Great Li Martial God

The grating laughter echoed across the surrounding sky. Shangguan Qingqing simply pressed her lips together, looked at Huo Linfei across from her, and said nothing.

Beside her, the Celestial River Blade Sect leader and Bai Zihua shook their heads with quiet sighs. Bai Zihua looked at Shangguan Qingqing and said gently, ”Qingqing, I know how desperately you want to save the sect, but just a Great Li Tianjin Guards token is not going to make Alliance Under Heaven people back down in fear.”

”How about this, you step away for now, and leave what comes next to your master and the Sect Leader.”

At those words, a look of desolation crossed Shangguan Qingqing’s pale face, and she slowly closed her eyes, thinking, ”Still not enough?”

But very quickly, Shangguan Qingqing opened her eyes again and looked up at Huo Linfei laughing across from her, then said with unshakeable conviction, ”That token was a gift from His Highness. Give it back to me!”

At those words, the laughter that had nearly brought tears to Huo Linfei’s eyes gradually faded from his face.

He narrowed his eyes and studied Shangguan Qingqing standing on the rocks across from him, radiating killing intent from head to toe. He tossed the Tianjin Guards token casually in his hand and said at his leisure, ”The Eighth Prince? What is that?”

”Little girl, if you are going to invoke a big name to intimidate someone, at least pick a proper figure. Throwing out the name of some prince who crawled out of nowhere that this Deputy Alliance Leader has barely even heard of, it is almost funny.”

At those words, the Golden Armor Gate leader hovering in the air beside Huo Linfei could not help laughing out loud. He found Shangguan Qingqing utterly ridiculous.

Right at that moment, after hearing Huo Linfei’s words, the color drained from Shangguan Qingqing’s face and she erupted in fury. She leaped upward in an instant, drew her blade, and slashed toward the two of them.They had just mocked her idol and savior. Whatever else happened, she was going to cut at them first.

”No!”

Both the Celestial River Blade Sect leader and Bai Zihua’s expressions changed sharply at the sight.

The Sect Leader raised a hand and reached out, catching Shangguan Qingqing in a grip of true qi from across the distance, then flung her backward and away from the area.

The blade she had swung had not even fully launched before she was retreating at speed.

Huo Linfei remained completely unmoved throughout. As far as Shangguan Qingqing’s sudden attack was concerned, he paid it no attention whatsoever.

With his cultivation, standing still and letting her strike him would only result in damage to Shangguan Qingqing herself.

At that point, Huo Linfei, without even looking at the Tianjin Guards token in his hand, was about to crush it to dust.

The entertainment was over. It was time to get down to real business.

But just as he was about to make his move, a streak of true qi shot toward him from behind with urgency, and a voice called out to report, ”Deputy Alliance Leader, an urgent falcon message has arrived from the Grand Alliance in Mountain-Sea City. It requires your personal attention.”

The streak of light arrived before Huo Linfei in a flash, and bowed while presenting a sealed bamboo tube with both hands.

Seeing this, Huo Linfei furrowed his brow, but still took the bamboo tube immediately and opened it.

Urgent falcon messages from within the alliance were always matters of importance, and could not easily be delayed.

Huo Linfei then opened the letter inside the tube and, right there with the Celestial River Blade Sect leader and Bai Zihua watching, began reading it with casual self-assurance. His manner was entirely relaxed and confident, as though neither of the two men existed.

The Sect Leader and Bai Zihua showed no inclination to strike, choosing instead to stay alert to Huo Linfei and the Golden Armor Gate leader while using the brief reprieve to recover their strength as much as possible, hoping to fight at full force when the moment came.

But before long, both of them noticed that something strange was happening to Huo Linfei as he read.

The composed and unruffled expression he had worn began to shift rapidly.

And in the end, the effortlessly superior look he had carried throughout was replaced by something very unpleasant indeed.

The two men had no idea what was in the letter, though they understood it must be connected to whatever the Alliance Under Heaven had sent. Even so, they did not lower their guard. Whatever was happening within the Alliance Under Heaven had nothing to do with the Celestial River Blade Sect. What awaited them was still a fight to the death.

At the same time, Huo Linfei went through the letter once, then, as if unable to believe what he had read, went through it again, word by word, with an expression that had gone thoroughly dark.

At last, he clenched the letter tightly in his hand, and suddenly raised his head to look toward the distant figure of Shangguan Qingqing, far behind the Sect Leader and Bai Zihua.

She had been thrown out by the Sect Leader and caught in time by Qin Hao, but the two of them had not yet stopped moving. Clearly the Sect Leader had put serious force behind it, wanting her flung far enough that she could not simply run back.

At that moment, Huo Linfei’s mind was in turmoil, his thoughts churning like a storm.

”So the Great Li Eighth Prince is this terrifying. Not only did he destroy Falling God Peak, even godfather himself, just hearing the news, was driven into closed-door seclusion.”

