Chapter 315: No Useless Skills

That day.

Li Rui was practicing in his room.

Suddenly.

Someone knocked loudly on the door.

Li Rui opened his eyes, got out of bed, and opened the door.

This was the Military Office, no longer his old residence; outside the door, Tan Hu and his Tiger Riders guarded it—only close associates were allowed to knock on the inner chamber's door.

As soon as he opened the door,

he saw Liu Tong standing outside.

"Lord Alliance."

Seeing Li Rui, Liu Tong called out with visible excitement.

"Ah, it's little Liu. Why are you back from Yunzhou?"

Liu Tong took a deep breath, calmed himself slightly, then forced a smile: "Lord Alliance, I came specially to visit you."

"That's thoughtful. Come in."

Li Rui regarded Liu Tong with a faint, knowing smile.

Then he invited him inside for tea.

Liu Tong sat down, sipped absently at the tea Li Rui poured, and seeing Li Rui's cheerful expression with no hint of mentioning the matter, he finally couldn't hold back: "Lord Alliance, opportunity knocks but once—the Tianyuan Trading House has already expressed interest in allying with a major sect. If we delay any longer, we'll lose our chance."

Li Rui's expression didn't change.

He had already guessed Liu Tong had rushed back from Yunzhou personally because of the Tianyuan Trading House.

He sipped his tea, then spoke:

"Little Liu, what do you think of the Tianyuan Trading House?"

Liu Tong paused, then answered honestly: "Wealthy, with business spread throughout Yu Kingdom, but they might look down on our Heaven and Earth Alliance—doing business with them carries high risk, yet it's worth trying."

He hadn't exaggerated their merits just to push the deal.

Li Rui's lips curled slightly:

"Go on."

Liu Tong: "Tianyuan came to Yunzhou for business with Wu Kingdom. Our Alliance has good relations with Wu Kingdom—we can use that as leverage to cooperate with Tianyuan."

This time, he didn't mention the noblewoman from Tianyuan at all.

Li Rui nodded in satisfaction:

"You've improved. Good."

Complimented by Li Rui, Liu Tong felt embarrassed: "Lord Alliance, I was too eager."

Li Rui: "When doing business, you must act when the moment comes—but only after understanding the full picture. Otherwise, better to miss the chance than invite trouble."

Liu Tong's expression sharpened.

He listened intently.

Li Rui was going to debrief him.

"Little Liu, since you've studied Tianyuan, do you know who their true proprietor is?"

Liu Tong froze, then obediently shook his head:

"I don't know."

Li Rui smiled faintly: "Lord Dingyuan."

Upon hearing "Lord Dingyuan," Liu Tong's pupils contracted slightly.

"Little Liu, any merchant house that grows large always has powerful backing in court—you understand this."

"Our Heaven and Earth Alliance is backed by me. Tianyuan is backed by Lord Dingyuan. Do you think this deal can still happen?"

Liu Tong fell silent.

He had some connection with Tianyuan's noblewoman.

But as Li Rui had once said: tactical victories can never compensate for strategic failures.

Who in Yunzhou didn't know Li Rui was Jiang Lin's friend, a firm member of the Lin Faction?

And Lord Dingyuan was the leader of the Xuan Faction.

Factional strife was always the cruelest.

If the Heaven and Earth Alliance allied with Tianyuan, Tianyuan's power would inevitably swallow them whole.

No chance to resist—purely sheep walking into a tiger's mouth.

He felt a sudden chill of dread.

The face of Tianyuan's noblewoman—obviously naive and sweet—flashed in his mind.

Women's hearts are the most venomous!

Liu Tong suddenly understood: she wasn't after his body—she was after his money. You can't walk by the river without getting your shoes wet—he'd been played by a woman.

And he'd known nothing of it.

"Such deep scheming."

His face turned grim.

Memories of his time in Yunzhou surfaced—he realized belatedly he'd walked straight into a trap without knowing it.

Li Rui sipped his tea in silence.

He didn't interrupt Liu Tong's thoughts.

One setback teaches wisdom—this was the critical moment for Liu Tong's growth; as an elder, he must lend a hand.

In truth, Liu Tong had done quite well.

But his position was too low—he was bound to be deceived.

There was no help for it.

The information gap was an insurmountable chasm; few in the world knew this truth.

He knew only because of his connections within the Marquis's household.

He was merely better at waiting than Liu Tong.

But that wasn't an excuse for Liu Tong's mistake—in business, as in war, one misstep means total defeat. Li Rui cared about results, not excuses for failure.

He wanted to make this clear to Liu Tong.

Human nature was far more treacherous than he imagined.

Liu Tong sighed softly: "Thank you, Lord Alliance, for your guidance."

He was sharp—he'd only been blinded by overwhelming profit. Now he understood: Li Rui was deliberately guiding him, truly treating him as a junior.

Otherwise, given Li Rui's nature, he wouldn't have said a single extra word.

Liu Tong's heart warmed.

Having an elder show the way was a great blessing—one couldn't even beg for it, let alone feel ashamed. Li Rui: "Young people should take some losses—it's good for them. If I were still taking losses at my age, that'd be a real problem."

Liu Tong smiled knowingly.

His inner turmoil vanished: "Lord Alliance, I understand. I'll have no further dealings with Tianyuan Trading House."

Li Rui rolled his eyes:

"You still don't get it. All this was wasted."

Liu Tong was utterly confused: "Lord Alliance, I truly don't understand now."

