Great Li Martial God

”Just grab as many as possible,” Li Musheng said with a thoughtful expression, then added, ”The ones the Great Xuan emperor favors most would be best. That makes it more certain to work.”

At those words, the group of elderly Great Xuan martial world experts exchanged glances, then all wore expressions of sudden understanding.

Clearly, this young man Li Musheng had broad tastes and was not picky. He apparently wanted all of them.

Which made sense, after all. Any woman the Great Xuan emperor had taken a liking to would be anything but ordinary. Regardless of appearance or figure, every one of them would be chosen from among a thousand. There was genuinely no need to be selective and waste any time enjoying the selection.

With that thought, the assembled Great Xuan martial world experts all wore knowing expressions on their aged faces, and immediately agreed in unison, their figures disappearing from the spot and making their way toward the nearby consorts’ quarters.

Zhao Muning remained at Li Musheng’s side.

Her cool eyes shifted through a series of expressions, watching the martial world experts vanish rapidly into the darkness. The expression on her face gradually grew worse and worse.

After all, she was a Great Xuan princess. When her father the emperor and the Great Xuan imperial palace lost face, she as a member of the imperial family naturally had no dignity left either.

”You...” Zhao Muning’s slender fingers beneath her plain robe clenched into fists, and she looked toward Li Musheng as though wanting to say something, but unable to find the words.

Li Musheng naturally noticed the change in Zhao Muning’s bearing, and narrowed his eyes slightly, ”Has Miss finally decided to tell me where the Great Xuan emperor is?”At those words, Zhao Muning’s gaze went still, and then a look of startled uncertainty spread across her face.

Li Musheng simply shook his head slowly, ”The Great Xuan imperial palace is heavily guarded. Anyone this familiar with it would naturally be of exceptional standing.”

”Moreover, the Miss seems reluctant to have me go looking for the Great Xuan emperor, and equally unwilling to watch those men seize the consorts.”

As he said this, Li Musheng stopped and said no more.

Zhao Muning’s identity was not difficult to guess, though he did not particularly care about it.

What he cared about was how to find the Great Xuan emperor.

If Zhao Muning truly knew where the man was, that would be ideal, and he would not need to go to all this trouble.

After all, even though no one currently knew his true identity, there was no harm in being careful.

If word got out that he had seized the Great Xuan emperor’s consorts, it would certainly not be good for his reputation in the martial world. If it turned devoted admirers against him, that would be a poor trade.

”I... genuinely do not know... where the emperor is.”

Zhao Muning shook her head quietly, and her inner state at that moment was far from calm.

Li Musheng’s words had made it clear he already had some suspicions about her identity.

And having just watched the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit suffer under the Life and Death Talisman in the ninth underground level, she was well aware that Li Musheng had more than enough means to use against her and force answers out of her.

After all, even the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit, a martial world expert of formidable cultivation, had been unable to withstand the Life and Death Talisman’s torment. Even with her more resolute mind compared to most of her peers, she absolutely could not endure that kind of pain.

But he had clearly not done that.

Though Li Musheng’s cultivation was enough to crush every Great Xuan martial world expert and killing her would be no harder than stepping on an ant, he was clearly not someone who killed carelessly or stopped at nothing to get what he wanted.

That actually raised him a notch higher in Zhao Muning’s esteem.

After all, who she wanted to recruit was not a cold and ruthless killing machine. Someone like that would be inviting a wolf through the door.

Li Musheng was exactly the kind of person she had in mind.

Of course, faced with someone of Li Musheng’s terrifyingly formidable and extraordinary martial talent, what she needed to do first was suppress the fear she felt toward him.

And right now, in this situation, she needed to find a way to defuse the conflict between Li Musheng and the Great Xuan imperial palace.

Otherwise, if things went to a point of no return, even if she wanted to recruit Li Musheng, her father would never accept it.

”Although I do not know where the emperor is, I can help you negotiate with him and try to get him to meet your conditions as much as possible.”

Zhao Muning drew a slow breath and looked at Li Musheng, ”I know that in truth you do not want to make a large scene of this. If there is a better solution, you would not refuse it, would you?”

At those words, Li Musheng looked Zhao Muning over, then rubbed his chin, ”You are not wrong. Revenge is not actually within the scope of what I promised to do.”

He had only agreed to rescue the blue-robed Daoist’s Elder Sister. As for the Azure Cloud Temple wanting to take revenge on the Great Xuan imperial palace, that was entirely their own business after the rescue was complete.

After all, if the Azure Cloud Temple also wanted him to help with revenge, that would certainly not come at this price.

”If Miss can persuade the Great Xuan emperor to release the person, that is naturally the best outcome. But if that emperor proves too stubborn, do not blame me.”

Li Musheng gave Zhao Muning a sidelong glance and agreed to her proposal, giving her some face.

After all, he had come tonight to rescue someone. There was no need to bring the entire Great Xuan imperial palace down in flames.

Zhao Muning’s eyelid gave a sharp twitch. Li Musheng’s demeanor of complete indifference toward the Great Xuan imperial palace made her heart clench inexplicably.

But she did find it possible to understand him. After all, if she had possessed this kind of terrifying cultivation at Li Musheng’s age, it was entirely possible that all of Great Xuan at this moment would answer to her, Zhao Muning, and not to her father.

...

Before long, the martial world experts returned one after another, having seized close to twenty consorts between them.

Along the way they had naturally been intercepted by eunuch experts guarding the inner palace, but these martial world experts imprisoned as guardians in the Mystic Mechanism Palace were not weak, and with the Crimson Cloud Evil Spirit assisting alongside them, those elderly eunuchs had been either injured or driven off, and none of them had been able to stop the raid.

The nearly twenty consorts who had been brought back ranged in age from around twenty to about forty, each with a slender figure, radiant charm, and distinguished bearing, each one remarkable in her own way.

The older consorts had not been pursued.

For one thing, the experts figured that even if Li Musheng was not picky, surely there were limits, and he would not be interested in women who had lost their bloom.

For another, the older ones tended to be higher-ranked, such as empresses and honored consorts, and the eunuch experts guarding them would be considerably more powerful.

Though their own cultivation was nothing to dismiss, there was no point taking unnecessary risks when softer targets were available.

After all, Li Musheng had not yet actually faced the Great Xuan emperor or the palace’s truly formidable experts, and it was too early to decide whether to fight to the death.

”Young hero, the commotion we caused while seizing these beauties was actually not small. The eunuchs who got away will probably carry word to the Great Xuan emperor very quickly.”

The smooth-talking plump old man from before spoke up, and another elderly, gaunt-framed martial expert added his reminder, ”Time is running short for the young hero. Has there been any consort you have taken a liking to?”

As he said this, he brought one of the young consorts he had seized forward in front of Li Musheng, and introduced her enthusiastically, ”This old man has had considerable experience in his younger years. This woman has an ideal figure and her appearance is of the very highest quality. The young hero will absolutely not be disappointed.”