Chapter 389: The Demonic Path

"This young man is genuinely rare, to have such martial cultivation and such movement technique at his age."

Theft Saint Bai Wuying waited and waited with no sign of Li Musheng appearing behind him. He pulled out the wine gourd at his waist, took a satisfied drink, and murmured to himself, "But compared to me, the foremost thief of the martial world with decades of roaming behind me, in the end he still falls a little short."

As he said this, Bai Wuying slowly furrowed his brow, "Though... this young man's identity... the more I look, the more he resembles that Great Li prince."

Li Musheng's name had long since spread throughout the martial world, and Bai Wuying had naturally heard of his exploits.

And one of Li Musheng's most widely known characteristics was his youth.

There were certainly people in the world with deep martial cultivation, though not a great many. But the vast majority of them were figures who had been famous for years already, old veterans. A young person not yet twenty, like Li Musheng, was truly one of a kind.

With that thought, Theft Saint Bai Wuying's expression began to shift.

Because Li Musheng's reputation had indeed become enormous. Not only had he wiped out Falling God Peak, one of the great sects of the Great Li martial world, with his own hands alone, but there were also rumors that he had killed a Martial Saint outright, and in front of countless witnesses had openly suppressed the Assassination Saint of the Hidden Kill Pavilion.

The list of achievements was simply too dazzling. To be honest, if he were to go against Li Musheng in a genuine exchange of martial cultivation, he was not at all confident he would come out on top.

"No matter. His movement technique is inferior to mine, and as long as he cannot catch me, he cannot hurt me. The advantage is still mine."

Theft Saint Bai Wuying felt his thoughts clear, and cheerfully took another drink.

Then he turned to look up at the mountain of the Qingxuan Temple once more.

Bai Wuying naturally already understood that this was where the three demonic sects had chosen to open the Demonic Cores.

Though he had long since stopped involving himself in the affairs of the martial world, the demonic path was the common enemy of all under heaven, and these demons were trying to inherit the Demonic Patriarch's legacy.

If they succeeded, the future of the Great Xuan martial world would face yet another catastrophe beyond imagining.

He might have been willing to look the other way if he had never come across it. But having come across it, there was no way he could simply pretend he had not seen anything.

But just as Theft Saint Bai Wuying turned back and was preparing to act, he stopped.

In the next instant, he went completely still.

Because in his line of sight, atop the mountain of the Qingxuan Temple, a figure had appeared at some unknown point.

"How..."

Theft Saint Bai Wuying rubbed his eyes hard and nearly dropped his jaw, "How is it possible that it's that young man? When did he get here?"

He had recognized the figure's identity in a single glance. It was none other than Li Musheng, who he had left far behind him.

Li Musheng had somehow already made it to the summit of the Qingxuan Temple, and Bai Wuying, who had been watching the direction he came from the entire time, had not been aware of Li Musheng's arrival for even a single moment.

"Something has gone terribly wrong. How did he do that?"

Theft Saint Bai Wuying's expression was thoroughly rattled.

Not only had his deepest trick failed to fool Li Musheng with a feint. The key issue was that even knowing what he was doing, Li Musheng had somehow slipped past his perception and appeared above the Qingxuan Temple without making even a whisper.

And given his level of understanding in movement technique, unrivaled throughout the Great Xuan martial world, his sensitivity to the traces and trajectories of other people's movement was far sharper than anyone else's.

Yet even so, he had sensed nothing at all of Li Musheng's approach.

At this point, Li Musheng, hovering in the air above, glanced in the direction of Theft Saint Bai Wuying and let a voice carry over, "I think you must be getting on in years. Talking big gets you nowhere. If you have spare time, you would be better off going home and practicing more."

At those words, Theft Saint Bai Wuying went momentarily still, then very nearly exploded with fury.

"You... you..."

Bai Wuying glared up at Li Musheng in the air above, but try as he might, not a single word would come out.

Because he understood clearly that he had lost. Not just lost, he had been thoroughly beaten.

He had not even managed to see clearly how Li Musheng moved. The mastery Li Musheng had attained in movement technique was obviously far beyond his own.

For a moment, Bai Wuying fell into silence, and for a long time said nothing at all.

Li Musheng above had already looked away, his gaze now directed at the demonic vortex blazing with enormous demonic light that hung suspended in the air.

But Li Musheng showed no intention of acting. He simply stood still in the air, as though waiting for something.

Theft Saint Bai Wuying looked up at Li Musheng's figure above the Qingxuan Temple, and slowly reined in the shock and fury on his face, muttering, "How does a person like this actually exist in the world?"

