Chapter 296: The Adopted Son Guards the Border

"Done."

Tie Kuang's lips curled slightly as he gazed at Li Rui's externally radiating blood qi; even he was secretly startled.

"Such a ruthless cultivation art."

"This art's rank isn't low at all."

Though he couldn't discern its origin, one thing was certain: Li Rui's cultivation art was exceptionally formidable.

In Tie Kuang's mind,

it must have been a martial art Li Rui earned through military merit in Annan Town—military martial arts were always brutal, emphasizing external strength over internal cultivation, perfectly matching the terrifying external power Li Rui now displayed.

Li Rui raised his long blade; the motion was slow, seemingly harmless, yet faint thunder and wind hummed beneath it.

Clearly, immense power lay hidden within.

Seeing this extraordinary sight, Liu Tiezhu, Wang Zhao, and Yang Yong exchanged glances.

Absolutely miraculous!

"Dragon-Elephant Power."

Li Rui carefully sensed the surging strength within him; at the moment of breakthrough, his blood qi surged violently, and his strength increased by more than threefold.

Dragon-Elephant True Qi Power was inherently designed to enhance physical strength.

Li Rui's current physical resilience could now rival that of a natural Golden Body cultivator of the same realm.

Martial cultivation begins with tendons and bones.

In the martial world, countless external masters existed; the most famous was the barbarian War God, who could crush entire armies with his body alone, and the Spirit Tree Holy Monk of Wan Fadian, who reached the state of Indestructible Golden Body—rumored to have withstood ten thousand blades and axes without harm, single-handedly blocking an entire city.

Though tendons and bones aren't everything, they are undeniably crucial.

Li Rui's current bone structure had entered the top tier of his realm.

Even Tie Kuang, a master who specialized in physical cultivation, was secretly startled.

"Hmm?"

Li Rui let out a soft murmur.

He suddenly realized that this Dragon-Elephant Power seemed slightly different from what the art described.

More precisely, it carried an extra edge of sharpness.

Dragon-Elephant True Qi Power followed the path of great simplicity, focusing on enhancing strength—but Li Rui's Dragon-Elephant Power now bore a sharp, lethal intent.

"It's the True Meaning of the Soldier Saint!"

He instantly understood.

The true meaning of the Soldier Saint he had realized at the Qinghe Hunting Ground was finally taking effect.

This one thread of sharpness

granted Li Rui an extra ten percent in combat power.

Don't underestimate ten percent.

The Soldier Saint's True Meaning enhances all aspects of cultivation; each breakthrough in the art's level adds to it, accumulating into a staggering total.

As Li Rui rejoiced—

a gale swept toward him.

Tie Kuang's massive palm slammed down on Li Rui's chest; it came so suddenly that Liu Tiezhu and the others had no time to react.

Thud!

A muffled sound.

Li Rui's legs rooted into the earth, utterly unmoved by Tie Kuang's palm strike.

"Minor Golden Body?"

"Excellent!"

"You've taken three-tenths of my palm force without flinching—you've truly refined your body."

Seeing Li Rui unharmed, Tie Kuang burst into loud laughter.

Just now, he had deliberately tested Li Rui's physical resilience.

Li Rui: "Thank you, Elder, for testing me."

"Three-tenths."

That was three-tenths of a Qi Refining cultivator's power—and Tie Kuang wasn't an ordinary Qi Refining master; he was Qi Refining Great Completion, whose strength couldn't be compared to someone who had merely broken through to Qi Refining.

For Li Rui, still at Observation Sea Mid-Level, to casually withstand Tie Kuang's palm strike was already extraordinary.

At Observation Sea Mid-Level,

few could match his physical strength, and even fewer could block a Qi Refining master's strike.

"Truly, the younger generation is formidable."

Tie Kuang regarded Li Rui with admiration.

Had Li Rui not already taken office and become a tutor for the Marquis's household, he would have invited him to become an Elder at Shenbing Mountain Villa—surely, he would one day become its pillar.

Not to mention anything else,

he himself, and even the Sect Master, his senior disciple, had not possessed Li Rui's current aura when they reached Observation Sea.

Shenbing Mountain Villa was already the top sect in Yunzhou.

Even the Sect Master and Grand Elder of Shenbing Mountain Villa were overshadowed by Li Rui, revealing his terrifying potential.

"Don't you dare die halfway, boy—I'm already impatient to see you turn Yunzhou upside down."

Tie Kuang laughed heartily.

