Chapter 324: Then I

"Blood Spirit Array!"

Li Rui, having just finished speaking with the Princess Xia Yun and preparing to leave the room, stared at the monstrous figure that burst in, his pupils contracting sharply.

In an instant.

He recognized the origin of these monsters.

The Blood Shadow Patriarch had struck!

The grotesque, inhuman creatures before him were none other than the infamous Blood Spirit Array of the Ghost Ming Sect's Blood Shadow Patriarch.

In the previous dynasty, the Xuan Kingdom practiced demonic arts.

Even the emperor himself was transformed into a monster, and the high-ranking figures within the palace pushed their beast-taming techniques to unimaginable extremes.

Among them was this Blood Spirit Array.

In simple terms, it involved killing a person and infusing their corpse with the soul of a beast, forging an inhuman, invulnerable monster—of which the most notorious practitioner was none other than the Blood Shadow Patriarch, who once plunged the martial world into bloodshed before defecting to the Ghost Ming Sect.

Only a figure like the Blood Shadow Patriarch could deploy such a terrifying array.

Li Rui had just kicked one of the Blood Spirit Beasts away.

Then he heard Princess Xia Yun's voice: "It's a bronze corpse."

Li Rui turned: "Princess also knows the Blood Spirit Array?"

Xia Yun nodded: "The Qi family once used this method. The Blood Spirit Beasts forged by the array are divided into three grades: gold, silver, and bronze. The one just now was a bronze corpse, with combat power equivalent to a seventh-rank warrior. If it were a gold corpse, its strength could rival that of an Ocean-View cultivator."

Li Rui was startled.

That a gold corpse could rival an Ocean-View warrior was truly unbelievable.

As they spoke,

A series of thudding sounds—bodies slamming against wooden planks—erupted around the room.

Li Rui's expression darkened.

Clearly, they were surrounded.

These were the sounds of the Blood Spirit Beasts assaulting the room.

The Blood Shadow Patriarch was a Land Immortal. His divine sight could not provide early warning. The current situation was obvious: the Blood Shadow Patriarch's target was Princess Xia Yun.

Li Rui was not surprised.

The Blood Shadow Patriarch was a top expert of the Ghost Ming Sect. He had already heard the news of the sect's southward advance and its alliance with the Qi family.

Princess Xia Yun's initiative to form a marital alliance was to compel the Yu Kingdom to send troops.

The Qi family naturally did not want to see the two kingdoms unite.

An ambush was inevitable. The Peace Guard had prepared thoroughly—but the methods of a Land Immortal were impossible to fully guard against.

Finally,

The wooden planks could no longer withstand the assault of the Blood Spirit Beasts and collapsed in an instant, the beasts lunging into the room.

Li Rui had intended to step forward and shield Princess Xia Yun.

But he saw Xia Yun draw her flexible sword from her waist and effortlessly decapitate the Blood Spirit Beast before her.

Clean and precise!

"Ocean-View warrior."

Just from that single strike, Li Rui could confirm: Xia Yun was at least an Ocean-View cultivator; otherwise, she could never have slain a bronze corpse so easily.

At that moment,

Nie Siming descended from above like a warlord, sweeping his spear in a wide arc and sending wave after wave of Blood Spirit Beasts flying.

No wonder he bears the title of the Saint of War's adopted son.

This revealed his godlike prowess on the northwestern battlefield.

"Princess, you've been startled. Please proceed to the secret chamber. I shall suppress these demons myself."

Nie Siming spoke with overwhelming authority, as if he had already sealed his victory—somehow making others feel inexplicably safe.

Xia Yun nodded.

Then, under Nie Siming's escort, she walked toward the ship's lower deck.

This vessel was a warship painstakingly constructed by the Grain Transport Office, fortified with arrays set by master arrayists—it would not sink easily.

Among its features was a secret chamber, specifically built for this mission to escort Princess Xia Yun.

Even a Land Immortal would need at least half an hour to force entry into the secret chamber.

That time was more than enough to shatter the message jade tablet, summoning reinforcements from Annan Town.

Besides,

This was the Yu Kingdom. The Ghost Ming Sect could only stir up minor ripples—they could not overturn the heavens.

Who was Nie Siming?

He was a demon born from the meat grinder of the northwestern front.

What was the Blood Spirit Array? Have you ever seen a death army of tens of thousands of holy spirits?

So to him, this scene was merely child's play.

He had absolute confidence in victory.

Li Rui watched as Princess Xia Yun was escorted by Nie Siming and his men down into the ship's lower deck. He did not follow. Instead, he quietly retreated in the opposite direction.

Today's chaos all stemmed from Xia Yun.

He knew this perfectly well.

To stay safe, the wisest course was to put as much distance as possible between himself and this woman.

Xia Yun was powerful and cunning.

Precisely because of that, she was more dangerous.

She might not die—but those around her had already been replaced time and again. She was a heavenly star of misfortune. This was precisely why Li Rui had refused her recruitment, even at the cost of abandoning his third-rank position as Assistant Minister.

Soon,

Li Rui reached the deck.

As expected,

The Blood Spirit Beasts, as if drawn by some invisible call, all surged toward the lower deck in pursuit.

At the same time,

Several black-clad figures leapt from the blood-red waters of the Chijiang River. The vicious Blood Spirit Beasts ignored them completely.

Clearly, they were all from the Ghost Ming Sect.

Li Rui arrived at the center of the Peace Guard.

Then he spoke coldly: "Form the array! Kill them!"

In an instant,

A massive array slowly activated, with Li Rui at its core.

Military arrays achieve their unstoppable might not merely through sheer numbers, but above all through the core figure.

