Chapter 412

The Southern Sea Immortal Market lasted for a month.

During this time, cultivators from all over continuously came to trade.

Lin Lang had come here specifically to learn the situation of the Southern Sea Immortal Market, so naturally he intended to stay the full duration.

Li Rui was in no hurry to leave.

One day.

He quietly used the Water Submersion Technique to sink into the sea.

In an instant, a hundred li.

Soon after, he arrived at an island hundreds of li away from the Southern Sea Immortal Market.

"No one should be able to detect me here, right?"

Li Rui thought.

He had come here specifically to upgrade his spiritual root to a supreme spiritual root.

To prevent delays from bringing misfortune.

Moreover, the sea was vast, and combined with the Water Submersion Technique, he was nearly impossible to detect.

Perfect for breaking through.

Li Rui found a dense forest and sat cross-legged.

A small jade vial containing Longevity Water appeared in his hand.

Without the slightest hesitation.

He tilted his head and drank the Longevity Water in one gulp.

Instantly.

A torrent of life force exploded in his waist and abdomen.

Li Rui took a deep breath and did not dare delay—he immediately activated the incantation recorded in the Spirit-Upgrading Scripture.

His entire body was instantly wrapped in emerald light.

Unconsciously, three days and nights had passed.

The sea breeze blew.

Yet a strange sight emerged: Li Rui seemed fused with the surrounding rocks and soil, the sea wind unable to stir even a single fold of his clothing.

Li Rui slowly opened his eyes.

He turned his awareness inward.

Upon his Immortal Court, the Dao Embryo miniature exuded a life force so potent it nearly solidified into liquid.

"Is this my supreme spiritual root?"

Li Rui mused.

It was widely known that supreme spiritual roots were all anomalous roots.

Ordinary superior roots were classified by the five elements, such as Metal Root, Wood Root, and so on.

They were already exceedingly rare in the world.

In the cultivation world, they were called Pure Roots.

Above pure roots lay anomalous roots—only anomalous roots could be called supreme spiritual roots.

The more Li Rui understood the cultivation world, the more he realized the rarity of the Spirit-Upgrading Scripture.

Those immortal materials were precious indeed, but the true value lay in the cultivation techniques.

He had once casually asked the Purple Yang Daoist: True Person Qingding did indeed possess a method to enhance spiritual roots, but the success rate was less than half a percent.

And the restrictions were severe.

Only cultivators under thirty could use it, and only once.

Li Rui's Spirit-Upgrading Scripture had no such limitations.

Clearly, the system's reward—the Spirit-Upgrading Scripture—was far more extraordinary than he had imagined.

Li Rui was curious: what attribute would his Anomalous Root be?

He had heard Wu De say that in the cultivation world, there was a Thunder Root cultivator who, upon becoming a Great Being, mastered countless thunder arts, causing all demonic evils to flee in terror—truly overwhelmingly dominant.

"Hmm?"

Li Rui let out a soft exclamation.

He had long studied the Qingwei Sect's archives and was familiar with the types of existing supreme spiritual roots.

Yet none matched his current root.

The next instant.

He suddenly had a flash of insight, his pupils contracting slightly.

'It's… Immortal Root!'

As far as he knew, the cultivation world did have rare roots, such as Sun-Moon Root, Chaos Root.

These roots were among the most powerful within the supreme spiritual roots.

They emerged only once every ten thousand years.

Each one belonged to a genius of unparalleled brilliance.

His root stood alongside them—the pinnacle of all roots in the world.

It was well known.

Though cultivation had Six Arts, that applied only to ordinary cultivators; rumors claimed that certain Immortal Sect heirs regarded the Six Arts as heretical paths. They lacked neither resources nor protectors, needing only to focus on the path to Immortality.

Li Rui's Immortal Root offered little direct combat advantage.

But it had one function.

That was to point directly toward the ultimate Immortal Path, never veering into error.

Or rather—

His thoughts and intentions would naturally align with the Immortal Dao.

Born with an Immortal Seed!

Li Rui took a deep breath.

He had never imagined his root would be so extraordinary.

He had a thought in mind.

'This Immortal Root may be connected to the Immortal Form True Qi.'

He possessed the Ten Thousand Eons Evergreen Art, and now he had the Immortal Root.

How could he fail to achieve Immortality?

Li Rui's lips curled slightly upward.

The Immortal Root had truly surprised him.

He quickly calmed his emotions.

With a casual wave of his hand, he dispersed the lingering spiritual energy from his root upgrade, then activated the Water Submersion Technique and headed toward the Southern Sea Immortal Market.

Li Rui soon sensed the changes brought by his Immortal Root.

Though it did not directly boost combat power, he now moved with far greater ease when channeling Immortal arts—every gesture and motion naturally harmonized with the Way of Heaven and Earth.

Over ten thousand li of waves.

Two divine beams streaked across the sky, stirring walls of waves a hundred zhang high.

"Damn it!"

A Daoist boy, no taller than four chi, flew through the air, his gaze turning cold as he looked behind him.

He saw:

Two cultivators trailing behind him, radiating black qi, relentlessly pursuing.

The Daoist boy was Chunxu Zi.

He cursed his bad luck.

Originally, he and his junior brother, Purple Yang Daoist, had come to the Southern Sea Immortal Island seeking opportunity.

They had stayed on the island for seven or eight days.

On the surface, he searched for treasures; in truth, he secretly sought Li Rui.

He possessed a special ability:

He was extraordinarily sensitive to magic treasures.

That night during the siege of the Purple Gold Palace remnants, he had sensed an unusual aura from Li Rui—an aura only an immensely powerful Immortal treasure could possess.

Thus, Chunxu Zi concluded that Li Rui had gained a great opportunity in that battle.

In the world, treasures belong to those with destiny.

If Li Rui had taken it from someone else, why couldn't he take it?

In Qingwei Sect, he could never act.

Not even in Yu State.

So he had quietly inquired, learning that Li Rui sought Longevity Water—hence his invitation that day.

Demon cultivators ran rampant in the Southern Sea.

Li Rui had come to the Southern Sea Immortal Market seeking treasures, only to be ambushed en route by demon cultivators.

Everything seemed perfectly logical.

But he had never expected—

He hadn't yet found a chance to disguise himself as a demonic cultivator and kill Li Rui, but instead encountered demonic cultivators while searching for Li Rui.

Utterly bad luck!

Chunxu Zi glanced at the two demonic cultivators behind him, their bodies radiating black qi.

His face turned utterly grim.

"Evil heretics!"

Behind him, one of the demonic cultivators cackled: "Your Qingwei Sect is mighty indeed! Xuan Yu, that stinking old Daoist, killed my elder brother—today, we settle this debt on you."

These two had not randomly ambushed Chunxu Zi.

It had been long planned.

Qingwei Sect's Daoist Xuan Yu had killed their brother, so they would kill Xuan Yu's junior brother.

Today, they finally seized their chance.

"Don't worry—it's only a matter of time. We'll kill your senior brother too, so you three won't be lonely on the path to the Yellow Springs."

Elsewhere.

Beneath the sea.

Li Rui suppressed his aura, blending like a sea fish—the three men above him detected nothing.

"Chunxu Zi?"

He gazed in surprise at the man being hunted.

The two cultivators chasing Chunxu Zi, radiating black qi, were unquestionably demonic cultivators from the Southern Sea.

Watching Chunxu Zi flee in disarray,

Li Rui fell into thought.

In an instant,

his eyes turned utterly cold.

(End of Chapter)