Chapter 326: Dao Seed

【Challenging opponents across realms is the exclusive domain of geniuses; as the host of a perfect martial world experience, you should take it for granted. Congratulations, host, on completing your second cross-realm killing in your perfect life. Keep up the momentum.】

【Task: Cross-Realm Challenge 2 completed. Reward calculation in progress.】

【Task rating: A.】

【Obtained 40 achievement points!】

【Achievement points reached 100. Reward being granted.】

【Your fortune was destined: caught in a martial world conflict, you unexpectedly gained a divine boon.】

【Obtained the Dao Seed!】

【Young hero, begin your perfect martial world journey!】

【Name: Li Rui】

【Age: 15】

【Talents: Martial Bone, Extraordinary Comprehension, Insightful Eyes, Great Dream Immortal Travel, Demon-Slaying Supremacy, Dao Seed】

【Martial Arts: Changchun Technique, Dragon Soaring Through Nine Heavens Diagram, Dragon-Elephant True Qi Power】

【Item: Shengling Book】

【Achievements: 10/100】

【Dao Seed: A fragment of the Great Dao. Those who possess it can better sense the Dao of Heaven and Earth.】

Li Rui stared at the rewards on the panel, eyes wide.

Dao Seed!

That was something only the holy disciples of ancient immortal sects could possess.

A divine boon!

His heart pounded violently.

The system had given him something he'd only read about in ancient legends.

He quickly closed his eyes and focused, instantly overcome with joy.

Possessing the Dao Seed, he was naturally attuned to the Dao. Li Rui vaguely felt that the Dao Seed might enhance his chances of reaching the Dao Embryo realm.

According to He Qianian's words.

The Dao Embryo realm meant returning the body to its primordial state while also returning the soul to the Dao.

But immortals no longer existed; drawing near the Dao was harder than climbing to heaven.

He Qianian's idea was to take a detour—using external martial arts to glimpse the Dao and find even a sliver of possibility for the Dao Embryo.

Now, with the Dao Seed and external martial arts as support, Li Rui's chances of achieving the Dao Embryo far surpassed those of ordinary martial artists.

Li Rui quickly calmed himself.

He turned his head.

And saw He Qianian had already left the cabin and stepped onto the deck.

"Senior."

Li Rui bowed to He Qianian.

He Qianian nodded casually: "You've got some talent, kid. Good. If you've nothing better to do, drop by Qianhe Martial Hall more often. Take this token—it'll keep people from blocking your way."

Li Rui didn't know whether He Qianian favored him because of his suppression of the Blood Spirit Demon on deck, or because he'd killed a Foundation Establishment martial artist.

But it didn't matter.

The key was pretending he didn't know—then there'd be no awkwardness.

He firmly took the token from He Qianian's hand: "Thank you, Senior."

That day's idle chat with He Qianian had yielded immense gains.

He Qianian wasn't just a terrestrial immortal—he was a master of external martial arts. Li Rui planned to seek his guidance when he eventually reached Foundation Establishment and sought the Dao Embryo.

Of course, he wouldn't feign reluctance over this token.

Accept it outright.

He Qianian wasn't one for formalities.

At that moment, Li Rui caught sight of a young man wearing a conical hat and carrying a shoulder pole stepping out of Princess Xia Yun's cabin.

It was Chen Ming—the man who carried the sun and moon on his shoulders.

Chen Ming leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, with no intention of disembarking.

He had effectively become Xia Yun's gatekeeper.

To have a terrestrial immortal guard your door—what a grand display!

Li Rui raised an eyebrow.

He had to admit: Xia Yun was truly formidable. A princess of Wu State had convinced a Sichuan martial hero to serve as her bodyguard.

Of course.

The more outstanding Xia Yun was, the more determined Li Rui became to keep his distance.

With the crisis resolved, the ship resumed its voyage.

Not long after,

Xia Xiaotang stepped out of Xia Yun's cabin and came to Li Rui's side: "Senior."

"Miss Xiaotang, were you alright just now?"

Xia Xiaotang giggled: "Third sister is famed throughout Wu State for her cunning. This little scene wouldn't faze her."

Li Rui fully agreed.

If the high officials of the capital truly thought Princess Xia Yun was just a delicate lady skilled in needlework, they'd suffer dearly.

Tonight, he'd witnessed the Wu princess's methods firsthand.

Xia Xiaotang asked curiously: "Why did you refuse Third Sister? Her promises are never broken."

Li Rui smiled and shook his head:

"I really have no great ambitions."

"Alright."

Xia Xiaotang made an "oh" sound.

Li Rui offered no further explanation.

He couldn't explain this to Xia Xiaotang—he could ally with Princess Xia Yun in Wu State, but not when she came to Yu State, let alone given her true purpose for coming to Yu State.

Some things depend on one's stance.

Half an hour later,

the ship entered the harbor of Huainan Prefecture.

A group of Huainan officials awaited them, and among them stood Xue Gui, Regional Commander of Annan Town.

Princess Xia Yun did not disembark.

The stop at Huainan was merely to replenish supplies and replace crew members.

They would depart again after only half an hour.

As for why Regional Commander Xue Gui was here—it was because he'd received an urgent report from the Transmission Office.

But by the time he arrived, the matter had already been settled.

So he simply waited in Huainan.

"Regional Commander Xue."

Li Rui and Nie Siming both bowed as they saw Xue Gui.

