Chapter 58: The Four Bone Stages

“You’re Sun Ming?”

Li Rui sized up the fat man before him, whose girth matched his height almost perfectly, forming a square.

No wonder the black market is so lucrative—just look at this fat Sun.

Sun Ming squinted his small eyes into slits, looking amiable, and rubbed his hands. “Master Li, I’ve been praying day and night for you to arrive. With you here, the black market will surely grow strong and reclaim its former glory.”

“Enough.”

Seeing Sun Ming about to continue, Li Rui waved a hand to cut him off.

He knew these Jianghu clichés himself—he could spout them for three days and nights without repeating.

No need to listen to false flattery.

“Master Li—”

Sun Ming stiffened, a flicker of tension rising.

Clearly, this old man wasn’t easy to deceive.

He silently cursed his luck.

Nobody likes a strict superior, especially in a place like the black market.

Li Rui pointed to Liang He behind him. “Have the accountant prepare the ledgers. From now on, Liang He will handle all financial matters.”

He added:

“Don’t tell me the ledgers were lost, burned, or unreported missing—those are grave offenses. You know that.”

Sun Ming stared at Li Rui’s half-smiling face and broke into a cold sweat.

The ledgers were the black market’s lifeline.

They concealed countless illicit dealings—handing them over meant surrendering his own leverage.

But if he refused—

He was called commander in name, but in truth he was just a higher-ranking ordinary disciple. If he truly angered Li Rui, he’d get no mercy.

“Yes, yes, I’ll send someone right away.”

Sun Ming forced a smile.

His fear of this new supervisor grew by threefold.

He’d served several supervisors before—all martial artists, Jianghu veterans—who didn’t understand ledgers at all. As long as the silver and treasures flowed, they never interfered.

“I’ve run into a real expert!”

Seeing Sun Ming agree, Li Rui finally let him go. “Alright, get to work.”

Hearing Li Rui finally release him, Sun Ming exhaled sharply and vanished like smoke, terrified of having to speak to Li Rui again.

Soon after,

the fifth floor was left with only Li Rui and Liang He.

“What did you notice?”

Li Rui asked Liang He with a smile.

Liang He had followed him all day and watched everything—he must have formed some opinions.

He was testing Liang He.

A loyal subordinate wasn’t hard to find, but loyalty alone wasn’t enough. Liang He had solid martial skill but little Jianghu experience—Li Rui intended to guide him.

Liang He gathered his thoughts, then spoke: “The boss wants the ledgers to warn Sun Ming—not to let the black market descend into corruption.”

The women’s cries still echoed in his mind.

Though born humble, he’d been raised in a respectable household—he’d never encountered such gray matters.

He despised them utterly.

Li Rui rolled his eyes:

“Bullshit. Sun Ming’s sister is Zhao Wei’s mistress—every year, thirty percent of the black market’s profits go to Zhao Wei.

We’re not warning him—we’re going to kill him.”

Li Rui’s words carried murder.

Liang He shuddered involuntarily—he’d sensed nothing of Li Rui’s intent to kill during the earlier exchange.

But he quickly caught the key point: “Boss, you… we?”

He hadn’t expected his first day on the job to involve something this intense.

Li Rui nodded as if it were obvious:

“Yes. Right now, I trust only you in the entire black market.”

Then he patted Liang He’s shoulder. “Thoroughly investigate. Build an ironclad case. Best if you drag the authorities into it.”

Liang He’s eyes widened.

The authorities really meant to bury Sun Ming alive.

He hadn’t imagined that a single conversation could hide so much calculation.

Li Rui suddenly felt it was irresponsible to burden a rookie with such weight—he offered reassurance:

“Little He, this isn’t urgent. Take your time.”

“And whatever you do, don’t let Sun Ming think you’re targeting him.”

Staring at Li Rui’s closed door,

Liang He’s mind was a whirl.

“Is this the Jianghu ?!”

Inside the room,

Li Rui pulled out the book he’d brought from Tianyi Hall.

Dozens of Tianyi Hall disciples managed the black market—unless a major incident occurred, he barely needed to worry about daily affairs.

A competent supervisor only needed to manage people and money.

Too much meddling would only cause trouble.

Moreover, Li Rui’s purpose in coming to the black market was clear—to make money!

Sun Ming was the biggest obstacle to that goal.

He was Zhao Wei’s thorn in the black market—not just draining blood, but also spying on Li Rui’s every move.

How could Li Rui possibly keep such a man alive?

As for offending Zhao Wei—

The moment Wu Tu recommended him to Tianyi Hall, he’d already offended Zhao Wei; it wasn’t something he could simply reconcile.

Since he’d already offended him, he might as well extract every possible benefit.

Zhang Yang was merely weakened, but still deputy commander.

And since he’d been transferred to the Martial and Literary Hall, Li Rui’s standing within that faction had even risen.

So as long as he stayed within the rules, Zhao Wei couldn’t easily move against him.

As long as he kept the balance.

Li Rui’s thoughts were quickly drawn into the book’s content.

“The Bronze Bone Stage has three stages: Bronze Bone, Iron Bone, Gold Bone. Only after the blood and qi surge outward and the meridians flow freely does one enter the Willow Sinew Stage.”

He’d found this book by accident in a corner of Tianyi Hall.

It contained only basic martial knowledge.

But for Li Rui, a commoner with no master to guide him, it was a treasure.

He read eagerly.

“Above the Willow Sinew Stage lie the Three Primordial Realms: Nourishing Qi, Condensing Spirit, Dragon Gate.”

“At the Primordial Stage, one can control qi to wield a sword and sever an enemy’s head from a hundred zhang away, or shape qi into talismans to seal and subdue demonic beasts—its applications are boundless.”

Three words surfaced in Li Rui’s mind.

“Divine Weapon Talisman.”

The Divine Weapon Talisman mentioned by the disciple Zhou Hu must be a treasure forged by a Primordial Stage master.

At the Primordial Stage,

their methods were no longer like those of cultivators.

Li Rui’s motivation to train surged.

Of course, those things were still far off—right now, completing the Three Bone Stages was the real priority.

He’d just broken into the Eighth Rank—he was still at Bronze Bone.

To reach Iron Bone, let alone Gold Bone, he needed elixirs to strengthen his blood and qi, then refine them daily with his cultivation method.

The Bronze Bone Stage relies on slow, steady progress—no rushing.

But Li Rui had Martial Bone.

Martial Bone was a rare physique, especially potent in the Bronze Bone Stage—he’d only just broken through, yet his bones were already mostly refined to Iron Bone.

In just a few years, he could reach Gold Bone, even challenge the Willow Sinew Stage.

But the benefits of Martial Bone didn’t end there.

He’d once read a legend in an ancient text.

Above Gold Bone, there was a fourth stage.

Jade Bone!

“Jade coats the bones, body like iron—invulnerable to blades and spears, impervious to fire and water.”

(End of chapter)