Chapter 412: The Western Desert

"Why has Great Xuan suddenly changed its position and agreed to ally with us?"

In the Great Li court, the news that the Great Xuan female emperor had sent an envoy with a formal letter prompted more than a few officials to whisper among themselves.

The Great Xuan envoy stood bowing in the center of the great hall, head lowered in respectful greeting toward the Yuanwu Emperor seated on the dragon throne, the picture of absolute deference.

Not the slightest trace of presumption showed, despite the enormous kindness Great Xuan was extending to Great Li in this moment of desperate need.

On the golden throne above, the Yuanwu Emperor read the letter personally written by the Great Xuan female emperor, and his expression gave nothing away.

The Great Xuan alliance with Great Li had in fact been communicated to him in advance by the female emperor some time ago. Today was merely the formal dispatch of an envoy to sign the written covenant between the two nations.

In the female emperor's letter, as for the reason behind Great Xuan's initiative to ally with Great Li, she offered only a single sentence: that the Eighth Prince of Great Li had shown her kindness, and she wished to form a lasting friendship with Great Li. Beyond that, not another word was written.

Though the Great Xuan female emperor had not elaborated on the specific circumstances, that single sentence was enough for the Yuanwu Emperor to confirm what the Hidden Intelligence Bureau's agents in Taixuan City had already reported.

The Yuanwu Emperor's face remained entirely expressionless. He handed the Great Xuan state letter and the female emperor's personal correspondence to the chief eunuch at his side, then looked toward the Great Xuan envoy below, gave a slight nod, and said with measured calm, "Though the Great Xuan emperor is a woman, she carries benevolence in her heart, and that is a blessing for the people of the world. I too have no wish to see the two nations at war with each other and their people suffering. From this day forth, Great Li and Great Xuan shall be allies, sworn to stand together, and the two nations shall never encroach upon each other."

A woman claiming the emperor's seat was in itself an act that flew in the face of all convention. With these words, the Yuanwu Emperor was effectively giving his personal recognition of Zhao Muning's imperial title, which was a kindness returned in kind.

At those words, the Great Xuan envoy immediately lowered his head in assent, then quietly glanced up at the Yuanwu Emperor on the dragon throne.

This Great Li emperor had been entirely composed throughout. With Great Li facing threats from within and without, the extended hand of alliance from Great Xuan was akin to rescue from the brink of destruction, an immense act of grace.

And yet the Yuanwu Emperor's response seemed almost too measured, and he had not offered even a single word of thanks to Great Xuan.

The Great Xuan envoy was privately somewhat displeased by this, though nothing of it showed on his face. He simply lowered his head and assented.

Before he had left Great Xuan to come to Great Li, he had heard quite a few things in Taixuan City, in particular about the Eighth Prince of Great Li.

Though the circumstances between Zhao Muning and Li Musheng had not been made public, the story of Li Musheng absorbing the Demonic Cores and devouring the three demonic cult masters' cultivation to become an unrivaled demon lord, as well as his breaking into the palace and releasing the martial world experts held prisoner there, was the talk of all of Great Xuan's martial world.

With a prince like that in Great Li, and one who was still within Great Xuan's borders at that, the Great Xuan court could hardly be expected not to feel a certain wariness.

"This subject's emperor has extended her wishes to help Great Li emerge from its difficulties as soon as possible. Should Great Li ever have need of Great Xuan in the future, they will give their full and unreserved support."

The Great Xuan envoy paused briefly, then spoke in a measured tone.

At those words, the Yuanwu Emperor's gaze narrowed very slightly, but nothing showed on his face. He gave a quiet nod and again said no more.

Once the formal covenant between the two nations was signed, the Yuanwu Emperor instructed the Board of Rites to receive the Great Xuan envoy, then adjourned the court and rose to depart.

The news of the formal alliance between Great Xuan and Great Li spread through the entire Great Li court within a remarkably short time.

All of Taixuan City was soon aware of it, and within less than half a day the topic was on the lips of commoners in every alley and street.

And just as the people of the imperial capital, who had been living under an oppressive cloud for days, were lifting their spirits at the news of the Great Xuan alliance, a secret imperial decree slipped quietly into the dungeon.

In the lightless depths of the dungeon, only the faint, flickering yellow light of a torch set into the stone wall offered any illumination.

Li Zhi sat cross-legged on a patch of dried grass within his cell. The true qi of heaven and earth seeped in around him in hidden streams, flowing steadily into his body, and his aura was visibly and steadily growing stronger.

At the same time, the darkness outside his cell shifted almost imperceptibly, and then the chief eunuch of the Ceremonial Directorate, Li Tianyi, dressed in a gold-thread python robe, appeared outside the bars of Li Zhi's cell without any sound of approach.