Xue Gui glanced at them and nodded: "Well done."

Then he walked toward Princess Xia Yun's cabin with Nie Siming. Li Rui stayed on deck with his men.

After all, time was ample.

He gave Ning Zhongtian a few instructions, then slipped into the crowd and went ashore. Huainan Prefecture had little contact with Anning Prefecture and fell outside its jurisdiction—so the Huainan officials rushed onto the ship, all heading straight for Princess Xia Yun.

Not a single one noticed the old man, Li Rui.

Soon, he exited the harbor.

Entered a secluded alley.

Li Rui then took from his sleeve the jade vial he'd taken from the hawk-nosed man.

It was for this very item

that he'd resolved to kill the hawk-nosed man.

Otherwise, given his nature, he'd have followed the principle of not pursuing a desperate foe—he'd have let the hawk-nosed man go, rather than chase him alone for miles.

Of course.

No mistake—every detail was clear!

Li Rui acted this way because he had nine-tenths certainty—and ten-tenths confidence he could escape unscathed.

Had the hawk-nosed man been less injured, or not possessed the Demon God Art,

he wouldn't have moved.

Li Rui pulled the small wooden stopper from the jade vial.

Instantly,

an exotic fragrance filled the air; a crimson-gold pill rested quietly at the bottom.

This item was called Miaoling Pill.

The name didn't matter—what mattered was that this pill was one of the nine methods recorded in the Shengling Book for enhancing one's spiritual root.

Because the required spiritual herbs are extremely rare and hard to find, and the alchemical requirements are exceedingly high.

Li Rui was still searching for an alchemist capable of crafting this elixir.

To have it appear so vividly before his eyes, he naturally could not let it slip away.

After all, these were all demonic cultists of the Ghost Ming Sect; pursuing and killing them was perfectly normal, and no one would suspect him, so he acted.

Li Rui unhesitatingly poured out the Miaoling Elixir, tilted his head, and swallowed it.

A coolness spread from his dantian.

His spiritual root improved again!

According to the records in the Shengling Book.

Three methods are required to reach mid-grade.

He was already a mid-grade spiritual root, so now he had acquired three methods to enhance it; though he had not upgraded to high-grade, he had gained a significant boost.

At this moment, his spiritual root ranked among the best within the mid-grade category.

After consuming the Miaoling Elixir, Li Rui crushed the jade vial in his hand.

He pondered deeply.

"The Miaoling Elixir is an ancient formula; aside from being difficult to brew, its effect on martial artists is not great."

"Why would the Ghost Ming Sect go to such lengths to craft this elixir?"

"Could someone else be seeking to enhance their spiritual root?"

"Truly strange."

Li Rui pondered, but with insufficient clues, overthinking was useless—it would only be self-inflicted confusion.

The world holds too many oddities; mere speculation could never reveal the truth. There was no point in wasting mental energy on idle thoughts.

After consuming the Miaoling Elixir,

Li Rui rejoined the crowd and returned to the large ship.

Soon after he stepped onto the deck,

Nie Siming sought him out.

Li Rui then followed him into Princess Xia's chamber.

Nie Siming and He Qianian were already inside.

Li Rui raised an eyebrow.

Three Land Immortals in one room—truly an extraordinary sight.

After a cup of tea,

Li Rui stepped out of Princess Xia Yun's chamber.

Ning Zhongtian, Tan Hu, and the others gathered around him:

"Big Brother, what happened?"

Only three Land Immortals, Nie Siming, and Li Rui were allowed into Princess Xia's chamber.

Round it off, and it's practically the same as our Big Brother being a Land Immortal!

Look—the Prefect of Huainan could only stand outside, craning his neck to peek inside.

That's the difference.

Li Rui smiled faintly:

"Nothing much."

"Brothers, get ready—we're heading to the capital."

"To the capital?!"

Upon hearing those two words,

Ning Zhongtian, Wei Ming, and the others widened their eyes.

The capital—everyone had heard of it a thousand times, yet none had ever had the chance to see it.

They said the Imperial Music Bureau there was the pinnacle of human refinement.

Even former royal nobles and princesses could be entertained for love and pleasure—just thinking of it was delightful.

Li Rui: "Commander Xue ordered us to escort Princess Xia all the way to the capital to prevent further attacks by the Ghost Ming Sect, then return."

"The incident occurred in our Annan Town—we must see it through to the end, or other towns will look down on us."

"This is a perfect chance for you brothers to broaden your horizons in the capital."

Though he had refused Xia Yun, that didn't mean he had no interest in the capital.

On the contrary.

He was very interested.

The capital wasn't just full of officials—most of the nation's merchant guild headquarters were located there.

Rare treasures and marvels were beyond imagination.

He wanted to gather the materials needed to upgrade his spiritual root to high-grade; in Yunzhou or even the southern frontier, the chances were slim—only in the capital was it possible.

But his rank as Assistant Regional Commander of the Anning Guard barred him from entering the capital.

The Heaven-Earth Alliance had no chance of infiltrating the capital either.

This official mission was the perfect opportunity to see if he could collect the materials to enhance his spiritual root.

After all, this mission involved escorting a royal marriage alliance.

The prestige wouldn't be low.

It would be far easier than entering the capital alone.

Ning Zhongtian and the others were already glowing with excitement:

"To the capital."

"To the capital!"

(End of Chapter)