Great Li Martial God

Seeing Zhao Muning cooperate readily and point the way, Li Musheng gave a slight nod, said nothing further, grabbed hold of her, and disappeared swiftly into the darkness.

And during the time Li Musheng had spent wandering to the wrong location, the Hidden Intelligence Bureau Director, who had left later than Li Musheng, had already arrived near the Great Xuan imperial palace ahead of him.

Ever since the Theft Saint Bai Wuying had forced his way into the Great Xuan imperial palace years ago and walked away with a consort without a scratch on him, the Great Xuan emperor had been furious.

In the years that followed, the Great Xuan imperial house had spared no effort in constructing defensive fortifications around the palace and recruiting and cultivating martial world experts to guard it.

One could genuinely say, without exaggeration, that the Great Xuan imperial palace was the most formidably defended of all five nations’ palaces.

At that moment, the Hidden Intelligence Bureau Director stood concealed in the shadows of an alley. Looking up, he could see the grand and imposing Great Xuan imperial palace rising in the distance several li away.

The palace had three rings of imperial guard formations outside it, two protective rivers running around it, and watchtowers and lookout posts set at regular intervals, all arranged according to the strictest possible military defensive standards.

Even an expert at the level of a Martial Dao Grand Master would find it nearly impossible to pass through the dense defensive layers outside the Great Xuan imperial palace.

Even so, it was not quite enough to stop the Director of the Great Li Hidden Intelligence Bureau.

He produced a map from within his robes, studied it briefly by the pale moonlight, then swept his gaze over the Great Xuan imperial palace sprawled before him like some enormous crouching beast.The palace was still and silent at this hour, showing no signs of anything unusual, as though nothing had happened.

”It seems the Eighth Prince has already successfully slipped inside.”

The Hidden Intelligence Bureau Director gave a quiet nod, then shook his head slightly, ”Of course. With his level of cultivation, those guards could not have stopped him.”

The reason he and the blue-robed Daoist had asked Li Musheng to take on this rescue was precisely because of his formidable martial cultivation, which had proven to exceed even the Hidden Kill Pavilion’s Kill-Saint.

Now seeing that the man had already completed the first step, entered the Great Xuan imperial palace, and that some time had passed without any signs of the palace raising an alarm, it was sufficient confirmation of Li Musheng’s power. The Hidden Intelligence Bureau Director allowed himself a quiet breath of relief.

”Now let me see what depths this Great Xuan imperial palace truly has.”

The Hidden Intelligence Bureau Director’s eyes were expressionless, and in the next instant his figure vanished from where he stood, moving directly toward the row after row of patrolling Great Xuan imperial guards ahead.

The Director’s figure was enveloped in the true qi of heaven and earth, employing a stealth method that merged him into the night air, moving without a sound, not a breath disturbing anything around him. He passed directly in front of the guards without any of them noticing.

Moving like this, he passed through layer after layer of tightly guarded imperial formations without obstruction, reaching the walls of the Great Xuan imperial palace as though walking through an empty field.

Then, without looking back, the Hidden Intelligence Bureau Director raised his eyes to look at the towering vermilion palace walls before him, and leapt silently inside.

...

And not long after the Hidden Intelligence Bureau Director slipped into the Great Xuan imperial palace, Li Musheng finally arrived, bringing the Great Xuan Seventh Princess Zhao Muning with him.

”This is the right one this time.”

Li Musheng stood at the top of a large tree and looked at the Great Xuan imperial palace not far away, then gave Zhao Muning in his hand a slight nod, clearly acknowledging her cooperation with some appreciation.

The corner of Zhao Muning’s eye gave a twitch, and then her gaze shifted, ”The Great Xuan imperial palace is guarded with extreme strictness right now. It is filled with powerful experts and mechanism traps throughout. Even the Theft Saint Bai Wuying would find no way out if he entered today.”

As she said this, she looked at Li Musheng carefully, ”I do not know why you need to enter the Great Xuan imperial palace, but I would advise you to retreat now while you still can.”

”Your lightness technique is genuinely impressive, but it is still not enough on its own to force your way through this Great Xuan imperial palace.”

At those words, Li Musheng waved a hand, ”This is something I promised someone. I have to get a person out of here, and so there is no avoiding going in.”

”Even so, you do not need to worry. However I brought you into this palace, I will bring you out the same way. I guarantee you will emerge unharmed.”

With that, Li Musheng did not wait for Zhao Muning to say another word, and simply took hold of her and shifted his figure. In barely the blink of an eye, he had cleared the multiple layers of imperial guards surrounding the palace and landed on top of the palace walls.

”You mentioned you have been to this Great Xuan imperial palace before. Would you happen to know where they typically keep people imprisoned in secret here?”

At that, Li Musheng turned to look at Zhao Muning beside him.

The Great Xuan imperial palace spread out before them was enormously vast, with halls and residences stretching row upon row, their extent barely visible in the moonlight.

Sending him wandering like a headless fly to find the blue-robed Daoist’s Elder Sister would be an extraordinary waste of time.

If Zhao Muning knew the imperial palace well, that was obviously the ideal situation, saving him from having to grab another palace resident and ask for directions.

At those words, Zhao Muning looked back at the Great Xuan imperial guards behind them, who seemed to have noticed nothing at all.

Then she withdrew her gaze, lowered her eyes, and thought for a moment before speaking, ”I have been to this Great Xuan imperial palace a few times. From what you said just now, it sounds as though you have come to rescue someone.”

”Anyone being held inside the imperial palace must be of extraordinary importance, and in that case, there will very likely be almost no one in this entire palace who knows where the person is being kept.”

At those words, Li Musheng raised an eyebrow.

He naturally recognized that Zhao Muning had a point. The Great Xuan imperial palace had captured the blue-robed Daoist’s Elder Sister for the Longevity Scripture, and the matter would without question be handled with extreme secrecy.

Simply grabbing someone in the palace at random and expecting them to lead him to the blue-robed Daoist’s Elder Sister was clearly not going to work.

With this realization, Li Musheng thought for a moment, then let out a quiet sigh and shook his head, ”In that case, even if I wanted to keep a low profile, there is no way to manage it.”

At those words, a puzzled look crossed Zhao Muning’s face, and she did not quite understand what Li Musheng meant.

But before she could think on it further, she heard Li Musheng suddenly ask, ”Miss, do you know where the Great Xuan emperor lives?”

...

At those words, Zhao Muning went abruptly blank.

But almost immediately she came back to herself, and turned her head stiffly, staring at Li Musheng with wide, startled eyes, ”You... what do you want with His Majesty the Emperor?”

”You cannot be planning to...”

Before Zhao Muning could finish, Li Musheng gave a direct nod, ”That is right. You are quite sharp. Since you say very few people know about this matter, I cannot be bothered finding someone else to ask. Might as well go straight to the source and find the Great Xuan emperor directly.”

The Azure Cloud Temple affair was obviously connected to the Great Xuan emperor in some way.

Li Musheng had originally only wanted to get the person out without causing any further trouble, and had not intended to make things difficult for the Great Xuan emperor.

But having listened to what Zhao Muning, the Great Xuan Seventh Princess, had just said, he found the matter was not as simple as he had assumed.

In that case, it could only be said that the Great Xuan emperor was unlucky.