Chapter 422: Initial Realm of Tongxuan

Why would Chen Ming appear here?

Li Rui slightly narrowed his eyes.

He bore the Evergreen Qi, and his perception was stronger than others of the same realm, allowing him to sense Chen Ming's presence.

Otherwise, Chen Ming had employed a concealment technique; most martial cultivators would struggle to detect him.

The way he crept about, one might mistake him for a demonic cultivator if unaware.

Earlier, Chen Ming had said he sought spirit veins to fulfill his sworn brother's dying wish.

But now the spirit vein had been found, and Xia Yun's wishes were satisfied; even Wu Country received its share.

Logically, Chen Ming had no reason to come here.

Unless he had lied.

Undoubtedly, Chen Ming was hiding something.

Li Rui was not particularly surprised by this.

All under heaven bustle for profit.

Even the most righteous must eat.

Chen Ming may truly have helped his brother, but coveting the spirit vein was only natural.

Li Rui did not expose him; he pretended not to see and turned to walk back toward the spirit vein camp.

He casually tossed out a talisman.

The talisman transformed into a nearly invisible ant that followed Chen Ming.

Li Rui returned to his room and resumed cultivation.

Five more days passed.

Unexpectedly, before Chen Ming's intentions became clear, Li Rui discovered several more people.

Each of them was a cultivator.

All possessed formidable strength.

Some were even at the Primordial Realm.

They frequently lurked near the spirit vein, as if searching for something.

"Them?"

"Just a bunch of flies drawn to blood."

Yuan Xiong's eyes flickered with disgust.

"Oh?"

Li Rui: "Brother Yuan, tell me more."

He had not exposed Chen Ming, but he had informed Yuan Xiong about the hidden strongman near the spirit vein.

The spirit vein was a matter of great importance.

Constant surveillance was no good; at least they needed to understand these people's motives.

Yuan Xiong: "Brother Li, you weren't here when the spirit vein was first discovered. These are all spirit thieves—no matter how many you drive off, more keep coming."

After Yuan Xiong's explanation,

Li Rui understood: the so-called spirit thieves merely gathered stray spiritual energy leaking from the vein's transport, using special techniques to condense it again.

In short, they were scavengers picking up the scraps from the spirit vein.

Don't underestimate these scraps—the vein was enormous; even tiny leaks, accumulated over time, amounted to something significant.

Otherwise, Primordial Realm cultivators wouldn't lower themselves to act like spirit insects.

Li Rui nodded in understanding.

Yuan Xiong: "At first, Prince Wei ordered them expelled, even executed a few. But soon we realized we couldn't eradicate them, and they followed rules—they never entered the vein itself—so we let it be."

Li Rui nodded.

It's easy to kill a tiger, but sweeping away every mosquito costs more than killing a tiger.

It was a measure of last resort.

His heart stirred slightly.

The spirit thieves outside the vein must also harbor spies.

This matter involved Yu Country, Wu Country, and Qingwei Sect—each might conceal it alone, but all three together? Impossible.

The spirit vein's existence must already be known to the immortal sects.

Many harbored desires to seize it.

But they dared not act boldly, restrained by Yu Country's authority.

The other two factions likely faced similar constraints.

Yet Li Rui did not believe Chen Ming had come merely to scavenge—he had other motives.

Even Xia Yun probably didn't know.

Li Rui fell silent.

He was the spirit vein's guardian, but the true authority was Prince Zhu Gan.

If he "kindly" offered advice to Zhu Gan, the prince wouldn't thank him—he'd see it as challenging imperial authority.

A thankless burden.

Li Rui would never do such a foolish thing.

Yuan Xiong: "Brother Li, have you noticed anything?"

Li Rui nodded: "Something's off, but I have no proof. Need to observe further."

Yuan Xiong frowned slightly.

The spirit vein could never remain peaceful forever.

Qingwei Sect, Yu Country, and Wu Country were powerful.

But they weren't truly invincible.

Times have changed; those immortal sects all possess deep roots, and rumors say some may even have ways to communicate with the higher realms—cannot be ignored.

They are certainly watching the spirit vein with hungry eyes.

The moment Yu Country shows weakness, they'll pounce like wolves and tigers, tearing the vein apart.

Guarding this spirit vein is no easy task.

Countless eyes are fixed upon it.

Danger lurks everywhere!

Yuan Xiong drew a deep breath, his heart sinking.

Beyond the Ten Thousand Mountains.

In a desolate temple on Wu Country's plain.

Ruins everywhere—the Buddha's head lay on the ground, covered in moss.

Yu Country had a saying: never sleep in abandoned temples.

Wu Country had the same.

Thus, this temple was almost never visited.

Only bandits would dare come here.

At this moment,

A young cultivator stepped into the ruin, glancing at several skeletons nearby—the former bandits who had occupied the temple.

Now they were nothing but dry bones.

He entered the Buddha hall.

There he saw a withered old man, resembling a skeleton, staring at him with eyes glowing faintly crimson.

"L-Lao Zu."

Even though he'd seen him before, his throat still tightened.

The young cultivator bowed respectfully: "Li Rui has left the spirit vein and returned to Qingwei Sect."

"Hmm."

A sharp, metallic scraping sound echoed from the Buddha hall.

"I understand."

The young cultivator hastily withdrew.

