Chapter 387: The Chase

"The human demonic medicine is almost ready. There is no time to waste. I will go on ahead."

The Sun and Moon Demonic Empress's expression shifted faintly. She cast a brief glance at Daoist Qingyu, then with the Blood River Patriarch in her grip, shot toward the demonic vortex in the air in an instant.

The Blood River Patriarch's face was filled with terrified dread. He had clearly already guessed what the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress intended to do next.

"Demonic Empress... please, have mercy. Whatever you want, this old man will give you everything."

The Blood River Patriarch called out urgently, but the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress's face was entirely without expression, "I lack nothing. The only thing I need is the power to stand at the summit of all under heaven."

"You will serve as my medicine and help me reach the apex of all martial experts in the world. You should consider this your honor."

Carried into the demonic vortex, the Earth Demon Spider Veins covering the Blood River Patriarch's body spread at an accelerating rate. In barely the blink of an eye, his entire body was almost completely covered in the black web of lines, and he had absolutely no power to resist.

At this point, Daoist Qingyu, standing at the edge of the dark pool, withdrew her gaze from the large black cat before her and looked toward the demonic vortex where the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress had gone.

Confirming that Li Musheng was nowhere nearby, she hesitated for just a moment, then raised a hand and drew the similarly immobilized Ten Thousand Malice Demonic Sect Master into her grip.

Then Daoist Qingyu's figure vanished from where she stood, appearing inside the demonic vortex in the next instant.

Seeing Daoist Qingyu arrive, the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress, who had been circulating the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Art to absorb the cultivation from the vortex, showed a clear flash of wariness and guard.

But Daoist Qingyu showed no intention of moving against her.

The gentle and kindly expression on her face gradually gave way to a trace of demonic greed, and while her aura remained outwardly unchanged, she began circulating the same Heaven-Devouring Demonic Art that traced back to the Demonic Patriarch, drawing in the demonic cultivation from the vortex in deep, massive drafts.

At the sight, a cold gleam passed through the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress's eyes, "I have cultivated the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Art for decades. You have practiced it for less than a month. Tonight let us see between us who can draw more of the Demonic Patriarch's cultivation."

The moment those words fell, the void behind the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress began to tremble, and six pitch-black devouring demonic vortices materialized from it, waves of demonic energy surging straight to the sky. In an instant, the area was swept up in a furious and ravenous absorption of the surrounding true qi and the demonic cultivation within the vortex.

Daoist Qingyu raised her eyes, ablaze with demonic light, and looked at the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress for a moment, then allowed a faint flicker of contempt to show.

In the next instant, seven and a half devouring demonic vortices materialized around her own body.

The demonic light blazing within those vortices was fierce and wreathed in demonic script, radiating an aura of profound terror. The ferocious devouring power within them was like the pull of a deep abyss, endlessly consuming everything around them.

The reason there were only seven and a half vortices around Daoist Qingyu was that the eighth had not yet fully formed, appearing in a half-solid, half-incorporeal state.

But even so, the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress's face flooded with shock at the sight, her disbelief plain, "How is this possible? I toiled for decades and produced only six devouring vortices. You have had the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Art for less than one month. How have you reached this level?"

Daoist Qingyu's expression remained even, the demonic light and the gleam of greed in her eyes flickering subtly. She shook her head gently, "The gap between people is a simple truth. Your Majesty should not need it explained."

At those words, a look of displeasure crossed the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress's withered face, though her furious absorption of the demonic cultivation from the vortex did not slow for an instant.

Before long, she reined in her expression and said, "I see now. You are relying on the demonic text you have in hand."

As she said this, she narrowed her eyes at Daoist Qingyu, "I want your demonic text. Name any condition you wish. Whatever I have, I will give you."

At those words, Daoist Qingyu said nothing at all.

The demonic energy around the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress surged, her aura climbing at an unimaginable speed. But this was not an act aimed at Daoist Qingyu. It was the surge of power coming from absorbing the demonic cultivation, and Daoist Qingyu on the other side was doing the same, her aura growing deeper and more fathomless by the moment, like a vast and bottomless ocean.

"My character is something you can trust. Did we not have quite a successful arrangement before, trading the Demonic Patriarch's legacy for the Longevity Scripture in your possession? Each of us got what we needed."

The Sun and Moon Demonic Empress was not giving up, and spoke again, still coveting the demonic text in Daoist Qingyu's hands.

