Chapter 161: Immortal Court Bodyguard: Defense and Offense in One

"Yinglong opens heaven, clearing and turbidity separate; qi floods the body, forming the immortal frame."

Li Rui's mind surfaced the incantation of the Dragon Soaring Through Nine Heavens.

It was recorded in the Dragon Soaring Through Nine Heavens.

When the Immortal Court is fully opened, one gains the Immortal Court Bodyguard Method; using this method against enemies grants invulnerability to blades and spears, immunity to water and fire.

Immortal Form is harder to master than Dragon Form.

But once perfected, its effects are exceedingly brutal.

Li Rui trained daily for nearly a year before seeing results.

"Disperse!"

With a low command from Li Rui, the dark clear qi around him instantly vanished, returning all to ordinary.

Li Rui rose from the meditation cushion.

He took down the long knife hanging by his bed; with a sharp clang, the blade slid free.

His eyes hardened.

He raised the long knife and slashed at his left wrist.

A crisp metallic clang echoed through the room.

He looked at his left wrist.

Only a faint white mark remained.

Li Rui stared at the white scar on his wrist, unable to suppress the upward curve of his lips.

"Truly invulnerable to blades and spears!"

The Immortal Court Bodyguard Method, beyond saturating the body with true qi to reach peak strength, can also condense qi into the dantian, using only minimal true qi to protect vital areas.

Though less effective than full activation, the advantage is it's hard to detect.

Thus achieving the element of surprise.

"Good, very good!"

Li Rui was extremely satisfied with the Immortal Court Bodyguard Method.

With this technique, his survivability increased dramatically.

Of course, that last strike, he hadn't used full strength—only one-tenth—yet the result was already impressive.

Otherwise, with the sharpness of the divine blade Zhaodao combined with Liu Jin's full force, failing to break the defense would be absurd.

That would be too exaggerated.

That wouldn't be invulnerable to blades and spears—it would be an indestructible body.

Now both Dragon Form and Immortal Form have taken shape; Dragon Form excels in offense, Immortal Form in defense—perfectly complementary.

Future battles will surely be unstoppable.

Soon, Li Rui calmed his thoughts, gradually settling into stillness.

He was no longer a young fool.

He wouldn't stay awake all night just because he'd acquired a divine art.

Even staying up to train was out of the question.

It would only disrupt his original plan, doubling effort for half the result.

Fake effort is the worst kind.

Excitement didn't linger in Li Rui's heart; he sheathed the knife, slipped into bed, and within ten breaths, soft snores could be heard.

Falling asleep instantly, acting decisively—these are essential traits of those destined for greatness.

If one fixates on trivial matters, wasting time and energy, how can one ever accomplish anything major—like this kind of internal drain?

Chen hour.

At the moment of light and dark transition, Li Rui rose from bed as usual, washed his face with clear water.

He took his knife and stepped out of the room.

Practicing swordplay.

The more something was once unattainable, the more precious it becomes once gained.

Talents slack off because everything comes too easily, leading them to feel their gains are still insufficient; when they see someone with greater talent, they grow discouraged, even heartbroken.

Li Rui was doing fine.

His heart was as solid as a rock.

Nothing could shake his conviction.

At that moment.

Light footsteps came from behind—so faint, clearly from someone with martial skill.

He turned his head.

There stood Yao Xue, fresh and lively before him, her face stubborn:

"Senior Li, I've come to understand—the best way to dispel inner demons is to face them. From today on, I'll follow you everywhere!"

Li Rui stared at the stubborn girl.

He fell silent.

Her reasoning was sound, but her current state was still beneath the mark.

Look at his old master—he'd never been troubled by inner demons.

He sheathed his knife: "Miss Yao, I need to change clothes. Are you coming with me?"

"If not, shall I have Xiao Zhao bring a screen?"

Yao Xue instantly deflated.

She'd mustered all her courage to confront her "inner demon," only to suffer a crushing blow at the very first step.

"I—"

Her cheeks flushed crimson; after a long pause, she managed a few words: "I won't go."

Saying this,

she fled back to her room, ashamed.

Clearly, this episode had deepened Li Rui's status as her "inner demon."

Li Rui shook his head, his smile fading.

Was he deliberately tormenting this pretty girl from Wenxian Tower?

Of course not.

First, he'd sweated through his training and was uncomfortable—he truly needed to change clothes.

Second, with Yao Xue's current approach to dispelling her inner demon, even ten more years would be useless; so Li Rui, as her "inner demon," had to find a way to help this immortal girl defeat him sooner.

Helping younglings—

it's only right.

What else can you expect from someone so kind?

In a flash,

over ten days passed.

Most of the time, Yao Xue still stubbornly trailed Li Rui. He was helpless—he hadn't yet thought of a good way to help her overcome him as her inner demon.

During this time, Zhang Lao from Wenxian Tower had never returned.

Li Rui wanted to say:

"Old Immortal, you left your disciple at my place."

Clearly, Zhang Lao also believed Yao Xue's inner demon couldn't be dispelled in a short time.

There was precedent: Li Rui had often read in the Chronicles of Jianghu that some prodigies, trapped by inner demons, stagnated for decades, eventually wasting away, their innate talent rendered useless.

Below Liu Jin's level, it's fine—but to enter the sixth rank, one must achieve mental clarity.

Tan Hu handled this well; euphemistically, he had a childlike heart; bluntly, he was heartless and clueless—no such thing as inner demons for him.