Li Rui had to add two more sentences:

"You lost to that Qiao girl from Tianyuan because of information imbalance. Now that your information is equal, you can befriend her more."

"Other matters in Yunzhou don't matter."

He stopped there.

Liu Tong's eyes lit up:

"Lord Alliance, brilliant!"

He always admired Li Rui's ability to pinpoint the core issue—every time, he saw right to the heart of things.

Every single word made perfect sense!

Lord Dingyuan was Lord Dingyuan.

But if he could marry that Qiao girl, they'd become one family—then he'd truly be perfectly positioned on both sides.

Being an enemy is hard. But being a friend? Easy.

Liu Tong excelled at making friends—especially girlfriends.

Liu Tong's spirits soared—he vowed to return to Yunzhou and fight three hundred rounds with that Qiao girl again. This time, knowing the truth, he'd be the hidden attacker against an open enemy—he wouldn't lose.

Watching Liu Tong sprint out of the Military Office, brimming with energy,

Li Rui smiled faintly:

"Youth is wonderful."

He was always humble, yet one thing he took pride in: his eye for spotting others' strengths.

Liang He was like that, Liu Tiezhu was like that, Wang Zhao was like that, Liu Tong was like that too.

A naturally gifted soft-meal body should be used to its fullest potential.

There are no useless skills in the world—only useless people.

In the evening,

Li Rui taught Yang Yong boxing in the courtyard.

"Old Li, don't trick me—this really extends life and prolongs youth?"

Yang Yong stared at Li Rui's fist form in confusion; it was painfully slow, even worse than those flashy, useless martial displays, utterly devoid of practical value.

He was the worst martial artist in this courtyard, but at least he'd once served as a guard for the Zhu family and knew a bit of martial arts.

He'd seen Li Rui practice this fist form before, but he didn't believe it could extend life.

"Grasp, press, push, and absorb—all methods contained; up and down, like a turning wheel. Reverse the elbow to strike from the side; White Crane Spreads Its Wings, soaring through the sky."

Seeing Yang Yong stop, Li Rui ended his stance: "Hey, Old Yang, do you think I'd lie to you? This fist form was created by an ancient immortal. With it, one could conquer the world and live three full cycles—seven decades."

Today, Yang Yong had suddenly come to him, asking him to teach the fist form, saying he wanted to live a few more years—at least long enough to see Wang Zhao get married before he died.

Li Rui immediately perked up.

In the past, Yang Yong had always acted as if life and death meant nothing, utterly indifferent to how long he lived; now that he suddenly wanted to live, Li Rui certainly wasn't going to let Yang Yong die just anywhere.

And living until Wang Zhao got married would take a long time.

Yang Yong frowned: "Really? I've never heard of this ancient immortal."

He prided himself on knowing many martial world anecdotes, yet he'd never heard this tale from any storyteller.

Li Rui patted his chest: "Look at me—I'm living proof. How can you not believe?"

Yang Yong thought for a moment, then decided to try practicing for a while and see.

Seeing Yang Yong resume practicing, Li Rui's lips curled slightly.

This fist form was derived from a tai chi style created by an old Daoist named Zhang in his past life, blended with the Long Chun Art.

Ordinary people could practice it.

Nothing special—just strengthening the body and improving health.

Mortal lifespan is fixed by heaven; no one can break through it, but one can endlessly approach the limit. Two cycles is the absolute ceiling of mortal life—and that's more than enough for Yang Yong.

As long as you practice regularly and supplement with diet, living to a hundred is no problem.

As Yang Yong copied each movement from Li Rui.

Tan Hu's voice rang out: "General Nie, what brings you here?"

Li Rui instantly understood.

He had just finished his stance when Nie Siming strode in.

"General Nie."

Li Rui spoke respectfully; now that Nie Siming was Provincial Military Commander, in charge of two guard battalions, he was Li Rui's true superior.

Provincial Military Commander was a military rank—calling him "General" was perfectly acceptable.

Nie Siming acted swiftly; the moment he saw Li Rui, he said: "Come, accompany me on a mission."

Li Rui raised an eyebrow.

But since Nie Siming called for him, he went—no questions asked. He picked up his sword beside him and followed Nie Siming out of the camp.

Seeing Nie Siming wasn't riding a horse, Li Rui deduced their destination was within the city.

Sure enough.

Nie Siming finally stopped before a grand mansion in Qinghe County—more precisely, a martial arts school.

Li Rui was surprised: Nie Siming had come to the Qianhe Martial School late at night, alone with him.

Nie Siming hadn't brought any personal guards, so Li Rui took it upon himself to act as one. He stepped forward and addressed the school's gatekeeper: "Young brother, I'm Li Rui, Assistant Regional Commander of Anning Guard. That gentleman is Provincial Military Commander Nie. We've come specially to pay our respects to Master He."

The gatekeeper's eyes widened in shock.

He'd assumed these two, neither riding a carriage nor wearing jade pendants, were ordinary folk—never expecting such high status.

He didn't dare delay; he quickly bowed and ran inside the school.

Li Rui wasn't in a hurry—he stood at the gate, smiling patiently.

Less than half a stick of incense later, Xiao Yu, the eldest disciple of He Qianian, came out personally to greet them.

Xiao Yu glanced at Li Rui, smiling warmly; though they'd had past tensions, both were smart men—they wouldn't turn that into a deadly feud.

"Provincial Military Commander Nie, Master Li, my apologies for not greeting you sooner."

He was about to say more when Nie Siming cut him off:

"Lead the way. I have urgent matters to discuss with Master He."

(End of Chapter)