Huo Linfei had of course heard the story of the true and false Seventh Prince that had been making waves throughout the martial world.

But he had only listened to it as a curiosity, never for a moment giving any real thought to the Eighth Prince that Emperor Yuanwu had newly recognized.

Originally the Seventh Prince, then inexplicably reduced to the Eighth Prince, a spineless nobody at the mercy of everyone around him. That Shangguan Qingqing had tried to threaten him with someone like that had, in his view, been so laughable it was almost too much.

But now, having read through the urgent letter from the Grand Alliance, Huo Linfei felt as though a lightning bolt had struck him.

Falling God Peak’s destruction had genuinely surprised him. But what shocked him far more was the letter’s very thorough account of the Great Li Eighth Prince.

It made clear that the man was not even twenty years old, and already possessed martial cultivation comparable to a Martial God. Even Yu Xiongbatian himself had acknowledged that the other party was a peerless and unmatched martial prodigy.

Before this, Huo Linfei had been the once-in-a-century martial prodigy of the Great Li martial world. Young as he was, he had already taken the Fifth Deputy Alliance Leader’s seat, and had not so much as looked at the Celestial River Blade Sect leader as an equal.

But compared to Li Musheng, his natural gifts did not measure up. His cultivation did not measure up. This was not a matter of being left behind by a few streets. There was simply no comparison to be made.

Huo Linfei’s gaze drifted toward the distant Shangguan Qingqing. He was a person of bottomless arrogance, but in this moment he seemed to have received a blow beyond what he could bear, and his eyes began to take on an unfocused look.

In the very thing he prided himself on most, to be crushed into the dirt like that, was worse than being killed.

At that point, the Golden Armor Gate leader standing beside him naturally noticed Huo Linfei’s unusual state, and immediately furrowed his brow and asked, ”Deputy Alliance Leader, has the Grand Alliance sent some important news?”

At those words, Huo Linfei’s body gave a slight shift, and he slowly drew himself back from his thoughts.

He glanced at the letter in his hand, his expression shifting rapidly for a moment. Then he drew a deep breath, suddenly turned to look at the Golden Armor Gate leader, and said, ”Pass the order immediately. All Alliance Under Heaven forces withdraw from the Celestial River Blade Sect. Return to Mountain-Sea City at once.”

At those words, the Golden Armor Gate leader froze, as though unsure he had heard correctly.

The situation was clearly in their favor. Once the Celestial River Blade Sect leader was taken down, breaking the Celestial River Blade Sect was within reach.

And yet Huo Linfei was saying they should withdraw. What in the world was going on?

”Deputy Alliance Leader, you...”

The Golden Armor Gate leader stared at Huo Linfei, about to ask, but was stopped by Huo Linfei raising a hand.

At that moment, Huo Linfei had already reined in his expression with considerable effort, and said impassively, ”Do not ask. Do as this Deputy Alliance Leader says, immediately.”

At those words, the Golden Armor Gate leader’s brow knitted tightly, and he was full of questions.

But he naturally could not disobey the Fifth Deputy Alliance Leader, whom Yu Xiongbatian held in such regard, and had no choice but to agree and withdraw at once.

Seeing the Golden Armor Gate leader leave, Huo Linfei slowly closed his eyes and then snapped them open again.

He let out a quiet breath, then looked toward Bai Zihua and the Celestial River Blade Sect leader, ”Your Celestial River Blade Sect has raised quite a disciple.”

With that, he let his gaze drift briefly to the distant Shangguan Qingqing.

Then he gave a heavy cold snort and gestured to the messenger to follow, then turned and headed down the mountain.

The Celestial River Blade Sect was certainly not weak, but taking them down was not necessary for the Alliance Under Heaven at this point.

And Huo Linfei understood clearly that after destroying Falling God Peak, the Great Li court would without question be moving against the remaining three great sects. Which one they would target, he could not say for certain.

But what he could say with certainty was that if he destroyed the Celestial River Blade Sect today, the next target for the Great Li court was likely going to be the Alliance Under Heaven.

After all, from what that female disciple of the Celestial River Blade Sect had just said, it was clear the sect had some kind of connection to the Great Li Tianjin Guards.

And more importantly, she seemed to have a rather significant relationship with the Great Li Eighth Prince himself.

Though Huo Linfei’s exceptional gifts had made him arrogant and dismissive of most people in the world, that did not mean he was reckless. On the contrary, he understood perfectly well the principle that the nail that sticks up gets hammered down, and had no desire to bring calamity down on the Alliance Under Heaven, on Yu Xiongbatian, or on himself.

With a whoosh, an object suddenly shot back through the air, flying toward Bai Zihua and the Celestial River Blade Sect leader.

Bai Zihua reached out and caught it, then looked down to find that it was the Tianjin Guards token Shangguan Qingqing had held out earlier.

