Chapter 298: Blood Sacrifice Ritual

A disaster without cause?

Li Rui watched Nie Siming stride away, smiling faintly and shaking his head.

He understood why Jiang Lin had done this.

It was simply to build his reputation in the Marquis's household.

Otherwise, how else could he have so easily become a martial instructor in the Marquis's household, let alone ride in Lord Yuan's carriage—all because preparations had been made long ago.

But gaining fame also meant bearing the backlash that fame brought.

With Lord Yuan holding him back, though Nie Siming disliked him, he wouldn't face any real threat to his life.

Since it wasn't a matter of life or death,

then it was all trivial, especially compared to what he had gained.

Just a little humiliation.

Besides, didn't he hear? Nie Siming wouldn't act until Li Rui broke through to the Primordial Stage—such a disciplined, principled enemy was hard to find even with a lantern.

Cao Wei walked up to Li Rui with a smile: "Brother Li, don't worry. If you really break through to the Primordial Stage, taking a beating is worth it."

Li Rui didn't get humiliated often.

He naturally had to cherish it.

Li Rui deeply agreed:

"Brother Cao speaks wisely."

If a beating could make him Primordial, he might even ask for two.

After all, the reward was too great, the cost too small—he even worried it might be fake.

Qinghe County, East Market Beast Pen.

As more people in Qinghe entered the beast trade, the Trade Office had established a dedicated beast pen in the East Market to house captured beasts.

"Keep your eyes open—know what to provoke and what to avoid."

"Don't judge a beast's danger by its appearance."

"Otherwise, you'll die horribly."

It was time again for new recruits to enter the beast pen.

Usually, veterans would explain the rules to newcomers—not because they feared theft, but because people kept vanishing from the pen at intervals.

Later investigations revealed they'd all been swallowed alive by beasts.

The beast pen didn't want to lose more silver for no reason.

Though the veteran spoke for only about fifteen minutes before leaving, leaving the new recruits staring blankly at each other,

it wasn't negligence.

The veterans all knew: no amount of talking helped.

Survival depended on insight—or luck.

"Come on, we're told to clean the beast pen tonight, or we lose our first day's pay."

At the mention of pay,

the boys all perked up.

The beast pen was dangerous, but the pay was generous—otherwise why would they risk their lives just to squeeze in?

In a corner the boys hadn't noticed,

a red-furred fox, seemingly harmless, slowly lifted its head.

"Lord Li, shouldn't the beast pen's share be raised a bit?"

"You know how often people die here—compensation is a heavy expense."

Inside the Trade Office,

Yan Zhongxing smiled warmly at Li Rui.

The beast pen had become the Trade Office's main source of income, and Li Rui controlled fully forty percent of the city's beast trade.

Most of the beast pen's management fees came from the Heaven and Earth Alliance.

In other words, from Li Rui.

As a Ministry of Revenue official, he naturally knew to treat the gold source with courtesy, especially since Li Rui, like himself, held a fifth-rank post.

Li Rui smiled lightly: "Director Yan, business is business. The Heaven and Earth Alliance has already paid enough. You know I'm honest—I don't make much. Why not ask other houses?"

Yan Zhongxing secretly rolled his eyes.

Honest?

Not making much?

Others might not know, but he knew perfectly well: in beast trade alone, the Heaven and Earth Alliance was unquestionably Qinghe's top.

It just kept a low profile, making outsiders think it was overshadowed by other major factions.

In truth, it had been quietly growing rich.

But no matter how Yan Zhongxing pleaded, Li Rui refused to budge.

He served the court.

He'd been a Trade Office Captain for a long time—he knew the ropes inside out.

Men die for wealth; birds die for food.

Those who died in the beast pen died for silver.

And even if he raised the share, it would only fill the pockets of clerks and managers—not reach the workers doing the labor.

As the saying went: no trade, no killing.

All Li Rui could do

was instruct Heaven and Earth Alliance disciples to be more vigilant and keep them in line.

Then he'd pay out of his own pocket—send money to Qinghe's veterans via Yang Yong; for others, there was nothing he could do.

Even if he didn't do beast trade, someone else would.

'Blame the times.'

Since this was business, he couldn't just give away profits.

Once he gave an inch,

there'd be a second time, then a third—the beast pen's fees would keep rising.

The losses would come straight from Li Rui's own pocket.

While Yan Zhongxing paused to drink tea, his throat dry from talking, Li Rui spoke: "Director Yan, the beast pen's facilities are still inadequate. I've heard many beasts die inside—it won't do."

"If things continue like this, I'll have to build my own beast pen."

Yan Zhongxing immediately set down his teacup.

Build his own?

That was absolutely out of the question!

"Lord Li, it's my subordinates' fault—they're careless. I'll reprimand them right away."

"Rest assured."

He smiled obsequiously.

Li Rui narrowed his eyes: "Then I'll leave it to you, Director Yan. You know I don't control the Heaven and Earth Alliance—if the other alliance heads object, I can't force them."

Yan Zhongxing sneered inwardly.

Don't control it?

The Heaven and Earth Alliance may have many alliance heads, but the only one who truly held power now was Li Rui.

The rest were just high-level enforcers.

'Old fox.'

He cursed silently, yet kept smiling: "Lord Li, just put your mind at ease."

Then he sighed:

"You know how vicious these beasts are—just yesterday, a new batch arrived, and one died again."

"Hard, hard, hard."

Yan Zhongxing shook his head.

After wasting half the day, Li Rui finally found an excuse to leave the Trade Office—otherwise Yan Zhongxing would've kept talking until dusk, then dragged him off to drink, another dull, tedious day. 'Better to cultivate.'

Deep into the night,

Li Rui finished his qi circulation, a green lamp, an ancient book.