As for Yao Xue—

after following him for half a month, she withdrew again.

Literally: she locked herself in her room, sitting in silence all day.

There was nothing to be done.

Inner demons, when it comes to breaking them, are simple in theory but truly difficult in practice.

No handle to grasp, no way to act.

Li Rui glanced toward Yao Xue's room, then wandered out of Anning Guard Camp.

He passed through street after street.

=9+shu_ba

After half an hour,

the surrounding streets grew narrower, the air thick with a faint odor.

He had left Xincheng and entered the old city.

Moments later, he stood before a grand complex of buildings.

The guards at the gate saw Li Rui; one stepped forward to ask his business.

At that moment, another guard recognized Li Rui's face, gasped, and slapped the first guard's occiput.

"Damn it, blind dog, don't you recognize Master Li?"

The guard, slapped across the face, looked bewildered:

"Master Li?"

He didn't recall the Heaven's Alliance having such a figure.

The middle-aged guard smiled obsequiously and stepped before Li Rui: "Master Li, these are all newcomers—they don't know the rules."

Li Rui smiled faintly: "Didn't expect to see you again."

Indeed, he had come to the Qinghe Branch of the Heaven's Alliance.

But since joining the Anning Guard, he rarely visited the branch; the guards at the gate had changed several times—so not recognizing him was only natural.

Upon hearing Li Rui remembered him, the middle-aged guard bowed even lower: "Master Li, what brings you back today?"

Li Rui: "To see some old friends."

"No need to escort me—I still know the way."

The middle-aged guard had originally planned to guide him, hoping to leave a good impression.

He hadn't expected to be turned down so promptly.

A flicker of disappointment crossed his eyes, but he still smiled: "Then, Master Li, take your time."

After Li Rui left,

the young guards who had been slapped finally asked curiously: "Boss, who was that guy? He looks so unfamiliar."

The middle-aged guard snorted: "Remember this—he's our Deputy Alliance Master Li!"

Li Rui walked with ease and familiarity, soon arriving before a house.

He knocked.

Someone opened the door quickly.

Zhang Yang stared at the man at the threshold, stunned for a moment, then beamed: "Old Brother Li, what brings you back?"

Li Rui chuckled: "I came to catch up with you and Young Brother Wu."

Zhang Yang: "No wonder I thought that brat had been loitering at my place since dawn—he knew Old Brother Li was coming."

"Come in, come in!"

Zhang Yang pulled Li Rui inside his home.

His manner carried a hint of flattery.

Beyond his role as an Anning Guard patrol officer, Li Rui held another title: Deputy Alliance Master of the Heaven's Alliance!

His direct superior.

Soon after,

as Li Rui entered the room, he saw Wu Tu.

Wu Tu, spotting Li Rui, immediately rose: "Old Brother Li, it's been a long time."

"Indeed, it's been some time."

Li Rui sighed.

With their differing statuses, gathering with these old friends from the Qinghe Branch was no longer easy.

They had always been close.

The atmosphere quickly warmed.

They spoke of the years that had passed; when Zhang Yang and Wu Tu heard Li Rui had risen swiftly in the Anning Guard, their envy deepened.

At first meeting, they'd called him "Old Li," but now he was a sixth-rank official of the Anning Guard.

The gap between them would only grow wider.

Li Rui turned to Wu Tu: "Young Brother Wu, how goes the matter I asked you to look into?"

Wu Tu patted his chest: "This small task? Of course I'll handle it perfectly for Old Brother."

A few days ago,

Liang He had come to the Qinghe Branch and sought him out.

Said Li Rui had tasked him with investigating someone.

Qu Chengfeng.

Past history didn't matter—only his actions since arriving in Qinghe.

Wu Tu, as the boss of the Rongmen, had ample eyes and ears in Qinghe; he accepted the task without hesitation.

Speaking of Qu Chengfeng, Wu Tu's eyes gleamed with mockery:

"This brat's a ladies' man—he's a regular at Chunyan Pavilion, the favorite of the courtesan Baozhu, spending gold like water."

Li Rui smiled lightly.

Ever since Qu Chengfeng came to the Li residence, he often didn't return overnight.

Sometimes he vanished for days.

So that's where he'd been—visiting brothels.

In Qinghe, he had a hundred ways to track the brat's movements; otherwise, fifty years of living here would've been wasted.

But he wasn't investigating Qu Chengfeng for this trivial matter.

Appetite and desire are human nature—especially after learning from Yao Xue that Qu Chengfeng had long accompanied her in following Master Zhang the Daoist, wandering remote mountains with little chance for pleasure.

A seventeen- or eighteen-year-old boy indulging in brothels was only natural.

"Anything else?"

Wu Tu sneered: "At first I thought he just liked brothels—but then I found he visited another place frequently, besides Chunyan Pavilion."

He paused:

"The county magistrate's office!"

"Someone saw County Magistrate Zhu accompany him to Chunyan Pavilion."

Li Rui's eyelids narrowed instantly.

When had Qu Chengfeng become so close to County Magistrate Zhu?

Thank you all for your support—I've noted every monthly vote, and truly can't thank each of you enough. I'm working hard to accumulate drafts and will try to add another chapter in a couple of days. Maintaining nine thousand words daily while ensuring solid plot development is challenging, but I'll do my best to balance both. Thank you again for your support—Li Lao's path to immortality continues.

(End of Chapter)