Reborn from Conan

Chapter 954 Cultivation (7k monthly ticket required at the end of the month)

Chapter 954 Cultivation (7k monthly ticket required at the end of the month)

“Everyone! I… no… I am… I am the Demon King Rimuru!”

“Yes, I am Demon King Rimuru, please guide me. Um… I am very happy that you have come here at my invitation…”

At noon the next day, the sky was clear. With Rimuru's stumbling opening remarks on the balcony of the Central Council Hall, the founding ceremony of the Jura-Tempest Federation officially kicked off.

It can be seen that Rimuru was a little nervous and a little uncomfortable. After all, she was just an ordinary office worker before traveling through time. Looking over, she saw Ji Xing, Hinata and even Izawa Shizue and others looking at her in a corner, which made her even more at a loss and nervous.

Fortunately, apart from her subjects, the people staying in the square were the princes and nobles who had interacted with her at the previous night's festival.

They did not care about Rimuru's nervousness, or perhaps they just regarded it as the excitement of founding a country, allowing Rimuru to adjust as quickly as possible.

Her speech was also very simple. She explained the Demon Federation's friendly policy and attitude towards the outside world, and used the Kingdom of Farmus as an example to illustrate its determination to show no mercy to the enemy. It was tough and gentle, and ended with a sentence that everyone had a great time.

The civilians and merchants gradually dispersed, enthusiastically participating in the many activities of the founding festival, while Rimuru went down to the first floor lobby and immediately saw the children jumping towards him.

"How embarrassing, Mr. Rimuru!"

"Yeah, stumbling over your words!"

Rimuru wiped the sweat from his forehead and rolled his eyes at the children: "I did that on purpose so that everyone would not be afraid of my identity as a demon king, and let everyone think that I am also an ordinary person."

“Is this a forced explanation?”

"It must be, hahaha..."

Rimuru was speechless. These children are not cute anymore... But that's a good thing. With Miss Shizuka and Hinata accompanying them, they smile several times more recently than before. Miss Shizuka is like a gentle mother, while Hinata is strict...

Oh, what a sin, it is really inappropriate to think of such a beautiful woman as a father.

She patted Alice and Chloe's heads, looked at Ji Xing and the others and said, "The next project is a one-hour music appreciation. Ziyuan and the others have been rehearsing for a long time. Shall we go together?"

Ji Xing nodded, followed with Shivana and Cagalli, and walked towards the opera house in Rimuru town while chatting along the way.

"I am really surprised to hear that." Rimuru said with emotion: "Although the technology is not advanced, the level of music in this world is almost the same as our world. There are even some musical instruments including piano here."

“That’s normal.” Ji Xing said, “With so many people traveling across time and space, including reincarnators, summoners, and visitors from other worlds, there are always a few people with the right expertise. It’s not surprising that they can reproduce musical instruments here.”

"That's right." Rimuru nodded. "It's just that most of the music in this world is only appreciated by princes and nobles, and even if they appreciate it, they do it in secret. It is possible that such advanced and progressive things will attract attacks from the angel army."

At this point, she frowned, looked at Hinata and said, "Although Hinata also explained the pros and cons to me, this is really strange. I am not going to give up the development of the country and culture to avoid the angel's attack. Is that okay, Jixing?"

"How would I know? I've never seen an angel." Ji Xing smiled and said, "Just live your life as it comes."

Rimuru smiled sweetly.

To be honest, she has been a little bit drifting lately, and she feels it herself. Although it is a bit busy, establishing the Monster Federation is really a fulfilling thing.

Moreover, the Monster Federation currently has no internal or external troubles. It has formed an alliance with Luminas, and the misunderstanding with Hinata has been resolved. Even Miss Jing has "resurrected from the dead" to make up for the regrets.

In addition, with the two major combat forces of Veldora and Ji Xing, she and Shivana and others are not vegetarians. Apart from some fear of the mysterious Eastern Empire, she really can't think of anything else that can stop the development of the Demon Federation.

——Although Ji Xing and Shivana do not belong to the Demonic Federation and are just guests, he would not sit idly by when they are in danger, right?

With a relaxed mood, everyone came to the opera house. Rimuru, who was playing with the children, suddenly noticed a small dispute at the entrance of the opera house.

