Chapter 536: One Person Equals Ten Cities

A small hill in the Ten Thousand Mountains.

Looking from afar, one could just see the valley shrouded in black mist not far away.

Li Rui's expression was solemn.

Nie Siming, Ning Zhongtian, and the others were all lingering in fear.

Fu Wei was dead; all three dragon-seeking scholars were dead.

"Green Dragon stained with evil..."

Li Rui said lowly.

The dragon vein turned evil, and its power was extremely extraordinary, directly causing a Tongxuan cultivator to die from the backlash.

If he had used the Immortal Domain, he might have been able to save Fu Wei.

But he would have suffered a backlash as a result.

Having lived for so many years, Li Rui had long understood a truth: random kindness only makes one die faster.

So he took Nie Siming and the others and left without hesitation.

Facts also proved.

His approach was correct.

The speed at which the dragon vein turned evil was too fast; if he had made a move to save people, it was not certain that they would be able to walk out of that valley unscathed now.

Just as Li Rui was pondering.

Several divine rainbows streaked across the sky.

Nie Siming narrowed his eyes: "It's the Wu Kingdom, and the people of the Qingwei Sect."

Originally, the Yu Kingdom court wanted to hide the truth from the world, trying to fix the dragon's head first, and when it was a *fait accompli*, at worst, give the Wu Kingdom and the Qingwei Sect some compensation.

But now.

It had already fallen through.

The matter had become very tricky.

Li Rui pondered: "Let's go, leave this place of right and wrong first."

The news had just been sent back to the capital.

That day.

The Imperial Preceptor led dozens of *fangshi* to the Qinghe Enclosure at the foot of the Ten Thousand Mountains.

"Imperial Preceptor."

Li Rui led everyone to welcome him.

The Imperial Preceptor just glanced at Li Rui and said indifferently: "Taiping Ling Li Rui, you have handled the matter poorly and deserve punishment, but considering that we are short of people, you will first go to negotiate with the Wu Court and the Qingwei Sect; as for the punishment, after returning to the capital, His Majesty will decide."

Li Rui did not show any displeasure or resentment, only cupping his hands: "Yes, Imperial Preceptor."

After saying this.

The Imperial Preceptor led several *fangshi* straight to the Ten Thousand Mountains.

In just a few words, he controlled the Qinghe Enclosure.

Li Rui was extremely sensible and returned to his own courtyard.

It was not until a full half-hour later.

Nie Siming, Yuan Xiong, and Ning Zhongtian came to Li Rui's residence.

"His hand is really long; we don't belong to him."

Nie Siming said indignantly.

How could they not see it?

This Imperial Preceptor clearly wanted to marginalize them so they couldn't intervene in the dragon vein matter.

In other words.

It was slapping Yuan Dingting in the face.

Although the Holy Emperor did not order Yuan Dingting to participate in the dragon vein matter this time, anyone with a discerning eye knew that since the Holy Emperor sent Li Rui to Yunzhou, if Yuan Dingting didn't make a move, that was absolutely impossible.

To put it bluntly.

The dragon vein matter was too big; it couldn't be managed by the Imperial Preceptor alone, so Li Rui was the eye placed by the Holy Emperor beside the Imperial Preceptor.

Li Rui smiled indifferently: "Brother Nie, do not say these words again."

Regarding today's matter.

He was very open-minded.

They were all adults; the process was not important, the result was.

What was the result?

Wasn't it that the Imperial Preceptor hadn't arrived yet, and the dragon vein turned evil? Li Rui, as the chief official here, being punished was a matter of course.

Making excuses was useless.

Li Rui also felt it was reasonable.

Of course, the reason he felt this way was that his backing was strong enough; this matter was not something that could be controlled by human effort to begin with. After returning to the capital, he wouldn't even be blamed, and the Emperor might even offer a few words of comfort.

Who told him to be the proud disciple's disciple of Gao Tianxia.

Moreover, he could take this opportunity to leave this muddy water of the dragon vein.

Why not do it?

Li Rui was borrowing power to withdraw.

As for suffering anger?

Suffering the anger of a First-Ranker was really nothing.

This day.

Li Rui was cultivating in the room of the Qinghe Enclosure.

Suddenly.

