Chapter 141: The Dao, I Walk Alone

In the practice room, Li Fei soon waited for Hao Yi to arrive, and they began training.

After the slaughter from last night, his power of intent had once again significantly increased, bringing him one step closer to breaking through his "mental barrier"!

The increase in his power of intent fed directly back into the steel armor implant within his body, causing the implant to grow restless once more.

After consuming a large quantity of elixirs all at once and digesting them overnight, Li Fei's cultivation realm had improved again!

The standard for the mid-stage of Body Breaking is the ability to trigger the implant's power ten times in a short period, but now Li Fei could consecutively unleash "Tyrant Body" twenty-one times in a short span!

Generally speaking, a martial artist at the late-stage of Body Breaking can trigger their implant about thirty to forty times before their physical strength is exhausted, so Li Fei was not far from breaking through to the late-stage of Body Breaking.

With the cultivation method of "breaking the mental barrier" combined with the advantages brought by the Ten Thousand Blood Bead, Li Fei's speed of breaking through realms could be described as shocking!

Because the steel armor implant had further strengthened, driving his physique to become stronger as well, the number of Li Fei's blood souls also increased, adding one more overnight:

【Level: 8, 76%

Blood Souls: 86

Blood Soul Skills: Blood Rage, Blood Fiend】

Now, Li Fei's blood soul cap had become 86, and he was not far from his next level-up.

Judging by the pattern of blood soul increases after previous level-ups, the next upgrade should add 16 blood souls at once, at which point his total number of blood souls would exceed 100!

"Blood soul skills were unlocked when the number of blood souls exceeded 20 and 50; I wonder what changes will occur when it exceeds 100?"

Li Fei was very much looking forward to it.

In the practice room, he and Hao Yi once again began "perception training" and "force-holding training."

After the steel armor implant was further enhanced, even without using "Tyrant Body," Li Fei's perception was already exceptional. With his eyes covered and ears plugged, he could accurately predict Hao Yi's blade strikes every time and block them with his own blade.

Ten-odd minutes later, Hao Yi sheathed his blade and said with satisfaction:

"Not bad, you are progressing very quickly."

Li Fei, with his ears plugged, could not hear this sentence and remained in a defensive stance.

Hao Yi smiled slightly, then his gaze sharpened and landed on Li Fei's left shoulder.

Sensing danger, Li Fei immediately raised his blade to block, but he blocked nothing; Hao Yi took the opportunity to strike at Li Fei's right shoulder.

Swish—

This time, Li Fei could not block in time and had his skin sliced open by the blade.

Next, Hao Yi repeatedly used fake hostility to provoke Li Fei into reacting, then struck him with the blade.

In just over ten seconds, seven or eight blade wounds appeared on Li Fei's body.

Fortunately, his steel armor implant had grown to a certain degree; the bleeding from these wounds could be stopped in the blink of an eye, and the wounds would heal in a few hours.

This was also a form of training for the steel armor implant.

"Alright, stop."

This time, Hao Yi's voice traveled through the cotton into Li Fei's ears.

Li Fei took off his blindfold, removed the cotton, and looked at Hao Yi:

"Master?"

"What did you feel just now?"

"Master was using fake hostility to trick me."

"Hmm, and can you distinguish between the real and the fake?"

"... t is very difficult."

"It is indeed difficult, so what you need to do is not to distinguish the truth of every bit of hostility, but rather not to limit yourself to perceiving my hostility, but also to perceive my entire state and movement."

"Understood."

"Then let's continue."

Inside the room, Li Fei began a new round of training.

It must be said that having a good master is truly too important for martial arts cultivation.

Li Fei could have his current strength primarily due to the Ten Thousand Blood Bead, but Hao Yi also deserved much of the credit.

Of course, it was also inseparable from his own talent and hard work.

After finishing a day of training, Li Fei suddenly asked Hao Yi:

"Master, have you heard about the incident at the market entrance today? When I went to eat at noon, many people in the Martial Arts Hall were discussing it."

Hao Yi shook his head: "I haven't heard, what happened?"

So Li Fei gave Hao Yi a rough account of what happened at the market entrance and the contents of those wooden plaques.

Hao Yi listened to Li Fei's account in silence, the expression on his face not changing much.

"What does Master think of this Green-Faced Ghost?"

Li Fei observed Hao Yi's expression and asked with some anticipation.

Hao Yi's expression was solemn, and he said word by word:

"Relying on one's own martial power, showing no regard for the law, and using martial arts to disrupt the prohibitions—if there are many such people, it will inevitably lead to the collapse of law and order, social turmoil, and the nation will cease to be a nation!"

