The Divine Martial Stars

Chapter 431 I’m a Reasonable Man

To many people’s astonishment, Qin Baojing, the Emperor of Fufeng dared to give such an uncompromising answer.

When Emperor Qin Ming was in his best days. Fufeng City was almost eradicated. Qin Baojing, that was Lord Zhenxi, was gripped by constant anxiety, Fufeng City was almost lost to Emperor Qin Ming several times. It was not until Emperor Qin Ming died in another battle that Qin Baojing began to attack other provinces to expand his sphere of influence. He also claimed to be the new emperor on account of his royal blood of the Western Qin and vowed to occupy the capital.

After all, for the time being, the Western Qin was at a loss because of the death of Emperor Qin Ming.

A rebellious lord who was nearly scared to death by Emperor Qin Ming now dared to go against Li Mu?

Many people were taken aback.

After that, almost the whole world was waiting for Li Mu’s response.

And the answer was soon revealed.

A shot of broadsword light erupted from Taibai City, then crossed thousands of miles in a trice, broke through layers of hindrances, and directly beheaded Qin Baojing, the Emperor of Fufeng, who was entertaining his ministers during a feast.

Two extraterrestrial experts who had darted forward to protect the Emperor of Fufeng were killed, too.

The strength of the two extraterrestrial experts was extremely horrible. Their aura when fully released could blot out the sky. Still, they could hardly fend off one single blow of the God of Broadswords.

To Li Mu, fetching a man’s head from thousands of miles away was as easy as picking his own pocket.

One strike was enough to do that.

The puppet ministers at the feast almost pissed in their pants.

It turned out the reason why Lord Zhenxi had been so tough against Li Mu was that he had gained the patronage from an extraterrestrial force. For that reason, Lord Zhenxi reckoned he could confront Li Mu. But soon he was proved wrong.

So was the extraterrestrial force that incited him into the revolt.

Some well-informed people who had inside information speculated that the extraterrestrial force siding with Lord Zhenxi was also a great faction from the Brilliance Immortal Galaxy, which had sent two disciples to that planet in one breath.

That force did not dare to fight against the Heavenly Devil Sect that supported Emperor Qin Ming. After all, the Heavenly Devil Sect was the top faction in the Brilliance Immortal Galaxy. That was why they avoided confronting Emperor Qin Ming directly. However, they still underestimated Li Mu, assuming that he was just a powerful individual with no backing. So, Li Mu might have taken advantage of his title and chosen to take on and provoke them.

But what they did not foresee was that Li Mu directly cut off their heads with the Broadsword-commanding Skill and Emperors’ Fire from thousands of miles away.

“Haha, they are still too inexperienced when dealing with Li Mu…”

Some people laughed derisively in secret.

By then, the force led by Lord Zhenxi completely collapsed.

And that was Li Mu’s response.

As Lord Zhenxi died, the pseudo-emperorship he established petered out.

The one playing second fiddle to Lord Zhenxi in Fufeng City helplessly submitted a written statement to tell the royal family of the Western Qin that they had surrendered.

The world was shocked at that news.

Li Mu’s response was so overwhelming, so domineering, also so effective, which was completely different from his previous style.

Many felt that after taking the first place in the world, the young man from Taibai City had undergone some changes and become more potent and scathing.

“If anyone else disobeys my orders, he or she will wind up like this!”

Li Mu’s voice resounded across the two great empires.

The Commanders of Border-provinces in Western Qin who had raised the anti-government banner now deeply regretted that decision. They all follow the example of Fufeng City by apologizing to the royal family in Qin City, begging for their forgiveness, and promising to never participate in a revolt.

The major factions and clans also had to swallow their pride and lay low.

They had to resign to the current situation.

At the same time, Northern Song’s seven rebellious lords, including the most powerful Lord Yi, immediately hauled down their colors and returned to their own territories, and gave up all the other territories they previously annexed.

Because no one had the confidence to take Li Mu’s one blow.

Today, in the martial art world of the Divine Land, no one could estimate how powerful Li Mu was. Some surmised that the young God of Broadswords might have already known the secrets of the Void-breaking Realm.

With his broadsword hanging over the world, who on earth dared to tackle Li Mu?