Tan Hu ran in: "Big Brother, the Wu Kingdom has sent people, and they are acquaintances."

Li Rui's brows lifted slightly.

Now that the dragon vein matter involved the Wu Kingdom and the Qingwei Sect, the Imperial Preceptor told him to negotiate with both sides, but before he could go, the people of the Wu Kingdom came to his door themselves.

"Please invite them in."

Before long.

Three people appeared in Li Rui's small courtyard with Tan Hu.

They were indeed acquaintances.

Xia Xiaotang and Sang Kong, and another person—although he had never met him, Li Rui knew the other party's identity: Wu Kingdom Chief Priest, Zhe Pu, Heavenly Phenomenon Realm, Second-Rank official.

"Lord Zhe, Lord Sang, Miss Xiaotang."

Li Rui cupped his hands with a smile.

Zhe Pu returned the salute meticulously, Sang Kong also returned the salute with a serious face, and only Xia Xiaotang had a grinning appearance, taking the lead: "Senior, long time no see."

"It has indeed been a long time."

Li Rui also laughed *hehe*.

After greeting everyone to sit down.

Sang Kong then spoke: "Brother Li, the three of us came this time for the dragon vein matter in the Ten Thousand Mountains."

He chose to get straight to the point.

Li Rui did not feel surprised at all: "I won't hide anything; this time the dragon vein is a must-win, and as long as I can set the price, I will give it."

This sentence could be said to be quite domineering.

In the negotiation, it was even more of a "hand-mixed" move.

The reason he did this.

First, the dragon vein being able to set a price was already a big profit in itself; no matter how much he gave, the Holy Emperor would have no opinion.

This was guessing the Holy Emperor's heart.

Second, Xia Xiaotang's appearance already indicated the Great Witch's attitude.

Hearing Li Rui's words, Sang Kong couldn't help but look at Zhe Pu.

Don't look at Zhe Pu not saying a word when he entered the door, but those who know the business all know that when negotiating, the one who speaks the least is the one who counts the most.

Li Rui didn't urge him either, picking up the teacup and taking a sip.

Just after putting it down.

He heard Zhe Pu say: "Lord Li, the Wu Kingdom can give up the Ten Thousand Mountains, but there is one request: I hope Lord Li can be the Earth Priest for the Wu Kingdom."

Earth Priest?

Li Rui was startled.

He naturally knew the Earth Priest Zhe Pu spoke of.

The Wu Kingdom was different from the Yu Kingdom; it was a nation where religion and state stood together. Besides the Great Witch being the undisputed leader, the Witch Religion also had three major priests.

They were the Heaven Priest, Earth Priest, and Human Priest.

The Heaven Priest was a First-Rank expert with high prestige.

The Human Priest was the Zhe Pu before him.

Besides that, there was an Earth Priest.

Since the previous Earth Priest died of old age, the Wu Kingdom had been in chaos, so this position had been vacant for nearly a hundred years.

What was even more unexpected was that such an important position would be given to an outsider like Li Rui to hold.

How could Li Rui not be surprised?

And the Wu Kingdom didn't want money or land, but was actually aiming at him.

One had to know, at this time, even if the Wu Kingdom said they wanted to give up ten cities, the Yu Kingdom might agree.

Converted, one person equals ten cities!

Li Rui's smile became playful in an instant.

With his intelligence, how could he not see that the Wu Kingdom could not possibly give up the dragon vein for him, a Second-Ranker.

What the Wu Kingdom cared about was clearly his other identity—Gao Tianxia's disciple's disciple.

The Yu Kingdom could now be at ease because of its relationship with Gao Tianxia.

By comparison.

The situation of the Wu Kingdom was much more difficult.

Going directly to Gao Tianxia was certainly not possible, but they could "curve to save the nation" and get on Gao Tianxia's disciple's disciple; once it was connected, the value to the Wu Kingdom might really be greater than the dragon vein.

And the Wu Kingdom actually knew.

They had no power to compete, and couldn't compete.

This was undoubtedly the best choice for them.

Li Rui thought without thinking and said: "Lord Zhe, you have really stumped me; I cannot make the decision on this matter."

Zhe Pu nodded.

Li Rui's words were already in his expectation; a Yu Kingdom official going to another country to hold an official position indeed required more consideration.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 537 =====