[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-eternal-green-immortal-sovereign":3,"chapter-eternal-green-immortal-sovereign-eternal-green-immortal-sovereign-chapter-160":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Eternal Green Immortal Sovereign",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2270168,4432,"Chapter 160: Why Did the Immortal Maiden Knock on My Door at Night?","eternal-green-immortal-sovereign-chapter-160",160,"\u003Cp>A soft creak sounded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The door was pushed open.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There stood Yao Xue in a pale green gown, moonlight casting her as if a divine maiden, hands clasped behind her back, standing gracefully at the threshold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Rui remained unmoved:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Miss Yao, what is it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yao Xue bit her delicate teeth, as if hesitating over what to say.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Rui’s expression turned peculiar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moonlight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A man and a woman.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The atmosphere had been built to this point—he truly feared Yao Xue might have a tendency to confess she liked him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Miss Yao?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Rui decided to halt this undesirable trend before it spread further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You’re my talisman!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A talisman should just do its job as a talisman.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yao Xue finally gathered her courage: “Senior Li, I’m sorry—I’ve been deceiving you all along.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huh?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Rui hadn’t expected Yao Xue to come at this hour to say this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So she was lying? Then it’s no big deal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His face remained calm: “Miss Yao, why say such a thing?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yao Xue bit her crimson lips, head bowed: “Senior Li saved my life—I owe you honesty. I came to your residence not for gratitude, but because of my heart demon.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Heart demon?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Rui’s eyebrows lifted slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had long suspected Yao Xue and Qu Chengfeng’s visit wasn’t merely out of gratitude.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even gratitude didn’t require such a method.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he hadn’t expected it to be something as abstract as a heart demon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yao Xue hurried to explain: “Since that day, my master said I’ve been afflicted by a heart demon. To untie the knot, one must find the one who tied it—that’s why I’ve come to disturb you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Rui was speechless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He understood heart demons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A heart demon was a Daoist term—essentially, an obsession.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Daoists valued stillness and non-action, a clear and tranquil mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They didn’t need to sever all seven emotions and six desires like the Buddhists, but they couldn’t let obsessions hinder their cultivation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clearly, Yao Xue’s heart demon was him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I, an old man, have become the heart demon of this beautiful young girl.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Rui was momentarily amused and exasperated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who could he even complain to about this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps Yao Xue herself felt the heart demon excuse was absurd—her cheeks flushed crimson: “Senior…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was about to speak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before Li Rui’s eyes, a line of small characters appeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Congratulations, Host! Achievement “Divine Couple: Initial Bond” completed—Bond.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Mutual affection often begins with a bond—good or bad. This is a crucial step toward becoming a Divine Couple. Form a connection with the Immortal Maiden and journey through the mortal world together!】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Completing task “Bond.” Rewards calculating…】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Task rating: C.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Earned 20 Achievement Points!】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Name: Li Rui】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Age: 10】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Talent: Martial Bone, Exceptional Comprehension, Insightful Eyes】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Cultivation Art: Chang Chun Gong, Dragon Soaring Through Nine Heavens】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Achievements: 80\u002F100】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Rui stared at the word “Bond” on the panel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His mouth twitched uncontrollably.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Good news: His earlier suspicion was correct—the Divine Couple achievement didn’t require one person; future achievements would be easier to earn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bad news: The Immortal Maiden has taken notice of me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Senior…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Senior?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing Yao Xue’s call, Li Rui pulled his mind back from the panel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Li Rui—who always appeared composed and in control—so flustered, Yao Xue’s lovely face flushed even deeper: “I know this is extremely abrupt.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Rui felt the conversation was veering dangerously off course and quickly spoke: “Don’t worry, Miss Yao. Heart demons resolve naturally with time. Staying here longer is fine.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yao Xue’s large eyes blinked rapidly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had expected to be thrown out after revealing such an absurd truth—she hadn’t expected Senior Li to be so reasonable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you, Senior. I won’t trouble you further.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saying this,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>she spun around and hurried away in small, frantic steps, as if chased by wolves, vanishing from Li Rui’s sight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Rui let out a soft laugh and shook his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A thud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The door shut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yao Xue ran into her room, back pressed against the door, her cheeks still flushed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Strange—my heart is beating so fast!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The night passed without incident.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Morning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Rui trained as usual; he had already transformed the White Ape’s Blade into his own creation, Chang Chun Gong, so he had no fear of being recognized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The long blade moved through the air with excruciating slowness, showing no hint of lethal force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first to rise wasn’t Wang Zhao or Yang Yong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was Qu Chengfeng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qu Chengfeng glanced at Li Rui once, then muttered, “I’m going out,” and walked off without looking back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Strictly speaking, Qu Chengfeng and Li Rui were landlord and tenant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who ever heard of a landlord caring about a tenant’s life or death?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What Qu Chengfeng did outside Li’s residence was none of Li Rui’s concern.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Rui looked down on Qu Chengfeng’s immortal sect disciple attitude.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After he finished training,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Zhao and Yang Yong finally stepped out of their rooms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They busied themselves preparing breakfast. For the first time, the house had the warmth of daily life—Li Rui, with nothing else to do, helped out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Yao Xue emerged from her room, a steaming pot of meat porridge and several plates of crisp greens were already laid before them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They ate simply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yao Xue returned to her room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Rui knew she was once again trying to conquer him as her heart demon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sighed lightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wanted to tell this beautiful young girl that some things couldn’t be forced—no amount of haste would help.