Great Li Martial God

The big black cat saw him go and immediately padded after him in step, following closely at Li Musheng’s heels.

Li Musheng carried the dark jade stele out of the cave, and as he walked, a thought brought to mind what Fu Qiwen had mentioned about the Falling God Peak grandmaster’s martial uncle.

He planned to make one pass around the main peak. If he could find the person, all the better. If not, there was nothing to be done and he would simply let it go.

With that, this business at Falling God Peak was essentially concluded.

Li Musheng’s next plan was to return to Shangyang City and obtain the two Tianqi Secret Treasury keys that were located in the imperial capital.

And then...

What came after that was a great deal more, not only continuing the search for the remaining Tianqi Secret Treasury keys, but also tracking down the Fire Qilin, seeking out the Azure Dragon True Qi, comprehending the Divine Talent Stele, and more besides.

In pursuit of transcendence through the martial path, Li Musheng had to admit he was quite busy.

But aside from comprehending the Divine Talent Stele, the rest of it could be delegated to others.

After all, by the terms of their agreement, once Falling God Peak was destroyed, the entire Great Li Tianjin Guards would answer to him going forward. Having people search for a few items was naturally no trouble whatsoever.As for whether Emperor Yuanwu might go back on his word in this matter, well, the man was welcome to try.

Thinking this over, Li Musheng picked up the dark jade stele and began making his way around the Falling God Peak main peak. Anyone without the sense to keep out of his way he dispatched without hesitation.

The big black cat at his side also racked up a fair number of kills while accompanying him, though Li Musheng noticed the cat spent most of its time eyeing the dark jade stele in his hand with intense, barely restrained longing, looking very close to drooling.

They had not even made it halfway around the main peak before the big black cat’s green eyes were practically spinning in its head.

It came padding over and began rubbing repeatedly against Li Musheng’s trouser leg, pointing one paw at the dark jade stele, then pointing at its own back, meowing persistently.

Seeing this, Li Musheng narrowed his eyes slightly, having worked out what the cat was trying to say.

It was telling him that carrying such a heavy piece of jade looked like a real burden, and was offering to have the dark jade stele placed on its back so it could help carry it and take some of the load.

”Are all people with divine nature this crafty?”

Li Musheng patted the big cat’s head and let out a soft laugh, then tossed the dark jade stele onto the cat’s back.

The big black cat, though solidly built and roughly the size of a large dog, was considerably smaller than the jade stele, which covered the animal almost completely.

But the cat’s four legs stood perfectly straight, not the least bit bowed under the stele’s weight, and it let out two happy meows, then pranced around in place a few spirited circles with the stele on its back.

Li Musheng, seeing this, made no move to take the stele back. With a free laborer carrying things for him, he naturally had one less thing to deal with.

And so Li Musheng continued on his way around the main peak, the big black cat trotting along behind him with the dark jade stele on its back.

The main peak had stone steps throughout, and some stretches were extremely steep, but the big black cat moved with the stele on its back without any sign of dropping it, remarkably nimble and sure-footed, as though walking on level ground.

...

At the same time, Sikong Xuan, resolved to run Yuwen Chengqing down, was still giving chase without letup. Two terrifying auras hurtled through the deep forests of the mountains one behind the other.

The two were not far apart in terms of movement speed, however, and despite Sikong Xuan’s all-out pursuit, he had not managed to actually exchange more than a handful of blows with Yuwen Chengqing.

Yuwen Chengqing, for his part, had no intention whatsoever of engaging Sikong Xuan in combat, and simply ran with everything he had.

Before long he reached the foot of a towering and imposing peak and stopped, then looked upward with narrowed eyes.

Sikong Xuan, close behind, watched him stop and likewise looked toward the great peak ahead.

In moments, his gaze sharpened. He had recognized that this towering peak was none other than the main peak of Falling God Peak.

Sikong Xuan’s grizzled brow furrowed at once.

By any ordinary reasoning, if Yuwen Chengqing truly intended to flee, his only hope of survival lay in escaping out of Falling God Peak’s territory entirely. And yet the man was doing the opposite, heading directly for the main peak. It was genuinely difficult to fathom his intention.

Yuwen Chengqing turned back and looked at Sikong Xuan following in the darkness of the night, said nothing at all, gave a cold laugh, then flickered his silhouette and vanished rapidly up the main peak.

The moment he moved, Sikong Xuan was already at the foot of the mountain. He stopped and looked up at the receding figure, his expression uncertain and wavering.

After all, though Fu Qiwen had already sent word that the Eighth Prince had dealt with the Falling God Peak grandmaster and the four honored elders, this was still the main peak of Falling God Peak, one of the four great martial world sects, and the very core and foundation of the entire sect.

