Chapter 217: Bane of Demonic Beasts

【"The horse runs fast in the spring breeze, and the hooves are swift." At only ten years old, you have become a Sixth-Rank official, the empire's number one prodigy, breaking the record for the youngest official. Rapid promotion is an indispensable part of a perfect life; please continue your efforts!】

【Task: Promotion completed. Reward settlement in progress.】

【Task Rating: B.】

【Obtained 30 Achievement Points!】

【Achievement Points have reached 100. Reward acquisition in progress.】

【Born as a general, one should naturally protect the home and defend the country. The world is facing an invasion by the demonic tribes; you have gained a special talent that will save the world from collapse.】

【Obtained Talent: Demonic Bane!】

【Young hero, please begin your perfect journey through the Jianghu!】

【Name: Li Rui】

【Age: 10】

【Talents: Martial Bone, Superb Comprehension, Wisdom Eye, Great Dream Immortal Travel, Demonic Bane】

【Arts: Long Chun Gong, Dragon Roaming Nine Heavens Map】

【Achievements: 10/100】

"Demonic Bane?"

Just as Li Rui was about to investigate what this new talent actually did, a few more lines of small text appeared before his eyes.

【Demonic Bane: Utilize the dragon bloodline to suppress all demonic beasts in the world. When facing demonic beasts, the power of your moves increases by 50%.】

【Reward enhancement detected.】

【Enhancing.】

【Demonic Bane effect improved: When facing demonic beasts, your power increases by 100%!】

Li Rui stared at the words "100%" on the panel and gasped.

Life-and-death combat.

An extra 100% was enough to determine life or death.

100%.

Almost equivalent to being invincible among those of the same rank.

Critical hits with every strike, a bane of demonic beasts?

This thought rose in Li Rui's mind.

It is common knowledge that demonic beasts have extremely powerful physical bodies; when facing enemies of the same rank, human martial artists usually fall into a disadvantage.

Humans can only suppress demonic beasts by relying on superior numbers, and wanting to kill a demonic beast is even more difficult.

But this situation was completely different for him.

From now on, demonic beasts of the same rank that encountered Li Rui would almost certainly face the fate of being killed in seconds.

This talent could be said to have infinite wonderful uses.

"Rumor has it that there is a group of people in the world who call themselves Demon Hunters, living by chasing demonic beasts and making a living by selling them."

Demonic beasts could be said to be treasures from head to toe.

Their meat can be made into nourishing spirit meat, their blood can be used in medicine or swallowed directly, not to mention their skin can be made into armor and their tendons into bowstrings.

In short.

A loose demonic beast is simply a small gold mine.

Therefore, the Yu Kingdom specifically has a group of people who hunt demonic beasts and sell their blood and meat.

But not many people engage in this profession.

On one hand, the requirements for strength are extremely high; on the other hand, the risks are too great, and the mortality rate is terrifyingly high.

But if Li Rui were to become a Demon Hunter, he would definitely become a leader in this trade.

However, he had other uses for it.

If he only used this talent to fight alone, it would be a waste of talent; he had to use a global perspective.

Among the duties of the Anning Guard, besides monitoring the Jianghu, there was another item: suppressing demonic beasts.

Previously, Li Rui was a Night Scout, mainly managing people.

Therefore, he had rarely participated in matters concerning demonic beasts, but now that he had this talent, he could use it to earn military merit. Not only could he exchange military merit for benefits, but he could also accumulate achievements to seek a higher position.

With an army surrounding him, wasn't this much safer than fighting alone?

Li Rui's mouth curled up slightly.

"This talent will definitely have great use in the future."

"Brother Li, we should set off."

Ning Zhongtian knocked on the courtyard gate of Li Rui's house.

Li Rui pushed open the door.

With a saber at his waist, he had rarely changed into his official uniform.

He wore a green robe, and the rank badge was a leopard.

Ning Zhongtian was the same, dressed exactly like Li Rui.

