Chapter 414: The Powers

Cao Gaoshan's weathered face went briefly still. He had mentioned his martial cultivation specifically in hopes of intimidating the young girl before him and getting her to agree to let their group stay at the inn.

What he had not expected was that upon learning of his Heaven-Human level cultivation, she still refused without the slightest hesitation.

The young girl, seeing that Cao Gaoshan and the others clearly had no understanding of this place's rules, gave a cold laugh, lifted her pale chin, and said, "What good does being a Heaven-Human expert do you? If you walk into this Western Desert without understanding the rules at all, you will end up dead and won't even know how it happened."

With that, without waiting for Cao Gaoshan and the others to ask further questions, she sat herself down at a table in the inn's main hall.

Her eyes were bright and quick. She glanced at Cao Gaoshan, and an air of someone who liked to lecture others settled across her finely shaped face. She spoke with self-satisfied composure, "Given your decent strength, I suppose I can grudgingly explain things to you all."

"But once I tell you, you cannot keep pestering me afterward."

At those words, Cao Gaoshan and the others exchanged a glance and said nothing. Having followed Li Musheng, they had seen plenty of storms in their time and were not the least bit intimidated by the young girl's verbal threats.

If anything, like Li Musheng, they found themselves curious about the rules the girl was referring to.

Besides, this was the first time any of them had set foot in the western desert wilderness, and understanding some of the local conditions would only help with what lay ahead.

The only one impatient was the large black cat, which Li Musheng had stopped earlier. Its paw flexed open and shut, and it wanted nothing more than to give the irritating young girl a swipe right then and there.

"This Western Desert does not belong to Great Xuan, Great Chu, or any of the five dynasties. The ones who rule this territory are six powerful factions."

At this point, the young girl spoke with a swaying tilt of her head, then extended six slender fingers and continued, counting them off, "These six factions are split into two cities, one tower, and three markets. Anyone from the five dynasties who enters the Western Desert is almost certainly walking to their death. Only those with credentials connected to these six factions can survive in this wasteland."

At this, she swept Cao Gaoshan and the others with a look and raised her voice deliberately, "And that is the rule of this town. If you have no credentials from the six factions, anyone in this town can move against you at any time. Killing you would be no different from butchering cattle or sheep, with no hesitation whatsoever."

"I have no particular ill will toward you, but you are a liability for me. Sheltering you would offend the six factions, and then this inn of mine would never be able to operate again."

At those words, Cang Yinyue and the others all furrowed their brows slightly. Shen Anran fell into thought and asked, "The two cities, one tower, and three markets you mentioned, do you mean White Emperor City, Banyun City, the Mirage Tower, and the Sand Sea, Yellow Spring, and Hill markets?"

"That is correct."

The young girl gave a small nod and looked at Shen Anran, "It seems you are not entirely uninformed. But if you have heard of these six factions, then you should also understand how formidable they are. The wise thing would be to leave quietly, before you lose your lives."

But as the young girl scanned the group, she found that Cao Gaoshan and the others remained entirely unmoved, and were in fact regarding her with rather peculiar expressions.

At the same time, the large black cat, having heard everything the young girl said, was now thoroughly "starved" for action. It suddenly leaped up and tried to ambush her directly with its claws.

It had heard her say "White Emperor City" among the six great powers, and immediately decided this whole speech was nothing but nonsense, and that scratching her was thoroughly deserved.

At the sight, the young girl jumped up from her stool, transformed again into a flicker of afterimages, dodged the large black cat's attack in an instant, and reappeared back behind the counter where she had been.

"What is wrong with you people?"

The young girl's face was full of fury. She planted her hands on her hips and shouted, "I was being kind enough to warn you, and yet you respond with such ingratitude. Truly throwing kindness to the wind."

With that, she waved them off and tried to drive them out, "Go, go, go. If you want to die that is your business, but do not drag me into it."

Li Musheng glanced at the young girl, and in his mind a famous scene from a certain ancestor surfaced unbidden. What good is being able to fight? You need backing in this world, you need connections...

"Well, it just so happens I have all of that. And more importantly, I genuinely can fight."

Li Musheng rubbed his chin, then turned his gaze toward the young girl and asked with a meaningful tone, "Little girl, have you heard that the martial world has recently produced a remarkably formidable young man?"

"Who?" the young girl asked, looking at Li Musheng with suspicion.

"Think carefully. Something from just these past few months."

Li Musheng guided her along, casually catching the large black cat as it lunged for another attempt at the young girl, preventing it from interrupting her thinking.

The young girl's brow creased, and she looked between Li Musheng and Cao Gaoshan and the others, not quite understanding what he was getting at.

But after a moment of thought, something seemed to occur to her. She tapped her chin with a finger and murmured to herself, "You couldn't possibly mean that once-in-a-thousand-years prodigy from White Emperor City, could you?"

As she said this, her eyes lit up, and with some excitement she said, "That young man's reputation is enormous. They say his martial talent is unrivaled in the entire world. All of the powers from the two cities, one tower, and three markets here in the Western Desert are competing to recruit him."

"They have even mobilized experts from every faction for it, and before long there is going to be a discipleship gathering held at White Emperor City. The agreement among all parties is that only the strongest among them will have the right to take that prodigy as a disciple."

At this, the young girl turned back to Li Musheng with a puzzled expression, "But why did you suddenly bring up that prodigy?"

At those words, Li Musheng's eyelid gave a faint twitch.

He had originally intended to impress the young girl, but his enthusiasm had now faded considerably. Mainly because his attempt to look impressive had completely failed.

"Your Highness, this desert is a remote and out-of-the-way place. The people here are simple and cut off from outside news. It makes perfect sense that they would not have heard of Your Highness's reputation."

Cao Gaoshan transmitted these comforting words quietly to Li Musheng. He understood Li Musheng's feelings perfectly well, having had the exact same experience moments ago when he told the girl he was a Heaven-Human expert, only to be met with complete indifference.

"It's nothing. I was just asking out of curiosity."

By now Li Musheng's interest had faded entirely. He casually released the large black cat from his grip, then, as though nothing at all had happened, turned and headed up the stairs of the inn.

At the sight, the young girl's brow creased and she transformed into a flicker of afterimages once more, narrowly dodging another swipe from the large black cat as it leaped, then appeared blocking Li Musheng's path ahead.

But very quickly the young girl sensed something was wrong and shook her head hard.

The scene before her eyes blurred and shifted rapidly, and when her vision cleared again, she found herself still standing behind the counter.

And by then Li Musheng and the others were nowhere to be seen, the entire inn's main hall standing empty.