Well, it can't be considered an argument, because the seats are limited, and the only people she invited to enjoy the orchestra's performance today are nobles from various countries, but now it seems that two "commoners" who did not receive an invitation are also hoping to enter the opera house.

"We are not qualified to enter? Open your eyes and look at us. We are adventurers from Lord Masayuki's team. The king of the small country also treats us as guests of honor. How dare you say that we..."

"No, it's not that you are not eligible, but the seats for this performance are already full. If you two want to listen to the concert, there will be two more performances tonight and tomorrow night. Please..."

This was the conversation that Rimuru heard from a distance. She felt that her men handled the situation appropriately, but the words of the short-haired beauty on the other side were a bit aggressive.

Based on the content of the conversation, she also remembered the identities of the two other people - Bonnie and Joe, subordinates of the shining brave Masayuki.

That Honjo Masayuki and another subordinate, Crazy Wolf Xunlei, should have entered the underground maze to compete for the qualification to obtain Ji Xing's skills. They were the first batch to enter, and they should come out of the underground palace after seven days this evening.

These two people didn't enter the underground palace, and they didn't seem to be there in the past seven days. They must be waiting quietly, right? Are they feeling bored and want to listen to a concert?

Well, although according to Ji Xing and the King of Wisdom, the brave warrior Honjo Masayuki seems to be a fake, but at least he has A-level, and such a special identity seems to deserve an invitation.

Lack of consideration - Based on the idea of ​​harmony, Rimuru attributed the fault to himself, so he walked over quickly and said: "I am really sorry, it is my fault that I was not thoughtful enough. I didn't expect you to be interested in music. Please come with me. I will just add two seats."

"The Demon King..."

As adventurers in the Brave Team, Qiu and Bonnie were naturally on guard.

They stared at Rimuru for a few seconds with distrust, and Bonnie said, "With Masayuki-sama here, there is nothing we dare not agree to. I don't think this demon king would dare to play any tricks."

Hey, are you kidding me? It was obviously you two who were going to enter the opera house first. Did I make a mistake in inviting you?

Rimuru felt helpless, but not too annoyed. Instead, the children started shouting, saying things like "you don't know how to appreciate a good person", which made the two adventurers feel a little embarrassed.

Rimuru shook his head at them, signaling them to stop talking nonsense, and prepared to welcome everyone into the opera house.

Just then, Ji Xing suddenly said, "Don't listen, both of you. Go back."

“…Huh?” Rimuru looked back in surprise.

Bonnie and Qiu also looked over, their faces tense. Qiu said, "You are the skill merchant Ji Xing, right? We respect the skills you have given to cultivate adventurers, and we also recognize that you are on par with Master Zhengxing, but what do you mean now? It's just a concert, we can choose not to listen, but we can't accept your unprovoked hostility towards us and Master Zhengxing!"

Hinata also looked at Ji Xing in surprise. In her opinion, Ji Xing was a man who did not like to meddle in other people's affairs and did things as he pleased. He could help Teacher Jing to revive and enlighten Granbell on a whim, and he would also prepare a big meal for himself and enjoy it leisurely when others were busy.

This man lived an extremely leisurely life, his domineering nature was only in his heart and not on the surface. He inexplicably refused to follow the adventurers of the hero to attend an insignificant concert, and even overturned the arrangement made by Rimuru. It can only be...

There is something wrong with these two people!

"Honjo Masayuki's unique skills can affect others, but not you." As expected, Ji Xing smiled and said, "Two saints sincerely follow a fake hero? Why don't I believe it?"

"!!!"

Two... saints?!

Rimuru and Hinata were shocked. When did saints become cabbages? Saints in the Western countries should be few and far between, but Ji Xing's judgment couldn't be wrong, which meant... these two people were from the Eastern Empire? !

Bonnie and Joe's expressions changed, and their auras changed as well, with Joe quickly transforming from a 'simple adventurer' into a cold killer.

"I told you not to rely on luck." She complained to Bonnie, "The appearance of that kind of magic detector is too dangerous. Your Majesty's power may not be able to help us hide from the cold instrument."

"What's the point of saying this now?" Bonnie was not polite either: "It seems that our mission has failed, but fortunately Mr. Ji Xing doesn't seem to be planning to leave us here. If he, who can even defeat the Marshal, takes action, I really don't think we can survive. From this point of view, we should be grateful for his exposure."

