Great Li Martial God

Li Zhi raised his head to look in the direction of the shadow, narrowed his eyes, and said, "I wonder which of Master's seven shadow guards you are?"

The black shadow swayed slightly under the torch, like a wisp of rising smoke, "Your Highness has a discerning eye. I rank sixth among the shadow guards. Your Highness may call me Lu Ying."

Li Zhi nodded lightly. His gaze was restrained as he studied the other for a while, then asked, "What matter does Master have in sending you to find me?"

Hearing this, a somewhat ethereal voice came from the black shadow, "The Director said that His Majesty has agreed to let Your Highness leave the heavenly prison within one month. However, there is one condition."

"What condition?"

The black shadow was clearly silent for a moment before saying, "His Majesty said that Your Highness must destroy any one of the four great sects in the Great Li jianghu within one year. If you can do this, he will return all the rights that belong to you."

Hearing this, Li Zhi immediately fell silent, and his silence lasted even longer than the other's. However, his face showed no expression. He only asked, "What if I can't do it?"

The black shadow under the torch swayed slightly and said, "His Majesty didn't say."

"However, the Director asked me to tell you that considering the master-disciple relationship, if you can work harder and advance to Martial Dao Grand Master within one month, he can allow us seven shadow guards to help you."

Li Zhi pondered briefly for a moment, then smiled lightly and said, "Master truly understands me well." Having said this, he slowly raised his hand. In an instant, his entire aura suddenly changed.

A powerful and profound true qi emerged from his meridians and manifested before him as the phantom of an ancient simple long blade.

Formless blade intent emanated from the phantom, sharp and solemn. The air in the cell hummed and trembled, emitting waves of suppressed clanging blade sounds.

The next moment, vast and distant killing intent pressed directly toward the black shadow outside the cell. That long blade phantom broke through the void, instantly crossing the distance inside and outside the cell and slashing down toward the black shadow.

"Vast Heaven Slaughter Blade Intent."

The black shadow under the torch called out softly. Countless shadow tentacles extended from behind it, wrapping the long blade phantom layer upon layer.

A muffled sound of tearing fabric rang out. Faintly, a few wisps of brilliant blade light escaped and fell on the brick wall, cutting marks over an inch deep.

The black shadow also swayed a few times, then gradually quieted down after a while.

Then the black shadow's astonished voice rang out from outside the cell, "So Your Highness has long since advanced to the Martial Dao Grand Master realm. This is truly beyond expectations. I'm sure the Director will be extremely pleased when he learns of this."

Li Zhi slowly withdrew the true qi around his body that was as thick as cloud and mist, shaking his head, "You flatter me. I just had some insights in this heavenly prison and luckily broke through."

At this moment, the black shadow under the torch outside the cell bowed slightly and said, "Lu Ying and the other shadow guards will henceforth follow Your Highness's instructions."

"No need for such formality."

Li Zhi raised his hand lightly, then his gaze moved. He sighed deeply and said, "I don't know what Father Emperor is thinking. He actually wants me to deal with the four great sects. This matter is almost impossible to complete. I don't know what to do now."

Hearing this, the black shadow outside the cell didn't speak. Whether it involved His Majesty or the Director, these were not matters they could discuss.

"Your Highness, everything depends on human effort. There's no need to worry excessively."

The black shadow swayed slightly and said, "Lu Ying still needs to report back to the Director. I won't disturb Your Highness any further."

Having said this, the black shadow slowly retreated from under the torch into the darkness. The area where it had been gradually returned to normal.

Seeing the Hidden Intelligence Bureau's shadow guard depart, the worried expression Li Zhi had shown earlier vanished in an instant.

He furrowed his brow tightly, looking at the lamp fire on the table. His expression became somewhat uncertain, "Suddenly asking me to destroy one of the four great sects, this is an almost impossible condition to fulfill. Could it be... he's discovered my secret?"

However, the cell was quiet and silent. No one could answer his question.

...

Aurora Pavilion.

The first-floor great hall had been damaged earlier. In a neighboring hall with a slightly smaller area, a group of young people gathered anxiously.

"I heard the real Seventh Prince has already been confirmed. We're all fakes."

"What? Then what do we do? When I left my hometown, the City Lord personally escorted me a hundred li and promised to marry his eldest daughter to me. If I'm not the prince, can I still marry the eldest daughter?"

"I don't believe it. Didn't they say there were still five days before they would screen us? Why have they identified the real Seventh Prince so quickly?"

"It's useless not to believe. That person bears an extremely close resemblance to Consort Jing. A eunuch from the Tianjin Guards in Aurora Pavilion recognized him at a glance. This matter has already been reported to the palace. News will probably spread soon."

"Couldn't someone have learned Consort Jing's appearance in advance and deliberately disguised themselves?"

"Foolish! This would be a grave crime of deceiving the emperor and exterminating one's clan. No disguise can escape the inspection of palace experts, and no one would dare take such an almost certain death risk."

"Then what should we do next?"

"We can only hope that person just happens to resemble Consort Jing and ultimately fails the verification. That way we'd still have a chance."

...

The young people in the hall, upon first hearing this news, were both disappointed and anxiously uneasy, yet at the same time held onto a faint glimmer of hope.

At this moment, three young people in the crowd quietly left the group and walked toward the upper floor of Aurora Pavilion.

One of them wore scholarly robes but his face was full of malice. He turned back to look at the other two young men wearing brocade and fine robes, and said, "If we want that person to ultimately fail verification, the safest method is to kill and destroy the body before people from the palace arrive."

Hearing this, one of them narrowed his eyes and said, "Today the three of us join forces together. Here we make a common oath that in the future, whoever becomes the real Seventh Prince must not forget to support the other two."

"That's right. If we achieve wealth and nobility, we must not forget each other!"

The last young man clenched his fist, his gaze full of viciousness, "I know who that person is. In a moment I'll pretend to converse with him. You take the opportunity to attack when he's off guard. This matter will certainly succeed."

The three exchanged glances, then said no more and quietly headed toward the corridor on the upper level.

Soon, one person spotted Li Musheng spacing out in the corridor.

He immediately put on a warm smile on his face and walked slowly toward Li Musheng.

However, he had only walked halfway when Li Musheng suddenly turned to look over, "If I were you, I wouldn't take another step forward."

The young man immediately froze, then hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "Brother, what do you mean? I just saw you here alone looking too lonely and came over to chat with you."

Hearing this, Li Musheng tilted his head to glance at the dark area by the stairwell and raised his eyebrows, "With such heavy killing intent, are you afraid others won't know where you're hiding?"