Chapter 307: Yuan Dingting

"Master Li, the evil dragon is cunning; slaying it won't happen overnight. Rest assured, you have plenty of time to prepare."

"If you and I can slay that evil dragon, it will be a great achievement."

"Then I'll ask my adoptive father to take you as his adopted son—we'll be brothers after that."

Li Rui stared at Nie Siming with a strange expression.

Not overnight?

Even if given ten years, he had no chance of breaking through to the Primordial Realm.

Without entering the Primordial Realm, even if the evil dragon were wounded, it would still be a single swipe.

As for being an adopted son—

It was always him giving others grand promises, and now for the first time, someone was giving him one.

He was pondering how to refuse.

Then he saw Nie Siming fumble in his robe and pull out a small wooden box: "Master Li, this is what the Marquis ordered me to deliver to you."

Li Rui's eyebrows lifted slightly:

"The Marquis's belongings?"

Nie Siming nodded: "Yes. It's a calligraphy scroll written by the Marquis—extremely beneficial for cultivation."

Shuowan 。

He placed the small wooden box on the table and stood up.

"Master Li, please give your full attention to the search for the evil dragon."

Without giving Li Rui a chance to speak, he strode toward the door and vanished beyond the courtyard gate.

Immediately followed by a rapid clatter of hooves.

Clearly, he had already left.

Only then did Li Rui reach out and touch the small wooden box, shaking his head with a smile:

"Such a miser."

He had already guessed that the calligraphy scroll inside the box was meant for him by Yuan Dingting.

But Nie Siming held considerable authority over this item.

Yuan Dingting may have said for him and Nie Siming to handle the evil dragon together, but the scroll didn't have to be given at all—in fact, Nie Siming had done exactly that.

If Nie Siming could complete the mission alone, he naturally wouldn't need to produce the scroll—he could keep it for himself.

Even if Yuan Dingting found out, he wouldn't say a word.

For a man like Marquis Yuan, results matter above all else, let alone that Nie Siming is his adopted son, while Li Rui is merely a martial instructor.

Otherwise, why had he waited months since arriving in Qinghe before finally giving him the scroll?

As for why he chose today to give it to him—

It must be because Nie Siming had no other options.

On the surface, he led troops to the border to suppress rebels, but in truth, he had been secretly searching for the dragon's hiding place all along. Yet Nie Siming had always been stationed in the northwest, with limited influence over Yunzhou, let alone Wugu.

He was eager to find the great dragon but powerless to act, his martial strength useless here.

Of course, if that were the only issue—

Nie Siming could still have sought others. More importantly, it was Li Rui's demonstrated abilities.

Not martial strength.

But his infiltration of Wugu. The Heaven's Alliance's business in Wugu had grown steadily, inevitably requiring contact with Wugu natives, and without realizing it, he had built a formidable intelligence network.

In terms of familiarity with Wugu, no one in all of Yunzhou surpassed Li Rui.

During his time in Qinghe, Nie Siming must have learned of these things.

Hence, he used the calligraphy scroll as a "bribe" to Li Rui.

This also reveals how precious the scroll was—if it weren't valuable, why would someone like Nie Siming be so stingy?

Li Rui felt a surge of anticipation.

He slowly opened the wooden box.

The box itself was small, but what lay inside was even smaller—a three-inch-long box seemed almost empty.

Calling it a calligraphy scroll was misleading; it was more like a slip of paper.

A one-inch-long strip of paper lay quietly at the bottom of the box.

He pinched it between two fingers.

The only character visible was:

"Soldier!"

A sharp aura of killing intent surged toward him; Li Rui felt as if he stood upon a battlefield.

Since Nie Siming called it a calligraphy scroll—

It couldn't possibly contain only one character. This slip showed clear paper fibers along its edges, clearly torn from a complete scroll.

"As the ancients said: 'Lin Bing Dou Zhe, Jie Zhen Lie Qian Xing.' Nine characters, always recited secretly—nothing can resist them."

If his guess was correct—

Yuan Dingting had copied the phrase: "Lin Bing Dou Zhe Jie Zhen Lie Qian Xing."

These nine characters were known as the Nine Secret Characters.

Legend held they concealed the first secret art of Daoism, with the "Soldier" character possessing the greatest killing power.

The Saint of War wrote "Soldier"—his killing power was incalculable.

