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

Chapter 363 Concubine
In Zhao Kuang's view at this moment, the only condition Li Musheng had mentioned before was Master Qingyu, and judging from the other party's current reaction, it was clear that the other party was not lying.

Otherwise, the other party wouldn't have been so easy to talk to after I tested them with the Earth Vault Palace.

Clearly, the other party needs my help to find the Emperor.

He also needs the cooperation of a powerful martial arts master to contend with his father, the emperor.

More importantly, Li Musheng's martial arts prowess far exceeded Zhao Kuang's expectations. The Earthly Vault Palace, which could trap a Martial Saint, was broken open by Li Musheng with a single strike.

Such a terrifyingly powerful expert was something that not only the other martial arts masters of the Great Xuan had never seen before, but even he, as the crown prince of the Great Xuan dynasty, had never heard of or seen.

"Rest assured, Your Majesty, if my father is not here, then he must be in another secret location."

Zhao Kuang spoke with a resolute expression, his eyes burning with intensity:
"I will treat you with utmost sincerity, and once the matter is accomplished, I will never break any of my promises."

Upon hearing this, Li Musheng remained silent, simply gesturing for Zhao Kuang to lead the way, seemingly too lazy to say anything more.

Zhao Kuang didn't care. He was already bursting with excitement. He looked out of the palace and took the lead in leaving.

His father wanted to be emperor for two hundred years, which was unacceptable to him, who longed to inherit the throne.

Therefore, let him sit on the throne for the next two hundred years.

Seeing Zhao Kuang leave to lead the way, Li Musheng glanced at Zhao Muning beside him and said:
"Think carefully about my previous questions; the time for you to make a choice will come soon."

After saying that, Li Musheng slowly walked outside.

Upon seeing this, the group of martial arts masters from the Great Xuan Sect immediately followed without saying a word.

Zhao Muning stood there, her eyes shifting with uncertainty as she gazed at Li Musheng's retreating figure, her expression extremely complex.

In any dynasty, the throne has always been inherited by the eldest son of the legitimate wife or a prince; there has never been a precedent of a princess inheriting the imperial lineage.

Zhao Muning didn't know how Li Musheng could have such a rebellious and unethical idea as to instigate her, the seventh princess of the Great Xuan, to compete for the throne.
Although her mother died when she was young, she became independent and strong from childhood. Whether it was martial arts training or poetry and literature, she was second to none.

But she never coveted the throne of the Great Xuan, because she knew very well that it was not hers.

Thinking of this, Zhao Muning took a deep breath, suppressed the strange emotions surging in her heart, and then followed the group of martial arts masters in front of her.

……

This time, Zhao Kuang obviously didn't cause any more trouble.

At this moment, he really wanted to take Li Musheng to the Emperor of Da Xuan immediately, force his father to abdicate on the spot, obtain the Longevity Scripture, ascend the throne, and become the third emperor of the Zhao family of Da Xuan.

Then he would become the first emperor in history to reign for two hundred years.

He also believed that under his diligent rule, the Great Xuan would inevitably conquer the four kingdoms and unify the world, and that he, Zhao Kuang, would undoubtedly become a true emperor of all time, surpassing even the Tianqi Emperor.

Filled with immense ambition, Zhao Kuang arrived at a very inconspicuous courtyard in the imperial palace.

The palace here is extremely ordinary, and even looks like it hasn't been repaired for many years. The copper rings are green with rust and the paint on the doors is mottled, making it look like the residence of the lowest-ranking palace maids and eunuchs.

But as soon as Zhao Kuang arrived at the tightly closed courtyard gate, an invisible gaze fell upon him, instantly making his hair stand on end.

Why has Your Highness come here so late at night?

A soft, eerie voice suddenly rang out from the surrounding darkness, followed by a figure emerging from the shadows and appearing beside Zhao Kuang almost instantly.

Zhao Kuang felt a bone-chilling coldness beside him. He tried his best to suppress his fear and immediately turned around to look at Li Musheng behind him.

At this moment, the figure beside Zhao Kuang also noticed Li Musheng and the others, and he slowly turned his head.

Li Musheng didn't even glance at the other person, but simply waved his hand, signaling Zhao Kuang to push open the door and continue leading the way.

Zhao Kuang's expression changed, but the next moment, when he glanced at the pale-faced old eunuch beside him, he found that the other man was already completely blank, as if he were a clay or wooden sculpture, not moving at all.

"Your skill is impressive!"

Zhao Kuang naturally guessed what had happened, and breathed a sigh of relief. He then stopped lingering and pushed open the courtyard gate.

"Creak—!"

A low, hoarse sound broke the stillness of the night, sounding extremely jarring.

