Great Li Martial God

”Move against that Eighth Prince? Are you certain you are serious?”

Youshan’s brow furrowed deeply as he asked toward the empty air before him.

But that drifting voice came slowly again, ”His martial cultivation is indeed formidable. Even I would likely not be able to overcome him. But right now his enemies are not limited to us alone.”

At those words, Right Minister Ji Song’s clouded eyes narrowed slightly, ”What does your esteemed self mean...”

At that very moment, both Youshan and Ji Song felt their minds give a sudden tremor, as though a gaze of overwhelming pressure had fixed itself directly upon them.

Then the voice drifted to both of their ears, ”What I mean is, if you want to kill that Eighth Prince, you must spend this period of time using every means at your disposal to gather the martial world’s most powerful experts.”

”One person cannot kill him. But can ten, or a hundred experts acting together truly not kill him either?”

At those words, both Youshan and Ji Song went momentarily still, then exchanged a look of startled unease.

At that, the voice rose again, ”With the connections and methods of the former Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion Master and the Great Li Right Minister, it should not be difficult to bring together several martial world experts of genuine standing.”

”Furthermore, you may rest entirely at ease. When the time comes, I will not only act personally, but will also move the three great sects of the martial world to join in.””Beyond you, the three great sects are currently the ones who most want that Eighth Prince to disappear.”

As he said this, the person’s voice paused for a moment, then said without any trace of feeling, ”With everyone’s strength concentrated at a single point, I do not believe that Eighth Prince can still keep his life.”

At those words, a killing intent flooded the entire study. Youshan shielded Ji Song with his true qi, and both of their eyes flashed with a look of startled unease.

In that moment, they could clearly sense that the person speaking seemed to harbor a hatred for that Eighth Prince that was impossible to fathom.

Ji Song’s expression went through a rapid series of changes, and then without hesitation he said, ”Very well. Since you have this plan, this old one will naturally not shrink back. I will give everything I have to help.”

At those words, Youshan furrowed his brow and was about to speak, but Ji Song cut him off, ”This may be the only chance this old one ever has to take revenge. There is nothing wrong with a gamble.”

At that, the killing intent in the study slowly faded, and the voice came again, ”Master Ji is right. We are all gambling. After all, the time left to us is already short.”

”And so he must be killed before he achieves the Martial God realm.”

...

News of Li Musheng leaving the capital spread through it at remarkable speed, stirring the city into a roiling uproar.

And three days later, the Great Li imperial palace announced that Emperor Yuanwu had emerged from seclusion, and simultaneously issued an imperial edict to be proclaimed throughout the land.

The very first decree Emperor Yuanwu issued upon emerging from seclusion was directed at the alliance of the three great martial sects, and was named the ”Martial World Amnesty Decree.”

The Primal Yin Origin Sect and the other two great sects had established the Martial World League, offering many generous conditions in an effort to draw all the sects of the Great Li martial world under their banner and oppose the Great Li court.

The Great Li court responded in kind, using an amnesty decree to promise that all assets of Falling God Peak would be distributed to the martial world at large, in exchange for the allegiance of every sect and faction.

Beyond this, the Great Li court simultaneously issued a public proclamation of charges enumerating over five hundred offenses committed by Falling God Peak, one of the four great martial sects, ranging from large to small.

These included the willful slaughter and forced annexation of smaller martial world sects, the intimidation and oppression of various martial factions, and the massacre of ordinary civilians, among countless other crimes.

As for the many transgressions of Falling God Peak’s disciples, ranging from arson and plunder to assault and domination of common people, these were all recorded in painstaking detail and spread throughout all nineteen provinces of Great Li.

The intent was to declare to the world that the Great Li court’s destruction of Falling God Peak had been the act of a righteous force, that Falling God Peak was guilty beyond any defense, and that its elimination had been entirely deserved.

At the same time the Great Li court also made a promise to the martial world: any sect that pledged its allegiance to the Great Li court would be forgiven for past actions, and would further receive martial arts manuals, gold, silver, and pills plundered from Falling God Peak.

As for the Primal Yin Origin Sect, the Great Yan Sword Sect, and the Alliance Under Heaven, the three great sects of the martial world, the Great Li court had only two things to say in response: fight if they wished, and the court would see them to the end; or talk if they wished, and the door was wide open.

...

The Great Li court’s combination of force and persuasion spread to the factions across every province through one urgent letter after another, and before long had reached the ears of every martial world power.

The surrounding four nations also learned of the matter through their spies embedded in Great Li.