The stronger the core, the stronger the array.

Li Rui was powerful—so this array was terrifyingly potent.

Almost as soon as the array formed, every soldier within it received a boost of varying magnitude, halting the ferocious Blood Spirit Beasts in their tracks.

Ning Zhongtian and the others perked up.

What is a "General of the Army"?

Li Rui was the anchor holding the Peace Guard steady.

One hundred men, each strengthened by at least thirty percent—what an astonishing surge of power! Li Rui's qi sea seemed inexhaustible. "Kill!"

In an instant, the battle cries shook the heavens.

The tide turned swiftly.

The Blood Spirit Beasts on the deck were suppressed, no longer able to wreak havoc—the situation looked promising.

But Li Rui's eyes held no trace of joy.

The key to tonight's chaos lay not in the hundred soldiers of the Peace Guard, nor in these Blood Spirit Beasts.

In truth, they were nothing more than endless-spawning minions from a past-life game.

When do minions ever decide the outcome of a great battle?

The decisive factor was He Qianian.

As the Land Immortal specially summoned by Nie Siming to oversee this mission, He Qianian alone outweighed the entire ship's strength.

Yet He Qianian had not appeared at all—he had clearly been intercepted by someone.

One word, one strike, one detail—nothing is as it seems!

The situation was far more dire than they realized.

Li Rui had no delusions of being the protagonist in a tale who saves the day at the last moment.

That was sheer stupidity.

It was irresponsibility toward his own life.

If even a Land Immortal like He Qianian could not resolve this trouble, his own involvement would amount to nothing more than a bystander obliterated by a stray technique.

The plot device of a weakling defeating a vastly superior foe through some special ability simply could not happen.

Doing his utmost was enough.

In fact, Li Rui had already been observing covertly.

If the situation turned dire, he would immediately drag Ning Zhongtian and the others into the Chijiang River and flee this place of chaos.

Now that he has held off the Blood Spirit Demon, it's enough to satisfy his orders.

He can do no more.

Li Rui gripped the immortal saber at his waist, ready to draw it at any moment, his true qi surging within.

These were his safeguards amid the chaos.

Second deck of the ship.

In a simple yet elegant cabin.

He Qian Nian, ranked first on the Martial Rankings, squinted at the Blood Spirit Demon before him.

"You're still the same—always hiding your face and shadow."

This Blood Spirit Demon was utterly unlike the others on the ship, for it possessed a soul—indeed, this Blood Spirit Demon was none other than Blood Shadow Ancestor's avatar.

It possessed sixty percent of Blood Shadow Ancestor's power.

Exceptionally formidable.

Even He Qian Nian had to tread carefully.

Blood Shadow Ancestor had not come himself—he chose to send an avatar to block He Qian Nian.

The Blood Spirit Demon slowly spoke, yet the voice came from an old man's corpse:

"He Qian Nian, some matters are none of your business."

He Qian Nian sneered. "I beat you senseless fifty years ago—I can do it again."

Fifty years ago.

Both he and Blood Shadow Ancestor were third-rank cultivators, and they had once fought.

In the end, He Qian Nian won.

His brute external martial arts were so overwhelming that few third-rank cultivators could stand against him without fighting to the death.

Blood Shadow Ancestor didn't want to die, so he was chased a hundred li by He Qian Nian.

But when it came to a life-or-death struggle, the weakness of external martial arts became clear.

In the end, he would likely die while the other was left crippled.

Even if the opponent was left with no martial arts left, the one who died would be him—hence, the Martial Rankings had kept He Qian Nian at last place for a hundred years. Yet in daily life, He Qian Nian's prestige was far from lacking.

The Blood Shadow Ancestor's avatar fell silent.

Suddenly—

Waves of crimson mist rose from the Blood Spirit Demon, exuding the aura of a Land Immortal.

He Qian Nian merely rolled up his sleeves slowly and calmly.

He sensed the commotion beneath the ship's deck.

"Guess I'll have to break you fast."

Beneath the deck, in a completely ordinary room.

Without warning, no one would guess this was the ship's secret chamber—only Nie Siming, He Qian Nian, and Li Rui knew of it.

At this moment,

the chamber's door was shut.

Faint, intricate talismanic inscriptions glowed upon the door.

This was the array set by the Grain Transport Office's grand array master—strong enough to withstand a single strike from a Earth Immortal!

Princess Xia Yun had been sent into the chamber by Nie Siming.

But Nie Siming himself did not enter.

Holding a long spear behind him, he stood like a gate guardian, staring fixedly at the Blood Spirit Demon before him.

His expression was more solemn than ever.

"Blood Shadow Ancestor?"

Correct—the Blood Spirit Demon before him was another avatar of Blood Shadow Ancestor. Having reached second rank and gained Immortal Lord's transformation, he could now manifest two avatars.

Besides the Blood Spirit Demon,

there were several figures clad in black robes.

Each one was a Primordial Qi cultivator.

Their force was formidable indeed—Ghost Ming Sect had spared no effort for tonight.

Nie Siming's battle intent surged higher.

Even knowing his enemies were powerful, his eyes held not a trace of fear.

To act despite knowing it was hopeless—

that was the soldier's way.

The Blood Spirit Demon spoke with Blood Shadow Ancestor's voice: "Nie Siming, if I kill you, Yuan Dingting will be heartbroken."

Just as the Blood Spirit Demon and the Ghost Ming Sect elites prepared to strike,

Blood Shadow Ancestor suddenly felt a chill at his back.

A clear voice rang out:

"Only I may take Xia Yun's life."

(End of Chapter)