Chapter 311: Slay the Evil River Dragon to Forging the Blade

Walking the martial world, making enemies is inevitable; it's not the enmity that matters, but how you resolve it—and even more crucially, how you resolve it without others noticing. Congratulations, you've mastered the advanced burial technique.

Task completed: resolving enmity. Reward calculation in progress.

Task rating: B.

Obtained 30 achievement points!

Name: Li Rui

Age: 15

Talent: Martial Bone, Extraordinary Comprehension, Insightful Eyes, Great Dream Wanderer, Demon-Slaying Supremacy

Technique: Changchun Art, Dragon Soaring Through Nine Heavens Diagram, Dragon-Elephant True Qi Force

Item: Spirit-Rising Book

Achievement: 30/100

Li Rui's eyebrows lifted slightly.

He hadn't expected his months of rigorous practice to yield such an unexpected reward.

"Good."

Now, Qi Feng's death was worth it.

Soon.

His figure vanished into the night.

"Captain Li, back from your stroll?"

The gate commander saw Li Rui returning from the street to the Anning Guard camp and hurried over with a fawning greeting.

Li Rui chuckled:

"Yes, the scenery of Qinghe is endlessly pleasing."

"Only Captain Li has such lofty cultivation."

The gate commander spoke with seven parts sincerity and three parts flattery.

He knew Li Rui had lived in Qinghe for Qibashinian —if anyone else had, they'd have grown tired of it long ago, yet Li Rui still gazed at it with delight; many had seen him by the Qinghe River.

That was cultivation.

No wonder he became Assistant Regional Commander while he could only guard the gate.

Heartily convinced.

Li Rui: "Brothers, you've worked hard. Tell the kitchen to cook two dishes—I'll eat with you."

Hearing their commander planned to treat them,

the gate guards flushed with excitement.

What a down-to-earth Assistant Regional Commander!

Upon receiving Li Rui's order, a young soldier sprinted to the kitchen and returned moments later, carrying three or four dishes with eager steps.

Plenty of meat and vegetables—very generous.

This was the benefit of associating with the Assistant Regional Commander.

If they'd gone themselves, Chef Sun would've thrown his apron down; even if he agreed, it'd take at least an hour—never this fast.

Li Rui didn't hold back—he sat cross-legged on the ground beside the camp wall and ate with relish.

No one could tell he'd just committed murder.

Another month passed.

Li Rui acted as if nothing had happened, spending his days inside the Anning Guard camp—and now he'd gone further, refusing to leave the premises at all.

Aside from a few personal guards, almost no one saw Li Rui.

Inside the room.

Zhanjiao had been drawn, lying flat across Li Rui's knees.

The blade now bore a glaring crimson hue.

A blood-red pattern ran from hilt to tip, glowing faintly and dimly like a human vein.

This anomaly appeared after Li Rui killed Qi Feng.

"No wonder it's a demonic weapon."

Li Rui gazed at Zhanjiao and sighed.

After drinking blood, the immortal blade Zhanjiao had changed drastically, especially its spirit—its progress surged.

Killing was the best way to nourish a weapon.

If he could kill a hundred fifth-rank martial artists, perhaps the blade would become fully immortal.

Yet Li Rui had no intention of doing so.

On one hand, he wasn't a demon who slaughtered innocents for personal gain; killing too many would draw imperial attention and invite greater trouble.

On the other, excessive killing aura might cause demonic energy to overwhelm him, turning the master into the servant.

His pursuit of martial arts was firm.

But even that had limits.

If he truly fell to demonic corruption, the consequences would be dire.

His record as an Anning Guard Garrison Commander who killed due to demonic weapon corruption would be recorded in official bulletins, picked up by storytellers, and spread across the land.

Even a hundred years later, people would still speak of him as a warning.

A kind of immortality by infamy.

If he survived, the progress of his "Fame and Glory" achievement would surely max out.

At this moment,

Li Rui held Zhanjiao with a thread of spiritual energy, formed from Immortal Xuan Qi.

Faintly, he seemed to hear a roar.

Listen closely—it was Qi Feng's voice.

Trapped soul.

Correct. Qi Feng was slain by Zhanjiao, and one of his seven souls—the Purification soul—was seized and imprisoned within the blade, now nearly fully refined into part of its spirit.

Daoist teachings say a person has three souls and seven spirits.

The three souls are Tai Guang, Shuang Ling, and You Jing—the Heaven, Earth, and Human souls.

The seven spirits are Shi Gou, Fu Shi, Que Yin, Tun Zei, Fei Du, Chu Hui, and Chou Fei—corresponding to joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hatred, and desire.

Zhanjiao absorbs evil spirits to prove the ultimate evil of heaven and earth.

If it absorbed enough living souls, even without forming a spirit, it could rival an immortal weapon in killing power.

The Emperor's Banner?

Li Rui blinked, his expression odd.

The demonic abilities Zhanjiao now displayed matched the legendary Ten Thousand Souls Banner exactly.

So evil. So delightful.

Killing one man brought three rewards—Qi Feng didn't die in vain.

After absorbing Qi Feng's soul, Li Rui could clearly feel Zhanjiao's sentience had strengthened—though so had its malevolence.

Li Rui had spent a full month erasing Qi Feng's resentment.

Now he could happily kill again.

Satisfied, he sheathed the blade.

He stepped out the door. "Nice weather."

Li Rui strolled to the back courtyard and saw Tie Kuang squatting on the stone steps beside Liu Tiezhu, smoking his pipe with slow, contented puffs.

