Chapter 308: Rising Bright Moon

In the dantian, above the Qi Sea.

The dark clouds transformed by Immortal Xuan Qi dispersed.

A bright moon slowly rose from the sea surface, the cold moonlight spilling onto the Qi Sea.

Sacred, solemn, dignified...

The moment the bright moon appeared, the Qi Sea boiled directly, the monstrous waves raised appearing to be ten thousand zhang high.

Moon Image Heaven Attraction!

Whether it was the knowledge from his previous life or the conclusions drawn by the Imperial Observatory of this world observing celestial phenomena, it was clearly pointed out that tides were closely related to the celestial moon.

The bright moon of the Sea-Observing Realm.

Was where the martial artist's will resided, representing the martial artist's ability to completely control the Qi Sea and become the master of Qi.

After the Rising Bright Moon, one could truly begin to use the power of the Qi Sea to wash one's own body, reaching the Flawless Body and returning to the Primordial state.

"Primordial Realm in sight!"

Li Rui was overjoyed.

Most Sea-Observing Realm experts were stuck at this Rising Bright Moon hurdle.

Therefore, Rising Bright Moon also had the name of the Bright Moon Pass.

For many geniuses, it was a bottleneck difficult to break through; being stuck here for decades, or even finding it difficult to advance an inch for a lifetime, Li Rui had been tempering his sinews and bones precisely for this Bright Moon Pass.

He didn't expect that with the help of the "Soldier" character scroll, he would actually break through the pass in one go.

Achieving the Rising Bright Moon Realm.

As long as one could condense the Qi Moon with true Qi, one could wash one's own body; given enough time, one could remove the filth within the body, and when the body reached the minimum standard of a Primordial Realm martial artist, one would naturally become a Primordial Realm martial artist.

This process depended on the martial artist's physique, ranging from ten years to several decades.

If one could be assisted by spirit pills, it could be greatly shortened.

Hence, young Primordial Realm monsters often only existed in major sects.

The bright moon rose slowly.

Li Rui didn't know how much time had passed, and finally, a bright moon hung in the nine heavens, only to be viewed from afar, shining in harmony with the immortal palace above the Qi Sea, no different from the legendary Immortal Court.

At this instant.

He only felt that his true Qi and his own body were perfectly integrated; with every breath, he could feel the existence of true Qi, without any stagnation.

Li Rui carefully felt the changes in his true Qi.

Rising Bright Moon is internal, not external.

His Qi strength didn't improve much, but his control over true Qi was a qualitative leap.

For example, more perfect saber control.

With a slight movement of his thoughts.

The immortal saber at his waist flew up, scabbard and all, dancing wildly in the air.

Every move and style was exquisite.

It was actually the moves of the Dragon-Elephant True Origin Force!

If it were before, Li Rui would never have been able to do it; the art of saber control was extremely simple, which was to manipulate weapons with true Qi instead of hands, to achieve the purpose of taking the enemy's head from a distance.

A slight estimation.

The farthest distance Li Rui could control the saber was three hundred zhang; any further, he couldn't control it.

Compared to Jiang Linxian's ten-li sword strike back then, it was far inferior.

Of course.

With Li Rui's talent, given time, he would definitely be able to do it.

Combat power surged!

Li Rui felt refreshed.

Looking at the "Soldier" character scroll in his hand again, the ink on the paper had disappeared at some point, leaving only a blank sheet of paper.

The Military Saint true intent had been completely absorbed, and the "Soldier" character naturally disappeared.

"Truly a stroke of fortune."

If he hadn't accidentally comprehended the Military Saint true intent, he wouldn't have been able to step into the Rising Bright Moon Realm so quickly; this comprehension saved him seven or eight years of bitter cultivation.

One could see this by looking at Cao Wei, who was also a main official of the Anning Guard.

Having stepped into the Sea-Observing Realm for nearly ten years, he was only barely observing the waves, and he was at least ten years away from Rising Bright Moon.

When Li Rui walked out of the room.

Only then did he discover it was already broad daylight.

However, it seemed that breaking through overnight had become the norm, and he had long since gotten used to it.

When walking out of the room.

He rarely saw Elder Tiekuang, and it looked like he had been standing there for a long time.

Li Rui was puzzled and about to greet him.

When Elder Tiekuang spoke slowly: "Another breakthrough?"

Li Rui was surprised:

"How did the senior know?"

