Chapter 442: Setting Out

Through Ah Xiu and the others' memories concerning the White Tiger Fang, Li Musheng had naturally learned their true identities as well.

The ancient city of Jingjue, reportedly the most prosperous and powerful presence in the entire Western Desert a thousand years ago, was said to have been so dominant that even the Mirage Tower, one of today's six great powers, would have had to bow before it back then.

But at some point, the ancient city of Jingjue had apparently provoked some unimaginable catastrophe, ultimately leading to the city's destruction. It had vanished from the Western Desert's historical record almost overnight.

The clan to which Ah Xiu and the others belonged was made up of the last surviving descendants of that ancient city.

Their purpose in trying to obtain the White Tiger Fang was to revive their clan and restore the ancient city of Jingjue to its former glory.

Of course, Li Musheng had no particular interest in their clan's grand plans, nor any intention of getting involved in such matters.

What interested him was that, based on what he had learned from Ah Xiu's memories, the surviving descendants of the ancient city of Jingjue seemed to possess knowledge of many ancient secrets concerning the Western Desert and even White Emperor City itself, particularly secrets related to the ancient beast White Tiger.

Only, these secrets were apparently unknown even to the Fifth Elder and Ah Xiu themselves, known only to a small group of clan elders within the ancient city of Jingjue who had lived for at least a hundred years or more.

"These people all seem to have their eyes set on White Emperor City."

Li Musheng's expression turned thoughtful. The White Tiger, like the Qilin and the Azure Dragon, was one of the legendary ancient divine beasts and savage beasts of old, but information about these creatures circulating in the martial world today was extremely limited.

The ancient city of Jingjue, as the oldest known presence in the Western Desert, likely had descendants who knew at least some passed-down secrets related to these matters.

If such information truly existed, it could potentially prove useful to his pursuit of transcending the martial path.

Even so, Li Musheng was in no particular hurry about this, since he was going to White Emperor City regardless.

Besides, he now held in his possession the White Tiger Fang, the key capable of opening the Tomb of the White Emperor.

From the memories of the Fifth Elder, Ah Xiu, and the others, Li Musheng had learned exactly what they hoped to accomplish with the White Tiger Fang.

According to the plans of the ancient city of Jingjue's surviving descendants, they intended to gather together in White Emperor City before long and attempt to open the Tomb of the White Emperor, with the White Tiger Fang serving as the key to unlock it.

Of course, Li Musheng wasn't entirely certain whether the White Tiger Fang was the only key needed to open the Tomb of the White Emperor. After all, judging from Ah Xiu's memories, her clan had spent nearly a hundred years preparing for this particular endeavor.

It seemed unlikely they would put all their eggs in one basket. Even without securing the White Tiger Fang, they likely had other backup plans in place.

This, in turn, suggested that this oldest surviving lineage of the Western Desert should not be underestimated, and almost certainly held in their possession no small number of secrets unknown to the wider world.

"Good. I have high hopes that this trip to White Emperor City will yield quite a bit."

A look of anticipation crossed Li Musheng's face. He put away the White Tiger Fang in his hand and returned to studying his martial arts.

...

Back in the guesthouse's main hall, after Li Musheng's departure, the three Yellow Spring Holy Lords and Ah Xiu's group passed the time without incident.

Meanwhile, throughout the Yellow Spring Market, various martial world factions were stirring with undercurrents of activity, all rushing to send word across the Western Desert about what had happened in the Yellow Spring Market that day.

The sudden appearance of such an overwhelmingly powerful and terrifying demon lord in the Western Desert, who had single-handedly subdued three Yellow Spring Holy Lords on his own, was undeniably one of the most significant pieces of news the entire Western Desert had seen in recent years.

Faced with a demon lord of such caliber, the various factions of the Western Desert naturally couldn't afford to be careless. Though no one yet knew his purpose for coming here, all of them understood they needed to prepare countermeasures as soon as possible.

Within the Yellow Spring Tribe itself, with all three of their Holy Lords now gone, the remaining guardians immediately convened a council of their most capable experts.