But the four nations were obviously in no hurry to act, choosing instead to watch and wait, as though wanting to first see the three great sects’ reaction before deciding how to make their move against Great Li.

After all, many eyes were already fixed on the prize that Great Li represented. How to maximize their share of it was what the four nations should be thinking about right now.

...

At the same time, Li Musheng’s group had long since left the capital’s province behind and were heading toward the border between Great Li and Great Xuan.

As the news traveled along the road, Emperor Yuanwu’s decrees spread to the people of every province, and a few snippets eventually reached the ears of Li Musheng’s party as well.

”Great Li’s measures to deal with the Three-Sect Alliance are clearly something that was prepared well in advance. But what puzzles me is why it was only announced after Your Highness left Shangyang City.”

Shen Anran glanced at the paper in her hand, its surface covered in densely packed characters listing the many charges against Falling God Peak.

Such papers were posted on almost every street of the city they were currently passing through. Clearly, this was not something that could have been accomplished overnight.

Moreover, they could gather from those around them that after the notices appeared, a great many ordinary people and even some martial world figures in the city had begun cursing Falling God Peak relentlessly, denouncing crimes that were an affront to every person’s sense of justice.

Among those people, quite a few agents of the Great Li court were planted, working behind the scenes to stoke and guide popular outrage.

”In truth, the Great Li court has been preparing for this day for many years. That emperor’s determination to destroy the four great sects runs extraordinarily deep.”

Cang Yinyue lifted the carriage curtain and looked outside, where the official town criers were making their way through the streets, calling out the court’s new decrees at the tops of their voices.

At those words, Shen Anran’s eyes shifted, and she looked toward Li Musheng, ”So the Great Li court’s supposed peace negotiations with the Three-Sect Alliance are also nothing but a delaying tactic?”

Li Musheng had caught only the edge of the news circulating in the city, though looking at the situation as it stood, Emperor Yuanwu’s response was not without merit.

At least in the short term, under the impression the Great Li court was making with these moves, the Three-Sect Alliance and the court would likely remain in a standoff.

As for the surrounding four nations, that was harder to say. Though every one of them was the sort that would not lift a finger without a profit in sight, they were still bound to be working behind the scenes to stoke the flames and accelerate the unrest within Great Li.

But these matters held no interest for Li Musheng, and were not things he needed to concern himself with.

His destination right now was the Great Xuan imperial palace, after which he planned to wander the martial world at his leisure.

”Whether it is a delaying tactic or a genuine offer, it has no bearing on us getting where we are going.”

Li Musheng waved a hand. As for Emperor Yuanwu, he naturally knew the man had already come out of seclusion long since.

As for why the formal announcement had come only after he left the capital, and whether it was to avoid dealing with him, Li Musheng could not be bothered to think about it, and did not particularly care. He had no particular desire to go and meet the old man anyway.

At that, Li Musheng shifted his tone and asked Cao Gaoshan driving outside the carriage, ”How long until we reach Great Xuan?”

At those words, Cao Gaoshan immediately turned his head and said, ”Your Highness, at our current pace, we should reach the border between Great Li and Great Xuan in a month at the most, or as few as twenty days. Then it would be another half month or so to reach the Great Xuan capital.”

Li Musheng gave a nod and casually stroked the big black cat beside him.

Ordinarily, if he were only heading to White Emperor City, there would be no need to rush, and he could have taken more time to take in the local customs and scenery along the way.

But there was no helping it. He had made a promise to the blue-robed Daoist and needed to get there in time to rescue someone, so he could not afford to linger too much on the road.

If he arrived at the Great Xuan capital only to find the person already dead, he would feel somewhat bad about taking the Tianqi Secret Treasury key, however slightly.

And so throughout this journey, apart from rest stops, he had kept almost constantly on the move.

The saving grace was that he had two pleasant young women and a cat for company, and chatting with the women and playing with the cat kept the road from becoming too tedious.

The only one who might have found it tedious was probably Cao Gaoshan, an old man on his own, who could only stand to the side and watch others enjoy themselves.

Though perhaps not entirely, since Li Musheng teaching him even a single move of swordsmanship was enough to keep him happy for days.

Evidently, swordsmanship interested him far more than anything as dull and trivial as matters of the heart.

...

And so half a month passed.

Li Musheng’s group finally arrived by carriage at the border between Great Li and Great Xuan, a large city called Gaoyuan.

Gaoyuan connected the territories of both nations. The city was divided into eastern and western districts, with Great Li’s military stationed in the east and Great Xuan’s garrison in the west.

For many years the two nations’ forces had left each other largely undisturbed, and peace had generally prevailed.