Moreover, he felt the probability of that scene occurring was very high.

Someone like Li Rui was incredibly hard to kill.

As they say, wicked men live a thousand years.

Li Rui fell silent.

He hadn't expected to be called "the promising youth" at over eighty.

As for turning Yunzhou upside down—that was pure nonsense.

He was just a simple man.

He only wished to cultivate in peace, with no ambition to stir up storms.

"Yunzhou."

Recalling—

after more than a decade of buried effort, he had finally stepped into a different tier: from a county to a prefecture, now even the Grand Elder of Shenbing Mountain Villa, Yunzhou's top sect, praised him.

"I've truly come a long way."

With his realm now above Fifth Rank, his peers would only grow more numerous.

Tie Kuang was already over two hundred; calling him "youth" wasn't unreasonable.

"I'll have to get used to being called a genius."

Thinking of this, Li Rui smiled faintly.

A true late-blooming prodigy.

After testing his skills,

Tie Kuang called Liu Tiezhu back to the forge in the back courtyard to resume work.

In the blink of an eye, another half-month passed.

"Master Li, this is a letter from Master Wang."

A young disciple from the Marquis's household respectfully handed the letter to Li Rui.

"Thank you."

As he took the letter,

Li Rui asked the young man: "How has Master Wang been lately?"

"Master is well, and he specifically asked me to convey his greetings to you."

"Master Wang is thoughtful."

As he spoke,

Liu Tong walked over.

Seeing Liu Tong appear, Li Rui smiled: "Old age has weakened my body. Little Liu, you're young—you're good with people. Take this young brother around Qinghe."

"Yes, Master."

Liu Tong bowed respectfully.

Then, grinning, he led the young disciple out of the Assistant Military Commander's courtyard.

As for why Liu Tong wasn't in Tian Di Alliance but was instead at the Assistant Military Commander's office,

it was, of course, Li Rui's arrangement.

Correct—the young disciple was precisely the person Li Rui had been waiting for; he had already made a pact with Wang Li at Qinghe Hunting Ground, agreeing to exchange messengers monthly.

Counting the days, it was about time, so he had summoned Liu Tong from Tian Di Alliance to the Assistant Military Commander's office.

Afterwards,

Liu Tong would accompany the young disciple northward to Yunzhou.

This was Li Rui's carefully planned opening.

With Wang Li, a guest of the Marquis's household, vouching for him, Liu Tong's infiltration into Yunzhou would be easy.

Wang Li's status wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't noble.

So Liu Tong must rely entirely on his own abilities in Yunzhou; counting on Wang Li for backing is useless. Hmm, roughly medium difficulty.

With Li Rui's connections in Yunzhou, he could find Liu Tong a stronger patron.

But that would only harm Liu Tong—and the Heaven and Earth Alliance.

If Liu Tong can still make a name for himself in Yunzhou under these conditions, then he will have proven himself, and only then will Li Rui dare let him do business here.

Otherwise, forget it.

It would be a losing venture, possibly even attracting dangerous powerful figures.

Watching the two young men's backs vanish completely.

"The Music Bureau?"

"Or the Drunken Immortal Pavilion?"

"Forget it. These are places for us old folks. Young people should have more extravagant fun."

Not a single mistake in content, not one!

Li Rui smiled and shook his head.

Then he turned to the letter Wang Li had sent from Yunzhou.

Since the Qinghe Hunting Grounds, they had become steadfast allies—not only because their temperaments matched, but because they mutually recognized each other's abilities; together, they could coordinate inside and out, making tasks far easier.

The letter was long.

It spanned several thousand characters.

Most of it concerned affairs within the Marquis's household.

In Yunzhou, the Marquis's household was unquestionably the center of power; if you didn't understand its movements, you were blind.

It was like serving as an official in Zhili yet remaining ignorant of what happened inside the imperial palace.

Quickly,

Li Rui noticed one matter mentioned in the letter.

"The Wu border is unstable; the Marquis intends to send his adopted sons to various parts of Yunzhou to guard the frontier."

Guard the frontier?

Li Rui was startled.

This move was undoubtedly a matter of the highest importance for Yunzhou's border.

"Wu has recently seen growing unrest; it may indeed spill over into Yunzhou."

Qi Mo and Xia Xiaotang hadn't come to Qinghe in a long time.

It was because of Wu's war.

The Qi clan, allied with the Eight Demon Lords, had stood shoulder to shoulder with the Wu imperial court along the Ten Thousand Mountains, seizing one-fifth of Wu's cities.