He had by now fully grasped that the demonic text was something extraordinary. Something that allowed one to learn any demonic art in a single glance, and to advance the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Art to this level in such a short time, could rightly be called the supreme heart method of the demonic path.

But Daoist Qingyu shook her head, "Everything this poor nun wanted from you has already been obtained. There is nothing left on your person that interests this poor nun."

At those words, the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress's expression turned somewhat unpleasant. She searched her mind for anything Daoist Qingyu might possibly want.

But she came up with nothing.

The Daoist before her was far more unfathomable than she had imagined, and impossible to read.

Take the Longevity Scripture, for instance, capable of extending one's life by two hundred years. Even within the Azure Cloud Temple, the number of people who knew of it was tiny. By any reasoning, even with the Great Xuan court's extensive network of informants across the martial world, it should have been nearly impossible to learn of something that closely guarded.

And yet the news had reached her ears several months ago, through some channel she had never been able to identify.

And so she had dispatched the Great Xuan palace's experts to slip quietly into the Azure Cloud Temple and bring Daoist Qingyu to the palace.

Only afterward had she understood that everything had in fact been a scheme laid by Daoist Qingyu herself from behind the scenes.

The news about the Longevity Scripture had been deliberately spread by Daoist Qingyu, the purpose being to get herself inside the Great Xuan imperial palace and obtain the Demonic Patriarch's legacy.

When all was said and done, the Great Xuan emperor had been played. Only neither of them had been able to truly get the upper hand over the other, and in the end they had struck an arrangement.

The Great Xuan emperor received the Longevity Scripture, and Daoist Qingyu received what she had come for, the Demonic Patriarch's legacy.

That would have been the end of the matter, but neither the Great Xuan emperor nor Daoist Qingyu had anticipated the wildcard that was Li Musheng.

He had even forced the Great Xuan emperor to retreat and lie low, and hand the throne temporarily to Zhao Kuang, that unfilial wretch.

But thinking of this, the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress seemed to remember something, and narrowed her eyes at Daoist Qingyu again, "I was willing to pay a great price and you would not hand me the demonic text. Yet that Eighth Prince of Great Li asked for it casually and you gave it to him without hesitation. Why such different treatment?"

At those words, Daoist Qingyu gave the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress a look, and a flash of contempt passed through her eyes, "This poor nun does not intend to be disparaging to Your Majesty, but Your Majesty should be self-aware. You need only ask yourself honestly whether there is any comparison to be made between you and that Eighth Prince of Great Li."

"Or whether Your Majesty's strength amounts to even one part in ten of his. And why, if you wished to act against him, you did not dare raise a hand."

Faced with Daoist Qingyu's calm and measured words, the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress's face went alternately red and pale, but very quickly she reined her expression in and became entirely blank.

"I understand now. You are a deeply calculating person who never takes a loss. That you were willing to give away the demonic text of your own accord must mean you had purposes no one else knew about."

The Sun and Moon Demonic Empress's eyes flickered. On the surface Daoist Qingyu belonged to the Azure Cloud Temple, a righteous sect, but in reality she was no lesser a demon than the Great Xuan emperor himself.

And someone who had successfully played the Great Xuan emperor was absolutely not to be treated lightly.

Li Musheng might appear to have obtained the demonic text from her, but he had very likely already fallen into a trap she had laid.

Taking it all together, this Daoist was truly someone to be feared.

Daoist Qingyu made no reply to the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress's words, and simply continued absorbing the demonic cultivation from the vortex.

Meanwhile, down at the edge of the dark pool, the large black cat, finding that no one was paying any further attention to it, went back to crouching at the pool's edge and using its paw to bat at the water and the seven-colored halo that covered it.

It had been perfectly clear when it arrived earlier. This was the Qingxuan Temple the Hidden Intelligence Bureau agent had mentioned that night, the one said to hold a martial divine treasure.

And the people sprawled around the pool's edge, Daoist priests and demonic figures alike, all in an unknown state between life and death, confirmed that what the agent had said was not false. There was definitely something wrong with this pool. Something valuable was definitely hidden inside it.

With that thought in mind, the large black cat's round green eyes spun in restless circles, peering into the pool at intervals.

It was right here at the pool's edge and was completely unaffected, not collapsing unconscious like everyone else around it.

That proved that the large black cat was simply gifted beyond the ordinary, and was completely immune to the pool's effects.