Li Tianyi had a gaunt face and hair white as snow. He looked calmly at Li Zhi seated in meditation within the cell, then let his eyes narrow slightly and began to speak, "Your Highness the Seventh Prince, His Majesty has asked this servant to deliver a decree."

At those words, Li Zhi slowly opened his eyes, and the martial aura around him retracted at remarkable speed.

He then raised his head to look at Li Tianyi outside the cell, but his expression was entirely composed, as though the arrival of the chief eunuch was something he had been expecting all along.

"Which of the three major sects does Father Emperor want me to deal with?"

Li Zhi spoke out of nowhere, his gaze fixed on the python-robed eunuch before him, and his voice was completely calm as he asked the question himself.

Li Tianyi looked at Li Zhi in return and gave a slight nod, "Your Highness carries the Emperor's deep grace, and His Majesty has always had Your Highness in his thoughts. The situation Great Li now finds itself in, I believe Your Highness has some awareness of."

As he said this, Li Tianyi raised a hand and reached forward. The heavy iron door of the cell, forged from refined metal, shattered in an instant and crumbled into threads of iron dust that drifted silently down.

At the same moment, Li Tianyi's voice reached Li Zhi quietly, "His Majesty has said that as long as Your Highness can bring down any one of the three major sects and help Great Li through this crisis, His Majesty will not only restore Your Highness's title, but will also grant Your Highness a princely fief."

At those words, Li Zhi, still seated on the dried grass, furrowed his brow slightly. He watched the chief eunuch for a moment, then asked, "Has Great Li's situation truly reached the point of a life-or-death crisis?"

But Li Tianyi shook his head, "Today Great Xuan and our court have formed an alliance, and the situation has already improved. As for the earlier matter of Great Chu proposing a marriage alliance, Princess Huarong has agreed, and she will be setting out for Great Chu without delay..."

At those words, a clear look of surprise crossed Li Zhi's eyes.

Since the last attack, security around him in the dungeon had been considerably tightened. Li Zhi had been focused entirely on cultivating his martial arts in the dungeon during this time, cutting himself off almost entirely from the outside world, and was largely unaware of recent events in Taixuan City.

Li Tianyi naturally saw the puzzlement in the Seventh Prince's face, and briefly explained the relevant context, "For the near term, Great Li can manage the border fighting adequately. His Majesty therefore intends to move decisively and plans to eliminate the three major martial world sects within three months, cutting out this source of internal strife, and is prepared to spare no cost in doing so."

Li Zhi's expression shifted through several unspoken thoughts. He clearly had not imagined that in the space of just a few months of cultivation in isolation, Great Li's internal and external situation could have undergone changes this dramatic.

Great Xuan's reversal of attitude in particular had caught him completely off guard.

Li Zhi looked at Li Tianyi and asked about the reason for Great Xuan's alliance with Great Li, but Li Tianyi only shook his head in silence.

Li Tianyi had heard certain rumors, to the effect that the circumstances were connected to the Eighth Prince. But only the Yuanwu Emperor truly knew the full details, and when the Yuanwu Emperor chose not to speak of something, no one else dared speculate or discuss it.

"From this moment, Your Highness may leave the dungeon. His Majesty will place no restrictions on Your Highness, and the deadline is three months."

Li Tianyi said this, then bowed slightly, and produced a bright yellow imperial decree on silk from within his sleeve, presenting it to Li Zhi, "A sovereign's word is not given lightly. This is His Majesty's promise to Your Highness."

Li Zhi looked at the decree being extended toward him and said nothing. He had too little information at hand to truly read what his father the emperor intended.

After years of dealings with the Yuanwu Emperor, Li Zhi had come to understand his father to some degree. Every decision the man made, every move he played, always had meaning and purpose behind it.

Though Li Zhi was inwardly certain his father would release him from the dungeon, the current circumstances were different from before, and whatever was driving this decision clearly carried some additional purpose.

Li Tianyi waited in patient silence for Li Zhi to make his choice, saying nothing throughout.

In the end, Li Zhi slowly rose from the dried grass, his face betraying no particular emotion. He then reached out and accepted the imperial decree from Li Tianyi's hand.

"Please convey my greetings to Father Emperor. This subject will do his utmost."

Li Zhi spoke quietly. He did not open the decree but tucked it into his sleeve.

Li Tianyi gave Li Zhi a long look. The Seventh Prince was a figure of rare gifts, outstanding in both civil and martial affairs among the princes, and deeply valued by the Yuanwu Emperor.

If the case of the true and false Seventh Prince had never arisen, if the monstrous Eighth Prince who had grown up in obscurity among ordinary people had never existed, the position of Crown Prince of Great Li might well have been destined for this man.

