Chapter 201: Destiny Transformed, Leaping in the Abyss

'Nine Four: Or leaping in the abyss, no blame.'

The divine dragon may soar through the nine heavens or plunge into the deep abyss; as long as one clearly sees the situation and acts in accordance with it, no mistake will be made.

'Your destiny has changed, which is why I ventured this guess.'

Jiang Yan stated the truth outright.

In her fate eye, Li Rui was surrounded by a winged feathered dragon circling and dancing, its divine radiance flowing.

'Ying Long!'

Jiang Yan instantly recognized that the divine dragon was no ordinary dragon, but the ancestor of all dragons—the Ying Long.

A legendary deity embodying creation, formation, and destruction, an supreme existence.

She had seen many people's destinies, even the destinies of many prodigies, some with grand omens, yet compared to Li Rui's, they were worlds apart.

Ying Long, the ancestor of all dragons—its dragon form alone is immense; Ying Long is terrifyingly vast.

'Last time I saw it, it was not Ying Long.'

Jiang Yan thought of a certain kind of person.

These individuals began with extremely ordinary destinies, yet climbed step by step upward, causing their destinies to transform, ultimately achieving great deeds.

The most famous among them was undoubtedly the founding emperor of the Yu Kingdom.

A commoner who rose in chaos to become a true dragon.

Li Rui was showing faint signs of this.

'If a Fulong Shi saw this, it would be disastrous.'

Within the Hidden Sect, there was a lineage that called themselves Fulong Shi.

Their lifelong mission was to discover those with the true dragon destiny and aid them in soaring to greatness, thereby acquiring dragon qi to open the Immortal Gate.

There were Fulong Shi, and there were also Longtu Shi; if certain Longtu Shi saw Li Rui's destiny, it would be no less than a divine treasure—slay Li Rui, and they could gain heavenly transformation.

Of course, because the founding emperor had been harmed by Longtu Shi, this lineage had been extinguished a thousand years ago.

Li Rui listened to Jiang Yan's words.

He raised an eyebrow:

'Or leaping in the abyss.'

That meant he was now at the stage of about to soar but not yet soaring; if he remained cautious, he could rise with the momentum and become a dragon in the heavens.

'Miss Jiang, can you now discern my deviant form?'

He asked curiously.

Jiang Yan shook her head: 'It seems heavenly fate obscures it—I cannot see clearly, as if there is... a gate.'

Li Rui's heart startled.

Jiang Yan's fate eye was truly extraordinary—she had glimpsed a corner of the Southern Heavenly Gate.

Fortunately, he had received immortal qi, which could shield him from others' probing.

Once his deviant form was revealed to be the immortal form,

one possibility was that a supreme sect would take notice, making him a seventy-year-old prodigy; another possibility was that some ancient monster would seize him as an experimental tool.

The immortal form was fatally attractive to the ancient monsters of the Hidden Sect.

Immortality was the obsession of countless people.

Li Rui disliked risk, so he chose to conceal his immortal form.

At this moment,

Han Qin finally asked the question he cared about most: 'Senior Li, have you truly broken through??'

Both were discussing destiny, yet in his eyes, Li Rui's sixth rank was the truly shocking matter.

Li Rui smiled faintly: 'Lucky.'

Han Qin could no longer sit still.

Lucky?

The first time he saw Li Rui, he was unranked.

Fine, perhaps he was hiding his true strength.

But how many years had passed since their first meeting?

At most six years.

Li Rui had advanced nearly one rank every two years.

A six-rank at seventy-six was not unusual, but rising from ninth rank to sixth rank in six years? That was a life reserved for prodigies!

'Can one still achieve greatness late in life?'

Han Qin was at a loss for words.

Li Rui chuckled: 'I hope you both understand—traveling the martial world, one must always keep some cards up one's sleeve.'

Han Qin's lips twitched uncontrollably.

This was called keeping some cards up one's sleeve?

A full six-rank pretending to be a seventh-rank—if any unlucky soul provoked Li Rui, they wouldn't even know how they died.

'Senior is truly cautious.'

After much thought, Han Qin finally managed to utter this word.

Had Jiang Yan not possessed her special fate eye, and had Li Rui's destiny not changed, no one would have discovered it.

Li Rui was utterly unfazed by being seen.

How do you know what you see is truly real?

Li Rui always followed the principle of revealing only seven-tenths before others; Han Qin and Jiang Yan believed he had just broken through to sixth rank.

In reality,

he was already invincible beneath his mid-sixth rank!

Li Rui spoke: 'I hope the two of you can keep this secret.'

'Senior, rest assured.'

Han Qin and Jiang Yan both nodded vigorously.

Especially Jiang Yan—she had inadvertently uncovered Li Rui's secret and already felt embarrassed.

'For now, don't tell my father.'

Jiang Yan silently resolved.

Han Qin immediately became enthusiastic again, chatting with Li Rui about martial arts for a full hour.

Only then did they take their leave.

The next day.

After Li Rui finished practicing his sword in the courtyard, he saw Ning Zhongtian and the others return to their quarters, energetic and satisfied.

'They spent a lot of silver last night.'

As a seasoned veteran, Li Rui saw it at a glance.

Ning Zhongtian spotted Li Rui and grinned: 'Brother Li, you missed out last night—the young ladies of Anning Prefecture have exceptional martial skill.'

Martial skill?

Li Rui understood perfectly what Ning Zhongtian meant by 'martial skill.'

'Next time.'

Ning Zhongtian then spoke again: 'Brother Li, since you've come to Huaqing Sect, you must go through the formalities—shall we set out now?'