When Elder Tiekuang heard Li Rui's words, he was even more certain: "Your true intent was too sharp; although it flashed and disappeared, I was too close, so I still felt it."

Li Rui nodded, not hiding it:

"Indeed, there has been progress."

Elder Tiekuang raised an eyebrow slightly.

Unlike others, he knew that Li Rui wasn't some Imperial Secret Guard at all; practicing martial arts for only a dozen years and having his current aura was truly terrifying.

At least among the monsters he had seen, Li Rui was the most monstrous one.

"You brat..."

He had long since grown tired of saying words of praise.

Ever since he met Li Rui, the surprises this brat gave had never stopped.

"In the future, if the brat from the Divine Weapon Shanzhuang provokes you, for my sake, go easy on him."

After Elder Tiekuang finished speaking, he turned and returned to the backyard without looking back.

He had seen too many geniuses.

Some geniuses had just soared into the sky only to fall midway, but some geniuses had great fortune; no matter who targeted them, they could turn danger into safety and counter-kill in the end. Such people were generally called destined by heaven.

Yunzhou had one, which was Jiang Linxian.

Elder Tiekuang felt Li Rui would be the second.

Encountering such a person, the wisest approach was to befriend them, or at the very least, not become an enemy.

He knew that the Divine Weapon Shanzhuang had had some unpleasantness with Li Rui before.

Based on his understanding, Li Rui had a temperament of seeking revenge for the slightest grievance.

Li Rui sighed lightly.

"Senior Tie misunderstood again; actually, I am a kind-hearted person."

"Instructor Li, this is the latest roster under our Anning Guard's jurisdiction."

Lu Jun respectfully handed a very thick roster to Li Rui with both hands.

Li Rui took it and smiled slightly:

"Officer Lu has worked hard."

Lu Jun took a step back and bowed: "This is my duty."

Li Rui became the Li Canjun of the Anning Guard, inheriting Jiang Linxian's forces.

Lu Jun and Ning Zhongtian were naturally his people.

Unlike Ning Zhongtian, Lu Jun appeared much more disciplined, always being respectful, without the slightest arrogance because Li Rui had once been his subordinate.

There was no way around it; Li Rui's momentum was simply too strong.

He couldn't afford to offend him at all.

And Lu Jun's backer wasn't in the Anning Guard; distant water couldn't quench near thirst, so of course he had to be polite to Li Rui.

Li Rui didn't think there was any problem with this either.

A superior insisting on being brothers with a subordinate was simply a sign of a sick mind.

He only needed obedience.

And the best way to obey wasn't to pick up favors, but majesty; treating an old superior was even more so.

Li Rui waved his hand: "Officer Lu, go down first." After Lu Jun left.

Only then did Li Rui open the roster.

"Under the jurisdiction of the Anning Guard, one Third-Rank Earth Immortal, thirteen Primordial Realm, thirty-one Sea-Observing..."

Li Rui raised an eyebrow.

Unknowingly, Qinghe was already a grand atmosphere of prosperous martial arts.

This kind of strength was several times stronger than the thirteen prefectures of Yunzhou.

Therefore, although Li Rui was a main official, he didn't dare to act recklessly.

The Yu Kingdom had a population of hundreds of millions, and martial artists were like crucian carp crossing the river; even among ten thousand, there were still millions.

Before, Yunzhou was exhausted, and the martial path was withering.

If Marquis Yuan hadn't been enfeoffed here, it would have been at the bottom among all the prefectures in the world.

(Checking for errors...)

The current Yunzhou had an atmosphere.

The number of Primordial Realm and even Earth Immortal experts had increased by several times.

Not to mention the distant ones.

The Crane Hall Master in Qinghe City was a genuine Earth Immortal expert, and there were a double-digit number of Primordial Realm experts.

Without some strength, one really couldn't suppress it.

At the very least, Li Rui and Cao Wei were already feeling powerless against those major sects, and Marquis Yuan considered this point precisely, which was why he called several foster sons, Nie Siming, to come and guard.

Qinghe's status was becoming increasingly important.

Those major sects were no longer satisfied with branches, and many directly established lower sects.

The few main officials in Qinghe couldn't suppress them at all; Nie Siming saying he was patrolling was a cover to stabilize the major lower sects in Qinghe.

Coming here was to suppress a city.

Li Rui had long since received news that Nie Siming's position as Provincial Governor would soon change.

