Chapter 241: The Appearance of an Immortal

The banquet dispersed, and the County Office became quiet, with only a few servants cleaning up the aftermath of the banquet.

In a room in a corner, the silhouettes of two people were cast.

"Can you see anything?"

Zhuang Renhe looked at Fu Huai.

Fu Huai was ostensibly his aide; during the banquet just now, he had stood in the corner the entire time, observing the situation of the officials in attendance.

This was a rare opportunity.

Almost all the officials in the city who could be brought to the table were gathered together; perhaps the person they were looking for was among them.

Fu Huai shook his head: "I didn't find any problems."

Zhuang Renhe narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at Fu Huai with a half-smile: "Not even the Anning Guard?"

"No."

Seeing Fu Huai's certain expression,

Zhuang Renhe couldn't ask again, the smile at the corner of his mouth turning cold: "Mr. Fu, since we are working together, it is better to be honest with each other."

Fu Huai: "Magistrate Zhuang is overthinking."

Zhuang Renhe snorted coldly and turned to walk out of the room.

After Zhuang Renhe walked away, Fu Huai's eyes flickered, lost in thought, as the scene he had just seen appeared in his mind.

As a Qi-Watcher, almost all were born with strange eyes and could see things others couldn't.

This banquet had attracted his attention to two people.

One was Jiang Linxian.

In his eyes, Jiang Linxian was a sword that had already left its sheath, suppressing all directions, already extraordinary enough.

But the other old official was even more like a divine dragon coiled, and there was faintly another object around him, mysterious and incomparable, majestic and atmospheric—it was a hidden pulse that had yet to manifest.

Immortal-like potential!

He had been able to have a high status in the Ghost Ming Sect by relying on his skill in Qi-watching; he had seen too many figures at the peak of the mountains, each with extraordinary atmosphere, but he had never heard of anyone with a larger atmosphere than that old official.

"Could it be that he is the person the Immortal Venerable is looking for?"

What the Immortal Venerable wanted him to find was someone with the potential of a Fallen Immortal.

From this standard, both Jiang Linxian and that official surnamed Li fit.

"Need to confirm again."

Matters concerning the Immortal Venerable could not be sloppy.

And the targets were all high-level officials of the Anning Guard, and there was even Jiang Linxian; there was only one chance to take action, and no mistakes were allowed.

"Check first, then decide."

It was New Year's Day again.

In the blink of an eye,

Li Rui had reached the age of nearly eighty, and even Yang Yong was already seventy.

Elder Tiekuang had not returned since going to the Divine Weapon Shanzhuang.

Liu Tiezhu didn't stay in the smithy either, but returned to the Li residence.

Liang He also returned home from the Heaven and Earth Alliance early.

To spend a reunion New Year together.

At this time, the residence was full of New Year atmosphere.

Yang Yong was already too tired to work and had no energy to organize the New Year's Eve dinner, so Li Rui simply ordered a table at the Drunken Immortal Tower, a table full of dishes that made people's appetites increase greatly.

The few people in the courtyard gathered together to eat the New Year's Eve dinner.

And then they all stayed up for the New Year in the courtyard.

This had always been the rule of the Li residence.

That night, Yang Yong said a lot.

Most of the time, he was bragging about his time as a guard in the Zhu family when he was young, and about having a friend like Li Rui.

As he spoke, he fell asleep.

He didn't even make it past midnight.

In the end, it was Liang He and the others who carried him into the room.

Wang Zhao looked at Yang Yong sleeping on the bed and worried: "Master, is Uncle Yang alright?"

Li Rui smiled: "He will be alright."

In his heart, he sighed.

He had experienced Yang Yong's situation; even in his previous life, where the medical level was higher, most people considered seventy or eighty years old to be dying of old age.

Once they passed seventy, every household would place a coffin in their home.

Truly waiting for death.

Before it was him, now it was Yang Yong; they had all reached the age of waiting for death.

Regarding this,

Li Rui was also powerless.