Once the young cultivator was gone, the old man's lips curled into a smile, and faint, eerie chuckles echoed within the hall.

"This small paradise is truly excellent—such high-quality spirit veins."

"Excellent."

Perfect.

He was from the Immortal Realm.

He had just arrived in this world, hiding to recover his cultivation until recently revealing himself.

Upon hearing of the spirit vein's emergence, he immediately felt greed.

He knew this world contained strongmen he dared not provoke.

So he had no intention of seizing the vein outright—just enough benefit would suffice.

Thus he inquired widely.

Finally, he chose Li Rui, planning to turn him into a puppet, thereby gaining easy access to the spirit vein.

They won't be discovered.

As for why Li Rui was chosen.

First, Li Rui is often absent from the spirit mine, making it easier to set up the array; second, Li Rui is the weakest in that damn martial ranking.

These two points are enough.

The only drawback is that, because he's often absent from the spirit mine, it will take a very long time for the array to fully assimilate Li Rui.

But it doesn't matter.

He has always been patient.

After inspecting the spirit mine, Li Rui returned to Changqing Peak.

Mainly because the Small Five Elements Array could no longer suppress the demonic puppet array—he had to leave.

He had to admit, that demonic array master was truly formidable.

Holding off the third-rank demonic array for so long with a fifth-rank Five Elements Array was already his limit.

It wasn't impossible to keep resisting.

But it would alert the demonic array master; the wisest course was still to leave.

He returned to Changqing Peak.

Life returned to its usual rhythm.

Nothing but cultivation.

Li Rui spent most of his time locked in his room, diligently refining spiritual energy through the Eternal Greening Art, and with his immortal root, his realm advanced steadily.

He felt no bottleneck whatsoever.

Thus passed.

A full year.

"Big brother, big brother."

While meditating indoors, Li Rui suddenly heard Ning Zhongtian's voice from outside.

He opened the door.

There he saw Ning Zhongtian walking in.

"Fourth brother, what's wrong?"

Ning Zhongtian: "Yesterday, something huge happened at the spirit mine—a gang of demonic cultivators joined forces and stormed in, trying to steal spirit stones."

Li Rui's eyes sharpened.

So it finally came.

"With the great array in place, most of those demonic cultivators were slaughtered."

"But many spirit stones were still stolen."

"The Fifth Prince is furious—he's ordered General Yuan to pursue the demonic cultivators, and he's ordered us to join as well."

Li Rui paused, then said: "Alright, I understand."

"Fourth brother, take some men ahead—I'll follow shortly."

"Understood."

Ning Zhongtian immediately turned and departed.

Soon after Ning Zhongtian left.

Sang Kong arrived at Changqing Peak.

"Old Brother Li, I heard your nation's spirit mine was attacked?"

Li Rui: "Old Brother Sang, your news travels fast."

Sang Kong, serious: "Do you know who these people are?"

Li Rui shook his head.

He roughly guessed Sang Kong's purpose for coming.

Wu Country and Yu Country are much the same; if Yu's spirit mine was attacked, Wu's might be next.

If it were merely a coalition of demonic cultivators, it would be manageable.

But if another immortal sect was behind it, they must be on guard.

Sang Kong sighed.

His situation was much like Li Rui's—he too bore responsibility for guarding the spirit mine.

Great authority, great pressure.

"Old Brother Li, regardless of what others do, you and I must keep sharing information."

Sang Kong said.

Intelligence was vital.

It wasn't the strength of the enemy that frightened him—it was not knowing who the enemy was at all. That was the real trouble.

"Old Brother Sang, when have I ever hidden anything from you?"

Li Rui said.

Sang Kong finally smiled: "That's why I like you, Old Brother."

Then.

He left, satisfied.

After seeing Sang Kong off, Li Rui left Qingwei Sect that same noon.

Using a Tracking Talisman, he captured over a dozen demonic cultivators.

He hung all their corpses on the walls of the spirit mine town as a warning.

The effect was excellent.

For several months straight, no demonic cultivators dared invade; even the spirit thieves grew more cautious, showing greater respect toward Yu Country's spirit mine.

Of course.

With fewer spirit thieves in Yu Country.

Wu Country and Qingwei Sect suffered instead.

There were now reports of demonic cultivators and thieves sneaking into their spirit mines to steal. Seeing the other two nations humiliated, Prince Zhu Gan's mood improved considerably.

He even praised Li Rui a few times.

The spirit mine entered a brief period of calm.

Li Rui had earned merit, yet he continued his routine—visiting the spirit mine every three months.

Each time, he still used the Small Five Elements Array to block the demonic array.

The effect was good—the demonic array master had not noticed.

As the spirit mine's guardian, Li Rui received far more spirit stones than others of his realm—he could reliably obtain mid-grade spirit stones daily, and sometimes even an upper-grade one.

With ample spirit stones to support him, his realm advanced rapidly.

In less than two years.

He had already reached the threshold of Tongxuan Initial Stage.

One day.

Li Rui quietly descended Changqing Peak and entered a remote valley deep in the Ten Thousand Mountains.

"Draw spiritual energy into the body, to penetrate the Heavenly Dao."

Li Rui murmured softly.

He sat cross-legged atop a massive boulder.

At this moment.

The Dao Embryo within his dantian was identical to himself.

His entire aura reached its peak.

Tongxuan Initial Stage!

(End of Chapter)