Chapter 204: Departure

Zhu Que bone?

Li Musheng couldn't help but recall the Fire Qilin blood and Azure Dragon true qi he'd encountered before—these things all shared one common trait: they originated from legendary divine beasts.

Moreover, they all contained power utterly unlike heavenly and earthly Qi, each possessing strange and unique effects.

Li Musheng's expression turned thoughtful; more importantly, unlike other martial arts divine pills or miraculous medicines, these things actually had some effect on him.

"Lady Murong's figure is still quite good."

At this moment, Li Musheng's gaze swept lightly up and down, then he suddenly spoke.

As soon as these words left his mouth, Murong Xiaoya's pale face instantly flushed crimson; she instinctively pulled her robe tighter, bit her lip, and looked at Li Musheng and asked:

"Why doesn't His Highness act?"

Hearing this, Li Musheng raised an eyebrow:

"I see—if I take the Zhu Que bone from your heart, you won't survive."

"So, Lady Murong is deliberately seeking death?"

Murong Xiaoya did not deny it; she slowly lowered her head and said:

"His Highness is correct. Though I have avenged the Murong family, I have killed too many people, and I no longer wish to continue killing."

Speaking, she looked at her heart and said:

"Moreover, though the Zhu Que bone grants me great power, it is also slowly devouring my life force—even if His Highness does not take it, I will not live much longer."

At this moment, she lifted her head and gazed at Li Musheng:

"With His Highness's strength, you can surely control the Zhu Que bone. Xiaoya willingly offer it to you."

Li Musheng looked at her, then shook his head and said:

"If I wanted to kill you, I would have acted just now. Now, I have no interest in your life."

Saying this, he paused, then changed tone:

"Still, I do want the Zhu Que bone. In a few days, once I perfect a cultivation technique, I can extract its power without harming Lady Murong's life."

Upon hearing this, Murong Xiaoya's eyes froze in shock.

She had already made peace with death, but Li Musheng's words left her utterly uncertain what to do.

At this moment, Li Musheng walked slowly to her side, hands behind his back, and said:

"The Murong family likely has only Lady Murong left as its last descendant. If you die, the Murong bloodline will truly be extinguished. Is it not selfish of you to seek death now?"

At these words, Murong Xiaoya fell suddenly silent. After a moment, she let out a soft sigh and said:

"Then Xiaoya will wait a few more days for His Highness. Whether or not you succeed, Xiaoya will not blame you."

Li Musheng waved his hand and said:

"Rest easy—tonight's matter is settled. But to prevent you from being consumed by slaughter again, for the next few days you will stay by my side."

Murong Xiaoya glanced at Li Musheng, then nodded gently.

Then she lowered her head and tightened her robe; the lingering blush on her face faded, and she said:

"His Highness, I must attend to the Murong family's aftermath. Please allow me to leave temporarily."

Hearing this, Li Musheng gave a slight nod; a thread of spiritual energy quietly settled upon her, and he said:

"I will depart from the state capital at dawn tomorrow. Lady Murong, finish all your affairs tonight if you can."

Murong Xiaoya nodded, then said:

"Please convey my apologies to Lord Hu and the others on my behalf."

With that, her figure shifted, becoming a streak of fire that vanished into the ruined courtyard.

……

Not long after, Hu Rui'an and the others, seeing the fire largely extinguished and Murong Xiaoya's terrifying aura gone, cautiously returned to the Mei residence.

Upon seeing that Li Musheng was unharmed, Shen Anran suddenly flashed forward and lunged toward him.

But she missed—she landed empty-handed.

The joy and relief on Shen Anran's face froze instantly; she halted abruptly and whirled around.

She saw that Li Musheng was not embracing her—he was hugging the large black cat.

Earlier, when Murong Xiaoya had attacked, the large black cat had vanished somewhere; Shen Anran and the others hadn't seen it during their escape. Now that everything was over, it appeared again from some hidden corner.

"This damn cat is such a nuisance."

Shen Anran bit her lip lightly. She had been deeply worried about Li Musheng; now that he was safe, she'd finally found a chance to express her feelings—only to have it ruined by a cat.

After a near-death separation, reunion is the perfect moment to draw closer—such opportunities are exceedingly rare.

Shen Anran glared at the large black cat, but the cat acted as if it saw nothing, persistently mewing sweetly at Li Musheng, looking perfectly well-behaved.

At this moment, Hu Rui'an stepped up to Li Musheng, glanced around, and spoke:

"His Highness, what of Lady Murong…?"

At this moment, he and Wu Shang and the others all breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

Earlier, seeing Murong Xiaoya's terrifying power, they had feared for Li Musheng's life.

Now, it seemed their fears had been unnecessary.

Hearing this, Li Musheng briefly explained the situation, then patted the large black cat's head and said:

"Rest tonight. Tomorrow morning, we depart again."

……

The next morning.

Overnight, the entire Shengzhou state capital had changed utterly.

The Murong family was annihilated; the Yuan, Zhu, Cen, and Bai Li martial families were reduced to ashes in a single night—all perished without survivors.

General Han Chuiyuan of Shengzhou was dead; the Han residence stood empty. These sudden events left the entire state capital in a state of panic.

Meanwhile, Li Musheng and his companions, blending into the crowd leaving the city, gradually moved farther away from Shengzhouzhoucheng behind them.

"My lord, last night the Mei residence was almost half burned down by a great fire; the couple Mei Yan and his wife were incinerated into ash. Now that there is no evidence, we need not worry too much about the Martial Saint Mu Tianxing."

Wu Shang spoke in a good mood, but Hu Rui gently shook his head, frowning as he said:

"Let us hope so; at least we need not worry for the short term. However, we did not kill everyone in the Mei residence to silence them. If Mu Tianxing wishes to investigate, he will surely find some traces."

Of course, Hu Rui's words were merely spoken; he was not so mad as to truly kill all the innocent people in the Mei residence.

At this moment, Cheng Zhong, riding a large horse nearby, let out a soft sigh and said:

"If you ask me, we need not consider these matters now; after all, regarding the upcoming extermination of the Fallen God Peak, we do not even know if we will survive to return."

Hearing this, Wu Shang immediately fell silent, turning his head to glance at the carriage.

Li Musheng's terrifying strength was something they had all witnessed with their own eyes, but the extermination of the Fallen God Peak was not a matter for one person alone.

They could not rely on the protection of the Eighth Imperial Prince forever; once at the Fallen God Peak, whether they would survive would depend entirely on themselves.

Dear readers, today there is only one chapter. We are about to reach the Fallen God Peak, but I am stuck on the writing.

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(End of this chapter)