Great Li Martial God

Peak-Cleaving Summit.

After the alarm bell rang out across the peak, Yuwen Chengqing, deep in closed-door seclusion in his inner chamber, finally stirred.

He snapped his eyes open, the martial aura around him sharp and immense.

Across from him, in the main hall of the meditation chamber, seven Peak-Cleaving Summit elders sat cross-legged in cultivation, each one fully absorbed, deaf to the world outside.

At the sight, Yuwen Chengqing gave a satisfied nod and murmured to himself, ”Good. Martial cultivation is like rowing upstream, where those who do not advance will fall behind. If I did not regularly require the elders to enter closed-door seclusion, they would eventually be hollowed out by wine and women, and Falling God Peak would surely be in peril.”

In Yuwen Chengqing’s view, heaven rewards the diligent, and only through dedicated seclusion and cultivation could the peak produce more skilled martial artists.

He sometimes even found himself thinking that if Falling God Peak’s other Peak Masters and elders could all be as devoted to closed-door cultivation as he was, it would perhaps only be a matter of time before Falling God Peak unified the three great sects.

”Alas, the sect has always been too lax. I must find an opportunity to propose to the grandmaster that in the future, disciples should be required to spend at least eighty percent of their time in mandatory cultivation.”

Lost in these thoughts, Yuwen Chengqing furrowed his brow and looked up, a flicker of confusion crossing his face. ”Why is the alarm bell ringing now? I clearly told my wife long ago that if anything urgent came up, she could come and find me at any time.”

Yuwen Chengqing suddenly rose to his feet, a faint and uneasy premonition stirring in his heart.Even so, he did not disturb the elders who were still deep in cultivation. He moved at once, heading directly out of the sealed chamber.

Before long, a powerful and overwhelming surge of aura erupted from the summit of Peak-Cleaving Summit.

In an instant, disciples scattered throughout the peak who had not yet managed to flee were all suppressed by that terrifying martial aura, and froze where they stood, not daring to move a single step.

At the same time, Sikong Xuan lifted his gaze toward the summit of Peak-Cleaving Summit. A sharp gleam flashed through his clouded eyes, and a powerful battle intent slowly rose from his aged frame.

His purpose in coming to Falling God Peak had always been to make one final, glorious charge through the martial world before his time ran out, to fight a satisfying battle and fulfill a wish he had carried for years, even if it cost him his life.

And yet, before he had even made a move, Jade Wave Peak had surrendered, though he had afterward struck Yumian Jiao with a single palm.

But striking someone who offered no resistance was no different from slapping a stone. What satisfaction was there in that?

Now, at last, he had come across something truly hard, someone who could give him a proper fight, and it would make this trip to Falling God Peak worthwhile.

Just as Sikong Xuan’s battle intent was surging to its peak, Yuwen Chengqing had emerged from seclusion on Peak-Cleaving Summit and moved to the place where the alarm bell had been rung.

He grabbed a disciple who had already gone limp under the pressure of his aura and asked in a low, stern voice, ”What has happened on the peak?”

At those words, the disciple took a long moment to gather himself before managing to force out with great difficulty, ”Peak Master... Falling God Peak is finished!”

”What?”

Yuwen Chengqing’s expression changed at once. He was about to press for more details when the disciple was overwhelmed by the terrifying aura radiating from his body and fell unconscious, losing all awareness entirely.

At that, Yuwen Chengqing tossed him aside and quickly went to find other disciples still on the peak to question.

How long had he even been in seclusion? And Falling God Peak was already gone?

When had all this happened? How had he not received a single word of it?

He went on to seize several more disciples who had not yet fled and questioned them in turn, and at last managed to piece together a rough understanding of the whole sequence of events.

”Even the grandmaster and all four honored elders are dead. How is that possible!”

Yuwen Chengqing was as though struck by lightning, utterly unable to accept this sudden, devastating news.

After all, he had not even finished his seclusion, and yet he had come out to find that the entire world of Falling God Peak had changed.

Everything felt surreal and dreamlike, as though he were living through a nightmare.

And yet reality kept pressing in on him from every side, making clear beyond any doubt that every word of it was true.

He even went to find his wife, only to discover she had long since packed her things and fled, the room standing empty.

At this point, very few disciples remained on Peak-Cleaving Summit who had not yet escaped.

All at once, Yuwen Chengqing sank down heavily onto the stone steps of Lady Ni’s courtyard, and his already aged face seemed to age another decade in an instant.

The blow of Falling God Peak’s destruction was clearly more than he could bear.

He had spent the better part of his life cultivating without rest day and night, had finally achieved a breakthrough after all that effort, and had only just settled into his position as Peak Master a few years ago.

And yet, in what amounted to the time it took to close one’s eyes and open them again during a single seclusion, Falling God Peak was gone.

Who could possibly accept that?