Having overwhelming martial cultivation was one thing, but being this impossibly young on top of it. The heights this person might reach in the future defied imagination.

Just a moment ago, Bai Wuying had been certain that his movement technique surpassed Li Musheng's, and that he was standing on undefeatable ground.

But as things had turned out, the one truly standing on undefeatable ground was not him, but this absurdly young man.

"What kind of luck did that troublesome little Bai Xiaotang have, to get this young man to pass her a technique?"

Theft Saint Bai Wuying's eyes shifted with unspoken thoughts. Li Musheng's movement technique was even beyond his own, and he also commanded that terrifying finger art divine skill. Someone like that would never simply give away a technique to a small beggar girl for no reason.

"Could it be... this young man has taken a liking to that troublesome girl? But she is still so young..."

With that thought, Theft Saint Bai Wuying erupted with sudden fury, "Detestable. This young man is an animal."

In the next instant he was practically shooting fire from his eyes as he glared up at Li Musheng in the air, and shouted, "I refuse to accept this. Not unless you step over my dead body first."

Theft Saint Bai Wuying's shout was enormous, reverberating across the entire area surrounding the Qingxuan Temple.

Li Musheng turned his head with a slight frown.

He genuinely had no idea what was wrong with this person. Where had that come from, completely out of nowhere?

He was fairly sure all he had done was taunt him a little. He did not think he had actually done anything to the man.

Was he really so fragile? And he called himself a Theft Saint. The composure of it was something else entirely.

Li Musheng shook his head, then looked away and could not be bothered to deal with Bai Wuying at all.

Seeing Li Musheng completely ignore him, Bai Wuying's complexion went through several more unpleasant shades.

Had this been anyone else, he would have gone over and given them a proper lesson by now, making sure they kept their distance from Bai Xiaotang.

But Li Musheng was different. The man's movement technique surpassed his own. The advantage he had always had over other martial experts was now Li Musheng's advantage over him. He knew clearly that even if he struck, he probably could not so much as touch the edge of Li Musheng's robe.

Doing that would only make him look foolish in front of this young man, and accomplish absolutely nothing.

With that thought, Theft Saint Bai Wuying's expression grew even more unpleasant. At this moment he was finally experiencing firsthand what it felt like for those martial experts whose movement technique fell short of his own, when they faced him as the Theft Saint.

Bai Wuying could not help but let out a long inward sigh. And the most unbearable part of it was that Bai Xiaotang was a devoted admirer of this young man.

She had even suggested earlier that this person would string him up and beat him. Just the thought of it was genuinely starting to get under his skin.

"What a disaster."

Just as Bai Wuying was absorbed in his thoughts, a group of experts from the seven major sects came racing in from the darkness in the distance.

In barely a few breaths, they arrived near the Qingxuan Temple and surrounded the enormous demonic vortex blazing above.

At the sight, Theft Saint Bai Wuying looked up and narrowed his eyes, but made no move.

"These demons have truly opened the Demonic Cores again."

The lead elder from the Heaven Blood Palace spoke first among the seven major sects, then swept his gaze over the area, his eyes passing over Li Musheng and Wenyue below.

"Who are you?"

Finding no demonic aura on Li Musheng, the assembled experts from the seven major sects did not immediately attack him as a demonic figure, and instead called out to ask his identity.

Li Musheng glanced sideways at them, gave no reply, and only said, "What is happening here is not something you can intervene in. I suggest you move further back and watch from a distance."

At those words, the experts from the seven major sects all furrowed their brows. Being dismissed so lightly by a young junior was clearly something they had not expected.

Even so, seeing that Li Musheng could hover in the air, they recognized his martial cultivation must not be weak.

At this point, a broad-shouldered, muscle-bound elder from the Great Spirit Sect looked Li Musheng over with a cold laugh, "Young man, quite a large mouth on you. Do you even know what is in that demonic vortex?"

"Let me be frank with you. The great demons of the three demonic sects are inside there. If you do not want to die, you would do well to get out of here while you can."

At those words, the assembled experts from the seven major sects all nodded.

They assumed Li Musheng was someone with some martial talent and ability who had let it go to his head, looking down on the senior figures of the martial world.

Once he learned that the three demonic sects' cult masters were here, even if martial world figures kept their composure, even ordinary people in the streets had heard the fearsome reputations of these demonic lords and their utter disregard for human life.

They fully expected Li Musheng to be thoroughly frightened and slink away in shame.

