Chapter 314: The Residual Soul of the Great Dragon, the Immortal Weapon Forged

The residual soul of a great dragon?!

Li Rui drew in a sharp breath.

Feeling the rich dragon aura emanating from the small jade vial, he could not hide his inner excitement.

The residual soul of a second-rank great dragon—this is an extraordinarily rare treasure.

Generally speaking, even if someone slays a dragon, many obtain dragon scales and dragon blood, but obtaining a dragon soul is exceedingly rare.

At least, Li Rui had never heard of it.

Probably because merely capturing and seizing the soul is already too difficult for most.

Though he did not know how Nie Siming acquired it, it no longer mattered; whatever the Marquis Yuan gave, he simply took it.

"Thank you, Marquis, for this grace."

Li Rui bowed respectfully—not to Nie Siming, but to the Marquis Yuan far away in Yunzhou.

Nie Siming's lips curled slightly:

"Good. I'll relay it to my adoptive father."

He favored those with talent.

To him, Li Rui was a man of talent, so his temper had become exceptionally mild.

With that said,

Nie Siming had no intention of lingering; he turned and left, truly having come only to deliver the item.

Ning Zhongtian widened his eyes, staring in wonder at the small jade vial in Li Rui's hand.

He had heard every word Nie Siming had spoken.

"Good heavens, is this the dragon soul?"

"After all these years, it's my first time seeing one."

Souls and spirits are not something ordinary martial artists can see, let alone the soul of a second-rank great dragon.

Yet he did not develop greed because of it.

Li Rui had treated him well, and he had received more than his share of blessings; Ning Zhongtian would never do anything treacherous for gain.

Li Rui: "Fourth brother, your old brother has lived forty years longer than you, yet I've never seen one either."

Saying this,

he removed the jade stopper from the vial.

Immediately, a strange, fragrant scent rushed forth; upon closer look, a slender serpent, no thicker than a thumb, darted about inside the vial.

"Is this the dragon soul?"

Ning Zhongtian stared in fascination.

Li Rui nodded; the dragon soul in his hand was certainly not whole, but merely a fragment.

Yet even this fragment was enough to surpass most treasures in the world.

As Li Rui and Ning Zhongtian watched intently,

Tie Kuang's voice sounded from behind: "Is this the dragon soul?"

Li Rui turned his head and saw Tie Kuang: "Senior, yes—it's the dragon soul, left behind by a second-rank great dragon."

Upon hearing "second-rank great dragon,"

even Tie Kuang could not remain calm; he hurried forward two steps, snatched the small jade vial, and scrutinized it for a full quarter-hour.

Then joy spread across his face.

"Good lad, are you a reincarnated star of fortune?"

With that,

he grabbed Li Rui and headed toward the back courtyard.

Seeing this, Ning Zhongtian did not follow; he understood the difference between closeness and distance. He could freely observe Li Rui's secrets, but matters concerning Tie Kuang, he wisely left alone.

Soon,

Tie Kuang and Li Rui arrived in the back courtyard.

"Quick, bring out your sword."

Seeing Tie Kuang's urgent urging, Li Rui drew his immortal blade without hesitation.

In the instant he drew it,

the killing intent of the blade, sealed within its scabbard, erupted, sending a chilling frost even to Liu Tiezhu, several zhang away.

Li Rui had a strange sensation:

The blade, Zhanjiao, regarded the small jade vial as its enemy.

"Exactly as I thought."

Tie Kuang clapped his hands and laughed loudly: "Li lad, you were truly destined to have an immortal blade."

Li Rui's expression brightened:

"Senior, why say that?"

Tie Kuang's laughter shook the heavens:

"Didn't I tell you before? If you slay a great dragon, your immortal weapon will immediately be forged. Now the dragon's soul is right before you—when else but now?"

Slay the dragon!

Li Rui stared in surprise at the small jade vial.

Tie Kuang offered no further explanation; he tilted the vial's mouth, and the great dragon's residual soul flew out.