Or, to go one step further, it and the martial divine treasure inside this pool were fated to meet. Perhaps the treasure within was meant to be its great fortune.

The thought made the large black cat itch as though something were scratching at it from the inside.

It paced back and forth along the pool's edge for a few steps, then set its jaw, let out a meow, leaped up, and dove headfirst into the dark pool.

Wenyue, not far away, watched all of this with an unusual expression, but did not move to stop it, clearly showing some wariness of the pool.

Then she turned to look at the demonic vortex blazing with energy in the air above, her expression unreadable.

...

In the black of the Taixuan City night, Theft Saint Bai Wuying, who had been quietly tracking Li Musheng, had extremely sharp perception.

When he saw from a distance that Li Musheng had suddenly put down the large black cat he was carrying, he sensed something was wrong and guessed that his own movements had probably been detected.

Though he was supremely confident in the movement technique that had made him legendary, and though in his years roaming the martial world and pulling off countless heists he had always been able to slip away undetected even through the guard of countless martial world experts, he believed the tracking he was doing now should have been effortless.

But when Li Musheng turned around in the next moment, Theft Saint Bai Wuying did not hesitate for an instant, immediately pulling back at speed.

"Some skill to you. But I want to see whether your movement technique can keep up with mine."

Though Bai Wuying had retreated, there was a mocking look on his face.

He could naturally sense that the moment Li Musheng turned around, he had begun pursuing him.

But Bai Wuying was entirely unbothered by this, and even looked forward to it.

After all, he was the Theft Saint, the peerless master of movement technique throughout the entire martial world. Even if the other's finger art was formidable, if it came to a contest of light movement technique, it was another matter entirely.

The way Bai Wuying saw it, tonight he would give Li Musheng a thorough run-around and make him understand what it meant to always find a greater master.

And that would also let that little troublemaker Bai Xiaotang see that this supposed great expert could not even touch the edge of his robe, let alone string him up and beat him.

With those thoughts in mind, Theft Saint Bai Wuying glanced back, then deliberately let himself be seen briefly in the darkness.

As though making a taunt at the approaching Li Musheng, his figure vanished in the next instant and shot away into the distance.

Li Musheng, watching from a distance, raised an eyebrow with a slightly puzzled look, "This isn't some ruse to lure me away from something, is it?"

Mainly because this person was being excessively showy. He suspected it might be some trick Daoist Qingyu had arranged to draw him away.

But thinking it over, he had left something with the large black cat. That cat was probably not going to die no matter what happened to it.

"Won't take much time either way. Let me see what this skulking tail is about."

Li Musheng shook his head, launched into motion, and continued after Bai Wuying's vanishing figure.

Theft Saint Bai Wuying kept one part of his attention on what was behind him while his figure moved like a shadow on the wind, the landscape rushing away beneath him in an instant.

After a brief stretch, Theft Saint Bai Wuying suddenly furrowed his brow, then turned around and stopped.

He could no longer sense Li Musheng's presence anywhere behind him.

"That's all? I wasn't even at full effort, and he's already lost, with not even a shadow left to follow?"

Bai Wuying shook his head as he looked into the dark night sky, privately thinking he had perhaps overestimated Li Musheng after all.

Granted, the man's movement technique was decent, but compared to the Theft Saint, it fell well short.

"And really, when it comes to speed and footwork, who in this entire martial world can compare to me, the Theft Saint who comes and goes without a trace?"

Bai Wuying let out a quiet sigh, hovering in the air and waiting for Li Musheng to appear, feeling somewhat the loneliness of those at the peak, where the cold was too much to bear.

But just at that moment, a young voice suddenly sounded at Bai Wuying's ear, "So you are the Theft Saint?"

At those words, Bai Wuying's eyes changed sharply.

In nearly the same instant, the space around him rippled, and he vanished from where he stood, leaving only faint eddies behind.

When he reappeared, he was already ten zhang away.

Only then did Bai Wuying look back toward the spot where he had just been standing, and found a young man hovering in the air not more than a few chi from where he had been.

It was Bai Wuying's first time seeing Li Musheng's face directly.

And his first impression was... how absurdly young. This young man was simply far too young.

His second reaction came immediately afterward, and it was deep internal shock.

He had assumed he had put considerable distance between himself and Li Musheng.

But Li Musheng had not only caught up, he had appeared at his side without Bai Wuying noticing a single thing.