”This... what is going on?”

Bai Zihua looked at the token in his hand, then looked up toward Huo Linfei and the others withdrawing in the distance, still not quite understanding what had just happened.

The Celestial River Blade Sect leader beside him wore an expression of uncertainty and disbelief. He had naturally heard every word of Huo Linfei’s exchange.

He was equally baffled. The Alliance Under Heaven had had the situation well in hand, and yet they had withdrawn this unexpectedly?

But in the next moment, the Sect Leader’s gaze suddenly shifted and fell on the token in Bai Zihua’s hand.

He had seen it clearly. The Fifth Deputy Alliance Leader Huo Linfei had only made the decision to withdraw with that dark expression on his face after reading the Alliance’s message.

But why would he have returned the Tianjin Guards token completely intact? And why had he said that strange thing before leaving?

”Could it be that Qingqing...”

The Sect Leader suddenly turned his head and exchanged a glance with Bai Zihua beside him.

Without question, both the Tianjin Guards token and the words Huo Linfei had spoken seemed connected to Shangguan Qingqing.

At that moment, Shangguan Qingqing and Qin Hao, who had finally stopped moving in the distance, still had no idea that the Alliance Under Heaven people had already withdrawn.

They did not pause even for a moment, and came sprinting back toward where Bai Zihua and the Sect Leader stood.

But before they had gone far, Bai Zihua and the Celestial River Blade Sect leader’s figures appeared before them in an instant, coming to meet them.

”Ah? Master, Sect Leader, did you escape from that silver-haired dog’s clutches?”

Shangguan Qingqing and Qin Hao stopped without warning, looking between the two of them with expressions of shocked uncertainty.

At those words, the Celestial River Blade Sect leader and Bai Zihua were both quiet for a moment and said nothing.

Bai Zihua kept his eyes on Shangguan Qingqing, studying her, and upon seeing her own genuinely confused expression, furrowed his brow and asked, ”You truly have no idea what happened?”

Shangguan Qingqing knitted her brows and exchanged a glance with Qin Hao, puzzled, ”Is there something I should know?”

Then, as though suddenly remembering the situation they were in, she said urgently, ”Master, I think we should go back to the sect immediately. Once the Sect Leader’s injuries are tended to, we can fight the Alliance Under Heaven to the last.”

But she found that the two of them showed no intention of moving.

The Celestial River Blade Sect leader looked at her, then shook his head slowly, ”The Alliance Under Heaven has withdrawn.”

At those words, both Shangguan Qingqing and Qin Hao froze, each for a moment thinking they had misheard.

At that, Bai Zihua’s expression turned thoughtful. He produced the Tianjin Guards token and handed it to Shangguan Qingqing, ”This was returned by Huo Linfei. Back to its rightful owner.”

The moment she saw the token, Shangguan Qingqing grabbed it, then examined it carefully. Seeing it was completely undamaged, she let out a breath of relief.

But very quickly she seemed to realize something.

”That Huo Linfei is so arrogant and domineering. Why would he voluntarily return the token?”

Shangguan Qingqing furrowed her brows, and then remembered what the Celestial River Blade Sect leader had said. She immediately looked toward the foot of the mountain, and saw that the Alliance Under Heaven’s people were genuinely already beginning to pull back.

”This...”

Shangguan Qingqing stood slightly dazed, both stunned and overjoyed at once, while Qin Hao beside her, upon seeing the same sight, was moved nearly to tears.

Moments ago they had been all but certain they were watching the Celestial River Blade Sect’s end. And now things had turned so suddenly that victory had come out of nowhere.

”Sect Leader, was all of this your doing?”

Qin Hao spun around, looking at the Celestial River Blade Sect leader with undisguised admiration.

The Sect Leader, however, flushed slightly and waved a hand, ”I have no such ability.”

Then he looked at Shangguan Qingqing with a meaningful expression, ”I think the reason for all of this is perhaps best answered by Qingqing.”

At that, Shangguan Qingqing had already formed a guess in her mind, though she was not yet entirely certain.

She looked down at the Tianjin Guards token in her hand for a long moment, and instinctively closed her fist around it. The corners of her eyes grew inexplicably damp, and she murmured quietly, ”I always knew, His Highness never goes back on his word.”

...

Shangguan Qingqing naturally understood that the Celestial River Blade Sect leader, seriously injured as he was, could not possibly be a match for both Huo Linfei and the Golden Armor Gate leader.

For the Alliance Under Heaven to have withdrawn now, there had to be another reason entirely. Though Shangguan Qingqing did not know the specifics, seeing Huo Linfei obediently return the Tianjin Guards token led her to an inexplicable certainty in her heart.

Li Musheng must have acted.

Only the person she admired as the world’s greatest could have made the Alliance Under Heaven back down so willingly.