Immortal Xuan Qi could preserve Yang Yong's health, but once it was time for Yama to hook the soul, no one could do anything.

What could be done?

Only let nature take its course.

Yang Yong perhaps had already sensed it in the dark; in recent days, the number of times he went out had decreased a lot.

After the New Year,

on the third day.

The people from the Anning Guard, the Trade Office, and the Heaven and Earth Alliance who came to pay New Year's greetings almost broke the threshold.

Li Rui entertained them one by one.

If others gave face, he naturally had to accept it.

And during the New Year, wasn't it just for the joy?

Just after the fifth day,

the Li residence welcomed a special guest.

"Old Man Tie?"

Liu Tiezhu, who opened the door, was stunned to see the familiar Old Man Tie; he had thought it was another person coming to visit and bring gifts.

Seeing Old Man Tie carrying quite a few things,

the visit was fake, but the gift-giving was certainly real.

Liu Tiezhu hurriedly turned his head and roared with a loud voice: "Master, Old Man Tie is here."

Hearing the voice,

Li Rui walked out at the first opportunity and welcomed him.

"Senior Tie, you have had a hard journey; this junior was thinking of going to the Divine Weapon Shanzhuang to pay you New Year's greetings..."

Before he could finish speaking,

Elder Tiekuang snorted: "You lad, don't give me this empty talk; take these things first, and if you can open up the Qi Sea before the Lantern Festival, consider it your late New Year's greeting to me."

"..."

Li Rui was speechless.

It was already the sixth day, and the Lantern Festival was only eight or nine days away.

Open up the Qi Sea?

Did he really think the Qi Sea was Chinese cabbage?

However, even if the matter couldn't be done, it didn't delay him from receiving the gifts.

He gave Liu Tiezhu a wink, and Liu Tiezhu immediately smiled and hugged the two bulging large bundles from Elder Tiekuang's hands.

Elder Tiekuang rolled his eyes.

But these things were originally for Li Rui, so he didn't care.

"Senior, come in and sit."

Li Rui saw that Liu Tiezhu was becoming more and more observant and was increasingly satisfied with his second disciple.

He pulled Elder Tiekuang and wanted to enter the room.

Elder Tiekuang waved his hand: "To get your lad's things, I have been delayed for so long; I have to go back to forge iron."

Then he glared at Liu Tiezhu: "Tonight, if I don't see you at the smithy, you don't have to come again."

Obviously, he was quite dissatisfied with Liu Tiezhu's wolf-like behavior just now.

Liu Tiezhu smiled foolishly: "Old Man Tie, rest assured, I will be there."

Elder Tiekuang cursed him for a simpleton.

And then he came in a hurry and left in a hurry, disappearing in a flash.

Liu Tiezhu hugged the things and put them in the room.

Li Rui first unpacked the bundle.

His breathing stalled instantly.

What kind of good person uses a bundle to pack sixth-rank elixirs!

That's right, Elder Tiekuang's large bundle was full of elixirs—Qi-nourishing ones, body-strengthening ones, all of them.

The rich, strange fragrance of the elixirs filled his nose in an instant.

With so many elixirs, it was estimated that it would be enough for a sect to use.

He was going to eat them all by himself?

Li Rui hadn't expected that he would actually realize his dream of eating elixirs like jelly beans.

Among a large pile of sixth-rank elixirs,

he even saw several bottles of fifth-rank elixirs.

But what shocked Li Rui was that there were even two fourth-rank spirit pills among them!

"Nine-Turn Spirit-Returning Pill."

Li Rui recognized this fourth-rank spirit pill; it was the favorite spirit pill for breakthroughs in the Sea-Observing Realm, and now Elder Tiekuang actually brought it to help him open up the Qi Sea.

This was no longer killing a chicken with a butcher's knife; it was simply killing a mosquito with a butcher's knife. Li Rui then looked at the other bundle.

It was very hard and felt uncomfortable to touch.

Unpacking it, it turned out to be a large iron hammer the length of an arm, and inside was a letter.

