Chapter 306

"Are these three the Sandwind Three Wolves?"

"They look terrifying."

"What's there to fear? Even if they're fierce, they were still easily cut down by General Nie."

The city gate was packed with people.

Today, several soldiers from Anning Guard hung three corpses on the city wall, claiming these were the Sandwind Three Wolves—infamous for nearly twenty years and long wanted by the bounty notice.

Everyone who heard the news rushed over to see the spectacle.

In an instant, the crowd roared with noise.

In the past, this would have emptied the streets; now, though lively, it hadn't reached frenzy.

The reason? Qinghe was no longer the Qinghe of old.

Once, Qinghe's strongest was barely seventh-rank; now, even legendary Earth Immortals might appear.

Having seen the world, people had grown calmer.

On the second-floor private room of a small teahouse beside the city gate.

Li Rui and Ning Zhongtian sat by the window, taking in the scene before the gate.

People of status all gathered here.

They could watch the spectacle up close while avoiding the stench of sweat and feet.

The teahouse's tea was bad, its wine worse, and even its food was terrible.

Yet thanks to its perfect location, whenever something big happened in town, business boomed—and the shopkeeper grew rich and delighted.

Li Rui knew this.

Though the teahouse's sign hadn't changed, its proprietor had changed hands several times.

And oddly enough—

Every single proprietor was the same person: the county magistrate's younger brother-in-law.

Hmm.

That's how it was.

Even Li Rui got only half-price—and no credit allowed.

But he hadn't come here just to spend ten taels of silver for a close-up view of the spectacle.

The Sandwind Three Wolves had died right before his eyes—he didn't need to watch.

He wanted to see if he could find clues to the person who hired them.

Not uncovering the mastermind behind it all would keep him restless day and night.

Ning Zhongtian sipped tea across from him, closing his eyes in comfort as he felt the faint coolness in his body: "Big brother, this stuff really works."

Last night—

Li Rui had summoned him to his room for hotpot.

After eating, he said he wanted to talk by candlelight.

Ning Zhongtian had wondered when his big brother had become so caring—only to be dragged into a secret chamber and told he'd receive a divine boon.

A unique true qi.

Big brother said it would greatly aid his cultivation.

After one day's experience, Ning Zhongtian confirmed its mystery: his five senses had sharpened drastically, his mind had cleared, and Li Rui claimed it even improved his innate constitution.

It was practically a heavenly artifact.

Unlike Li Rui's three disciples, Ning Zhongtian's insight was far superior—he knew better than anyone how astonishing such a thing was.

So he was smart: he never asked what it was.

He knew too many methods existed to force truth from a man; the best defense was to never know in the first place.

This way, he lived longer—and didn't drag Li Rui into danger.

That was true wisdom.

Knowing too much truly could kill you.

Li Rui: "You must adapt further. This qi will continuously refine your body. Come to me every three months."

"Yes, big brother."

Ning Zhongtian nodded, then turned to the window, sneering: "If not for your brilliant planning, even Nie Siming couldn't have killed these three."

Li Rui smiled lightly:

"Fourth brother, don't say that again."

Aside from a handful in Anning Guard, no one else knew the full truth.

To outsiders—

Nie Siming had devised and slain the Sandwind Three Wolves, removing a great scourge from the world; Li Rui's name never appeared in the story.

Of course, that was exactly what Li Rui intended.

Seeking fame was enough already—he didn't need more prestige now.

"Sandwind Three Wolves… beast tide"

Li Rui squinted at the three corpses on the city wall, recalling recent events.

Undoubtedly—

Someone was deliberately targeting him, more precisely, trying to kill him. Hadn't he heard Ke Qi say that if they killed Li Rui, they could take office in Wu Country?

Li Rui frowned slightly.

This wasn't a good sign.

A quiet sigh.

"When the tree wishes for stillness, the wind refuses to cease—I only sought immortality."

"Only self-strengthening remains."

