Chapter 477: Hindering the Dao

Zhu Gan.

In the Li Xunshan Office's room, Li Rui's ancient scroll fluttered noisily in the breeze from the window, but his thoughts were not on the book—they had drifted to the nearby imperial palace.

Being targeted by a Tianxiang is no small matter.

Especially when that Tianxiang is an imperial prince.

The Holy Emperor has many sons, but only two have reached the Tianxiang realm—and Prince Five, Zhu Gan, is one of them.

Even if he commits grave offenses, he is still worthy of pardon.

The Great Yu imperial house maintains control over the land not only through its formidable foundations but also because the emperor himself possesses immense strength.

Throughout history, emperors may have been cruel or radical, but never foolish.

I heard that though they did not restore his title of Prince Wei, he has already returned to the palace.

Now he has been ordered by the Holy Emperor to compile the imperial histories.

It seems like neglect, but those with clear eyes in the bureaucracy know it is a carefully planned step toward his eventual reinstatement.

After all, Zhu Gan killed the Qingwei Sect's prodigy Chang Su Xuan; even though Chang Su Xuan's master has defected to the Northern Pole Demon Sect, the Yu court must still preserve its dignity.

'Did the Purple Yang Elder leak the information?'

'Unlikely.'

Li Rui pondered silently.

He felt strongly that Prince Five had sent men to investigate him in Yunzhou—not as simply as it appeared.

After learning of this.

He had already sent word back to Yunzhou.

Since they were in his hometown, he wouldn't let Zhu Gan have an easy time.

As Li Rui was thinking.

A familiar voice rang out: 'Brother Li, you've got to help your little brother.'

He looked up.

There came Nie Nie Siming, followed by Ning Ning Zhongtian and Tan Hu.

Li Rui smiled slightly: 'We're brothers—speak freely.'

Nie Nie Siming laughed heartily: 'Still the most open-hearted Brother Li.'

'Recently, a demon cultivator in Jiangzhou has been slaughtering entire villages with a white banner—suspected of forging the Ten Thousand Souls Banner by using common folk. The Holy Emperor despises such acts, so he ordered us to capture him.'

'I took Ning Zhongtian and Huzi to pursue him, but he escaped using talisman arts—that's why I came to you, Brother Li, to deal with him.'

Li Rui fell silent for a moment.

'Below Tongxuan, talismans—that's indeed troublesome.'

Ji Lei, the Northern Pole Demon Sect cultivator, was the best proof of that.

Though cultivators lack the raw killing power of martial artists, when it comes to survival, they are vastly superior.

Talismans must be countered by talismans.

'This concerns living beings—it must be handled urgently.'

With that,

Li Rui rose and immediately led Nie Nie Siming and the others out of the Li Xunshan Office.

As they walked,

Nie Nie Siming continued: 'See? I told you Brother Li is the most righteous—he'd never stand idle.'

He turned to Ning Ning Zhongtian.

Li Rui smiled: 'I say righteousness often, but I've suffered myself—I help when I can.'

He was no saint.

He would never do what that Sichuan swordsman did—abandon his cultivation to slay every demon cultivator in the land—but since this was his duty, and he could prevent countless lives from suffering, he wouldn't ignore it.

The Li Xunshan Office has four divisions, and normally there's no need to leave.

But if the front lines require it, they have an obligation to go.

Like today.

Li Rui didn't need Nie Nie Siming's men to summon their magic treasures—he pulled out his own, a small boat, and carried everyone toward Jiangzhou.

The flying magic treasure crossed ten thousand li.

That same day, they arrived from the capital to Jiangzhou.

Green willows cast shade, clear streams murmured.

Gazing at the lush, vibrant scene,

Li Rui couldn't help but praise.

'A fine place.'

It was his first time in Jiangzhou, this southern land.

It was the wealthiest region of Yu—its countless tens of thousands of acres of fertile fields alone would make anyone from Yunzhou drool.

Not to mention its thriving waterways—traveling north to the capital from Jiangzhou takes only three days!

Its commerce even surpassed that of the capital.

Nie Nie Siming had been here before and knew Jiangzhou well—he smoothly entered the city and headed straight for the Regional Commander of Huaijiang Town.

The capital's central authority, the Li Xunshan Office, is responsible for capturing rogue cultivators across the land.

But locally,

it is usually the responsibility of regional military garrisons—only when they cannot handle a matter does the Li Xunshan Office intervene.

The Regional Commander of Huaijiang Town was a burly, sturdy middle-aged man.

His wide robe was stretched taut over his frame.

'Lord Li, General Nie.'

Fan Wen, the Regional Commander of Huaijiang, boisterously bowed, his demeanor warm—he didn't even mention the demon cultivator but immediately led Li Rui's group to his residence.

They had drunk three cups of wine before

Fan Wen spoke: 'Back in my day, I served under General Zhou, hunting sea monsters. General Zhou's prowess—I have nothing but admiration.'

Li Rui finally understood.

The General Zhou Fan Wen spoke of was none other than Zhou Zhou Dinghai, now the Provincial Military Commander of the Three Garrisons.

They had both served under Zhou Zhou Dinghai—no wonder Fan Wen felt naturally close.