"This hammer is named Divine Fire Burning Heaven Hammer; practice with this hammer daily using the Hammer Qi Technique, and it has the effect of increasing true Qi."

Divine Fire Burning Heaven Hammer?

Li Rui gasped sharply.

"Is it the Divine Weapon of the Divine Weapon Shanzhuang, the Divine Fire Burning Heaven Hammer??"

The fame of this hammer in Yunzhou could be said to be extremely great.

It was known as the number one weapon in Yunzhou.

It was hailed as the number one hammer below an Immortal Weapon and belonged to the Shanzhuang Master of the Divine Weapon Shanzhuang.

He hadn't expected Old Man Tie to actually bring such a divine object from the Divine Weapon Shanzhuang to Qinghe; no wonder Old Man Tie ran all the way to the Divine Weapon Shanzhuang—it must have been for this object.

=9+Shu_Ba

Li Rui couldn't help but feel a warmth in his heart.

Although Elder Tiekuang helping him cultivate was for the sake of forging an Immortal Weapon, he had racked his brains for it.

One could imagine that even with Elder Tiekuang's status, borrowing this Divine Fire Burning Heaven Hammer was by no means an easy task.

He couldn't let down his painstaking efforts.

Although before the Lantern Festival was a fantasy, if he could open up the Qi Sea within a year, it was still very possible.

Li Rui immediately gripped the handle of the Divine Fire Burning Heaven Hammer, and the Hammer Qi Technique began to operate.

Qi sank into the dantian.

He bent his arms, lifted the Divine Fire Burning Heaven Hammer over his head, and swung it toward the front.

Boom!

Dust flew.

"What happened?"

"What happened!"

"Why did the wall crack?!"

The huge sound soon attracted the attention of the people in the courtyard; when Yang Yong, Wang Zhao, Liu Tiezhu, and Liang He ran over, they saw a huge crack running from bottom to top through the entire house on the wall of Li Rui's room.

The four of them rushed into the room, thinking it was an enemy attack.

Then they saw Li Rui holding the hammer, looking embarrassed.

When Li Rui swung the hammer, he clearly hadn't hit anything, and hadn't even released true Qi.

But just by the power of the Divine Fire Burning Heaven Hammer, the lethality was so tyrannical.

'No wonder it is the number one weapon in Yunzhou; it really is extraordinary.'

Helplessly,

before the house was repaired, he could only move to the room in the backyard to live.

"It seems that in the future, when practicing with the hammer, I have to find a more open place."

County Office.

Zhuang Renhe, who had been working for a day, returned to his residence.

Unlike other County Magistrates whose rooms were full of fragrance and softness.

Zhuang Renhe's own bedroom was very cold and quiet, without a single maid to serve him.

Didn't he like women?

Of course not.

It was because there were too many secrets on him that couldn't be discovered.

Zhuang Renhe walked to a wooden rack in the southeast corner of the room where porcelain was placed, reached out, gripped a small emerald porcelain bowl, and turned it with slight force.

The wooden rack began to rotate silently.

A pitch-black hole appeared before his eyes.

Zhuang Renhe didn't show the slightest surprise, and with an expressionless face, he walked into the dark hole with his back to it.

Just after he walked into the dark hole, the wooden rack began to rotate slowly again, closing until no one could see that a secret room was hidden here.

Behind the wooden rack was a long, narrow dark passage leading underground.

After walking for about a quarter of an hour,

Zhuang Renhe was deep in a secret room about five zhang square.

In the secret room,

there was actually a short, sturdy man locked by iron chains as thick as an arm through his shoulder blades, unable to move.

The short, sturdy man's feet and hands had already disappeared.

He was truly a human stick.

Zhuang Renhe walked in front of the short, sturdy man and sneered repeatedly: "Have you thought it through? As long as you tell me what the Blood Shadow Xueying Laozu is investigating, I can let you die painlessly."

The short, sturdy man raised his head and looked at Zhuang Renhe: "Bah, you dog who eats inside and out; when the Xueying Laozu knows, he will definitely feed you to the blood insects!"

