Chapter 90: Lord Sheng

Hearing this, Tu Yao narrowed his eyes slightly but did not respond, instead changing the subject to ask:

"Lord Sheng, our Floating Boat City obtained the Fire Qilin Blood by an extremely rare chance, but we are unclear about the origin of the Fire Qilin Blood."

"You just said the Fire Qilin Blood appears roughly once every sixty years; where exactly does this thing come from? Could it be that the divine beast Fire Qilin truly exists in the world?"

The old man in the gray robe, Sheng Shian, merely shook his head and said:

"Does the divine beast Fire Qilin truly exist? No one in the Jianghu has ever seen it with their own eyes, but most people speculate it must exist; otherwise, how could the Fire Qilin Blood have continued to appear constantly over so many years?"

Tu Yao's face showed a look of contemplation:

"Then has no one ever tried to search for the Fire Qilin?"

"People certainly searched in the past, but after hundreds or even thousands of years without anyone finding it, gradually no one bothered to search for that illusory divine beast."

Sheng Shian spoke with his eyes lowered, then immediately shifted his tone and said:

"However, every time the Fire Qilin Blood appears, it sparks a frenzy to search for the divine beast Fire Qilin; the Jianghu in the coming days is likely to be quite lively."

Hearing this, Tu Yao slowly nodded; after a moment of silence, he did not pursue the matter further.

His gaze turned once again to the wooden boat below where Li Musheng was located, and he asked:

"Regarding that martial arts expert who snatched over a hundred jade tokens from a distance just now, Lord Sheng, what is your assessment of his strength? If he were to act, could you stop him?"

The old man in the gray robe, Sheng Shian, remained silent for several breaths, his aged face showing a look of deep thought, and said:

"The method that person used to snatch the jade tokens earlier was somewhat similar to the sword-controlling technique of the Jianghu sword path; however, perhaps because the distance was too great, this old man did not detect the presence of sword qi."

Speaking thus, he slowly turned his head to look at Tu Yao and said:

"This old man has never fought that person, so I do not have an accurate understanding of his strength; but without a doubt, that person is certainly a practitioner of the Heaven-and-Mortal Realm, and moreover, his method of concealing his figure is extremely powerful; we must take him seriously enough."

Tu Yao nodded slightly and said:

"With Lord Sheng and I personally watching over this matter, there should be no major problem, but..."

His gaze turned toward Li Musheng on the wooden boat below, and he narrowed his eyes, saying:

"Lord Sheng, have you not suspected that the person who acted earlier might be him?"

"This old man has wandered the Jianghu for most of his life and has seen all kinds of characters; he is merely a young child. Do you really think there exists a martial arts genius who can reach the Heaven-and-Mortal Realm at such a young age?"

The old man in the gray robe, Sheng Shian, directly rejected Tu Yao's speculation and said:

"After the jade tokens were snatched on a large scale, this old man has been watching him closely and can confirm that there is not the slightest fluctuation of true qi on his body, nor any trace of him acting."

"Additionally, this old man has observed that this person is not in disguise; therefore, there is likely only one possibility: the two of them must be of significant background, with powerful experts assisting them behind the scenes."

Hearing this, Tu Yao said nothing; in fact, he also felt this matter was unlikely and had merely asked casually.

Then, he spoke softly:

"There is still some time before the final round begins; that should be enough to uncover their identities."

Not long after, as the whirlpool in the center of the underground lake stopped, a gong sound like a great bell rang out from the darkness above.

Immediately following, a deep voice drifted down:

"The time has arrived; please, honored guests, cease snatching the jade tokens."

At the same time, the whirlpools on the entire lake quickly vanished, and all the wooden boats gradually came to a complete stop.

Two hundred and ten wooden boats floated around the center of the lake, some bright and some dark, like dim stars.

At this moment, ten pitch-black iron chains suddenly descended from the darkness above.

The iron chains accurately connected to the iron rings on ten wooden boats lit by candle flames among the many boats; immediately, they dragged these ten wooden boats at extremely high speed, sliding rapidly toward the center of the lake.

The wooden boat carrying Li Musheng and Li Yuanling was naturally among these ten boats; the two let themselves be pulled by the chains and arrived at the center of the lake within a short while.

Soon, as a rumbling tremor came from beneath the lake bed, the lake water before them suddenly split apart quickly, and a slide constructed of stone and wood gradually emerged from below.

The slide led to the bottom of the lake center, where there was a huge hole about ten feet in diameter; the hole was pitch black with no light, and the sound of rushing water occasionally came from within.

"The top ten honored guests will enter the final round through here."

The deep voice rang out above the ten wooden boats, then immediately continued to announce:

"Boat number twenty-one, with a cumulative count of one hundred and ninety patterns, is in first place!"

As soon as the words fell, the iron chain originally hooked to the wooden boat where Li Musheng and the other were located quickly jerked, immediately dragging the wooden boat to rush into the slide first.

At the same time, the crowds on the nine other floating wooden boats around them all turned to look at Li Musheng and Li Yuanling in unison.

Many people showed expressions of apprehension; especially the three women on one wooden boat, upon seeing the pile of jade tokens on that boat, they immediately knew the culprit who had snatched their jade tokens earlier was right before their eyes.

"It is actually her!"

Shu Wan'er and the other two naturally recognized Li Yuanling on the wooden boat; clearly, they did not expect that the person whose jade tokens they had previously snatched clean had now become the overwhelming first place with the most jade tokens.

Li Yuanling naturally also noticed the three women looking at her; she immediately held up a pile of jade tokens and directly faced the three, showing off ruthlessly.

Then, glancing at the pitifully few jade tokens, less than ten, in their hands, she disdainfully curled her lips, turned her head, and did not even look at the three again, full of mockery.

The expressions of Shu Wan'er and the other two instantly became extremely ugly, but they still looked at Li Musheng and the other two with apprehension before turning their heads away without saying a word.

The scene of their jade tokens being snatched from a distance was still vivid in their minds; the martial arts strength of the person who acted was too shocking, and they simply dared not confront Li Yuanling and the other two.

In a corner among the remaining nine wooden boats, on a seemingly inconspicuous wooden boat, Zhang He narrowed his eyes, watching Li Musheng's wooden boat enter the slide until it disappeared from sight, then quietly looked at Han Meiyan before him:

"Holy Lady, guess who I saw?"

Han Meiyan naturally sensed his gaze; she immediately looked toward the slide and said in a deep voice:

"Those two have only average martial arts cultivation; to obtain so many jade tokens, they must have someone assisting them behind the scenes. Unless absolutely necessary, it is best not to provoke them."

Zhang He quickly clasped his hands in salute and said:

"Holy Lady, rest assured; I naturally have this in mind. However, Holy Lady might not know that I have actually seen this person before."

"And... he is the Eighth Imperial Prince recently acknowledged by Emperor Yuanwu."

Hearing this, Han Meiyan's expression suddenly shifted; her eyes shimmered as she looked straight at Zhang He:

"Are you sure?"

"I have confirmed it with Song Shanyue; it is absolutely correct!" Zhang He nodded.

For a moment, Han Meiyan's eyes narrowed slightly as she murmured:

"Then this is an excellent target for defection."

(End of this chapter)