After fifteen years of cultivation, he finally reached the pinnacle of the first rank!

Chapter 310 Unattainable

Three days later.

In the capital of the Great Li Dynasty, in a quiet little pavilion.

The newly appointed head of the Tianji Pavilion, Zhu Wuming, officially took over the Tianji Pavilion of Dali and began to handle some of the pavilion's affairs.

At this moment, opposite the table piled high with scrolls in front of him stood Song Xingwei, dressed in a moon-white long dress.

Zhu Wuming was about fifty years old, and was a big, burly man. He was nothing like the refined gentleman, and looked like a roughneck.

But in stark contrast to his appearance, his voice is extremely delicate and gentle, creating a striking difference.

"I am new to Shangyang City and have not yet taken over the affairs of the pavilion. There are many things I am unfamiliar with and I need to ask Miss Xingwei for advice."

Zhu Wuming had a full beard, leopard-like eyes, and thick eyebrows, which made him look somewhat "fierce and menacing" in Song Xingwei's eyes, but his voice was so gentle that it gave her goosebumps.

Song Xingwei touched the notebook at her waist, instinctively wanting to make a note of the other person's name, but ultimately held back and said with a pout:
"What do you want to know? As long as I know it, I'll definitely tell you, but..."

As she spoke, she changed the subject, looking out through the window of the attic, and said:

"However, I don't have time to answer your question today. I have to go out of the city to watch my good sister's sworn brother fight."

"Watching a fight?"

Zhu Wuming looked slightly taken aback, as if he hadn't realized what Song Xingwei was going to do.
Upon hearing this, Song Xingwei glanced at Zhu Wuming and asked suspiciously:
"No way, the news has spread throughout the entire capital, and you, as the head of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, didn't know?"

As she spoke, she reached for the booklet at her waist.

At this moment, Zhu Wuming seemed to finally remember something, and said with a look of sudden realization:

"Look at my memory. I was so busy when I first took over the affairs of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion that I completely forgot about the Eighth Prince and the Hidden Killing Pavilion."

Then he waved his hand and said:
“Since Miss Xingwei wants to go outside the city to observe the competition, I won’t take up any more of your time. Anyway, these matters in the pavilion are not very urgent, and you can ask about them later.”

Upon hearing this, Song Xingwei's face lit up with joy. She immediately withdrew her hand from the booklet and then cupped her hands in a respectful gesture, saying:
"Then please continue with your work, Pavilion Master. I shall take my leave now."

Having said that, she made no attempt to refuse or linger, and turned to leave.

However, Song Xingwei had only taken a few steps when she suddenly stopped and turned back to look at Zhu Wuming behind the desk.

Her bright, crescent-shaped eyes flickered slightly as she said:

"It is said that the mysterious Killing Saint of the Hidden Killing Pavilion will make a move this time. Such a rare showdown between masters, Pavilion Master Zhu, don't you want to go and see it? If you do go, we can travel together."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Wuming casually picked up one of the letters from the pile on the table, opened it, and looked up to say:
"Mr. Youshan resigned from his position in the cabinet in a hurry, and there are many things piled up in the cabinet that I need to deal with, so I will not go today."

Song Xingwei frowned slightly and said:
"There will be plenty of time to deal with these things later, but those extremely rare duels with top masters are something you won't get to do again once you miss them."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Wuming smiled calmly, shook his head, and continued opening the letter in his hand, saying:
"Miss Xingwei, you may not know this, but there is a saying that goes, 'Once you have seen the ocean, you can hardly be satisfied with a river.' To be honest, I was fortunate enough to witness a martial god in action, and ever since then, I have been unable to watch any other fight in the martial world."

Upon hearing this, Song Xingwei's eyes widened in shock.
"You've actually witnessed the God of War in action?"

Immediately, she moved and went to the desk, her fair, oval face full of curiosity as she asked:
"Who is it? When? How powerful is the God of War?"

"Are you kidding me?"

Zhu Wuming glanced at Song Xingwei and then smiled:

"Of course I'm not bragging."

Then, Zhu Wuming seemed to recall something and continued:

"That was about four years ago, in winter. I was traveling around the world and arrived at Xuanwu City, the northernmost city in the Wu Kingdom."