Even so, regarding the matter of rescuing the Rakshasa Holy Lord and the other two, none of the assembled Yellow Spring experts dared raise such a suggestion, and no one even brought it up.

After all, if even three Holy Lords had been subdued by Li Musheng, attempting to move against him with their own strength would be no different from courting death.

In fact, no one within the entire Yellow Spring Tribe dared even approach the guesthouse, fearing that doing so might provoke some misunderstanding from this great demon lord and bring catastrophic ruin down upon the entire Yellow Spring Tribe.

For a time, the entire Yellow Spring Tribe within the Yellow Spring Market fell into complete and total silence. And so, Li Musheng's group rested peacefully at the guesthouse for the night.

The following morning, Cang Yinyue and Shen Anran, having washed off the dust and grime of their long journey, changed into clean and beautiful clothes, both in noticeably good spirits.

The bald-patched large black cat had also been thoroughly washed clean, its remaining fur restored to its former glossy black sheen. Even so, its killing intent toward the Rakshasa Holy Lord seemed, if anything, to have grown even more intense, as though it could hardly wait to scratch him to death on the spot.

Before long, the group, having packed up their belongings, left the guesthouse and continued their journey toward White Emperor City.

Cao Gaoshan's task remained watching over the Rakshasa Holy Lord and the other two, and he found a single camel for the three of them to share between them.

Though the Ghost Prison Holy Lord and the other two were privately quite unwilling about this arrangement, given that from the previous day to this morning they hadn't seen a single member of the Yellow Spring Tribe come anywhere near the guesthouse, and they certainly didn't dare make any demands of Li Musheng, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and accept it.

Joining the journey to White Emperor City, of course, were also Ah Xiu and the Fifth Elder's group.

Ah Xiu was needed to continue guiding Li Musheng's party, and the Fifth Elder's group had originally planned to travel to White Emperor City anyway, so they simply joined the others along the way.

"Why is this blind man still tagging along with us?"

The Rakshasa Holy Lord, seated tightly together with the Blood Spring Holy Lord and the Ghost Prison Holy Lord on the back of their shared camel, turned to look back at the blind man following behind, then asked Cao Gaoshan.

The blind man bore a blood feud with the Rakshasa Holy Lord over his son's death, and though the Rakshasa Holy Lord wished he could grind the man's bones to dust, having lost his martial cultivation, he was simply no match for him now.

"Don't worry. With my young master here, he won't dare make a move against you."

Cao Gaoshan shook his head, then glanced at the blind man and said, "Besides, the road to White Emperor City is open to anyone. I have no reason to forbid him from using it either."

With that, Cao Gaoshan paid the Rakshasa Holy Lord no further attention, riding his camel forward to continue the journey.

At those words, the Rakshasa Holy Lord shot the blind man a dark, malicious look, but said nothing more.

The blind man, gripping his broken bamboo staff, followed along behind Li Musheng's group at a measured distance, neither too close nor too far, remaining silent and detached throughout, as though he were nothing more than an irrelevant, unremarkable traveler on the road.

As Li Musheng's group departed from the Yellow Spring Market, everyone connected to the Yellow Spring Tribe and the various martial world factions throughout the Yellow Spring Market undoubtedly let out a quiet sigh of relief.

This terrifyingly powerful demon lord hadn't gone on a killing spree in the Yellow Spring Market, and everyone present felt as though they had narrowly escaped with their lives.

This was especially true for the people of the Yellow Spring Tribe, who had spent the entire previous night in a state of nervous anxiety, with more than a few of them having quietly fled in secret, all of them terrified that Li Musheng's demonic nature might erupt and destroy the entire Yellow Spring Tribe.

Fortunately, the night had passed without incident. The only thing that continued to worry the Yellow Spring Tribe now was that their three Holy Lords had been taken away by him.

And without any Holy Lords to anchor their power, the Yellow Spring Tribe had no way of standing against the other five great powers, which was a predicament they would inevitably have to face going forward.

"We've already sent word to White Emperor City. Let's hope the three Holy Lords manage to make it back alive."

One of the Yellow Spring guardians stood atop an earthen wall, gazing into the distance, and spoke with a heavy sigh.