Great Li Martial God

”We need to get outside the city, hurry up,” Song Xingwei called to the coachman waiting at the gate as she stepped out of the building, then darted into the carriage.

The coachman gave a word of acknowledgment, cracked the whip, and immediately drove the carriage forward at speed. Before long they had turned onto a wide and bustling main street.

But just at that moment, a sudden gust of wind swept through.

Song Xingwei, sitting inside the carriage, immediately shifted her gaze, and found that across from her, sitting in the carriage at some unknown point, was a large, broad-built middle-aged man.

”Pavilion Master Zhu, I thought you said once you had seen the sea all other waters were pale, and you were not going outside the city?”

”Changed your mind?”

Song Xingwei furrowed her elegant brows, looking at the suddenly-arrived Zhu Wuming with a puzzled expression.

Zhu Wuming’s expression went through several shifts, but he naturally could not bring himself to admit he had knelt before a clump of cat fur.

If that ever got out, how would a Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion Master of his standing ever look anyone in the face again? How could he hold his head up in front of his subordinates?

”Well... I suddenly realized the matter at hand was not so pressing after all, so I thought I would keep Miss Xingwei company on the trip. After all, this kind of high-level clash really is not something you see often.”Zhu Wuming gave a light cough as he replied, and a look of suspicion flickered across Song Xingwei’s face, ”Are you sure? I want to be clear, I did not pressure you into coming with me.”

At those words, Zhu Wuming gave a nod, suppressing the lingering aftereffects of facing Li Musheng’s martial will, and then looked at Song Xingwei, saying, ”Miss Xingwei, I heard you mention earlier that the Great Li Eighth Prince is the sworn elder brother of a good friend of yours?”

He asked this with apparent curiosity, and Song Xingwei waved a hand and said, ”Of course. My bond with my friend is stronger than gold, and she has told me basically everything about her elder brother.”

Then Song Xingwei immediately went on her guard, watching Zhu Wuming with a wary look, ”Why are you suddenly asking this? Do you have some ulterior motive?”

Zhu Wuming shook his head repeatedly, saying, ”Miss Xingwei misunderstands. I only thought that since you already have this connection with the Eighth Prince, perhaps you could serve as an intermediary and help turn hostility into goodwill between the Great Li Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion and him.”

At those words, Song Xingwei’s expression relaxed, though she said dismissively, ”If that is what this is about, do not worry. My friend has said that her elder brother never took that small matter to heart.”

”It seems he is entirely focused on tracking down certain rare and unusual things. If the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion helps him with that, the whole affair should be considered settled.”

Hearing this, Zhu Wuming felt some of the tension leave him inwardly.

This confirmed that his earlier thinking had not been wrong. Even so, this was not actually what was occupying his mind most at the moment.

His greatest question right now was just what level of martial cultivation the Great Li Eighth Prince had actually reached.

Judging by his strength in single-handedly turning the tide for the Tianjin Guards and personally destroying Falling God Peak, the man had without question placed himself among the very top tier of the martial world.

There had even been rumors in the martial world that his cultivation was comparable to a Martial God’s.

Though Zhu Wuming was not certain whether there was truly any gap between Li Musheng and a Martial God, based on his direct experience of the man’s martial will just now, he could confirm that the Great Li Eighth Prince’s cultivation had without question reached a level of extraordinary and terrifying depth, far beyond anything he had previously imagined.

And that was precisely why, regardless of the matters piling up on his desk, he had chosen to come out and see the man act with his own eyes.

Because this might well be a clash no less staggering than the Martial God’s strike he had once witnessed.

...

About three li outside Shangyang City stood a hundred-zhang cliff face known as the Setting Sun Wall.

It was said that the cliff face was smooth as a mirror and faced directly west, reflecting the evening clouds and the setting sun on its surface like a lake, and it was from this that the Setting Sun Wall took its name.

In ordinary times, quite a few scholars and wandering martial world travelers would come to admire the scenery, but today the crowd was far larger than usual.

Every martial world figure who had heard about the clash between the Hidden Kill Pavilion and the Great Li Eighth Prince was pressing toward this location without exception.

The noble houses and wealthy families of the city had also sent out carriage after carriage, each one stopping near the Setting Sun Wall, their purpose obvious without being stated.

”What a crowd!” Inside the Huo family’s carriage, Huo Xiaoyi and Huo Xiaoqing pressed their faces to the window and looked out, both of them buzzing with excitement.

Beside them, Huo Mu’s gaze swept continuously over the crowds and the top of the Setting Sun Wall, as though searching for a particular figure she was very eager to find.

”All of you behave yourselves today. No running off. Otherwise I will have you sent straight back to the residence this moment.”

