Great Li Martial God

Zhao Muning’s eyes shifted through a series of expressions, but she asked nothing further, and simply pointed toward a direction deep within the Great Xuan imperial palace.

That was where the Mystic Mechanism Palace stood.

Seeing this, Li Musheng gave a slight nod, took hold of Zhao Muning, and in the next instant vanished from the top of the high wall.

Before long, the two of them landed without a sound on a glazed tile roof of one of the palace halls.

Ahead of them, a nine-story tower rose from the center of a lake surrounded by dense stands of trees.

”Hmm. Looks like someone is fighting over there.”

Li Musheng looked up and raised an eyebrow, sensing the disturbance in the surrounding true qi of heaven and earth immediately.

At the same time, the Hidden Intelligence Bureau Director was in the middle of being surrounded by two experts from the Great Xuan imperial palace.

After slipping into the palace, he had seen no sign that Li Musheng had set off any alarms, and his regard for the Great Xuan imperial palace’s defenses had grown somewhat lax.

He had begun to think the palace’s reputation was overstated, and that this supposedly most formidably defended imperial palace in the world was perhaps not as difficult to navigate as he had imagined.But right when he was thinking himself undetected and moving through the palace grounds, a white-haired old eunuch had suddenly appeared and intercepted him.

What followed naturally needed no further words, and the two of them had come to blows.

The Hidden Intelligence Bureau Director’s martial cultivation was somewhat above the old eunuch’s, but the man had called for a second helper.

And so for the time being the Director could not overcome the two of them. After dozens of exchanges, the two had deliberately guided him toward the vicinity of the Mystic Mechanism Palace.

The Director had naturally sensed their intent, but he had not retreated. Instead he had let himself be led here.

”I have long heard of the Mystic Mechanism Palace. Might as well see it today.”

The Hidden Intelligence Bureau Director’s face was wrapped in tendrils of martial true qi that obscured his features, then he suddenly launched two palms in quick succession, driving both opponents back several zhang.

At those words, the two Great Xuan imperial palace eunuchs steadied themselves in mid-air, their stooped forms looking at the Director.

”If you intend to enter the Mystic Mechanism Palace, we two old ones will not interfere further.”

One of the eunuchs spoke, his wizened face glancing at the Director for a moment before turning toward the tower.

At the same time, the nine-story tower standing in the darkness was slowly opening the door to its first level.

A pale yellow light spilled out from within, casting a dim amber glow across the stone steps leading up to it.

It was plainly obvious that the Mystic Mechanism Palace had opened its gates and was waiting for the Director to enter.

Seeing this, the Director stood suspended in mid-air, his gaze fixed on the Mystic Mechanism Palace before him, saying nothing, as though weighing whether to go inside.

Then in the next instant, one of the eunuchs suddenly changed expression and launched a punch without warning. An icy aura swept instantaneously around the Director where he hung in mid-air.

The Director’s figure dissolved like a burst bubble and vanished completely, while his true body was already nowhere to be found.

”Careful, that was a phantom body.”

The eunuch who had punched spoke, and the other immediately looked in one direction, vanishing from the spot as he shot off in pursuit, ”He has been marked with Soul-Tracking Incense. As long as he is still in the palace, he cannot escape.”

The other eunuch also moved and gave chase in the direction the Director had gone.

From the Director’s perspective, a wise man does not stand in a place of danger, and the two eunuchs’ complete lack of concern had made it very clear that the Mystic Mechanism Palace was no place to walk into lightly.

He had spoken of wanting to see it for himself, but without absolute confidence in the outcome, he would never simply walk into a place like that like some reckless fool.

”The Great Xuan imperial palace genuinely cannot be underestimated.”

The Director moved swiftly through the palace grounds. His stealth and concealment arts were of the highest quality, and yet the two eunuchs could still detect him.

This made it clear the Great Xuan imperial palace had some special means of detection specifically targeting top martial world experts like himself.

The two eunuchs who had come after him were also martial world experts of comparable strength to his own, and had been deliberately guiding him toward the Mystic Mechanism Palace throughout.

This behavior confirmed in the Director’s mind the suspicions he had already harbored about what the Mystic Mechanism Palace truly was.

It was quite possible the Great Xuan imperial palace was indeed deliberately luring powerful martial world experts in and then imprisoning them.

And the fact that the Great Xuan imperial palace had the boldness to publicly broadcast this invitation to the world meant the Mystic Mechanism Palace’s depths were formidable, and that was what gave them the confidence to do it.

And so the Director was even less inclined to go in.

What puzzled him now, however, was that he had entered the palace after Li Musheng and had already been noticed by hidden eunuchs, yet in all his time moving around, he had found no trace of Li Musheng whatsoever, and had heard no sign of Li Musheng acting.

”Was that Eighth Prince’s concealment technique simply more advanced, and the Great Xuan palace never noticed him? Or has he gone somewhere else in the palace?”

The Director’s expression became thoughtful. From the current state of things, the Mystic Mechanism Palace was undeniably one of the most likely places to be holding the Elder Sister.

But he currently did not dare enter, and could only continue probing around the palace for the time being, and if the situation was untenable, retreat immediately.

After all, the task of rescuing the Elder Sister had already been entrusted to Li Musheng. The Director recognized his own cultivation was not on Li Musheng’s level, and so he would not act rashly before Li Musheng had produced a result.

...

At the same time, Li Musheng glanced in the direction the Hidden Intelligence Bureau Director had gone, then withdrew his gaze and looked toward the Mystic Mechanism Palace in the distance with its opened gates.

”Quite a lively evening in the Great Xuan imperial palace. I am not the only one wandering around here tonight.”

Li Musheng rubbed his chin. He did not know who the Hidden Intelligence Bureau Director was, and even if he had, he would not have cared particularly.

He had of course also just seen the man refuse to enter the Mystic Mechanism Palace, apparently intimidated by it, and quietly slip away using a phantom body technique.

But that naturally had no effect on Li Musheng. If others feared the Mystic Mechanism Palace like a tiger, that was because they were not strong enough.

The Hidden Intelligence Bureau Director’s cultivation had clearly looked rather ordinary. The man not entering the Mystic Mechanism Palace only showed he had a reasonably accurate sense of his own limits.

”I assume, Miss, that you have not been inside the Mystic Mechanism Palace?”

At that, Li Musheng turned to look at Zhao Muning, narrowing his eyes as he asked.

At those words, Zhao Muning glanced at Li Musheng, then looked toward the Mystic Mechanism Palace and shook her head, ”The Mystic Mechanism Palace is designed specifically for top martial world experts. With my level of cultivation, how could I possibly enter?”

As she said this, Zhao Muning’s expression shifted through several phases, then she drew a quiet breath and suddenly looked at Li Musheng, ”I see that someone as young as you already possesses a movement art rarely seen in the world and an unfathomably deep martial cultivation that far surpasses any of the martial talents I have ever encountered.”

”In my recollection, the only person with martial talent comparably as extraordinary as yours would be the Great Li Eighth Prince who has risen to prominence so recently.”