Li Tianyi felt a quiet wave of feeling, though nothing of it showed on his face. He acknowledged respectfully, bowed, and withdrew.

Li Zhi watched Li Tianyi's figure fade silently into the darkness of the dungeon and disappear.

He remained where he stood, his thoughts turning, and after a long silence, a glint slowly surfaced in his eyes. His gaze seemed to penetrate the long, dim passageway of the dungeon ahead, "Whatever Father Emperor's purpose, for me, leaving this dungeon means there is far more I can do."

...

After departing the imperial capital of Taixuan City, Li Musheng and his party traveled steadily westward, and in just under two weeks reached the western border of Great Xuan's territory. Beyond this point lay nothing but endless desert and barren wasteland.

White Emperor City, their destination, lay somewhere within that vast, lifeless expanse without a soul for a hundred li in any direction.

A blazing sun hung in the sky overhead. Cao Gaoshan drove the carriage across the wide, open desert terrain, where rolling dunes stretched in every direction like the ridge of some enormous beast, and the air was tinged with the faint but distinct scent of sun-scorched sand.

The large black cat had never seen the desert and barren wasteland before, and when they first arrived at the western border of Great Xuan it had been boundlessly excited and curious about everything around it.

But barely half a day later, the large black cat had already grown thoroughly bored of the lifeless, monotonous, and utterly desolate landscape. It had since been sprawled lazily at Li Musheng's side, showing not the slightest interest in anything outside the carriage window.

More importantly, the desert under the daytime sun was scorchingly hot and arid, while at Li Musheng's side it was pleasantly cool. The large black cat wanted nothing more than to rest its head against Li Musheng and go nowhere at all.

Li Musheng glanced at the large black cat, which had adopted the posture of a corpse, and casually pushed its enormous head to one side.

They had been traveling day and night during this stretch, and yet this cat had not lost even the slightest bit of weight. On the contrary, it seemed to be getting fatter.

"How far is it to White Emperor City?"

Li Musheng asked, his gaze drifting through the carriage window to the endless barren wasteland all around. The large black cat very sensibly rolled over at this, and went back to sprawling and sleeping.

At those words, Cao Gaoshan driving the carriage pulled a map from inside his robe, studied it carefully for a moment, and replied, "Your Highness, by my reckoning, after we cross out of Great Xuan's border territory, another seven or eight days of travel should bring us to White Emperor City."

As he said this, Cao Gaoshan looked around at the surroundings, and his brow creased, "However, there is very little human presence in this desert, and though past travelers and merchants have worn paths through it, the area is frequently battered by sandstorms and dust. Anyone not familiar with this terrain can very easily lose their way."

Cao Gaoshan, experienced as he was as a driver, had a far better sense of direction than Li Musheng. But even in this desert, he could not promise the road to White Emperor City would be entirely smooth and unobstructed.

At those words, Li Musheng raised an eyebrow slightly, though as someone with a poor sense of direction, he was in no position to ask too much of Cao Gaoshan.

At this point, Cang Yinyue inside the carriage fell into thought and said, "If I recall correctly from the map, following this road for just over seventy more li should bring us to a small town. We might be able to find an experienced local guide there, and if we are fortunate, we might even find a merchant caravan heading to White Emperor City that we can travel alongside."

Cang Yinyue had looked at the map. Though this region had few inhabitants, there were some oasis settlements and small towns scattered through the desert.

The Western Desert, however, belonged to none of the five kingdoms, and the towns within the desert were rough and lawless, home to more than their share of desperate and dangerous people. Ordinary travelers did not dare venture into them lightly.

Of course, they were naturally not ordinary travelers, and that consideration did not apply to them.

"This humble one had the same thought. If we have someone familiar with this region to guide us, we should have no trouble avoiding getting lost in the desert."

Cao Gaoshan gave a slight nod, glancing back at the carriage to await Li Musheng's approval.

"Do as you see fit."

Li Musheng waved a hand, unconcerned with the specifics.

White Emperor City was his destination, and after the considerable gains he had made in Taixuan City, he had no small amount of anticipation for what White Emperor City might offer.

After all, White Emperor City was not only the base of the Hidden Kill Pavilion, but was connected to the legendary ancient beast White Tiger. Both of those were things highly relevant to his pursuit of transcending the martial path.

At those words, Cao Gaoshan agreed and continued to drive the carriage forward.

As the sun approached the horizon, the carriage had just passed through a rocky mountain defile when the clear sound of camel bells came drifting toward them, growing steadily closer.

Cao Gaoshan narrowed his eyes and looked ahead. Deeper within the defile, the shapes of earthen walls and wooden buildings could faintly be made out, which was the town they were headed for.

On the dirt road leading into the town, a dozen or so camels wandered here and there, while in the air there lingered a faint trace of blood, subtle enough to be easy to miss.