Chapter 260: Jiao King's Tears, Progress Soars

"In the South Sea, there are Jiao people who weave water into silk and shed tears that turn into pearls."

Jiao person's tears are a rare treasure.

For this reason.

The Jiao person clan in the South Sea was almost wiped out.

Jiao person's tears are not just a simple drop of tear, but are formed from the essence and blood of the whole body, which is of great benefit to a martial artist's body refining.

Do you really think the Jiao person clan are the beautiful mermaids with human heads and fish bodies in stories?

No.

They have green skin and black scales, each one like a Yaksha, with a fierce temperament, loving to peel human skin; I don't know how many Jiao hunters have lost their lives in the South Sea.

But Jiao person's tears are too precious, so even knowing the danger, people still flock to them.

The Jiao person's tear in Li Rui's hand is different.

It is not a Jiao person's tear, but a Jiao King's tear.

A difference of one character, a difference of heaven and earth!

Only Jiao people above the Fourth-Rank are qualified to be called Jiao Kings, and those are existences comparable to Innate martial artists.

The number of Innate martial artists in the human race is not large, and the Jiao person clan is naturally even fewer.

In other words, the crystal blue gemstone in Li Rui's hand is formed from the essence and blood of a Fourth-Rank Jiao King, and its value is immeasurable.

His heart was pounding.

'Jiao person's tears are of great use to Sea-Observing martial artists, surpassing all great elixirs.'

Li Rui's breathing became rapid.

Even the geniuses of countless great sects might not have the opportunity to obtain one.

And it appeared before his eyes just like that.

Jiao King's tear, even for the Fourth-Rank Jiang Linxian, is of great use, yet he was willing to give it to him.

A grand gesture!

He is truly not a stingy person.

Li Rui thought Jiang Linxian would give him some treasures or spiritual elixirs as compensation, but he never expected it to be a divine object of such immeasurable value as a Jiao King's tear.

It was truly a case of falling asleep and having a pillow delivered.

Now Li Rui had opened up his Qi Sea, which was the critical moment for breaking through to Sea-Observing.

According to the original progress, it would take at least several years.

But with this Jiao King's tear, the situation was very different.

At most one year, he could break through!

Moreover, the Jiao King's tear is formed from the essence and blood of a Jiao King; its effect is gentle, not achieved in one step, unlike elixirs, so there is no need to worry about the problem of the realm advancing too quickly.

"Good treasure."

Li Rui's heart felt a wave of heat.

He recalled the method of taking Jiao person's tears from ancient books, which was very direct: grind it into powder and eat it raw.

In fact, this method is not rare.

Pearls from the sea are often ground into powder and then used as medicine, having the effects of moistening the lungs, relieving coughs, and beautifying the skin, and are quite sought after by the noble ladies in the capital.

Li Rui used the hilt of his knife to knock the crystal blue Jiao King's tear into pieces, grinding it finely until it became completely powder.

Only then did he tilt his head back and eat it all.

He drank a mouthful of cooled tea, and the Jiao King's tear was swallowed into his belly.

Unlike ordinary elixirs.

He didn't feel any violent medicinal power; he only felt a trace of coolness rising in his dantian.

This is the unique feature of the Jiao King's tear; it won't transform immediately, but will flow like a fine stream.

Precisely because of this, there is no need to worry about breaking through the realm too quickly.

Li Rui's mouth curled up in satisfaction.

"Sea-Observing is in sight."

Mangul City, City Lord's Mansion.

"That old Jiao doesn't know why, but it actually retreated."

Qi Rui's face was gloomy as he walked and said: "Now those Yu Kingdom people have finished recuperating and have set off from Wubei City."

Lady Lingluo turned back to look at Qi Rui, who was walking into the courtyard, a look of surprise on her beautiful face:

"That old Jiao is so protective of its young, yet it just stopped like that?"

Originally, with the demon beasts under the old Jiao's command holding them back, the Yu Kingdom army was exhausted and had no time to attack Mangul City.