The Wu imperial court had launched multiple campaigns against them—without success.

Unlike the Wu imperial court's ambition to unify the land, the seventh prince backed by the Qi clan clung to a corner like a turtle shell—unbreakable, unmovable—called "Eastern Wu" by the Yu people to distinguish him from the legitimate Wu.

According to scouts' reports,

Eastern Wu had recently mobilized troops frequently along the Yu-Wu border and even raided merchant caravans.

Marquis Yuan was determined to prevent another humiliating incident like the previous siege.

Eight adopted sons—all ruthless figures.

Only by stationing them at the frontier could peace be secured.

"A time of turmoil."

Ding! Ding! Ding!

The crisp sound of hammering rang out in the backyard.

"Master Tie, are you recovered already?"

Li Rui watched Tie Kuang, brimming with energy.

Tie Kuang answered decisively: "No."

"."

Li Rui was momentarily speechless.

Today, Tie Kuang suddenly called Liu Tiezhu to summon him, saying he was going to forge a divine weapon—but when Li Rui arrived, the situation seemed different from what he'd expected.

Tie Kuang: "Sitting around won't cultivate the spirit and vigor of a hammer. Just get to work."

"Stop talking. Pour your true qi into it."

Seeing this, Li Rui immediately nodded.

With his previous experience forging a divine weapon, this time came far more easily; moreover, his current Xuan Qi was far superior to before.

Instantly,

Purple-gold light enveloped the entire forge.

"Damn."

Tie Kuang felt Li Rui's powerful true qi and raised his eyebrows slightly.

Truly an exceptional cultivator of both internal and external cultivation.

He knew Li Rui's true qi was unusual, but he hadn't expected that after so little time, Li Rui's true qi had undergone a qualitative leap—its rank was terrifyingly high.

The key was,

Li Rui's physical body was terrifying too.

"Really seeing ghosts—how did Yunzhou produce two monsters like him and Jiang Linxian?"

Jiang Linxian had gone to the capital.

The world assumed he would now enter a period of stagnation.

Wrong.

Utterly wrong.

Jiang Linxian went to the capital and still lived up to his title of Sword Immortal of Jiangdong, making the capital's prodigies cry out in agony.

Now it seemed Li Rui would likely be much the same.

A grand master of both internal and external cultivation… Ze, Ze, just thinking about it was frightening.

Who was the last one?

Hmm, the High Lord of Donghai City.

As Li Rui's Xuan Qi flowed into the furnace, the glowing divine iron gradually began to change.

Tie Kuang's hammer struck at the perfect moment.

Precisely driving Li Rui's Xuan Qi into the divine iron.

Not only Li Rui—he too had improved greatly since the last divine weapon forging.

But forging weapons isn't something success guarantees with experience alone.

All things possess spirit.

Weapons are no exception.

Previously, he had held his breath, his spirit and vigor at their peak; now that breath had escaped. Even with improved skill, he could not conceal his spiritual deficiency.

This is the same principle as martial cultivation: if you don't advance, you retreat.

If you climb upward without pause, all goes smoothly; but once you slow—or worse, decline—there is no turning back.

Few in martial cultivation can defy this trend.

Looking across all the heroes of the world,

None achieved the realm of grand master without forging ahead relentlessly.

What's needed is that breath.

Only half a quarter-hour had passed.

Tie Kuang sighed softly and set down his hammer:

"This iron is ruined. I need several days to rest. You should go back now."

He waved his hand.

His eyes fixed intently on the nearly formed blade blank inside the furnace.

Li Rui stepped back silently.

He didn't understand forging; he just needed to focus on his role as the true qi bellows.

The key to forging a divine weapon now lay entirely with Tie Kuang.

Li Rui could not help.

Once one's inner spirit is spent, no one can help—only self-redemption remains.

Outside Qinghe, on the official road.

Clip-clop, clip-clop.

Urgent hoofbeats rang out as several armored men, radiating lethal aura, galloped down the road.

"Are they from Annan Town?"

A boy from the caravan said.

Crack!

The moment he spoke, a burly man behind him slapped him hard on the back of the head.

"Kid, when you're on the road, keep your eyes open—these are men from the Marquis of Annan's household. If you provoke them, your family will be ruined for generations."

The boy's eyes widened.

Could not believe it:

'The Marquis of Annan's Prefecture!'

(End of Chapter)