Chapter 320: Ascend Spirit, the Fated One

"A hole is drilled into the Heaven-Spirit Purple Marrow; within lies spiritual fluid and stone marrow. Consuming it enhances one's spiritual roots."

Li Rui's mind recalled the records of the Ascending Spirit Method.

At once.

He drew his immortal blade and precisely carved a small opening on the purple crystal jade; through the hole, he indeed saw the faintly purple-glowing stone marrow inside.

A clean fragrance entered his nose, filling him with total comfort.

"A precious treasure!"

Li Rui immediately lifted the Heaven-Spirit Purple Marrow, tilted his head, and swallowed all the stone marrow.

Soon after, a clear warmth surged up from his dantian.

Li Rui clearly felt his spiritual roots had improved further; what astonished him even more was that his Immortal Xuan Qi had gained a trace of sentience.

This trace of sentience was no simple thing.

"In ancient times, Qi Refiners of inferior spiritual roots formed Qi, those of middling spiritual roots used Qi, and those of superior spiritual roots commanded Qi."

The difference in spiritual roots ultimately manifested in how one wielded spiritual energy.

Superior spiritual roots not only absorbed spiritual energy faster but also wielded it far beyond those of middling or inferior roots.

In this world, spiritual energy had scattered.

Absorbing spiritual energy was now impossible, yet this latter advantage still remained.

Li Rui's Immortal Xuan Qi resembled ancient spiritual energy, so when his spiritual roots improved, this benefit came along.

Other martial artists received no such treatment.

Otherwise, the value of the Heaven-Spirit Purple Marrow would have multiplied many times over—no alliance in the entire world could afford it.

This extra trace of sentience.

The most obvious change was that the efficiency of his Qi Sea cleansing bodily impurities increased by more than ten percent.

This meant.

He had taken another step closer to breaking through to the Primordial Realm.

An unexpected boon.

"Could it be that I truly break through to the Primordial Realm before eighty-five?"

Even Li Rui was startled.

This pace was faster than Jiang Lin's.

Jiang Lin had once told him he himself had broken through to the Primordial Realm at thirty-five, though very few knew.

Calculating it out.

Jiang Lin had trained for thirty years to reach the Primordial Realm, while Li Rui had taken only fifteen.

Cut in half.

Compared by years of martial training, even the most brilliant prodigies in the world would pale beside him.

At this point, the advantage of age became clear.

It was simply less shocking.

An eighteen-year-old Primordial Realm cultivator would terrify people; an eighty-five-year-old Primordial Realm cultivator? Just average, nothing remarkable.

Perhaps only when he became a hundred-year-old Immortal would he seem even slightly young.

Before he knew it.

The day of welcoming the Witch Kingdom's princess arrived.

As Nie Siming had said, apart from the soldiers of the Peacekeeping Guard, only Nie Siming and Li Rui traveled to the border.

It was a sunny, pleasant day.

Willow trees lined the imperial road, their beauty unmatched.

The willow fluff, however, was annoying.

Yet the Peacekeeping Guard soldiers stood like iron towers, utterly unfazed by the fluff, rigid and straight.

Only Li Rui casually brushed away the drifting willow fluff.

After all, he was no longer a soldier—he was a general.

Generals often had privileges, such as not being bound rigidly by rules, allowing much more flexibility.

Nie Siming, from the Northwest Army, stood as immovable as a mountain.

Time passed second by second.

Finally.

A magnificent yet wild caravan appeared before them.

Magnificent because the chariots were hung with precious jade and jewels; wild because they were pulled by eight great demons.

Such a vivid, exotic spectacle could only be the Witch Kingdom's escort caravan for the Third Princess.

The caravan numbered no more than thirty people.

This was the result of negotiations between the two nations' embassies—or rather, the consensus reached between the Yu Emperor and the Witch Kingdom's sovereign.

Thirty people was neither many nor few.

By custom, these individuals were the Third Princess's "dowry," destined to spend their lives in the imperial palace, never returning to the Witch Kingdom.

The greater the dowry, the greater the power of her natal family.

Naturally, her status within the palace would rise accordingly.

Of course, this Third Princess had no such concerns—she was already noble enough; even in the palace, she would likely suffer no mistreatment, and perhaps even the Fourth Prince would become henpecked.

"I heard this Third Princess is a heroic woman who can slay great demons alone. I wonder if the Fourth Prince's marriage to her is a blessing or a curse."

Li Rui thought.

The Witch Kingdom's caravan arrived before Li Rui and Nie Siming.

From within the grand chariot came a voice, melodious yet full of martial spirit:

"General Nie, thank you for your efforts."

The speaker within the chariot was, of course, the Third Princess.

She showed no intention of stepping down to meet Nie Siming.

Nie Siming found nothing amiss.

She was a future imperial consort; though not yet married, according to Yu customs, an unmarried woman should not meet men.

Even though Yunzhou's rites were lax and Confucian influence weak,

the principle of avoiding suspicion still held.

Nie Siming bowed his fists: "Yes, Third Princess."

Then he gestured to the soldiers behind him, and the army escorted the caravan toward Qinghe.

By evening, the caravan entered Qinghe City; the streets had been cleared, and only a few residents along the roadside witnessed the grand spectacle—others missed it, much to the dismay of Qinghe's gossipy townsfolk.

Finally,

the Third Princess was lodged in the specially arranged Qinghe Villa.

