Great Li Martial God

"Miss Cang, have you already found out the whereabouts of the Bone-Corroding Dark Wind Finger manual?"

Li Musheng turned back to ask Cang Yinyue.

Cang Yinyue nodded and looked toward the ruins of the house on one side, "I'll search for it later. I should be able to find it."

Li Musheng nodded slightly, "Then that's settled. I'll leave matters here to you, Miss Cang. Remember to come find me at the Tianjin Guards headquarters tomorrow."

After speaking, he looked at Shangguan Qingqing beside him, "Miss Qingqing, we'll chat again when we have time. I still have some work to do tonight, so I'll be going first."

Hearing this, Shangguan Qingqing was just about to open her mouth to speak, but in the next moment, Li Musheng's figure suddenly disappeared from before the two women's eyes.

"Where... is he?"

Shangguan Qingqing searched all around but couldn't see a trace of Li Musheng anywhere.

"He's too fast!"

Although Shangguan Qingqing already had a great degree of understanding of Li Musheng's strength, this traceless and shadowless terrifying movement technique could only be described as bewildering to whoever saw it. Cang Yinyue beside her, seeing this scene, also had her pupils suddenly contract.

But soon, she took a deep breath and shook her head, murmuring, "Don't compare with him, don't compare with him. He's not a normal martial artist. It's very normal for him to do any abnormal things."

"Sister, why are you reciting tongue twisters?" Shangguan Qingqing looked curious.

"It's nothing. Miss Qingqing, why did you call him His Highness the Eighth Prince just now?"

"You don't know about this? It's spread throughout the city..."

...

After leaving Cangyuan Marquis's manor, Li Musheng headed toward the Great Li imperial palace that stood at the very center of Shangyang City.

He wasn't someone who loved to meddle in other people's affairs.

But there was no helping it. Since he had already encountered it, how could he not kill someone like Imperial Consort Ji? Should he keep her around for the New Year?

At the same time, under the shroud of night, the Great Li imperial palace resembled a majestic and mysterious silent giant beast.

The tall vermillion walls stood imposingly. Behind the walls, at regular intervals, there were watchtowers with soldiers vigilantly observing and patrolling day and night.

At night, all the palace gates were tightly closed. Fully armed guards stood before the gates, and throughout the palace, teams of armored soldiers patrolled back and forth. The sound of armor clashing and orderly footsteps were especially clear in the silent night.

The Great Li imperial palace had strict defenses. Besides the guards in plain sight, the palace also concealed many hidden sentries and clever mechanisms.

More importantly, within the palace there were also quite a few powerful martial arts masters stationed in hiding. It could be said that even a Heaven-Human Realm expert couldn't infiltrate the palace without being discovered.

Deep in the inner palace, standing before a wide palace pathway was a luxurious palace building, which was Imperial Consort Ji's residence, the Tranquil Heart Hall.

Inside the Tranquil Heart Hall, candlelight flickered. The night wind stirred the curtains, and the candlelight illuminated the entire palace hall like a dream.

Imperial Consort Ji, dressed in gorgeous palace attire, sat cross-legged on a soft couch with her palms facing upward and eyes tightly closed.

Although nearly fifty years old, her skin was snow-white, delicate, and smooth, like mutton-fat jade.

She didn't even have a single wrinkle on her face, and her appearance was much like when she was in her twenties, without much change.

At this moment, wisps of crimson true qi circulated through her meridians, driving the surrounding air to slowly rotate, forming a qi field several zhang in radius.

Within the qi field, crimson blood qi faintly surged. Streaks of blood-colored afterimages would occasionally rush out from her body, then quickly dissipate in midair.

Imperial Consort Ji's face sometimes showed a trace of slight pain, sometimes flashed with ferocity. Finally, she suddenly opened her eyes, with blood light flickering in them.

"Someone come."

Her cold voice rang out, and an old nanny came carrying a rosewood tray.

On the tray was placed a dark red pill. Imperial Consort Ji hooked her finger, and a thread of blood-colored silk flowed from her fingertip, rapidly coiling around the pill from a distance. It instantly fell into her mouth and was swallowed.

Soon, the pain on her body seemed to dissipate. She slowly spoke, "How many Blood Transformation Pills are left?"

"Not many. There are three remaining."

The old nanny spoke in a hoarse voice, "Your Ladyship, should this slave go urge Madam Zhu to prepare this month's blood food in time?"

Imperial Consort Ji waved her hand, "No need. I trust my younger sister in handling affairs."

Speaking, she picked up a bronze mirror on the soft couch beside her, examined her appearance in the mirror, and smiled, "Fortunately, I have quite good fortune. Through chance and coincidence, I obtained such a miraculous cultivation method, allowing me to restore my former appearance. The other consorts in the palace don't know how much they envy and are jealous of me!"

Hearing this, the old nanny's face showed a cruel smile, "Your Ladyship has only consumed blood food for a few years, and now you've already achieved eternal youth. Perhaps in the future you might even achieve immortality?"

"I don't care much for immortality. After all, my Zhu'er doesn't have the fate to become emperor."

Imperial Consort Ji sighed and put down the bronze mirror in her hand, her face showing resentment, "I only wish His Majesty would be more intimate with me. But unfortunately, His Majesty is obsessed with martial arts cultivation and hasn't been near women for many years. Now my only pleasure in this deep palace is to show off before the other consorts!"

The old nanny's eyes flickered as she flattered, "Your Ladyship need not be discouraged. Hard work pays off. If one day His Majesty has a sudden whim, in this entire palace there's only Your Ladyship as a lovely one left. If he doesn't favor Your Ladyship, whom else could he favor?"

"Moreover, the Third Prince is both literate and martial, talented and intelligent. In the future, he may not necessarily lack the opportunity to ascend to the throne."

Imperial Consort Ji's eyes moved, a gleam flashing through them as she pondered, "You've reminded me of this. Today His Majesty just acknowledged that son of Consort Jing. The new replaces the old. In the coming days, he'll probably receive more favor than the other princes. We could try to win him over. Perhaps he could become an aid to Zhu'er."

Hearing this, the old nanny's eyes narrowed, and she was just about to speak.

Just then, in the vast palace hall, a male voice suddenly rang out, "I hear you want to win me over?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Imperial Consort Ji was immediately shocked. She suddenly rose, her blood-colored true qi shaking throughout her body, causing the curtains in the hall to flutter loudly.

That old nanny's eyes revealed a sinister ghostly light as she guarded Imperial Consort Ji's side, while looking toward the center of the great hall.

There, at some unknown time, had appeared a young figure. He wore plain robes and stood quietly under the candlelight illuminating the hall.

"Protect me! Protect me!"

Imperial Consort Ji immediately called out in a low voice, her urgent voice spreading throughout the palace hall and beyond.

She naturally understood that although this person before her was young, anyone who could break into the Great Li imperial palace couldn't possibly be an ordinary person.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Over a dozen figures of nannies and eunuchs rapidly leaped in from outside the Tranquil Heart Hall. Every one of them had considerable strength. Judging from the martial auras they displayed, even the weakest had cultivation at the Martial Dao Master realm.

These nannies and eunuchs surrounded Li Musheng in the center of the great hall, firmly locking onto his aura with their martial true qi, their eyes revealing undisguised killing intent.

Regarding this, Li Musheng acted as if he hadn't noticed. He swept his gaze over everyone and slowly said, "Everyone's here now. I'm someone who doesn't like killing the innocent indiscriminately. Within thirty zhang in all directions has been sealed off by my qi. What happens next, whether you live or die, depends on whether you deserve your crimes."