Chapter 209: How High?

The little girl in pink clothes held a steamed bun in her left hand and a piece of braised beef in her right; after realizing the situation, she stood her ground and roared:

"On what grounds?"

Li Musheng pointed to the large horse he had led over and said:

"My horse is worth more silver than your mule. You've already gained an advantage, yet you have so much to say; at such a young age, you know nothing of gratitude."

Having spoken, Li Musheng ignored the furious little girl on the ground, took the map from the horse's back, turned, and swung himself onto the mule.

"Grandpa, look at him!"

The little girl, her face filled with anger, looked at the old man in hemp clothes beside her; the two exchanged a barely perceptible glance, and the old man in hemp clothes then narrowed his eyes slightly as he gazed at Li Musheng.

At this moment, Li Musheng looked down at the map in his hand; the dense network of routes and markings was so numerous that he could not help but frown.

He pondered for a brief moment, then looked at the scarred man and others kneeling on the ground in fear and trembling, and said:

"You are going to deliver birthday gifts to that so-called Seven Sacred Peaks Seat; by coincidence, I also have business to attend to there. Just lead the way for me."

Upon hearing this, the scarred man lifted his head, his face pale; he trembled as he looked at Li Musheng before him, then glanced with his peripheral vision at Hu Rui'an not far away.

Earlier, he had witnessed with his own eyes Hu Rui'an casually slaughtering everyone from the Fallen God Peak; naturally, he was fully aware of the terrifying martial arts strength of his opponent.

Although Li Musheng before him was young, his status appeared even higher than that of Hu Rui'an; his strength might not match Hu Rui'an's, yet he dared not underestimate or neglect him in the slightest, so he hurriedly said in a trembling voice:

"As long as Young Master does not take our lives, we will obey every command of Young Master."

Having spoken, he stumbled to his feet from the ground; although his calves continued to tremble uncontrollably, he still forced down the fear in his heart and shouted sternly at the sect disciples on the ground:

"What are you staring at? Get up immediately and continue the journey!"

Upon hearing this, the group of disciples instinctively swept their gazes over the corpses of the Fallen God Peak members; each one's face turned pale with fear.

However, naturally, no one dared to delay; they rose from the ground one after another and, like walking corpses, approached the carriage.

Without daring to utter half a word more, they urged the horses past the roadblock ahead and continued along the main road.

The scarred man looked back at Li Musheng sitting on the mule's back, then immediately swung himself onto a horse to follow the group of disciples.

Li Musheng nodded in satisfaction, then patted the neck of the mule beneath him; the animal then lifted its four hooves and moved forward slowly.

Seeing this, the old man in hemp clothes suddenly turned his head to look at Hu Rui'an and said:

"Do you truly feel comfortable letting your Young Master travel alone?"

Upon hearing this, Hu Rui'an glanced at the other party but offered no explanation whatsoever.

Seeing this, the old man in hemp clothes's cloudy eyes shifted slightly; however, he did not ask further questions, but instead picked up the little girl in pink clothes, placed her on the large horse nearby, and continued leading the horse along the main road.

Hu Rui'an and Wu Shang and others watched Li Musheng's figure grow smaller and smaller in the distance; Murong Xiaoya and Shen Anran inside the carriage lifted the curtain, silently watching Li Musheng depart as well.

"You may rest assured; with His Highness's strength, even if he cannot take down those old men of the Fallen God Peak, withdrawing safely should be no problem."

Hu Rui'an withdrew his gaze and spoke slowly.

Wu Shang and others exchanged glances, all remaining silent.

Next, Hu Rui'an and the others waited on the spot for half a day, wiped out several waves of reinforcements from the Fallen God Peak, and finally waited for the experts of the Shengzhou Shengzhou Tianjinwei sent by Fu Qiwen.

"Where is the Eighth Highness?"

The arriving party did not see Li Musheng and immediately asked Hu Rui'an with a solemn expression.

But Hu Rui'an did not reveal Li Musheng's whereabouts; he only said:

"I will report this matter personally to Commander my lord. The most urgent task now is to join forces with the Shengzhou Shengzhou Tianjinwei. I still have a fragment of the Fallen God Peak defense map here, which might prove useful."

Upon hearing this, the expert of the Shengzhou Shengzhou Tianjinwei frowned, but did not dare to force the question; he immediately led Hu Rui'an and others to the Shengzhou Shengzhou Tianjinwei's encampment.

After leaving the Imperial Capital, Shengzhou Shengzhou Tianjinwei Commander Fu Qiwen traveled by water route to Lan Province; during this period, he also took the opportunity to visit several retired experts of the Great Li Shengzhou Shengzhou Tianjinwei.

These people had previously been his superiors; while in the Imperial Capital, he had personally sent letters requesting these Shengzhou Shengzhou Tianjinwei elders to emerge from seclusion.

For the matter of exterminating the Fallen God Peak, aside from being unable to mobilize most of the court's forces, he had exhausted every possible means, seeking helpers from all sides to assist the Shengzhou Shengzhou Tianjinwei.

For instance, regarding some reliable martial sects attached to the Shengzhou Shengzhou Tianjinwei, he had already secretly issued orders to mobilize them.

Even for those martial sects that held grudges against the Fallen God Peak, he had attempted to send messages to win them over; however, most of these sects prioritized self-preservation.

Moreover, they simply did not believe the Great Li Shengzhou Shengzhou Tianjinwei could deal with the Fallen God Peak, one of the four great sects of the Great Li Jianghu; they believed the mission to exterminate the Fallen God Peak was doomed to fail and did not wish to die in vain, so only a very few agreed to take action.

"Foolish! How could you allow His Highness to act recklessly?"

After hearing Li Musheng's whereabouts from Hu Rui'an's mouth, Fu Qiwen's deeply wrinkled forehead furrowed; he was clearly somewhat angry.

Hu Rui'an looked up and saw that Fu Qiwen, whose eyebrows and hair were originally half-white, had, in the short time since leaving the Imperial Capital, turned completely white.

At this moment, the other party looked at least a dozen years older than when they had parted.

Seeing this, Hu Rui'an sighed inwardly and said:

"My lord, you actually do not know; His Highness is not as weak as we previously believed."

Upon hearing this, Fu Qiwen looked at Hu Rui'an, and a strange expression flashed across his face.

For this subordinate who was like his right arm and left hand, he naturally knew the other would not speak without cause.

Fu Qiwen temporarily suppressed the anger in his heart and said sternly:

"Then tell me, what ability does the Eighth Highness possess that allows him to go up the Fallen God Peak alone?"

Hu Rui'an bowed with hands clasped, raised his eyes slightly to look at Fu Qiwen before him, remained silent for a moment, then said:

"Actually... His Highness's martial arts cultivation is extremely high."

Fu Qiwen frowned, his gaze fixed on Hu Rui'an, and involuntarily narrowed his eyes slightly:

"The Eighth Highness's martial arts cultivation is extremely high? How high? Why did I not see it?"

Hu Rui pondered for a while and said quite seriously:

"According to His Highness's description, it should be roughly as high as a building of ten or more stories."

Upon hearing this, Fu Qiwen's expression faltered slightly.

However, before he could speak, Hu Rui'an suddenly looked up to size him up, then continued to add:

"Your subordinate feels that Your Highness's strength is at least equal to, if not greater than, yours, my lord."

Upon hearing these words, the words Fu Qiwen had just prepared to speak were instantly choked in his throat, and he immediately stared at Hu Rui'an before him with a look of astonishment.

(End of this chapter)