The Vermilion Bird Bone.
Li Musheng could not help but think of the Qilin Blood and the Azure Dragon True Qi from before. All of these things shared one characteristic, which was that they each came from some legendary divine beast.
And all of them contained a power entirely unlike the True Qi of heaven and earth, each with their own remarkable and unusual effects.
Li Musheng's expression became thoughtful. What mattered more was that these things were different from martial pills and elixirs of all other kinds. They genuinely had some effect on him.
"Miss Murong has quite a fine figure."
At that point, Li Musheng let his gaze travel briefly up and down, and said this out of nowhere.
At those words, Murong Xiaoya's pale face turned instantly red as blood. She pulled her robe back around herself instinctively, then bit her lip and looked at Li Musheng, saying, "Why does Your Highness not act?"
Hearing this, Li Musheng raised an eyebrow, "I can see that if the Vermilion Bird Bone is taken from your heart, you will not survive."
"So Miss Murong is asking to die?"
She looked toward her own heart and said, "Beyond that, while the Vermilion Bird Bone has given me great power, it is also slowly consuming my life force. Even if Your Highness does not take it, I will not have long to live."
Then she raised her head and looked at Li Musheng, saying, "I am certain that with Your Highness's strength, you could master the Vermilion Bird Bone. Xiaoya offers it willingly."
Li Musheng looked at her for a moment, then shook his head, saying, "If I meant to kill you, I would have done so just now. As things stand, I have no particular interest in your life."
He paused briefly, then continued on a different note, "That said, the Vermilion Bird Bone I will still take. In a few days, once I have finished refining a certain cultivation art, I will be able to extract the power within the Vermilion Bird Bone without costing Miss Murong her life."
Hearing this, Murong Xiaoya's gaze stilled in surprise.
She had already prepared herself to die, but with Li Musheng's words, she found herself at a complete loss for what to make of the situation.
At that point Li Musheng walked to her side with unhurried steps, his hands clasped behind his back, and said, "The Murong family is down to roughly Miss Murong alone as its last remaining branch. If you die, the Murong bloodline will truly be severed for good. In seeking your own death right now, does Miss Murong not feel she is being a little too selfish?"
At those words, Murong Xiaoya suddenly fell silent. After a while, she let out a quiet sigh and said, "Then Xiaoya will wait a few more days for Your Highness. When the time comes, whatever the outcome, Xiaoya will not hold it against you."
Li Musheng waved a hand, saying, "Do not worry. Tonight's matter ends here. But to keep you from being consumed by killing intent again and losing your reason, you will stay by my side for the next few days."
Murong Xiaoya looked at Li Musheng for a moment, then gave a quiet nod.
She then lowered her head and tied her robe closed, and as the lingering flush faded from her face, she said, "Your Highness, there are matters pertaining to the Murong family's affairs that I must go and attend to. Please allow me to leave for a while."
Hearing this, Li Musheng gave a slight nod, and a thread of his aura settled quietly onto her as he said, "I will be leaving the city first thing tomorrow morning. Miss Murong, try to see to everything tonight."
Murong Xiaoya nodded, then said, "Please pass along my apologies to Commissioner Hu and the others on my behalf."
With that, her figure shifted and she became a streak of flame, vanishing into the courtyard that had already been reduced to a field of rubble.
...
Before long, seeing that the sea of fire had mostly gone out and Murong Xiaoya's terrifying aura had disappeared, Hu Rui'an and the others carefully made their way back to the Mei estate.
The moment Shen Anran saw that Li Musheng was unharmed, she immediately flashed forward and lunged toward him.
She had intended to throw herself into his arms, but instead found only empty air.
The expression of relief and excitement on Shen Anran's face froze at once. She quickly caught herself and spun around.
She found Li Musheng not holding her, but rather the large black cat.
At some point when Murong Xiaoya had struck, the large black cat had slipped away unnoticed, and had been nowhere to be seen when the others were fleeing for their lives. Now that everything was resolved, it had come trotting out from some corner again.
"That cat is so aggravating."
Shen Anran bit her lip lightly. She had been consumed with worry for Li Musheng this whole time, and had finally found an opportunity to express her feelings now that she saw he was unharmed, only to have a cat get in the way.
A reunion after what might have been death and separation was precisely the moment most likely to close the distance between two people. An opportunity like that was truly rare.
Shen Anran shot the large black cat a pointed glare. The cat, looking as though it had not noticed at all, kept meowing at Li Musheng in a coaxing, ingratiating way, presenting every appearance of being perfectly well-behaved.
At that point Hu Rui'an came to Li Musheng's side, swept a look around, and asked, "Your Highness, Miss Murong, is she..."
At that moment, he and Wu Shang and the others all felt a heavy weight lift from their chests.
When they had seen the terrifying power Murong Xiaoya commanded earlier, they had all been deeply worried that Li Musheng would come to harm.
As things had turned out, their worry had clearly been unnecessary.
Hearing the question, Li Musheng gave a broad account of what had happened, then patted the large black cat on the head and said, "Rest tonight. We set out and continue on our way tomorrow morning."
...
The following morning.
In the span of a single night, the entire city of Sheng Province had been turned completely upside down.
The Murong family was destroyed. The four great martial families, the Yuan, Zhu, Cen, and Bai, had all become seas of fire in the course of one night, with no survivors from any of the four. The Sheng Province General Han Cuiyuan was dead, and the Han estate had been emptied of its people. One upheaval after another left the entire city in a state of deep unease.
At the same time, Li Musheng and his group were moving away from Sheng City with the flow of people leaving through the gates, the city falling further and further behind them.
"Sir, last night the Mei estate was nearly burned in half, and Mei Yan and his wife were both reduced to ash. With no evidence left, we need not worry too much about the Martial Saint Mu Tianxing."
Wu Shang said in a fairly good mood. Hu Rui'an, however, gave a slight shake of his head and said with a furrowed brow, "One can only hope. It is true we need not worry in the short term, at least. But we did not silence everyone in the Mei estate, and as long as Mu Tianxing wants to investigate, he will eventually find some thread to pull."
That said, Hu Rui'an was only speaking the words to say them. He had not lost his mind to the point of actually killing every innocent person in the Mei estate.
At that point, Cheng Zhong, riding alongside them on a horse, let out a quiet sigh and said, "The way I see it, there is no point in us thinking about any of that right now. What lies ahead is the destruction of Falling God Peak, and who knows yet whether we will come back from it alive."
At those words, Wu Shang fell silent and glanced back at the carriage.
They had all witnessed firsthand the terrifying strength Li Musheng possessed, but destroying Falling God Peak was not something one person could accomplish alone.
Nor could they rely on the Eighth Prince's protection indefinitely. When they reached Falling God Peak, whether they survived would depend entirely on themselves.