Chapter 303: Spirit Root Enhancement

"Big brother, the border with Yu and Wu is in turmoil. Nie Siming took eight hundred soldiers out of camp overnight, and Cao Wei went with him."

He woke at dawn.

Ning Zhongtian came to the Assistant Regional Commander's office and told Li Rui what had happened last night.

"Hmm, I know."

Li Rui nodded.

Ning Zhongtian raised an eyebrow, puzzled by Li Rui's calmness.

"Big brother, did you plant a mole inside?"

Li Rui rolled his eyes: "The commotion last night was so loud, how could I not have heard it? I was kept awake all night—it's truly annoying."

"."

Ning Zhongtian was speechless.

"It must be that Big Brother's methods are too elusive, making me so suspicious."

He let out a bitter laugh, then cursed: "That Nie guy really isn't decent. He took eight hundred men out of camp and didn't even tell Big Brother about such an important matter."

Everyone in Qinghe now knows Nie Siming and the Assistant Regional Commander of Anning Guard are at odds.

Those sects are all fence-sitters.

Li Rui's prestige had reached its peak after the Qinghe Hunting Grounds incident, but now, because of Nie Siming's suppression, it's been cut in half.

Some sects, seeing the tide turning, immediately switched sides and allied with Nie Siming, secretly sabotaging the Heaven and Earth Alliance.

Even within the Anning Guard itself.

His control has weakened considerably.

Now Li Rui spends most of his time idling at home—clearly a sign he's been sidelined.

Everything stems from Nie Siming.

Li Rui waved his hand indifferently:

"Fourth brother, anger harms the body and shortens life—you mustn't lose your temper so easily."

"General Nie is the Marquis's appointed Provincial Governor of Qinghe. We follow General Nie's orders."

The position of Provincial Governor.

Is a temporary post.

Its rank varies depending on the inspection duties assigned.

A Provincial Governor of Yunzhou can rival a Prefect in status and wield immense power.

As for Nie Siming, every matter in Qinghe falls under his inspection—plainly put, he is Qinghe's highest official.

All Qinghe officials must obey Nie Siming.

Since he is a superior.

He doesn't need to explain his actions to a subordinate like me.

Explaining is a favor; not explaining is his duty.

Nothing wrong with that.

Li Rui took this matter lightly.

Besides, since Nie Siming came to Qinghe, the border may be chaotic, but he no longer needs to worry about it himself. Compared to that, a little humiliation is more than worth it.

With Li Rui's persuasion,

Ning Zhongtian said no more.

Since he'd come anyway,

He stayed to share a bowl of meat porridge at the Assistant Regional Commander's office, then left satisfied—so much so that Wang Zhao suspected Ning Zhongtian had come just to mooch a meal.

After breakfast,

He practiced again in the office.

When Li Rui stepped out, it was already noon.

The plain, unremarkable day of the Assistant Regional Commander had officially begun.

The Anning Guard had only a thousand men; last night, Nie Siming took away eight hundred, leaving Ning Zhongtian with just four companies.

The once-bustling training ground had grown noticeably quiet.

Li Rui went out again—to the Weiheshimao Office—still about the beast pens.

As soon as he entered,

Yan Zhongxing rushed forward, sighing heavily:

"Brother Li, you've got to help your little brother this time."

Li Rui sidestepped slightly, avoiding Yan Zhongxing's attempt to grab his sleeve, and said coolly: "Director Yan, what's happened?"

Yan Zhongxing's hand missed, and he looked embarrassed:

"It's not about the beast pens—it's about the merchant caravans."

Li Rui grew serious.

Though he'd been promoted to Assistant Regional Commander of the Anning Guard, because cross-border trade had grown increasingly vital, he still held the additional post of Trade Officer.

Merchant affairs were his official duty.

Yan Zhongxing: "Brother Li, merchant caravans have been hit repeatedly—not just by bandits from Dongwu, but lately, a group of beast beasts has gathered specifically to attack the caravans transporting beasts. Word has it many are beasts previously sold and somehow escaped."