In the blink of an eye,

it had drifted a foot into the air, as if intent on soaring straight to the heavens.

Tie Kuang's voice rang out at once: "Cut it down!"

Li Rui's eyes sharpened.

He swung Zhanjiao in a full arc through the air, carving a perfect curve.

The intangible body of the dragon's residual soul was severed by Zhanjiao; its form instantly solidified, split cleanly in two, and fell to the ground, faint echoes of a dragon's mournful cry still audible.

This wondrous sight filled Liu Tiezhu with eager fascination.

Tie Kuang spoke again: "Use the Hammer Qi Method to forge the weapon—hurry!"

Li Rui immediately activated the Hammer Qi Method.

The immortal blade formed a whirlwind barrier around him.

At first, the black barrier was streaked with faint golden light; as time passed, the gold intensified, eventually surpassing the black, until the barrier became entirely golden.

Li Rui's full Dragon-Elephant strength was now fully unleashed.

"Good lad!"

Seeing Li Rui's formidable external martial prowess, even Tie Kuang was secretly astonished.

He had not expected that Li Rui's internal cultivation was unmatched in Guanhai—yet his external martial skill was no weaker than a naturally born Golden Giant.

Both internal and external, invincible!

An entire hour passed.

Only then did Li Rui's sword movements begin to slow.

Both Tie Kuang and Liu Tiezhu were astonished; to sustain the Hammer Qi Method at full power for an hour—was this even human?

They had both trained the Hammer Qi Method.

So they knew better than anyone how precious an hour truly was.

Liu Tiezhu, at most, could last a single incense stick before collapsing; even Tie Kuang admitted that at Li Rui's level, he could have held out for no more than half an hour.

Yet Li Rui—held out for a full hour!

Finally, Li Rui's sword motion ceased.

Zhanjiao now glowed entirely golden, its form smooth and seamless, from hilt to blade, with not a single seam or joint.

But what excited Tie Kuang was not the blade's body.

It was the single golden speck.

Upon closer inspection, it was shaped like a human figure.

The spirit of the weapon!

Tie Kuang, though well-traveled and experienced, had seen many immortal weapon spirits—but never a human-shaped one. Yet none of that mattered.

Most importantly, at this moment, Li Rui's immortal weapon could finally be rightly called an immortal blade.

"My life is complete!"

Tie Kuang laughed uncontrollably, utterly delighted.

He had assumed Li Rui would need years to nurture the immortal blade, perhaps never seeing it in his lifetime—yet here it was, born so swiftly, forged by his own hands.

"This is the greatest joy of life."

Li Rui was also overjoyed.

He caressed Zhanjiao, unwilling to let go.

This was an immortal blade—even terrestrial immortals might not possess one.

He was only at Guanhai, yet he had acquired an immortal blade—how could he not be thrilled?

Not a single word, not a single detail, not a single element was missed!

Li Rui carefully felt the surging killing power flowing through the blade.

Stronger than the previous immortal blade!

He had used both immortal blades, so he could truly feel the difference between them.

Moreover, he vaguely sensed that Zhanjiao still had room to grow.

After the excitement subsided.

Tie Kuang finally calmed down, stroking his chin as he stared at the spirit within the blade.

Liu Tiezhu spoke directly:

"Old Man Tie, why does this spirit look so much like a person?"

His knowledge was now impressive, especially in the field of weapon forging.

He had heard of tiger spirits, leopard spirits, dragon spirits—but never a human spirit.

Li Rui also stared at the spirit, hopping about like a tiny figure on the blade's surface, his expression odd, for he had never seen such a thing.

Tie Kuang paused, then said:

"If I'm not mistaken, this is the legendary union of human and weapon—where the blade's wielder himself becomes the spirit."

Li Rui was startled.

"I became the spirit?"

Tie Kuang's smile deepened: "I once read of this in an ancient text—I thought it nonsense at the time. But I never imagined that with my blood-sacrifice forging method, and you nurturing the blade, by sheer accident, it actually happened."

