Chapter 444: Self-knowledge

Yang Yong must have been holding his breath, just waiting to see Li Rui one last time.

He saw him.

And that breath dissipated.

In the end, he still couldn't wait for Li Rui to hold a grand hundred-year birthday banquet for him.

Yang Yong never married in his life, and didn't have a single child.

He came alone, and left alone.

The mourning hall was set up for three days.

It was set up according to the specifications of a Count, which was considered exceeding the rules.

But with Li Rui, a real Count, present, no one said anything.

Most of those who came to pay their respects were aiming at Li Rui, the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate; few people knew the little old man who had been a guard for the Zhu family.

Li Rui was an old man.

When he was at the Zhu family, he had sent off countless batches of new and old people, so naturally, he had to handle things properly and decently for this old partner.

Yang Yong hadn't lived a bad life.

In the past, he never dared to think he would live to over ninety, and still be able to die inside the General's Mansion.

On the last day.

Wang Zhao finally rushed back from the Wu Kingdom.

A big man with red eyes guarded the mourning hall for a whole day and night.

Then, according to Yang Yong's request, he was buried on a small hill outside Qinghe.

This location.

Was chosen by Li Rui and Yang Yong together back then.

Originally, they thought that when Li Rui left, Yang Yong would bury him here; they didn't expect Yang Yong to use it first.

People say cultivators are heartless and cut off the red dust.

But in fact, this isn't cutting off; most of them are just outlived.

Li Rui had long been used to sending people off.

In Qinghe, for an ordinary person to live to over ninety was a happy funeral, and there wasn't too much sadness.

At most, he just carried a pot of wine and rambled in front of Old Yang's grave for a day and a night.

Nostalgic.

Cultivating immortality is like this; one always has to have the white-haired send off the black-haired, though of course, it could also be the white-haired.

Fortunately, Li Rui had done it often before and had long since seen through it.

His heart for seeking the Dao became even clearer.

Not many days later, he sat in the carriage again.

And returned to the Qingwei Sect.

"The Northern Defense Army has reached a truce agreement with the Northern Polar Demon Sect, and both sides have retreated ten miles."

Li Rui looked at the letter Ning Zhongtian sent from the Northern Plains.

He also understood why the usually strong Northern Defense Army and the Northern Polar Demon Sect were willing to negotiate.

It was nothing more than too many people dying.

Everyone was afraid.

Perhaps neither the Northern Defense Army nor the Northern Polar Demon Sect expected that so many people would die in this battle.

Fighting a war was to compete for spirit mines.

Not to truly exhaust their foundations.

If they continued to fight, their foundations would become thin, and at that time, it would only benefit those Immortal Sects that had long been eyeing them covetously.

A truce was inevitable.

Cultivators treat the life and death of mortals as ants, but in the Northern Plains, cultivators are the same.

Who knows how many cultivators and martial artists were buried in the wilderness.

To cultivate truth, one must first cultivate life.

To put it plainly, it means one must first stay alive.

Compared to those cultivators, the people on Changqing Peak were undoubtedly much happier.

Of course.

All of this was actually the result of Li Rui's painstaking management behind the scenes.

Otherwise, one would have to risk one's life for a single elixir.

Even an Imperial Prince sometimes couldn't avoid the custom.

Spirit Mine, Wei Wang's Mansion.

"Your Highness."

An old man walked into Zhu Gan's room.

Zhu Gan looked at Zhou Tong, who walked into the room, with expectation in his eyes: "Sir, did my uncle-in-law give any instructions?"

Ever since the last failed breakthrough.

Zhu Gan hadn't been discouraged, but instead had gathered all his strength to sprint towards the Heavenly Phenomenon realm again.

But as the saying goes, one burst of energy, then exhaustion.

After one failure, how easy is it to break through again?

Even for an Imperial Prince, it is as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Zhu Gan truly had no bottom, which is why he sent Zhou Tong back to the capital to find his uncle-in-law, the State Preceptor, to seek help.

Today, Zhou Tong finally returned.

Zhou Tong smiled and looked at Zhu Gan: "The State Preceptor said, Your Highness need not panic."

"The reason Your Highness failed is because you are naturally water-inclined, so the Great Dao is obstructed; the State Preceptor said to change to another path."

Zhu Gan was somewhat surprised:

"Change to another path?"

He didn't understand what his uncle-in-law meant.

Zhou Tong smiled slightly:

"The State Preceptor has a set of bone-changing and soul-shifting techniques, which might help Your Highness re-ascend to the Heavenly Phenomenon."

Zhu Gan's pupils shrank sharply, and he blurted out:

"Bone-changing and soul-shifting?!"

Late at night.

Li Rui, who was cultivating in his room, felt a chill behind his back.

'Where did this cold wind come from?'

Li Rui thought to himself.

Then he crawled into the quilt.

Opening his eyes again.

The clouds and mist dissipated, and he had already arrived before the white jade steps.

Ever since the last time, Li Rui decided to temporarily not meet with Wu De.

He stepped onto the white jade steps with large strides.

Soon, he arrived at the residence of Daoist Lord Wanshou, located in a corner of the Grand Void Dao Field.

It was still the same as before.

The phantom of the kind old man, Wanshou Daojun, seemed to have triggered a mechanism; as soon as Li Rui entered the door, a gentle yet slightly hoarse voice slowly sounded.