Qiu was silent for a moment, then looked at Ji Xing: "I really have to thank you for your kindness, although I don't understand why. Since you've seen through us, why didn't you catch us in the act?"

"Your mission is nothing more than to assassinate Rimuru, assassinate the nobles of various countries? Or to cause other major damage to the founding festival, affect the monsters, now called demi-humans, and affect the harmony between demi-humans and humans. At most, let Honjo Masayuki take the blame."

Every time Ji Xing said something, Rimuru's heart beat violently. Hey, don't talk so lightly. I have been really careless these days. How could such a crisis be hidden?

Hinata's expression also turned cold, while Shizue protected the children even though it was not necessary.

Bonnie and Joo, who were exposed, obviously had no intention of resisting and acquiesced to Ji Xing's speculation.

Ji Xing said again: "Go back and tell your emperor a message for me - don't make any futile attempts or plots. I know all his secrets. If you don't think the time is right and don't want to ignite a war, don't come to cause trouble."

Know His Majesty's secrets? What secrets does His Majesty have? Bonnie and Qiu were stunned, but they knew better than to ask. As the "single digit" of the empire, they were two of His Majesty's closest confidants, but they also could not know all the secrets of the empire.

They had never even seen His Majesty in person, nor did they know why His Majesty sent them to follow Honjo Masayuki - it couldn't be that He was a prophet and was preparing for today.

They responded, took their leave, and left the Demonic Federation without looking back. Rimuru breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's really hard to guard against. Thanks to you again, Ji Xing. If any of the nobles from various countries get into trouble here, Tempest will be speechless and will become the public enemy of mankind."

"But..." She said solemnly, "Is the Empire really that powerful? The Scorching Flame Dragon isn't their strongest fighter? Even you are a little afraid of them. You found the spies and let them go?"

"No." Ji Xing smiled and said, "Some opponents have to be left for you to level up. What if I can deal with them all? Your current strength is not enough to bring world peace. Try your best."

"..."

Hinata and Jing wanted to laugh. Is this what the Rimuru we all expected is like from Ji Xing's perspective? A worker who needs to be trained... to make the world peaceful and beautiful?

Rimuru's eyes twitched, and he lost his ability to speak. What's the matter with leaving it to me to level up? You don't need it... Well, you've already reached the maximum level!

Seriously, this guy.

I've been relying too much on him during this period, and I've forgotten that he's a shameless guy who just pretends to be like 'I work hard and he enjoys it'!

“This… is this the development in the game?” Alice said weakly: “Teacher Ji Xing is a player, Teacher Rimuru…”

"No!" Rimuru interrupted hastily: "The teacher is a living person!"

"Eh--"

"Oh!"

The children sang long notes, Rimuru held his forehead in pain, and amidst the laughter, Bonnie and Jo just now seemed to have become a small episode, but in fact, what Ji Xing said to the two was much more powerful than she felt, at least to 'Rudra'.

……

"Know all my secrets."

As single-digit guards, Bonnie and Jo had the ability to contact Rudra directly. As soon as they left the town of Rimuru, they used magic to cross half the continent, indicating the failure of the mission.

Sitting on the throne, Rudra savored Ji Xing's words and replied: "I understand. Even Velgrind was defeated. It's not surprising that my skills can't be hidden from him. I put you in danger. Come back. As for Honjo Masayuki... don't worry about it anymore."

"Serve Your Majesty!"

The magic communication was cut off with a resounding reply, and Rudra tapped the armrest of the chair with his fingers, his face looking gloomy and uncertain.

After a while, the blue-haired beauty Velgrind walked in with a cup of tea. Seeing Rudra sitting up, she asked in surprise, “Rudra, did you end your lunch break early today?”

“Ah, I’m in a good mood today.” Rudra responded with a smile, and his handsome blond face exuded a charming mature charm.

“That’s a good thing.” Velgrind said with concern, “I heard from Kondo that today is the founding ceremony of Tempest of the Demonic Federation. You are not worried about this and have lost some sleep, right? That’s not okay.”

"No." Rudra shook his head: "There is another thing that surprised me. It was just reported by Bonnie and Qiu."

"What--?"

"Oh, they found a young man named Honjo Masayuki in the west, and they said he looked exactly like me, which is strange."