The Witch Kingdom's caravan would remain in Qinghe for three days.

After the canal barge docked, they would travel north by boat; once beyond Anning Prefecture's borders, Qinghe had no further involvement.

It was that simple.

Preparations were elaborate, yet the actual task was not complex.

Precisely because the preliminary arrangements were thorough, no mishaps occurred.

Behind this lay months of labor by over a thousand Qinghe officials.

When Li Rui returned to the Assistant Regional Commander's residence, it was already midnight.

Not a single error, not a single slip, not a single flaw in the entire operation!

Although Nie Siming had specifically asked him to accompany the reception, it seemed there was nothing for him to do.

As Li Rui was washing and preparing to rest,

a soldier from the Running Tiger Camp entered: "Sir Li, two women outside claim to wish to see you. They say they are from the Witch Kingdom, surnamed Xia."

Xia was the royal surname of the Witch Kingdom.

Li Rui had already guessed.

When he reached the gate, there she was—the mischievous girl Xia Xiaotang.

"Senior, long time no see."

Xia Xiaotang grinned at Li Rui.

Li Rui: "Miss Xia."

In the late night visit, besides Xia Xiaotang, there was another woman dressed as a maid.

Li Rui immediately led the two women into the main hall.

He was an eighty-year-old man and an Assistant Regional Commander; no one in the Peacekeeping Guard would gossip about him receiving two Witch Kingdom women at night—nor would they dare.

Xia Xiaotang sat down and immediately stared curiously at Li Rui:

"Senior, what hidden Qi technique have you practiced?"

She found she could sense no trace of the aura that had once made the Azure Water Golden-Eyed Beast tremble in soul.

Li Rui did not conceal it.

He cultivated the Nine Hidden Celestial Arts precisely to conceal the True Dragon Qi—Xia Xiaotang already knew, so there was no need to hide it further.

"Yes."

He nodded, then asked, "Miss Xia, why are you in Qinghe?"

Xia Xiaotang grinned and said, "My third sister is getting married, and my master sent me along to the capital of Yu Kingdom to broaden my horizons."

As if she had already guessed what Li Rui wanted to ask.

Xia Xiaotang answered ahead of time:

"I saw you just now, but since I was inside my third sister's carriage, it wasn't convenient to meet."

Li Rui's lips curled slightly.

As he had suspected, Xia Xiaotang's background was no ordinary one—she was the disciple of the Great Witch, no less than a royal clanswoman, and riding in the carriage of the Third Princess of Wu Kingdom was perfectly normal.

Xia Xiaotang turned and pointed to the maid beside her:

"This is Xiao Cui, my third sister's personal maid. She's here today with a message from my third sister for you, Elder."

Li Rui's expression sharpened.

The real business was coming.

He suspected that the Great Witch's order for him to accompany them, and now Xia Xiaotang's late-night visit, were all leading to this moment.

The maid named Xiao Cui spoke with startling directness:

"The Third Princess hopes that Lord Li will join her in the palace."

"??"

Even Li Rui had not anticipated such a turn.

Xiao Cui smiled faintly: "Lord Li need not worry. If you become the Third Princess's advisor, and she becomes a prince's consort, she can at least secure you the position of Third-Rank Vice Minister."

Li Rui raised an eyebrow.

Bold words indeed.

A Third-Rank official was called a senior minister precisely because even in the capital, such a person was a towering figure—one who could attend court.

The Third Princess was offering him a Third-Rank Vice Minister post in the Six Ministries—but this was Yu Kingdom, not Wu Kingdom. Even the Fourth Prince himself could not simply appoint someone to such a post.

Li Rui narrowed his eyes slightly.

He gave no reply.

Xiao Cui continued: "Lord Li is someone the Great Witch highly regards. The Great Witch excels in divination, and he has determined that you are a person of heavenly destiny, blessed with great fortune, and of immense value to the Third Princess."

A person of heavenly destiny?

Li Rui had never heard such a term before.

Xia Xiaotang spoke up at the right moment.

"Elder, my master discovered the matter of the Divine Soul Elixir. He secretly cast a divination and concluded that you are a person of heavenly destiny."

"A person of heavenly destiny is one who turns misfortune into fortune and rises unimpeded—someone of great fortune. Being near such a person brings blessings."

"That's why my master recommended you to my third sister."

Li Rui understood.

The Great Witch, as the third most powerful figure in the land and the foremost witch of the Southern Frontier, possessed mystical abilities that were entirely plausible.

The only relief was that the Great Witch seemed to harbor no ill will toward him; otherwise, with his powers, he could have acted directly—why go through such convoluted means?

If the Great Witch himself intervened, then the offer of a Third-Rank Vice Minister post might not be empty talk. And from what Li Rui knew, the Third Princess was a woman of considerable influence in Wu Kingdom.

If Li Rui agreed, he would leap straight to his ultimate goal.

It was undeniably tempting.

Xiao Cui stared at Li Rui and said calmly: "We hope for your answer within three days."

With that, she prepared to leave with Xia Xiaotang.

Just as the two women turned to go, Li Rui spoke slowly:

"Third Princess, I'm not yet senile. Some things might as well be said plainly."

Xiao Cui halted, turning back to Li Rui:

"The Great Witch was right about you, Lord Li—you are indeed quite intriguing."

(End of Chapter)