Now, it's good, it has returned to the previous situation.

If Mangul City were to be surrounded by the joint forces of the Yu Kingdom's several armies... it would be in danger.

"Strange..."

Lady Lingluo said in a low voice.

That's right.

This all looked like it was caused by Duan Yu's greed, but in reality, everything was her plan.

The old Jiao had a perverse and irritable temperament and was extremely doting on its young Bai Jiao; offending the little Bai Jiao was touching the old Jiao's reverse scale, the kind that would never die until one of them did.

Duan Yu was just an unlucky person who happened to enter the game.

The old Jiao's son appearing near the Anning Guard military camp was the result of her deliberately luring it with treasures.

Dragons love wealth, and so do Jiaos.

They are all greedy by nature, and she was precisely grasping this point.

The demon hunter Duan Yu had was also deliberately planted by her.

The word 'greed'.

Dragons are like this, and so are humans.

As long as greed arises, it can be utilized.

Lady Lingluo was good at playing with human hearts; the Yu Kingdom respected dragons, so someone would definitely develop greed for the Jiao dragon, and even if it wasn't Duan Yu, there would be other people.

The results were all the same.

It was just that she didn't expect the old Jiao to stop so quickly.

Qi Rui opened his mouth: "I heard... it was Jiang Linxian's doing."

Lady Lingluo's eyes showed even more surprise.

Originally, she was thinking of killing two birds with one stone; on one hand, holding back the Yu Kingdom's front-line army, and on the other hand, being able to lure Jiang Linxian out of Qinghe City.

She didn't expect it to be quelled by Jiang Linxian so quickly.

Lady Lingluo suddenly had the thrill of meeting a worthy opponent:

"He is worthy of being the Sword Immortal of Jiangdong; his sword technique is good, and his methods are not bad either."

"Very interesting."

Quelling a demon chaos without spending a single soldier or blade, no matter what method was used, it was ability.

Lady Lingluo was never a pedantic person; as long as the matter could be settled, it was powerful; she only cared about the result.

Qi Rui asked tentatively: "Then what should we do next?"

Lady Lingluo was calm and composed, saying faintly:

"What's the panic? Didn't Yuan Gao say that the Dharma King has already arrived in Yunzhou?"

Qi Rui stopped talking when he heard the two words 'Nine Souls Dharma King'.

Nine Souls Dharma King, an Earth Immortal expert!

Lady Lingluo's mouth curled up slightly as she looked at the bright red begonia flowers not far away, her thoughts flying away.

"Jiang Linxian..."

"Could it be that you were the one who killed Zhuang Renhe?"

"Big brother, I'm back."

As soon as Ning Zhongtian arrived at the Anning Guard, he didn't go home and went straight to Li Rui's house.

This war lasted longer than everyone expected.

Not only was the Wu Kingdom's rebel army sufficiently tenacious, but it was also because the Yu Kingdom imperial court, especially that Provincial Military Commander Yuan who was sitting in Yunzhou, had no intention of withdrawing troops at all.

As time went on.

The intensity naturally wasn't as fierce as it was at the beginning.

The soldiers on the expedition could even rotate back for a few days every month.

Ning Zhongtian was one of those rotating back.

Li Rui looked at Ning Zhongtian, whose eyes were becoming increasingly sharp, and secretly marveled that the battlefield was truly a place to temper a person's willpower.

Ning Zhongtian was born in the wilderness and was not one of those wealthy young masters; he had such obvious changes, not to mention the other soldiers.

"It's good that you're back. How many days are you prepared to stay this time?"

Ning Zhongtian: "Five days in total, and then I have to go back."

"Five days..."

Li Rui had actually heard the news long ago and had already notified the Tiandi Alliance, saying: "Let's go, Third Brother Fei heard the news of your return and specially rushed back from Anning Prefecture overnight."

"Hmm."

