Chapter 440: The Treasure

But after personally facing Li Musheng for themselves, even the Rakshasa Holy Lord and the other two, who had previously refused to believe it, now found they had no choice but to accept it as true.

At this point, Li Musheng withdrew his gaze from Ah Xiu. He had no particular interest right now in what everyone around him was thinking, and instead turned his attention back to examining the White Tiger Fang in his hand.

Just moments ago, through the Soul-Searching Technique, he had gone through all of the Blood Spring Holy Lord's, Ah Xiu's, and the Fifth Elder's group's memories related to the White Tiger Fang.

He hadn't realized it until he looked, but the White Tiger Fang before him was indeed a genuine treasure, and it turned out to involve no small number of secrets concerning all of these people as well.

From the Blood Spring Holy Lord's memories, Li Musheng learned that the White Tiger Fang originated from the ancient beast White Tiger, and had originally belonged to White Emperor City in the Western Desert, but had been lost and scattered far away long ago.

And about half a year ago, a mysterious figure had suddenly approached the Yellow Spring Tribe's Blood Spring Holy Lord, informing him of the White Tiger Fang's origin and its current whereabouts.

Upon learning the location of this treasure, the Blood Spring Holy Lord, though tempted by greed, had been uncertain of the mysterious figure's background and worried there might be some deception involved. He had therefore enlisted the Rakshasa Holy Lord's son, Young Master Jinchuan, to travel to the He family residence in Bianjiang City and retrieve the White Tiger Fang.

During this time, the Blood Spring Holy Lord had quietly investigated the mysterious figure. Though he hadn't been able to determine the man's exact identity, he had discovered that the mysterious figure seemed to be connected to the Qingshan Tower, an organization of Great Qi remnants.

Even so, in the Blood Spring Holy Lord's memory, the mysterious figure had never shown any other hidden motives toward him up to this point. On the contrary, the man had even informed him at a critical moment of Ah Xiu's group's scheme to acquire the White Tiger Fang, allowing him to prevent it from being stolen.

This was also the reason Ah Xiu's group, despite their long-term planning and even digging a hidden tunnel into the Yellow Spring Tribe, had ultimately failed in their attempt to steal the White Tiger Fang, their efforts falling short at the very last step.

And from the memories of Ah Xiu and the Fifth Elder's group, Li Musheng had naturally also come to understand their true origins and identities.

He had even learned, from their memories, no small number of secrets related to the White Tiger Fang that even the Blood Spring Holy Lord himself was unaware of.

"Before even reaching White Emperor City, I've already come across a treasure like this. It seems I truly am fated to encounter that ancient beast White Tiger."

Li Musheng studied the White Tiger Fang in his hand, his mood clearly quite good at this moment.

The Qilin Blood, the Azure Dragon True Qi, and the Vermilion Bird Bone had all already proven useful to him in his quest for further advancement on the martial path, having reached the point where ordinary progress was no longer possible. They represented a path he could roughly confirm as worth attempting in his pursuit of transcending the martial way.

And the ancient beast White Tiger was also one of the reasons Li Musheng had traveled so far to the Western Desert in the first place. The only regret was that, while the White Tiger Fang originated from the ancient beast White Tiger and was itself an extraordinarily rare treasure, its greatest function was actually as a key.

With that thought, Li Musheng withdrew his gaze from the White Tiger Fang in his hand and turned to look at Ah Xiu.

At this point, the Blood Spring Holy Lord and Ah Xiu's group, having barely managed to suppress their shock at Li Musheng's identity, had naturally also recalled the legendary terror of the Soul-Searching Technique.

For a moment, Ah Xiu, the Blood Spring Holy Lord, and the others all wore visibly unpleasant expressions.

The Rakshasa Holy Lord, the Ghost Prison Holy Lord, and the blind man, who hadn't been subjected to the Soul-Searching Technique, felt a quiet wave of relief, since none of them wanted their secrets laid bare for anyone to see.

What none of them realized, however, was that Li Musheng had absolutely no interest in their private secrets. He had used the Soul-Searching Technique only to view memories related specifically to the White Tiger Fang, and hadn't wasted any time looking into anything else.

"Rest here today, and remember to continue guiding us to White Emperor City tomorrow."

At this point, Li Musheng gave Ah Xiu these instructions, without bringing up anything further related to the White Tiger Fang.

After all, he now knew everything he needed to know, and had no further questions to ask any of these people.

With that, Li Musheng didn't linger in the guesthouse's main hall any further, turning and heading back upstairs to his room.

The large black cat, seeing this, didn't hesitate for a moment and immediately scampered after him.

In the guesthouse's main hall, the Blood Spring Holy Lord and the others watched Li Musheng's departing figure, their expressions shifting through a range of unspoken thoughts.

"Fifth Elder, that item... do we still have any chance of getting it back?"

At this point, a pale-faced clan member beside Ah Xiu suddenly asked in a low voice.

At those words, Ah Xiu, the small figure, and the Fifth Elder all snapped their heads around at once, glaring at him.

"Fool. If you remembered what just happened, or had any real understanding of who the Eighth Prince of Great Li actually is, you wouldn't even think to ask such an ignorant question."

The Fifth Elder scolded him in a low, dark voice, clearly worried this junior member might do something unwise that would implicate all of them.

Especially since, before they had fully understood the situation, he himself had briefly considered trying to take the White Tiger Fang from the bald-patched large black cat's paw. Even now, just thinking back on it sent a chill down his spine, and he had absolutely no intention of allowing anyone among them to repeat that mistake.

At those words, the clan member, thoroughly frightened, dared say no more, only shaking his head quickly to indicate he had simply been asking idly. After all, he wouldn't have dared move against a great demon lord like Li Musheng even if given ten thousand lifetimes of courage.

"Fifth Uncle, with things as they are, our clan's plans..."

At this point, Ah Xiu's brow furrowed deeply as she turned to look at the Fifth Elder, but the rest of her sentence went unspoken.

The Fifth Elder naturally understood what Ah Xiu meant, and shook his head, "Once we reach White Emperor City, I will personally explain the circumstances to the clan, and we can discuss our strategy from there."

With that, the Fifth Elder gave Ah Xiu a long, meaningful look, then offered a word of advice, "I've noticed you seem to have developed something of a rapport with the Eighth Prince of Great Li. During this time, you must satisfy every one of his requests without exception, and if the opportunity arises, you might even try to cultivate closer ties with him..."

At those words, Ah Xiu let out a quiet sigh. Had she known Li Musheng's true identity from the start, the entire journey would undoubtedly have been the perfect opportunity to build a good relationship with him.

But unfortunately, in Li Musheng's eyes she was probably nothing more than a guide at this point. The kind of rapport the Fifth Elder spoke of simply didn't exist. If anything, since Li Musheng had just saved all of their lives, she now owed him an enormous debt of gratitude instead.

Just then, the small figure beside them, who had remained silent throughout, let his ugly face shift through a series of expressions before finally settling into one of clear worry, "Let's set that matter aside for now. What I'm most concerned about at this moment is that this Eighth Prince of Great Li has cultivated the Demonic Patriarch's legacy, and his demonic cultivation is unfathomably deep. He's clearly fallen very deeply into the demonic path."

"If his demonic nature were to suddenly erupt while we're traveling with him, staying by his side could be extremely dangerous for us."

At those words, the Fifth Elder and the others seemed to consider this point as well, and all of their brows furrowed deeply.

Even so, after thinking it over briefly, Ah Xiu shook her head, "He seems different from an ordinary demon lord."