Chapter 183: Slay Demon Ghosts, Rewards Overflowing!

First, the first claim is obviously false.

Just psychological intimidation.

Second, there is no second.

Li Rui disliked speaking idle words during battle, unless those words served a purpose.

"Still too young."

In battle, you must always strive to accumulate advantage—sometimes one extra move decides life or death.

The Four-Armed Demon Ghost had a fearsome reputation; over ten seventh-rank experts had died in his hands.

Even killing a chicken requires a butcher's knife.

Not to mention facing an opponent like the Four-Armed Demon Ghost—you must be cautious to gain even a slight edge.

The long blade, wreathed in dragon-force, slashed downward with immense power; even several feet away, one could feel the blade's chilling edge.

Seeing this, Wu Yun dared not underestimate him.

Tearing!

Two pairs of arms tore through the fabric of his back, revealing four limbs clearly on either side of his body.

"Demon God Technique?"

Li Rui's eyes narrowed slightly.

No wonder he was called the Four-Armed Demon Ghost—he had cultivated the Demon God Technique, or rather, half of it.

Wu Yun had not, like the Ten-Thousand Ghosts Mother, transformed himself into a complete monster; he had merely grown two extra arms.

As the saying goes, two fists cannot fight four hands.

With four arms, Wu Yun held overwhelming advantage in combat, which was precisely why he had remained stuck at the seventh rank for over a decade.

Li Rui snorted coldly.

Ding ding ding ding ding!

A string of sparks exploded from Wu Yun's black-blue limbs.

Wu Yun's eyes widened; his body trembled involuntarily—he had never imagined this.

"How could he be this strong?!"

His four arms, tempered by the Demon God Technique, were stronger than seventh-rank divine iron, even surpassing innate Jingang by several degrees.

He knew his own combat strength perfectly—he had always been invincible against peers.

Precisely because of this, whenever he faced a peer-level martial master, he never feared.

Yet today, this seventy-year-old old man had shattered his defenses with just a few slashes?!

Each time the long blade struck his arm, a deep gash, bone-visible, opened upon it; a few more strikes, and the Four-Armed Demon Ghost would become the Armless Demon Ghost.

It wasn't merely that the blade was sharp—more importantly, Li Rui had cultivated the Dragon Form; the Dragon's aura inflicted damage with brutal dominance.

The Dragon was the ancestor of all beasts.

Among divine beasts, it was the supreme existence.

The Dragon Form was of extremely high rank.

Extremely difficult to cultivate.

But the benefit was that once achieved, its power far surpassed ordinary qi-forms—it nearly crushed all other qi-forms.

"Ahh!"

Wu Yun let out a deafening roar.

Tumors and muscles swelled and writhed across his body; his limbs grew wildly larger and harder, resembling a demonic Yecha crawling from the depths of the Nine Heavens' Hell—fierce and grotesque.

In an instant.

A monstrous figure nearly ten feet tall, piled high with muscle, looked utterly deformed—no longer human in the slightest.

At the same time.

Dozens of ghostly shadows flew out from his back.

The full Demon God Technique!

Six-foot-tall Li Rui appeared minuscule before the colossal monster.

"Die!"

Wu Yun was forced to reveal his trump card, unleashing his complete form—his four arms clasped together, aiming to trap Li Rui.

Li Rui's eyes sharpened.

A flash of blue light.

Crrrak!

A slender, two-foot-long short blade burst forth from his sleeve.

Hidden Edge!

In an instant, a violent wind erupted around Li Rui, and the furious sword intent exploded in a single moment.

With Hidden Edge unsheathed, the sword intent nurtured for months reached its peak.

Draw the blade.

Slash!

Hidden Edge swept horizontally, its invisible sword intent slicing across the giant monster's waist.

A hair-thin bloodline slowly appeared at the junction between upper and lower body.

Wu Yun's eyes widened.

Uncertain, he blinked.

His massive body slipped out of alignment—the lower half remained upright, while the upper half slid down and crashed to the ground.

"Am I going to die?"

He had thought Li Rui was the weakest, so he chose Li Rui first over Tan Hu.

Who could have imagined.

This unassuming little old man had hidden so deep.

Li Rui stepped forward and crushed Wu Yun's massive head under his foot; Hidden Edge descended without hesitation.

Plosch.

Like stabbing into a watermelon, red and white splattered everywhere.

The skull split open.

Yet Li Rui showed no sign of stopping—he kept slashing, again and again, until the monster before him was reduced to unrecognizable pulp.

"Is he dead now?"

He had once witnessed the strange methods of the Decapitated Slave, even ones that could deceive Jiang Lin.

So he learned his lesson.

A corpse alone was far from enough.

This was perfect—unless Wu Yun could shrink into cells, he could not possibly survive.

To kill someone, you must ensure they are utterly dead; otherwise, it's all pointless.

Done.

He then pulled a small jade vial from his robe with his clean hand and sprinkled it on the ground.

A stench of corrosion rose into the air.

Only then did Li Rui smile in satisfaction.

He gazed at the mist in his consciousness and exhaled slowly:

"Finally safe."

Just then.

He accidentally caught sight of a small stone glowing faintly blue on the ground.

His gaze sharpened.

When Hidden Edge had been drawn, its blade qi had severed the string holding the Immortal Trace Stone, causing it to fall to the ground.

"Immortal Trace?!"

Li Rui hadn't expected an Immortal Trace here. Without hesitation, his eyes fell upon the ground where "Wu Yun" had been completely dissolved.

Soon.

Li Rui saw a slender thread of blue qi, no longer than a fingernail and as thin as a hair, floating quietly on the ground.