This single character could surpass the most sacred secret technique of any major sect!

No wonder Nie Siming was so reluctant to part with it.

If it were him, he'd be reluctant too.

"What a treasure!"

Li Rui was overjoyed.

He had already received Yuan Dingting's Hundred Battles Killing Intent and the Saint of War's True Meaning; now, with this "Soldier" character scroll, the effect would double—almost as if it had been made specifically for him.

'Yuan Marquis truly thinks ahead.'

Immediately, he began meditating on the hidden meaning within the "Soldier" character scroll.

Outside Qinghe City, in a dense forest.

A black-robed man was surrounded by seven or eight massive, differently shaped demonic beasts.

One of them, a nine-tailed phoenix, spoke:

"We've been stuck here a month already—can you even get it done?"

The other great demons said nothing, but their eyes clearly showed impatience.

Qi Feng spoke coldly:

"This is the Demon Lord's task. Do you dare defy him?"

Upon hearing the words "Demon Lord,"

the great demons grew quieter.

Seeing this, Qi Feng sighed softly.

Though he had temporarily subdued them with the Demon Lord's name, progress remained nonexistent.

That day,

he had taken the people from the great dragon, and the Demon Lord of Giant Rock City, the Crimson Golden Tiger, had immediately given him three fourth-rank great demons equal to Primordial Realm cultivators, plus four fifth-rank demonic beasts.

The force was extremely powerful.

He had originally planned to ambush and crush Li Rui outright with overwhelming force as soon as he left the city.

But he hadn't expected—

Li Rui had become so timid, as if terrified out of his wits since that incident. He hadn't stepped foot outside Qinghe City, not even beyond Anning Garrison.

After the previous attack by Lady Lingluo,

Qinghe's city defenses had far surpassed their former state, and the number of experts within the city had multiplied many times over.

A direct assault was impossible.

Even sneaking in was extremely difficult.

Too weak a force couldn't kill Li Rui and would only alert the city; too strong a force would draw the attention of other high-level experts inside, leading to being surrounded and beaten to death—worse still.

So they could only wait. But he hadn't expected it to last a full month—and now it seemed Li Rui wouldn't leave the city for a long time.

Yet to abandon the True Dragon Qi, so close at hand—

That was unthinkable.

True Dragon Qi might allow him to break through to the Fourth Rank. The status of a Primordial Realm beast-tamer in the Qi Clan would soar, granting him considerable influence.

Qi Feng certainly wouldn't give up so easily.

Charging into the city to seize him was out of the question. He gritted his teeth:

He understood now—it was a game of hunter and prey, a test of patience. Whoever had greater patience would be the final victor.

"Keep waiting! I don't believe he'll never leave the city."

"Big Brother!"

Ning Zhongtian's excited voice rang from outside the courtyard gate.

Li Rui, practicing in the front courtyard, turned his head and saw Ning Zhongtian running over.

He rushed up to Li Rui with eager excitement:

"Big brother, I've broken through!"

Li Rui looked at Ning Zhongtian; his aura was indeed much thicker.

"Reached Guanhai?"

"."

"Big brother, you can't talk like that—it's pointless."

Not a single character, not a single stroke, not a single detail is wrong!

Ning Zhongtian had been burning with excitement, but Li Rui's words doused him like cold water.

Li Rui smiled at Ning Zhongtian:

"Opened your Qi Sea?"

Ning Zhongtian nodded.

This morning.

The qi element in his dantian exploded, finally crossing the hardest step of the Longmen Realm—opening the Qi Sea.

Once the Qi Sea is opened, it means one has irrevocably entered the Guanhai Realm.

This filled Ning Zhongtian with wild joy; he rushed to Li Rui at once to share his delight.

Though Ning Zhongtian was confident in his talent, he never imagined he could open his Qi Sea in his early forties—something he'd never dared dream of before.

Compared to Jiang Linxian, the peerless prodigy, he was nothing—but in Yunzhou, he was already exceptional.

Li Rui nodded: "Good. Keep working hard."

Ning Zhongtian's breakthrough didn't surprise him at all.

His foundation was already solid; he only needed that final push.

Even without external aid, Ning Zhongtian would have opened his Qi Sea eventually.

The Immortal Xuan Qi and the elixir merely accelerated the process.