Zhao Kuang glanced at the courtyard behind the door, hesitated for a moment at the entrance, but then, thinking of Li Musheng behind him, he no longer hesitated and stepped over the threshold into the courtyard.

"Father..."

Zhao Kuang called out softly a few times towards the courtyard, and then pushed open several doors in the courtyard one by one, but there wasn't a single person inside.

But Zhao Kuang wasn't surprised. He turned to look at Li Musheng and the group of martial arts masters behind him, and explained:
"I discovered this place by chance a long time ago. After some observation, I found that my father would come in this direction almost every time he went into seclusion."

As he spoke, Zhao Kuang glanced at the old eunuch standing motionless outside the door and said:
"Moreover, this place looks dilapidated from the outside, but it is secretly guarded by such a master, which is obviously very unusual. It must be the place where Father Emperor is in seclusion."

Upon hearing this, a gaunt old man among the group of martial arts masters glanced around the empty courtyard, then squinted at Zhao Kuang and asked:
"Since you're so confident, how do you plan to find out who the Great Xuan Emperor is?"

Zhao Kuang did not answer the old man's question. Instead, he turned his gaze and began searching the entire courtyard.

Li Musheng simply watched quietly, letting Zhao Kuang do as he pleased.

Upon seeing this scene, Zhao Muning stared at her elder brother, the Crown Prince, with a somewhat indifferent gaze.

As the saying goes, the imperial court is heartless, and this was the first time she had experienced this so directly.

Seeing how relentlessly Crown Prince Zhao Kuang was trying to deal with their father, Zhao Mu Ning's feelings were undoubtedly extremely complicated.

Although her mother was not favored in the palace, and Emperor Da Xuan had many children, she received very little attention from her father from a young age.

The relationship between father and daughter was as thin as water, especially after she joined a martial arts sect, the two did not see each other for several years.

By the time she returned from her studies at the sect, the Emperor of Da Xuan had already semi-retired, entrusting all affairs of the court to the Crown Prince, and rarely appeared in public.

Therefore, Zhao Muning had not seen her father for many years, and in fact, his face was already somewhat blurry in her memory.

However, this does not mean that she would condone Zhao Kuang's rebellious act.

However, with Li Musheng around, she naturally couldn't stop Zhao Kuang now.

Thinking of this, Zhao Muning sighed inwardly, lamenting how weak her relationship with her father, the emperor, truly was!
If it were truly a deep father-daughter bond, she would at least have spoken up to stop Zhao Kuang, even at the risk of offending Li Musheng. But now, reason tells her to do nothing. In fact, when faced with Li Musheng's question earlier, she even hesitated and considered whether to give it a try.
"I am just a princess of the Great Xuan, just a woman. How could I have such great ambitions? How will my father, the emperor, face me?"

Zhao Mu Ning lowered her head and questioned herself, but just as her thoughts were racing, she heard Zhao Kuang's pleasantly surprised voice:
"found it!"

In one of the rooms in the courtyard, Zhao Kuang finally found the mechanism to enter the secret place.

"There are countless traps in this palace, but the methods of opening them are all very similar."

As the Crown Prince of Da Xuan, Zhao Kuang's familiarity with the palace was naturally far superior to that of Zhao Mu Ning and the other martial arts masters.

He then channeled his martial arts energy and struck the blue bricks on the wall several times. Then, a tunnel that could accommodate one person slowly opened up in the corner of the room.

"Your Excellency, my father is a cautious man. You must be careful in your actions from now on, lest you alert him and allow him to escape."

Zhao Kuang did not immediately enter the tunnel, but instead spoke to Li Musheng with a serious expression.

Upon hearing this, Li Musheng's eyelids twitched slightly.

It has to be said, this Crown Prince of Da Xuan is truly too "filial"!

At this moment, Zhao Kuang glanced around at the group of martial arts masters from the Great Xuan realm and then spoke up again, offering his suggestion:
"We should bring fewer people in. This way, we'll be a smaller target and less likely to cause a commotion. Also, even if Father notices, I'll have a reason to explain, preventing him from panicking and fleeing."

Upon hearing this, all the martial arts masters of the Great Xuan Sect around Zhao Kuang gave him a cold look.

However, no one said much, clearly leaving the decision to Li Musheng.

Li Musheng nodded slightly in response.

He then invited the head manager of the Jubao Chamber of Commerce, Huoyun Xieshen, and Zhao Muning, and they entered the tunnel in front of him.

"Young hero...why do you want me to come along?"

The head manager of the Jubao Chamber of Commerce, who had been being held up by the experts of the Great Xuan Jianghu, looked extremely surprised and forced himself to ask.

