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

Chapter 367 Taoist Priest
Just then, the Fiery Cloud Evil God's eyes flashed, and he whispered to Li Musheng:
"Young hero, there's no need to waste words with this damned emperor. Why not just take him down?"

"Use your powerful interrogation skills, young hero, and I guarantee this dog emperor will tell you everything he knows and hand over Master Qingyu obediently."

The interrogation method mentioned by the Fire Cloud Evil God naturally refers to the Life and Death Talisman.

He had experienced it firsthand and believed that no one in the world could endure such horrific pain.

However, Li Musheng glanced at the Great Xuan Emperor before him, then stroked his chin and said:
"If it were possible, you wouldn't need to tell me. But unfortunately, the one in front of me isn't the real person."

Upon hearing this, Fire Cloud Evil God and Zhao Kuang were taken aback. Then, they all looked at the white-haired old man in the dragon robe in front of them.

"Your Excellency...you mean...he...is not my father?"

Crown Prince Zhao Kuang's expression shifted between light and dark. His previous flustered and uneasy demeanor gradually disappeared, and a look of fury slowly surfaced in his eyes.

Zhao Muning carefully examined the white-haired old man, slowly shook her head, and said:

"Although I haven't seen my father for a long time, the person in front of me, whether in appearance, demeanor, or the aura of majesty, is exactly the same as my father in my memory."

Upon hearing this, the white-haired old man in the dragon robe slowly glanced around at Zhao Kuang and the others, and calmly said:
"I am naturally your father..."

However, before he could finish speaking, Li Musheng flicked his finger.

The next moment, the white-haired old man in the dragon robe suddenly changed his expression and retreated in an instant. Endless blood mist surged from all around the stone chamber and gathered in front of the white-haired old man in an instant.

Almost in the blink of an eye, a blood-red phantom exactly like it was formed.

The blood-red phantom was surrounded by demonic light and exuded a terrifying aura. It looked down at Li Musheng, raised an arm and extended a finger, about to press it down from a distance.

However, before it could even make a move, the blood-red phantom collapsed with a roar, and at the same time, the white-haired old man who was rapidly retreating suddenly stopped.

Unbeknownst to anyone, a finger hole, pierced through both ends, had silently appeared on the white-haired old man's forehead.

Zhao Kuang and Zhao Mu Ning were both stunned when they came to their senses, while Huo Yun Xie Shen showed a happy expression, but when he thought of what Li Mu Sheng had said earlier, his expression gradually became serious.

Just then, the white-haired old man with a pierced forehead stood frozen in place, his cloudy eyes staring straight at Li Musheng:
"What a promising young man! I have never seen such a talented junior in my entire life..."

The old man's voice was aged and dignified, but it revealed no emotion whatsoever; only the light in his eyes was gradually dimming.

"You are not my father, so who are you?"

Zhao Kuang stared at the white-haired old man and suddenly shouted a question, but the old man merely turned his eyes slightly, glanced at Zhao Kuang, and said:
"Kuang'er, I am naturally your father... However, the throne of the Great Xuan is not so easy to sit on. I hope you will take care of yourself."

As soon as the white-haired old man finished speaking, he slowly closed his eyes and fell backward, crashing heavily into the dark tunnel behind him.

Only a muffled sound remained, echoing in the silent underground space.

After a moment, Zhao Kuang turned to look at Li Musheng, his expression showing some surprise and uncertainty:

"Your Excellency... what's going on?"

Li Musheng remained silent, while the Fire Cloud Evil God beside him subtly changed his expression and asked in confusion:
"Young hero, are you really sure this dead dog emperor is a fake?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Muning also looked at Li Musheng with a strange expression.

"of course."

Li Musheng nodded slightly. What Huoyun Xieshen and the others didn't know was that the white-haired old man in the dragon robe was actually already a corpse.

What everyone saw was just a puppet; the one truly manipulating it from behind the scenes was someone else, and that person might be hiding deep within the tunnel right in front of them.

Just then, a rumbling sound of metal gears turning suddenly came from the stone chamber tunnel.

Then, footsteps echoed in the dark passageway.

Zhao Kuang and the others turned around abruptly, but the footsteps were getting closer and closer, clearly heading towards them.

The group remained silent, their eyes fixed on the tunnel.

Soon, in the sight of Zhao Kuang and the others, a Taoist nun dressed in a gray robe slowly emerged from the darkness of the tunnel.

The nun had a full head of white hair that cascaded over her shoulders, but her face did not appear overly aged; her eyes and brows exuded a gentle and benevolent aura.

