Chapter 297

"Didn't expect it, didn't expect it; the one coming to our Qinghe is actually Nie Siming."

On the drill ground of Anning Prefecture.

Li Rui and Cao Wei, having received the news, waited respectfully early on.

Cao Wei shook his head continuously.

'Green-Faced Man-Butcher, Nie Siming.'

Li Rui muttered these words in his heart.

Yuan Dingting had eight adopted sons, all outstanding people, but their temperaments were vastly different.

Nie Siming—just hearing the nickname told you he wasn't easy to deal with.

"It is said that this General Nie killed people on the street at the age of ten, was captured by the government, received the punishment of facial tattooing, and was exiled to the northwest. Later, because he was brave and good at fighting, he made repeated meritorious deeds and was favored by Marquis Yuan, who took him as a vanguard. He captured flags and beheaded generals all the way, and was finally taken as an adopted son."

"He once buried ten thousand people alive; after breaking the city, he dragged the enemy general's wife and daughter for ten miles and humiliated them to death."

"He has killed no fewer than three thousand people with his own hands."

"His fierce reputation is known to all."

Cao Wei recounted the rumors he had heard.

Listing one shocking and cruel act after another of Nie Siming.

Although the Anning Guard was a military camp and had experienced several great battles.

They still couldn't imagine such cruel methods as Nie Siming's.

Precisely because he had tattoos on his face and had killed even more people than Yuan Dingting, the Military Saint, he earned the nickname 'Green-Faced Man-Butcher.'

Whether it was his deeds before joining the army or after, they were very consistent.

He was a ruthless person through and through.

Such a figure coming to Qinghe was clearly not a good thing.

Cao Wei turned to look at Li Rui, saying with a half-smile:

"Lord Li, I heard that General Nie seems to be at odds with Lord Jiang."

Li Rui's expression remained normal.

He naturally already knew; the letter Wang Li sent earlier had specifically mentioned it.

That day in Yunzhou City.

Actually, besides Yuan Xiong, there was another person who went.

It was precisely Nie Siming.

Yuan Xiong asked for a sparring match, Jiang Linxian didn't respond, so Nie Siming attacked directly, was slapped away by Jiang Linxian with a single sword, and was embedded directly into the wall; many people in the Marquis's Prefecture knew about this.

Having lost such a big face, being at odds was normal.

While speaking.

A burst of hurried horse hooves was heard.

In the blink of an eye, seven or eight people covered in heavy armor arrived before the two.

The burly man leading them jumped off his horse.

He took off his helmet.

He had short hair, his face was quite upright and brave, and the most eye-catching thing was the tattoo on his right cheek.

No need to think, it was naturally the Green-Faced Man-Butcher, Nie Siming.

"General Nie."

Cao Wei was the first to greet him with a smile.

Nie Siming was a proper general before; later, Marquis Yuan was enfeoffed as a Marquis, and he resigned from his official position in the Imperial Court and followed Yuan Dingting to Yunzhou.

Although he had no official status, Cao Wei still didn't dare to offend him in the slightest.

Even if you removed Nie Siming's identity as Marquis Yuan's adopted son, he was still a Primordial martial artist; this strength alone was enough to earn his respect.

Li Rui also bowed respectfully.

Nie Siming looked at the two of them indifferently and said to Cao Wei: "Lead a hundred soldiers and patrol outside the city with me."

"Yes!"

Cao Wei's expression shook.

This General Nie was indeed as decisive as the rumors said.

Coming to the Anning Guard.

He didn't even drink a sip of water before heading straight for the border.

"I'll give you a quarter of an hour; if you can't gather the people, go receive your punishment yourself."

After speaking.

Nie Siming stood quietly in place waiting, resembling an iron tower.

Li Rui didn't speak either.

He just stood quietly to the side.

Cao Wei didn't dare to be negligent in the slightest, fearing he would leave a bad impression on the person who would truly be the decision-maker in Qinghe for the next several years.

While walking, he shouted at Feng Yu and Guan Xinrong:

"I'll give you the time of one stick of incense; you must call the people here!"

Less than a quarter of an hour.

Cao Wei brought two battalions of soldiers to the drill ground.

Only then did Nie Siming nod with satisfaction: "Let's go."

He immediately mounted his warhorse and led the hundred men away.

Nie Siming was gone.

Only then did Ning Zhongtian step forward: "Big Brother, this path doesn't seem right."

Li Rui had expected this long ago: "Of course it's not right."

His relationship with Jiang Linxian was known to all; Nie Siming was slapped away in front of everyone in the Marquis's Prefecture—it would be strange if he gave him a good look.

