Great Li Martial God

Seeing the big black cat cave immediately, Li Musheng narrowed his eyes and casually tossed the Hidden Kill Order over to it, ”Go play with it on your own.”

He then stopped paying attention to the disruptive cat and turned to look at the storytelling elder standing before him in a daze.

The big black cat stole a glance at Li Musheng, and seeing he apparently had no intention of making it stand between the Hidden Kill Pavilion assassins, felt immediately reassured.

Then its attention was drawn back to the Hidden Kill Order. It opened its mouth and bit down, picking up the tarnished copper token in its teeth, then jumped to one side and began fiddling with it on its own.

Li Musheng’s gaze settled on the storytelling elder and he spoke slowly, ”There is no need to be tense. At your age do not let yourself be frightened into an episode, or where would I go to find your Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion when I need something done?”

At those words, the storytelling elder gradually came back to himself.

He suppressed the turmoil inside him as best he could, his lips moving stiffly up and down as he asked in a trembling voice, ”Young gentleman... are you truly... the Eighth Prince?”

Though the storytelling elder had already guessed Li Musheng’s identity from the Hidden Kill Order and from the young swordsman’s reaction, he still could not quite believe that he had run into, here of all places, the Great Li Eighth Prince who had personally destroyed Falling God Peak.

And so his first instinct was to ask Li Musheng directly, to confirm his guess was correct.

Otherwise he had reason to suspect he had developed some kind of delusion, and that all of this was a figment of his imagination.After all, at his age, the mind did not always work perfectly. Such things were not entirely outside the realm of possibility.

At that, Li Musheng faced the storytelling elder’s question, reached up and pointed at himself, and raised an eyebrow, ”I will say this plainly. With a face like mine, do you think you could find another prince in the world who looks this handsome?”

At those words, the storytelling elder clearly paused for a moment.

When Li Musheng had first become the Great Li Eighth Prince, the name had carried little weight. Though the story of the true and false princes had spread widely through the martial world, the martial world’s attention on this particular Eighth Prince had not been high.

The storytelling elder, despite his Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion background and his existing familiarity with Li Musheng through unrelated matters, had never actually seen him.

But now, with Li Musheng acknowledging his identity in person, the storytelling elder had at last laid eyes on this prince who was destined to shake the entire world.

He could not help drawing a slow breath, fixing his gaze on Li Musheng, and then bowing his head with great gravity, speaking in a solemn and fervent voice, ”Your Highness, with a face as jade and a bearing as a jade tree in the wind, elegant and distinguished beyond compare. That this old one has lived to see Your Highness’s true face in person is the great fortune of three lifetimes!”

At those words, Li Musheng’s expression shifted at once, and he finally took a genuine and careful look at the elder before him.

Not bad. The man was somewhat older, and there might be a bit of a generational gap, but at least his eyes were not clouded with age.

On the contrary, his vision appeared to be perfectly sharp and clear. That alone deserved acknowledgment.

At that moment, the storytelling elder caught the shift in Li Musheng’s manner from the corner of his eye, and sensed that Li Musheng had received his words rather well.

He quietly let out a small breath of relief.

In the brief span of those few heartbeats just now, his entire back had already been soaked through with cold sweat.

Having confirmed Li Musheng’s identity, the storytelling elder had naturally recalled at once the attitude he had shown Li Musheng earlier, an attitude that made him shudder even now to think of.

Of course his first priority was to find a way to make amends and recover his standing in Li Musheng’s eyes.

Though Li Musheng was unlikely to act against him over such a trivial matter, facing someone who had personally destroyed Falling God Peak, no amount of caution was excessive.

”This old one had eyes but failed to see. Please forgive any offense, Your Highness.”

The storytelling elder spoke with genuine sincerity, then set aside the many thoughts churning inside him and promptly asked, ”What would Your Highness like the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion to do? If this old one is able to help relieve Your Highness of any burden, I would be most willing.”

At those words, Li Musheng gave a reasonably satisfied nod. He considered briefly, but then shook his head and said, ”What I need done is not insignificant, and is certainly beyond what you alone can handle. It will require the full resources of your Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion.”

The storytelling elder’s gaze shifted slightly, and he immediately replied, ”Your Highness, please rest assured. Whatever it is, tell this old one, and this old one will pass it up through the Pavilion. The Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion will treat Your Highness’s request with the utmost seriousness.”

At those words, Li Musheng did not drag things out, and right away put his requests to the storytelling elder, covering what he wanted, namely tracking down the ancient divine beasts including the Fire Qilin, the Azure Dragon True Qi, and the Vermilion Bird, all of which were admittedly somewhat elusive and indistinct as targets.

To be honest, the reason Li Musheng had been willing to deal with the Hidden Kill Pavilion, and to seek out the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion himself, was specifically to gather intelligence on these divine beasts and pursue transcendence through the martial path.

Beyond that, he truly had no further demands to speak of. As for whether what he was asking was reasonable, that was simply not a consideration he gave any thought to.

”Also, if your Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion has any leads on the Tianqi Secret Treasury keys, be sure to inform me as well.”

Li Musheng added one more thing.

However, noticing that the storytelling elder’s expression had gone visibly unusual, Li Musheng raised an eyebrow and said, ”Do not worry. I am not the sort of person who takes advantage of others by force. When you report back to the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, you may tell them that as long as useful leads are provided, the Great Li court will pay fair compensation.”

In saying this Li Musheng had not mentioned himself or the Tianjin Guards paying the reward, since both of those were his own assets now anyway.

His thinking was actually quite simple. If the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion wanted payment, they were welcome to go and ask Emperor Yuanwu for it. That old man was rolling in money at the moment.

”To be of service to Your Highness is this old one’s honor. This old one would not dream of asking for any benefit in return.”

The storytelling elder made his position clear at once. Even so, he hesitated for a moment before continuing, ”Only, what Your Highness wishes to accomplish is truly beyond this old one’s ability to assist with personally. This matter will need to be reported to the Pavilion, and the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion will need to devote its full effort to searching for leads on Your Highness’s behalf.”

At those words, Li Musheng waved a hand and said, ”There is no time to waste. Get this sorted out now. I hope that by the time I return to Shangyang City, I will hear good news from your Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion.”

The storytelling elder immediately nodded in agreement. Even so, he raised his eyes to Li Musheng, stood in place with a clearly hesitant expression for a moment, and then spoke, ”This old one’s chance encounter with Your Highness here was a matter of remarkable fortune. To avoid the Pavilion doubting this old one’s word, this old one ventures to ask Your Highness for some form of proof.”

”Otherwise the Pavilion may question the validity of what this old one reports, and risk delaying Your Highness’s affairs.”

At those words, Li Musheng gave the storytelling elder a glance, thought briefly, and decided the man had a reasonable point.

Then on a whim he reached out to one side without looking, and plucked a tuft of fur from the big black cat.

He gave it a light wave, and the tuft of fur drifted soundlessly down to rest before the storytelling elder.