Chapter 442

Three days later.

Prince Yuan An and a group of Qingwei Sect disciples left the Ten Thousand Mountains.

No need to think.

As Yuan Dingting's only son, he must have many trump cards.

But as Li Rui said that day.

No matter how many trump cards there are, the key depends on the person.

Walking in the world, if you want to be successful, one is to be cautious, and the other is to have connections and backing.

Yuan An is Yuan Dingting's only son, and his background is very large.

But it might not be useful in the Shaman Kingdom, so Li Rui gave the Black Dragon Token to Yuan An.

With the Black Dragon Token.

As long as Yuan An doesn't provoke a Great Shaman to make a move, it can basically be equivalent to a gold medal for survival.

The most important thing to guard against is those unscrupulous demonic cultivators.

That's why Li Rui warned Yuan An.

Learning to escape is the most important thing.

"Big Brother, do you think the Prince will be successful in this trip?"

Ning Zhongtian asked.

Li Rui laughed lightly: "How would I know? Everything depends on fate."

There is no such thing as someone who cannot die in this world, even Yuan Dingting's only son is the same.

If Yuan An wants to follow in his father's footsteps, he must do so.

If he survives, he might be another little Military Saint; if he doesn't survive, everything is over.

Who among those who have entered the world's martial arts rankings hasn't come this way?

There is no other way.

People in the world who want to reach the supreme strength must experience tempering, but as long as there is tempering, there will be life and death; even Yuan Dingting's son has no reason not to die. The Yu Kingdom advocates martial virtue, and the most direct embodiment is that many princes also died in the tempering.

Although they were avenged in the end, death was also real.

Ning Zhongtian just had a good impression of this young man who had no airs of a prince, so he asked.

Li Rui looked at Ning Zhongtian: "What about you? How is your cultivation? Do you have any confidence in the Primordial?"

Ning Zhongtian was depressed:

"How can the Primordial be so easy?"

Thinking of this, he became even more depressed; Ge Hong, Tan Hu, and Wei Ming had all made progress and reached the Sixth Rank one after another.

Among them, Ge Hong and Tan Hu even showed signs of breaking through to the Fifth Rank.

On the contrary, he, who was the first to reach the Fifth Rank, was slow to take that step.

Not everyone in the world is like Li Rui.

Breaking through is like eating and drinking, with no bottleneck at all.

Suddenly.

Ning Zhongtian said out of the blue: "Big Brother, I want to go to the north."

Li Rui raised an eyebrow: "Have you thought it through?"

Ning Zhongtian nodded seriously.

"I've thought it through; I plan to go with Lei Yong."

These years.

Life has been comfortable, and with Li Rui's support, there is no shortage of elixirs, but the realm has become slower.

He also saw Yuan An going out to train.

Only then did he realize that he had been living too comfortably.

After all, he is not a seed for cultivating immortals; martial artists and body cultivators must be on the battlefield to be fierce and diligent.

Ning Zhongtian would rather die on the battlefield than wait to die of old age.

Li Rui pondered: "Since you have thought it through, then go; I can ask Brother Yuan to write a letter to General He, and if you take the letter, you should be able to get a good position."

"Thank you, Big Brother."

Ning Zhongtian was overjoyed.

Li Rui sighed: "Fourth Brother, don't lose your life easily."

"Hmm."

Ning Zhongtian nodded heavily.

Everyone has their own path to walk, and he cannot protect them for a lifetime.

If you want to reach a high place, you have to rely on yourself.

Relying on resources alone cannot pile up a Grandmaster.

Ning Zhongtian went to the north and took Tan Hu with him.

Before leaving.

Li Rui, Wei Ming, and Ge Hong saw them off and got drunk.

The next day.

The two left the Qingwei Sect.

With Yuan Xiong's handwritten letter, they wouldn't have to start as a common soldier.

But swords have no eyes.

On the battlefield, anyone could die.

