Chapter 132: Deep Abyss, Raising a Dragon Serpent

"General."

"My lord."

The five Garrison Commanders of Anning Guard had already gathered outside the General's Mansion upon hearing the news.

Besides Ning Zhongtian, Lu Jun, and Feng Yu, there was also a middle-aged military officer named Guan Xinrong, and a young man who looked no different from a scholar, Duan Yu.

Cao Wei dismounted first.

He didn't even glance at the others, heading straight toward Feng Yu and Guan Xinrong.

"Speak—what exactly happened?"

As he spoke, he walked into the General's Mansion.

Ning Zhongtian and the other two made no move to follow.

Ever since the Great Demon Uprising.

Cao Wei had taken full control, excluding them from any involvement in the Ghost Sect affairs.

A ghost demon appeared.

It was almost certainly the Ghost Sect behind it; even if they went, Cao Wei would never let them interfere.

At this moment.

Jiang Lin leapt down from his horse.

"Young Duan, when you see your father in Yunzhou, I hope he's still as vigorous as ever."

Duan Yu's lips curled slightly: "Lord Jiang, my father has come to Yunzhou too?"

Jiang Lin nodded with a smile: "This military inspection, your father happened to be assigned to Yunzhou."

Military inspection was the imperial court's term for evaluating military officers, held every three years.

In addition, there were the Capital Inspection and the Grand Assessment.

The Grand Assessment evaluated provincial officials—those stationed outside the capital.

The evaluation of capital officials was called the Capital Inspection, distinct from the Grand Assessment.

The Yu Kingdom was vast.

It was impractical to summon all local officials to the capital; only those of third rank or higher were required to report in person. Others were assessed by imperial envoys appointed by the Emperor to represent his will.

The imperial envoy overseeing the military inspection in Annan Town was precisely Duan Yu's father, Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, Duan Qian, a third-rank official.

There was a common misconception.

That the Minister and Vice Minister were superior and subordinate. But this was incorrect.

Both Minister and Vice Minister were Tang officials; they merely differed in rank.

Theoretically, a Vice Minister could bypass the Minister and petition the Emperor directly.

In practice, however, Vice Ministers rarely pushed things to the extreme, leading people to wrongly assume the Minister was their superior—when in fact, he was not.

Any official who could meet the Emperor was not to be trifled with lightly.

Duan Yu had secured his good post in Anning Guard precisely through his father's influence.

Ning Zhongtian and Lu Jun exchanged a glance.

Hmm.

Having powerful backing was indeed advantageous—even Jiang Lin came to greet him personally.

Ning Zhongtian seized the opportunity to speak: "Lord Jiang, about the Ghost Sect—"

Jiang Lin gave a half-smile, glancing toward the main hall of the General's Mansion: "Since General Cao wants to handle it, let him handle it."

"Understood!"

With Jiang Lin's words, Ning Zhongtian naturally withdrew all involvement.

Jiang Lin's thoughts stirred slightly.

It was precisely the year of military inspection.

The assessment would not end so soon; as a Military Advisor, his duty was merely to supervise properly. But Cao Wei was different—if the Ghost Sect caused too much chaos within his jurisdiction, he would be held accountable, under immense pressure.

Cao Wei's intentions were crystal clear to him.

The previous demon uprising was almost certainly triggered by Cao Wei's attempt to curry favor with the Fifth Prince, by searching for Ghost Sect immortal arts.

This was something Jiang Lin could not tolerate.

More accurately, it was something the Dragon Throne's master could not tolerate.

If Cao Wei persisted in his ways, Jiang Lin would have no choice but to take young Duan to meet his long-absent father—and casually mention Cao Wei's conduct.

He was certain the Emperor's envoy would side with them.

"What are these people going out for?"

Li Rui watched soldiers coming and going from the camp.

During this period.

Cao Wei had repeatedly dispatched men to scour the mountains.

He'd heard many complaints.

Ge Hong chuckled: "Of course they're searching for the ghost demon who broke into the guard post. Word's gotten out that the imperial inspector knows, and has ordered General Cao to apprehend it within a deadline."

The purpose of establishing Anning Guard in Qinghe was for the Emperor to demonstrate his resolve to eradicate the Ghost Sect.

Yet before the Ghost Sect was even destroyed, the ghost demons it raised had infiltrated Anning Guard's headquarters and caused chaos—this was a direct slap in the face of the imperial court, of His Majesty.

How could this be borne?

"Thankfully, it has nothing to do with us."

We're Jiang Lin's men; Cao Wei may not even be able to command us.

Even if he could issue orders, he'd fear we'd sabotage the mission—he wouldn't dare entrust such a task to us.

So both he and Li Rui were perfectly content to stay out of it.

Li Rui's thoughts stirred slightly.

Ghost demon?

The ghost demon had already turned to blood and seeped into the earth's depths to feed earthworms.

How could Cao Wei know that the ghost demon he was so loudly searching for had already been slain by Li Rui in the underground tunnels?

Li Rui could never reveal this.

All his efforts were destined to be in vain.

Ge Hong: "Brother Li, do you think the ghost demon is still in Qinghe?"

Li Rui analyzed seriously: "Ninety percent likely it's fled to another county. Cao Wei won't catch it."

Not his concern.

Li Rui and Ge Hong quickly changed the subject.

"Brother Li, how's your Flying Dragon in the Heavens painting coming along?"

"Fine."

Li Rui's answer was exactly what Ge Hong expected.

Do you really think geniuses grow on trees?

Those who can cultivate true qi at the eighth rank number less than one percent of all Willow Sinew martial artists—every single one is a prodigy from a major sect or power.

