After fifteen years of cultivation, he finally reached the pinnacle of the first rank!

Chapter 305 Killer

"Please, Lord Star, show mercy. Everything is negotiable."

The middle-aged man in the short shirt changed his expression for a moment, then immediately spoke with a fawning look.

Although he didn't think he had done anything seriously wrong, he still thought it best to try to please the Star Lord in front of him.

Otherwise, if the other party accidentally makes things difficult for you, or reports on you, you might find yourself stripped of your hard-earned position in the Tianji Pavilion.

"Don't try that on me. I've always been fair and honest, and I would never show favoritism."

Song Xingwei's fair, oval face immediately hardened, and she glared at the middle-aged man in the short shirt with her curved eyes:
"Your behavior is very problematic!"

As she spoke, she immediately opened the booklet, picked up a brush and began to write and draw, clearly making a note of the middle-aged man in the short shirt on the spot.

Upon seeing this, the middle-aged man in the short shirt reached up and wiped the sweat from his forehead, wanting to say something, but quickly stopped himself.

I was afraid that if I said something inappropriate, the other party would find something to use against me.

At this moment, a leader of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion's eyes flickered, and he immediately changed the subject, cupping his hands in greeting:

"I just heard the Star Lord mention a new Pavilion Master. I wonder who will be coming to oversee the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion of Dali this time?"

Upon hearing this, Song Xingwei turned to look at the person who had asked the question, waved her hand, and said:
"What's the rush? The new Pavilion Master will arrive in Shangyang City by tomorrow at the latest, and then you'll naturally know who it is."

Upon hearing this, all the leaders in the room looked surprised.

"The new pavilion master arrived so quickly?"

"Ever since the news of the destruction of Fallen God Peak spread, the position of the Pavilion Master of That Mountain was in jeopardy, and the new Pavilion Master just happened to be within the territory of Dali, so his arrival was quick!"

Song Xingwei said nonchalantly, then closed the booklet, glanced at everyone, and said:
"In the meantime, just continue as usual, and you'd better not get any funny ideas, or you'll get caught..."

As she spoke, Song Xingwei's pretty face turned serious, and she raised the booklet in her hand.

Seeing this, the heads of each pavilion immediately said they dared not. At this moment, Song Xingwei changed the subject and said:
"There's another matter. Inform your subordinates to search for the whereabouts of the divine beast Fire Qilin. Report to me immediately if you find any clues."

"Fire Qilin?"

Everyone was stunned for a moment, clearly not understanding why Song Xingwei had asked the pavilion to find such a completely ethereal thing.

Song Xingwei's expression darkened, and she narrowed her eyes, saying:
"What? Does what I said have no effect?"

Upon hearing this, all the leaders of the pavilion immediately waved their hands, and Song Xingwei nodded, saying:
"As for the other matters within the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, they will be handled one by one once the new Pavilion Master takes office. You just need to wait patiently."

After saying that, Song Xingwei stood up, and with a swift movement, she disappeared silently from her spot, drifting out of the window.

……

Meanwhile, at the Tianjin Guard headquarters.

The garrison commander Yu Jin also brought Li Musheng news from Yuming Mountain about the death of the Martial Saint, and the real culprit was none other than him, the eighth prince of Dali.

"There's definitely something fishy about this. It's all probably aimed at His Highness."

Shen Anran frowned. This news confirmed a suspicion that had been lingering in her mind.

Upon hearing this, the big black cat raised its head, glanced at Shen Anran, and then looked at Li Musheng.

Its bright green eyes flickered slightly, and it immediately came to Li Musheng's side and scratched at him with its paws.

The expression seemed to be asking Li Musheng why he didn't bring it with him when he went to kill the Martial Saint.
The garrison commander Yu Jin frowned, glanced at Li Musheng before him, hesitated for a moment, and finally asked:
"Your Highness, are you sure you didn't attack that Martial Saint?"

Upon hearing this, Li Musheng pushed the large black cat aside and said speechlessly:

"Why resort to a sneak attack when a single move could solve the problem?"

Yu Jin's eyes flickered, and he suddenly glanced at Li Musheng, instantly stunned by Li Musheng's domineering words.

He immediately realized that since the other party had even destroyed Luoshen Peak, a Martial Saint might not be worth their attention.

However, Yu Jin's expression changed again, and he cupped his hands and said:
"The entire martial arts world is now spreading this news. It is estimated that before long, almost everyone in the martial arts world will know that it was His Highness who assassinated the Martial Saint of Yuming Mountain. This matter is likely to be very unfavorable to His Highness."