Not bad.

The reason they were dressed so grandly was because today was the day for the Anning Guard and the Trade Office to meet and negotiate; it was an important official matter.

People from the Trade Office had been in Qinghe for some time, but they had only met privately with Cao Wei and Jiang Linxian; this was the first time for a formal occasion.

Naturally, they had to take it seriously.

Besides the Assistant Regional Commander and the Military Advisor, all five Garrison Commanders of the Anning Guard had to go, and Li Rui, this Trade Captain, could not possibly escape either.

"Let's go."

Li Rui chuckled.

He immediately mounted his horse with Ning Zhongtian and rushed toward the General's Prefecture.

When the two arrived at the General's Prefecture.

They saw Jiang Linxian, Cao Wei, and several Garrison Commanders had just leaped onto their horses.

Seeing Li Rui and Ning Zhongtian appear, Cao Wei said, "Then let's set off."

As the words fell.

The group rode out of the Anning Guard station.

A moment later.

The Anning Guard group arrived in front of a large area of blue-gray brick buildings on the east side of Qinghe.

Li Rui looked at the familiar yet somewhat strange buildings before him.

This place was originally the black market of Qinghe.

Now it had been converted into the station for the Trade Office.

The Trade Office was responsible for managing trade between the two countries, so naturally, they had to designate an official trading venue. Thus, the Commissioner of the Trade Office and the County Magistrate Zhuang Renhe agreed to turn this place into an official office.

Although the Tiandi Alliance didn't get much money, they received quite a few benefits.

The Trade Office had promised the Tiandi Alliance seven or eight special privileges, and these privileges could play a huge role when the two countries traded in the future.

This was much more long-term than simple gold and silver, and the Trade Office actually didn't give the Tiandi Alliance a chance to refuse.

Concerning the great matters of the two countries, they had already shown enough sincerity; if the Tiandi Alliance didn't agree, even with Ning Zhongtian behind them, they would still be forced to comply.

Li Rui followed Jiang Linxian and Cao Wei into the Trade Office, where the front courtyard had just been completed.

Although his position was Trade Captain, he had always kept his identity clear. First of all.

The one truly managing trade between the two countries was the Trade Office.

Then.

He was merely a fixed person representing the Anning Guard to contact and communicate with the Trade Office, and everything he did had to be based on the premise of the Annan Army, or rather, it had to be approved by Jiang Linxian or Cao Wei.

Li Rui only ever considered himself a Captain in the Anning Guard, and "Trade" was just a miscellaneous title.

Therefore, he had no intention of showing off at all.

Soon.

The group walked into the main hall of the Trade Office.

Five or six people were already sitting in the hall.

The person in the center was, of course, the newly appointed Commissioner of the Trade Office, Yan Zhongxing, a refined middle-aged man.

"Newly appointed Commissioner, Yan Zhongxing, a native of Jiangnan, formerly the County Magistrate of Kunyu County in Jiangzhou, later entered the capital to serve as a Vice Minister in the Ministry of Revenue, and is now sent out as the Commissioner of the Qinghe Trade Office."

=9+Book_Bar

"This Lord Yan is skilled in the way of business and is not known for martial arts."

Information about this Lord Yan appeared in Li Rui's mind.

Civil officials are mostly like this.

Even if their realm is not high enough, as long as their knowledge is sufficient, they can still become high-ranking officials.

Of course, if their martial arts are too low, encountering someone with high strength, they will inevitably suffer more losses.

In the end.

The martial arts experts in this world can destroy mountains and split seas; no matter how high one's intelligence is, it appears pale and weak in the face of absolute strength.

So although this Lord Yan's martial arts were not high, he was still a Sixth-Rank expert.

Cao Wei cupped his hands and said:

"Lord Yan, we meet again."

When he was still a Vice Director in the Ministry of War in the capital, Yan Zhongxing was already a Vice Minister in the Ministry of Revenue.

Counting it up, his official rank was higher than his.