Li Musheng merely glanced at the other party and said calmly:
"Because I don't know the Great Xuan Emperor."

Having said that, Li Musheng said no more and had Zhao Kuang lead the way before entering the tunnel in front of them.

Fire Cloud Evil God didn't care what the head manager of the Treasure Gathering Merchant Guild was thinking. He grabbed the man, glanced at Zhao Mu Ning, and immediately followed.

Zhao Muning's face showed no emotion as she silently stepped into the tunnel.

Shortly after Li Musheng and the others entered the tunnel, the entrance to the tunnel closed silently.

The remaining martial arts masters planned to stay in the palace and wait for Li Musheng's return.

However, at that moment, wisps of colorless and odorless mist slowly rose from the room, and in an instant, the remaining martial arts masters of the Great Xuan Sect suddenly felt an overwhelming drowsiness.

"not good……"

Some experts reacted immediately and prepared to leave the room right away.

But the drowsiness came quickly and fiercely. Some martial arts masters had just escaped through the door when they collapsed to the ground like dumplings, immediately losing consciousness.

After all the martial arts masters had fallen, a woman with a slender figure and beautiful face slowly opened her eyes in the originally quiet room.

This exceptionally beautiful woman was the concubine that the gaunt old expert had strongly recommended to Li Mu.

However, at some point, this concubine had already secretly opened up the acupoints on her body, and was now able to move freely.

The beautiful woman stood up, glanced around the room, and finally her gaze fell on the white-clad woman and the white-haired Taoist nun, who were the only ones left besides the group of martial arts masters.

Just then, seemingly sensing the woman's gaze, the white-haired Taoist nun, who had been asleep, suddenly opened her eyes and instantly retreated, putting a distance between herself and the beautiful woman.

"who are you?"

The white-haired Taoist nun spoke with a wary expression, while the beautiful woman said nothing and then directly struck out with her palm, hitting the white-clad woman who had fainted on the ground.

However, at this moment, a figure who had been unconscious at the door of the room suddenly jumped up and struck the beautiful woman in the back with a palm.

Sensing the murderous intent, the woman's expression changed instantly. She immediately withdrew her palm and exchanged a palm strike with the person behind her from a distance.

The next moment, the person behind her was sent flying backwards, while the woman pressed her advantage, chasing after him out of the room, and then unleashing several more palm strikes in an attempt to subdue the attacker.

But soon, she was surprised to find that no matter how she attacked, even if she knocked the opponent away, she couldn't hurt him at all.

The person who suddenly attacked the woman was none other than Black Moon Shadow Elder.

"Don't waste your time. Apart from the young hero, even the Fire Cloud Evil God can't kill me."

Black Moon Old Man chuckled smugly, then leaped onto the wall in a flash, looking down at the woman with a mocking expression.

"Who exactly are you? In this martial world, no one has ever been able to escape unscathed after being hit by my 'Thousand Fragrance Softening Tendon Powder'."

The beautiful woman stopped what she was doing and stared at the Black Moon Elder with a look of surprise and uncertainty.

Upon hearing this, Black Moon Old Man's heart skipped a beat, and he unconsciously narrowed his eyes slightly.

As a seasoned veteran, he had naturally heard of the famous Qianxiang Softening Tendon Powder.

This item comes from the "Inviting Moon Palace," one of the seven major sects of the Great Xuan Sect. It is more widely known in the martial arts world as the "Ten Fragrance Softening Tendon Powder" and the even more domineering "Hundred Fragrance Softening Tendon Powder."

The Hundred Fragrances Softening Tendon Powder can bewitch even celestial masters, while the Thousand Fragrances Softening Tendon Powder is mostly just a rumor. It is said that even the sect leaders and cult leaders of various sects are helpless against this thing and can only stay away from it. Only the two palace masters of the Inviting Moon Palace can master it.

To be honest, Black Moon Old Man didn't expect that the martial arts energy that Li Musheng had left in his body could actually block this thing. It was simply heaven-defying!

"Are you the Grand Mistress or the Second Mistress of the Invitation Moon Palace? How come you're here as a concubine of the Great Xuan Emperor?"

The Black Moon Elder looked at the beautiful woman with a suspicious expression and asked.

At this moment, the white-haired Taoist nun, who had retreated to the corner of the room, heard this and her expression changed drastically. She stared at the beautiful woman and frowned, saying:

"No, if it was the Thousand Fragrance Tendon-Softening Powder, how could I be unharmed?"

Upon hearing this, the beautiful woman did not reply, but instead frowned and sized up the Black Moon Elder in front of her.

(End of this chapter)