Chapter 276: Listening to Waves, Controlling the Blade

The two words "Sea-Observing" in the Sea-Observing Realm.

Legend has it that it was established by a great Confucian scholar thousands of years ago, taken from the line, "The spring river tide meets the sea, the bright moon on the sea is born with the tide."

First observe the waves, then give birth to the bright moon, until reaching the Primordial.

The Sea-Observing Realm has three levels in total, each step arduous. Just the step of observing the waves has wasted the time of countless heroes.

At this moment.

The dantian in Li Rui's body seemed to have reached a certain limit, and he only heard a faint sound of splashing water.

The tide rises.

The Immortal Xuan Qi escaped through his pores. For a time, the room was filled with mist, as if it were a fairyland.

Within the white mist, one could faintly see immortal birds playing.

Finally, the dantian in his body seemed to have broken through a certain barrier. Li Rui's thoughts became clear in an instant, and the barrier between him and the dantian disappeared completely.

Observing the waves.

Waves are the result; the essence of observing the waves is the martial artist's improved control over the dantian, being able to better control the dantian.

Now, Li Rui stepped into the realm of observing the waves as naturally as water flowing.

He held his palms together and whispered a word.

"Rise!"

In an instant, he saw the long blade hanging on the wall make a slight sound of hitting the wall, and then the amplitude of the shaking became more and more intense.

Finally—

With a "Clang."

The long blade actually flew out of the scabbard on its own.

It drew an arc in mid-air, dancing on its own, weaving a blade net.

Controlling the blade!

Li Rui's mouth couldn't help but rise.

Controlling the sword—this is every man's ultimate dream. Who hasn't imagined themselves as a great sword immortal flying on a sword while stepping on a bamboo stick in their youth?

Watching Jiang Linxian control the sword every day, today he finally experienced the joy of controlling the sword.

Although it was a blade.

For a moment, Li Rui was moved by a young man's playful heart.

The long blade slowly flew to his feet. He stood up and took a step, landing exactly on the blade.

Flying while controlling the blade.

Li Rui stood steadily, his thoughts stirred, controlling the blade to move upward.

After a few breaths.

His head had already touched the roof beams.

"It really worked."

Li Rui's eyes lit up.

However, according to his preliminary estimation, he could at most fly to a height of three zhang; any higher and it wouldn't work. As for the things in storybooks about flying nine thousand zhang in an instant and going straight to the clouds, I'm afraid only experts at the Earth Immortal Realm could do that.

If he flew up there, he would probably fall to his death.

Li Rui controlled the long blade to land back on the ground.

Using blade-controlled flight to travel is still not very practical, but using it for short-distance combat is an extremely good method.

One never sees Jiang Linxian; he always controls the sword to kill enemies, almost never doing it himself.

That is truly dashing and elegant.

Li Rui looked at the sky.

The sky was already slightly bright.

He simply pushed the door open and walked out of the room, feeling the morning light and the cool breeze; it was time for his morning practice again.

After finishing a set of blade techniques.

Wang Zhao and Yang Yong walked out, and the three of them ate meat porridge as usual.

Li Rui's status changed again and again, but the matter of breakfast almost never changed.

The two people in the house also almost never changed.

Of his three disciples, Liang He inherited his Tiandi Alliance affairs and would likely walk the path of the Jianghu in the future. Liu Tiezhu continued to run the blacksmith shop after Tiekuang left. Of the three, only Wang Zhao was kept by his side.

This is probably the same logic as the youngest son guarding the home.

Whether he becomes successful or not is fine, as long as he can guard the inheritance.

Wang Zhao had followed Li Rui the longest; he was not the smartest, but he was the most favored by Li Rui because his temperament was pure and kind, and he never thought wildly.

That is very good.

Wang Zhao cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks, and Yang Yong continued to enjoy the cool under the large willow tree.

Li Rui dressed neatly and walked out of the courtyard gate.

Just after walking a few steps, he saw Ning Zhongtian running over excitedly.

"Li Laoge, the notice for the Martial Ranking has arrived."

Li Rui's eyes lit up:

"Let's go, let's go see."

But he saw Ning Zhongtian smile and shake a small booklet in his hand.

"I had a drink with the new Registrar a few days ago, and we have some friendship."

"I entrusted him to find someone to copy the official gazette."

The Martial Ranking is sent to all provinces of the Yu Kingdom along with the official gazette, and then copied by the government offices of each province and distributed to each prefecture and county.

The official gazette is a treasure, especially for storytellers.

Many famous storytellers like to build good relationships with the clerks in the county government office, so they have the opportunity to copy the accumulated gazettes in the county office's warehouse and then compile them into stories, so the gazette is an important source of their inspiration.

Ning Zhongtian being able to get a copy saved them the trouble of joining the fun at the county government gate and smelling the sweat.

'It is time to change the bad habit of not liking to use back doors for everything.'

Li Rui smiled and shook his head.

Then he followed Ning Zhongtian to his residence.

When he and Ning Zhongtian stepped inside.

