Chapter 482: Imperial Palace

"Hahaha, good, very good."

"Zilu, Anguang, with you here, why should I worry about the prosperity of my Great Yu!"

The sound of the Emperor's hearty laughter came from the Imperial Study.

Eunuch Zheng, who was familiar with the Emperor's temperament, had long since sent away the palace maids and eunuchs outside the Imperial Study; after all, the Son of Heaven must have dignity, how could he be overheard at will.

He had been able to serve by the Emperor's side for so long.

It was because he was meticulous and tight-lipped.

Of course, it was also because when the Emperor was brought into the palace from Shu, he was already the little eunuch serving him personally.

He didn't know how many great eunuchs envied him.

Grand Secretary Zhang looked at his nose and his heart, bowing slightly: "This is the minister's duty."

This head of the civil officials, famous throughout the world, was extremely rule-abiding; there was not the slightest transgression in etiquette, even to the point of being rigid.

Standing next to Grand Secretary Zhang.

Was a burly middle-aged man, who was none other than Marquis Dingyuan, Liao Qi, courtesy name Anguang.

He was the other person the Emperor spoke of.

Marquis Dingyuan also cupped his hands: "It is due to Your Majesty's brilliance."

But apart from the two of them.

The third person in the Imperial Study appeared somewhat special.

Li Rui stood behind the two big shots, not speaking, just listening quietly; if one didn't look closely, one wouldn't even notice he was in the room.

After the morning court session today.

The Emperor had called the three of them—him, Grand Secretary Zhang, and Marquis Dingyuan.

It was precisely because he was greatly satisfied with the significant decrease in the number of immortal cultivators causing chaos in various places recently.

Grand Secretary Zhang was the head of the Mountain-Seeking Division, so being praised was expected.

As for Marquis Dingyuan.

It was because after Yuan Dingting was enfeoffed as a Marquis and went to the south, his influence in the military became even greater; he oversaw the battle in thirteen military towns alone and also made indelible contributions to suppressing the chaos caused by immortal cultivators.

The Emperor was in an excellent mood.

He kept the three of them for quite a while longer.

Suddenly.

He brought up a matter out of the blue: "The Fourth Prince has been acting steadily recently, but he has been used to being idle in the past; Zilu, Anguang, you can teach him more in the future."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The two big shots in front said yes.

Li Rui also followed suit and cupped his hands.

In his heart, he was secretly pondering.

After the Fourth Prince, Zhu Ting, entered the palace, the Emperor had called this former prince who discussed the Dao to be responsible for supervising the coordination of immortal cultivators throughout the world; to put it bluntly, it was to build good relationships with the Mountain-Seeking Division, the Imperial Observatory, the Ministry of Rites, and the major military towns of the world.

Judging from the results.

Zhu Ting had done quite well.

Of course, this could not be done without Li Rui's bridge-building.

After having a meal with Zhu Ting last time, Zhu Ting often sought him out, and he helped whenever he could.

The relationship between the two was good, and Zhu Ting's performance was also quite good.

Although there was nothing particularly eye-catching, in the court, stability was already the greatest achievement.

Especially for a prince.

But what made Li Rui pay more attention was the Emperor praising Zhu Ting in front of the three of them.

Especially Grand Secretary Zhang and Marquis Dingyuan.

It was very worth pondering.

Clearly, the Emperor wanted to cultivate the Fourth Prince.

Although it was just a sprout, for Zhu Ting, it was already a great joy; this meant that Zhu Ting had truly entered the vision of his father, the Emperor.

For a prince like Zhu Ting, whose maternal family was weak and who was not favored, this step could potentially be a chasm.

After the Emperor finished speaking.

He heard Eunuch Zheng's voice outside the door: "Your Majesty, it is time for a meal."

Upon hearing this.

The Emperor slapped his thigh and stood up: "Let's go, Zilu, Anguang, since Minister Li is here too, how about hot pot?"

Grand Secretary Zhang immediately spoke: "My wife is waiting at home, so I am afraid I cannot accompany Your Majesty."

The Emperor couldn't help but feel regret: "Zilu, you really don't have the life to enjoy blessings."

Everyone in the capital knew.

Grand Secretary Zhang was afraid of his wife.

Afterwards.

Li Rui accompanied the Emperor for another hot pot meal.

Apart from him, there was also Marquis Dingyuan.

The Emperor still ate heartily, and most of the time, he was talking to Marquis Dingyuan.

Regarding this Marquis who had the greatest authority before Yuan Dingting was enfeoffed, Li Rui actually only knew about him through intelligence.

It was said that this Marquis Dingyuan was peerless in bravery.

But at least today in front of the Emperor, he was just a man of few words.

After finishing lunch.

Only then did they leave the Imperial City and arrive at the Mountain-Seeking Division office in the Thousand-Step Corridor.

"Such domineering spiritual power..."

In the room of the Mountain-Seeking Division.

Li Rui pondered secretly.

That day, he had swallowed Daoist Xuan Yu's spiritual fetus directly, obtaining the spiritual power within it.