As they drank and chatted,

most of the time Fan Wen recounted Zhou Zhou Dinghai's heroic deeds quelling sea rebellions in the south.

Only after arriving in the south

did Li Rui realize how famed Zhou Zhou Dinghai was.

Along the way, they had already heard over a hundred people praise Zhou Zhou Dinghai's achievements.

After finishing tales of Zhou Zhou Dinghai,

Fan Wen lavished praise on Li Rui.

After all, Li Rui's exploits at Qingwei Sect were nothing short of legendary across the land.

Li Rui looked at the enthusiastic Fan Wen and felt a quiet emotion.

He had reached an age where he had friends wherever he went.

After many rounds of wine,

Li Rui finally turned to the matter: 'General Fan, have you heard of the white banner demon cultivator?'

At the mention of the white banner,

Fan Wen's drunkenness vanished—he slapped his thigh and growled: 'Brother Li, you don't know—he recently committed another atrocity, slaughtering over a hundred civilians. If I hadn't arrived in time, he'd have wiped out another village.'

Speaking of the demon cultivator, Fan Wen was furious.

Li Rui murmured: 'I know a bit of talisman arts—perhaps I can help.'

Fan Wen grinned widely:

'Lord Li, no need for modesty—I trust your talisman arts implicitly. This time, we must make him pay with blood for every life he took, to honor the dead!'

Dusk.

On a beach along the East Sea, fishermen occasionally passed by, their nets slung over their shoulders, excitedly recounting the day's catch, leaving faint footprints on the white sand.

'That man is strange.'

One fisherman glanced toward a distant figure and muttered.

An older man scolded quietly: 'Don't you know what "misfortune comes from the tongue" means? Elders say monks and Daoists are best left alone—even speaking of them is dangerous.'

The young fisherman wanted to argue.

But under the older man's fierce gaze, he fell silent.

Both quickened their pace toward the nearby fishing village.

It was no wonder the young fisherman said that.

Every child in the village knew: that Daoist fished without a hook.

A sea breeze blew.

The waves crashed, soaking the hem of Su Xuan Yu's robe, but he showed no reaction—he stood as still as stone.

Only at midnight

did a man with a hawk-like nose slowly emerge from the red mangrove forest beyond the beach.

Li Rui has arrived in Jiangzhou City.

The hawk-nosed man spoke, clutching a white banner in his hand.

If Nie Nie Siming or Fan Wen were present, they would immediately recognize him as the demonic cultivator they were hunting.

"Mm."

Su Xuan Yu Dao Ren nodded: "Follow the plan we agreed upon."

"Understood."

Their exchange was extremely brief.

In just three or four words, the hawk-nosed demonic cultivator turned and left without looking back.

Throughout it all,

Su Xuan Yu never turned to look at the demonic cultivator once.

A flicker of revulsion passed through his eyes.

"If I were still in Qingwei Sect, I would have killed you first."

The thought crossed Su Xuan Yu's mind.

His gaze quickly shifted to shock.

He was no longer Su Xuan Yu Dao Ren of Qingwei Sect.

Having left Qingwei Sect for so many years, he had never abandoned fishing; whenever free, he returned here to fish.

It had become a habit spanning centuries—he could not change it even if he tried.

Su Xuan Yu sighed softly and slowly rose to his feet.

He retracted his fishing rod.

He walked away alone, like an old fisherman by the sea.

"Zhu Gan. Li Rui."

A flash of killing intent passed through his eyes.

Zhu Gan was his disciple's killer—he must avenge him, but Zhu Gan was now at the Celestial Phenomenon realm and rarely left the imperial capital; he had no chance to strike.

Since he could not kill Zhu Gan,

he would have to kill Li Rui instead.

If Li Rui had died that night on Mount Changqing Peak, he might have secured the spot to enter the Immortal Realm—why would he now be forced to do such vile deeds for the Northern Pole Immortal Sect?

Since he failed to kill him before, he would kill him now.

Yes.

Several major upheavals in Yu State were deliberately orchestrated by him.

He did so both to fulfill the Northern Pole Immortal Sect's mission and to lure Li Rui out.

He already knew Li Rui had gone to the capital and become an official in the Li Xunshan Office.

He had been waiting for an opportunity all along.

Now, the opportunity had finally arrived.

Though Li Rui was only a third-rank official, his status was extraordinarily unique—he was the tutor of Yuan Yuan Dingting's only son, a guest minister of Wenxian Tower, a man favored by Grand Secretary Zhang, and even the Emperor himself held him in high regard.

In Yu State, there were very few individuals tied to the Emperor, Grand Secretary Zhang, Yuan Yuan Dingting, and Gu Gu Changsheng.

If he could kill Li Rui, it would be a great achievement.

Moreover, since that night,

Li Rui had become a thorn in his heart.

Unless he killed Li Rui, his mind could not find peace.

For a Celestial Phenomenon cultivator, an unsettled mind was a grave matter.

If so, he would handle both his private vengeance and official duty at once.

Su Xuan Yu Dao Ren walked with a cold expression.

Li Rui's figure surfaced in his mind.

"Blame your bad fate—you alone stood in my way. You must die."

(End of Chapter)