She slowly glanced around at the group of people in front of her, finally fixing her gaze on Li Musheng, and asked softly:

"Young man, was it you who forced your way into the Great Xuan Palace tonight to rescue me?"

Upon hearing this, Li Musheng remained silent, only scrutinizing the Daoist nun before him.

Meanwhile, Zhao Kuang and the Fire Cloud Evil God were clearly a bit confused. Although they had guessed each other's identities immediately, they still felt that the development of this matter was somewhat unexpected.

They never imagined that the Daoist Qingyu, whom Li Musheng had been so eager to find, would actually walk out on his own like this.
“I come from Qingyun Temple, and my Taoist name is Qingyu. However, I can see that you seem to be confused about my identity.”

Seeing that Li Musheng did not answer her question, the gray-robed Taoist nun turned around and glanced at the corpse of the Great Xuan Emperor in the tunnel, then sighed softly.

"After the Great Xuan Emperor sent experts to capture me from Qingyun Temple and bring me to the palace, he tried every means to obtain the 'Longevity Scripture' from me."

"But I promised my grandmaster that I would never pass this scripture on to outsiders. Therefore, I would rather die than submit. I used the martial arts secrets of this temple to seal my six senses and become a 'living dead'."

As he spoke, Master Qingyu slowly shook his head and said:
"I originally thought that this would make the Great Xuan Emperor back down. If he couldn't get the whereabouts of the Longevity Scripture from me, he could just take my life and that would be the end of it."

"What I didn't expect was that the Great Xuan Emperor had already stepped into the demonic path and cultivated a top-level demonic art called the 'Soul Searching Technique'."

“Even when I have closed my six senses, the other party can still use this demonic technique to search my memories.”

Upon hearing this, a look of shock immediately appeared in the eyes of the Fire Cloud Evil God, who said:
"It's actually the Soul Searching Technique?"

As he spoke, Fire Cloud Evil God immediately looked at Li Musheng and explained:

“Young hero, I have heard of this demonic art in the Great Xuan Jianghu. It is said that this demonic art is strange and evil, originating from the founder of the demonic path, and was once part of the supreme demonic art ‘Devouring Heaven Demonic Art’.”

"But since the fall of the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, only fragments of this Soul-Searching Technique have appeared in the martial world occasionally. However, due to its incompleteness, the power of this demonic art has been greatly reduced, and it has long lost its ability to search souls." "I never expected that the Emperor of the Great Xuan would be able to collect this complete demonic art and even successfully cultivate it."

Although the Fire Cloud Evil God's words were meant to explain to Li Musheng, they were also a reminder that the Soul Searching Technique had long been lost, and it was difficult to determine whether the Great Xuan Emperor had truly mastered this demonic art.

Therefore, one must be careful that the Taoist priest Qingyu in front of you does not lie, lest you be deceived by him.

At this moment, Master Qingyu glanced at the Fire Cloud Evil God and nodded slightly, saying:
“What this benefactor says is true. The Soul Searching Technique originally belonged to the legendary patriarch of the demonic path. However, the benefactor only knows one side of the story and not the other. The demonic path that the Great Xuan Emperor entered was actually the complete demonic lineage of the patriarch of the demonic path.”

Upon hearing this, Fire Cloud Evil God and Zhao Kuang and the others were all taken aback, and immediately began to question it:

"Even the three great demonic sects of the martial world couldn't obtain the legacy of the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, so how could the Great Xuan Emperor possibly acquire it?"

"Moreover, it is rumored in the martial arts world that the Devouring Heaven Demon Art of the Demonic Founder is hidden within nine demonic energies. Only by gathering all nine demonic energies can it be revealed to the world. Since the demonic energies have not yet been gathered, how can there be a complete demonic inheritance?"

……

Faced with what the others said, Master Qingyu simply shook his head and said:

"I only learned about this after I was captured and taken to the palace. The Great Xuan Emperor actually has another identity in the martial arts world."

As he spoke, Master Qingyu glanced at Zhao Kuang and Zhao Muning, and slowly said:

"Your father is not only the monarch of the Great Xuan Dynasty, but also the leader of the Sun Moon Demon Sect, one of the three great demon sects."

"Father... he's the leader of the Demonic Sect? How is that possible?"

Zhao Mu Ning found it hard to accept what Master Qing Yu had said, while Zhao Kuang, though also showing shock, remained silent, his gaze fixed on the corpse of the Great Xuan Emperor in the tunnel.

"The theory of Demonic Origin is just a rumor among the demonic sects of the Great Xuan Jianghu. To this day, no one has been able to verify its authenticity. However, the legacy of the Demonic Sect's founder is real."

