Chapter 378: Primordial Perfection

Before a majestic border fortress covered in moss.

The Tuo Mountain Ox was gone; several carriages rested beneath the city wall.

"Spending several days with your lordships has been a great fortune for this Qin, and I hope you'll come often again."

Minister Wang chuckled.

"Lord Qin, you're too kind. Then we shall take our leave."

"Until we meet again."

Qin Huo waved with a smiling face, his gaze lingering slightly longer on Li Rui as he gave a slight nod.

Li Rui understood Qin Huo's meaning perfectly.

Qin Huo wanted him to pass the message to He Qianian.

He Qianian was the Zhenshan Envoy, equal in rank to Qin Huo; what happened after that was beyond the scope of a Dingshan Envoy like him.

Even He Qianian could not decide—it would be passed up step by step.

Only the Holy Emperor and a few others held real authority.

Li Rui also gave a slight nod in response.

Seeing this, Qin Huo burst into laughter and bowed: "Seeing you off a thousand li, yet parting must come—farewell, my lords, safe travels."

The carriages creaked over the gravel beneath their wheels.

The Yu Kingdom's delegation passed through the border.

The surrounding mountains no longer rose steeply; the road became wide and level.

Minister Wang finally relaxed.

To be honest, dealing with a man like Qin Huo was no easy task.

At this moment,

Minister Wang no longer rode in his carriage but instead rode horseback alongside Li Rui and the others.

He looked at Li Rui beside him:

"Lord Li, you seem to have a good relationship with Lord Qin."

Li Rui: "Merely official business handled properly."

Hearing this,

Minister Wang's eyes narrowed slightly.

He recalled that when leaving the city, Yang, the commander of the covert agents, had sought him out and insisted on placing Li Rui in the delegation.

At first,

he had thought Yang distrusted him and that Li Rui was a spy sent to watch him.

But now, it seemed more complicated than he'd imagined.

He thought of what the covert agents truly intended.

He quickly laughed it off.

"Lord Li, don't overthink it—I merely think you possess exceptional skill in handling affairs, pity you've already been taken by General Xue; otherwise, I'd have insisted on bringing you to the Ministry of Rites."

Hearing Minister Wang's words, the officials from the Honglu Temple stared at Li Rui with envy.

If Li Rui were a Ministry of Rites official,

just this one sentence would make him worthy of a fourth-rank post.

Of course, for the current Li Rui, he no longer needed such things.

The rest of the journey passed smoothly.

In barely two days, they arrived at Qinghe City.

General Xue had already set up a banquet at the reception pavilion outside the city to welcome Minister Wang and his party.

Unexpectedly,

Minister Wang refused.

He claimed urgent matters required him to return to the capital immediately to report to His Majesty, lest he incur the Emperor's displeasure.

General Xue assumed his subordinates had failed and angered Minister Wang.

But when he heard Minister Wang praise Li Rui, Nie Siming, and Yuan Xiong—especially Li Rui, nearly elevating him to the heavens—

General Xue finally relaxed.

He dispatched a troop to escort Minister Wang to the canal ferry.

Watching the Ministry of Rites party depart, General Xue turned to Li Rui and the other two with satisfaction: "Well done."

Then he fixed his gaze on Li Rui:

"You've upheld our nation's prestige—this is great merit. You, boy, just wait for your reward."

Just now, Minister Wang had loudly extolled Li Rui's feat of intimidating eight hundred li; Xue Gui had listened with great delight.

"You're granted ten days' leave—go rest well."

General Xue laughed and turned away.

Li Rui and the other two exchanged glances.

They smiled knowingly.

Qianhe Martial Hall, back courtyard.

"Oh, you finally came back."

He Qianian lay on a cool reclining chair, watching Li Rui enter the courtyard with a relaxed expression.

Li Rui was now half of Qianhe Martial Hall's own; the disciples at the gate knew him well and no longer needed Xiao Yu to guide him into He Qianian's private courtyard.

"Senior, I've brought you some special goods from Wu Country."

Saying this,

he pulled from his bosom the letter Qin Huo had given him.

Seeing the letter,

He Qianian's eyes narrowed slightly, and he sat up straight.

Li Rui: "Qin Huo is from the Wu Kingdom's Shadow Guard. This letter is for you—he hopes to cooperate with the Shadow Guard."

"Also, ten days ago, the Spring Wind Hall in the Wu Court burned down; Feng Jing is dead."

"According to Qin Huo, it was an Exiled Immortal who struck."

A few words, concise and to the point.

Feng Jing had come from here.

He Qianian understood—he'd been sent to infiltrate the Wu Court and gather intelligence.

And yet he'd been killed by an Exiled Immortal.

He Qianian's expression turned cold; he took the envelope from Li Rui's hand and opened it at once.

