Chapter 406: One Night of Enlightenment, I Enter Tongxuan

Striking for Tongxuan, everything came naturally.

The true barrier is Lianshen.

Tongxuan is not.

Ordinary martial artists, once they break through Lianshen, need only a period of nurturing to naturally advance.

There have been those who reached Lianshen but failed to enter Tongxuan.

But nearly all were hunted down by enemies and perished with their Dao destroyed.

Li Rui had long since absorbed ample spiritual energy, but he delayed until now to nurture his Dao embryo.

At this moment.

The Dao embryo in his dantian radiated a crystalline green glow, making him appear saintly and flawless, his aura reaching its peak and infusing the entire Immortal Court with an unusual resonance.

One after another, Spirit-Infusing Talismans shot out from Li Rui's sleeves.

Soon after.

A small spiritual energy barrier formed.

The concentration of spiritual energy within the barrier surpassed even that of Changqing Peak.

All of this spiritual energy, of course, was "stolen" by Li Rui.

Swallowed like a whale drinking the sea!

The instant the barrier formed, the spiritual energy began to swirl, forming a vortex around Li Rui.

Three-tenths entered Li Rui's body; seven-tenths were absorbed by the Dao embryo within.

In but a moment.

The spiritual energy within the barrier was completely consumed.

Simultaneously, the aura of Li Rui and his Dao embryo reached its zenith.

Finally.

A mysterious membrane deep within his soul was shattered.

He felt as if he had merged entirely with heaven and earth.

Huh~

A breeze, as if rising from the primordial chaos of antiquity, swept across the entire hillside, rustling the leaves.

Li Rui suddenly recalled that same wind on the night Jiang Lin entered Qinghe City.

He hadn't understood it then.

Now he understood.

That was clearly the resonance between Jiang Lin's entry into the Third Rank and heaven and earth!

What is called Tongxuan.

The character "Xuan" existed before heaven and earth; it is the root of all things.

Xuan within Xuan—the gate to all wonders.

Xuan is the Dao.

Tongxuan means to access the Dao; once one attains Tongxuan, one may unite with heaven and earth and gain a trace of their great power.

The so-called Miao Xuan Realm of cultivators is the same.

But Li Rui's Tongxuan is vastly different from ordinary Third Rank cultivators.

He turned his gaze inward.

The Immortal Court within his dantian had undergone a cataclysmic transformation.

The once-empty Immortal Court now had buildings rising from the ground, coiled dragon pillars standing tall; at a glance, it bore resemblance to the legendary ancient Immortal Court.

The Dao embryo frolicked among the jade pavilions and palaces.

But these were not the key.

What Li Rui realized was:

Thin strands of spiritual energy drifted above the Immortal Court.

Spiritual energy itself was not unusual—but what was astonishing was that this energy was neither brought from Qingwei Sect nor drawn from heaven and earth; it was generated by the Immortal Court itself.

Self-contained universe!

Li Rui's pupils contracted slightly.

Both He Qianian's calculations and the great cultivator who wrote the Divine Dao Scripture had said:

The Dao embryo is not the ultimate goal; the final aim is to forge a miniature realm, coexisting with heaven and earth.

If one truly reaches that stage,

Then even as heaven and earth change, I remain unchanged.

That is true immortality, equal in span to heaven and earth.

At that stage, one becomes no different from an immortal—perhaps even stronger!

Li Rui had not yet reached that point; in his dantian, it was merely a nascent form, with a long road ahead.

Soon after,

The gentle wind blanketing the forest faded.

Li Rui slowly exhaled his final turbid breath.

Tongxuan!

At this moment, he shed his mortal form and truly stepped onto the path of seeking immortality.

After decades of earthly toil, he had finally glimpsed a corner of the Immortal Gate.

To say he wasn't excited would be false.

"Sixty years of hardship—reaching Tongxuan in old age is not too late."

Li Rui couldn't help but burst into loud, joyful laughter.

What pleased him even more was:

After his breakthrough, combined with the Eternal Greening Art, even without Gu Changsheng masking his aura, ordinary Second Rank cultivators could not perceive him at all.

This was extremely useful to him.

Li Rui made a few adjustments.

Soon after,

To outsiders, he still appeared to be at Lianshen, showing not the slightest trace of Tongxuan.

Having completed this step, Li Rui finally smiled in satisfaction.

No cultivator ever reveals all his cards.