Upon hearing this, Li Musheng glanced at the other person, then waved his hand and said:

"It's alright. Since Yu Mingshan says that I killed the Martial Saint, then let them come and seek revenge on me."

"If they don't dare, then they can go cool off somewhere else. It's really that simple."

Yu Jin was stunned for a moment. He realized that the Eighth Prince in front of him seemed to really not care about this matter at all.

However, if it is confirmed that Li Musheng assassinated the Martial Saint without any reason, his reputation in the martial arts world will undoubtedly plummet, and some martial arts figures may regard him as a public enemy.

Given the current situation where the three top martial arts sects are clearly forming an alliance against the imperial court, this matter will inevitably become a point of attack against Li Musheng, the man who destroyed the Eighth Prince of Luoshen Peak.

If someone in the court uses this incident to their advantage, and combines it with Li Musheng's killing of the prince, the situation could become extremely dire.

Thinking of this, Yu Jin pondered for a moment and said:

"I have a suggestion: we can have the Tianjin Guards secretly investigate the death of that Martial Saint and find out the real culprit behind it. This way, we can clear Your Highness's name and also find out who is targeting Your Highness."

Upon hearing this, Shen Anran nodded slightly and looked at Li Musheng, saying:
"What Lord Yu said is indeed a feasible solution. In any case, we cannot just stand by and watch His Highness be slandered without doing anything."

Li Musheng glanced at the two of them, stroked his chin, and then looked thoughtful.

He hadn't taken the matter to heart. When someone in Yundu City used his finger-style martial arts to kill people, he didn't think much of it and didn't believe it was necessarily aimed at him.

But now it seems that all of this was clearly planned, and the other party's purpose was very clear.

After pondering for a moment, Li Musheng shook his head again and said:
"There's no need to do anything unnecessary. You'd be better off using that energy to help me find something."

"Moreover, whatever the purpose and scheme behind the death of that Martial Saint, they will eventually reveal their true colors. We just need to wait."

"After all, no matter how fancy their schemes and tricks are, in the end they will have to face me."

Upon hearing this, both Yu Jin and Shen Anran were slightly taken aback, while the large black cat beside them suddenly meowed.

Its two cat eyes stared intently at Li Musheng, clearly impressed by his seemingly profound yet unintelligible boastful words.

Yu Jin and Shen Anran looked at Li Musheng before them, and almost simultaneously had the same thought:
Is this the invincible stance?

No matter how much you scheme, they will treat you as if you don't exist.

Shen Anran gently bit her lip, her eyes shining brightly as she said:

"Your Highness is right."

Yu Jin immediately cupped his hands in greeting and bowed his head, saying:

"It was my overthinking; I shouldn't have troubled Your Highness with this matter."

...Meanwhile, in the Third Prince's residence.

Ji Song, the Right Chancellor of Dali, has almost stopped keeping vigil at the mourning hall; he has moved his office into his study.

On the desk piled high with documents, a report about the death of the Martial Saint was laid out before Ji Song.

The aged-looking Right Chancellor's eyes gleamed with a sharp light as he muttered to himself:
"Is this the message that person spoke of?"

As he spoke, he glanced at the intelligence report again, but shook his head slightly:

"This is much smaller than the incident where that person killed Li Que and Zhu'er."

"However... for the martial arts world, this is a major event. If used properly, it can make that person ostracized by both the imperial court and the martial arts world, leaving him nowhere to hide in the world!"

At this moment, Ji Song looked at the mountain of memorials piled up on his desk.

These were all written recently by his protégés and former officials in the court, and the contents were all impeachments and accusations against Li Musheng, the eighth prince, for murdering his relatives and brothers.

"Now you have another charge against you. I don't believe His Majesty will tolerate you if you don't suffer complete disgrace."

Ji Song closed the intelligence report on his desk, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes.

This was only the first step in his revenge against Li Musheng. Next, he needed to devise a plan to kill his opponent, who possessed exceptional martial arts skills. This was the most important step, but he didn't have any clue how to do it yet.

……

A hundred miles away from the capital of the Great Li Dynasty, in another equally prosperous city.

A carriage guarded by dozens of armored soldiers slowly came to a stop in front of a luxurious pavilion, where the air was thick with the scent of rouge and pink lanterns hung high.

Laughter and soft, seductive music could be heard from inside the building from time to time.

"General, the Jiaofangsi (Imperial Music Bureau) has arrived."

A soldier bowed to the carriage and spoke, and then a dignified-looking middle-aged man with a beard stepped down from the carriage.