Ning Zhongtian nodded and immediately followed Li Rui to the Tiandi Alliance. When the two arrived at Huang Chui's house in the Tiandi Alliance, Third Brother Fei was already sitting in the courtyard.

Seeing Li Rui and Ning Zhongtian appear, his expression was somewhat excited:

"Fourth Brother, you've finally returned."

Huang Chui, who heard the commotion in the backyard, also walked out in a hurry: "Fourth Brother."

They started from humble beginnings with Ning Zhongtian, and this friendship was something no one could compare to.

It was true that Ning Zhongtian had ability, but after all, he went to the battlefield this time, walking between life and death at every moment; to say they weren't worried would be a lie.

"Fourth Brother, you've lost weight."

Ning Zhongtian laughed: "Second Brother, Third Brother, the military camp isn't as cruel as you think; most of the time, there's actually nothing going on."

Li Rui laughed: "Fourth Brother isn't fine, why are Third Brother's eyes red?"

"Sand got in."

Third Brother Fei's eyes were red, and he also laughed heartily.

While pulling Ning Zhongtian and Li Rui, he said: "Come and taste it quickly, Second Brother hunted this red-horned deer yesterday; it's already roasted, just waiting for you."

Please... you... collect 6... 9... book... bar...!

The four brothers came to the backyard.

Wreaths of smoke rose, and they sat around the fire, cutting off deer meat directly with daggers and eating happily with strong wine.

They were all brothers, so naturally, there were no vain things like beauties dancing.

Those were for outsiders.

Own brothers didn't need them.

Third Brother Fei drank three large bowls in a row and asked with a red face: "Fourth Brother, how is the Wu Kingdom?"

Ning Zhongtian laughed: "The women of the Wu Kingdom are very energetic."

"Didn't ask you about this."

Ning Zhongtian squinted at Third Brother Fei.

Pretending.

If you didn't ask about this, what did you ask about?

Third Brother Fei felt uncomfortable being looked at by Ning Zhongtian, so he had to admit: "Alright, I admit this is one aspect. Fourth Brother, what merit did you earn this time? Did you get promoted to an official position?"

He asked this, not because he was thinking about what he could get if Ning Zhongtian was promoted, but just out of simple curiosity between brothers.

Ning Zhongtian chewed the deer meat:

"Don't mention it."

"At first, I earned quite a few benefits, but then I encountered the damn demon tide. Many people in our Anning Guard died, and we recuperated in Wubei City for a month. Those rebels had long since hidden away, and every day we just watched men wash their feet in the military camp; it was so idle that birds were growing out of it."

Huang Chui and Third Brother Fei had also heard about the demon tide.

"You say, everything was fine, why did the demon tide come?"

Ning Zhongtian looked at Li Rui: "Speaking of this, Big Brother, you were with Lord Jiang at the time; how exactly did he quell it? He really has great ability."

Only those who have personally experienced the demon tide know how terrifying the demon beasts of the Wu Kingdom are.

Countless demon beasts rushed into the military camp as if they didn't want their lives; Ning Zhongtian could remember this scene for a lifetime.

Being said so by Ning Zhongtian, Huang Chui and Third Brother Fei also got into the spirit:

"Big Brother, tell us about it."

They knew that Li Rui, this Big Brother, had a very tight mouth; if it weren't for Ning Zhongtian, the two of them wouldn't even know about this.

Now that they had the opportunity, they naturally wanted to hear enough to be satisfied.

Li Rui drank a mouthful of strong wine and grinned, spitting out wine vapor:

"It's all Lord Jiang's credit."

"Actually, this demon tide was caused by the old Jiao in the Ten Thousand Mountains..."

Immediately, he told the story roughly.

However, he deliberately omitted many details, such as Duan Yu, and placed all his affairs on Jiang Linxian.

Huang Chui listened with satisfaction: "Lord Jiang has courage and strategy; he is a real man."

Third Brother Fei also nodded repeatedly.