He was engrossed.

This book was from the Imperial Astronomical Bureau's collection—a handwritten journal left by a great cultivator of an ancient sect.

It contained mostly strange tales and anecdotes.

Li Rui found the stories of the Immortal Kings and Immortal Maidens utterly captivating.

Many useful insights were hidden within.

For instance, this passage:

"Washing the sinews and marrow with the aura of an Immortal King enhances one's perception of heavenly and earthly qi, refining the spiritual root."

Every single word was correct!

In short, in ancient times, one could invite an Immortal King to transmit qi to improve one's spiritual root.

But now, there were no Immortal Kings left.

The books of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau were nearly worn out, but none of the methods within for enhancing spiritual roots were remotely feasible—even in ancient times, enhancing a spiritual root was extremely difficult.

Not to mention he was trying to upgrade from a middling spiritual root to a superior one—that was even harder.

A superior spiritual root was already considered genius even in ancient times when spiritual energy was abundant.

How much more so in the present age, when spiritual energy has dwindled?

'Hard, hard, hard.'

Though Li Rui had long anticipated this outcome, he still felt a pang of regret when faced with the impossibility.

'A middling spiritual root is already quite good, especially compared to the ancient demons in novels who started from inferior roots.'

Li Rui set down the ancient text.

He lay down and fell asleep.

The moment he opened his eyes, he stood atop the dreamlike Yuntai, where someone was already waiting.

It was Yuan Xiong.

Yuan Xiong had originally wanted to spar with him to improve his martial skills, but now it was Li Rui who simulated the sparring in his dreams.

Yuan Xiong, a primordial martial cultivator who had suppressed his realm, was the perfect training partner for Li Rui.

The techniques he learned from sparring with Yuan Xiong could be directly applied in real combat, revealing gaps and filling weaknesses.

Yuan Xiong could strike him only once.

But Li Rui could strike Yuan Xiong a thousand times, ten thousand times.

So in truth, Li Rui was the one who gained.

'Come.'

A faint smile curled his lips as a long blade appeared in his hand; in an instant, two figures collided in midair.

Deep night.

In a quiet alley outside the Anning Guard, in an unnoticed corner, a small fox with fiery red fur stared intently at the towering wall of the Anning Guard.

'Dragon qi.'

It thought silently.

'So the little white dragon is inside.'

'I've finally found it.'

A human-like sneer appeared on the fox's face.

Elders who lived at the foot of the mountains all knew the saying: 'Hu Huang Bai Liu Hui'—referring to foxes, weasels, hedgehogs, snakes, and rats that had gained human-like awareness and must not be provoked, or disaster would follow.

This rule applied equally to beast spirits.

Fox-type beast spirits generally possessed far higher intelligence than other beast spirits.

It had deliberately been captured by the Witch Kingdom's beast hunters and delivered to Qinghe.

It had been ordered by the Beast Lord to come to Qinghe and find the son of the ancient dragon in Ten Thousand Mountains—the little white dragon.

Then capture the little white dragon and deliver it to the Lord of Jushi City.

As for why the city lord didn't act himself:

On one hand, beast spirits sensed each other more acutely; on the other, Qinghe was filled with experts, and after the previous siege, the Witch Kingdom's people were under strict scrutiny—slipping into the city was nearly impossible.

That was why the Lord of Jushi City had sent dragon scales to the Beast Lord, requesting he dispatch a beast spirit to infiltrate Qinghe and locate the little white dragon.

The fox licked its lips:

'Human flesh tastes excellent.'

Last night,

it had given in to temptation and devoured a human from the beast pen; fortunately, it had been discreet enough that no one noticed.

'Time to return.'

The fox glanced at the sky, thinking.

Then it turned and vanished into the alley's depths; moments later, it reappeared in the beast pen, as if nothing had happened.

In the backyard.

The room glowed red—not from firelight, but from Tie Kuang's blazing True Qi.

As before.

Li Rui placed his hands on Tie Kuang's back.

The Saint of War's true intent poured wildly into Tie Kuang's body.

The rhythmic clang of hammering never ceased.

Today, Tie Kuang's condition far surpassed his usual state—his gaze intensely focused, tinged with fervor.

For half an hour, it continued.

The crimson True Qi spewing from Tie Kuang's mouth gradually faded.

Li Rui felt a sharp pang of pain.

He had seen this too many times—each time Tie Kuang's True Qi ceased, another piece of divine iron was wasted. This was the fourth. Even Li Rui's resources were beginning to strain.

Crafting a divine weapon tested not only the smith's skill, but his wealth.

Without money, one could never forge a divine weapon.

Li Rui's funds were already borrowed against future income—he had borrowed them in advance from the Heaven and Earth Alliance under his role as Alliance Leader; truly, half the Alliance supported just one leader.

Just as he thought today's work was done,

Tie Kuang reached behind him and barked:

'Dragon scale—hurry!'

His voice carried unmistakable urgency.

Both Li Rui and Liu Tiezhu were startled—this was the first time Tie Kuang had requested the great dragon's scale.

Liu Tiezhu quickly retrieved the scale from a nearby chest and rushed to hand it to Tie Kuang.

Tie Kuang didn't even look at it—he tossed it straight into the furnace.

Then,

he exhaled True Qi again; the room erupted in flames.

He was refining the dragon scale.

This process lasted an entire day and night.

Even with Tie Kuang's formidable primordial martial True Qi, he began to falter.

Exhaustion was plainly etched on his face.

Yet his eyes burned with terrifying brilliance.

He turned to Li Rui, ecstatic:

'Quick—inject your essence blood into the blade's core.'

'I will use the Blood Sacrifice Method!'

(End of Chapter)