Chapter 366: Water-Wood Strike

"Did the third princess really succeed?"

Li Rui stared at the letter from Jingcheng.

The letter was from Lin Hai.

It contained only one piece of news: the Emperor had decided to mobilize troops against Dongwu.

"I underestimated this Third Princess of Wu."

Li Rui smiled faintly and set the letter on the fire basin beside him; it burned to ash in moments.

Though he had returned to Qinghe,

his ties to Jingcheng had never been severed.

Lin Hai would occasionally slip a letter to Li Rui inside family letters, sending them through the Lin family of Yunzhou to deliver to Li Rui.

Especially regarding the Third Princess.

"Since the Third Princess went to Jingcheng and married the Fourth Prince, she rarely left her chambers—yet she quietly accomplished such a great deed."

Li Rui marveled at Xia Yun's methods.

When escorting Xia Yun to Jingcheng, she had secretly allied with the Sichuan hero Chen Ming to dismantle the killing array set by the Blood Shadow Ancestor.

She was deeply calculating.

To accomplish such a feat was within reason.

But to claim the Emperor was manipulated by Xia Yun would be to vastly underestimate that revitalizing sovereign.

The Emperor likely intended to strike Dongwu all along.

Xia Yun merely aligned with his plans.

Otherwise, even with her eloquence, she could never have achieved it.

As for the details, they were beyond the knowledge of a lowly local official like him.

The Emperor planned military action.

Annan Town stood first in the line of fire.

Troops were mobilized, and a Provincial Military Commander was dispatched—not merely for the Purple Gold Palace, but clearly to eliminate the root of unrest.

After reading the letter, Li Rui sat upon the meditation cushion.

He began to cultivate.

The moment his fingers formed the seal, a vivid green glow flashed; instantly, several emerald-green vines sprouted from the ground, slowly coiling around him like armor.

The vines seemed alive, pulsing rhythmically like a heartbeat.

Li Rui merely thought.

The vines vanished instantly.

"Done."

A faint smile curled his lips.

With the Xuan Water Body as a foundation, the Qing Wood Body's progress had been astonishing—within three months, he had perfected it.

The speed surprised even him.

He raised his hand.

Blue-green light flickered between his fingers; Xuan Water Qi and Qing Wood Qi intertwined harmoniously in his palm.

A flicker of surprise crossed Li Rui's eyes.

The combined power of the two Qis had more than doubled.

"Water and Wood in harmony, the celestial cycle turns; supreme goodness is like water, nurturing the spiritual wood."

He had long known the Five Elements generate and restrain each other.

That was why he chose to cultivate the Qing Wood Body after the Xuan Water Body.

"Excellent."

Li Rui smiled in satisfaction.

If he combined Xuan Water Qi and Qing Wood Qi into a strike, its power would be formidable.

He now had another killing technique.

The next day.

Li Rui left Qinghe City early, without any bodyguards, walking alone into the deep mountains beyond.

He had lived in Qinghe for decades.

He knew not only the city inside and out, but the countryside as well.

He had traversed nearly every surrounding peak; in familiarity, he rivaled even the oldest mountain folk.

Soon,

He climbed over a ridge and arrived at a rare flat expanse, where a jade-green lake lay before him.

This lake was called Yeya Lake.

A favorite summer retreat for Qinghe residents, but now it was autumn—the water was icy, and the morning was still early.

Not a single tourist was in sight, nor even the local fishermen.

Across the vast lake,

not another soul could be seen.

Li Rui thought, raised his right hand in a sword finger, and instantly, a flash of green-gold light shot toward the lake.

BOOM!

The lake erupted in a water spout over ten zhang high, like a dragon rising from the sea.

But Li Rui's technique did not end there—he altered his hand seals.

The lake water responded, swirling at his command; dozens of zhang of water were lifted into the air as if by invisible hands.

The lake water stirred at his finger's command, every dozen zhang of water lifted into the air as if held by a single invisible hand.

And slammed it down.

The tremendous impact startled birds and beasts into flight, sending flocks of startled birds soaring.

Water-Wood Strike!

Li Rui's casual strike had such immense power.

Even Li Rui was secretly startled.

If this strike landed on a person, it would shatter bones, tear tendons, and reduce them to a pile of pulp.

If this technique struck a person, bones would shatter, tendons snap, and they'd be reduced to a pile of shredded flesh.

a furious shout rose from the lake: "Who the hell is this idiot, daring to cause trouble over my head?"

The little white dragon, sleeping beneath the water, had been startled awake and intended to tear the intruder apart.

The roar cut off abruptly.

Then he saw Li Rui standing on the shore, smiling.

"Big brother?"

The little white dragon's huge eyes blinked rapidly.

Only now did it realize—

that strike had been incredibly powerful!

Even a primordial beast might not have withstood Li Rui's move.

"No wonder he's my big brother—he's grown even stronger."

The little white dragon's anger vanished as quickly as it had come.

It scampered happily to Li Rui's side: "Big brother, what brings you here?" Li Rui: "Xiao Bai, how's it going in the Ten Thousand Mountains?"

He had come here specifically to find the little white dragon; the Water-Wood Strike had merely been a spontaneous test.

The Water-Wood Strike was too powerful to use in Qinghe.

The disturbance would attract the attention of powerful cultivators.

Only here, in this remote place, could he dare such a display.

The little white dragon said: "The Purple Gold Palace is terrifying—many formidable figures have arrived. Even my father has moved out of the Ten Thousand Mountains."

