"This is far too difficult."
Li Musheng looked at his hand, let out a sigh, and shook his head.
For all these speculations, he had no clear answers in his mind at the moment, and could only continue to feel his way forward on his own.
He then closed his hand, holding the blood-colored lines and the blood of divine nature within his palm.
He quietly ran both the Divine Consumption Art and the Azure Dragon Profound Darkness Scripture simultaneously.
Absorbing even a little was better than nothing. It would simply take more time, and once these forces had fully merged into his body, the effect would still be there.
And once the Azure Dragon Profound Darkness Scripture was truly complete, the speed at which he absorbed the blood of divine nature would likely improve further.
With this thought in mind, Li Musheng temporarily drew his attention away from the blood of divine nature, and glanced down at the grandfather and granddaughter still sitting motionless in the carriage below.
The shock on the hemp-robed elderly man's and Lin Xunner's faces had not yet faded, and deep within their eyes a deep fear had surfaced.
They had originally thought Li Musheng would be helpless against him, and that once the more formidable old presences of Falling God Peak arrived, his situation would become extremely dangerous.
But in the very next moment, Li Musheng had effortlessly taken control of that self-assured Falling God Peak grandmaster's head disciple in an entirely unexpected fashion, leaving the two of them genuinely shocked once more.
Of course, what Li Musheng had done to him with the Life and Death Talisman was also something they had seen from beginning to end.
The harrowing state the head disciple had been in, his screaming wrenching at the heart, still seemed to linger vividly before them. Li Musheng's terrifying method of interrogation before finally killing him left both of them feeling a cold dread rising from the depths of their being.
At that moment, the hemp-robed elderly man and Lin Xunner both felt the restriction on their bodies lift. The acupoints that had been sealed were released in an instant.
Both of them were now free to move, though at the same time Li Musheng's mocking voice reached their ears, "You ran faster than anyone else when you left the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion, and only remembered me when your lives were in danger?"
As he spoke, Li Musheng looked the two of them over. The Falling God Peak martial artists had not yet arrived, which left him with a little idle time.
He rubbed his chin and asked, "I am actually somewhat curious. What grievance do you have with Falling God Peak that had you rushing in to throw your lives away?"
Hearing this, the hemp-robed elderly man and Lin Xunner exchanged a glance. Both of them were visibly hesitant for a moment.
But very quickly, they both thought of Li Musheng's terrifying martial strength, and for some reason the image of the Falling God Peak grandmaster's head disciple in his unbearable agony floated up in their minds.
Of course, they were not ungrateful people either. Li Musheng had in practical terms just saved both of their lives.
This left the two of them feeling both fearful of Li Musheng and deeply grateful to him at the same time.
At that point the hemp-robed elderly man's expression went through several rapid changes, then he immediately and solemnly folded his hands in a bow toward Li Musheng, saying, "This old one is deeply grateful to young Master Li for the intervention. Your great kindness will not be forgotten for as long as we live."
He then glanced at Lin Xunner beside him, let out a sigh, and said, "Our reason for coming to Hundred Refinements Peak is actually to take revenge for my eldest granddaughter..."
The hemp-robed elderly man then gave a broad account of the whole matter.
The cause of it all was that one of Zheng Yunfeng's sons, while journeying through the martial world and passing a certain sect, had taken a fancy to Lin Xunner's elder sister within that sect.
Driven by selfish desire, the son had tried to use Falling God Peak's name to apply pressure and force the sect into handing her over.
The sect Lin Xunner's elder sister belonged to was, remarkably, an upright and unyielding organization, and even in the face of Falling God Peak they refused without hesitation.
But this brought disaster upon the sect. Zheng Yunfeng's son was furious, and in the end brought a group of Hundred Refinements Peak martial artists and wiped out the entire sect in a single night. Lin Xunner's elder sister had chosen death rather than submit, and destroyed herself in the process.
Having heard the hemp-robed elderly man's account, Li Musheng's expression was undisturbed. What the other man had described was in truth only one fragment among the countless grudges and entanglements in the vast martial world.
Of course, it was also one instance of Falling God Peak's lawless, predatory conduct that had been poisoning the martial world for years.
Acts like this committed by Falling God Peak's disciples were too numerous to count. Most people simply had no power to take revenge, and many did not dare. Those who actually came to Falling God Peak seeking revenge, as the hemp-robed elderly man and his granddaughter had done, were extremely rare.
With that thought, Li Musheng shook his head. He did not tease the two of them any further, but after a moment said, "Stay here for now and do not go to Hundred Refinements Peak for the time being. You will just run into someone on the way and end up captured and killed again."