Right at that moment, Sikong Xuan’s thunderous voice rang out across the entire Peak-Cleaving Summit, ”Yuwen Chengqing, you held your ground and did not flee. This old man respects you as a man of mettle. Now that you have come out of seclusion, come down the mountain and fight. Let us settle this with our lives!”

Sikong Xuan’s voice rolled across every corner of Peak-Cleaving Summit, echoing through the peaks.

Yuwen Chengqing snapped back to himself in an instant. He surged to his feet, and a torrent of razor-sharp killing intent erupted from his entire being. The terrifying martial aura, vast and fathomless as a deep abyss, burst forth like a great river breaking through a dam, surging down the mountainside.

At the foot of the mountain, Sikong Xuan watched that fierce and overwhelming aura rushing toward him and stroked his beard with a long sigh of satisfaction, ”Well met!”

His own martial True Qi surged with a roar, and he extended a palm as the true qi of heaven and earth converged rapidly around him, preparing to meet Yuwen Chengqing head on.

But in the very next moment, Sikong Xuan looked up and found, to his complete surprise, that the sweeping aura had suddenly reversed and collapsed back in on itself, vanishing in the blink of an eye as though it had never existed.

Sikong Xuan’s outstretched hand froze mid-air, and his brow furrowed deeply, his face filled with bewilderment.

Up on Peak-Cleaving Summit, Yuwen Chengqing had pulled his aura back in sharply, and reached up to wipe a cold sweat from his forehead.

A deep, cold dread had seized him.

He had been provoked by Sikong Xuan’s words and acted on instinct without thinking.

But midway through, he had jolted back to his senses.

What was he thinking, daring to resist and strike back against the Great Li Tianjin Guards? That was no different from throwing his life away!

The martial experts the Great Li court had deployed for this operation had killed the grandmaster and all four honored elders.

Against an existence like that, the enemy could probably end his life in a single move, and any talk of resistance would be nothing but a joke.

His natural gifts for martial cultivation had always been far below those of Falling God Peak’s other Peak Masters. The better part of his life had been spent grinding through cultivation day after day without rest, and only through that had he built the martial cultivation he now possessed. Only he truly knew the hardship and difficulty that had gone into it. To throw that all away and die for nothing, how could he possibly accept that?

Turning it over in his mind, Yuwen Chengqing’s expression shifted rapidly, and he drew a deep breath, making up his mind to simply abandon Peak-Cleaving Summit and flee at once.

At that moment, however, Ouyang Mingqi at the foot of the mountain had noticed Yuwen Chengqing’s sudden withdrawal. Not willing to simply watch this Senior Brother of his, who had shown such unexpected backbone, meet his end, he called out immediately, ”Senior Brother Yuwen, Falling God Peak’s cause is lost. No matter how hard either of us resists, it will be in vain. Why not pledge your allegiance to the Great Li court with the rest of us? Perhaps there will still be much you can accomplish in the future.”

At those words, the elder standing beside him, Sikong Xuan, instantly bristled, and whipped around to glare at Ouyang Mingqi, ”Keep your mouth shut. You are ruining this old man’s fun!”

Up on the peak, Yuwen Chengqing heard Ouyang Mingqi’s shout, and the figure that had been about to flee came to an abrupt halt.

In the next moment his expression shifted, and he immediately pulled his aura back in.

With a flash of his silhouette he moved quickly behind a rocky outcrop partway down the mountain, then peered carefully down toward the base of the peak.

Through the darkness of the mountain night, he could make out the Tianjin Guards below, who had completely encircled Peak-Cleaving Summit from every direction, sealing it like a barrel.

And in the light of the torches below, he spotted Sikong Xuan at the head of the group, with the Ninth Peak Master Yumian Jiao and the Fifth Peak Master Ouyang Mingqi standing at his side.

The situation spoke for itself. These two had long since betrayed the sect and surrendered, placing themselves under the boot of the Great Li Tianjin Guards.

Watching this from behind the rocks, Yuwen Chengqing’s heart was a storm of conflicting emotions.

After a moment, he gritted his teeth. His figure shifted, and he moved straight down toward the foot of the mountain, calling out loudly as he went, ”Senior Brother Ouyang’s words are exactly right. I surrender here and now, and will not be so stubborn as to refuse what is clear.”

Yumian Jiao and the others all looked up at once, and Sikong Xuan’s clouded gaze darkened sharply as he called out in a stern voice, ”Surrendering without so much as a single blow, something is clearly wrong. This old man will seize him first and sort it out after!”

With that, Sikong Xuan wasted no further words and struck out directly at the approaching Yuwen Chengqing.

He had finally come across someone with real backbone, only to have that backbone go soft before a single blow had been exchanged. How could he possibly let the man off so easily?

Falling God Peak was down to this last Peak Master. Surrender? Not a chance!

A surrender like this had to be a trap!

In an instant, the true qi of heaven and earth at the foot of Peak-Cleaving Summit boiled into a frenzy.

Sikong Xuan struck with a single palm. A vast azure brilliance blazed across the heavens, and dozens of palm prints tore screaming through the air, slamming toward Yuwen Chengqing one after another.