Li Mu’s era had thoroughly arrived.

He alone and his broadsword were enough to make the whole Divine Land shiver.

Time elapsed.

After arranging the affairs of Taibai City and the 10 cities and nine counties, Li Mu started another closed-door training.

He also intended to get himself prepared for the upcoming opening of the Tomb of the God of Sin.

Li Mu had a vague feeling that the chance to break through the Celestial Being Realm and enter the Sage Realm lay exactly in the treasure hunt in the Tomb of the God of Sin. Moreover, given that the extraterrestrial forces had sent disciples to that planet at a great cost. The treasures in the Tomb of the God of Sin was absolutely more amazing and tempting than he had expected.

What Li Mu did in closed-door training was to completely consolidate his cultivation at the third step of the Celestial Being Realm and to combine the power of the Eastern Wood Emperor, the Southern Fire Emperor, and the Central Yellow Emperor into one.

When combined, the first two’s forces produced the Emperors’ Fire. Then, what could happen when the three emperors’ forces were blended together?

On that day, the hand made of sand and gravel that shot out from the underground at the gate of Longcheng Pass’s main government and seized the ankles of the members of major factions and clans to make them unable to move was precisely conjured up by the earth power of the Central Yellow Emperor.

In terms of practicing the five qi, the martial arts practitioners in that world usually majored in the refining of one kind of qi and minored in the other four kinds of qi. They strove to produce their own natural qi with the Mediation Approaches of their own factions. Few majored in all the five kinds of qi at the same time as Li Mu did, for their Cultivation Method forbade them from doing that. But the Xiantian Skill Li Mu had been practicing was the one that required no fixed types of qi, which made it possible for Li Mu to major in the five kinds of qi at the same time.

Time flew by.

In a flash, a month passed.

The Divine Land had never been more peaceful.

Since Li Mu issued the three orders, in the foreseeable future, no one ever had the nerve to challenge the majesty of the world’s top one, so every place embraced an eventless period.

It was just that how many undercurrents were surging under the tranquilized surface was unknown.

In the Northern Song and Southern Chu, a lot of large factions were destroyed overnight and all their members turned into ashes. However, there was no clue that led to the culprits, so each of the major factions were concerned about their own safety.

It was at the end of autumn. The sky was clear and the wind was chilling.

After talking with Li Mu who had finished his closed-door training, the eldest princess, Qin Zhen, finally made a choice and took her younger brother, Qin Zheng, to head for Qin City, the capital.

She had decided to take back everything that belonged to her matriarchal family and also help her younger brother to get back what should belong to him.

As the little prince’s teacher, Bai Mochou naturally traveled along with them.

She had curiously persuaded Shangguan Yuting to go on that trip. After that, Bai Mochou had a “serious” meeting with Li Mu. When Li Mu surprisingly found out that he could not do anything to that 10,000-year-old female ghost despite his powers, he reluctantly agreed to let her and Shangguan Yuting go to the capital at last.

The impression of Bai Mochou Li Mu held was renewed over and over again.

He could not deny that the female ghost was hard to deal with.

And when Bai Mochou traveled, she naturally took Long’er, that little demon of dubious background, along with her.

Besides them, the one that was also on that journey was Qiu Yin, the Broadsword Man.

He had made some progress in martial arts practice, too. Having successfully digested the insights he gained in the Everlasting Heaven, his strength had been greatly improved. Thus, he was very confident to escort both Qin Zhen and her younger brother to the capital before he headed for the Guanshan Pasture.

Qiu Yin also had something he wanted to get back.

In Jianghu, other than the things lost involuntarily, there were some things that a man got to retrieve by himself, regardless of timing, or right or wrong. If he could get them back when he was alive, he ought to ask some other living soul to pick them up.

After seeing off Qin Zhen and her party, Li Mu took Qing Feng, Ming Yue, and Daji, the little fox spirit, to set off for the Northern Song.

The opening of the Tomb of the God of Sin was around the corner.

Five days later, Li Mu arrived in Lin’an, capital of the Northern Song.

In the late autumn, endless leaves were falling off.

The Northern Song had the most distinct four seasons. When the autumn came and all the leaves turned yellow, Lin’an looked even more beautiful.

