Chapter 445: Gathering Together

In response to Li Musheng's question, Ah Xiu shook her head, "The Western Desert only carries legends concerning the ancient savage beast White Tiger. Though I have heard mention of the other divine beasts Your Highness speaks of, our clan's ancient texts contain no records of them, so I genuinely know nothing further about the matter."

At those words, Li Musheng gave a slight nod, then asked a few more questions about the ancient savage beast White Tiger.

Unfortunately, though Ah Xiu had been chosen as the Daughter of Destiny among the descendants of the ancient city of Jingjue, her standing within the clan was limited, and she lacked authorization to access many of the relevant secrets. As a result, her knowledge of the savage beast White Tiger was similarly limited.

"You mentioned earlier that the true power currently ruling White Emperor City is a faction called the 'White Tiger Divine Hall.' What relationship exists between the White Tiger Divine Hall and the Hidden Kill Pavilion?"

At this point, Shen Anran nearby suddenly spoke up with this question.

As she saw it, since they were about to enter White Emperor City, it would only make sense to have at least some general understanding of the city's internal affairs beforehand.

But Ah Xiu shook her head again, furrowing her brow slightly, "As I mentioned before, the White Tiger Divine Hall's origins are shrouded in mystery, and its members rarely venture outside, so I genuinely know very little about their actual circumstances. Even so, the fact that the Hidden Kill Pavilion and the White Tiger Divine Hall have managed to coexist within White Emperor City for all these years at least suggests they're not in any kind of adversarial relationship."

At those words, Shen Anran and Cang Yinyue exchanged a glance and chose not to press the matter further.

As for Li Musheng, he had no particular interest in the relationships between the various factions within White Emperor City. What he actually needed to accomplish here came down to just two things: visiting the Hidden Kill Pavilion, and dealing with the Tomb of the White Emperor connected to the savage beast White Tiger.

At this point, Li Musheng's group crossed the bridge spanning the Muli River and finally set foot on the oasis on the other side.

Once across the river, a paved stone road led directly toward the gates of White Emperor City. Along this road, clusters of settlements housed the common people of White Emperor City, who cultivated grain and vegetables outside the city walls to supply the needs of those within.

And as they drew closer to White Emperor City, the number of Western Desert martial world figures traveling the road increased noticeably, while the buildings lining the road grew correspondingly taller and more elaborate, with lavish private estates visible scattered throughout the surrounding countryside.

Just as Li Musheng's group continued making their way toward White Emperor City, the vermilion gates of a residence not far ahead suddenly swung open, and a group of refined young men and women emerged from within.

These young men and women were all dressed in fine brocade robes, swords and blades worn at their sides, their bodies radiating no small amount of martial cultivation. They were clearly among the finest young talents of the Western Desert's martial world.

"Because of that prodigy, White Emperor City has truly stolen the spotlight this time, completely overshadowing all of our young talents from Banyun City."

"Ah, no need to feel discouraged. A martial talent like that comes along once in a thousand years. It's not that we aren't strong enough, it's simply a matter of bad timing, crossing paths with a monster like that."

"That's true enough, though it might not actually be a bad thing for us either. This discipleship gathering being held in White Emperor City has spread word throughout the entire Western Desert, so who knows how many formidable, renowned martial world elders it might draw out."

"And since there's only one prodigy, we might be able to use this opportunity to try and become disciples of some of these accomplished elders ourselves, learning even more profound martial arts in the process."

...

The group of young martial world figures discussed this among themselves as they each mounted the horses waiting outside the gate, riding ahead of Li Musheng's group toward White Emperor City.

These young men and women rode along at an unhurried pace ahead of Cao Gaoshan's group, their conversation carried on without any particular discretion, occasionally drifting back to reach the ears of Ah Xiu and the others.

"The person I admire most in this world is the elder known throughout the martial world as the 'Golden Wing Blade of the Great Desert,' Senior Shangguan. Word has it she'll be coming to White Emperor City this time as well. If I could become Senior Shangguan's disciple, it would be the greatest fortune of my entire life."

"Senior Shangguan and Senior Hu Yidao, known as 'Wind God Sweeping Sands,' are said to be jointly the foremost masters of blade arts in the entire Western Desert's martial world. Countless people across the Western Desert dream of becoming their disciples, and the competition to enter Senior Shangguan's tutelage in particular is intense."

"Fortunately, I don't have such grand ambitions myself. The only goal of my trip here is to hope that some expert from the Mirage Tower, one of the Western Desert's six great powers, might take notice of me. I don't need them to be especially famous, as long as it gets me into the Mirage Tower, I'd be completely satisfied."

"Tsk tsk, the Mirage Tower is extraordinarily mysterious, and their standards are anything but ordinary. They're exceptionally selective about their disciples, and even those of us with considerable talent might not necessarily catch their eye."

"That's right. The chances of being noticed by the Mirage Tower are vanishingly slim. We might be better off setting our sights on one of the other five great powers, whose reputation and strength are no less formidable. The Yellow Spring Tribe, for instance, has sent two of their Holy Lords this time, and the Sand Sea Market has even dispatched three of their Yellow Sand Lords..."

"These are all top-tier elders renowned throughout the entire Western Desert martial world. If we're fortunate enough to become their disciples, it would be no less impressive than joining the Mirage Tower."

...

Hearing this conversation drift back from the group of young people ahead, the Rakshasa Holy Lord and the other two, crammed together on the back of their shared camel, all bowed their heads to conceal their faces.

As Holy Lords of the Yellow Spring Tribe, one of the Western Desert's six great powers, the reputation of all five of them throughout the martial world was considerable, and they had previously made appearances at no small number of major martial world gatherings.

Though the road had been sparsely traveled up to this point, meaning there had been little risk of anyone recognizing them, things would be different once they entered White Emperor City.

Their current circumstances were utterly wretched, and if any acquaintance from the martial world were to see them in this state, it would be a humiliation beyond redemption, certain to make them a laughingstock throughout the martial world, with no way to maintain their standing going forward.

For this reason, the Rakshasa Holy Lord and the other two naturally had no wish to be recognized at this moment, hoping to avoid having their lifetime of reputation utterly destroyed.

What the three of them clearly hadn't anticipated, however, was that news of their battle with Li Musheng in the Yellow Spring Market had already spread to the ears of every faction across the Western Desert.

Just then, more conversation drifted back from the young people ahead.

"Speaking of the Yellow Spring Tribe, have any of you heard the rumor going around recently? They say a great demon lord arrived in the Yellow Spring Market a few days ago, and this demon lord's power is said to be absolutely terrifying. Word has it he even devoured the Yellow Spring Tribe's three Holy Lords alive."

"I've heard something about this too, though what I heard was that the demon lord wiped out the entire Yellow Spring Market overnight, and that it wasn't just the three Holy Lords, but the entire Yellow Spring Tribe itself that was destroyed by this demon lord."

"Yikes, if that's actually true, do you think this demon lord might come to White Emperor City too? Wouldn't that put us in extreme danger right now?"

"No need to worry. Setting aside whether what happened to the Yellow Spring Tribe is even true, even if there really is a demon lord like that, White Emperor City has gathered together nearly half the martial world experts of the entire Western Desert at this point. Surely he wouldn't dare run wild here."

...

At those words, the Rakshasa Holy Lord and the other two felt their expressions turn extremely unpleasant, but they remained completely silent throughout, keeping their heads bowed and their faces hidden to avoid having their identities exposed on the spot.