you want to borrow?”

”This poor Daoist would like to borrow... the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword.”

At those words, Cang Yinyue, not far away in the courtyard, looked over, since the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword was in her possession.

”Your information is quite good, Daoist. That you even know about this is something.”

Li Musheng looked at the blue-robed Daoist with an unusual expression. Not many people knew about the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword.

That this Daoist knew even this showed he had genuine substance to him, which in turn suggested that the information in his hands might very well be real.

With that thought, Li Musheng fell into a thoughtful expression, weighing whether to agree to the blue-robed Daoist’s request.

After all, the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword had already been given away.

At that moment, Cang Yinyue walked over, looked the blue-robed Daoist over briefly, then said toward Li Musheng, ”Your Highness, if this person’s information is reliable, lending the sword poses no difficulty for me whatsoever. It is entirely Your Highness’s decision.”

At those words, Li Musheng waved a hand, then looked at the blue-robed Daoist and asked, ”Can you tell me what you intend to use the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword for?”

The blue-robed Daoist’s expression shifted slightly, and after a moment’s hesitation he spoke, ”To be honest with Your Highness, I need to borrow the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword to rescue someone. An Elder Sister of mine has been seized and imprisoned, and the party responsible holds a national divine weapon of incomparable defensive strength. I have no other way to counter it, and the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword is the only thing that could stand against it.”

At those words, Li Musheng said nothing, and regarded the blue-robed Daoist in thoughtful silence for a moment.

Then he glanced at Cang Yinyue, and suddenly a look of decision crossed his face, ”The sword I will not lend. If you took it and disappeared, and I had no way to verify whether your information was genuine, I would have to spend effort going after you.”

At those words, the blue-robed Daoist’s heart sank, and he immediately waved his hands, ”Please rest easy, Your Highness. Every word this poor Daoist has said is true, and the information about the Tianqi Secret Treasury key is absolutely reliable.”

”Moreover, given Your Highness’s current reputation, this poor Daoist would never dare covet the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword in Your Highness’s possession.”

”This poor Daoist swears on his life that once the sword has served its purpose, it will be returned without a mark on it.”

At that point, the blue-robed Daoist was visibly growing anxious. After all, this concerned his Elder Sister’s life, and if Li Musheng would not lend the sword, he would have to go looking for another divine weapon, which would waste a great deal of time, and might not even succeed, potentially putting the rescue at serious risk.

In truth, one of the reasons he had come to Great Li in the first place was that he was reasonably certain his junior brother would not stand by and do nothing, and that he would be able to obtain the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword.

But the unexpected twists in how things were unfolding had left him in a rather difficult position.

At that moment, Li Musheng looked at the blue-robed Daoist and shook his head, ”Do not rush. The fact that I am not lending you the sword does not mean there is no other way to handle this.”

”And even if I did lend you the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword, would you truly be able to rescue your Elder Sister?”

At those words, the blue-robed Daoist went still, then looked at Li Musheng with a puzzled expression, ”Does Your Highness perhaps have some other approach?”

”Certainly,” Li Musheng said with a light nod and a narrowed gaze, ”For instance, what if I were to personally go and rescue your Elder Sister?”

At those words, the blue-robed Daoist’s gaze went blank for a moment, and then a very complicated expression spread across his face.

Before coming to the Tianjin Guards headquarters, he and his junior brother had agreed that the best possible outcome would be if Li Musheng could be moved to act personally.

But it had only been a thought, and he had not held any real hope of it. After all, it was he who needed something from Li Musheng, not the other way around.

For him, being able to borrow the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword had already been the best result he could realistically hope for.

But what he had not expected was that Li Musheng would actually be willing on his own initiative to offer to act. This was better than anything he had dared to expect, and left him genuinely struggling to believe it.

”This... Your Highness truly would be willing to act...”

The blue-robed Daoist immediately started to ask, but Li Musheng raised a hand to cut him off, ”I only said what if. A single piece of information about a Tianqi Secret Treasury key is not enough to make me make a trip somewhere.”

As he said this, Li Musheng looked at the blue-robed Daoist with a composed and unhurried expression, and a slight cold smile crossed his face of the sort that only a villain tends to wear, ”Unless you can offer other conditions that interest me further, then I might reluctantly be willing to lend you a hand.”

Li Musheng could see perfectly well that the blue-robed Daoist had just gotten anxious.

At a negotiating table, whoever shows anxiety first is at a disadvantage and can be used as leverage.

Though Li Musheng felt that capitalizing on the man’s desperation was perhaps not the most morally upstanding thing to do, his moral boundaries were quite flexible.

Honestly speaking, the fact that he had not simply seized the blue-robed Daoist on the spot and used the Life and Death Talisman to question him was already quite decent of him.