Chapter 149: Surviving in the Cracks, Revealing One's Edge

"Many thanks for your kindness, Senior Brother Bian, but I would like to consider it."

Li Fei said the same excuse to Bian Songnian.

A flash of displeasure crossed Bian Songnian's eyes, but he quickly masked it.

He nodded at Li Fei:

"It is indeed worth considering carefully. I shall await your reply."

Having said that, he turned and left.

After Bian Songnian departed, the third person to come and recruit Li Fei was Tang Lun, the president of the 'Feng Society'.

Tang Lun was tall and sturdy, his presence like a raging flame; at a glance, one could tell he was a martial artist with immense explosive power!

He was the only son of the Chief of the Feng Province Martial Suppression Department.

The Great Lan Dynasty divides its administrative regions into 'Province—Prefecture—City—Town'. The lowest level, the town, does not have a complete administrative structure. The city level's administrative structure consists of the 'Six Academies'. By the time it reaches the prefecture level, it becomes a General Academy, such as the Martial Suppression General Academy, the Inspection General Academy, and the Supervisory General Academy.

Further up is the provincial level, where the 'Academy' becomes a 'Department', namely the Martial Suppression Department, the Inspection Department, the Supervisory Department, and so on, responsible for all relevant affairs of a province.

Above the 'Department' is the Central Cabinet, composed of the six cabinets: the Interior Cabinet, the Judicial Cabinet, the Supervisory Cabinet, the Inspection Cabinet, the Legal Cabinet, and the Martial Suppression Cabinet, which together form the 'Cabinet'.

The Feng Province Martial Suppression Department manages all Martial Suppression Academies in the province, and all affairs related to martial artists in the entire Feng Province fall under its jurisdiction.

As the only son of the Chief of the Martial Suppression Department, Tang Lun's father held a higher official rank than Bian Songnian's father!

However, since this was at the Martial University within the Datong Prefecture, the 'Feng Society' he founded with a group of powerful scions from the provincial capital was actually weaker than Bian Songnian's 'Heart Martial Society'.

"Junior Brother Li, I, Tang Lun, am a rough man, so I won't beat around the bush with you. I'll speak plainly."

Tang Lun walked up to Li Fei and said in a booming voice:

"That Bian Songnian only has influence within Datong Prefecture; once he leaves Datong Prefecture, he's useless. A heaven-gifted talent like you, Junior Brother Li, shouldn't limit your future stage to just a tiny Datong Prefecture. You should set your sights further. I won't say much else, but as long as you are willing to come to my side, you will be a brother of mine, Tang Lun, from now on! You can go and ask around about how I, Tang Lun, treat my own brothers."

"Alright, I will consider it."

Li Fei nodded at Tang Lun.

After Tang Lun left, the remaining seven major societies also sent people to win over Li Fei, though none of the presidents came themselves.

These seven societies were well aware that, whether in terms of wealth or power, what they could offer Li Fei at this stage was inferior to the previous three societies, so they did not hold high hopes.

Once the people from the top ten societies had all left, the surrounding crowd slowly dispersed.

Li Tianyu walked up to Li Fei with a helpless expression.

"Sister, you aren't here to recruit me too, are you?"

Li Fei asked with a smile.

Li Tianyu sighed and nodded:

"Yes, I'm here as a lobbyist for our Heroine Society."

As she spoke, she told Li Fei the conditions Du Ya had offered.

"Xiaofei, based on my understanding of Du Ya, she is a very sincere person. If she says she can give the position of president to you, she isn't just making empty promises. If you go to other societies, you'll ultimately just be working under someone else, but if you come to the Heroine Society, you will be the one in charge from now on. That difference is quite significant, and I think you should consider it. As for the rest, you don't need to worry; even if I fail to recruit you in the end, Du Ya won't have a bad opinion of me."

Li Tianyu said to Li Fei earnestly.

Li Fei looked at his sister, somewhat surprised: "I didn't expect you to be able to think this much?"

"Damn it!"

Li Tianyu kicked Li Fei without hesitation. "What do you mean? Can't your sister use her brain?"

"Hahaha, I didn't mean that at all."

Li Fei laughed as he walked along the tree-lined path with Li Tianyu, talking as they went.

"You became a peerless genius overnight; I'm still having trouble adjusting to it."

Li Tianyu looked at Li Fei, her expression complex.

Li Fei smiled: "Talent is just talent; it doesn't represent the future. Having less talent now doesn't mean one's future achievements will be inferior. Sister, don't be discouraged."

In the aptitude test for her enrollment, Li Tianyu received an overall 'Grade A-Middle' evaluation, earning 18 credits.

This evaluation was actually better than the results she had tested in middle school, but compared to Li Fei, it was far too inferior.

In the past, Li Tianyu was better than Li Fei in everything, but now, suddenly discovering that her younger brother was far superior to her, she couldn't help but feel a bit unbalanced, even if she wasn't jealous.

