The Divine Martial Stars

Chapter 961 The Roll of Gods

Xiao Jianfei was just as astounded.

"I was under the impression that you were looking for me," the masked soldier removed his concealment, revealing a dashing face alight with rage, "So here I am, you filth. It's time we settle our score!"

"Li Mu?!"

Lei Cang gasped.

So shocked that he could not believe his eyes.

"This is the Lord Governor's court! The most carefully-guarded place in this city! How dare he disguises himself and slip in here!

"Is this courage or just pure recklessness?!

"Or is he possessed?!"

Li Mu strode past him and effortlessly undid the manacles that held Xiao Jianfei. Next, he injected spurts of Natural Qi of Easterly Vitality into the wounded lieutenant of the Trailblazer Corps. Everything he did, he did with such nonchalance and casualness without any hint of concern for his own safety and whether Lei Cang would escape.

Which he did try.

Lei Cang tried to run, but the entire subterranean torture chamber was sealed inside a magical ward that despite all his banging and kicking at the door, he just couldn't get out.

Before he commenced the interrogation of Xiao Jianfei, Lei Cang had, with the blessing of the Lord Governor of Lauffeuer, left strict orders to the men that under no circumstances should he be disturbed. Never in his wildest dreams did he know that this particular order would be working against him. No one outside knew what was going on inside the torture chamber; none of them were to come near.

"What are you thinking of doing, Li Mu!? Stay there, I'm warning you! Don't come near!"

Lei Cang faltered backward with panic sweeping through him. He knew how brutal Li Mu could be, having sampled the said savagery firsthand a long time ago. He has never been able to defeat Li Mu and he knew that this fact was not going to be disproved yet.

"Forget death by my stroke, this is death by bad conversation," grumbled Li Mu. "Why don't you try guessing what am I going to do?"

Li Mu set his gaze on Lei Cang as he finished extricating Xiao Jianfei from his bounds.

Li Mu has just so many questions that require answers. So much so that he was beginning to feel tiresome.

Maybe Lei Cang could shed some illumination on all the mysteries.

For this reason, Li Mu had not fled from the city like a real fugitive. He chose to remain in the shadows where he watched and observed. Then he saw the young officer leaving the place as soon as he received a message. He followed the officer here and that was when Li Mu deduced that he must have come here to give Lei Cang a report. Li Mu did not have to be a genius to guess that if Lei Cang really were behind the massacre of the innocent Trailblazers, he would most definitely delegate the task to his most trusted subordinate. At the very least, Li Mu was certain that the trail would lead him to the person who ordered the slaughter, whether it really was Lei Cang or not.

His guess turned out to be a correct one.

"We can talk this over, Li Mu! We're from the same world! We're kin! Both of us are here together! Together we're gods here!" Lei Cang babbled despite his best efforts to remain calm, his friendly grin as stiff as the very stones that lined the walls and ground of this chamber.

"All right," answered Li Mu. "Let's talk then. You keep saying 'gods'. What do you mean by that?"

Surprise took hold of Lei Cang. "What!? You don't know?! Does that mean that you're really born out of a Tree of Eternity?! So what you said back then, that was not a lie?!"

Li Mu threw him a scathing glare. "Are you asking the questions now or am I?"

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Lei Cang squeezed a forced smile with apparent difficulty. "I was only just shocked. You're one of those whose names are on the Three Lists of Heaven and Earth and Humans. Yet you know nothing about godhood? Of all things, I really did not expect you to be transported here with your physical body intact. Well, I guess that should be expected then. So here's the thing: the Three Lists of Heaven, Earth, and Human have another name. It's the Roll of Gods."

"The Roll of Gods?" Li Mu uttered, "What do you mean?"

Knowing better than to spare any secrets, Lei Cang added hastily, "Those whose names are on the Roll of Gods would have their physical body decay in the event of their deaths, but their spirits would be transported here into this world where they would be reincarnated as gods. That was how I ended up here."

"What?!"

Li Mu was beginning to wonder if his ears had picked up correctly the revelation he just heard.

"The Three Lists of Heaven, Earth, and Human is actually the legendary Roll of Gods?!

"Is that even possible?!"

Li Mu only heard of the mythical instrument known as the Roll of Gods from the famous Chinese literary classic known as the Legend of Deification, where King Wu of Zhou led an army that toppled the Shang Empire. The divine instrument called the Roll of Gods was featured prominently where several figures with powers of gods took the side of the Zhou rebels and created the Roll. Mages and heroes who had perished in the conflict all had their names on the Roll and in their deaths, their spirits were canonized and invested as gods by Jiang Ziya.

The names of mythical figures with whom all Chinese on Earth are all familiar—the gods of the Five Sacred Mountains, the God of Fortune, the deity Li Jing, Yang Jian, and others—all were made gods during this era, with the notable exception of a handful that included Li Jing, Nezha, and Yang Jian who achieved godhood without being killed beforehand. Most of the others all met their heroic deaths in battle before their spirits all received their divine investiture.

That is the legend from Earth.

Li Mu had found a cultivation discipline called the Ultimate Yin and Yang Cultivation Method back when he was exploring the Tomb of the God of Sin in the Heavenly Land world. It was hidden inside a monastery known as the Five Villages Temple. He was instantly reminded of the Legend of Deification at the time, although he did not expect that the Roll of Gods really existed.

"You're saying that the Three Lists of Heaven, Earth, and Man, they are actually the Roll of Gods? So anyone whose names are on the Roll gets transported here in their deaths?" Li Mu repeated himself just to make sure.