Opposite to the tense atmosphere before the coming storm, the current Lin’an City had let its four gates wide open. Local folks, travelers, and businessmen were bustling in and out of the city. Lin’an became prosperous again.

Among the three empires in the central region of the continent, the commerce of the Northern Song had been the most developed since ancient times. It was an empire based on its flourishing commerce and trade. The free market had withered because of the revolt of the eight lords. But In the past year, with Li Mu’s orders, the turmoil had completely subsided. Driven by profits, merchants and caravans from all over the Divine Land reappeared in droves and made Lin’an once again abound with products and wealth.

Li Mu and his party stayed at Lord Virtuous the Eighth’s residence.

Lord Virtuous the Eighth warmly entertained them. During the welcoming banquet, the lord made the proposal again, saying that he hoped Li Mu could settle down in Lin’an. But Li Mu politely rejected him as the last time.

The next day, the emperor of the Northern Song invited Li Mu to the imperial palace, but Li Mu turned him down as well.

Nowadays, Li Mu had controlled the fate of the whole world with his extreme martial power. Even the emperor of an empire could not show the slightest prestige in front of him. Compared to the former Nine Superbs, Li Mu was now enjoying a much higher status.

So, one could imagine the disappointment the emperor of the Northern Song felt.

On the third day, a fairly large-scale earthquake occurred in Lin’an, causing thousands of casualties. But it did not attract much attention from the officials of the Northern Song.

“Tomb of the God of Sin will soon open up.”

Li Mu, yet, sensed something unusual from the earthquake.

Because he was clearly aware that there was a large amount of Spiritual Qi absurdly surfaced from beneath the earth, as if leaked from somewhere underground. It was exactly that Spiritual Qi eruption that gave rise to the earthquake.

In the afternoon of the same day, an even larger earthquake occurred.

Li Mu hovered over the city of Lin’an and overlooked the place through his Third Eye. Then, he directly advised Lord Virtuous the Eighth to evacuate the residents and the army in the city as soon as possible. He believed the frequency and scale of the earthquake would only escalate and perhaps the entire Lin’an would soon be affected.

That came as a shock to Lord Virtuous the Eighth. Without further ado, he hurried to the palace to meet the emperor.

However, the news he brought back was not very good.

Because the young emperor of the Northern Song was rather disapproving toward Li Mu’s proposal, for Lin’an was the origin of the Northern Song, the blessed land of their rising. To abandon the capital was a huge deal for any emperor…

Li Mu deliberated it for a moment, then said to Lord Virtuous the Eighth Way, “I can fully understand why His Majesty has such concerns.”

At that, Lord Virtuous the Eighth sighed in relief.

On the way back, he was worried that Li Mu would fly off the handle when he broke the news to him. Yet, he never knew Li Mu’s reaction was so mild.

Li Mu went on, “After all, I am also a reasonable person.”

Lord Virtuous the Eighth nodded. “Yes, Sage Li surely know what is the right thing to do. I thank you on behalf of His Majesty…”

However, Li Mu ignored him and plowed on. “As a reasonable man, I decided to reorganize my language once again. Say, before tomorrow dawn, I will need to hear the imperial edict ordering the people in the city to get out of the city. Otherwise, I will personally strike and wipe out the royal family of the Northern Song. None will be spared.”

“Er…” Lord Virtuous the Eighth was dumbfounded.

In what way did that seem reasonable?

He was astounded to see that Li Mu, who was usually extremely easy-going, suddenly turned hostile and became so overbearing and unreasonable.

Even so, he dared not to turn a deaf ear to Li Mu.

After all, who was Li Mu?

If putting aside his status as the strongest practitioner in the martial arts world, he was still known as the royal terminator and mourner, because almost the entire royals of the Western Qin, from the emperor, the crown prince, to the ordinary prince and lords, had died in Li Mu’s hands.

If he said that he would wipe out the royals of the Northern Song, he did mean it. Because he was totally capable of that.

The Western Qin royal family had suffered heavy casualties. The royals of the Northern Song certainly did not want to follow in their footsteps.

Lord Virtuous the Eighth did not dare to say anything but went straight back to the imperial palace to see the emperor again.