Great Li Martial God

Being called out directly by Li Musheng, the plump old man went briefly blank, and the assembled martial world experts who had been talking among themselves fell silent at once, all looking at him.

Facing everyone’s gazes, the plump old man gave a quick cough, then steeled himself and said to Li Musheng, ”The young hero flatters me far too much. This old man is mediocre at best, and compared to someone of the young hero’s caliber, the gap could not possibly be measured.”

Li Musheng said nothing, only watching the plump old man with a calm expression.

At the sight, the plump old man’s heart immediately sank, and he hurriedly continued, ”This old man did indeed just think of a method to locate the Great Xuan emperor. Only...”

”Go ahead and say it. If the method does not work, I will not hold it against you.”

Li Musheng waved a hand, the look in his eyes narrowing slightly as he regarded the plump old man. He had a feeling this old fellow had something useful in that head of his.

At those words, the plump old man hesitated for just a moment, then looked left and right and said, ”Many years ago, the Theft Saint Bai Wuying forced his way into this Great Xuan imperial palace and carried off one of the consorts from within.”

”This has been the greatest scandal in the entire Great Xuan imperial palace’s history over all these years. Word has it that the Great Xuan emperor regards it as the most profound humiliation of his entire life. The emperor’s relentless effort to reinforce the palace’s defenses over all these years has been entirely about preventing something like it from ever happening again.”

At that point the plump old man paused, then fixed a meaningful gaze on Li Musheng and continued, ”And so this old man had a thought. If the young hero were to do the same as that Theft Saint did, and abduct one of the Great Xuan emperor’s consorts, making history repeat itself, it would undoubtedly touch on the emperor’s most sensitive wound.”

”In that case, you would not even need to go looking for the emperor yourself. There is a strong chance the Great Xuan emperor would come out personally to find you.”At those words, the entire ninth underground level hall went completely silent.

Everyone stared at the plump old man with unusual expressions, and Zhao Muning in particular had a faint edge of killing intent beginning to form in her eyes.

The Theft Saint incident was an absolute taboo throughout the Great Xuan imperial palace, and even so much as daring to mention it carried the penalty of death.

And yet the old man before them was actually suggesting this to Li Musheng, which amounted to trampling all over the Great Xuan imperial palace’s dignity and prying open her father’s oldest wound to humiliate him in the most ruthless possible way.

The other martial world experts, having heard the plump old man’s suggestion, were equally shocked.

The reason was simple: the plump old man’s move was not only devastating in its impact, but it also pushed every one of them to the edge of a cliff with no way back.

Before, when they had resolved to gamble on Li Musheng and try to escape the Great Xuan imperial palace’s control, they had understood that even if things went wrong, they would not necessarily have to die.

But with the plump old man’s method, the Great Xuan emperor would be sent into a towering fury, and would hate every one of them who stood at Li Musheng’s side. If things went wrong after this, the emperor would without question execute every single one of them, leaving them absolutely no way out.

In that instant, the gazes the others fixed on the plump old man all carried a flash of anger.

The plump old man naturally felt those stares, but there was nothing he could do. The words were already out of his mouth, and all he could do now was see it through.

At that, someone’s heart gave a jump, and they were just about to speak up and argue against the plump old man’s suggestion.

But Li Musheng suddenly broke into a slight smile, looked at the plump old man, and said, ”I knew you were the right person from the start. You really are someone useful.”

Then Li Musheng clapped his hands lightly, swept a look over the assembled martial world experts and Zhao Muning, and asked directly, ”Which of you knows where those consorts’ chambers are? Take me there first so I can seize one, and force that Great Xuan emperor to show himself.”

As he said this, Li Musheng then seemed to think something over and shook his head to himself, ”Actually, seizing one is probably too few. I should grab several. If I also take a few of the Great Xuan emperor’s princesses and princes along with them, that should be even more certain to work.”

At those words, the martial world expert who had been about to argue immediately swallowed what he had been going to say back down hard.

It was clear that Li Musheng, with his extraordinary confidence in his own abilities, not only appreciated the plump old man’s suggestion wholeheartedly but intended to take things even further.

If he dared voice any objection right now, he would only be asking for trouble.

Zhao Muning’s expression was extremely unpleasant at that moment. Her gaze was fixed hard on Li Musheng, and after confirming that he was not speaking idly but genuinely intended to go through with this, a surge of anxiety rose within her.

It seemed that tonight the Great Xuan imperial palace was doomed to find no peace, and one might even say it was headed toward unavoidable calamity.

After all, for someone of Li Musheng’s caliber, with his movement technique unrivaled under heaven and an unfathomably deep martial cultivation, seizing a few of the palace’s consorts was not a difficult matter.

And if the man used that to force her father to show himself, knowing her father’s temperament and his obsessive fixation on the Theft Saint incident, there was a good chance Li Musheng would succeed.

But Zhao Muning also had no way to stop Li Musheng from acting. The plump old man’s method, however unsavory, was without question the fastest way to force the Great Xuan emperor into the open.

And Li Musheng was clearly fully on board, so any attempt to obstruct him would be nearly impossible and certainly pointless.

At the same time, the assembled martial world experts, faced with Li Musheng’s question, all exchanged uncertain glances and hesitated for a moment.

Even so, they clearly had no other path now. After a brief internal struggle, someone gritted their teeth and spoke, ”Young hero, although we are not familiar with the Great Xuan imperial palace, finding where the consorts are housed is considerably simpler than finding the Great Xuan emperor. We only need to grab a few palace maids or eunuchs along the way and ask, and we should be able to locate the consorts’ chambers quickly enough.”

At those words, Li Musheng’s expression shifted slightly, and he gave a quiet nod, ”That is indeed a reasonably efficient approach.”

But his gaze then shifted, looking toward Zhao Muning, ”Miss, do you know where those imperial consorts are housed? If you do, we could set out directly.”

At those words, Zhao Muning bit her lip, but in the end shook her head.

For her, a Great Xuan princess, to help Li Musheng seize her father’s consorts was something she could absolutely not bring herself to do.

Seeing this, Li Musheng gave Zhao Muning a long look, then shook his head, ”That is a pity.”

Then he gave instructions to the other martial world experts, telling them to bring the white-robed woman and the Grand Manager of the Treasure Assembly Trading House along.

He casually unsealed the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit’s acupoints where the man sat, then said nothing further and led Zhao Muning out of the Mystic Mechanism Palace’s ninth underground level first, heading toward the exit at the first level.

The assembled martial world experts naturally did not dare defy Li Musheng’s instructions, and all did as they were told.

Even the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit, whose acupoints had been released and who had regained his martial cultivation, showed not the slightest inclination to act, and immediately followed in silence.

At the same time, the Black Moon Yin Elder, having dropped the jaws of every expert in the Mystic Mechanism Palace and taken three strikes from the ninth-level guardian without incident, had searched through all the upper levels in turn.

And he had actually managed to find a white-haired Daoist woman among them.