Zhuang Renhe didn't care at all: "Xueying Laozu?"

"The Xueying Laozu thinks his good disciple who picks blood will have long died; he will never know!"

Zhuang Renhe's smile was incomparably wanton.

That's right.

The man locked in his secret room was precisely one of the Twelve Blood Disciples, the Blood-Picking General.

The Blood-Picking General and the Thousand-Faced Luo Sha Liu Jiaoniang had come to Qinghe together.

Later, the layout of the Southern Border Qi clan in Qinghe was seen through by Dao Mo of the Wu Kingdom and liquidated.

Everyone in the world thought that the Blood-Picking General and the Thousand-Faced Luo Sha had both died at the hands of the Wu Kingdom's Dao Mo.

Little did they know.

The Blood-Picking General had originally escaped Qinghe that night, but Zhuang Renhe had set an ambush, captured the Blood-Picking General alive, and had been keeping him locked in the secret room under the County Office ever since.

No one would have thought that Zhuang Renhe would dare to be so bold as to bind even one of the Twelve Blood Disciples of the Ghost Ming Sect.

The Blood-Picking General's face turned gloomy.

He naturally knew that since Zhuang Renhe dared to capture him, he must have long thought of a countermeasure.

Relying on the people of the Ghost Ming Sect was no longer possible; he could only save himself.

Saying that just now was just to distract Zhuang Renhe's mind.

Just as Zhuang Renhe was laughing wantonly,

the Blood-Picking General's mouth mumbled.

Poof!

A blood arrow the length of a finger shot toward Zhuang Renhe's brow like lightning.

A fatal strike.

Zhuang Renhe's sneer stopped abruptly.

The scene he expected, where the blood arrow pierced Zhuang Renhe and took his life, did not appear.

The blood arrow hadn't even touched Zhuang Renhe before it was blocked by an invisible force, unable to advance even a fraction, until its power was completely consumed and it turned into a pool of blood on the ground.

"You want to kill me with just this?"

Zhuang Renhe looked at the Blood-Picking General mockingly.

The Blood-Picking General, because he had cast the blood arrow, turned pale, and sighed in his heart:

'This fellow surnamed Zhuang has practiced a turtle shell; he really can't be killed.'

He knew he couldn't live, he just wanted to see if he could drag this fellow surnamed Zhuang to accompany him in the underworld.

Clearly,

the plan had failed.

"Always have to try."

The Blood-Picking General said expressionlessly.

Being able to become one of the few among the Twelve Blood Disciples most relied upon by the Blood Shadow Xueying Laozu, he had long since put life and death aside.

And as long as he didn't loosen his mouth, Zhuang Renhe wouldn't kill him.

Zhuang Renhe looked at the Blood-Picking General coldly.

"I know you people have very hard bones."

"For this, I have thought of quite a few methods."

"Today, I'll just try them out."

Saying this, he took a small porcelain bottle from his bosom, turned it upside down, and a fat insect only the size of a fingernail appeared in his hand.

"This thing is called the Truth-Spitting Insect; it was something I had a hard time getting from the Southern Border."

"Just let me try it on you."

The Blood-Picking General had been locked up for so long, and this was the first time his face had changed.

Seeing the change in the Blood-Picking General's face, Zhuang Renhe's face became distorted: "What kind of thing is the Ghost Ming Sect!"

"Daring to use me as a dog, and not even looking to see if they are worthy."

"It's too late to talk now."

He gripped the Blood-Picking General's chin and put the Truth-Spitting Insect into the Blood-Picking General's mouth.

"Ah..."

"Ah..."

A series of painful wails echoed in the secret room.

Zhuang Renhe's voice sounded at this moment: "After the Truth-Spitting Insect enters a person's body, it will follow the blood vessels all the way to the brain, and then bit... by bit... eat the brain until nothing is left. Before it finishes eating, it can control your consciousness; whatever I ask, you will answer, unable to resist."

"Now tell me, what exactly is the Blood Shadow Xueying Laozu hiding from me?!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 242 =====