Huo Qifeng, who had been sitting with his eyes closed, opened them and delivered a warning to his grandchildren.

At those words, Huo Xiaoyi and Huo Xiaoqing immediately reined in their excitement and sat up straight without another word.

”That is better.”

Huo Qifeng gave a nod, then said toward Huo Shan, who was driving the carriage outside, ”Keep your eyes open. Watch out for the Dugu family.”

Huo Shan immediately nodded and steered the carriage to a stop a little further from the Setting Sun Wall.

”Someone is already here.”

But at that moment, a child’s voice suddenly rang in Huo Shan’s ear.

Huo Shan immediately looked toward the sound, and saw a small Daoist novice in an indigo robe standing beneath the legs of a tall horse, his small figure tilted upward looking at Huo Shan where he sat in the coachman’s seat.

Huo Shan’s expression went briefly blank, and then he looked around in all directions, frowning, ”There is no one here...”

But his words broke off before he could finish.

Because at some unknown point, as though they had simply materialized from thin air, a Daoist priest and a monk had appeared less than three chi in front of the carriage.

Between them stood a green stone chessboard, and the two appeared to be in the middle of a game.

Seeing this, Huo Shan’s expression shifted.

He was not a reckless man. These two figures, one a Daoist and one a monk, had appeared so strangely, without him sensing them in the slightest. He understood at once that neither of them could be taken lightly, and without saying anything further, he steered the carriage to one side and pulled it up nearby.

”Third Uncle.”

Huo Shan called into the carriage, and Huo Qifeng lifted the curtain. Seeing Huo Shan’s eyes directing his attention, he looked toward the Daoist and the monk not far away.

The Daoist had a jade hairpin through his hair topknot, wore a plain green robe, and had a small goatee. He sat cross-legged on the ground with his fingers pinching his beard, eyes fixed on the black and white contest of the chessboard before him in thoughtful silence, clearly absorbed in working out the position.

Across from the Daoist sat a bald monk in a yellow robe squatting on the ground, his robe covered in dust, a string of black prayer beads the size of a child’s fist hanging around his neck.

”Fellow Daoist, do not trouble yourself further with this move. You have been thinking about it for half a day already. When will it be this poor monk’s turn to play?”

The bald monk, broad-browed with large eyes and a look of suffering on his face, glanced at the chessboard from time to time, then back at the Daoist across from him, looking somewhat anxious and rather impatient.

”Do not talk, do not talk. I am almost there, nearly done.”

The blue-robed Daoist waved a hand, picked up one of the stones beside the board as though about to place it, but then stopped abruptly partway through. Clearly he had still not reached a conclusion.

At that, the small Daoist novice from before quickly reached into his robes and produced a small teapot, handing it to the thinking blue-robed Daoist, saying, ”Master, have another sip of Enlightenment Tea. You will beat this bald donkey in no time.”

At those words, the blue-robed Daoist waved a hand casually and the teapot flew from the novice’s hands and arrived at his lips.

He took several deep, enthusiastic sips, and his whole body gave a brisk shudder. He looked at the chessboard once more, but did not place a stone. Instead he looked at the monk across from him and said, ”We have already arrived at the Great Li imperial capital. Your reason for passing through this time must be to pay your respects to that Second Prince, though as far as I know, he is already dead.”

At those words, the bald monk intoned a Buddhist name and gave a slow nod, ”Fellow Daoist is not wrong. This poor monk is naturally aware that the lay disciple Li Que has already departed for the Pure Land.”

”But the lay disciple Li Que treated this poor monk with respect and courtesy. This poor monk is passing through this place on the way back to his temple, and it is only right to offer some memorial prayers.”

The blue-robed Daoist narrowed his eyes slightly, his hand still hovering over the stones undecided, and said, ”Is that truly all? I had thought you might have come back to avenge that prince, or to reclaim the key you gave him.”

But the bald monk shook his head and said, ”All things arise and perish, all is the cycle of cause and effect. The lay disciple Li Que was fated to encounter this calamity. It is not something this poor monk can or should interfere with by disturbing the flow of cause and effect.”

”As for that key, this poor monk is considering the same thing as you, Fellow Daoist, and deciding whether to return it to its rightful owner.”

As he said this, the bald monk glanced in the direction of the Setting Sun Wall, saw nothing happening there yet, and began to press his opponent again, ”If Fellow Daoist does not dare play, why not simply concede defeat to this poor monk?”

At those words, the small Daoist novice beside them immediately went pale, and cried out urgently, ”I am not becoming a monk!”

Then he grabbed the blue-robed Daoist’s sleeve and said, ”Master, you must hold firm. You cannot really lose me to this bald donkey!”