"The essence of the supreme Dao is dark and mysterious; the extreme of the supreme Dao is dim and silent; without seeing or hearing, embrace the spirit and be still, the form will naturally be correct. You must be still and clear, do not labor your form, do not shake your essence, then you can live long."

Li Rui skillfully pulled over the meditation cushion in the courtyard.

And sat down casually.

Every time he came, what Wanshou Daojun taught was different.

He also gradually figured out what this Immortal Lord's inheritance actually was.

Let's put it this way.

Wanshou Daojun's inheritance was in these words.

The Great Dao was hidden in the bits and pieces of teaching.

Once you entered the door, you were qualified to become a student and could listen to the teacher's lectures; how much you learned depended on your own fortune.

Some students were intelligent and understood at a single point.

That was obtaining the inheritance.

Some students were stupid, and even if taught hand-in-hand, it was still useless.

Li Rui belonged to the former.

After years of listening, he gradually gained some insights.

What Wanshou True Lord said pointed to the Great Dao of Longevity.

The two words 'Great Dao' were mysterious.

Li Rui didn't necessarily have to follow Wanshou Daojun's path, but listening more was always beneficial.

Listening to the Dao all night.

Early morning.

Li Rui sat up from the bed, looking spirited.

Listening to Wanshou Daojun's lecture last night, he actually had some insights, as if he could capture that strand of ethereal Great Dao aura.

If this were known by those stuck at the peak of Tongxuan, they would definitely be jealous to the point of red eyes.

Even an Imperial Prince like Zhu Gan, whose family learning was terrifyingly profound, only dared to touch the Great Dao when he reached the peak of Tongxuan.

Looking at Li Rui.

He had only just reached the Middle Stage of Tongxuan, and he already had insights.

Li Rui was in a good mood.

He pushed open the door and walked into the small courtyard; the green bamboo outside was lush and extremely pleasing.

At this time.

A noble-looking young man slowly walked out from the bamboo sea.

"Master."

Yuan An saw Li Rui in the courtyard and bowed with a smile.

Li Rui: "Young Marquis."

Yuan An was worthy of being Yuan Dingting's son.

Over these years, he had constantly gone down the mountain to travel, not only without causing trouble but even performing extremely well.

If it weren't for his status as the Young Marquis, countless Elders of the Qingwei Sect would have long wanted to take him as a true disciple.

Yuan An: "Master, the Wu Kingdom discovered several mountain villages where mortals were refined into human puppets by demonic cultivators; the Wu Kingdom government wanted to ask the Qingwei Sect disciples to help investigate, I accepted the mission, but there are still a few things I don't understand, so I came to ask Master."

Li Rui smiled slightly:

"Young Marquis, please speak."

Just as Yuan Dingting said when he asked him to be an instructor back then.

In terms of martial arts, there were many in the Marquis's Mansion better than him.

The reason Yuan Dingting let the then-young Young Marquis bow to Li Rui as an instructor was to learn temperament.

Specifically, it was the experience of walking the Jianghu.

Every time Yuan An returned from his travels over these years, he would come to find Li Rui and ask this master of his to help review.

Every time he could gain something.

This had become his habit.

This thing sounded mysterious, but it was actually just the experience of the older generation; he didn't care at first, but as the number of times he asked increased, the respect in his heart for Li Rui also grew.

Yuan An spoke: "The affairs of the world are nothing more than fame and profit; although demonic cultivators act arrogantly, it is nothing more than for profit, but I have read the files, and that demonic cultivator is very strange; he only refines people into human puppets, but has no extra actions."

The Qingwei Sect and a group of Immortal Sects.

In order to encourage disciples to sharpen themselves, they would all issue missions for disciples to complete to obtain rewards.

Besides the missions issued by the Elders in the sect, the missions of the Yu and Wu Kingdom courts occupied the vast majority.

It was precisely because of this reason.

People of the two countries also began to gradually get used to these immortal cultivators.

One could often see Immortal Sect disciples going down the mountain to slay demons and eliminate evil.

Li Rui didn't answer, but asked back: "Young Marquis, do you know what principle a mature Jianghu person must understand?"

Yuan An blinked:

"I don't know."

Li Rui spoke slowly:

"None of my business."

"..."

Yuan An was stunned: "None... none of my business?"

Li Rui nodded: "Correct, none of your business."

"Since you can't figure it out, then don't do it; when you figure it out, then do it."

Yuan An scratched his head: "Master, this isn't quite right, if you retreat from everything, how can you become a strong person in the future? You can't always retreat."

Li Rui smiled:

"Young Marquis, people are valuable for having self-knowledge."

"You must be good at using your own status."

"What is your status?"

"You are the Young Marquis of Annan, the future Little Marquis; your father is the eleventh in the world, your mother is the legitimate daughter of the Cui clan; no matter how approachable you are, it is useless, and personally taking risks is even more stupid."

"Since you can't figure it out, you don't need to think about it; no one in the world can force you."

"If I were the Young Marquis, I would choose to find that Brother Pei of yours and directly level the village."

Don't need to think...

Directly level the village...

Yuan An widened his eyes; Li Rui's few words had a huge impact on him.

When he went up to Changqing Peak, he originally thought Li Rui's answer would be something like 'be careful and cautious, think twice before acting'.

But he never expected Li Rui to say this.

Far beyond expectations.

But soon, his eyes lit up.

"That's right, my dad is the eleventh in the world!"

(End of chapter)