Ning Zhongtian grasped the key: "Brother Li, so who exactly was the person who became greedy?"

Anger burned in his eyes.

If it weren't for that person's greed, the Anning Guard wouldn't have had hundreds of brothers die in vain.

Ning Zhongtian wished he could pull that person's tendons.

Li Rui: "Fourth Brother, Lord Jiang didn't say."

Ning Zhongtian fell silent, then sighed slightly.

With Li Rui answering like this, he had already guessed roughly that the background must be very large.

The Anning Guard had planted a bunch of relationship-based people and young masters; greed was the most normal thing.

Ning Zhongtian also knew that this was something he couldn't manage; otherwise, Jiang Linxian would have made it public long ago; why would he need to hide it like this?

Huang Chui also sensed that the atmosphere was wrong, so he changed the subject:

"By the way, Fourth Brother, when will this war end?"

He stayed in the Tiandi Alliance mainly to be responsible for business; although Tiekuang had already forged immortal weapons, he still remained in Qinghe, and since he was idle, he simply continued to manage the weapon business.

Huang Chui actually didn't care when it would end, but hoped it wouldn't end.

Now the price of weapons was rising again and again, and the price of buying demon beasts from the Wu Kingdom had also dropped; one trip back and forth, and he was counting silver notes until his hands were almost cramping.

Ning Zhongtian pondered: "I don't know either, but at least it will be a year."

Although the Eastern Route Army had suffered a setback, the other several routes had achieved successive victories.

I heard they had captured several cities and snatched quite a few things.

They earned so comfortably.

Withdraw?

Don't talk about the Emperor and Provincial Military Commander Yuan; even the soldiers on the expedition in the Wu Kingdom didn't want to leave.

The situation was excellent.

"Good, very good."

Huang Chui, hearing that the market could last for another year, immediately laughed from ear to ear.

Men are always curious about war.

Huang Chui and Third Brother Fei asked many more things about the Wu Kingdom, and Ning Zhongtian told them everything as long as it didn't involve secrets.

"One thousand seven hundred miles from our Qinghe in the Wu Kingdom, there is a Mangul City; I heard the City Lord is a woman."

"Guess what?"

"That woman was the concubine of the previous City Lord; I don't know what kind of luck she had, the City Lord died, and the main wife also died, so she ascended to become the City Lord."

"But that woman really has some ability; Mangul City held out for a month, and nothing happened at all."

Female City Lord!

This kind of topic could most easily arouse people's interest.

Li Rui listened from the side.

Regarding that female City Lord of Mangul City, he had heard Dao Mo mention it before.

Dao Mo's evaluation of her was four words: poisonous scorpion heart.

Even Dao Mo said so, which was enough to show how powerful this woman was.

Li Rui: "Fourth Brother, be sure to be on guard against the City Lord of Mangul City on this trip."

"Big Brother, rest assured."

Ning Zhongtian stayed in Qinghe for five days.

Then he set off and returned to the Wu Kingdom.

Just as Ning Zhongtian said, afterwards, not only the Eastern Route, but the several armies going to the Wu Kingdom also slowed down a lot.

Every day, besides marching, they were training in the military camp.

In fact.

This was the daily portrayal of the battlefield; even in the most tragic Northwest, being able to have one or two great battles a year was already incredible.

Li Rui's days were leisurely.

In the blink of an eye.

Half a year passed.

"Jiao King's tear is truly tyrannical."

Li Rui sat cross-legged on the cushion, circulating his true Qi.

Jiao King's tear can be called the number one divine medicine of the Sea-Observing realm precisely because its effect of increasing true Qi is extremely strong; even for those in the Sea-Observing realm, it is a great tonic, not to mention Li Rui, who had only just opened up his Qi Sea.

Looking inside himself.

The original small puddle had now become a pond.

Li Rui, who was circulating his Qi, suddenly felt something and opened his eyes.

"I enter Sea-Observing."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 261 =====