At those words, the blue-robed Daoist patted the novice’s hand and said with a look of complete confidence, ”Do not worry, disciple. Your master’s chess skill is without peer. Dealing with this old monk is no trouble at all.”

Across from them, the bald monk pressed his palms together and fixed the Daoist novice with a look of kindly warmth, saying in a gentle voice, ”Little Daoist friend, you share a destiny with the Buddha. You are meant to enter the Buddhist gate and study the supreme secret teachings. In the future, you could well attain the fruit of the Golden Arhat Bodhisattva.”

The small Daoist novice felt a shiver run through his small frame under the monk’s gaze, and immediately scrambled behind the blue-robed Daoist to hide.

At that, the blue-robed Daoist turned the stone over and over in his hand, still hesitating, and seeing the bald monk across from him about to press him again, waved a hand, ”There is no rush. I will definitely play my stone before this contest is settled.”

At those words, the bald monk intoned a Buddhist name and could only squat on the ground shaking his head helplessly.

At the same time, not far away, Huo Shan and Huo Qifeng exchanged a glance and communicated through true qi sent along a fine thread, ”Third Uncle, do you know who these two are?”

Huo Qifeng’s gaze moved back and forth between the Daoist and the monk, then he furrowed his brow and said, ”If I am not mistaken, that monk appears to be from Hanguang Temple, Great Chu’s foremost Buddhist sect. Judging by his appearance, he should be that wandering monk from Hanguang Temple who is extremely well known throughout the martial world, the monk Shenshu.”

”As for that Daoist, I seem to have some faint memory of him, but I cannot quite recall his name at the moment.”

Huo Shan glanced at the two of them and asked, ”What is their level of strength in the martial world? I cannot read them at all.”

At those words, Huo Qifeng gave a quiet laugh, ”How would you be able to read them? Even I cannot read them.”

As he said this, Huo Qifeng looked toward the bald monk and said, ”Take Shenshu, for instance. It is said that when he was at Hanguang Temple in his earlier years, he was the monk considered most likely to take the position of abbot, not only in terms of his extraordinary martial cultivation but also his profound mastery of Buddhist teachings. It was only later that a woman caused his reputation to be thoroughly ruined.”

”But even so, Hanguang Temple never expelled him. They simply let him wander freely both within and outside the temple, which is an exception made for no one else in the entire temple. That alone tells you how staggering his cultivation must be, for Great Chu’s foremost national temple to make such an exception for him.”

Huo Shan was visibly struck, and his respect for both the bald monk and the Daoist across from him grew considerably.

But before long, his brow creased again.

He had of course heard what Shenshu and the blue-robed Daoist were saying just now, as they had made no effort to conceal it, and so he turned to Huo Qifeng and asked, ”Hanguang Temple’s monk Shenshu seems to have been on good terms with the Second Prince Li Que. Is there any chance he might move against His Highness? Should we go and warn him?”

At those words, Huo Qifeng thought for a brief moment, then shook his head and said, ”Do not worry. His Highness is far more formidable than you can imagine, and besides, this is the Great Li imperial capital. Shenshu should not be inclined to cause any reckless trouble here.”

”Of course, we happen to be right here watching in any case. If anything unusual occurs, we can act as the situation demands.”

With that, Huo Qifeng shifted his gaze back to the Daoist and monk, who were still playing their game not far away.

...

At the same time, a carriage mixed among the surging stream of vehicles driving out from the city finally came to a stop on a hillside near the Setting Sun Wall.

”We seem to have come too late. It is completely blocked ahead and the carriage cannot get through.”

Li Yuanling, in her disguise, looked forward, and there was nothing but the neighing of horses and the clamor of people as far as the eye could see.

”Adopted sister, you have to admit, you are being remarkably modest here, going to all this trouble to disguise yourself for an outing.”

Li Musheng glanced at Li Yuanling. On the way out, she had said that he was the most watched person in the entire city, with informants and observers everywhere, and it would be best for them to travel in disguise.

But now that he was actually out here, the entire population of the imperial capital seemed to have squeezed itself into this one spot. It was obvious the news of his clash with the Hidden Kill Pavilion had already caused an enormous stir.

Who could keep a low profile in a crowd like this?

”All right, you all stay here for a moment. I will be right back.”

Li Musheng waved a hand. A matter he could resolve in a matter of moments did not call for all this fuss.

At that, the big black cat inside the carriage, seeing Li Musheng about to leave, immediately let out a loud meow and demanded to be brought along to enjoy the occasion.

As the cat saw it, if Li Musheng brought it along and let it make an appearance in a scene of such magnitude, it would be famous throughout the martial world.

The people of the Divine Nature Sect would surely hear of its great name as well, and would regard it with awe and reverence, making it even more glorious than their sect leader above.