Yuwen Chengqing’s face changed. He condensed a barrier of true qi to deflect the blows while retreating rapidly, shouting as he went, ”I am surrendering in good faith! Please do not misunderstand!”

”This old man believes nothing of the sort!”

Sikong Xuan’s figure vanished from where he stood and reappeared as a streak of azure, giving chase after Yuwen Chengqing, his voice cold and sharp, ”Every other Peak Master in Falling God Peak either fled or surrendered. You alone remained in seclusion, clearly trying to break through so you could deliver a fatal blow to the Tianjin Guards.”

”Everyone saw it clearly. Now the moment you come out of seclusion you do a complete about-face and claim to surrender. Do you expect us to believe that? Do you take this old man for a fool?”

At this point, whether Yuwen Chengqing’s surrender was genuine or a ruse made absolutely no difference to Sikong Xuan.

He was treating it as a ruse regardless, because only that way did he have any justification to strike. If Yuwen Chengqing truly surrendered, he could not possibly attack him, and this entire trip to Falling God Peak would have been a complete waste!

Yuwen Chengqing, with Sikong Xuan hot on his heels and showing no intention of letting up, fled down the other side of the mountain while turning back to explain himself.

He made every effort with his words to convey that he had been in closed-door seclusion and knew nothing of what had happened outside, and that was the only reason he had not come out sooner, and that otherwise he would certainly have been the first to surrender to the Great Li court.

But Sikong Xuan paid not the slightest attention to any of it. Rather than stopping the pursuit, he grew even more furious, ”This old man was completely wrong about you. It turns out you are just as spineless as the rest of them!”

Seeing no way to reason with him, Yuwen Chengqing had no choice but to put everything into fleeing.

But as his gaze lifted to what lay ahead of him, a peculiar light flickered briefly in his eyes.

At the foot of Peak-Cleaving Summit, Yumian Jiao watched the figures of Yuwen Chengqing and Sikong Xuan vanish one after the other into the darkness of the night, and furrowed her brow slightly, ”Should we let Lord Sikong chase him like that? What if something goes wrong? Should we follow and provide support?”

At those words, Ouyang Mingqi stared in the direction the two had disappeared, a thoughtful look crossing his face, ”I think Lord Sikong would prefer we not interfere. He seems to be quite eager to get his hands on someone.”

”That said, we should still follow at a distance and keep watch. We can always act if something actually goes wrong, and we might even be able to claim some credit along the way, which would only make our position within the Tianjin Guards more secure.”

Yumian Jiao’s gaze shifted slightly, and she gave a small nod.

Then the two of them flickered into motion, pursuing in the direction where Sikong Xuan and the other had disappeared.

Midway through the chase, however, Ouyang Mingqi suddenly raised his head and looked toward the direction Yuwen Chengqing had fled, and a clearly unusual light flashed through his eyes.

He furrowed his brow slightly but said nothing, and quietly continued following.

...

Falling God Peak’s main peak.

After the linen-robed elder and Lin Xunner had seen Li Musheng off at the Falling God Peak main peak, the two of them hurried away to Hundred Refinements Peak, afraid their enemies might escape before they could get there.

Li Musheng, with the clingy big black cat in tow, ascended the main peak that stood at the center of all eight peaks of Falling God Peak.

By the time they arrived, word had already been trickling in to the people on the main peak, and while many elders and disciples had slipped away in secret, a number of the sect’s members had remained.

Among those who stayed, some planned to wait and surrender once the Tianjin Guards arrived, while others were clearly devoted to Falling God Peak to the last and had resolved to fight to the death, intending to stand and fall with the sect.

Li Musheng had no particular intention of dealing with any of them himself. They would naturally be handled by Fu Qiwen and the Tianjin Guards.

But unfortunately, after he and the big black cat entered the main peak, elders and disciples kept coming at him without the sense to hold back.

The result was that the ones who were somewhat capable were dealt a swift and fatal strike by Li Musheng, while the weaker ones were all scratched to death by the big black cat.

This big black cat was not only large but quite formidable as well. Ordinary Falling God Peak disciples were no match for it at all.

And when it came to killing, the cat was ferocious. When those green, glowing eyes fixed on someone, they carried all the menace of a demon.

Eventually, following the information he had obtained from the Falling God Peak grandmaster, Li Musheng made his way to a hidden cave near the northern face of the main peak.

It seemed the grandmaster had either kept something back deliberately, or had been in too much agony from the Life and Death Talisman to remember to mention it.

The hidden cave was riddled with traps, and Li Musheng puzzled over them for quite a while without finding a way through. In the end, with no better option, he simply overwhelmed them all by force, blasting every last mechanism to rubble.

He withstood an array of poisons and the various countermeasures left behind by Falling God Peak’s successive grandmasters throughout the generations, and at last Li Musheng and the big black cat made their way into the interior of the cave.