As for Li Rui, the path he takes is different; as long as he lives steadily and cultivates seriously, he can reach very, very high.

So he doesn't need to go to the battlefield to seek opportunities like Ning Zhongtian and Tan Hu.

Ning Zhongtian and Tan Hu left.

Mount Changqing became even colder; Wei Ming and Ge Hong, like Li Rui, were addicted to cultivation and rarely went out.

Except for the occasional movement from the soldiers of the Benhu Battalion.

Most of the time it was extremely quiet.

During this period.

Yuan An would also come to Mount Changqing to see him sometimes, but he couldn't stay long before going out to train again.

Or rather, this was the test before he was to inherit the title.

In the room.

Li Rui was sitting cross-legged on a futon as usual.

After years of cultivation, the Wan Gu Chang Qing Art had become increasingly pure, and the Chang Qing Qi was much thicker than before.

He specifically used more energy to study arrays.

Arrays had already faintly shown a trend of catching up with talismans.

The effect was also very obvious.

His speed of moving arrays became faster again, even catching up to the normal running speed of ordinary demon horses.

Although it still couldn't be compared to the instant ten thousand miles of a Tongxuan martial artist, for Li Rui, it was much more convenient.

"Tiezhu, I plan to go to the spirit mine."

Li Rui said to Liu Tiezhu, who was practicing hammer techniques in the courtyard.

"Alright."

Liu Tiezhu replied with a grin.

Now when Li Rui goes out, he takes a carriage and rarely rides a horse; as for flying, he has never used it again.

Others think his official prestige is growing.

As long as the disciples of the Qingwei Sect see the carriage, they know it is Lord Li of the Yu Kingdom traveling.

Little did they know.

Lord Li doesn't want the array to fall off.

Originally, Tan Hu was the most suitable for the job of a coachman, but Tan Hu went to the north, so Li Rui let Liu Tiezhu take on the role of the coachman.

As everyone knows.

A coachman knows many secrets, so he must be a trusted aide.

His disciple, Liu Tiezhu, was undoubtedly the best choice.

Very quickly.

The carriage was brought by Liu Tiezhu.

Li Rui stepped onto the carriage and heard Liu Tiezhu give a light shout to drive.

The carriage began to move slowly.

He sat upright in the carriage.

Although the mountain road was rugged, the carriage was extremely stable, not only because the horse pulling the carriage was a top-grade demon horse, but also because of the talismans in the carriage.

Li Rui set up hundreds of talismans in the carriage.

Among them was the Light Body Talisman.

This carriage, even if a Tongxuan wanted to break it open, would have to spend some effort.

If Li Rui could break through to the Third Rank, the effect would be even more powerful.

Half an hour later.

The carriage had already arrived at the area of the spirit mine, and from afar, one could already see the mining area with more than half of the mountain body dug out.

Li Rui dozed off in the carriage.

But his spiritual sense was scattered for several miles.

The closer to the spirit mine, the more powerhouses hidden in the dark.

These were the spirit thieves lurking.

Before, the Qingwei Sect made a thunderous move, but after not long, these people popped up again.

They could never be killed off.

Spirit stones are enough to make many people fight for their lives.

Li Rui didn't have the idea of killing those spirit thieves by the way.

Flies can never be swatted away.

There is no need to do unnecessary work.

Before long, the carriage slowly drove into the spirit mine.

The soldiers of the Yu Kingdom guarding the spirit mine were already familiar with the carriage, and after confirming slightly with Liu Tiezhu, they respectfully let it pass.

The carriage finally stopped in front of a grand residence.

Li Rui stepped off the carriage.

Entering the residence.

He first confirmed the situation of the Evil Puppet Array, and then reinforced the Small Five Elements Array to offset the Evil Puppet Array, only then did he feel at ease to continue cultivating in the residence at the spirit mine.

After about three or four days.

Yuan Xiong came: "Brother Li, the Prince of Wei is discussing matters; it's about time."

Li Rui nodded.