"It just so happened that the patriarch of Xuanwu City came out of seclusion. At that time, he and a group of martial arts masters in the city saw from afar that Lu Xianzhi, one of the three great martial gods in the world, and the patriarch of Xuanwu City exchanged a palm strike on the city wall. Lu Xianzhi directly sent the patriarch of Xuanwu City back to his seclusion with a single palm strike."

"The shocking scene at that time...every time I think of it, it stirs my heart and makes me unable to calm down for a long time."

Zhu Wuming seemed lost in that memory, his whole being visibly dazed. However, he quickly recovered, then lowered his head and unfolded the letter in his hand, saying:
"Although that martial god only used one palm strike, it was countless times more shocking and exciting than any duel between masters I have ever seen, and that feeling... can only be understood but not described."

Upon hearing this, Song Xingwei stared at Zhu Wuming's dignified appearance, feeling both envious and jealous, and also thinking that he was simply showing off and was really asking for a beating.

However, she could only endure it, and at the same time, she sighed heavily in her heart.

I wonder if she'll ever have the chance to witness a martial god in action. If she does, she can brag about it everywhere she goes.

"Hmm... no, my best friend's sworn brother seems to also have the potential to become a martial god. Maybe my wish might actually come true in the future."

Thinking about it, Song Xingwei's eyes suddenly lit up as she glanced at Zhu Wuming, who was looking down at the letter.

Without asking any further questions, she turned and left without saying a word.

After all, the other party witnessed the martial god's power firsthand, not she. Why should she continue to listen to the other party's boasting?

It would be better to go outside the city early and find a good spot, where you can enjoy the clearest view of the Hidden Killer's Saint and his good sister and sworn brother's exciting duel.

Meanwhile, Zhu Wuming stared at the letter in his hand, frowning as he read, and didn't pay any attention to Song Xingwei who had left.

The urgent secret letter in his hand was naturally sent by the old storyteller from the small town of Lanzhou.

It was only because the old storyteller was merely the person in charge of a small town that, even though he had sent an urgent secret letter, it was ranked last among the many matters handled by the head of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion.

Moreover, the previous Pavilion Master, Mr. You Shan, made a wrong decision to take action against Li Musheng, and before he could finish dealing with his affairs, he resigned from his position and left.

Therefore, the letter sent by the storyteller was shelved until Zhu Wuming, the new head of the Tianji Pavilion, took office, and only then was this long-unused and even outdated secret letter opened.

At this moment, after reading the contents of the letter, Zhu Wuming frowned slightly.

He was naturally very clear about Li Musheng's affairs regarding the Eighth Prince of Dali, after all, the former Pavilion Master had resigned from his position because of this matter.

In fact, this matter was extremely important among the things he needed to deal with after taking office.

He just didn't expect that Li Musheng had such an unknown interaction with the people of Tianji Pavilion in Lanzhou City.

In the letter, Zhu Wuming was also aware of Li Musheng's purpose in approaching the Tianji Pavilion.

"I see. Since he has something to ask of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, then this matter is easy to handle. It shouldn't be difficult for the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion and the other party to turn hostility into friendship." Zhu Wuming nodded slightly, and then he thought of Song Xingwei again.

According to what the other party said before, this girl, one of the seven star lords in the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, also seems to have some connection with the Eighth Prince.

"With Miss Xingwei as the middleman, what seemed like a tricky problem can now be easily solved as expected."

Zhu Wuming was in a good mood after finding a solution to Li Musheng's problem.

Immediately, he turned his gaze, picked up the envelope on the desk, and poured out a strand of black cat hair into his hand.

Then, Zhu Wuming, the new head of the Tianji Pavilion, stared at the cat hair in his hand and examined it carefully.

The black cat's fur was smooth and glossy, and soft to the touch, suggesting that it was a black cat that usually ate well.

"But why did the Eighth Prince say that I could confirm his identity just by seeing this cat hair?"

Zhu Wuming examined the cat fur in his hand with some curiosity. Then, with a thought, he gathered his martial arts true energy and gently grasped the cat fur in his hand.

The next moment, Zhu Wuming's expression suddenly changed. He immediately let go and vanished from his spot, reappearing on the other side of the small pavilion.

At this moment, Zhu Wuming was already several feet away from where he had been sitting.

His gaze was somewhat solemn as he stared intently at the tuft of black cat fur floating in mid-air behind the desk.

At this moment, the black cat fur floated still, looking quite ordinary, but in Zhu Wuming's eyes, he could sense a hidden aura that made him inexplicably uneasy.