Li Rui strongly approved of the old dragon's decision.

Even though the old dragon was a third-rank beast, the transcendent's methods were beyond mortal comprehension; if captured, being turned into a mount would be lucky—being stripped of its dragon tendons would be far worse.

"The Ten Thousand Mountains have changed completely—they now resemble the legendary immortal's cave dwellings."

The little white dragon murmured in awe.

It had lived its whole life in the Ten Thousand Mountains and knew every inch of the terrain, yet even now, it dared only observe from afar.

Li Rui nodded:

"The Purple Gold Palace is indeed extraordinary."

Now the Purple Gold Palace had become the state religion of Dongwu; rumors said it had countless followers, and its power was growing stronger.

The entire Ten Thousand Mountains had become its sacred ground.

As far as he knew, the ancient ape who once ruled the Ten Thousand Mountains had now become its mountain guardian.

Yet once he considered the possibility that a transcendent might be stationed there,

everything became perfectly reasonable.

But the thought that the Purple Gold Palace very likely had a banished immortal stationed there.

Everything then became reasonable.

Little White Jiao changed the subject, grinning proudly: "Big Brother, I'll break through within a year at most—then we'll raid the Purple Gold Palace and make a fortune."

Ever since it heard from Li Rui that the Purple Gold Palace truly held the Qi of Withered Wood Renewed.

It had been itching to get there.

Li Rui rolled his eyes: "Primordial?"

"Even if you became a third-rank great demon like your father, it wouldn't help."

"Second-rank is barely enough."

Little White Jiao was stunned: "Is the Purple Gold Palace really that formidable?"

Li Rui looked at Little White Jiao seriously: "A den of dragons and tigers."

Previously, he and He Qianian had entered the Purple Gold Palace's main hall only because Yu State had meticulously planned it—achieving success required immense national power and the coordinated effort of millions.

Though it looked like a simple ambush, the Marquis's mansion and imperial spies must have worked tirelessly behind the scenes.

Only then could they succeed.

Any two individuals who dared covet the Purple Gold Palace would meet an irreversible doom.

He had no intention of risking himself, nor would he let Little White Jiao go.

The Qi of Withered Wood Renewed was valuable, but unquestionably, life mattered more.

Hearing Li Rui's words, Little White Jiao could only sigh: "Oh."

"Train diligently—there'll be plenty of opportunities later."

Little White Jiao was naturally gifted; even without his dragon qi to nourish it, it could still reach the Primordial stage, and had a strong chance of even reaching the Third Rank's Penetrating Mystery.

After one transformation, its strength grew stronger and its potential expanded further.

Little White Jiao's breakthrough would be a great boon to Li Rui.

A Primordial-level ally is hard to find.

Li Rui then learned more about the Ten Thousand Mountains before returning to Qinghe.

He had just arrived at Annan Town.

He saw Nie Siming and Yuan Xiong.

Both spotted Li Rui:

"Lord Li, you've come just in time—Provincial Military Commander Zhou is summoning us to the Commandery Hall for a meeting. We were about to visit your residence, but heard you'd gone out."

Li Rui was surprised by the coincidence and asked curiously:

"Did the Commander say what the meeting is about?"

Nie Siming shook his head: "He didn't say. We'll find out when we get there."

"Hmm."

Li Rui nodded.

He immediately set off with the two brothers toward the Commandery Hall.

The Commandery Hall bordered Annan Town but was separated by a wall, to assert its superior authority over Annan Town.

The moment Li Rui and the others arrived,

Regional Commander Xue Gui also entered the Commandery Hall shortly after.

Soon after,

the hall was filled with people.

All were officials of fourth rank or higher from Annan Town, plus elite warriors from the Commandery Hall—this was nearly the highest gathering of Qinghe's military officers.

Commander Zhou Dinghai, seeing the last person arrive, spoke slowly:

"Now that matters are temporarily stable, His Majesty has ordered us to guard the southern frontier—we must fulfill our duties, uphold the nation's prestige. I've already discussed with Regional Commander Xue: in ten days, we will conduct military drills."

Upon hearing "military drills,"

everyone's expression brightened.

Yu State traditionally held military drills after autumn.

Why after autumn? Because agriculture was prioritized, so drills were scheduled after the harvest.

Don't think military drills mean just idling in barracks and having fun.

Quite the opposite.

The scale was enormous.

Take the northwestern frontier troops—they directly led large forces to slaughter bandits, even engaging in large-scale battles against barbarian tribes.

This year's drills in Annan Town certainly wouldn't be simple.

Otherwise, why choose after autumn?

Wasn't it precisely to conscript civilian laborers to transport grain?

The scale couldn't be small.

Though Zhou Dinghai was a scholar-general who usually radiated warmth, now his aura brimmed with martial ferocity.

"The southern states of Yu have long suffered from demonic beasts. Since we eat the grain of this southern land, we must protect its peace, slay demons and eradicate beasts, so they don't terrorize the people."

"This year's drills will target the demonic disturbances."

As some still wondered—there had been no reports of demonic disturbances in the south lately—

Zhou Dinghai continued:

"The demonic disturbances in the Ten Thousand Mountains are severe—we'll go there."

When they heard the drills would be held in the Ten Thousand Mountains,

everyone's expressions turned sly.

Who didn't know the Purple Gold Palace lay within the Ten Thousand Mountains?

This wasn't about suppressing demonic chaos—it was a direct provocation against the Purple Gold Palace!

(End of Chapter)