After the Falling God Peak grandmaster's head disciple had sent the signal, Falling God Peak would certainly dispatch even more powerful martial artists to Hundred Refinements City. The two of them going to take their revenge right now would very likely mean another encounter with exactly those people.
And with their level of strength, they clearly were not matches for those martial artists.
The hemp-robed elderly man and Lin Xunner understood this perfectly well. Lin Xunner had just been caught because she had failed to consider it carefully enough, and was deeply regretting it.
Hearing Li Musheng say this, neither of them refused, and naturally neither dared to refuse.
Li Musheng looked at the two of them, gave a nod, and then narrowed his eyes and said, "Do not worry. Once I have killed the powerful martial artists from Falling God Peak, you will have all the opportunity for revenge you could want."
The coming moments were such a perfect opportunity for a grand display, and he naturally needed an audience. He felt these two were a very suitable choice.
Hearing this, the hemp-robed elderly man and Lin Xunner were both briefly taken aback, but then thought of the manner in which Li Musheng had killed the Falling God Peak grandmaster's head disciple.
And strangely, they did not feel what he had just said was arrogant boasting at all.
Li Musheng had surprised and stunned them too many times. If anything, they felt a faint, inexplicable sense of anticipation.
The two of them looked at each other, and both could see something unusual in the other's eyes.
Li Musheng, alone, going head to head with Falling God Peak, one of the martial world's mightiest powers. Tonight they might witness firsthand what would surely leave a striking mark on the history of the martial world for generations to come.
The more they thought about it, the more a strangely excited feeling seemed to well up from somewhere.
Lin Xunner furrowed her delicate brows slightly, and at that moment Li Musheng's voice drifted lightly to her ear, "How old are you?"
Lin Xunner looked up instinctively, and found that Li Musheng above had turned his gaze and was looking her over with curiosity.
Li Musheng had sensed something off about Lin Xunner before, but had no clear idea of what. Now that the Falling God Peak martial artists had not yet arrived and he had some time, he asked out of curiosity.
In the past, Lin Xunner would naturally have brushed it off. After all, who just outright asks a girl her age?
But unfortunately, circumstances had changed. Her small face hesitated for a moment, and then with some reluctance and a touch of awkwardness she answered, "I am eighteen this year."
Hearing this, Li Musheng gave a satisfied nod, saying, "I knew there was something off about you. Not young anymore and still acting like a child. There was clearly something wrong from the start."
Lin Xunner's expression froze. Who was acting like a child?
She then drew a deep breath and explained, "This is a side effect of the divine art I cultivate, called Sovereign of Eight Wastelands. Each time before I cross over a major cultivation threshold, my body reverses in age and I take the form of a child, and I need forty-nine full days before I return to my actual appearance."
Li Musheng raised an eyebrow. The divine art Lin Xunner was describing sounded rather similar to one he had heard of in a previous life.
But he did not dwell on it.
There were all manner of strange and unusual martial arts in the world, and with those of divine nature existing as well, the art Lin Xunner cultivated was not actually the strangest thing out there.
Having satisfied his curiosity, Li Musheng paid no further attention to the hemp-robed elderly man and Lin Xunner, waved them off, and let them do as they liked.
He then continued simultaneously absorbing the blood of divine nature and working on the final critical parts of the Azure Dragon Profound Darkness Scripture.
The hemp-robed elderly man and Lin Xunner did not go far, and found a suitable hiding spot in a wine house not far from the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion that had long since been emptied of its occupants.
At the same time, after the Falling God Peak grandmaster's head disciple sent his signal, all nine peaks of Falling God Peak and the Great Li Tianjin Guards advancing covertly through the night all caught sight of the blazing golden flame in the darkness.
In an instant, everyone understood that something of great significance had happened in Hundred Refinements City, and in particular for Falling God Peak's people, the meaning of that special golden flame signal was perfectly clear.
By Falling God Peak's rules, upon seeing this signal, every Falling God Peak disciple regardless of where they were must immediately go to render assistance. Failure to do so was treated as betrayal of the sect.
The young man was after all the grandmaster's head disciple, the chosen future successor as sect master, and his possession of such a signal was a reflection of how greatly Falling God Peak valued his life.
However, this time was unlike any before. Setting aside that the golden flame had appeared within Falling God Peak's own territory, where the grandmaster of the main peak would naturally handle things, the other peaks had already received word from the Hundred Refinements Peak disciples and knew that Hundred Refinements Peak's Peak Master had been defeated by an unknown martial artist in Hundred Refinements City.
Whether out of self-preservation or a clear-eyed understanding that going to Hundred Refinements City personally would not enable them to defeat this martial artist, not one of the Peak Masters went in person. They only sent a symbolic handful of their own peak's elders to Hundred Refinements City.