The wisest thing to do now was to stay in the Li Canjun's Mansion and show his face less, so as not to provoke the seventh adopted son of Marquis Yuan.

Because of his status as an instructor, Nie Siming naturally couldn't kill him, but making him uncomfortable was easy.

"Let's go."

Li Rui said to Ning Zhongtian, then walked toward the Li Canjun's Mansion with his hands behind his back.

Nie Siming didn't want to bother, and he was happy to avoid the trouble.

He didn't care about Nie Siming's attitude just now.

While walking, he muttered:

"Spring, hmm, it's the season for hot pot."

"Is there a chance?"

"Hmm, a little, but not much."

Li Rui stared at the furnace, watching intently.

It hurts the heart.

Elder Tiekuang said the Immortal Weapon being forged was for him, so the money for the materials had to come from him.

A bottomless pit.

A gold-swallowing cave!

It hadn't even been a month, and he didn't know how much divine iron had been thrown in; moreover, the rank of this divine iron was extremely high, worth a city.

Although it could be recycled, accumulated, it was not a small amount.

Fortunately, Elder Tiekuang's state seemed to have improved.

Recent progress was clearly much better than before, giving Li Rui a glimmer of hope.

Forging iron was as exciting as gambling.

He saw Elder Tiekuang's forging hammer dancing faster and faster, finally becoming a blur.

Just at this moment.

Elder Tiekuang shouted: "Little Li, don't hold back; help me with your Military Saint's true intent!"

Li Rui's eyes narrowed.

He slapped his right hand on Elder Tiekuang's back, injecting all the Military Saint's true intent he had comprehended from Yuan Dingting into Elder Tiekuang's body.

"Good, good, good; worthy of the Great Yu Military Saint, this true intent is truly domineering."

Elder Tiekuang's eyes turned red almost instantly.

Boom!

The clothes on his upper body couldn't support the violent aura and finally exploded, shattering into strips of cloth.

Elder Tiekuang's lean but powerful muscles were revealed.

The wild wind brought up by the swinging hammer made the weapons hanging in the room sway, clanging.

Seeing this scene.

Liu Tiezhu widened his eyes.

Can this thing still be called forging iron?

The scene was too scary.

A full half-hour passed before the forging sound in the backyard gradually stopped.

Elder Tiekuang was still unsatisfied:

"Little Li, continue tomorrow; this true intent of the top ten in the world is truly good stuff; I've got the feeling!"

After speaking, he burst into loud laughter.

Li Rui's expression was a bit strange; he didn't expect this Military Saint's true intent to have the effect of adrenaline; seeing Old Man Tie so fierce just now, he was completely a different person from before.

But since it could help Elder Tiekuang, that was good. After all, Elder Tiekuang's Immortal Weapon was for him, so helping Elder Tiekuang was helping himself.

Wu Kingdom, Giant Stone City.

The City Lord of this city was surnamed Qi, which already destined it to belong to Eastern Wu; now, thirty percent of the experts in the city came from the Ghost Ming Sect of the Yu Kingdom.

Since the fall of Barbarian Bone City, this place had become the closest place to the Yu Kingdom.

In the City Lord's Mansion.

"Jiao Lord, are you really still alive?!"

Giant Stone City Lord Qi Yun's voice trembled as he looked at the jiao dragon before him, covered in bloodstains, with most of its scales fallen off.

This jiao dragon was different from other jiao kinds.

Its claws had faint protrusions.

Four claws make a jiao, five claws make a dragon; it was clearly a sign of transforming into a dragon!

That's right.

【No errors, all content checked!】

The great jiao before him was precisely that jiao dragon that had fought Yuan Dingting in the Ten Thousand Mountains that day.

The Jiao Lord spoke slowly.

Although it wasn't human speech, Qi Yun could understand: "Yuan Dingting still cannot kill me."

Demon beasts cannot communicate with humans; this is generally not a problem.

But once a demon beast enters the Second Rank, it can communicate with humans without hindrance.

Qi Yun looked at the great jiao, his heart finally settling.

Do you know why the Eight Great Demon Lords in the south were willing to join forces to deal with the Wu Kingdom's Imperial Court?

It was because of this old jiao.

Rumor has it that this great jiao has already lived for a full thousand years.

Although demon beasts have longer lifespans than humans, being able to live for a thousand years is already an incredible existence.

"Demon Lord, I will send a message to the ancestor now."

Qi Yun said, bowing.

Just as he was about to turn around, he was stopped by the great jiao: "Not yet; no one is allowed to know that I am here, do you understand?"