Seeing Li Rui,

Tie Kuang expertly pulled a large pipe from behind his back.

Li Rui: "Senior, you really quit."

Tie Kuang rolled his eyes: "Get lost. If I offer you smoke, take it."

Li Rui chuckled, took the pipe, scooped a pinch of tobacco from the small cloth bag beside him, packed it into the brass bowl, lit it, and began puffing.

Smoke curled thickly through the courtyard.

Li Rui quit smoking because tobacco contained the dregs of heaven and earth, harmful to his primordial body.

He was always strict with himself.

A fifty-year smoker who quit cold turkey—only occasionally indulged with Tie Kuang.

One mistake, one slip, one error, one flaw, one detail, one thing, one look!

Tie Kuang glanced at Li Rui's long blade:

"Cleaned it up?"

"Mm."

Li Rui nodded.

After killing Qi Feng, he'd sought out Tie Kuang; though he didn't name the victim, he plainly stated he'd killed a man—a Hai Guan martial artist—and several Hai Guan demonic beasts.

At the time, Tie Kuang didn't care who Li Rui killed.

He'd seen it all.

At Li Rui's level, who didn't kill?

He cared only about nourishing the immortal blade.

The method of removing resentment was precisely what he had taught Li Rui.

"Correct. Your progress is faster than I imagined. Though the evil blade is sharp, it must be tempered—three parts is ideal."

Tie Kuang was no rigid traditionalist, yet he still believed the righteous path was the only true way.

The evil blade was forged by him.

But he forged the evil blade precisely to harness its momentum and transform it into an immortal blade—his ultimate goal remained the righteous path; he merely took a winding detour to reach it.

That's why he had Li Rui use this special method to erase the resentment.

Not to let the evil qi fester unchecked, as some martial artists do, until it spirals beyond control.

Li Rui: "Thank you, Elder, for your guidance."

He understood Tie Kuang's intent perfectly.

In fact,

he had thought the same himself.

After climbing so hard to attain an official rank, wasn't the whole point to walk the upright path? Others had no choice but to take the evil route—he had already reached the fifth rank.

Having already set foot on the path, there was no need to truly become a demon.

Just borrowing three parts of its power was enough.

Tie Kuang chuckled: "You're a clever lad. This method is notoriously difficult to master at Divine Weapon Mountain Villa—you learned it this quickly? Truly surprises this old man."

"You taught me well, Elder."

"Don't flatter me, you rascal."

He said that,

but the smile on Tie Kuang's face deepened.

Who doesn't enjoy hearing praise?

Tie Kuang had returned once to Divine Weapon Mountain Villa, leaving the immortal blade there. Li Rui assumed he wouldn't come back—but then Tie the Old Man appeared again, fresh and lively, in the backyard forge.

According to Tie Kuang, he had done everything he needed to.

Now it was time to enjoy some leisure.

In other words, he had started his retirement early.

Climbing the martial path has always been this way: either you surge forward like a breaking dam, or you stagnate for life—there's no such thing as grinding your way to Grand Master status through time alone.

Otherwise, wouldn't earth immortals be everywhere?

Tie Kuang had been stuck at the Primordial stage for eighty years—he knew his limits well.

It was impossible.

Like those rotting old masters in the great sects, he could either become a guardian of the sect's way, or live as a free cloud and wild crane.

Tie Kuang first chose the former.

After forging the immortal weapon, he felt he had repaid all his debts, then chose the latter.

Having spent most of his life at Divine Weapon Mountain Villa, he now found Li Rui's small cottage more comfortable.

Tie Kuang drew Li Rui's immortal blade from his waist.

He clucked in wonder:

"Are you a reincarnated dragon? How did you turn this into a dragon blade?"

"I've heard of a method—if you could slay a second-rank dragon-transforming great serpent, you might elevate the blade's essence further, turning it into a true dragon-slaying blade."

Li Rui smiled lightly:

"A second-rank dragon-transforming great serpent? Elder, you overestimate me."

Tie Kuang: "I'm just saying. If you truly had that power, you'd probably look down on my blade anyway."

Li Rui took it as just a story.

He did know one second-rank dragon-transforming great serpent.

Nie Siming came to Qinghe County precisely to slay it.

But he had always been extremely cautious about it.

He certainly wouldn't involve himself personally.

A dying camel is still bigger than a horse—the power of a dragon-transforming serpent was beyond the grasp of a mere fifth-rank official. Best not to even see its face—safety lay in complete avoidance.

As for slaying it? He didn't even dare imagine it.

Did he really think he was the Sword Emperor of Shu, who slew dragons wherever he went?

Which mattered more—the blade or his life?

The choice was easy. Li Rui didn't hesitate—he chose the latter.

Let Yuan Dingting and Nie Siming, those fierce ones, handle the serpent-slaying. He was just an old man—he'd stay safely in the Peace Guard.

Tie Kuang's pipe of dry tobacco was nearly empty.

He tapped the brass bowl against his shoe, then slowly rose, gazing at Li Rui: "I'm counting on you to cultivate that immortal weapon—don't die halfway."

"I've done good deeds and accumulated virtue—I've got plenty of fortune. I won't die anytime soon."

"Good."

Tie Kuang grinned and laughed heartily, then called Liu Tiezhu inside to forge.

His retirement was different from others'.

He forged every single day.

But for Tie Kuang, it was no different from the old men outside the city, sixty years old, strolling with their birds.

(End of Chapter)