That aura finally manifested itself when he tried to destroy the cat's fur with his true energy.

At that moment, it was as if he was holding not a tuft of cat hair, but an untouchable will.

"Could it be that this cat fur contains the true essence of martial arts left behind by that Eighth Prince?"

Zhu Wuming was clearly more knowledgeable than the old storyteller, and naturally understood and guessed the origin of the substance contained in the cat hair.

Immediately, Zhu Wuming's tiger-like and leopard-like eyes narrowed slightly. He stroked his thick beard and muttered to himself:

“That’s right. Since I don’t have time to go outside the city to witness the Eighth Prince’s skills, it’s a good choice to experience them firsthand here.”

As he thought about it, Zhu Wuming's aura suddenly became mysterious and unpredictable. Invisible true energy of heaven and earth surged into front of him, and then transformed into two terrifying clouds of black and white intertwined.

The next moment, he casually waved his hand, and the intertwined black and white clouds descended upon the tuft of cat hair floating behind the desk.

Zhu Wuming stood still, quietly observing everything. He watched as the black and white clouds enveloped the cat's fur, but suddenly, for no apparent reason, Zhu Wuming's soul trembled, and his consciousness became momentarily dazed.

He subconsciously shook his head, only to find that his vision was becoming increasingly blurry.

Zhu Wuming immediately sensed something was wrong and tried his best to circulate the vast martial arts true energy within his body. His mysterious aura became even stronger as he tried to maintain his sanity.

However, all he could see was the cat hair getting closer and closer, while everything around him was blurring rapidly, and only that tuft of cat hair became clearer and clearer.

The black cat fur seemed to transform into towering black swords, instantly filling his entire field of vision.

Before those black cat-hair swords that seemed to pierce the entire world, he grew smaller and smaller, eventually becoming an insignificant speck of dust beneath countless cat-hair swords.

Zhu Wuming subconsciously looked up, only to find that the cat fur in front of him was something he could only look up at.

At this moment, he was like an ant crawling at the foot of a towering black tree, and those cat hairs were something he could only look at but could never reach.

"how so……"

Zhu Wuming felt his consciousness becoming increasingly blurred, staring at the cat fur that resembled towering pillars, as if his consciousness was about to dissipate at any moment.

But at that moment, everything in front of him suddenly changed rapidly. The black cat-hair giant swords shrank instantly and turned into a normal tuft of cat hair in the blink of an eye.

Zhu Wuming's consciousness gradually became clearer, and he shook his head violently.

As the surrounding scenery gradually returned to normal, he realized that he was still in the same small attic, and it seemed that nothing had changed.

The tuft of cat hair he saw spilling from the envelope remained quietly suspended behind the desk, seemingly unmoved from beginning to end.

Zhu Wuming frowned immediately, and the next moment, he looked down sharply, his pupils shrinking.

Only then did he suddenly realize that he had somehow ended up kneeling on the ground.

The direction he was kneeling in was directly facing the tuft of black cat fur floating in mid-air.

He actually knelt down to a tuft of cat hair?
"This……"

Zhu Wuming suddenly touched his back again and realized that he was already drenched in sweat and cold sweat was streaming down his back.

Zhu Wuming was shocked and looked at the cat hair behind the table. Then, he showed an expression of disbelief.

"What... exactly is this true meaning of martial arts?"

At this moment, Zhu Wuming finally understood something.

Just now, it was the martial will within the cat's fur that was suppressing him.

With just a trace of martial arts essence, without even the opponent being there in person, he was forced to kneel down, utterly powerless to fight back.

Unstoppable, unattainable, and beyond reach!

It's so terrifying!
Zhu Wuming collapsed to the ground in an instant, only then realizing that he was completely exhausted.

The powerful martial arts energy that had been circulating within his body was now as thin as a thread, having dissipated and disappeared without him even realizing it.

However, he felt nothing about what was happening and had no idea what had happened.

Zhu Wuming's face was as pale as paper, and he was momentarily stunned and lost in thought, but he quickly came to his senses:
"Fortunately... the martial arts essence in that cat fur contained no killing intent, otherwise, I probably wouldn't have just dispersed my martial arts energy."

At this moment, when Zhu Wuming looked at the tuft of black cat fur again, he found that the cat fur was rapidly disintegrating, turning into wisps of ashes and falling to the ground.

(End of this chapter)