Immediately went with Yuan Xiong to the residence of the Fifth Prince, Zhu Gan.

In fact.

The reason why Li Rui left the Qingwei Sect and came to the spirit mine was precisely for this matter.

When the two walked into the main hall of the Prince of Wei's residence.

Ke Chuan and Ben Shi had already arrived and were seated.

Just as Li Rui and Yuan Xiong sat down, they saw Zhu Gan walk in.

The few bowed.

"Your Highness."

Zhu Gan didn't even look and sat in the highest seat.

He said slowly: "This Prince intends to break through to the Heavenly Phenomenon; to prevent any evildoers from harming this Prince, I specifically called you four to guard."

A flash of surprise crossed Li Rui's eyes.

Zhu Gan wants to break through to the Heavenly Phenomenon?

Then he was relieved; in terms of age, Zhu Gan was actually not small, even quite a bit older than Li Rui, already having two Jiazi.

As a prince, he lacked nothing in terms of cultivation techniques and elixirs.

He even had the National Teacher pass on the Dao personally.

Zhu Gan only touched the threshold of the Heavenly Phenomenon after two Jiazi, which was actually not slow among the Tongxuan.

But wanting to break through to the Heavenly Phenomenon... that was another matter.

Having heard Yuan Xiong say it, Yuan Dingting could advance by leaps and bounds directly into the Heavenly Phenomenon because his Great Dao was special; it was not so easy for others, and four or five Jiazi was common.

"Yes."

Li Rui and Yuan Xiong stood up one after another.

How could they not understand that Zhu Gan's words today were specifically for the two of them?

Zhu Gan saw that the two agreed readily.

Only then did he nod with satisfaction.

"Very good."

After saying that, Zhu Gan got up and left.

His words were almost equivalent to an imperial decree within the range of the spirit mine; he called Li Rui and Yuan Xiong to notify them, not to discuss.

This is the authority of a prince.

Li Rui and Yuan Xiong looked at each other and also stood up and walked out of the Prince of Wei's residence.

Yuan Xiong: "I heard that among the Emperor's princes, the First Prince already stepped into the Second Rank a month ago; the Fifth Prince is anxious."

Li Rui smiled slightly.

"Let's just cooperate well."

He had no intention of intervening in the struggle between the princes.

Just watch the changes.

Yuan Xiong: "That's the logic."

After Zhu Gan finished talking about the breakthrough, he really started to retreat.

The four major guardians took turns guarding.

The lineup was not small.

But Zhu Gan was a prince with a noble status, so both Li Rui and Yuan Xiong could only do as told.

Seven days passed like this.

Zhu Gan still showed no signs of breaking through.

"Big Brother Li, how much longer do you think our Prince of Wei needs to break through?"

A flash of schadenfreude crossed Yuan Xiong's eyes.

Generally speaking, the longer it drags on, the lower the success rate.

He didn't like Zhu Gan's arrogant temperament in the first place, so he was naturally happy to see Zhu Gan fail the breakthrough.

Although the future Crown Prince doesn't necessarily have to be a top-tier expert in the world, if he doesn't even have the Second Rank, he definitely cannot take the throne.

That is to say, if Zhu Gan fails the breakthrough, he basically says goodbye to the position of Crown Prince.

As for why Zhu Gan chose to break through at the spirit mine instead of returning to the capital.

It is estimated that he was coveting the spiritual energy here.

But just as Li Rui and Yuan Xiong were talking.

Suddenly, there was a movement of heaven and earth.

Yuan Xiong blinked:

"He really succeeded?"

Li Rui and Yuan Xiong were just about to stand up and rush to the Prince of Wei's residence.

That fluctuation of heaven and earth dissipated like a tide.

Finally returning to calm.

Both were in the Tongxuan Realm, so how could they not understand that such a situation meant that Zhu Gan had failed the breakthrough.

Li Rui and Yuan Xiong looked at each other.

The bodies that had already stood up sat down again.