You can't rely entirely on external forces, but to use none at all is to fall behind.

Climbing the path of martial arts is about striving to be first.

You're not an immortal—your lifespan is finite. One step slow, and your lifetime ceiling is lowered.

That's why great sects and powerful clans produce peerless masters—they're given ample external aid, so they reach their ceiling more easily.

A peasant may have greater potential, but potential that can't be realized is no different from none at all.

This is why Li Rui seeks office and reputation.

Everyone in the world is the same.

Though Li Rui teased him, he was genuinely pleased inside.

Ning Zhongtian had always been close to him.

Opening the Qi Sea means Guanhai is within reach—a fifth-rank martial artist is a formidable force anywhere.

"Strengthen your foundation. Don't rush."

Li Rui patted Ning Zhongtian on the shoulder.

Ning Zhongtian's passion surged again; he grinned: "Big brother, I refuse to believe I still can't catch up to you this time!"

Speaking of that.

Ning Zhongtian grew even more frustrated.

The first time he met Li Rui, he was the Alliance Leader; Li Rui was just a Hall Master—several ranks below him.

Yet only ten years had passed.

He was still in Longmen, but Li Rui had skyrocketed from eighth-rank all the way to fifth-rank.

Ning Zhongtian wasn't slow; his advancement was normal.

What was abnormal was Li Rui.

Who had ever seen someone break five major realms in ten years?

Even Jiang Linxian wasn't this terrifying.

Li Rui had always been chasing, then surpassing—now it was finally his turn.

Ning Zhongtian refused to believe Li Rui could break into Xiantian faster than he had broken into Guanhai.

Can't life be a little fairer?

Li Rui: "Fourth brother, having this heart is good. The future is yours."

Ning Zhongtian blinked.

Why did that sound so familiar?

At that moment,

Wang Zhao walked from the stable into the front courtyard and greeted Ning Zhongtian warmly: "Uncle Four."

"Ah, it's Xiao Zhao."

Seeing Wang Zhao, Ning Zhongtian's mood improved.

In Li Rui's courtyard, he liked Wang Zhao best—because the boy was honest and obedient.

After dealing with too many clever people, he naturally grew fonder of Wang Zhao's nature.

Ning Zhongtian squinted: "Big brother, this kid Wang Zhao has excellent bones. He'll likely reach seventh-rank in just a few years—remarkable."

Li Rui: "Xiao Zhao has trained for too short a time. Don't rush him."

The sound of hammering iron reached Ning Zhongtian's ears.

He couldn't help but sigh.

The Canjun Mansion was now brimming with talent.

Liang He and Liu Tiezhu were both genuine Liujin martial artists—capable of standing alone in Qinghe County.

And they were young.

They were no weaker than the prodigies of Huaqing Sect.

Ning Zhongtian turned to look at Li Rui.

He felt grateful to have become brothers with Li Rui—if they had been enemies, facing such a terrifying opponent would have kept him awake at night.

Canjun Mansion, main house.

Secret chamber.

In Li Rui's hand rested the character "bing" written by Yuan Dingting.

Though it was only one character, it seemed to contain boundless martial truth—the power of the top ten, capable of embedding the Dao within a character.

This was actually the technique of a master of talisman arts.

Most talismanists could barely embed qi into a character; to embed the Dao itself required a Grand Talismanist.

Yunzhou was remote.

Most sects focused solely on martial arts, so talismanists and array masters were extremely rare.

They say in the Central Plains, it was a true blossoming of arts.

They'd turned true qi into something dazzling.

Li Rui's inner Martial Saint intent resonated with the character, allowing him to contemplate the Martial Saint's will within the character.

Previously, in the Qinghe hunting ground,

Yuan Dingting had merely released a trace of the Martial Saint's intent, targeting over a hundred people listening to the martial lecture.

This character scroll, however, was the full embodiment of the Martial Saint's intent—and it targeted only Li Rui. The effect was incomparably stronger.

Li Rui felt as if he saw a divine spear, tearing through heaven and earth.

The next instant,

The spear appeared inside his dantian.

It stirred the Qi Sea into a raging storm.

Then it surged upward, piercing through the layers of dark clouds above the Qi Sea—beyond them, a bright moon slowly emerged.

Seeing this sight,

Li Rui's pupils shrank sharply:

"Rising Moon!"

(End of Chapter)