Beast beast attacks

Li Rui fell silent.

Ever since he opened the Western Heavenly Gate and gained the ability to communicate with beast beasts, he understood: beast beasts simply couldn't speak human tongues and, due to their vastly different natures, were wrongly seen as unintelligent—but they knew the principle of revenge just as well.

Those beast beasts captured and sold would naturally harbor hatred.

After escaping, attacking merchant caravans was only logical.

"I'll send men to investigate."

Yan Zhongxing beamed: "Then I'm in your debt, Brother Li."

In the deep mountains of the Yu-Wu border,

Three men sat around a campfire, speaking in low tones.

"Big brother, you think the officials in Qinghe City will come?"

"Those officials are all rats—none of them would dare step outside the city walls to handle this."

"Not necessarily—I heard that Li guy is famous in Qinghe for being tough. We should still be careful."

The three burly men spoke back and forth.

The youngest among them spat to the side: "What's there to fear? Our big brother broke through not long ago—he's a true Primordial Martial Artist now. Why should we fear some lowly Assistant Regional Commander of the Anning Guard? Ridiculous!"

If anyone from the Northwest Army were present, they'd recognize the three.

The Three Wind-Sand Wolves.

Three outlaws despised by the Northwest Army in the Northern Desert.

The third among them, Ma Lie, had the fiercest temper.

The second, He Yang, was cautious and still worried: "That Li guy is a Yu official. If we kill him, the Yu imperial court will hunt us to the death."

Ma Lie's eyes flickered with scorn:

"Second brother, have you gone soft from years in the mountains?"

"Our names have been on the bounty posters for ages—we're already at war with them. What's there to fear?"

"Besides, didn't they say? Once we pull off this job, we can become officials in Wu Country—that's real living."

Most of the time,

It was the second and third brothers who spoke.

The eldest, Ke Qi, simply listened in silence.

The three brothers weren't blood-related—they'd sworn brotherhood later.

In the Northwest Army camp.

If that damned deputy commander hadn't ordered them to march to certain death, maybe they'd have become Northwest Army generals themselves. Knowing it was suicide, they were still ordered to go.

He refused. Then, that very night, he fled the camp with his two brothers.

The deputy commander found out and chased them down overnight.

The fact they're still alive means the deputy commander is dead.

Deserters who killed a general—their names inevitably appeared on the Yu imperial court's bounty posters.

Until now,

They'd only dared to roam beyond Yu's borders.

Later, hearing of Wu's chaos, they fled from the northwest to the Ten Thousand Mountains.

For years, they'd worked as mercenaries in Wu.

Now, the Lord of Jushi City in Wu approached them, offering them the position of Deputy Lord if they killed a Yu official named Li Rui.

They accepted without hesitation.

One word, one sentence, one thought, one content, one look!

Who wants to be a bandit when they can be an official?

They'd already killed a deputy commander—what was one more Assistant Regional Commander?

As the three spoke,

A man in a black robe walked slowly toward them:

I robbed the goods from Divine Weapon Manor; Li Rui should leave the city soon. You three have only one chance—don't let the city lord down.

Ma Lie snorted coldly:

"We don't need you telling us how to do our job."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Ke Qi spoke up: "Good. Don't worry—we'll see this through."

Then he glanced warily at the black-robed man before him.

In terms of raw combat power, this black-robed man was far inferior to him, a primordial martial artist.

But he was one of the rare spirit-beast tamer of the Witch Nation.

A spirit-beast tamer, as the name suggests, is one who can control beast spirits.

Having served as blade-wielders in the Witch Nation for so many years, they well knew the power of spirit-beast tamers: many in the Witch Nation could control beast spirits, but either by taming them or forming a symbiotic bond.

But spirit-beast tamers were different.