"The union of human and weapon brings immense advantages: its compatibility far surpasses ordinary immortal weapons, and the blade evolves automatically as its master's cultivation advances—something exceedingly rare in the world."

"Truly a stroke of fate."

Every single step in this process was essential; omit even one, and human-weapon union would be impossible.

He was certain Li Rui would one day become famous throughout the land.

When that day came, the blade would be known to all, just like the weapons of the great masters listed in the World Martial Rankings.

Then the entire Yu Kingdom would know: in Yunzhou lived a weapon forger named Tie Kuang, who had forged a unique immortal blade—the only one in the world to achieve human-weapon union.

A name etched in history!

Li Rui, upon hearing Tie Kuang's explanation, was overjoyed.

No wonder he had felt Zhanjiao was so different from the other immortal weapon—it was human-weapon union.

Tie Kuang gazed at Li Rui with satisfaction.

Without Li Rui, he could never have forged such a unique blade.

"Li kid, don't you dare die—wait until you're famous before you go. Don't let this blade be buried with you."

"."

Li Rui was speechless.

The more he heard it, the more the words felt off.

One month later.

Nie Siming's appointment was confirmed: fourth-rank Provincial Military Commander, and the ceremony was anything but ordinary.

An imperial envoy and a eunuch to read the decree were sent from Jingcheng to Yunzhou.

A few days earlier,

Nie Siming had already arrived in Yunzhou.

"Tsk tsk, the Marquis's adopted son—no comparison."

Cao Wei and Li Rui sat in a private room at Zui Xian Pavilion, sipping tea.

When Nie Siming was present, they kept their distance—but outside the Anning Guard, they still called each other brother.

Cao Wei had long made peace with this.

Li Rui: "The court's actions must be His Majesty's way of showing trust in the Marquis."

The envoy was one thing.

But the real key was the eunuch.

Storytellers paint eunuchs as treacherous, deceitful scoundrels—everyone hates them—but in truth, not just any castrated man in the palace can be called a eunuch.

The Yu Kingdom has twelve Imperial Supervisory Offices.

Aside from the most powerful Office of Ritual, each of the other eleven has only one man who may hold the title of eunuch.

Their status is plain to see.

The one sent by His Majesty to read the imperial decree is a senior eunuch of immense imperial favor.

Clearly, the Dragon Throne holds Annan Marquis in high regard.

It's said that not only Nie Siming, but half of Yuan Dingting's eight adopted sons have been given key posts.

'He really isn't afraid Annan Marquis will amass his own army.'

Li Rui sighed.

But these matters of the capital's great figures had little to do with him, far away in this remote corner—just something to enjoy as entertainment.

Cao Wei chuckled:

"Our Qinghe will only grow more lively from now on."

He had long abandoned any thought of returning to the capital.

He now considered himself half a Qinghe native.

Unless he could reach the fourth-rank Primordial realm, he'd have to accept spending his life in Qinghe.

Fine, he'd stay.

Cao Wei found it quite comfortable.

Li Rui: "Indeed. If things keep going like this, Qinghe might soon qualify as a provincial capital."

Cao Wei sighed.

When he first arrived in Qinghe, he never dreamed it could become this prosperous.

Perhaps with this achievement, decades from now, he could petition the Ministry of Personnel for a quiet post in the capital—enough to return home in glory.

Li Rui had no such worries.

He was a native of Qinghe; staying here was perfect.

Li Rui gazed at the increasingly hot sun, murmuring:

"Xiaoman, Xiaoman—the wheat grains slowly fill."

"They say that up north, wheat begins to fill its grains at this time, hence the name Xiaoman."

"Cao Sir, you're from the north—is this true?"

Cao Wei smiled faintly: "I was born into a scholarly clan—I never tilled the soil."

Li Rui clicked his tongue twice:

"What a pity."

(End of Chapter)