In the blink of an eye, a month passed.

Qinghe returned to calmness; even the caravans outside the city faced few attacks, and the crimson mist from the Insight Eye had grown thicker.

This confirmed Li Rui's suspicion:

All previous beast tides and attacks had been aimed at him.

"The more the enemy wants, the less you must give."

So Li Rui simply stayed indoors.

Not just him—even those close to him stayed inside.

It was a war of attrition.

As Assistant Regional Commander of Anning Guard, he had no need to leave the city; his cultivation methods and pills were plentiful—he could afford to wait.

In the Assistant Regional Commander's residence, his chamber.

Li Rui sat cross-legged on a mat, the Immortal Blade Zhanjiao resting on his knees.

Now—

Zhanjiao was no longer pitted and scarred; it had taken true blade form, its surface shimmering with divine radiance, profoundly mysterious.

Li Rui's Immortal Xuan Qi completely enveloped Zhanjiao, like a swirling mist of white vapor.

Suddenly—

A streak of purple-gold light flickered along the blade's center.

Though fleeting, Li Rui caught it instantly—his eyes brightened with delight.

"It's the spirit!"

Just now, he had clearly sensed the blade's spirit.

Tie Kuang's qi and spirit were insufficient to forge an Immortal Blade, so he settled for a spirit embryo, which Li Rui then nurtured with Immortal Xuan Qi.

For months, day and night, he had nurtured it.

Finally, results appeared.

Once the spirit fully formed, the Immortal Blade's killing power would surge dramatically.

Li Rui had already experienced this: when he borrowed the blade to kill Zhu Renhe, he'd felt as if aided by divine forces.

Rumor had it: if an Earth Immortal's true intent controlled the blade, the spirit could fight independently—holding off two opponents at once.

The spirit was the essential difference between an Immortal Blade and an ordinary Spirit Blade.

As Li Rui sought to delve deeper into the spirit's presence—a chill surged upward.

In an instant, his breath turned to white smoke; frost visibly spread across his body.

His pupils turned crimson.

In an instant, Li Rui's exhaled breath turned to white smoke, and his body was swiftly coated in a layer of white frost.

Huh-huh, huh-huh…

Li Rui's breathing grew ragged.

Kill, kill, kill!

Screams exploded in his mind—he saw endless evil dragons; crushing pressure nearly stopped his heart, as if he must tear heaven and earth apart, a tidal wave of killing intent drowning his last shred of reason.

In a daze—

He saw a silhouette, a crimson robe, as if soaked in blood, swirling wildly.

In a daze.

He saw a silhouette, a long crimson robe, as if soaked in blood, swirling in the wind.

Li Rui felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

The next instant.

Every single word, every single stroke, every single detail—clear as day!

The man in the crimson robe slowly turned his head.

It was his own face!

Cruel, violent, sinister—every negative emotion gathered on that face.

The man spoke slowly:

"You've wanted to kill all along, haven't you?"

"I am you."

"Come, merge with me, and you'll gain endless power. Let us crush this filthy world."

Just as the entire world was nearly drowned in blood.

The tide of blood surging toward Li Rui suddenly receded.

All returned to clarity.

Li Rui in the room slowly opened his eyes, as if the previous scene had never occurred.

He murmured softly:

"So this is the malevolent spirit?"

The spirit blade had just barely awakened, yet it was already assaulted by a malevolent spirit.

Zhanjiao was forged with a blood sacrifice, using his own essence blood. All humans carry the seven emotions and six desires; Li Rui was no exception. Thus, the spirit blade, tainted by worldly desires, fell into corruption.

The first thing the spirit blade became a malevolent spirit was to drag its master into corruption.

Li Rui had just been corrupted by the malevolent spirit.

He looked again at Zhanjiao.

There, floating upon the blade's surface, was a faint golden glow—the unmistakable sign of the spirit blade's manifestation.

A faint smile curled his lips.