By then, he would be the legitimate main official of Qinghe.

Becoming a subordinate actually wasn't bad; at least he didn't need to worry about too many things.

Li Rui was happy to have someone at the front.

His body was old and couldn't withstand the tossing.

As a military advisor, he didn't care about most internal affairs of the Anning Guard, but he had strict requirements for this roster.

This was something that could save his life at a critical moment.

The Imperial Court controlling the Jianghu sects—this roster was the top priority.

Li Rui had seen records in ancient books.

The Founding Emperor had trampled the Jianghu back then, and the first thing he did was to register the major sects in a roster.

It was just that as the Imperial Court's control over the Jianghu lasted longer, the importance of the roster was gradually forgotten.

Li Rui was one of those who hadn't forgotten.

This roster contained quite a bit of useful information.

He would carefully read every page.

With his powerful comprehension, he only needed to read it twice to remember every name on the roster; this was also an ability that came with good comprehension.

Just as he was flipping through the roster.

Liang He walked in.

"Master."

Seeing it was Liang He, Li Rui said with a smile: "What's wrong, Xiao He, you actually have time to see Master?"

Liang He's face turned red.

He was now the de facto Alliance Leader of the Tiandi Alliance.

There were too many matters that needed to be handled.

Of course, most of them were actually business.

The current Tiandi Alliance was less like a gang and more like a merchant association, and he was the shopkeeper of this merchant association.

And Li Rui was the proprietor of this merchant association.

Liang He thought carefully and also discovered that most of the time it was Li Rui going to the Tiandi Alliance; although there was a room for him in the Li Canjun's Mansion, the number of times he returned could be counted on one hand.

He coughed twice:

"Master, it's Liu Tong; he sent a letter back."

"Oh?"

Li Rui became interested.

Liu Tong had been in Yunzhou for several months, and he had heard that he had made quite a name for himself in Yunzhou.

He had even earned the title of one of the Nine Young Masters of Yunzhou.

He took the envelope from Liang He's hand.

Once opened, it was thousands of words.

It roughly talked about Liu Tong's progress in Yunzhou, who he had met, what sects, and what business routes he had opened up.

"... Alliance Leader, I have already met the noble lady of the Tianyuan Merchant Association; she is very interested in Qinghe's business. Once the talks are successful, we will be able to do business across the entire Yu Kingdom..."

Li Rui spent a full quarter of an hour reading it all.

The whole thing was filled with Liu Tong's overflowing pride.

The absolute focus of the letter was the Tianyuan Merchant Association.

"The noble lady of the Tianyuan Merchant Association."

Li Rui shook his head with a smile; Liu Tong had always been outstanding in terms of women.

The Tianyuan Merchant Association was one of the three major merchant associations in the Yu Kingdom.

Its business was spread all over the world.

The headquarters was of course in the land of benevolence, the Capital.

Before, the Tianyuan Merchant Association hadn't set foot in Yunzhou because Yunzhou wasn't worth their layout; now that the trade between the two countries was mature, the Tianyuan Merchant Association had finally entered.

This was the foundation.

Only the weak would swarm in before things were determined; the real big shots were the last to take action.

Liang He had already read the letter:

"Master, what should we do next? Do we need to send people to support Liu Tong?"

Li Rui put the letter aside, continued to pick up the roster, and said indifferently:

"This matter is not urgent yet. You pass a message to Liu Tong for me, saying the timing is not yet ripe, and tell him to continue planning."

Liang He listened.

Although he was surprised in his heart, he still nodded obediently.

When he saw the letter, his heart was also filled with heat.

After all, that was the Tianyuan Merchant Association.

If they could climb this big tree, the future of the Tiandi Alliance would be limitless.

Even though he was steady, he felt they needed to seize this opportunity as soon as possible.

But from Li Rui's current attitude.

Liu Tong's idea would probably be shelved.

However, he had always unconditionally supported Li Rui's decisions; since Li Rui said to slow down, then slow down.

"Master must have his reasons for doing things."

On the Dream Cloud Terrace.

Li Rui stood quietly holding the immortal saber Jiao-Slaying, his internal aura constantly climbing, finally reaching its peak in a moment.

Slowly opening his eyes.

With a thought.

A figure appeared before his eyes.

Handsome and elegant, drifting like an immortal.

It was precisely Jiang Linxian.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 309 =====