Qi Yun was stunned.

But he still nodded: "Yes."

Nothing to be done; the great jiao before him was truly unfathomable; even if it was seriously injured now, it wasn't something he, a small City Lord, could deal with.

He had to ask the ancestor.

Of course, the ancestor had also once instructed that this great jiao's words were equivalent to his own.

Only then did the great jiao continue: "Arrange a secret place for me; I need to heal."

"Yes, yes."

Qi Yun still nodded; in front of the great jiao, he didn't have a single thought of refusal.

Seeing Qi Yun's obedient appearance, the great jiao showed a satisfied, human-like smile.

Then.

A jiao scale fell off its body, as if held by an invisible hand, and was sent to Qi Yun.

"Take this item; you can mobilize the subordinates of those Eight Demon Lords to go to Qinghe for me and capture a Bai Jiao."

"Bai Jiao..."

Qi Yun muttered it lowly, and suddenly his eyes widened.

"Could the Jiao Lord be talking about..."

"Correct, it is the son of that stupid jiao."

Qi Yun understood instantly; the one the Jiao Lord wanted to capture was precisely the son most loved by that old jiao in the Ten Thousand Mountains.

And the scale the great jiao gave him could mobilize the monsters under the Eight Great Demon Lords.

His eyes became firm:

"I will go do it."

Watching Qi Yun leave, a trace of imperceptible fatigue appeared on the great jiao's face.

'Yuan Dingting!'

Its eyes couldn't hide the hatred.

The battle with Yuan Dingting was far more tragic than the world imagined; it almost died, escaped death, and was now extremely weak.

It only had the strength of a human Fourth-Rank Primordial.

For a great demon that had already seen the threshold of the First Rank, this was almost like an ant.

Ordinary spiritual medicine could no longer help it.

What it needed was dragon energy.

"Looks like I have to eat you ahead of schedule."

The great jiao's eyes were full of indifference; it had long been paying attention to the son of its clansman in the Ten Thousand Mountains—a jiao kind that truly possessed dragon blood, rare in the world.

It hadn't acted all along because it wanted to raise it first.

Wait until the little jiao underwent nine transformations, then eat it in one bite; the effect would increase several times over.

But now, it couldn't wait.

The killing intent in the great jiao's eyes was as cold as a ten-thousand-year cold cave.

'Yuan Dingting, this grudge between us is not over!'

"General returns to camp!"

Listening to the shouts from the sentry post outside.

Li Rui, who was meditating in the room, slowly opened his eyes.

'Out for quite a while.'

He smiled slightly.

Nie Siming came to Qinghe and didn't stay for a moment before taking Cao Wei to patrol the border; this patrol lasted ten days.

Only returned today.

Li Rui stood up and pushed the door open.

He quickened his pace; the General's Mansion was right across the street, and in less than the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, he arrived at the gate of the General's Mansion.

Coincidentally.

He had just stood still.

When he saw several people riding spirited warhorses walking toward him.

The one in front was naturally Nie Siming.

"General Nie."

Li Rui stepped forward and bowed to Nie Siming.

Nie Siming pulled the reins, slowed down, finally stopped in front of Li Rui, and dismounted.

Looking at Li Rui with a half-smile:

"You are Li Rui?"

"Exactly."

Li Rui was humble.

"I heard from my eighth brother that he once sparred with you during the autumn hunt and lost to you in technique?"

As soon as these words came out.

The people around were all startled.

Especially Cao Wei and Feng Yu, who had participated in the autumn hunt.

The one Nie Siming called 'eighth brother' was naturally Yuan Xiong, the eighth son of Marquis Yuan, who had once pierced the Black and White Twins with a spear across a thousand miles.

Yuan Xiong actually lost to Li Rui??

Although he only lost in technique, it was still a loss.

Yuan Xiong was a Primordial martial artist.

And Li Rui... only Sea-Observing; there was a whole major realm difference in between.

Incredible, truly incredible.

Cao Wei swallowed his saliva; he didn't expect Li Rui to have done such a heroic feat when he didn't know.

'When exactly did he win?'

At this moment, he was full of question marks.

Daring to say this Old Li looked leisurely all day, it turned out he was doing big things in silence!

"It was General Yuan who deliberately suppressed his realm; I was just lucky..."

Before he could finish.

Nie Siming waved his hand impatiently: "Winning is winning; nothing to hide."

"Old man, you must break through as soon as possible."

"Jiang Linxian said that there are only two people in the Yunzhou martial path: one is him, the other is you."

"I can't wait to defeat you."

(End of chapter)