But what none of the seven major sects' experts expected was that Li Musheng showed not the slightest reaction, and continued hovering in the air without moving.

At the same time, several Inviting Moon Palace elders rushed to Wenyue's side, asking in concern about her situation.

The reason the seven major sects' experts had been able to find this place so quickly was largely thanks to the signal Wenyue had left for her disciples.

"Great Palace Mistress, have these demons harmed you?"

The Inviting Moon Palace elder asked, while the lead elder from the Heaven Blood Palace addressed Wenyue, "Great Palace Mistress need not blame yourself. The loss of the Demonic Core is not your responsibility alone. Now that we are all here, let us work together and stop these demons."

Wenyue swept a look over the seven major sects' experts and said nothing.

These people naturally had no idea that she had personally placed the Demonic Core in the three demonic sects' hands, nor that she had been subjected to Daoist Qingyu's Soul-Searching Technique.

Wenyue then shifted her gaze and looked simply toward Li Musheng, standing in the air.

Seeing this, the various experts from the seven major sects all showed unusual expressions, clearly not understanding why Wenyue was paying such close attention to that young man.

Just at that moment, a hoarse voice drifted from within the demonic vortex, the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress speaking, "How opportune that your seven major sects have arrived. I am on the verge of completing my demonic arts, and you will do very nicely as my sacrifices."

At those words, the demonic vortex blazed with surging demonic light, and countless demonic shadows let out howling cries. A thread of terrifying demonic pressure rolled outward like a tide, bearing down on the assembled seven major sects' experts.

In an instant, every elder surrounding the demonic vortex changed expression sharply and immediately circulated their true qi, unleashing their sects' most powerful techniques to resist the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress's oppressive force.

The true qi of heaven and earth all around roared and churned, rushing inward toward the assembled elders.

The Heaven Blood Killing Light from the Heaven Blood Palace shot straight to the sky. The Great Guardian Spirit of the Great Spirit Sect cast its vast shadow over the void. The Sword Shadows of Heaven from the Profound Light Sword Sect rose up from the earth.

Every expert from the seven major sects could feel in that first moment the terrifying pressure the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress brought to bear, and not one of them held back, giving everything they had.

But just as Li Musheng had said, what was happening here was absolutely beyond these seven major sects' elders to handle.

Especially since the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress, having absorbed the human demonic medicine and the demonic cultivation left by the Demonic Patriarch, had become something utterly unlike her previous self. Even if all seven sect masters arrived in person, it was not certain any of them could match her.

The assembled experts from the seven major sects were straining visibly to resist the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress's oppressive aura, and it was clearly an enormous struggle.

And they were now caught in an impossible situation. They could neither break through the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress's pressure nor retreat, because the moment they retreated, the terrifying force pressing down on them from above would grind them to dust.

In an instant, the assembled experts from the seven major sects all had expressions of profound anxiety. They had not for a moment expected the demon inside that vortex to have grown this powerful.

What they did not know was that the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress was deliberately holding back and had no intention of killing them outright. She was keeping them alive so she could devour their cultivation.

Otherwise, with the power she now commanded, killing these seven major sects' experts would have been as simple as lifting a hand.

Laughter rang from within the demonic vortex. The assembled elders from the seven major sects were pale, their hearts gripped with rising panic.

Just then, one elder caught a sidelong glimpse and was startled to find that the young man who had spoken so boldly before was still simply hovering in the air, apparently completely unaffected by the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress's demonic pressure.

"Could it be we truly misjudged him? Is this young man actually a genuine expert?"

One elder forced the words out through the crushing pressure, and at those words, the assembled experts from the seven major sects all shifted their eyes toward Li Musheng at once.

Seeing that Li Musheng was indeed completely fine, his expression unchanged from the very beginning, everyone felt a surge of surprise followed immediately by a flicker of hope.

As the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress had said, once her demonic arts reached full completion, their deaths would be almost certain.

If Li Musheng truly had the power to stand firm against the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress's pressure, he might be the only one present who could stop her.

"Young hero, I had eyes but could not see Mount Tai earlier. Now that this demon is on the verge of completing her arts, we ask you to act with righteousness, uphold the righteous path, and stop this demon."

The Heaven Blood Palace elder forced the request out, and the other experts all called out their pleas as well.

At those words, Li Musheng glanced sideways at them, and then suddenly gave a subtly wicked smile.

At the sight, all the elders from the seven major sects went momentarily blank.

In the next instant, they sensed to their horror that an extraordinary demonic aura was rising from Li Musheng's body.