Of course, the situations at Hundred Refinements Peak and Peak-Cleaving Summit were somewhat particular cases.
After sensing their own Peak Master, a figure of such terrifying martial cultivation, fall in Hundred Refinements City, the disciples of Hundred Refinements Peak felt as though the sky itself had collapsed.
At the same time, everyone became extremely frightened. Zheng Yunfeng had been killed in Hundred Refinements City, which meant that this powerful martial artist was already extremely close to Hundred Refinements Peak, and would in all likelihood come there next.
But if even their Peak Master with his overwhelming martial cultivation was no match for this person, what hope did any of them have?
In that moment, let alone sending people to support Hundred Refinements City, if it were not for the fact that fleeing the battlefield carried a punishment of death, they would have scattered and run for their lives already.
The only thing they could do right now was make sure they did not run.
As for Peak-Cleaving Summit, with the Peak Master and every senior elder in seclusion, the acting manager Lady Ni was occupied with a young and vigorous companion of her own and had no attention to spare for what happened to Hundred Refinements Peak.
And so not a single disciple was dispatched from Peak-Cleaving Summit. As the person managing things in the peak put it, when the sky falls there are tall ones to hold it up. Sending disciples there was sending them to their deaths, and the safest course was to do nothing.
At the same time, the Tianjin Guards advancing covertly toward Falling God Peak's four designated peaks had also seen both signals sent from Hundred Refinements City in succession.
In truth, after the Hundred Refinements Peak Chief Elder sent the first signal, the temporary commanders leading the other three Tianjin Guards columns had already secretly sent people to contact Fu Qiwen, asking about the anomaly coming from the direction of Hundred Refinements City.
Fu Qiwen had initially been concerned for Li Musheng's safety and had not been inclined to reveal that he was currently in Hundred Refinements City.
However, after seeing Li Musheng defeat the Hundred Refinements Peak Master in a single move, he abandoned his previous intention and informed the other three commanders of the situation regarding Li Musheng going to Hundred Refinements City.
His reason for doing so was naturally also for Li Musheng's benefit.
In Fu Qiwen's view, Li Musheng's ability to defeat Zheng Yunfeng in a single move meant he genuinely had the capacity to retreat safely from Falling God Peak.
And as the only prince involved in this operation to destroy Falling God Peak, the tremendous achievement Li Musheng was accumulating could not be obscured.
Beyond that, spreading the news from Hundred Refinements City would greatly boost the Tianjin Guards's morale, letting everyone see that this mission to destroy Falling God Peak had real hope.
Fu Qiwen's decision was without question a meaningful one.
Shortly after the news was sent, however, the scene of the Falling God Peak grandmaster's head disciple sending the golden flame signal came next.
This left Fu Qiwen once again startled into the realization that Li Musheng had removed another extremely important figure from Falling God Peak.
"Rui'an, who do you think His Highness killed this time?"
Fu Qiwen turned to look at Hu Rui'an and asked. He was now clearly in the process of gradually coming to terms with the fact that this Eighth Prince, newly acknowledged by Emperor Yuanwu, was in reality a supreme martial artist.
At that point Hu Rui'an glanced at Fu Qiwen and privately felt a little put-upon. At this distance, without a thousand-mile eye, how was he supposed to know who His Highness had killed?
He naturally could not say that aloud, however, and turned it over quickly, saying, "This subordinate does not know. But His Highness has now attracted an enormous amount of Falling God Peak's attention to Hundred Refinements City. This is a rare opportunity for us. I suggest we seize it and advance with full force, taking Star Control Peak as quickly as possible."
Hearing this, Fu Qiwen composed himself, then gave a slow nod, "My thoughts exactly."
...
In a mountain woodland several miles outside Jade Wave City, the Great Li Tianjin Guards's former Commander Sikong Xuan stood hunched.
He had a full head of white hair, a gaunt face, and eyes alarmingly clouded with age.
At that moment he was listening to a subordinate read aloud the falcon-carried message from the current Tianjin Guards Commander Fu Qiwen, and the expression on his aged face was one of bewildered uncertainty.
"This old man has been living in obscurity in the countryside. When did the Great Li court produce a prince with such terrifying martial cultivation?"
Sikong Xuan's voice was hoarse, and he was not entirely willing to believe what Fu Qiwen had written.
And yet he also knew perfectly well that Fu Qiwen, the son he had adopted in all but name and personally placed the Tianjin Guards's authority in the hands of, was absolutely not the sort to deceive him under circumstances like these.
At that point the subordinate carrying the message hurried to say, "Reporting to the commander, the Eighth Prince is a son recently acknowledged by His Majesty. He had been living among common people before, and only returned to the capital not long ago."