Yan Zhongxing leaving the capital this time seemed like a loss; although a Vice Minister in the Ministry of Revenue and a Commissioner of the Trade Office were of the same rank, both Fifth-Rank, capital officials were half a rank higher, not to mention being a real-power Vice Minister in the Six Ministries.

But according to Cao Wei's good friend in the Ministry of Revenue.

This time, Yan Zhongxing had requested to be sent out voluntarily.

So Cao Wei felt that this Lord Yan was playing a game of retreating to advance, using the great matter of trade between the two countries to seek a higher position.

"Lord Cao."

Yan Zhongxing laughed heartily.

He had no airs of having been Cao Wei's superior before, and cupped his hands, saying:

"Today is just to call everyone together for a gathering; there is no other meaning."

A gathering?

Cao Wei naturally wouldn't believe it.

Yan Zhongxing is called an official, but in fact, he should be called a businessman.

Saying some nice words at the beginning to lower vigilance, and then talking business, this is a customary method.

If it were really just a gathering, why make such a big fuss?

Unlike Yan Zhongxing, Cao Wei had always been an official.

As an official, what he disliked most was this set of tricks.

Yan Zhongxing looked toward Jiang Linxian: "Lord Jiang, long admired, long admired."

Jiang Linxian also cupped his hands: "I have also often heard of Lord Yan's great name."

The three of them flattered each other for quite a while.

The people in the hall were all accustomed to it.

It was just the customary opening move when high officials meet; those who were skilled had already started closing their eyes to doze off.

Li Rui stood in the middle and scanned the hall.

Soon.

His gaze collided with a young man.

"Qi Ze."

Seeing Qi Ze sitting upright in a large chair, staring at Li Rui with an unnatural expression, it was hard to say if it was hatred, wariness, or unwillingness; I'm afraid even Qi Ze himself couldn't say clearly.

Ever since he failed to compete for the position of Trade Captain, he had been staying in Qinghe.

Until the Duke of Wei licked his old face to find the Emperor again and begged for a position as a Trade Supervisor for him, Proper Sixth-Rank.

Equivalent in rank to the Trade Captain.

But this arrangement was somewhat meaningful.

The Emperor secretly ordered Jiang Linxian to prevent Qi Ze from becoming the Trade Captain, but gave the position of Trade Supervisor very readily.

This shows that in the Emperor's heart, the position of Trade Captain is more critical and cannot be held by a "remnant" of the previous dynasty like Qi Ze.

Li Rui quickly withdrew his gaze.

He didn't take Qi Ze's official position in the Trade Office to heart at all.

Although both were officials responsible for trade between the two countries, they were in different departments and could not manage each other.

Naturally, there was no need to pay too much attention.

Finally.

The three main officials finished the necessary pleasantries.

They took their seats first.

Then Li Rui and the others each found a place to sit down.

This meeting between the two sides was nothing more than first understanding each other's thoughts to carry out trade between the two countries later.

Both were for better management of the market, and the goals were the same, so naturally, everything went smoothly.

Soon, both sides reached a consensus.

The Anning Guard would still be responsible for stability within the jurisdiction and would not interfere in trade matters.

But concerning the two countries, there might be spies, riots, and other situations, so the Anning Guard also needed to send people to monitor, and if necessary, use force to suppress.

The Trade Office, of course, would have full authority to manage trade matters.

Yan Zhongxing didn't have much objection to the Anning Guard arranging people to monitor.

This was customary.

Moreover, the Trade Office was all civil officials, not a violent organization; wanting to manage the unruly Witch Kingdom people well would inevitably require the help of the Anning Guard.

Half an hour later.

Both sides had negotiated almost everything.

At this time.

Jiang Linxian pointed at Li Rui and said:

"He is the Anning Guard Trade Captain, Li Rui; from now on, Li Rui will be responsible for communication between the two sides."

"His attitude represents the attitude of the Anning Guard."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 218 =====