"Yes and no," said Lei Cang. "Yes, you get transported here if you're killed, but only if you have someone here acting like a homing beacon. The truth is, the Three Lists of Heaven, Earth, and Man do not make up the entirety of the Roll of Gods; they are only just a fragment of the real Roll of Gods. Fragments are scattered far and wide where they could be found also in other dimensions and worlds. Spirits of the deceased deemed worthy are chosen and transported here and reincarnated as a god. I was lucky that my mentor found me, and he brought me here."

Li Mu finally understood at last.

"So this is the so-called godhood that he prattles so much about."

"This mentor you speak of… Is he a powerful figure here?"

"My mentor is the Sage of the Nine-Heavens Deathbolt, the ninth in line to become the Master of Lightning. He wields power and influence that makes him equal to the great leaders of the various legions in the military. I am a lightning elemental user who possessed the Divine Form of Pure Lightning, that was why my mentor chose me. I know we've had our differences, Li Mu. But we could talk things out. Killing me won't do you any good at all…"

Banking on his mentor and his lineage's strength and influence, he hope that these reasons would be enough to at least make Li Mu spare him, even if the latter was nowhere near predisposed to let things slide completely.

"You've known me for quite some time, Lei Cang," Li Mu responded coolly. "Do you think what you just said would work in intimidating me?"

Lei Cang's face fell with horror. "You misunderstand, Li Mu!" he added hastily, "I'm not the one after you; the military is! I'm only acting on orders!"

"As if the military will want to lay a hand on me and the Trailblazers if it weren't for some crackpot tales you've been feeding them?" Li Mu smirked.

Lei Cang flailed his hands wildly as he gestured frantically. "No! No! No! This really isn't me! It was the Oracle Disk of Legion Kommodore! It was showing signs that your appearance has something to do with Xenoses! That's why the military is hunting for you!"

"That's impossible!"

That was Xiao Jianfei who had finally recovered from the ordeal.

He got up to his feet, his face replete with confusion and rage. "That must be a lie!" he stormed towards Lei Cang, "Li Mu's a Chosen One! There is no way he's a Xenos and there's no way that the Oracle Disk would show such an augury! This must be a setup! You're framing Li Mu for the wardcasters that you killed!"

Lei Cang was about to say something else but Xiao Jianfei quickly redirected his focus to Li Mu. "Li Mu, you came from the staging station, didn't you? What of my men!?"

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Li Mu exhaled grimly. Quietly, he said, "I'm sorry."

The pronouncement robbed all color from Xiao Jianfei's face.

If Xiao Jianfei had even the slightest hope that his men would be spared, he was wrong. Very, very wrong.

He was so close with his men. So closer that even real brothers couldn't compare. Real brothers might not go to war together. Real brothers might not shed blood, sweat, or tears together. But Xiao and his men did—together. They had survived so many battles together and lived to share the tales… And yet, their heroics and gallantry were rewarded with a fate no better than butchered dogs… Xiao Jianfei panned a scathing glare filled with hatred in Lei Cang's direction and he growled, "You're going to pay for you, you bastard!"

...

"Xiao, wait! Pipe down!" Lei Cang staggered backward.

"Pipe down!? Pray tell me how, you ingrate! I should be ripping you to shreds with my bare hands if it's to avenge all our fallen brothers!" Rage and revulsion overtook Xiao Jianfei's senses.

Lei Cang was way stronger and more powerful than Xiao Jianfei. But with Li Mu around, there was little the former could do. Hectically, he raked his mind for ideas and found one. "You said about adhering to rules, Xiao! You preached so much about discipline! If you really are a man of your principles, then prove it! Let the military decide whether I'm guilty or not! What difference would you and I have if you were to take things into your own hand and kill me here?"

Xiao Jianfei froze at where he stood.

"Difference?!"

Still burning with rage, his eyes shot wider. Every sinew and tendon in his very person tensed as he grappled with whether he should cross the line and avenge his brothers-in-arms.

Both Rage and Rationale were like a pair of warring beasts mauling at each other inside him.

Xiao Jianfei could follow the rules and hand Lei Cang over to the military. But he knew as well as Lei Cang that the latter's mentor would move mountains to save him. Lei Cang would be off the hook by the end of the day with not so much as a little slap on the wrist.

Li Mu shook his head.

As much as he admired Xiao Jianfei for his fastidious stubbornness to rules and discipline as an army man, he needed to disagree.

The rule of law and discipline in the military were not created to torment the just while protecting the wicked.

...

For this reason, the rule of law has never been an object of absolute perfection as far as Li Mu was concerned.

Therefore…

Li Mu got to his feet. The first thing he did was plant a foot into Lei Cang to send him sprawling on the ground.

"You should consider a career on the stage," Li Mu muttered as he drove his foot into Lei Cang's face.

"Wait, Li Mu! OOMPH! I might not be fully innocent, but the military has its laws—OMMPHH!"

"Laws my foot. Xiao's the military man here, not me. I don't give a fig about the military."

Li Mu stomped on Lei Cang's knee, smashing it into bits. "Consider this the canapés, because of that punchable face of yours. Next—" he pounded his foot on Lei Cang's calf, reducing it inch by inch into a bloody pulp. "—and this is for the nine wardcasters you butchered in cold blood."

Blood and viscera spattered everywhere on the dusty cobblestones.

"ARRGGHH! How dare you, Li Mu! My mentor—" Lei Cang's face was a grotesque contortion of agony as he howled like a pig on its way to being slaughtered. Thankfully, Li Mu's magical ward worked well enough to keep the noise contained.

"Your mentor? As if I care. Your mentor can be here and I'll say to his face what I'm telling you now: you guys are thinking of putting me down, eh? Well, guess what? You guys should prepare yourselves for making that mistake. Now, this is for the twenty-six Trailblazers who died out there in the wilderness as a result of your treachery!" Li Mu took Lei Cang's arms and crushed them inch after inch into a more unrecognizable mush of sickening red that spread across the floor with the semblance of morbid little flowers.