The letter's contents matched Li Rui's account closely, with only richer details—Qin Huo's gesture of goodwill.

He Qianian made no secret of it.

He handed the letter casually to Li Rui: "Read it too—might be useful."

Li Rui took the letter and read it with intense focus, memorizing every word.

He Qianian sighed softly, rubbing his temples: "Should've never taken on this covert agent work—so much to worry about."

"Enough, you needn't concern yourself with what comes next—focus on your training."

"During your days in Wu Country, did your Wu Gong slip?"

Li Rui: "Gained some advantages—quite good."

He Qianian grinned.

When Li Rui said "quite good," it usually meant a tremendous boon.

"Good."

!

He Qianian's lips curled slightly.

His unofficial disciple was truly a comfort when it came to cultivation.

"Minister Wang has returned to the capital and reported all matters concerning Wu Country to His Majesty, who was delighted and ordered the three garrisons of Annan, Huaidong, and Jiannan to launch a campaign against Eastern Wu and restore peace to the land."

"Zhou Ting recently made a special trip to inspect the border."

Nie Siming relayed the news.

Li Rui gazed at the clear blue sky: "War is coming."

The world might believe the campaign against Eastern Wu is to enforce the ancient, nearly forgotten Tan City Accord.

Only Li Rui and a few others understood.

The Holy Emperor clearly intends to strike preemptively and suppress the Immortal Uprising.

Yet Li Rui felt no alarm.

War is not as the common folk imagine—sudden slaughter of ten thousand, mass burials of a hundred thousand.

That usually happens only at war's end.

In truth,

The initial preparations and trials alone are a massive undertaking.

Shorter spans last months; longer ones stretch years.

And Li Rui knew: Yu Kingdom's campaign against Eastern Wu is a pretense—the real target is Zi Jin Palace.

The Witch Kingdom certainly knew, but in their view, as long as the Yu Kingdom could help tie down the Purple Gold Palace, that was enough.

So scenes involving armies of hundreds of thousands clashing were unlikely to be seen.

Nie Siming chuckled:

"Brother Li, you'd better hurry up—I and my eighth brother have already felt the signs; in a few more years, we may well enter the Tongxuan Realm."

Li Rui was not the least surprised.

Nie Siming and Yuan Xiong both had excellent innate constitutions, and with Marquis Yuan's direct teaching, breaking through quickly was only natural.

Besides, they were already over fifty.

In the mortal world, they were already grandfathers' generation.

Breaking through at sixty was not among the most exceptional among top prodigies, especially with Jiang Lin, a third-rank cultivator in his early forties, ahead of them.

Even Nie Siming and Yuan Xiong thought it was too slow.

Li Rui smiled faintly:

"How could I compare to you two younger brothers? If I can reach the upper three ranks in my lifetime, that's enough."

Nie Siming snorted.

He knew Li Rui's talent all too well.

He might quietly surprise them all again.

The next half year passed.

Li Rui spent most of his time training in the Deputy Commander's residence.

The Emperor's Listening Bone's power to purify the heart continued to manifest; his heart cultivation progressed at a rate of a thousand li per day.

He was now showing clear signs of great achievement.

At this moment,

Li Rui sat cross-legged on a mat, eyes closed.

Immortal Xuan Qi swirled around him, carrying three-colored energies.

Blue, green, and red corresponded to Xuan Water Qi, Qing Wood Qi, and Fiery Qi.

Excellent.

He had already mastered three of the Five Spirit Body Refinement Art.

Immortal Xuan Qi governed the three energies, continuously stripping away mental distractions until his mind was crystal clear.

In the Yu Kingdom's martial world, there was a saying: a person has a thousand thoughts.

It meant that everyone constantly generated thousands upon thousands of thoughts at every moment, but because the soul unified them, ordinary people could not perceive them.

Yet this process constantly drained the soul.

Primordial Heart Cultivation required gathering the spirit and achieving true focus.

Once heart cultivation reached great achievement, martial progress would far surpass the past.

After all, previously he had been doing two things at once; now it was only one, so naturally it became faster.

"Gather the mind, hold the intent, shatter illusions, void all right and wrong, leave but one true yang."

Li Rui suddenly felt a sudden insight, as if fate had guided him.

The next instant,

His true qi surged, shimmering with five-colored radiance.

In a single thought,

Immortal Xuan Qi completed one full Great Circulation through his major meridians!

At this moment, Li Rui's control over true qi leapt to a new level.

Another thought.

Immortal Xuan Qi transformed into three thousand silken strands, each seemingly alive, drifting endlessly until they filled the entire room.

Instantly, Li Rui felt as if he stood within a celestial paradise.

He abruptly opened his eyes.

'Primordial Cultivation Complete!'

(End of Chapter)