Chapter 294

"According to those who heard it, the creature beaten to death by Marquis Yuan was a jiao."

"It should be that old jiao from the Ten Thousand Mountains."

Ning Zhongtian and Tan Hu were chatting.

Those Primordial martial artists went to the place of the battle, but apart from some who picked up a few jiao scales, they gained nothing.

By the time they arrived there, the battle had long since ended.

Marquis Yuan had also left long ago.

The great battle between the man and the jiao left a massive crater in the Ten Thousand Mountains; this crater did not exist before, but was carved out raw by Marquis Yuan with a single spear.

After returning.

Everyone marveled at the divine martial prowess of Marquis Yuan.

After a small interlude.

The Qinghe hunting grounds returned to normal.

Outside the Qinghe hunting grounds.

Ten miles away.

Deep in the Ten Thousand Mountains.

"Big Brother, it should be safe here."

The little Bai Jiao said.

Li Rui nodded.

That day, the little Bai Jiao told him everything it had seen, point by point.

Yuan Dingting was not, as the rumors claimed, someone who happened upon a vicious jiao and then proceeded to slay the demon; according to the little Bai Jiao's account, it was clearly a long-planned scheme.

Hunting in the enclosure these past few days.

Marquis Yuan had actually been searching for something alone in the Ten Thousand Mountains.

At first, the little Bai Jiao heard the reports from its subordinate demon beasts and didn't think much of it.

It wasn't until the great jiao emerged that it realized Yuan Dingting had been looking for that great jiao, hidden in the Ten Thousand Mountains, on the verge of transforming into a dragon.

Divine might is unfathomable!

The world thought Yuan Dingting chose Qinghe as a hunting ground on a whim, but now it seemed it had been planned long ago; even Li Rui and Wang Li were being pushed by an invisible hand.

"Mm, it should be safe."

Li Rui nodded.

Then he saw the little Bai Jiao's belly heave, and a scale the size of a human head was spat out.

"This is... that old jiao's scale?"

Li Rui's eyebrows arched slightly.

"Exactly!"

The little Bai Jiao grinned, looking at Li Rui as if asking for credit.

At the time, the battle was raging.

As the only spectator, the little Bai Jiao had long since set its sights on this very scale.

Before everyone else arrived, it swallowed the scale and fled.

This scale was different from all the other scales of the great jiao; it was the one most heavily stained with the aura of the reverse scale.

As for the reverse scale.

It was, of course, taken by Yuan Dingting.

The old jiao did not die, but fled; however, its reverse scale was ripped off by Yuan Dingting—or rather, Yuan Dingting's entire purpose for this trip was to obtain the old jiao's reverse scale.

The reverse scale is where a jiao dragon's essence resides.

Once pulled, it would take at least several decades of cultivation to recover.

And this scale the little Bai Jiao had, while far less precious than the reverse scale, was still quite extraordinary.

Li Rui smiled slightly and returned the scale to the little Bai Jiao.

"Little White, you earned this, I cannot take it."

The little Bai Jiao shook its head: "If not for Big Brother, how could I have transformed? Such great kindness is hard to repay; you must accept this scale."

Transforming at the Fifth Rank.

The weight of this destiny is something only those of the jiao kind truly understand; it is no different from defying heaven to change one's fate.

Otherwise, why would one as arrogant as it be willing to follow Li Rui so wholeheartedly?

Seeing that he couldn't refuse.

Li Rui had to say: "Little White, you keep this scale for me for now; give it to me when we return to Qinghe."

He did not let the little Bai Jiao take out the treasure while still in the hunting grounds.

He was worried about being noticed by those with ulterior motives.

The methods of those Primordial martial artists were extremely extraordinary; one had to be on guard.

That was why he had taken advantage of a patrol to sneak into the Ten Thousand Mountains.

"Good."

The little Bai Jiao nodded and then vanished into the depths of the mountain forest.

Leaving Li Rui alone in deep thought.

'Ten Thousand Mountains'

The half-month-long hunt ended.

Finally.

Elders from two major sects and an old man from a major clan took the top three spots; all were Primordial Realm masters.

All received rewards from Marquis Yuan.