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially heart demons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The more you rushed, the more they clung.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But at his age, he understood the wisdom of not speaking too deeply with those you barely knew. He might speak of it later—but not now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After tidying up, Yang Yong left early, eager to find his mahjong partners.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>=9+book_bar\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No gambling money.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Winning meant only hearing “You’re good”—a harmless, mind-engaging pastime. Li Rui had no reason to discourage it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Yong was well past sixty—by his past life’s standards, he’d long been retired.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Rui wouldn’t force an old man to strive harder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not every old man could be like him, with a cheat system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Wang Zhao was different.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ever since the Red Dragon Horse arrived at the stable, Li Rui had noticed that this kid had no talent for martial arts, but might be good at horse care.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He nearly slept in the stable last night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, around noon, he took Wang Zhao to the Horse Supervision Hall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Given his rank as Patrol Guard, it was unrealistic to directly enroll the non-martial Wang Zhao as a soldier of the Horse Supervision Hall, but assigning him as a white servant was no problem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the Horse Supervision Hall, Wang Zhao could learn more about horse handling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d already picked up some basic horse-rearing skills while following Li Rui at the Zhu household; if he ever became a horse master, his status and benefits wouldn’t be worse than those of a ranked martial artist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having done that,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Rui strolled over to the Running Tiger Cavalry camp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though Ning Zhongtian had granted him leave, he wouldn’t go disturb the Immortal’s peace just yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Better not loiter before her and backfire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as Li Rui entered the camp,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>he saw Liang Ge and the others gathered in a circle, watching Tan Hu and Ge Hong spar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Go!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tan Hu roared, dropped his ornamental axe, and like a wild ox, wrapped his arms around Ge Hong’s waist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment Ge Hong was seized, Tan Hu hurled him bodily to the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ow!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tan Hu let go; Ge Hong lay on the ground, grimacing in pain, moaning loudly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a long while,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>he finally caught his breath and struggled to his feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Did Li Lao really fight Tan Hu to a draw?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the Liutiao Village incident, Ge Hong and Tan Hu had become brothers—they’d shared over ten days of cold winds, after all—so Ge Hong often came by the Running Tiger Cavalry to hang around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today, he’d heard from Liang He that Li Rui had fought Tan Hu to a standstill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d eagerly sought out Tan Hu for a sparring match.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tan Hu’s reputation as a natural-born titan was known throughout Anning Guard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d long wanted to test himself, but always feared he couldn’t withstand Tan Hu’s brute strength; yet if Li Rui could hold his own, he shouldn’t have any trouble either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only when they actually fought did he realize how formidable Tan Hu was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That crushing, bear-lifting strength was impossible for an ordinary man to withstand—he’d been defeated in just a few moves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he spoke,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>his peripheral vision caught Li Rui, who had somehow appeared among the crowd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Talk about the devil appearing when you speak of him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ge Hong, clutching his waist, limped over to Li Rui: “Li Lao, how did you manage to fight that ox to a draw?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Rui was seventy and held his own; here he was, a forty-year-old man, crushed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It left him somewhat depressed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Rui smiled: \"I only avoided it using my lightness skill—that doesn’t count as a draw. In a life-or-death fight, I’d lose.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ge Hong understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He glared at Liang He.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That kid had tricked him—Liang He had claimed Li Rui had matched Tan Hu blow for blow with his sword technique.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liang He cried foul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his eyes, Li Rui had definitely drawn his blade—how wasn’t that using sword technique?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ge Hong, being a straightforward man, quickly forgot the matter and boasted: “Tan Brother, I lost today. When I’ve cultivated my true qi, I’ll fight you again.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now it was Tan Hu’s turn to envy: “Ge Brother, you’ve cultivated true qi?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ge Hong’s pride was unmistakable: “Almost there.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He then looked at Li Rui: “But nothing compares to Li Lao—you cultivated true qi at the eighth rank. Still, forming the Dragon Soaring Through Heaven pattern is no easy feat.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His words were fair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A dragon shape sounds mighty, but anyone who can form it is a prodigy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cultivating true qi is already a miracle; forming it? Hard, hard, hard!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Rui of course wouldn’t tell Ge Hong or Tan Hu he’d long since formed true qi—and was nearly complete.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stayed in the Running Tiger Camp until dusk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only then did he return to his residence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yao Xue still showed no sign of leaving her room, so Li Rui had Yang Yong bring her meals inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Starving wouldn’t break the heart demon—it would only kill her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yao Xue didn’t refuse, but she didn’t come out either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After eating,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Rui practiced his sword form once more in the courtyard, then returned to his room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He circled his true qi according to the Dragon Soaring Through Nine Heavens Diagram.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Xuanqing qi surged from his dantian, flowing through his meridians; since he could now complete one full cycle in one go, the Xuanqing qi had thickened from a thin thread to the width of a thumb.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as he finished his seventy-second cycle, and the Xuanqing qi returned to his dantian,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>the next instant—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>the true qi coalesced into twin dragon forms, the Yinglong gliding once between the pure and turbid energies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>the pure and turbid energies exploded outward, flooding his entire body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Rui’s eyes flashed bright:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Immortal Court Bodyguard!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1886,"2026-06-19T22:01:09.077Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","d6e0f0771b5932e79978fe1f62b2f87ee70a66d9fd388a9800084c3d124ed8ce","eternal-green-immortal-sovereign-chapter-161","eternal-green-immortal-sovereign-chapter-159",866,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Feternal-green-immortal-sovereign-cover.jpg"]