Master Qingyu turned to look at the tunnel behind him and sighed softly:

"If you don't believe me, you can go to the secret chamber at the end of this tunnel. All the demonic cultivation techniques that the Great Xuan Emperor practiced, as well as all the evidence related to his connection with the Sun Moon Demonic Cult, are inside."

"After you have read it, you will know that what I said is true."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Kuang and the others remained silent. They glanced at the tunnel in the stone chamber, then subconsciously looked at Li Musheng.

Clearly, although they wanted to verify the truth of what Master Qingyu said, they dared not delve into it at all.

After all, if there was a trap, the tunnel was equipped with the same mechanisms as the Earth Vault Palace, and they didn't have Li Musheng's powerful martial arts skills to escape from it.

However, Li Musheng didn't seem very interested in what Daoist Qingyu said about the Great Xuan Emperor.

He simply withdrew his gaze from the other person and raised an eyebrow to ask:
"How can you prove that you are really Master Qingyu?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Musheng suddenly extended a finger, staring at the gray-robed Taoist nun before him, and calmly said:
"Alright, I'll only give you the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. If you can prove you are Daoist Qingyu, then I'll take you away from here. If you can't prove it..."

Li Musheng pointed to the corpse of the Great Xuan Emperor in the tunnel and said:

"Then you should lie down there like him."

Upon hearing this, Daoist Qingyu looked at Li Musheng with his usual gentle expression, seemingly unperturbed by Li Musheng's words.

"I understand your feelings, and I can roughly guess that the person who asked you to help is Junior Brother Qingye."

Master Qingyu spoke in a gentle voice:
"My junior brother must have paid a heavy price to be able to invite a martial arts master like you, young master. But he didn't have to go through all that. I was taken in by Qingyun Temple when I was young and have been practicing Taoism for decades. I have long since become indifferent to life and death."

"Even though I was given the Longevity Scripture by my grandmaster uncle, I have never practiced it and have no intention of practicing it in the future."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Kuang's eyes flickered uncertainly, but his expression darkened as he suddenly interjected:
"You just said that my father is the leader of a demonic sect. Putting that aside for now, I just want to know that you were imprisoned by my father and subjected to the demonic art of soul-searching."

"Logically speaking, even if you hadn't died, you would have been a cripple by now. So how did you manage to escape unscathed and even know so many of Father's secrets?"

Both Fire Cloud Evil God and Zhao Mu Ning frowned, staring at Qingyu Daoist, clearly this was also what puzzled them.

Li Musheng remained silent, simply calculating the time for the Taoist priest Qingyu before him.

Faced with Zhao Kuang's questioning, Daoist Qingyu remained calm. She glanced at Li Musheng and said:
"To be honest, I don't know how to prove my identity to you right now. How about this, I'll help them out for now."

As he spoke, Master Qingyu suddenly raised his hand and beckoned. The corpse of the Great Xuan Emperor, which had fallen into the tunnel, suddenly stood up and took a step forward, arriving in front of Zhao Kuang and the others.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Kuang was startled and instinctively took a few steps back.

However, the next moment he saw the Great Xuan Emperor, whose forehead had been pierced and who had long since died, open his cloudy eyes again and stare at him intently.

"you……"

Zhao Kuang's eyes widened as he heard the "Father Emperor" before him speak:

"There is no need to be afraid. He is just a puppet I control. Your father is long dead."

Then, the Great Xuan Emperor took a few steps back, glanced around at everyone, and then closed his eyes and remained motionless.

Seeing this, Zhao Muning's expression shifted, and she asked:
"Since Father Emperor is already dead, why did you manipulate his corpse to toy with us just now?"

Upon hearing this, Daoist Qingyu shook his head and said:
"The one who spoke to you just now was not me, but the real Emperor of the Great Xuan Dynasty. He was not dead yet."

Then, Master Qingyu patiently explained:
"The Soul Searching Technique is an extremely strange demonic art. In addition to being able to directly search memories, this demonic art actually has another extraordinary function."

"That means the person who cultivates this demonic art can constantly switch between life and death, and even abandon their own body to possess and control the body of another."

"As for your question about how I survived the Soul Searching Technique unscathed, that involves a strange encounter I had many years ago."

At this point, Master Qingyu paused and said:
"When I was traveling around the world, I accidentally obtained an unnamed scripture in the countryside. Because I found the contents of the scripture to be very mysterious, I was curious and tried to cultivate it."

"What I didn't expect was that the nameless scripture was a demonic scripture."

(End of this chapter)