"..."

Although he knew his master was a very "orderly" person—otherwise he wouldn't have personally captured his own student back then—Li Fei still couldn't hide his disappointment upon hearing Hao Yi's evaluation of the Green-Faced Ghost.

"Does Master think those people didn't deserve to die?"

Li Fei asked.

Hao Yi stared into his eyes: "Whether they deserve to die is not for an individual to decide; the imperial court has its own laws!"

A spark of anger rose in Li Fei's heart, and he looked directly at Hao Yi:

"May I ask Master, when those officials abused their power and trampled on human lives, where were the imperial court's laws then?"

Hao Yi's tone also became stern:

"You only listened to one side of the story and arbitrarily concluded that those dead officials were bad and did wrong things. Have you gone to verify the evidence yourself? Even if we take a step back and assume those officials really did wrong, and this Green-Faced Ghost killed the right people this time, what about the future? If this act is not curbed, will there be some Blue-Faced Ghost or Red-Faced Ghost jumping out later, fabricating some evidence, and then killing people at will?!"

Li Fei was silent for a moment; naturally, he couldn't tell Hao Yi that he had indeed gone to verify the evidence before killing those people.

"Master, you insist that everyone should abide by the imperial court's laws and not act recklessly; that is not wrong. But ask yourself, is the world like that today? Why is it that after what happened at the market entrance today, almost every citizen in Xingcheng cheered, and not a single person called for justice for those dead officials? If everyone truly followed the imperial court's laws and officials enforced the law impartially, would people like the Green-Faced Ghost be forced into existence?"

Hao Yi's face was gloomy, and he said coldly:

"So that justifies killing at will and ignoring the law? Can doing this change the big picture? Can it solve the problem at the source? Doing this will only make order collapse faster, and more innocent people will suffer in the future!"

Li Fei clenched his fists:

"Master, are people like the Green-Faced Ghost the ones truly harming the people? Why is it that bad people can be tolerated when they do evil, while good people are only criticized for not doing enough when they do good?"

"..."

Hao Yi was stunned, moved for the first time by Li Fei's words.

Li Fei took a deep breath and bowed deeply to Hao Yi:

"Perhaps you are right; people like the Green-Faced Ghost only act for the gratification of their own hearts, and people like him will never consider the big picture. If there are many of them, it will indeed cause turmoil, and the nation will cease to be a nation!"

After bowing, Li Fei turned and walked out of the training room.

In the training room, Hao Yi stood in place for a very, very long time.

The afterglow of the sunset shone through the window, casting a somewhat lonely shadow of this Dao Foundation realm expert.

On the way home, Li Fei was in low spirits.

After coming to this world, because of the memories of his predecessor and their daily companionship, Li Lei, Zhang Yuqing, and Li Tianyu had naturally become the most important people to him.

Beyond that, the most important person to Li Fei was his master, Hao Yi.

When a person does what they believe is right, they naturally hope for the approval of those close to them, which is why he had asked Hao Yi for his opinion on the Green-Faced Ghost.

That was why he appeared somewhat distraught after being denied and even sternly rebuked.

In fact, with the social finesse he had cultivated in his past life, he could have easily agreed with the other person and made them very happy.

But precisely because he regarded Hao Yi as his most important mentor, Li Fei could not avoid feeling resentful.

However, he quickly calmed down.

He killed people more for the gratification of his own heart; from the very beginning, he never thought about being a "good person" or a hero for the country and the people.

Since that was the case, some of Hao Yi's accusations were actually correct.

"I chose this path for myself; it is only natural not to be recognized or praised. Why demand both?"

Having understood this, Li Fei had no more grievances in his heart and walked with even greater determination.

September 8th, the third day of the "Market Entrance Incident."

Cai Ju knocked on the door of his direct superior's office.

"Come in."

A steady voice came from inside.

Cai Ju pushed the door open and walked in; inside sat an old man with gray hair.

In fact, the man was only fifty years old this year, but he looked as if he were seventy.

This person was named Han Zhangwen, the Deputy Chief Justice of the Sifa Academy.

Although there were many officials in the Sifa Academy who abused their power and trampled on human lives, there were also some who remained clean and upright, holding fast to the morality in their hearts.

Han Zhangwen was one such person.

It was just that in such a world, the price to pay for not going with the flow and keeping oneself clean was very high. The Han family was a "judicial family" in Xingcheng, with imperial officials in the family for three generations, and they had extensive connections and deep roots in the Sifa Academy.

With such a family background, plus his own outstanding ability, Han Zhangwen should have been promoted long ago.