Even with its five most powerful members dead, there was no guarantee that no other formidable martial artists remained on the main peak.

If he charged in alone on impulse, he could very well be walking into a trap with no way out.

”And what does a man nearly dead have to worry about such things for? If there truly is a powerful martial artist within, that is all the more reason for this old man to go in and see what they are made of.”

But Sikong Xuan made up his mind quickly. He had come on this journey to fulfill his wish, to fight a good battle before the end. If a stronger opponent awaited, that was nothing short of a pleasant surprise.

And so, without pause, Sikong Xuan continued in the direction Yuwen Chengqing had gone, disappearing at the foot of the main peak.

Before long, Yumian Jiao and Ouyang Mingqi arrived close behind.

The two stopped together at the foot of the main peak, both looking up at it, and both let expressions of gravity settle onto their faces.

Yumian Jiao furrowed her brow slightly and said, ”Senior Brother Yuwen seems to have deliberately led Lord Sikong to the main peak. Something on this mountain is likely not right.”

At those words, Ouyang Mingqi’s expression turned thoughtful, and he said with a slow deliberateness, ”Junior Sister, have you ever heard a rumor within the sect concerning Senior Brother Yuwen?”

Yumian Jiao glanced at him, then narrowed her eyes slightly and said, ”Are you perhaps referring to the story that Senior Brother Yuwen, despite ordinary natural gifts and years of unremarkable, undistinguished cultivation, suddenly broke through and took the position of Eighth Peak Master?”

Ouyang Mingqi nodded, then kept his gaze on the main peak shrouded in darkness and said, ”There have been those who claimed that the true reason Senior Brother Yuwen was able to rise as he did with ordinary gifts and break through to Peak Master within a few years lies on this main peak.”

”According to the story, Senior Brother Yuwen once had a remarkable encounter here, meeting a supremely powerful martial artist who had been living in complete seclusion within the sect. This person not only gave him a divine martial elixir but also personally guided his cultivation, and it was through this that Senior Brother Yuwen rose to prominence so suddenly, surpassing the many more naturally gifted Senior Brothers and Junior Brothers within the sect.”

Ouyang Mingqi then shook his head and added, ”Of course, it goes without saying that Senior Brother Yuwen’s own obsessive dedication to the martial path also played an indispensable role in what he has achieved.”

At those words, Yumian Jiao thought for a brief moment, then looked at Ouyang Mingqi and said, ”So Senior Brother Ouyang believes the rumor is true?”

Ouyang Mingqi shook his head and said, ”I am not certain. But whether it is true or not, perhaps we will find out if we follow and have a look.”

With that, he moved at once, continuing his pursuit in the direction Sikong Xuan had gone.

Yumian Jiao’s brow furrowed slightly at this, but she said nothing and followed along as well.

With the grandmaster and the four honored elders dead, Falling God Peak’s destruction was already a certainty. Even if a hidden martial artist truly resided on the main peak, it would most likely change nothing.

In Yumian Jiao’s view, what Yuwen Chengqing was doing served very little real purpose.

Before long, the fleeing figure of Yuwen Chengqing wove rapidly through the interconnected halls and buildings across the main peak.

He passed through several sparsely visited garden groves and eventually arrived outside a modest, unassuming ancestral shrine on the rear face of the main peak.

The shrine was not Falling God Peak’s main ancestral hall, but rather a smaller site established to enshrine the spirit tablets of certain ordinary disciples from past generations who had rendered meritorious service to the sect.

As such, the location was remote and rarely visited. At a glance it looked quiet and desolate, with almost no sign of anyone having passed through.

Even so, the inside and outside of the small shrine had been swept immaculately clean. Not a single fallen leaf remained on the stone steps of the walkways, and the flat bluestone slabs gleamed spotless in the light of the stone pillar oil lamps standing on either side.

”Elder?”

Yuwen Chengqing’s figure drifted to a stop at the foot of the steps outside the shrine entrance, then bowed with clasped hands toward the interior.

He was not certain whether anyone was actually inside, but even so he did not presume to step across the threshold.

After waiting a while, the interior of the small shrine remained completely dark, and from first to last not a word came in response.

Yuwen Chengqing’s brow furrowed, and right at that moment, Sikong Xuan, who had been giving chase, arrived at last.

The old man’s figure descended without a sound, landing on the blue-bricked ground several zhang behind Yuwen Chengqing. He swept a look across Yuwen Chengqing and then across the small shrine, and then spoke in a deep voice, ”Yuwen Chengqing. So you have finally stopped running. Have you found yourself some help to deal with this old man?”

