Chapter 402: Friend, You

Three days later.

Li Rui returned to Qingwei Sect.

Everything made it seem as if he had come solely to report his duties.

Qingwei Sect learned of it but said nothing.

Daily life returned to normal.

After returning to Qingwei Sect, spiritual energy became more abundant, and the Dao Embryo absorbed heavenly and earthly spiritual energy much faster.

Li Rui deliberately suppressed it.

Thus, it was still not complete.

He was ultimately an outsider in Qingwei Sect; if his spiritual energy absorption drew too much attention, others would surely spy on him.

To avoid unnecessary trouble.

He chose to proceed slowly.

Deep into the night.

Li Rui had long since crawled into bed.

His consciousness revived, mist and fog dispersed.

The white jade steps appeared before him.

This time, he did not cultivate—he stepped forward directly.

At this moment.

The first-level soul impact had almost no effect on him; in one breath, he crossed hundreds of steps and soon reached the middle of the white jade steps.

Here, he could already see a corner of the Grand Void Dao Field's palace.

Just as Li Rui was about to take another step.

He heard a whistling sound through the air.

Instantly.

An invisible barrier rose on his back.

Ding!

A soft sound.

When Li Rui turned his head, he saw a small flying sword spinning backward.

Wu De stood at the foot of the steps, grinning: "Brother Zhu, long time no see."

Li Rui smiled faintly.

He floated up and landed beside Wu De.

"Brother Wu, you're being mischievous."

He had come, yet the Five Spirit Shield before him showed no sign of withdrawal.

Wu De's smile widened, feigning that his earlier action was accidental: "Brother Zhu, I was just trying to help you practice."

Though he said so.

His earlier strike had been a test of Li Rui.

Wu De still remembered the first time he saw Li Rui—how he had slain him with a single sword. Thus, he had always feared Li Rui's background.

But today, he saw.

Li Rui had ascended the white jade steps nearly as far as himself—truly startling him.

Hence the earlier scene.

Even at the risk of offending Li Rui, he had to determine whether Li Rui truly possessed ability—or had merely climbed the steps by trickery.

This matter concerned whether he could obtain the Immortal Court's inheritance.

It was crucial.

If Li Rui was weak, he would promptly expel him from the Grand Void Dao Field.

What was past was past.

Back then, Li Rui's strength was insufficient to threaten him; he could never have climbed the white jade steps, so it didn't matter.

But now that it was possible, he might become an enemy.

How could he still tolerate it?

Why "might"?

It depended entirely on Li Rui's strength.

As for why his attitude had now turned friendlier, it was because he realized he had no chance of expelling—or killing—Li Rui.

If he couldn't kill him, he could only continue cultivating goodwill.

Li Rui narrowed his eyes and snorted coldly: "Best be so."

He knew Wu De's intentions perfectly.

His reason for not attacking Wu De was the same as Wu De's: he had no certainty of killing him outright.

Otherwise, he would have acted without hesitation.

Both men harbored ulterior motives, yet their surface conversation remained warm.

"Brother Zhu, your cultivation has advanced again—impressive, truly impressive."

Wu De bowed.

Though inwardly, he had already decided this old man was deliberately concealing his true strength—how could any cultivator advance so rapidly in such a short time?

Li Rui said nothing, smiling pleasantly: "Compared to Brother Wu, I'm still far behind."

Wu De grew wary.

Is this old fox still trying to deceive me?

He was certain Li Rui now intended to betray and devour him.

He subtly stepped backward, motionless.

Li Rui: "Brother Wu, I think there's a misunderstanding between us?"

A misunderstanding?

Wu De did not believe it—he was even more convinced this old man meant to devour him.

He would never give Li Rui such an opportunity.

Especially now that he realized Li Rui might actually be able to kill him.

People befriend those weaker than themselves—or those stronger.

Equals?

Impossible!

After exchanging pleasantries, each found a spot to sit and cultivate.

Li Rui's lips curled slightly upward.

He had now confirmed: Wu De's current realm was Miao Xuan, equivalent to Tong Xuan.

Though he had not yet taken the final step.

But after cultivating the Dao Embryo, he was nearly equal in combat power to a Tong Xuan cultivator—hence Wu De mistakenly believed Li Rui was of the same realm.