If they couldn't see the situation clearly now, then they had wasted their years.

The four major guardians took turns on duty, rotating and pairing up.

But it just so happened that when Li Rui and Yuan Xiong were resting, Zhu Gan broke through; this was absolutely not a coincidence.

It was very clear.

Zhu Gan didn't trust the two of them.

If the breakthrough were successful, Li Rui and Yuan Xiong should go to congratulate him.

But now that the breakthrough failed, going would inevitably make Zhu Gan feel that they were mocking him; at this time, it was wiser to choose not to meet.

The heaven and earth returned to complete calm.

Yuan Xiong couldn't help but sigh: "He really failed."

There are over a thousand people in the world's martial arts rankings, but there are no more than a hundred Heavenly Phenomenon experts, which means that less than one in ten Tongxuan experts step into the Heavenly Phenomenon.

Don't look at the ten percent ratio as not low, but you must know that no one who can reach the Tongxuan Realm is not a genius.

This hurdle has blocked I don't know how many heaven-gifted talents.

Even though the Fifth Prince Zhu Gan had all the right conditions, he still failed at this step.

Although one can continue to try to impact the Heavenly Phenomenon after a failed breakthrough, the difficulty has increased I don't know how many times, and it can almost be said that the possibility of entering the Heavenly Phenomenon has been cut off.

In other words, Zhu Gan has lost the qualification to compete for the throne.

Li Rui also had a look of emotion.

Cultivation is so cruel; whether you are a prince or a holy son, everyone is treated equally.

Even Zhu Gan is so difficult.

Other martial artists and cultivators will only be more difficult.

Li Rui and Yuan Xiong are already Tongxuan, and sooner or later they will reach this step.

Even a monster like Yuan Xiong cannot guarantee that he can cross that chasm.

Li Rui's state of mind is different.

He carries the Primordial Immortal Martial Dao Fetus, and has the Immortal Spirit Root and the Wan Gu Chang Qing Art, so there is no bottleneck at all, so Zhu Gan's trouble does not exist for him at all.

But this also reminds him.

The immortal path is ethereal, so he cannot be slack; if he falls halfway, then no matter how good the talent is, it is a waste.

Outside the spirit mine.

Deep in the Ten Thousand Mountains.

Several people in black robes looked at the movement of heaven and earth that had returned to calm, and were all stunned.

"Failed?"

A person in black robes said.

The others were hesitant at first, and then all nodded: "Should be."

"It saves us some effort."

Another old man in black robes let out a strange laugh.

This old man was the Wan Gui Daoist.

A few days ago.

Ji Lei suddenly sent a message, asking him to cooperate with the powerhouses of the Beiji Immortal Sect to destroy the breakthrough of the Fifth Prince of the Yu Kingdom, Zhu Gan; unexpectedly, they had already prepared an ambush, just waiting to make a move.

As a result, Zhu Gan failed himself.

The Wan Gui Daoist's eyes were full of schadenfreude.

The so-called Heavenly Phenomenon Realm in this realm has trapped I don't know how many cultivators even in the cultivation world.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to come to the lower realm to seek opportunities.

Isn't it just for that one chance?

Seeing a prince suffer, he was too happy to see it.

Then he heard a fox-faced Daoist beside him say slowly: "Zhu Gan's fate is exhausted; it saves us from having to settle the account, let's go."

This fox face is not that he looks like a fox.

But this Daoist is a demon cultivator who obtained a special method, so he transformed into a human form with a demon head.

Demon cultivators are rare in this realm.

But it is perfectly normal in the cultivation world, so the Wan Gui Daoist didn't feel surprised.

Hearing the words of the fox-faced Daoist.

A group of powerhouses from the Beiji Immortal Sect retreated.

At the other end.

Yu Kingdom spirit mine, a dark room deep underground in the Prince of Wei's residence.

Zhu Gan's face was pale and his expression was withered.