But because he was not "gregarious," offended too many colleagues, and was unwilling to take sides, he was seen as an eyesore by both factions, so he had "wasted" his time until now as only a Deputy Chief Justice, a tenth-grade official—the lowest rank among imperial officials.

And if it weren't for the concern over the Han family's influence, let alone becoming an imperial official, Han Zhangwen's corpse would have long since been dumped in some river outside the city!

Therefore, Cai Ju had always felt that his superior was stupid, rigid, inflexible, and unable to see the situation clearly.

But today, he took the initiative to walk into the other party's office and handed over a "Statement of Facts":

"Please, my lord, take a look."

Han Zhangwen took the letter paper with an expressionless face and lowered his head to browse through it.

After reading a few lines, he looked up in surprise at Cai Ju, then continued to lower his head to read the letter.

This "Statement of Facts" recorded in detail some of the crimes Cai Ju had committed during his past few years in the position of Chief Judge!

Cai Ju was reporting himself.

"Why?"

A moment later, Han Zhangwen finished reading Cai Ju's "Statement of Facts" carefully and asked.

He considered himself to understand this subordinate: greedy for life and afraid of death, and most skilled at assessing the situation.

Therefore, he did not understand why the other party would seek his own death.

Based solely on the crimes written in this "Statement of Facts," Han Zhangwen could sentence the other party to death on the spot!

Cai Ju wore a mournful face:

"If I were to say that I have suddenly awakened and want to repent and turn over a new leaf, my lord would certainly not believe me, so I dare not hide anything from you, my lord. This subordinate was truly terrified by that Green-Faced Ghost!"

"Oh?"

Han Zhangwen was somewhat surprised.

Cai Ju suddenly began to wail:

"That Green-Faced Ghost is a madman! A butcher! Simply unreasonable!"

"Clearly, there was already someone taking the blame for him, and he could have hidden himself well, yet he insisted on jumping out to kill people, not hesitating to offend the forces on both sides to the death!"

"This subordinate is afraid, afraid that this madman will suddenly come to my door and slaughter me too!"

As he spoke, he suddenly knelt down toward Han Zhangwen:

"This subordinate knows that the things I have done are capital crimes, but I have not lived enough yet and still want to keep living, even if I have to spend the rest of my life in prison! This subordinate begs you, my lord, to consider that I have turned myself in voluntarily, to sentence me as lightly as possible and spare my life!"

After speaking, he began to kowtow to Han Zhangwen with loud thuds.

Han Zhangwen watched him kowtow incessantly, his eyes showing no emotional fluctuation, and he only asked indifferently:

"Why come to me?"

Cai Ju was startled, stopped kowtowing, and said while crying:

"Because in the entire Sifa Academy, this subordinate only trusts you, my lord!"

The things he had done did not involve only him alone; even if he tried his best not to implicate others in the "Statement of Facts," others would inevitably worry.

Therefore, he only dared to turn himself in to Han Zhangwen, and only dared to let him be the one to preside over his case.

"I am aware of your situation; how exactly it should be judged remains to be verified later. Moreover, these cases must certainly involve others. If you can report them, it can be counted as a meritorious deed, and only then will you have a chance to reduce your punishment."

Han Zhangwen said clearly and logically.

Cai Ju cried out:

"Once some things are dragged out, my entire family might lose their lives! I beg you, my lord, not to make things difficult for this subordinate; all the blame is this subordinate's fault alone!"

After speaking, he began to kowtow with loud thuds again.

Han Zhangwen sighed silently, feeling somewhat helpless.

He wanted to say that he would try his best to keep the other party's family safe and let him feel at ease to report others.

But he knew very well that even the Han family could only barely protect his own life; even if he were the Deputy Chief Judge, who could he protect?

"Alright, I understand. You may go down first."

Han Zhangwen said.

But Cai Ju remained kneeling on the ground without moving.

"Do you have something else?"

"My lord."

Cai Ju wiped his tears while saying with a bitter face:

"This subordinate wants to be locked in prison right now!"

"..."

Han Zhangwen was somewhat dumbfounded.

Having presided over cases for decades, this was the first time he had encountered a criminal so actively and proactively requesting to be locked in prison.

"Green-Faced Ghost."

An image of a demon mask appeared in the mind of this Deputy Chief Judge.

Given his character and philosophy, he originally did not approve of the Green-Faced Ghost's methods.

But now, seeing Cai Ju like this, his thoughts were somewhat shaken.

And not long after Cai Ju was taken away, someone else walked into Han Zhangwen's office.

On this day, Cai Ju was not the only official who came to Han Zhangwen to turn himself in.

Seeking monthly tickets.

(End of chapter)