Just at this moment, ripples spread across the water in the underground palace as another wooden boat entered from outside the hall.
Shu Wan'er and two other women stood gracefully on the wooden boat. Their gazes swept over the two wooden boats that had already arrived.
When they saw Li Musheng and his companion, wariness flickered across their faces, though there was no longer any fear in their expressions.
However, Shu Wan'er paid no attention to Li Musheng and the others. Instead, she steered the wooden boat to a stop in front of the middle-aged man in brocade robes and directly said coldly, "Hand over the Qilin Blood, or Floating Boat City will be removed from the Great Li imperial capital today."
As soon as these words were spoken, Han Meiyan on the wooden boat nearby suddenly narrowed her eyes, seemingly surprised by Shu Wan'er's direct approach.
Li Musheng, however, revealed a puzzled expression and turned to look at Li Yuanling.
Li Yuanling's eyes were full of shock at this moment. She subconsciously opened her mouth and murmured, "So the so-called divine treasure is actually Qilin Blood!"
With that, she turned to look at Li Musheng and proceeded to tell him everything she knew about the rumors regarding Qilin Blood, down to every detail.
During this time, the entire atmosphere of the underground palace had changed dramatically.
Almost immediately after Shu Wan'er finished speaking, shadowy figures suddenly emerged from the dark corners of the underground palace, landing in various positions around the area and surrounding all three wooden boats in the palace.
At the same time, a deep voice came from above the palace, "If you want the Qilin Blood, let's see if you have the ability to take it."
As soon as the words fell, the shadowy figures around the underground palace immediately transformed into afterimages under the illumination of the hall's candles and charged out abruptly.
The cold gleam of blades and swords flashed in midair, emanating undisguised killing intent as they attacked the three wooden boats.
Seeing this scene, Li Musheng's brow furrowed slightly. He had originally thought that Floating Boat City would surely argue with those three women for a while.
But he truly hadn't expected these martial world practitioners to act so decisively.
After being directly exposed regarding the Qilin Blood matter, Floating Boat City had clearly made an immediate decision and completely torn off their disguise.
They didn't even bother pretending anymore. At the slightest disagreement, they erupted in violence, immediately attempting to kill everyone and silence them permanently.
"However, given the Qilin Blood's reputation in the martial world, their actions are understandable."
Li Musheng shook his head gently. At this moment, five martial arts experts with stern faces had already charged over, landing on the wooden boat where he and Li Yuanling stood.
They struck with killing moves, their sword light and blade light surging with true qi, containing bone-piercing sharp edges. Whether thrusting directly or sweeping horizontally, they broke through the air with killing intent running wild, all aimed directly at the vital and fatal points of the two.
Clearly showing no mercy, they wanted to strike down Li Musheng and Li Yuanling on the spot!
...
In the distance, in the midair of the underground space, a massive black iron ship seemed to float in the air, slowly approaching the center of the palace from the depths of the underground palace, pulled by iron chains.
Floating Boat City Vice City Lord Tu Yao, dressed in a black robe, stood with his hands behind his back at the edge of the black iron ship, his gaze watching the water surface of the underground palace below.
Beside him, the gray-robed Elder Sheng sat cross-legged with black iron chains wrapped around his body, his eyes lowered as he looked in the same direction.
However, his gaze constantly remained fixed only on Li Musheng as he slowly said, "Test their methods first. We should be able to force out whoever is behind them very soon."
Hearing this, Tu Yao nodded slightly, then paid no further attention.
He turned instead to look at the five people on the other two wooden boats, his eyes narrowing slightly as he said, "That man and woman were cautious in their earlier actions, so we still can't determine their origins. However, the movement technique those three women are using does resemble White Cloud Sect's 'Wave-Treading Steps.'"
As soon as these words were spoken, gray-robed Elder Sheng frowned slightly and said, "Those three women should be backed by the Wave-Treading Immortal Maiden. That Wave-Treading Immortal Maiden became famous in the martial world for her movement techniques and is extremely skilled in tracking arts."
"Given the strength of these three before us, they would never dare openly break into Floating Boat City. If this old one hasn't guessed wrong, that Wave-Treading Immortal Maiden has very likely already infiltrated the city."
Tu Yao's brow furrowed slightly as his gaze swept around the underground palace below, but he detected not a trace of any concealed presence.
Elder Sheng raised his eyes to look at him and shook his head, saying, "Her movement technique is superb and her whereabouts difficult to track. From such a far distance, how could you possibly find her? Right now, you and I still need to deal with another person. As for that Wave-Treading Immortal Maiden, this old one suggests leaving her to Wei Bing to handle."
Hearing this, Tu Yao pondered for a moment, then beckoned with his hand.
In the next instant, a figure flashed over and came to his side, bowing respectfully to await orders.
"Go notify Vice City Lord Wei that White Cloud Sect's Wave-Treading Immortal Maiden may have already arrived at Floating Boat City. Tell him to pay constant attention to the situation in the city."
The figure immediately acknowledged and then flashed away into the distance.
Only then did Tu Yao turn his head back to look at the water surface in the center of the underground palace, his voice becoming somewhat sinister, "We truly underestimated this world's martial realm. We only obtained the Qilin Blood recently, yet it has already attracted experts from multiple factions. Once word spreads throughout the martial world, these people are truly more troublesome than cats that have caught the scent of fish."
Elder Sheng's eyes flickered slightly as he slowly shook his head, saying, "That's precisely why we need Su Changqing to dispose of the Qilin Blood as quickly as possible. Otherwise, with just our Floating Boat City alone, we cannot withstand this vast martial world."
With that, gray-robed Elder Sheng stopped speaking and continued watching Li Musheng on the wooden boat on the water surface below.
But very soon, his clouded eyes suddenly contracted, and the black iron chains wrapped around his body abruptly began to writhe.
...
At the same time, facing the assault from Floating Boat City's experts, Li Yuanling's martial arts true qi instantly surged throughout her body.
Wisps of golden shadows manifested on her body's surface, and between her clenched fists, traces of golden light emerged. She was just about to test her fists and feet, preparing to deal with these people before her.
However, before she could even make a move, just as she raised her head to look at those assassins, she suddenly discovered something.
The terrifying aura of the five people, which had been full of killing intent just a moment ago, now seemed to have been forcibly erased by something. All their killing intent had dissipated into nothing in an instant.
Li Yuanling's beautiful brows furrowed slightly as her gaze swept over the five people.
At this moment, the five figures were still standing on the wooden boat, and the blades and swords in their hands were all suspended in midair.
Two of the gleaming blades and swords were less than half a foot away from her neck and heart, yet they did not continue to strike down.
Moreover, the intense sense of crisis that Li Yuanling had felt in her heart earlier had now completely vanished.
For a moment, Li Yuanling finally realized what had happened. She abruptly turned her head to look, only to see Li Musheng casually raising an eyebrow at her.
"You did all this? How come I didn't see you make a move?"
Li Yuanling slowly withdrew her martial arts true qi. Although she knew Li Musheng was very formidable, wasn't this strike a bit too fast!
She wrinkled her brow and curiously raised her hand to grasp the tip of the sword before her. With just a gentle push, that assassin directly fell to the ground with a thud.