Unlike him.

Wu De had only ten chances total.

Reluctant to waste them, he had lingered before the white jade steps for a long time before his form finally vanished.

Once Wu De was completely gone.

Li Rui resumed climbing.

This time, he ascended seven-tenths of the steps.

Only then was his soul worn away.

Li Rui jolted awake from his bed.

Not a trace of defeat or despair—instead, his eyes glowed with startling brightness.

If his guess was correct.

He could pass the white jade steps even while still in the Tong Xuan realm.

"Immortal Court Inheritance."

At the thought of those four characters, even he felt his heart pound wildly.

He stepped outside.

Just then, he saw Ning Zhongtian, Ge Hong, Wei Ming, and Tan Hu gathered together, seemingly discussing something.

"All here?"

Li Rui chuckled.

The four, seeing Li Rui, each greeted him.

"What are you up to?"

Li Rui looked curiously at the four.

Ning Zhongtian grinned: "It's Brother Ge—he's finally perfected the Qing Hua Scripture."

Hearing this,

Li Rui's eyes brightened.

These four brothers were all brought by him; as attendants, they received no special treatment, but one advantage was that Li Rui could purchase immortal techniques for them—Qingwei Sect would not consider it a leak of sect techniques.

But each person must pay their own share.

Li Rui was never stingy with his brothers, so he bought each of them a copy of the martial art.

But to everyone's surprise, the one with the best cultivation talent among them was Ge Hong.

Originally, Ge Hong's Wu Gong was the weakest among them.

But after arriving at Qingwei Sect, he began gradually revealing his talent.

With the abundant spiritual energy of Changqing Peak, he actually managed to master the Qinghua Scripture.

He became the first among the brothers to cultivate an immortal technique.

Ning Zhongtian and Wei Ming stared at Ge Hong, their faces filled with envy.

Li Rui chuckled and said, "Marshal Yuan said the Dao has many paths but leads to the same destination—just walk your own path well."

This was said.

For Ning Zhongtian and Wei Ming to hear.

They held themselves in high regard; they had abandoned their former domains to follow him to Qingwei Sect, all to chase a fleeting, elusive immortal fate.

Now they saw Ge Hong, whom they considered inferior, succeed first.

Naturally, they felt bitter inside.

Perhaps only Tan Hu, who had no cares in the world, would find it meaningless.

Moreover, Tan Hu was Li Rui's personal guard; coming to Qingwei Sect cost him nothing, even benefited him—he long ago abandoned cultivating the immortal scripture and continued refining his martial path.

Ning Zhongtian and Wei Ming forced smiles.

"Brother is right."

Li Rui sighed inwardly.

There was little he could do about such things.

Immortal fate, immortal fate—it truly hinges on an elusive, intangible connection.

If you can succeed, you can; if you cannot, you cannot.

There's no faking it.

But as he said, walk the path most suited to you—no need to force it.

Another year passed in the blink of an eye.

Most of the time, Li Rui spent his days at Qingwei Sect cultivating.

Time passed quickly.

In a state of cultivation, one could not perceive the passage of time—a year felt nearly identical to a single day.

Hence the saying: "One day in heaven, one year on earth."

"Brother Li, have you heard? In a few days, Qingwei Sect will host the Luotian Grand Rite, and many immortal sects from the Eastern Sea will come to offer congratulations and witness the ceremony."

Sang Kong said.

Li Rui nodded: "I've heard rumors."

Over these years, immortal sects had sprung up like mushrooms after rain.

More accurately, many former hidden sects had transformed themselves into immortal sects.

This was inseparable from the gradual increase in spiritual energy.

Previously, there had been barely enough to help a few individuals cultivate, let alone form a sect; now, with more spiritual energy, the leaders of those hidden sects had begun considering opening their doors to disciples.

In Yu and Wu nations, imperial authority kept this in check, so it remained hidden.

Rumor has it that countless new immortal sects have suddenly appeared in places like the Eastern Sea.

As an undercover guard, Li Rui knew even more.

Almost all of them were exiled immortals from the lower realms.

Not all exiled immortals were as powerful as those of Zijin Palace.

Not only will immortal sects come, but Yu Nation will also send envoys.

He had been preparing for this long ago.

(End of Chapter)