But following the recent standoff between the Great Li court and the Three-Sect Alliance, which had stirred up internal unrest, Gaoyuan City had broken from years of tranquility.

After Great Xuan covertly moved additional troops into the city, Great Li had urgently deployed reinforcements of its own into the eastern district, and for the time being both sides were fully on guard, the tension between them almost at the point of open conflict.

The atmosphere within Gaoyuan City itself was therefore extremely strained. Merchants and travelers had greatly reduced in number, the shops lining the streets were mostly shuttered, and the alleys and lanes had a quiet and desolate look entirely unlike the bustling prosperity one would expect from a major transit city.

Although Li Musheng’s group had no travel documents, they carried the Tianjin Guards’ token, which got them through the gates into Gaoyuan City quickly, and before long they settled into a tavern to rest and eat.

”Have you heard? Word is that the Great Li court and the Three-Sect Alliance have conducted three rounds of peace negotiations over these past days, and now it seems the talks have finally broken down.”

Li Musheng’s group of four plus one cat had barely stepped inside the tavern when they caught the quiet murmur of conversation among the handful of scattered patrons in the main hall.

Li Musheng’s group found a table in the main hall and sat down, listening to the gossip drifting from the other tables.

”Is that so? I heard that quite a few martial sects have recently gone ahead and pledged their loyalty to the Great Li court, coming over to the court’s side of their own accord. Would those three great sects really be willing to commit to an all-out war with the Great Li court?”

Someone expressed skepticism.

The entire Great Li martial world was something of a mixed pot, containing every kind of person imaginable.

Good and bad, those who despised the court and those who had suffered under the oppression of the four great sects like Falling God Peak, those with weak resolve who went whichever way the wind blew and those who were true-hearted stalwarts of indomitable spirit.

Ever since the Great Li martial world publicized Falling God Peak’s shocking list of crimes, and the court made every effort to broadcast its policies throughout the land, the Great Li court’s image as nothing more than a tyrannical authority had undergone a significant improvement in the eyes of certain sects and ordinary people.

A number of martial world sects had chosen to side with the Great Li court. The Celestial River Blade Sect, the Soaring Vulture Sect, and others had been among the first to formally pledge allegiance to the court, and had also issued calls to resist the three great sects’ harmful domination of the entire martial world.

However, a greater number of sects had chosen to keep their heads down and watch from a distance. After all, the news of the Tianjin Guards destroying Falling God Peak in a single night still echoed in everyone’s ears, and the deterrence of Li Musheng, Great Li’s Eighth Prince, had not faded.

No one could say for certain whether the Three-Sect Alliance or the Great Li court would come out ahead. Choosing a side at this point was clearly not a wise move.

And so during this period, while the three great sects and the Great Li court had been in direct opposition, they were still negotiating, and had not yet come to actual blows.

At that moment, the person in the tavern who had spoken earlier, hearing someone push back on his view, lowered his voice and said, ”The latest news I have is that the Primal Yin Origin Sect has formally decided not to negotiate with the Great Li court and will fight it to the end. As for the Alliance Under Heaven, they were hesitating before, but are now beginning to lean toward the Primal Yin Origin Sect’s position.”

”The only one still wavering is the Great Yan Sword Sect, which seems reluctant to go to war with the Great Li court.”

At those words, the nearby patrons all turned to look, clearly not having heard this news yet, and someone immediately voiced their puzzlement, asking, ”Where does the Primal Yin Origin Sect get the confidence to fight the Great Li court to the death? Are they not afraid the Tianjin Guards will come and destroy their sect outright?”

At those words, several faces showed unusual expressions.

The person who had delivered the news shook his head, ”I expect all of you have also heard that the Eighth Prince left the Great Li capital some time ago and his whereabouts are unknown. And in this period, there has been absolutely no sign of him moving against the Three-Sect Alliance.”

”There is even a rumor in the martial world that he and Emperor Yuanwu have had a falling out, and that he left the capital in a fit of anger, washing his hands of all of the Great Li court’s affairs.”

”With the Eighth Prince’s threat out of the picture, the three great sects changing their stance is perfectly understandable.”

As he said this, the man glanced around in all directions, ”And furthermore, I have heard through the grapevine that Great Li’s sworn enemy Great Zhou has been preparing to make a move. It is even said that one reason the Primal Yin Origin Sect has taken such an uncompromising stance is that Great Zhou has been pushing them from the shadows.”

At those words, the people around him all fell silent, and their expressions showed both alarm and anxiety.

After all, once war broke out, no nest beneath an overturned sky goes unbroken, and the quiet days these people had been living were as good as over.