The suffering he'd endured was not in vain.

Upon closer inspection, he saw the golden orb encircled by fine threads of black qi—those were the malevolent energies.

Just as the seven emotions and six desires in a human cannot be erased.

"Legends speak of a law of utter detachment, designed to sever the seven emotions and six desires. Only those people might avoid external corruption."

Li Rui could never achieve that.

But this malevolent energy was not entirely harmful.

Though it erodes the master's mind and drags him into corruption, it simultaneously greatly enhances the divine weapon's power—especially its killing force.

Fortune and misfortune are intertwined.

Li Rui was no perfect man—merely one skilled at riding the current.

If he could harness this malevolent energy, it would be a tremendous advantage.

As for being dragged into the abyss by the malevolent spirit?

His will was iron-hard; he had long since feared no external corruption.

That day.

Li Rui trained as usual in the front courtyard.

Suddenly.

A rapid clatter of hooves came from outside. He barely furrowed his brow.

Then Tan Hu's voice rang out:

"General Nie, you're back? I'll go announce you right away!"

His voice was loud.

Li Rui heard it clearly in the front courtyard.

Benhu Camp was now Li Rui's personal guard, responsible for defending the Assistant Regional Commander's residence.

Nie Siming had returned to Anning Guard—and had already arrived at the residence gate.

Tan Hu clearly knew he couldn't stop Nie Siming, so he shouted loudly to give Li Rui advance warning.

Almost the moment his words ended.

In strode Nie Siming, clad in light armor.

Li Rui's face broke into a timely smile:

"General Nie."

He wouldn't be so naive as to believe their relationship had improved because Nie Siming had helped him once.

Nie Siming glanced at Li Rui coolly:

"I have something to say to you."

Then he fell silent.

Li Rui immediately understood.

Nie Siming had come alone, without even his personal guards—clearly intending to speak privately, and in secrecy.

He was asking Li Rui to find a safe place to talk.

Li Rui: "General Nie, please follow me."

He led Nie Siming into his main chamber.

Then he poured a cup of tea still warm, and sat down.

Nie Siming lifted the cup, tilted his head, and drained it in one gulp—typical military style, not the refined manners of a court official.

He dropped a bombshell:

"Those three wanted to kill you, but it wasn't the Sandstorm Trio who truly meant to kill you—it was the people of Wu Country, or perhaps that great serpent from Ten Thousand Mountains."

"!!"

Li Rui's pupils contracted slightly.

He hadn't expected Nie Siming to strike straight to the heart—answering his deepest questions outright.

His mind raced.

He was about to speak.

But Nie Siming continued without pause: "Don't guess. I don't have the ability to know these things. My adoptive father told me."

Li Rui raised an eyebrow.

He hadn't expected Yuan Dingting to be involved.

Nie Siming: "Let me be frank—I was sent to Qinghe not only to suppress the Wu Country rebels, but also to find that great serpent."

"The little white serpent you sent—I've seen it. It carries a trace of Yinglong blood."

"That great serpent is wounded. This Yinglong blood would greatly aid its healing. That's why you were targeted."

Li Rui suddenly understood.

No wonder he'd been targeted out of nowhere.

Nie Siming's sudden willingness to help must have come from Yuan Dingting's orders.

"The Marquis's methods are truly remarkable."

Li Rui spoke sincerely.

Even he had become a pawn without realizing it. There was no choice—before overwhelming power, being a pawn was already luck.

Don't believe the nonsense about having to become a player instead of a pawn.

That only works for those strong enough.

His strength was vastly inferior to Yuan Dingting's. The wisest course was to be a obedient pawn—otherwise, he'd be discarded without a second thought.

Nie Siming grinned:

"Before coming, my adoptive father specifically told me that Instructor Li is reliable, and instructed me to work with you to slay the evil serpent."

The tea Li Rui had just swallowed nearly shot out of his nose.

Me?

Slay the evil serpent?

(End of Chapter)