Good fellow, a room full of acquaintances—Ge Hong, Wei Ming, and Tan Hu had already formed a circle around the stone table in the courtyard, looking forward to it.

Ning Zhongtian grinned.

He didn't even need to open the booklet; the content inside had long been memorized by him.

"The Martial Ranking is out. The number one in the world is still the City Lord of East Sea City; it hasn't changed."

Regarding this, none of the people in the room were surprised.

Perhaps only after that City Lord Gao of East Sea City passes away will the number one in the world possibly change.

Tan Hu was even urging: "Hurry up and say, who is fifth?"

Ning Zhongtian felt the anxious eyes of several people and had the indifference of a storyteller: "The second in the world is Sword Immortal Xiang from Shu. Our Yu Kingdom's State Preceptor and the Great Shaman of the Wu Kingdom are still tied for third."

"As for this fifth."

He stopped.

He had the temperament of a storyteller.

The hot-tempered Tan Hu couldn't sit still on the spot. Even though Ning Zhongtian was his old leader, he couldn't help but want to kick him twice.

Ning Zhongtian hurriedly dodged and said with a grin: "Fifth is the Barbarian War God, Jin Guyu."

This time.

Having learned from the previous lesson, Ning Zhongtian said the top eight in one breath.

Soon, he heard a name.

"Ninth in the world is our Viceroy Yuan."

Yuan Dingting.

Sure enough, he entered the top ten, and in one leap became ninth, suppressing the Great True Person of the Dragon Tiger Sect.

Gu Jianzheng of the Imperial Observatory was ranked fifteenth.

I don't know if it was intentional.

The sixteenth after him was the Marquis of Dingyuan.

"I heard that the one presiding over this Martial Ranking was Gu Jianzheng. I think it was intentional."

Ning Zhongtian analyzed it seriously.

Regarding this, Tan Hu and the others nodded one after another.

Gu Jianzheng and the Marquis of Dingyuan are the leaders of the two parties, respectively. This time, Gu Jianzheng just happened to suppress the Marquis of Dingyuan by one rank; it is hard not to suspect it was intentional.

Ning Zhongtian's eyes shone: "This time our Lord Jiang also entered the Martial Ranking, 421st."

Li Rui's eyebrows lifted slightly.

Jiang Linxian just entered the Earth Immortal Realm and was able to suppress over a hundred Earth Immortal experts; that is no small matter.

This is not just him participating in the Martial Ranking and raising himself. The Martial Ranking has existed for a thousand years without anyone questioning it because it is fair enough. Influencing one or two names is possible, but one or two hundred is fundamentally impossible, otherwise, the reputation would have long since stunk.

Ning Zhongtian talked enthusiastically for a long time.

Only then did he hand the booklet to Li Rui.

Li Rui flipped through it casually and gave it to Ge Hong and the others.

His heart stirred slightly.

He couldn't make the Martial Ranking anyway, so just treat it as fun; there's no need to spend too much effort. The point is that the Martial Ranking is out, so Viceroy Yuan's Marquis title shouldn't be far off.

In the blink of an eye, another month passed.

Tiandi Alliance, Gathering Justice Hall.

The hall was full of people. Besides the several Alliance Leaders of the Tiandi Alliance, the Elders of the Divine Weapon Shanzhuang, the Hundred Battles Gate, and the Dao Xuan Sect also arrived.

Such a scene is rarely seen.

Please... you.... collect_(!)

An Elder of a great sect willing to give face to a local force.

"Li Laoge, congratulations, congratulations."

As soon as Shi Zhou sat down, he cupped his hands to congratulate Li Rui.

Li Rui smiled faintly: "Younger Brother Shi, what is there to congratulate about?"

"The Martial Ranking is set, Viceroy Yuan is about to become the Marquis of Annan, and his fief is right here in our Yunzhou. The Anning Guard will rise with the tide; isn't that a great happy event?"

Li Rui's expression stirred slightly.

This is the foundation of a great sect. The Anning Guard had only just received the news about Viceroy Yuan being enfeoffed as a Marquis.

The Divine Weapon Shanzhuang had already heard the wind.

But thinking about it, he was relieved. Many people from the Divine Weapon Shanzhuang were serving in Annan Town, and some had even become Assistant Regional Commanders.

It's not strange that they knew.

Zhou Ting and Bai Jing also smiled and said: "Li Laoge is about to be promoted, we congratulate you in advance."

If it were someone else, they wouldn't say so.

But the one being enfeoffed as a Marquis is Viceroy Yuan, so the status of Annan Town will inevitably rise again. Who told Viceroy Yuan to manage the sixteen northern and southern towns before? The Anning Guard will naturally benefit from this.

Plus Li Rui's previous merit in guarding the city and beheading Lady Lingluo.

In their view, Li Rui's promotion is a sure thing.

Worthy of more association.

Li Rui: "The three younger brothers are flattering me."

Before everything is settled, he wouldn't proudly start putting on the official airs of an Assistant Regional Commander.

"I invited the three of you here this time regarding the matter of the demon beasts."