These were divine elixirs refined by the Imperial Observatory; only those above the Third Rank could be called divine elixirs, and a Third-Rank divine elixir was incomparably precious even to a Fourth-Rank martial artist.

It made everyone envious.

As for whether there would be any killings to seize the treasures, no one knew.

The autumn hunt concluded accordingly.

Marquis Yuan only showed his face on the very last day, then departed directly to return to Yunzhou.

Cao Wei and Li Rui watched the grand, departing convoy.

They exhaled slowly.

The mission was a complete success.

Although there were some twists and turns in this autumn hunt, it was completed smoothly overall.

A great merit was in hand.

Did you not see that when Marquis Yuan was leaving, he specifically thanked the four main officials of Qinghe for their hard work?

Don't look at this as just a light remark.

The energy behind it was quite extraordinary; he believed that the names of Li Rui and Cao Wei had already been recorded in the notebooks of those old advisors.

Yes, priority for appointment.

Cao Wei cupped his hands to Li Rui: "Brother Li, I owe you a favor; I will certainly repay it."

This time, if not for Li Rui, things might not have gone so smoothly.

At the very least, the hunting of the demon beasts would have been a massive problem.

Li Rui waved his hand: "Brother Cao, no need to be so polite; it is all for the Anning Guard—when one prospers, all prosper; when one suffers, all suffer."

Cao Wei smiled.

He didn't say anything more; some things are best kept in one's heart.

Just as Marquis Yuan had said.

For a martial artist, character is paramount.

Martial artists who can reach great heights may be righteous or evil, but one thing is consistent: they all have their persistence.

Cao Wei was the same.

Clear about gratitude and grudges.

Li Rui patted Cao Wei on the shoulder:

"Let's go, Brother Cao, it's time for us to get some rest."

"Master."

Wang Zhao was watering the flowers when he heard footsteps outside the door.

He looked up.

And saw Li Rui. "Little Zhao, I'm back."

Li Rui looked happily at his diligent and steady little apprentice.

He had been away for a month.

This was the longest he had been away from home; he actually felt a bit of longing. As soon as he entered the door, he heard the sounds of Liu Tiezhu and Elder Tiekuang forging iron.

Li Rui walked into the backyard.

Watching the two of them in the heat of their work.

He stood there for a long time.

Only then did Liu Tiezhu notice Li Rui, grinning widely: "Master, you're back."

Li Rui rolled his eyes.

One look at Liu Tiezhu's appearance told him that this fellow was so obsessed with forging that he probably hadn't even noticed his master had been gone for a whole month.

'Wicked apprentice!'

【No errors, all content checked!】

Li Rui shook his head.

Seeing Liu Tiezhu turn back to his forging.

And Elder Tiekuang showing no intention of acknowledging him, he decided to go to the Tiandi Alliance for a stroll since standing there was just standing there.

As he turned around—

Elder Tiekuang's voice suddenly rang out: "You brat, stop right there."

Li Rui stopped in his tracks.

He turned his head.

And saw Elder Tiekuang had put down the hammer in his hand at some point, staring at him with glowing eyes.

"Senior Tie..."

Just as he was about to speak.

He heard Elder Tiekuang say: "Did you brat actually slaughter that old jiao in the Ten Thousand Mountains? How come you have jiao dragon baleful aura on you?"

"No."

"No, no, no."

"I've seen that old jiao; it doesn't have that kind of ability. This baleful aura of yours isn't something you could get just by killing an old jiao."

Elder Tiekuang muttered to himself.

Li Rui was startled: "Senior, how did you see that?"

Elder Tiekuang sneered: "You brat, you don't even look at what kind of blade I'm forging."

"I hold the Dragon Blade every day; if I couldn't even see this much, these two hundred years of Wu Gong would have been practiced in vain."

His words became hurried:

"Speak quickly, what kind of fortune did you brat get?"

Li Rui suddenly understood.

At first, he was worried that the Primordial martial artists had some methods he didn't know about.

If that were the case.

Wouldn't the old fogies in the Qinghe hunting grounds have discovered the clues long ago?

Hearing Elder Tiekuang's explanation, he finally set his mind at ease.

He didn't hide it and told the truth directly:

"Senior, it was Marquis Yuan; he almost killed a great jiao that was on the verge of transforming into a dragon."