Velgrind’s hand trembled, and the tea she was pouring spilled a little, which was a very rare thing for her as a dragon.

Like Rudra... Honjo Masayuki?

After the last fight with Ji Xing, in which Ji Xing’s King of Exploration revealed a forgotten memory, Velgrind noticed something was wrong with Rudra, and also found out that he was being silently controlled by some skill.

But she didn't say anything and didn't get anxious.

She stayed with Rudra as always, because she wanted to determine Rudra's exact situation - was it because of the wear and tear of reincarnation on the soul that an additional personality emerged, or was it completely dead and replaced by something unknown?

She hoped it was the former, but even if it was the latter, she loved Rudra so much that she needed to make all the necessary preparations to protect Rudra's body and find a way to revive Rudra.

But what does this boy who looks exactly like Rudra represent? Is he the reincarnation of Rudra's broken soul? Or has my abnormality been discovered, and this guy in front of me is testing me? !

Following that, Rudra said, "It is said that Honjo Masayuki is a visitor from another world. He has unique skills and was mistaken for a hero. He is very famous in the West. This is really interesting. If a war starts one day, he might be pushed in front of me as a hero."

"...It's really a rare thing. It's funny to think about that scene." Velgrind said calmly: "You mean Bonnie and Jo? I haven't seen them for a long time. So you sent them to the West? Like Damrada?"

"Well, we just went to the Demon Federation today to gather some information." Rudra said, "They met Honjo Masayuki there. But the boy who looked like me was warmly received by Ji Xing, so they didn't dare to get close."

“…” Velgrind bit her lip.

Damn it! Ji Xing knew what Rudra looked like. If this was true, did he have other plans when entertaining that young man? !

She couldn't see through Ji Xing at all. Ji Xing used his skills to help her detect Rudra's abnormality, but she didn't feel much gratitude in her heart - in her feeling, this move was more of a strategy for the enemy to break down the opponent's internal situation, but Rudra was too important to her, so she had to "fall into the trap".

What is he thinking? What is Honjo Masayuki's identity? What is Rudra planning to tell me? All kinds of emotions and information rushed into her mind. Suddenly, her body shook and her expression was dazed for a moment.

When she came back to her senses, she found that Rudra beside her looked pale and weak, and hurriedly half-supported him: "Rudra, lie down quickly! Why did you get up before lunch break?"

“Hehe, I’m fine.” Rudra said hoarsely, “I just thought about the Demon Federation’s official founding ceremony today, which has become a problem between the Empire and the West. I was a little worried and didn’t sleep well.”

“It’s my incompetence.” Velgrind said solemnly, “When the time comes, I will never lose to the skill merchant Ji Xing so easily. I will help the Empire’s army to flatten the Demonic Federation!”

"Well, please."

Velgrynd helped Rudra lie down, and without caring about Honjo Masayuki or the problem of Rudra in front of him, he took care of him as usual until he fell asleep.

Because she forgot.

Just like he forgot the conversation between Rudra and Damrada before, he forgot Ji Xing’s reminder and the conversation about Honjo Masayuki last time!

Rudra took advantage of the moment when her mind was wavering and tightened his control over her!

When she left the room, Rudra, who was lying on the couch, slowly opened his eyes. His calm eyes contained an indifference that was not human.

"Even with my authority, it is very difficult to control a dragon species, especially when she has partially awakened. That Ji Xing has left me with a big trouble." He whispered.

"How long can it last?" A second voice suddenly rang out in the originally empty room.

"If she is not given any extra stimulation, it will continue forever." Rudra responded, "But the skill merchant... he said that he knew all my secrets, which was an exaggeration, but he could roughly guess my situation, which is very troublesome."

"I considered going out on the day when the Burning Dragon fought him, and even sent Jessir out. But the performance of the skill merchant... I think it would be difficult for the Burning Dragon and I to kill him together, and the Burning Dragon might not fully cooperate with me."

"You did the right thing, Feldwei. If the Scorching Dragon suddenly rebelled during the battle, even you would be in danger."

"What now, Michael?"

During the conversation, they mentioned each other's names. Feldwei, the leader of the seven angels of origin, once followed the Star King Dragon Veludonava, or rather, the life that was created.

Michael is the archangel, who is essentially the king of justice with the ultimate skill.