He glanced at them with a cold light, said nothing more, and led his soldiers directly into the building in front of them.

The madam of the brothel was startled by the sudden appearance of such a scene, and braced herself to step forward and try to strike up a conversation:

"Sir, what's going on here...?"

However, before she could finish speaking, she was shoved aside by a soldier with a menacing aura standing beside her.

"General Shen certainly knows how to pick his place. He's on the Hidden Killer Pavilion's kill list and has been chased by assassins for miles, yet he still hasn't forgotten about this brothel."

At this moment, a man in blue robes and a bamboo hat appeared at the second-floor railing, watching the group of soldiers arriving below through the gauze curtain.

Upon hearing this, the bearded middle-aged man addressed as General Shen looked up at the other man, then his gaze darkened, and he said:
"So you're the assassin from the Soul Chasing Hall I've been searching for?"

The man in blue, wearing a bamboo hat, nodded, seemingly unconcerned that his identity as an assassin had been exposed in public.

General Shen below breathed a slight sigh of relief upon seeing this.

He had led three hundred armored soldiers on a long escape, covering thousands of miles. Now, less than one-tenth of his soldiers remained, all having died at the hands of the assassins from the Hidden Kill Pavilion.

At this moment, he was only a hundred miles away from Shangyang City. Although he would soon be able to return to the capital, he dared not let his guard down in the slightest.

Because he knew very well that this last hundred miles would probably be countless times more dangerous than the previous thousand miles.

The assassins from the Hidden Kill Pavilion will undoubtedly try every means to kill him during this hundred-mile journey, and will absolutely not let him escape easily.

Of course, in order to deal with the assassination attempt by the Hidden Killer Pavilion, General Shen tried every possible method, and in the end he turned to the Soul Chasing Hall, an assassin organization with an equally notorious reputation in the martial arts world.

The assassin in front of him was the accomplice he had hired.

The assassins naturally wouldn't protect him, but he could fight fire with fire, letting them deal with the assassins from the Hidden Killers Pavilion who were hunting him; the effect would be the same.

"only you?"

At this moment, General Shen suppressed his thoughts, looked around, frowned, and asked.

"I alone am enough."

The man in the bamboo hat and blue robe spoke calmly, seemingly confident about the task at hand.

And that is indeed the case. He is a top assassin in the Soul Chasing Hall, and he rarely fails in any mission he undertakes.

As for the mission that General Shen was seeking, in principle, it didn't require an assassin of his caliber to take action.

He had just finished another mission in this city to assassinate an elder of a martial arts sect, so he casually accepted the mission issued by the palace.

After all, General Shen had paid a considerable amount of gold to the Soul Chasing Hall to save his life.

More importantly, he was also itching to test his skills against the assassins from the Hidden Kill Pavilion, another assassin organization, and see just how capable this renowned organization really was.

At this moment, General Shen downstairs glanced at the man in the bamboo hat and blue robe, unable to discern his background, and asked with some skepticism:

"So what should I do next? Should I continue on my way to Shangyang City, or..."

However, the man in the bamboo hat and blue robe stopped him, saying:

"Of course we'll wait. We'll wait for the assassins from the Hidden Kill Pavilion to make their move, and once I've killed them, you can continue your journey without any worries."

Upon hearing this, General Shen hesitated for a moment, then nodded and instructed the armored soldiers beside him:

"Immediately seal off the Jiaofangsi (Imperial Music Bureau), prohibiting anyone from entering or leaving, and forbidding any information from being leaked."

The soldier agreed and immediately prepared to leave to do as instructed.

Just then, a young man who looked travel-worn walked in from outside the Jiaofangsi.

The young man's robes were covered in dust, making him look somewhat disheveled. His face was also extremely thin, as if he were starving.

However, his eyes were extremely bright, shining like cold stars, as if hiding a glint of light.

The moment the young man stepped into the brothel, the man in the bamboo hat and blue robe on the second floor suddenly narrowed his eyes and looked at him.

"Are you an assassin from the Hidden Kill Pavilion?"

The man in the bamboo hat and blue robe looked down at the young man below, his indifferent voice echoing throughout the brothel.

Upon hearing this, General Shen's expression changed immediately, and he turned around abruptly to look.

The young man slowly stopped, glanced at the man in the bamboo hat and blue robe, and then looked at General Shen in the main hall.

Then, he suddenly sighed heavily and said:
"I originally intended to complete this mission alone, but that's no longer possible."

(End of this chapter)