Before, he used his official status to pressure them, so he invited them to the Trade Office. Now that the situation has eased, continuing to pressure them seems inappropriate, which is why he chose the Tiandi Alliance.

The matter turned from official business into a private matter of friendship.

In the end, what he wants to do is still the business of the Tiandi Alliance. Using official power to pressure them once is enough. If he pressures them too much, there will be too many gaps, and business won't be easy to do in the future.

Shi Zhou and the other two sat up a bit straighter.

A few days ago, people from the three sects had already followed the Tiandi Alliance's caravan to the Wu Kingdom.

Today, Li Rui invited them, and they already had some guesses.

After listening to their subordinates' descriptions, the three were all greatly moved.

The profit of the demon beast business is much greater than they expected. If they can start this business, their profits in Qinghe can rise by another sixty percent.

The previous business was all arranged by the sects.

To put it bluntly, they were just watching the field.

But if they can open up a trade route themselves and bring profits to the sect, they, the dispatched Elders, would have performed a great service.

The Elders who can be dispatched are naturally not the most core group in the great sect.

If they can regain the attention of the Sect Master and the Leader because of this, they have the possibility of returning to the core circle.

The three were naturally extra active.

Shi Zhou: "Li Laoge, you have the final say on this matter; the three of us will listen to you."

Before coming.

The three had already communicated, and everything would be listened to by Li Rui.

Now Annan Town is powerful, and the great sects behind them might not necessarily go against the rising Annan Town for their sake. Similarly, they don't want to easily offend Li Rui, the future main official of the Anning Guard.

And the conditions Li Rui gave are already not bad.

If they make Li Rui unhappy and he deliberately causes trouble during the trade, given Li Rui's relationship with the Wu Kingdom, they will definitely suffer. It is better to have a good attitude from the beginning, which can also save them some trouble.

Li Rui's mouth rose slightly, and he nodded with satisfaction.

Finally, he looked at Huang Chui: "Second Brother, in the future, you must often communicate and help each other with the three."

"Yes, Li Laoge."

Huang Chui nodded heavily.

He was truly convinced by Li Rui's arrangements.

Before, he was puzzled by Li Rui taking the initiative to give up the business.

Not only him, but many Elders and disciples in the alliance, although they didn't dare to show it, actually had complaints in their hearts.

Because there was less money.

Tiekuang left, and although the weapon business hadn't completely stopped, with Liu Tiezhu's ability alone, the profit fell by a full eighty percent at most, so the demon beast business became the main head of the Tiandi Alliance.

But hearing that Li Rui not only wanted to hand over half to an unknown big shot but now also wanted to invite wolves into the house and pull the people of the three sects in.

It was damaging the silver that everyone in the Tiandi Alliance could get.

Of course, some people would be unhappy.

This is "giving rice is kindness, a peck of rice is enmity," human nature.

Li Rui naturally knew this, and he did it on purpose, and he also had Liang He and Liu Tong secretly record the names of these people.

Those with ability will continue to be reused, but wanting to climb to become a partner of the Alliance Leader... absolutely impossible.

Reaching the high level of the Tiandi Alliance.

Strength is certainly important, but loyalty is equally important.

Neither can be missing.

Otherwise, the greater the ability, the greater the harm.

After talking about business, the three of Shi Zhou had no intention of leaving but continued to chat.

If building relationships relies on official business, then colleagues must all be close friends.

Official business is for the sect; private matters are for oneself.

The three of Shi Zhou were specifically trying to build a relationship with Li Rui.

"Lord Li, I heard that Marquis Yuan is going to recruit guests in Yunzhou this time, and if there are young talents, he might even take them as disciples; it is a great opportunity."

"I heard that many geniuses are even rushing over from the Central Plains."

Shi Zhou said.

This matter had already spread within the great sects.

Marquis Yuan, a disciple of one of the top ten in the world, this status is comparable to the head disciple of a ten-thousand-year great sect.

Unlike the others in the top ten of the Martial Ranking, Marquis Yuan has been fighting for years and is the only Grandmaster without a disciple.

If one can become the founding disciple of Marquis Yuan.

What a blessing!

A disciple of the top ten in the world, at the very least, could be a Primordial.

Of course, there is a prerequisite, and that is that one cannot be too old.

It is true that martial artists have long lives, but generally speaking, they don't take disciples who are too old; fifty is about the limit, otherwise, the potential is already set, and taking them is useless, and maybe their intentions are impure.

"It's a pity that we don't have much of a chance, but if Li Laoge has disciples with good talent under his door, they can go and try."

"Actually, if one can be a guest, it is already extremely good."

Shi Zhou added two sentences.

Because he just discovered that in a room full of people, it seems not one meets the criteria.

He coughed awkwardly.

There is no way; once one reaches a certain age, what one looks at is immediate combat power. Who told them that potential should have been revealed?

Don't look at Jiang Linxian; he was an Earth Immortal in his early forties. Marquis Yuan's founding disciple should be at that standard, otherwise, taking them is meaningless.

Is it to raise a drag?

Shi Zhou smiled slightly:

"Why don't we guess if Yunzhou can produce a Marquis disciple this time?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 277 =====