Just as he was about to stand up, he saw an old man bring Ben Shi slowly from behind the door of the dark room.

Zhu Gan's eyes were cold to the extreme, but seeing the old man, he still called out:

"Mr. Zhou."

The old man Zhu Gan called Mr. Zhou took out a spirit elixir from his bosom and handed it to Zhu Gan.

"Your Highness's spirit is unstable; take this Ding Shen Great Elixir first."

Zhu Gan nodded.

After taking the elixir, he felt better.

The breakthrough failed, decades of hard cultivation were in vain, and the spirit was even more broken; although it wouldn't cost his life, wanting to break through again next time would be extremely difficult.

He looked at the old man in front of him.

This person was the protector his uncle found for him.

A Grandmaster who ranked in the top one hundred in the world's martial arts rankings.

Nine-Finger Divine Ability, Zhou Tong.

As a prince, such a major event as breaking through to the Heavenly Phenomenon naturally couldn't just be guarded by four Tongxuan experts; in fact, Zhou Tong had been guarding in the dark.

Zhu Gan's mouth showed a trace of bitterness.

Even he didn't have the confidence to try to break through again.

Seeing Zhu Gan's low will, Zhou Tong used a secret method and shouted lightly: "Your Highness, don't forget your identity; if you give up yourself, even the National Teacher cannot help you."

Zhu Gan immediately felt his spirit clear.

His body couldn't help but shiver.

A burst of lingering fear.

Just now, he had clearly failed the breakthrough and was eroded by inner demons; if Zhou Tong hadn't woken him up, he would probably have gone into qi deviation by now.

Zhu Gan bowed: "Thank you, Mr. Zhou, for the reminder."

He soon reignited his fighting spirit.

Just as Zhou Tong said, although he failed now, don't forget that he still has an uncle who is in the top five in the world.

Perhaps the National Teacher, the head of the hidden sects in the world, can help him re-enter the Heavenly Phenomenon.

He is a prince.

There are still many paths.

Zhu Gan's failed breakthrough became a taboo at the spirit mine, and no one dared to mention it.

Li Rui and Yuan Xiong were even more self-aware.

They didn't even intend to see Zhu Gan.

Li Rui only stayed at the spirit mine for a few days before taking the carriage back to Mount Changqing.

Zhu Gan's failed breakthrough looked like it had no influence on the surface.

But no need to ask.

This matter must have already reached the imperial court in the capital, and the influence is far greater than what is seen.

Of course.

All of this has nothing to do with Li Rui.

The bamboo sea on Mount Changqing is still green all year round, making the courtyard even more peaceful.

In the courtyard.

Liu Tiezhu is forging iron and practicing hammer techniques all day, while Li Rui is cultivating in the room.

Cultivation is like this; most of the time it is ordinary.

A spring rain is falling finely outside the window, and the raindrops hitting the green bamboo make it look even more tender.

Li Rui is sitting cross-legged by the window.

Letting the raindrops drifting from outside the window wet the robe on his right hand.

This moment.

Li Rui seems to have merged into the spring rain, and the vigorous vitality cannot be covered at all.

The next instant.

He slowly opened his eyes and pushed the door out.

He didn't hold an umbrella, nor did he use magic to block the rain.

Very quickly.

The dense spring rain wet his whole body.

Li Rui walked in the rain like this, walking and walking, and before he knew it, he had already left the Qingwei Sect.

In the mountains and forests of the Ten Thousand Mountains.

There was still no sign of stopping.

He walked from day to night, walking for hundreds of miles.

Li Rui then stopped.

He leaned casually against a big tree, and there was still no sign of the spring rain stopping.

But it was not that the spring rain could cover hundreds of miles.

It was that a rain cloud had been following Li Rui; if someone could measure it, they would definitely find that it was exactly one mile.

This night.

Li Rui stepped into the mid-stage of Tongxuan as naturally as water flowing into a channel.

Without the slightest twist or turn.

(End of Chapter)