Li Rui nodded: 'Appropriate.'

Immediately, Ning Zhongtian led the Benhu Qi group to find Elder Han Shaoquan, whom they had met the day before.

Anning Guard inspections merely involved checking ledgers internally and observing conduct externally.

All were under Jiang Lin's command; Ning Zhongtian had known from the moment he left the military camp that this was merely a routine matter.

Han Shaoquan smiled warmly at Ning Zhongtian: 'Elder Ning, did you rest well last night?'

Ning Zhongtian grinned: 'Thank you, Elder Han, for your hospitality.'

Though both Han Shaoquan and Jiang Lin were elders of Huaqing Sect, the difference was immense.

One, like Ning Zhongtian, was merely sixth rank; the other was Huaqing Sect's pinnacle of combat strength.

If Jiang Lin wished to become Sect Master, the current Sect Master could step down the very next day.

Such was Jiang Lin's status within Huaqing Sect.

As always,

=9+book_bar

Outsiders first knew Jiang Lin before they knew Anning Prefecture even had a Huaqing Sect—the cause and effect cannot be reversed.

'Elder Han, where are the sect's ledgers?'

'Already prepared.'

Before he finished speaking, several Huaqing Sect disciples carried over stacks of thick ledgers.

A cursory glance revealed at least ten thousand scrolls.

The sheer volume attested to Huaqing Sect's deep foundations.

Ning Zhongtian's face stiffened: 'Elder Han, you needn't bring out all of them.'

He was here merely to go through the motions.

Not to uncover any actual wrongdoing by Jiang Lin.

If I'm still going to work under Jiang Lin, I dare not do anything to embarrass my superior.

Han Shaoquan smiled warmly: "No problem. You've already taken it—Inspector Ning, feel free to look."

"."

Ning Zhongtian was momentarily speechless.

He had never seen such an honest sect before, but he still had to put on a show, so he forced himself to say: "Then we won't be polite."

In the enclosed room, a warm golden beam of light pierced through the window paper and spilled into the room.

The sound of turning pages rustled continuously.

If you didn't know better, you'd think you'd walked into some scholarly academy.

"Chief Ning, are we really going to read all of this?"

Tang Hai looked miserable.

He had already read for three hours. Three hours!

His eyelids ached and swelled.

And what made him more desperate was that the account books beside him still piled up like a small mountain—he hadn't even finished one-tenth.

"We'll never finish. Impossible to finish."

On the other side, Tan Hu was shaking his large head back and forth.

They weren't unaccustomed to reading for three hours—the problem was the sheer volume left, which was maddening. They were Anning Guard soldiers, not old scholars from the Hanlin Academy; they simply couldn't spend their lives buried in books.

Ning Zhongtian snapped shut the account book.

He glanced at the pile beside him—he felt the same way.

He cautiously looked at Li Rui: "Brother Li, shall we take a break and continue tomorrow?"

A Garrison Commander asking for the opinion of his subordinates was unprecedented.

No reason other than:

Li Rui showed no sign of stopping at all.

Li Rui lifted his head, his gaze calm as he looked at Ning Zhongtian:

"Chief Ning, are you really sure you want to stop?"

Ning Zhongtian blinked: "Brother Li, what do you mean?"

He sensed Li Rui's words carried hidden meaning.

Li Rui: "Hasn't Chief Ning noticed anything odd about our visit to Huaqing Sect?"

Hearing this, Ning Zhongtian froze, fell silent—he was clearly thinking about what might be wrong.

Li Rui sighed lightly:

"I suspect Jiang's superior wants us to find this."

He handed the dossier in his hand to Ning Zhongtian.

Ignoring the headache-inducing numbers, only one name remained at the end—"Jiang Baichuan."

Ning Zhongtian's first instinct was to frown.

"Jiang?"

The Jiang surname was a super-clan in Huaqing Sect—the same Jiang as Jiang Lin. That meant Jiang Baichuan was of the same clan as Jiang Lin.

Li Rui's voice chimed in:

"Jiang Baichuan is Jiang's senior cousin. Within a year, he illegally sold over a million gold worth of Huaqing Sect's private assets."

One year. A million gold?!

Ning Zhongtian sucked in a sharp breath.

Huaqing Sect was wealthy and powerful—but even they couldn't afford this kind of waste!

Soon, his eyes narrowed slightly.

Ning Zhongtian was sharp—he understood instantly the moment Li Rui spoke.

Jiang Lin couldn't act against his own cousin, so he hired outsiders to clean house!

A superior's intentions were unfathomable.

Ning Zhongtian admitted: if not for Li Rui's hint, he'd have never noticed this—he'd have just gone through the motions, returned to the Anning Guard, and remained clueless.

Then he'd be stuck for ten years without promotion, scratching his head wondering why.

A chill ran down his spine.

Officialdom's cultivation wasn't about power—it was about this. Fail, and only blame yourself for your insufficient cultivation.

Why didn't Jiang Lin just say it outright?

Acting against his own cousin would be too obvious—it would anger the Jiang clan. Even a clean official can't settle family affairs. Even if he was the Sword Immortal of Jiangdong, could he pierce through all his own relatives?

So he had to find someone clever to do it.

Li Rui was clearly the one chosen.

Ning Zhongtian still had one question: "Brother Li, with so many dossiers, how did you find Jiang Baichuan so quickly?"

Li Rui smiled lightly:

"Jiang's daughter told me last night."

"."

What is the definition of a sly old fox?

(End of Chapter)