Upon hearing this.

Even Elder Tiekuang gasped.

A great jiao on the verge of transforming into a dragon.

It was at least Second Rank.

Yuan Dingting actually killed it just like that; this was too terrifying.

"As expected of the Yu Kingdom's Military Saint; his actions are truly domineering."

Elder Tiekuang thought for a long time, and in the end, that was all he could say.

Li Rui: "Senior Tie, I accidentally obtained a jiao scale and was just about to ask you to take a look."

As he spoke.

He took out the jiao scale the little Bai Jiao had given him on the way back to the city from his bosom.

The reason Elder Tiekuang could sense the great jiao's baleful aura was precisely because of this jiao scale.

As soon as the jiao scale appeared.

Elder Tiekuang couldn't take his eyes off it.

"Good stuff, truly good stuff!"

This was simply top-tier forging material, something one could only hope for but never seek.

Li Rui looked at Elder Tiekuang's state and handed it over a bit more: "Senior, if you like it, take it and use it first; you can pay me back slowly."

If it were anyone else, he would certainly have stuck to the principle of not flaunting wealth.

He wouldn't have let them know so much at all.

But Elder Tiekuang was different; after spending this time together, he had confirmed Elder Tiekuang's character—at least he wasn't someone who would abandon righteousness for profit.

And he had helped him quite a bit before.

A kindness of a drop of water should be repaid with a gushing spring.

If he said he was giving it directly, Elder Tiekuang would likely not accept it, but if he said he was lending it, Elder Tiekuang's psychological burden would be much smaller.

He did this because he truly wanted to give the jiao scale to Elder Tiekuang.

Elder Tiekuang was stunned and looked up at Li Rui.

"You brat..."

If he didn't often say Li Rui was clever, this was clearly not a loan; he was obviously giving it to him.

Elder Tiekuang smiled:

"I will accept the item."

"Rest assured, I have never taken anything from others for free, and the same goes for you, brat."

"My martial path has long reached its end, and I have no thoughts of killing; I just love forging weapons. I'll take this item of yours. The previous Immortal Weapon was repaid for my master's kindness and must remain in the Divine Weapon Villa. Now, if I can still forge an Immortal Weapon, I will give it to you, brat."

Li Rui was stunned:

"Senior..."

He originally thought Elder Tiekuang would use this jiao scale to strengthen the Immortal Blade, but he didn't expect he would actually want to forge a new Immortal Blade.

This was not his original intention.

Elder Tiekuang waved his hand: "You brat, no need to think too much. The Immortal Blade has already exhausted the spiritual energy I've nurtured for most of my life. Whether I can forge another Immortal Weapon is still a matter of 'eight characters not yet having a stroke'; don't hold too much hope."

That's what he said.

But one look at Elder Tiekuang's fiery eyes told him he was already impatient.

A forger who could forge two Immortal Weapons.

Would have no regrets in death!

Of course, he wasn't Gan Jiang or Mo Ye; he wouldn't actually kill himself just by forging a weapon.

Elder Tiekuang wasn't that crazy.

"Alright, I need to go into seclusion to nurture my spirit. If there's anything I need you for, I'll call you then."

After speaking.

He kicked Liu Tiezhu:

"Dummy, get up and get to work."

"Oh, oh."

Liu Tiezhu nodded repeatedly, also looking excited.

He had heard the entire conversation between Li Rui and Elder Tiekuang.

He originally thought that being able to participate in the forging of one Immortal Weapon in this lifetime was enough, but he didn't expect there would be a second time; his motivation was naturally full.

Didn't you see he was even blowing the bellows harder?

Seeing this, Li Rui didn't say anything more.

Just as Elder Tiekuang said, the possibility of a forger forging a second Immortal Weapon was too low; a jiao scale could be considered an investment; even if it failed, Elder Tiekuang could use it to practice his skills, so it wouldn't be a waste.

Elder Tiekuang and Liu Tiezhu began to get busy again.

Every trade has its master.

Li Rui had no chance to help, so he had to walk out of the backyard and head toward the Tiandi Alliance.

'Perhaps Old Man Tie really can forge two Immortal Weapons?'

(End of chapter)