Li Musheng thought this over and decided to look into it when the opportunity presented itself later.
For now, it was more pressing to continue absorbing the blood of divine nature.
With that thought, he closed his hand gently, and a surging pulse of his aura directly ground the black fire core in his grip to dust. The brief burst of extreme heat and fire as it shattered scorched fire-line cracks into the surrounding space.
He then raised his hand and grabbed toward the street furrow below, and in an instant the blood of divine nature within the Scarlet Fire Honored Elder's body seeped out through the flesh, threading upward in wisps toward his palm.
With all of this done, Li Musheng shifted his position, returned to the rooftop of the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion, settled back on the ridgeline, and resumed simultaneously absorbing the blood of divine nature and refining the final portions of the Azure Dragon Profound Darkness Scripture.
At the same time, in the wine house not far away, the hemp-robed elderly man and Lin Xunner sat in a daze for quite a long while before gradually coming back to themselves.
The two of them stiffly turned their heads toward each other, one old, one young, their eyes meeting, and between them there was nothing but shock beyond all measure and a long, long wordless silence.
"Is he... even human?"
Lin Xunner's legs gave out and she dropped to the floor, murmuring involuntarily.
Earlier, the Scarlet Fire Honored Elder had descended on Hundred Refinements City like a god of fire incarnate.
It was the first time the two of them had ever encountered something this terrifying. The Honored Elder's power had both stunned them with awe and fear and finally made them understand the genuine horror of what Falling God Peak as a martial world colossus truly was.
All they had been able to do was hide in silence, praying in their hearts that Li Musheng, who had saved their lives, might be able to escape from the Scarlet Fire Honored Elder.
Yet what they could never in any way have anticipated was that Li Musheng, facing this terrifying existence that wielded fire like a divine being, had simply ignored the other party entirely.
Not only had he blocked every one of that formidable being's techniques in turn, he had done to it exactly what he had done to the Hundred Refinements Peak Master and the Falling God Peak grandmaster's head disciple, piercing its skull with a single finger.
And beyond that, at the very end, he had seized the black fire core from the body of what had been like a god of fire, and used it to burn his own hand. And direct contact with such terrifying flame had left him completely unharmed.
The hemp-robed elderly man drew a long, deep breath, and after a prolonged silence finally said, "This old one believes there are very few people in this world who could stand against him. Aside from the three legendary Martial Saints spoken of in rumor, across the Five Dynasties and the entire martial world, there is probably no one who could match him."
Hearing this, Lin Xunner lifted her gaze carefully and looked toward the figure in the darkness on the roof of the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion. She bit her lip and turned back to ask, "Could it be that he is already... invincible under heaven?"
She furrowed her delicate brows tightly, her small face full of disbelief, as she looked at the hemp-robed elderly man and asked, "How can he possibly be this formidable? Did he start cultivating in the womb?"
"Or is it that he, like me, is cultivating some special martial art, and is actually an old man the same age as Grandfather hiding inside a young person's body?"
Hearing this, the hemp-robed elderly man instinctively shook his head, clearly unable to answer Lin Xunner's questions.
But then quickly his brow furrowed, and he reached out and tapped his granddaughter on the head, saying, "Mind your words. Who are you calling an old man?"
"And do not let that person hear you say this. If he takes offense, I would rather not have a hole appear in my head."
Lin Xunner immediately closed her mouth, and looked carefully in the direction of the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion's roof again. An anxious expression crossed her small face, and she said, "Um... I was not very polite before, and may have spoken to him a little loudly. He would not hold that against me, would he?"
The hemp-robed elderly man sat on the floor and also looked toward the roof of the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion. He hesitated for a moment, and then waved a hand, saying, "Do not worry. Small figures like us, as long as we have not truly wronged him, should not be worth his attention."
As he spoke, he let out a sigh, then looked toward the direction of Hundred Refinements Peak, saying, "Young Master Li is truly our benefactor. We need only wait a little longer, and once he has killed Falling God Peak's powerful martial artists, we will be able to go to Hundred Refinements Peak and take our revenge."
Hearing this, Lin Xunner withdrew her gaze and also looked toward Hundred Refinements Peak. Her eyes held both anticipation and undisguised killing intent.
Then she looked again at Li Musheng's figure, saying, "If his strength has already reached the level of a Martial Saint, then even if Falling God Peak's grandmaster himself comes next, he will likely die as well."
...
At the same time, on the mountain road less than ten miles from Hundred Refinements City, in the darkness of the night, a line of rocky peaks that had been extending steadily forward suddenly stopped.
Then the ground rose with no warning into a rocky peak about thirty yards high, and a black-clad elderly man who seemed to have merged with the rock itself appeared on it without a sound.
He raised his head and fixed his gaze on Hundred Refinements City ahead.
Looking at the gradually fading firelight and feeling the Scarlet Fire Honored Elder's aura slowly disappearing, his brow furrowed deeply and an expression of extreme gravity appeared on his face.
After a moment, the gravity on his face transformed into shock beyond all comprehension.
Though he had not personally witnessed everything that had happened in Hundred Refinements City, he could now confirm without any doubt that the Scarlet Fire Honored Elder's aura had completely vanished. Without question, the Honored Elder had fallen in Hundred Refinements City.
"Martial Brother Scarlet Fire actually lost?"
"Who on earth has the Great Li court sent here? How can anyone have such formidable martial strength?"
The black-clad old man muttered to himself, his expression becoming deeply unpleasant.
If even the Scarlet Fire Honored Elder, who commanded the lethal innate divine gift of fire control, was no match for the person in Hundred Refinements City, then going there himself now would likely end the same way.
"This will not do. Martial Brother's death is deeply grievous, but this one must not act recklessly. The grandmaster and the two honored elders will need to handle this situation."
The black-clad old man's eyes darkened, and he raised a hand in a casual sweep. A blue-grey rock spanning several dozen yards nearby was struck by an enormous earth-yellow hand and sent flying into the sky.
The rock flew toward the main peak of Falling God Peak, then exploded with a deafening crash, sending a cloud of blue-grey rock dust billowing rapidly upward into the sky.
...
Falling God Peak's main peak.
At the summit of the thousand-yard cliff face, above the Fallen God Hall supported by its nineteen golden pillars, the cloud sea churned, then slowly parted, revealing the grandmaster of Falling God Peak sitting cross-legged in the air.
Blue-green cloud energy circled around him, and his aura seemed to have merged with heaven and earth. Then, he suddenly opened his eyes and looked toward the direction of Hundred Refinements City.
When he saw that in the sky between the mountain ranges, a cloud of blue-grey dust was slowly rising, the expression on the Falling God Peak grandmaster's face changed immediately.