A moment later, Li Rui returned to the General's Mansion in Qinghe City.

Since his breakthrough,

His earth-burrowing speed had increased more than tenfold—saying he could travel a thousand miles in a day was no exaggeration.

No wonder immortals are so free-spirited.

The feeling of being in the deep mountains at dawn and watching the sea at dusk was utterly enchanting.

Back home,

Li Rui showed no sign of change.

The sky had just begun to lighten; sleep was no longer possible. He opened the door from his room.

The morning breeze was cool.

Li Rui stretched comfortably.

He walked into the courtyard.

Just as he was about to practice a health-preserving fist form, he heard footsteps behind him.

He turned around.

And saw Lianghe.

"Little He."

Li Rui smiled faintly.

Lianghe was fully dressed, as if preparing to leave.

"Master."

Lianghe bowed respectfully.

He was on his way to the Heaven-Earth Alliance.

Being the Alliance Master was no easy task, especially now that Qinghe was filled with powerful cultivators; every move of the Alliance had to be handled with extreme caution, or disaster would follow.

Rising before dawn and returning after dusk was routine.

Li Rui himself had once been able to slack off, for his strength and seniority granted him leeway—but Lianghe had no such luxury; to enjoy peace later, he must endure hardship now.

Though Li Rui felt pity for his senior disciple,

He would never utter foolish words like "you don't need to work so hard."

Once one steps onto the path of martial cultivation, there is no such thing as ease.

Who doesn't suffer?

Everyone is the same.

To reach the heights, one must endure—Li Rui himself, when he began as a grain officer, had spent long hours poring over documents before dawn and after dusk.

To do a thing well, one must put in the effort.

Otherwise, he'd be easing Lianghe's burden now, but the suffering later would only multiply.

Better to eliminate it from the start.

He could at most just keep a closer eye on things; his disciple wouldn't suffer any real harm.

Lianghe was already in his thirties; of course he understood.

But today, he unusually didn't leave, instead staying longer and asking Li Rui many questions.

Li Rui patiently answered each one.

Though his disciple wasn't a genius like Nie Siming, he made up for it with steadiness—he was much like Li Rui himself, a late-blooming talent.

This time.

Li Rui didn't rush back to Qingwei Sect as he had before.

On one hand, he had just broken through and needed to consolidate, to prevent spiritual energy from leaking and being detected.

On the other hand,

he was waiting for news.

Waiting for news from the capital.

After he'd promised Tian Niu Zhu Ha, he hadn't immediately sent word to the imperial court.

It was a matter of secrecy.

He feared leaks within Qingwei Sect, so he waited until returning to Qinghe before sending the secret letter via the An Nan Town post station at top speed.

Given the post station's speed, results would arrive in no more than ten days.

Though he'd promised Tian Niu Zhu Ha, the final decision wasn't his to make.

It rested with Gu Changsheng.

It rested with the Holy Emperor.

But in Li Rui's view, it was all but certain.

He only needed to wait quietly in the city.

He waited seven days straight.

Then word came from the post station.

"Lord Li, this is your letter."

A post courier respectfully handed Li Rui a sealed letter.

"Thank you."

Li Rui gave the courier a slight nod, took the letter, and the courier departed.

He broke the seal.

Li Rui's eyebrows lifted slightly.

It was the Holy Emperor's personal edict!

"Beloved Minister Li, I hear you've broken through the Qi Refining barrier. My heart rejoices. That day in the imperial garden, eating hotpot, I already sensed your extraordinary talent."

Li Rui blinked.

The edict was densely written, the characters messy—clearly the Holy Emperor's own hand.

Over a thousand characters, all small talk.

Like an old friend catching up after years apart.

Astonishing!

Very few in this world were treated this way by the Holy Emperor—perhaps none at all.

To speak plainly is to treat you as a subordinate.

But to begin with heart-to-heart talk is to treat you as family.

Li Rui had met the Holy Emperor only once—and already he'd been deemed family. Even he hadn't expected it.

But thinking it over, he understood.

With the Holy Emperor's methods, he likely knew every move Li Rui made in Qinghe.

Gu Changsheng's whispered counsel probably played no small part.

Finally,

he found the real matter in the last few lines.

"If Tian Niu Zhu Ha is a benevolent spirit, I shall appoint him as God of the Chijiang River. Minister Li, act as you see fit—I trust you."

(End of Chapter)