They could not only speak with beast spirits, but even forge soul-linkages with them—not just one, like a symbiotic bond, but multiple.

They were the true masters of beast spirits.

Spirit-beast tamers required a special constitution, making them exceedingly rare in the Witch Nation.

Once they moved, they could summon a tide of beast spirits.

Ordinary martial artists often died crushed by beast spirits before they even saw the tamer.

The black-robed man looked at Ke Qi and nodded with satisfaction: "You're impressive. No wonder you're the eldest among the three."

Ma Lie instantly bristled:

"What do you mean by that?"

He rose to his feet, but Ke Qi pressed him back down.

"Big brother—"

"Shut your mouth!"

The black-robed man smiled faintly at Ke Qi: "Don't worry. If you complete this task, the position of deputy city lord of Giant Rock City is yours."

Ke Qi nodded: "I hope the Qi clan will keep their word."

The black-robed man let out a soft "Oh?"

"How did you know I'm from the Qi clan?"

Ke Qi smiled lightly: "I've been a blade-wielder in the Witch Nation for six or seven years. If I hadn't heard of Qiu Feng, the Lord of Ten Thousand Demonic Beasts, I'd be dead long ago."

Qiu Feng's lips curled slightly.

"You've surprised me."

As a core member of the Qi clan, his status was nearly equal to that of Giant Rock City's city lord—hence his ability to promise the deputy position.

"Since you know me, you should know I'm strict in rewards and punishments. If you complete this task, the Qi clan won't let you down. I can even petition the Ancestor to grant you our family name."

Ke Qi's eyes lit up: "Good. It's a deal!"

With that,

Qiu Feng turned and vanished into the night.

His figure disappeared completely.

Only then did Ma Lie speak: "Didn't expect this pretty boy to be the Lord of Ten Thousand Demonic Beasts himself."

As for Qiu Feng,

his reputation in the northern border of the Witch Nation was immense—even rivaling that of primordial martial artists.

He had once summoned a tide of beast spirits during a great battle and single-handedly destroyed an entire city—a true monster.

Ke Qi, however, was in high spirits:

"Let's go. This task must be completed."

The higher the status of the one who shows up, the more the Qi clan values this matter.

The greater my chance of becoming deputy city lord of Giant Rock City.

'I'm tired of being a blade-wielder.'

"Second brother, third brother, once we're officials of Giant Rock City, we'll build a five-hall mansion and take ten wives!"

Qinghe, Anning Guard.

Assistant Military Office.

Deep night.

In Li Rui's room, the lamp burned bright; a silhouette was cast against the paper window.

He stared at the object in his hand, lost in thought.

Is that all it took?

The spirit-detection stone in his hand had changed from its former crystalline jade appearance to its current golden-stone form.

He could pass it off as gold, and no one would notice.

Li Rui had expected it would take years to nurture the spirit-detection stone, but he never imagined it would reach the form described in the Ten Thousand Spirits Scripture in just a few months.

'Could I truly have the talent of an immortal?'

Li Rui fell silent.

This speed was truly beyond his expectations.

But since the spirit-detection stone was now nurtured, he wasted no time. He entered the secret chamber and prepared his mortar and pestle to crush the stone.

Yet the spirit-detection stone was extremely hard.

In the end, the pestle was shattered, yet the stone suffered only minor surface damage.

Seeing this, Li Rui simply drew his immortal blade, Immortal Blade: Slaying Serpent.

He struck down hard with the hilt as a pestle.

The spirit-detection stone cracked open with a crack.

"Indeed, immortal weapons are effective."

Li Rui rejoiced and moved faster. In moments, the golden-stone spirit-detection stone was reduced to golden powder.

"Grind it to powder, then swallow it raw."

Li Rui thought.

No wonder the legends said immortals favored golden stones as medicine—perhaps they were none other than this nurtured spirit-detection stone.

He tilted his head.

Swallowed all the golden powder at once.

A cool sensation spread from his dantian.

(End of Chapter)