Li Rui is a seventy-year-old man—if he could have mastered it, he would have done so long ago. Why wait until now?

"No chance."

Ge Hong wouldn't voice his true thoughts: "Brother Li, these past few days, I've gained insight from observation—my bottleneck has loosened slightly. Perhaps in time, I'll break through."

"That's great news."

Ge Hong was now forty-two or forty-three, having stagnated at the Bronze Bone realm for over a decade.

As they say: a tree dies when moved, but a man thrives.

He'd been head of the Iron Knife Martial Arts Hall for over ten years, making no progress—yet after leaving, signs of breakthrough appeared.

Ge Hong was in high spirits: "Brother Li, once you comprehend true qi, we'll both enter the Willow Sinew realm together—our achievement will surely become a legend in Qinghe's martial circles."

Li Rui smiled and shook his head:

"I'm old. I just do it for fun. Don't take it seriously."

Ge Hong encouraged: "Ancient sages attained enlightenment at seventy, then ascended to sainthood. Brother Li, you can do the same. An old steed may rest, but its ambition still reaches a thousand li!"

Li Rui: "Though the divine turtle lives long, even it must die. I'm old, useless. It's up to you young ones now."

Ge Hong could no longer press further.

After all, he himself felt further urging would seem insincere.

=9+ Shu _ Ba

That sage was from a wild history he'd read.

How wild was it?

Let me put it this way.

It claimed the last emperor of the previous dynasty had six eyes and eight legs, green face and fangs.

Was that even human?

Obviously fake.

So Ge Hong believed the legendary sage who attained enlightenment at seventy was likely fabricated—or exaggerated by descendants to glorify their ancestors.

"Brother Li, how about we compete? Whoever breaks through first buys the other a drink."

Li Rui chuckled lightly: "If you want to drink, just say so. I'll treat you."

With that, the two looked at each other and smiled.

Sharing the same realm and similar experiences, they became close friends despite the age gap.

Indeed, they were close friends despite the age gap.

Ge Hong was only forty-five, while Li Rui was already seventy-two.

In Yu State, if speed mattered, Li Rui could have been Ge Hong's grandfather.

Ge Hong's gaze turned resolute:

"Brother Li, Qinghe must produce a seventh-rank cultivator!"

Of course, Qinghe City had seventh-rank experts.

But not a single seventh-rank cultivator was from Qinghe itself—a situation that had lasted seven or eight years.

The last seventh-rank cultivator.

Was Ge Hong's master; he wished to extend his master's legacy by another fifty years.

Half a month passed.

Cao Wei could not possibly find the ghost demon who had infiltrated the military camp; the commotion was great, yet he returned empty-handed.

Jiang Lin certainly did not hold back.

He actually took Young Master Duan to Yunzhou.

It was said Cao Wei eventually intercepted them on the official road, but the details were unknown; the outcome was that both Jiang Lin and Young Master Duan returned to Qinghe smiling.

"Our Lord Cao must have bled heavily—finally even the Fifth Prince intervened to turn this big matter into a small one."

Wei Ming spoke with great delight.

This time, Cao Wei suffered a major setback.

He'd at least be quiet for half a year.

In the military camp, Cao Ming's faction members all walked with their heads down.

"Truly uplifting."

Ge Hong chuckled: "Too bad those Zhang family members fled—otherwise I'd love to see their faces now!"

At the mention of the Zhang family,

Wei Ming sighed deeply.

"I once dealt with Zhang Hao—he was a notable figure, never thought he'd die so suddenly."

As a native of Qinghe,

Ge Hong knew well the power and arrogance of the Zhang family's second master.

"Life is unpredictable—always be cautious, even more cautious."

Wei Ming, like Zhang Hao, was seventh-rank; if Zhang Hao could die suddenly, so could he.

The path of martial cultivation has always been perilous.

Li Rui nodded: "We must be extra cautious."

Wei Ming also nodded in agreement: "Qinghe today is nothing like when I first arrived—it's truly teeming with hidden tigers and dragons. I heard even a vice sect leader from Mingguang Sect has come—sixth-rank, no less."

Ge Hong drew in a sharp breath.

Good heavens.

Sixth-rank.

The vast Tian Di Alliance, before Ning Zhongtian broke through, had never had anyone higher than seventh-rank peak.

Now, in Qinghe City alone, the number of sixth-rank experts likely exceeds five fingers.

There may even be stronger ones lurking unseen.

Since Xincheng was built, more outside forces have moved into Qinghe, each more terrifying than the last.

Although Qinghe Branch has sent Tang Sheng himself to oversee things,

it now seems insufficient.

"A deep abyss breeds dragons, Brother Wei, Brother Ge—this is a great opportunity."

Li Rui smiled gently.

Wei Ming immediately grinned: "Brother Li, you're absolutely right—shallow waters hold only turtles; the deeper the water, the greater our chances."

This principle was self-evident.

The more experts in Qinghe, the more resources will gather here.

Most directly,

seventh-rank elixirs were already rare before, but now, after Qingfeng Shanzhuang absorbed Danwang Fang, they're even selling sixth-rank elixirs.

Why has Qinghe struggled to produce even one seventh-rank cultivator?

Is it because the people are inadequate?

That's only part of it—the greater issue is lack of resources. It's foreseeable that Qinghe's experts will sprout like bamboo shoots after spring rain.

It might even rival the atmosphere of Anning Prefecture.

Though rare, such a situation has occurred before in Yu State.

The great dragon of Anning Guard has forcibly turned Qinghe's small pond into a deep abyss.

Li Rui thought to himself.

"Fortune and misfortune are intertwined—only self-strengthening matters!"

(End of Chapter)