Though merely a wisp, it radiated an aura of sacred inviolability.

At this moment—

A line of small characters appeared before Li Rui.

【Congratulations, Host! Achievement Completed: "Becoming Immortal and Founding a Line" — Initial Discovery of Immortal Trace 2.】

【An Immortal's breath equals a mortal's century of effort. At age ten, you've gained a wisp of Immortal Qi. With this Immortal Trace, your fortune is profound—continue pursuing Immortal traces to prove eternal life.】

【Task "Initial Discovery of Immortal Trace 2" completed. Reward calculation in progress.】

【Task rating: A.】

【Obtained 40 Achievement Points!】

=9+ Shu _ Ba

【Name: Li Rui】

【Age: 10】

【Talent: Martial Bone, Extraordinary Comprehension, Insightful Eyes】

【Cultivation Technique: Long Chun Technique, Dragon Soaring Through Nine Heavens Diagram】

【Achievement: 40/100】

Immortal qi?!

Li Rui sucked in a sharp breath.

He never imagined that the four-armed demon ghost carried even a wisp of immortal qi.

Remarkable!

"The Ghost Ming Sect must conceal great secrets."

The system never lies—this faint blue mist before him was indeed the legendary immortal qi.

This was when the benefit of reading extensively became clear.

"Swallow immortal qi into the belly, and transformation reverses heaven and earth."

According to the texts, inhaling immortal qi into the body could nourish the physique and reverse one's innate constitution.

Li Rui seized the immortal qi without hesitation.

He opened his mouth and sucked it in with a swift hiss.

Not only had he resolved the crisis, but he'd gained an unexpected reward—Li Rui was thoroughly satisfied with today's actions.

Having finished, he leapt away and vanished into the nearby woods, chasing the direction of the sounds.

Ning Zhongtian's handsome face now bore a fresh scar.

He gripped his blade and scanned the battlefield.

Everything was in ruins.

In this battle, at least seventy of the soldiers under him and Feng Yu had died.

A pyrrhic victory.

It was the heaviest loss the Anning Guard had suffered since its founding.

Of course.

The Ghost Ming Sect had not come out unscathed either.

Feng Yu walked up to Ning Zhongtian, gazing at his longtime rival with admiration.

Today, Ning Zhongtian had displayed divine might.

At great personal risk, he had forcibly shattered the Poisonous Ghost's poison sac with his blade intent, forcing the creature to retreat.

"Good thing we didn't push him too far."

Feng Yu muttered to himself.

Ning Zhongtian had concealed his true strength; he always appeared roughly equal to Feng Yu, but in truth, he had already reached the Mid-Stage of Dragon Gate, even half a step into the Late Stage.

Only with such a cultivation base could he match the Poisonous Ghost in combat.

The lethal intent in Ning Zhongtian's eyes had not yet fully faded.

"Commander Feng, I'll stay behind to clear the battlefield. Please return to the guard post first and report this to Commander Cao and Commander Jiang."

Feng Yu nodded.

In the past, he would have argued.

But today, he had no desire to compete.

Externally, he and Ning Zhongtian were both soldiers of the Annan Army.

In war, internal strife was unacceptable.

The Ghost Ming Sect could return at any moment—they needed reinforcements as soon as possible.

Ning Zhongtian had no intention of leaving.

On the northwestern battlefield, he could accept dying wrapped in horsehide—but this was Qinghe, the Anning Guard's stronghold.

If he abandoned his comrades and left their corpses to rot in the wilds,

he would never again hold his head high in the Annan Army.

At that moment,

a rustling sound suddenly came from the bushes to his right.

Then Li Rui emerged from the foliage.

Seeing Li Rui appear, Ning Zhongtian's eyes flickered with relief. He stepped forward:

"Brother Li, are you well?"

He didn't even ask why Li Rui had left the formation.

In that situation, the formation had been shattered—surviving by any means was entirely reasonable.

Besides, if he remembered correctly,

he had seen one of the Twelve Blood Disciples, the four-armed demon ghost Wu Yun, chasing Li Rui.

If Li Rui hadn't lured Wu Yun away, more Anning Guard soldiers would have died today.

"Brother Li acted with righteousness—I'll report your merit to Commander Jiang."

Li Rui froze.

Then he understood: Ning Zhongtian must have assumed he had deliberately drawn the four-armed demon ghost away to protect the Anning Guard.

In truth, he'd only done it to conceal his true abilities.

He had no confidence he could kill Wu Yun using only seven-tenths of his strength.

That was why he'd acted as he did.

Soon, Ge Hong, Wei Ming, and Tan Hu also gathered around.

Seeing everyone was unharmed, Li Rui laughed heartily: "Good you're all alive."

Only those who had endured such battles could understand the feeling of surviving with comrades still standing.

Tan Hu, with his large head, asked curiously: "Where did the four arms go?"

Li Rui understood.

Tan Hu meant the four-armed demon ghost. He smiled lightly: "I used to be a horse handler and often pastured horses here—I know the terrain well. I lost the four-armed demon ghost, then returned here. I figured the Ghost Ming Sect had already scattered, so I came back."

The others nodded.

It made sense.

Could Li Rui possibly have killed the four-armed demon ghost?

The four-armed demon ghost could slay seventh-rank cultivators who had condensed qi into form—Li Rui was lucky to survive, let alone reverse the kill.

Seeing his subordinates above seventh rank were unharmed,

Ning Zhongtian's mood improved somewhat.

He glanced at the wounded Anning Guard soldiers moaning on the ground and sighed:

"Each of you, tally your losses—I'll report to Commander Jiang, and not a single copper of compensation will be withheld!"

(End of Chapter)