Great Li Martial God

Inside the carriage, Murong Xiaoya, having finished attending to the Murong family’s affairs, sat on one side with Shen Anran. On the other side, the large black cat had taken over Shen Anran’s usual spot and was lying beside Li Musheng.

Having learned the full circumstances of what had happened the previous night, Shen Anran, who had initially harbored some resentment toward Murong Xiaoya for striking at Li Musheng, had since forgiven her, and the two of them were once again on good terms as sisters.

”This Vermilion Bird Bone is truly extraordinary. It can keep absorbing the refined blood of others and continuously strengthen its user’s power?”

”Does that not mean that as long as Xiaoya keeps absorbing refined blood, her strength could grow without limit, until eventually no one in the entire martial world could stand against her?”

Shen Anran looked at Murong Xiaoya’s left chest, then turned to Li Musheng across from her with an expression of fascination.

Li Musheng considered briefly, then shook his head, saying, ”Setting aside the fact that her capacity to absorb has its limits, even if it did not, she has no idea how much refined blood she would need to absorb before barely reaching the threshold of making the number one under heaven fight even slightly seriously.”

At those words, Shen Anran’s expression went slightly blank. She and Murong Xiaoya exchanged a look, and both could see the shock in each other’s eyes.

This was especially true for Murong Xiaoya. She understood well enough how terrifying her own strength had become, yet when she had faced Li Musheng, she had been completely unable to do anything to him at all, and once he had moved against her, she had not been able to offer the faintest resistance.

It was as though the gap between them was so vast it could not even begin to be bridged.

”Your Highness, are you truly the number one under heaven?”Murong Xiaoya suddenly asked.

She had asked something similar before, but she could not help asking again.

Li Musheng had not yet replied when the large black cat beside him suddenly let out a meow, fixed Murong Xiaoya and Shen Anran with a look from its green eyes, and seemed to be confirming it on Li Musheng’s behalf.

Whether the large black cat was truly confirming that Li Musheng was the number one under heaven, however, was another question entirely.

In any case, ever since the previous night at the Mei estate, this cat had been growing more and more attentive toward Li Musheng, following wherever he went almost without exception. It looked on the surface like a large cat, but to someone who did not know better it might have been mistaken for a devoted follower.

”You may not know yet since you just joined us, but this cat is deeply unusual...”

Shen Anran fixed the cat with a narrowed stare, then leaned toward Murong Xiaoya beside her and began speaking in a low whisper.

...

After that, it took Li Musheng and his group two days to travel out of Sheng Province following their departure from the city, and they entered Lan Province, where Falling God Peak was located.

The moment they crossed into Lan Province, the martial world atmosphere they encountered was entirely different from Sheng Province. At first impression it felt almost like arriving in the capital prefecture.

Martial world wanderers were everywhere throughout Lan Province, yet fights and conflicts were rarely seen. Everything was conducted in an orderly fashion, and everyone appeared to follow the rules closely.

These rules, however, were neither the unwritten conventions of the martial world nor the laws by which the Great Li court governed martial sects.

The rules here were Falling God Peak’s rules.

Beyond what had been seen in Sheng Province, where Falling God Peak disciples always took precedence in all things, in Lan Province Falling God Peak was a true sovereign power, with virtually the entire prefecture under its effective control.

What was more, unlike other prefectures, the nearly one hundred martial sects and factions of varying sizes throughout Lan Province were without exception all subordinates of Falling God Peak.

Any martial sect unwilling to become a subordinate faction had virtually no chance of existing in Lan Province at all. As far back as a hundred years ago, when the Great Qi dynasty had collapsed, those sects that refused to comply had either been uprooted entirely by Falling God Peak or had relocated their foundations to other regions.

”All of you be careful. These are the birthday gifts being offered to the ’Seven Saints’ Peak Master. The slightest mishap and none of us will keep our lives.”

On the dusty main road, several carts carrying tightly wrapped goods sealed in oilcloth had sunk into a collapsed section of the road, and a row of disciples in blue regulation robes and carrying blades were working together to push them free.

Behind the disciples, a scarred man of roughly forty-odd years was issuing commands in a low, stern voice.

The man’s face was rough and sharp-featured, with a goose-quill blade tucked at his waist, and his blue robes were heavy with road dust. His expression clearly showed irritation, though beneath it was more tension and worry, as though he was terrified of anything going wrong with the goods he was escorting.

At that moment, an elderly man in coarse hemp clothing, leading a mule on which a little girl in pink sat, walked slowly past the group through the dust being stirred up by the wind.

The scarred man’s gaze immediately shifted, and he looked toward the hemp-robed elderly man with wariness.

But when he noticed that on the man’s mule sat a small girl in pink clothes who was nodding off in a drowsy doze, he relaxed slightly.

At that, the hemp-robed elderly man seemed to notice the scarred man’s gaze, and suddenly stopped. He then slowly turned his head and asked, ”Might you need a hand?”

Hearing this, the scarred man furrowed his brow slightly and shook his head, saying, ”This old gentleman’s kindness is appreciated, but there is no need.”

The hemp-robed elderly man, however, showed no sign of moving on, and said at an unhurried pace, ”There is no need to refuse. It is no trouble at all.”

Even as his words fell, he raised his hand with a light wave, and in an instant a sudden gust of wind swept across the road from nowhere, passing over the several carts that were stuck in the collapsed section.

The disciples who had been straining to push the carts suddenly felt the resistance vanish beneath their hands, and in the next moment the sunken carts rose on their own out of the depression and were free.

Seeing this, the scarred man’s expression shifted sharply, and he instinctively moved away from the elderly man and closer to where the horses and cargo were, his face full of guarded suspicion.

After settling himself somewhat, however, and seeing that the hemp-robed elderly man had no further intention of acting, he steeled himself and folded his hands in a bow, saying, ”This senior’s assistance is greatly appreciated.”

Hearing this, the hemp-robed elderly man narrowed his eyes slightly, saying, ”No thanks are needed. I wonder, do any of you happen to be carrying rations? Might you spare a little for my young granddaughter here?”

At those words, the little girl in pink who had been dozing on the mule’s back suddenly blinked her eyes open in a half-awake daze, and said groggily, ”Is there food? I am so hungry I could sleep through it...”

The scarred man’s expression went through several changes, but in the end he gave the hemp-robed elderly man a nod, saying, ”Please give this senior a moment.”

He then instructed the sect disciples to take a parcel of steamed buns and braised beef from one of the carts and present it to the hemp-robed elderly man with a respectful bow.

”My thanks.”

The elderly man offered a word of gratitude, then passed the parcel to the little girl.

Seeing this, the scarred man quickly folded his hands in a bow and said, ”We still have road ahead of us, and would not wish to keep this senior any longer.”

With that he prepared to give the order to his disciples to move on, clearly having no desire to remain in the elderly man’s company any longer than necessary.

At that moment, however, the hemp-robed elderly man suddenly spoke, ”You are heading to Falling God Peak for the birthday celebration, I take it? As it happens, this old one is as well. Perhaps we might travel together from here, and look out for one another along the way?”