Great Li Martial God

But before Zhao Muning could say what she intended, Li Musheng, standing beside her, glanced at the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit sitting cross-legged on the ground, then raised an eyebrow, ”What is wrong with you? Being ugly is one thing. Why go around frightening people on top of it?”

He had always had a preference for appearances, and the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit had been one thing while hiding behind that curtain of loose hair. But the man had suddenly revealed this face of his, and in the dim lighting of the ninth underground level it was particularly unsettling, giving Li Musheng a distinctly uncomfortable feeling.

At those words, everyone present, including Zhao Muning, went momentarily blank.

Gazes instinctively shot toward Li Musheng, then snapped back to the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit.

It was common knowledge that the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit was infamous throughout the martial world, volatile and unpredictable, with countless lives on his hands. Anyone who heard words like that would be furious, let alone someone of his temperament.

Almost everyone had already anticipated that the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit would erupt in rage and strike at Li Musheng, and that a life-or-death clash between them was now inevitable.

But what happened next was deeply unexpected to everyone present.

The ugly-faced Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit, sitting in the center of the hall, appeared completely calm.

From beginning to end he showed absolutely no reaction to Li Musheng’s words, sitting utterly motionless exactly where he was.

For a moment, a flicker of puzzled disbelief rose in everyone’s minds.All eyes fixed on the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit, and people began to wonder whether the martial world rumors had been inaccurate, and whether the man’s temperament was not what they had imagined.

But very quickly, Zhao Muning was the first to sense something was wrong.

She noticed that in the dim yellow light of the oil lamps throughout the ninth-level hall, the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit sitting in the center had obviously stopped functioning normally.

Even setting aside the fact that he had not acted in response to Li Musheng’s mockery, from the moment after Li Musheng had spoken, the man had not uttered a single word.

Moreover, Zhao Muning could see that the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit’s expression seemed somewhat stiff and vacant, looking very much like her own state after Li Musheng had sealed her acupoints and she had been unable to move.

With that realization, a sudden thought rose in Zhao Muning’s mind.

She looked at Li Musheng with a mixture of disbelief and startled suspicion, ”Could it be that... the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit guarding the ninth level has also been subdued by him in a single move?”

No sooner had the thought formed than it began to spread and take hold, and in the next instant, one of Li Musheng’s actions confirmed it directly.

With a casual wave of one hand, the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit, who had been sitting in the center of the hall, rotated in place and turned his back to them, then slid across the floor and disappeared into the dark shadow in the corner of the hall that the oil lamps did not reach.

Not one of the gathered martial world experts, nor Zhao Muning, nor Li Musheng himself could see the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit any longer.

And throughout the entire process, the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit had not made the slightest sound or movement.

Seeing this, the crowd immediately understood, and there was no longer any room for doubt. The Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit, who had been able to suppress all of them and hold their lives in his hands in an instant, had met with the exact same fate as they had.

Before this young man, he had not even lasted a single move, and had been swept casually into a corner like a piece of refuse.

For a moment everyone exchanged glances, and then instinctively all eyes turned to Li Musheng.

The fear in their hearts grew deeper and deeper.

Even Great Xuan’s top martial world expert, the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit, was not able to withstand even one move from this young man. They truly could not imagine what level of martial cultivation the other party had actually reached.

Or to put it another way, was there actually anyone in the entire Great Xuan martial world who could be this young man’s match?

Probably not the heads of the seven great sects, and probably not the leaders of the three demonic sects either. In all likelihood, only the handful of Martial Saints and Martial Gods in the entire martial world possessed anything approaching this level of power.

...

At the same time, having swept the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit to one side and out of his line of sight so that unsettling face was no longer visible, Li Musheng did not pay any attention to the gathered martial world experts or Zhao Muning beside him.

He simply shifted his figure and came to stand before the five iron cells on the ninth underground level.

He looked at the white-robed young woman in the center cell for a moment, then turned his gaze toward the Grand Manager of the Treasure Assembly Trading House, ”Continue answering my question from before.”

At those words, the Grand Manager of the Treasure Assembly Trading House looked at Li Musheng with a pained expression.

Though his mind was not entirely clear at that moment, he had vaguely registered the moment Li Musheng swept the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit away.

And knowing full well what the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit was capable of, the Grand Manager felt as though he had just seized a lifeline, and managed to say with great difficulty, ”Please... young hero... get me out of here... whatever you want... I will give you everything...”

At those words, Li Musheng looked the rotund elder over for a moment, then narrowed his eyes slightly, ”Getting you out is not out of the question. But first answer my question.”

The Grand Manager of the Treasure Assembly Trading House’s identity was something Li Musheng had just heard from the mouths of those martial world experts.

For someone this extraordinarily wealthy within the Great Xuan dynasty, Li Musheng was not interested in the man’s money. It was that he had suddenly thought the man might be able to do some work for him and help track down the Tianqi Secret Treasury keys and the Fire Qilin and other such things.

And so a useful person like this was certainly worth rescuing.

At those words, the Grand Manager pressed both hands to his head, and though his expression was pained, a flicker of relief still crossed his eyes. He gave his head a vigorous shake to try to keep himself alert, ”If I remember correctly... they were indeed asking her... about something connected to longevity...”

Li Musheng’s gaze shifted, and he turned around to look at the gathered martial world experts and Zhao Muning behind him, asking, ”Has any of you met Daoist Qingyu of the Azure Cloud Temple?”

At those words, those who had been in something of a daze all came back to themselves. Zhao Muning had never met Daoist Qingyu and so said nothing, but fixed her gaze on Li Musheng with an inscrutable expression.

The other martial world experts hesitated for just a moment, and then one elder spoke with some uncertainty, ”This old man once had a brief encounter with Daoist Qingyu. But though Daoist Qingyu is younger than this old man, she is certainly not as young-looking as the woman before us now.”

Li Musheng waved a hand, then called the elder over, ”Come here and look closely. Do they resemble each other?”

The blue-robed Daoist had actually shown Li Musheng a portrait of his Elder Sister. But the man’s artistic abilities were genuinely lacking.

Li Musheng could not tell at a glance whether this young woman in white was actually his Elder Sister.

At Li Musheng’s instruction, the elder naturally did not dare be anything less than fully attentive, and came immediately to stand before the iron cell. His clouded eyes studied the young woman in white for a careful moment, then gave a nod, ”Now that I am looking this closely, this woman does bear a real resemblance to Daoist Qingyu.”