At those words, Yuwen Chengqing’s expression shifted slightly. He turned and looked back at Sikong Xuan behind him.

But now that he had come to this place, the talk of surrendering he had been repeating earlier no longer crossed his lips.

For one thing, he had said it many times already, and Sikong Xuan was bent on killing him regardless, so it served no purpose.

For another, he was afraid that if he spoke of surrendering here, it might displease the elder inside the shrine.

And so Yuwen Chengqing’s expression hardened, and he said in a cold voice, ”Your Great Li court has gone too far, encircling and attacking our Falling God Peak sect without cause or justification, killing our sect disciples without mercy. It is nothing short of brutal tyranny!”

Of course, Yuwen Chengqing’s words were not aimed at Sikong Xuan. They were spoken for the elder inside the shrine.

He was worried that the elder, having lived in seclusion here and rarely interacting with the outside world, might not yet know what had happened to Falling God Peak.

Even so, Yuwen Chengqing did not reveal that the grandmaster and the four honored elders had been killed.

He was not certain of the elder’s true temperament. If the elder heard that staggering news, he was afraid the man might not bother with him at all and simply slip away at once.

At that, Sikong Xuan heard this string of high-sounding words from Yuwen Chengqing and furrowed his brow, though he did not dwell on it, and instead gave a cold laugh, ”Falling God Peak will be destroyed tonight without question. Since you want to make a last stand, call out all the help you have. This old man will oblige you all together and let you perish alongside Falling God Peak!”

Yuwen Chengqing did not reply. Out of the corner of his eye he glanced toward the interior of the small shrine.

But it remained completely still inside, as though no one was there at all.

His expression sank, and he let out a quiet sigh inwardly. After a moment, he turned to face Sikong Xuan, his face cold and expressionless, ”Since you have pursued me this whole way with no intention of stopping short of my death, I naturally cannot simply let you have your way without a fight. Let us see then what you are capable of.”

At those words, Sikong Xuan stroked his beard, his gaze moving back and forth between Yuwen Chengqing and the small shrine, and narrowed his eyes, ”Now that is more like it. Scurrying away like a stray dog is no way for a man of the martial world to carry himself. At least fighting this old man is worth something, and shows some backbone.”

With that, Sikong Xuan suddenly struck. The martial aura around him erupted skyward in an instant.

A single palm thrust forward, and the surrounding night sky blazed with waves of azure light. Dozens of palm prints three zhang across, carrying the full surging force of heaven and earth true qi, appeared above Yuwen Chengqing’s head in an instant and came crashing down toward him and the entire area including the small shrine.

That the palm strike included the small shrine was entirely deliberate on Sikong Xuan’s part.

Rather than leaving any hidden helper lurking unseen inside the shrine, ready to ambush him from the shadows, it was far better to simply flush them out directly. Having all his enemies in plain sight made for a much cleaner fight, with no need to watch his back.

At that moment, facing Sikong Xuan’s attack, a sharp gleam flashed through Yuwen Chengqing’s eyes.

He thrust a single palm upward, and the roiling true qi around him surged like a raging river, transforming into dozens of massive true qi waves that crashed upward to meet Sikong Xuan’s palm prints head on.

In an instant, the sky above where the small shrine stood erupted into a tempest. The two immense forces collided and intertwined, transforming in moments into a towering swirling vortex dozens of zhang tall, drawing the mountain mist and the branches and leaves of the surrounding trees up into the air.

Even the stone steps and flagstones and the stone pillars on the ground began to tremble as though they might be swept up into the swirling vortex and carried skyward.

But right at that moment, a faint and quiet sigh drifted out from within the ancestral shrine, then carried softly to the ears of Sikong Xuan and the others.

And in the next instant, the blue-bricked steps and stone pillars in front of the shrine, which had been on the verge of being swept away, all settled back down to the ground, fitting back into their original positions perfectly, exactly as they had been.

No matter how the vortex continued to churn and rage after that, it could no longer so much as budge the blue bricks or stone pillars in front of the shrine by a single fraction.

Both Sikong Xuan and Yuwen Chengqing caught this, and their pupils contracted in unison. Both lowered their hands and stopped.

In an instant, the entire area around the small shrine fell abruptly silent, and at that moment, Yumian Jiao and Ouyang Mingqi, who had arrived from behind, also stopped their approach from a distance.

Everyone’s gaze turned to the interior of the small shrine, every one of them filled with wariness.

And right then, a stooped, gray-robed blind elder, leaning on a walking staff, slowly made his way out of the small shrine.