Calculating it.

It was much more fierce than top-grade spirit stones.

'Sure enough, robbing others is the fastest; no wonder demonic cultivators in the world are never wiped out.'

Li Rui thought, smiling and shaking his head.

Naturally, he wouldn't become a demonic cultivator.

Demonic cultivation had many advantages, but the mere fact that the casualty rate far exceeded that of other cultivators was enough for Li Rui to exclude it completely.

"Very good."

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

With the massive spiritual power provided by Daoist Xuan Yu's spiritual fetus, as long as he patiently refined it, it wouldn't be long before he could steadily step into the early stage of the Heavenly Phenomenon Realm, with the fetus formed.

In fact, even if an ordinary cultivator swallowed Daoist Xuan Yu's spiritual fetus.

It would be impossible to break through so easily.

One reason is that the spiritual fetus's spiritual energy is contaminated with living souls, making it more impure and extremely difficult to absorb.

The second is that there is a bottleneck in forming the fetus.

Otherwise, wouldn't everyone be able to become a great cultivator as long as there was enough spiritual energy?

However, these two problems were not problems for Li Rui.

He possessed the Primordial Immortal Martial Dao Fetus, which is a higher-dimensional existence compared to the spiritual fetus, so he was not afraid of impurities at all.

As for the bottleneck.

Li Rui had even less of one.

Just waiting for the Dao Fetus to completely digest Daoist Xuan Yu's spiritual fetus, he would be able to stand firmly in the Heavenly Phenomenon Realm as a matter of course.

"Ji Lei again."

A figure appeared in his mind.

Swallowing Daoist Xuan Yu's spiritual fetus also incidentally obtained all of Daoist Xuan Yu's memories; in Daoist Xuan Yu's memories, Li Rui discovered good news.

This world has the contemplation method of the Profound Dao.

And there is also bad news.

That contemplation method is in the hands of the Arctic Immortal Sect.

'It's just a bit tricky.'

Li Rui pondered secretly.

Contemplation methods are extremely important in every Immortal Sect; let alone that he is on the opposing side, even the Elders of the Arctic Immortal Sect might not necessarily be able to obtain it.

'The contemplation method still cannot be rushed.'

Li Rui shook his head.

Fortunately, the greatest use of the contemplation method is in the step of Dao Integration; there is still a long time before reaching that step.

What he lacks least is patience.

Putting away his thoughts.

Li Rui began to operate the Wan Gu Chang Qing Gong to help the Dao Fetus little person digest the spiritual power within Daoist Xuan Yu's spiritual fetus as quickly as possible.

At this time.

Inside the Imperial Palace.

"Fourth Brother, going out of the palace?"

The Fifth Prince, Zhu Gan, looked at the Fourth Prince, Zhu Ting, who was walking towards the palace gate, and said with a smile.

Zhu Ting saw Zhu Gan and slowly stopped his steps:

"So it's Fifth Brother, that's right, I'm going to the Mountain-Seeking Division."

Zhu Gan: "Fourth Brother is quite diligent in going to the Mountain-Seeking Division."

While speaking, he was also sizing up this Fourth Brother whom he had never paid attention to before.

There are actually not many princes who can enter the Imperial City, just four or five.

In the past, the Fourth Prince, Zhu Ting, had no reputation.

To put it bluntly, Zhu Ting's mother was a low-class palace maid selected from the countryside for the sake of the royal family's reputation; how could she compare to him, the Fifth Prince backed by the Gao family and the Imperial Preceptor.

But never expected.

Having taken a Witch tribe wife, he actually entered the Imperial Palace.

I heard he even received praise from his father, the Emperor.

It really is turning the world upside down.

"It's all for Father's affairs."

Zhu Ting smiled slightly.

Zhu Gan narrowed his eyes: "Then Fourth Brother must be very diligent."

Smiling on the surface, he was sneering in his heart.

Who doesn't know that Zhu Ting going to the Mountain-Seeking Division is most likely to find Li Rui.

He still couldn't see.

This Fourth Brother is clearly trying to use Li Rui to befriend Gu Changsheng.

'The abacus is well-calculated, but it's a pity you don't have that ability.'

Zhu Gan cupped his hands.

In his view, apart from the First Prince, who had an extraordinarily noble status and had long since stepped into the Heavenly Phenomenon Realm, the other brothers posed no threat to him at all.

Suddenly.

He asked with a smile: "I heard Fourth Brother has an excellent relationship with that Minister Li?"

Zhu Ting: "Fifth Brother is joking, Minister Li is reliable in his work, I just ask him for advice more often."

Zhu Gan said "Oh."

He didn't say anything more, turned around, and walked in the opposite direction to Zhu Ting.

He had just obtained a secret.

Li Rui was not the secret guard set up by the Emperor in Qinghe as rumored, but only started practicing martial arts after the age of seventy.

In other words.

In a short thirty years, he stepped into the Profound Realm.

'Such bone structure...'

Zhu Gan licked his lips.

'No rush, no rush.'

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 483 =====