This powerful ultimate skill was given to Rudra by Veldnava, and Rudra also built an empire with it. However, the more powerful the skill, the harder it is to master. Over the long years, the King of Justice gradually gave birth to a "Sanity Core", just like Chronoa to Chloe, and gained a personality.

On the other hand, Rudra's soul became weaker and weaker due to repeated reincarnations, and one day, he was completely replaced by the King of Justice!

As the 'Archangel', the most powerful ability of the King of Justice is the ability to control all those who possess the ultimate angel skills.

Unfortunately, Velgrynd’s King of Savior Raguel was among them, and even Rimuru’s King of Wisdom Raphael was included.

"...Don't worry. Even though things turned out as we feared, the Skill Merchant used that ultimate skill to guess my true identity."

The King of Exploration revealed by Ji Xing at the Demon King's Banquet was the core reason why he sent Velgrynd to kill Ji Xing. Who knew that Ji Xing could even defeat Velgrynd, which led to the leak of the secret.

He had no other choice but to lament that things were not entirely unexpected: “But this human doesn’t seem to be completely on Guy’s side. At least Guy is still unaware of Rudra’s death, otherwise he would have reacted long ago.

Just like what Bonnie and Joo Dai said this time, he doesn't seem to want to take the initiative to lead the war between the East and the West, giving us time to prepare. "

"That's why I'm worried." Feldwei said, "Most of the ultimate skills in the world were created and distributed by Star King Long, but we have never heard of any of Ji Xing's three known ultimate skills. He is an 'outlier'."

"Indeed." Michael fell silent again.

What is this human being doing? What does this human being want? How should we deal with his problems?

No matter how the two archangels discussed, they could not come up with an answer, and they could not imagine that Ji Xing was "cultivating" Rimuru.

……

Yes, cultivate it.

It sounds like a joke, but in fact Ji Xing is eight out of ten sincere about it.

He hopes that Rimuru will grow and become as strong as possible, because Rimuru is the second person besides Kaguya who has the capital to become a "world master" since he invaded various worlds.

As an intruder, he himself cannot become a world master. This has been verified in many worlds. When he takes the step of becoming a world master, the Seven Star Pearl will interrupt his intrusion with the prompt "Entering the Seven Star World".

But native life can.

If Rimuru can become the Lord of a Realm like Kaguya, and Ji Xing also practices in this world to the point of "ascending out", then he can get on board directly like in the Naruto world and instantly bind himself to the will of the world.

——Although Ji Xing still hasn’t figured out how this world should be ranked.

In terms of combat power and destructive power, five stars is about right, but there are many weird things, such as the comics of various worlds that exist here, the power that turns Ji Xing's previous invasion experience into a skill, the super-time skill that can directly modify the past, and the creator god who only exists in the background.

But to say six stars is a bit vague.

After only accumulating for more than a year, and even though his soul power was suppressed, Ji Xing had basically reached the peak of his combat power. It was not as difficult as his six-star counterparts in the Dragon Ball world.

As for the situation of the Eastern Empire, Ji Xing certainly did not obtain it through a brief exploration of Velgrind's memories. He had read the novel Slime - although the novel was not completed and he had not read it all, he knew all the secrets of the empire.

It's a bit of an exaggeration to say that we can defeat those guys now, but if the part that has not been updated does not cause the combat power to collapse in the later stage of the novel, it is nothing more than a matter of killing vampires a dozen more times - unfortunately, the benefits of the same skill are capped, and there are not many skills that can be used continuously by monsters when killing monsters, otherwise Ji Xing would not have to sell a large number of skills to the outside world.

Sitting on a leather chair with excellent texture, Ji Xing was thinking about all these complicated things in his mind, listening to the music played by the band in front, which evolved from a gentle tune to a solemn duet, intoxicating the audience.

He smiled: "Classical?"

Rimuru beside him hummed: "You even know a lot about music? Hey, hey..."

It was Raphael, the king of wisdom, who sorted out my memory, searching from the corners for everything I had heard and seen to compile today's music performance. But you seemed to have cheated and understood it all at once, making me feel like a loser!

Not long after, the music on the stage changed to a different tune, causing Rimuru's mouth to twitch.

"Hey, Mr. Raphael, why are there animations? Can this be connected together?"

Fortunately... most people don’t understand.

"Next time, get a blue bird," said Ji Xing.

"……okay."