"Of course I won't be discouraged!"

Li Tianyu regained her confident smile and tilted her head at Li Fei:

"Your sister will become a female general sooner or later!"

"Mm."

Li Fei nodded heavily.

"Then, regarding joining a society, what are your thoughts, Xiaofei?"

Li Tianyu asked.

Li Fei looked ahead and said calmly:

"Sister, look at how polite everyone was when they came to recruit me today, and how the conditions they promised were better than the last. But believe me, once I choose to join one society, the people from the other societies will definitely do everything in their power to eliminate me!"

"Ah?"

Li Tianyu was startled. She hurriedly looked around, and seeing that no one was nearby, she lowered her voice and said:

"It wouldn't go that far, would it? This is the Martial University, after all. Would they dare to act recklessly in the school?"

Li Fei shook his head: "They might not act recklessly in the school, but it's hard to say once I leave the school. After all, I will have to go out to complete missions in the future."

"To the point of killing?"

"Sister, why do so many people want to come to the university? Because there are resources here that cannot be obtained from the outside world. People outside will fight to the death over a little money, let alone more precious cultivation resources?"

"..."

"It's fine if I don't join a society, but once I join one side, I become a competitor to the others. Because the cake of the Martial University is only so big; if someone gets more, someone else must get less. If it were you, and you had to deal with a competitor with huge potential, what would you do?"

"... I would find a way to eliminate them before they could grow up."

"Exactly. No one is stupid enough to wait for a competitor to grow up and eventually step on them."

"No wonder Senior Sister Wang Fengqing didn't join any society; it turns out she had already figured it out."

"Actually, while joining a society has risks, there are also many benefits. The reason I'm unwilling to join isn't because I'm afraid of those people targeting me, but mainly because I'm afraid they will target you and Li Shu."

"Ah?"

"Do you think the only way to deal with someone is to attack them directly? There are plenty of dirty tricks in this world! For example, if I chose to join Duanmu Weicai's 'Weicai Society' today, believe me, Bian Songnian could make it so that Li Shu's acting Inspection Chief position couldn't be made permanent for ten years, and he might even be demoted in the end!"

"..."

Li Fei's words completely tore away the veil of warmth and harmony on the surface of the campus, making Li Tianyu realize that she had still thought too simply. The internal struggle for benefits within the Martial University was more naked, bloody, and cruel than she had imagined!

"So, as long as I keep to myself, every faction will give me face and be willing to form a good relationship with me."

Li Fei said calmly.

"I understand."

Li Tianyu nodded and looked at Li Fei solemnly. "Xiaofei, you see things more clearly than I do. Just follow your own plan. If there's anything you need my help with in the future, just say so. I will also work hard not to hold you back!"

Li Fei turned to look at her and smiled: "Sister, you and Li Shu will never be a burden to me; you are the motivation for me to move forward."

A smile bloomed on Li Tianyu's face as well, and she nodded heavily.

Afterward, the two parted ways. Li Tianyu went to find Du Ya to explain that Li Fei would not be joining the Heroine Society, while Li Fei walked in another direction.

He looked back at Li Tianyu's retreating figure, his eyes resolute.

Although he had revealed sufficiently astonishing talent, this only added a layer of protection for himself. Ultimately, he still had to survive carefully in the cracks between the major factions and grow slowly.

To completely master his own destiny and live according to his own will, his current strength was still far too weak.

"I won't keep you waiting too long."

Li Fei smiled and muttered to himself.

Then, he walked all the way to the southwest.

Soon, a city wall appeared ahead.

The city wall, built of black stone bricks, formed a circle, looking like a 'city within a city'.

After Li Fei walked closer, he saw three large characters on the plaque at the city gate—Arena.

This 'city within a city' was the unique arena of the Martial University's Martial Suppression Department, used for students to spar and compete.

But while it was called sparring, people sometimes lost their lives here!

Because the step from the Body Breaking Realm to the Qi Transformation Realm requires life-and-death tempering to strengthen one's intent and power, students are required to sign a life-and-death waiver before entering the arena—life or death, no regrets.

Although there are instructors watching on the sidelines in the arena, there is still a possibility of rescue not being timely.

The Martial University's Martial Suppression Department loses no fewer than ten students in the arena every year!

Even so, it remains widely popular; the truly powerful students of the Martial University all come here to walk a path, striving to leave their names on the Combat Power Ranking.

Li Fei passed through the city gate and walked into the arena.

The structure inside was very similar to the inner stronghold of the Qingyuan Fist Stronghold, all consisting of sparring grounds surrounded by wooden walls.

At the city gate, many students were looking up at the city wall above.

Li Fei also turned and looked up.

He saw three long cloths hanging on the city wall, with names written on them in blood-red text.

This was the Combat Power Ranking!

The list in the center was the Combat Power Ranking for Force-Refining Martial Masters, the one on the left was the Martial Master ranking, and the one on the right was the Martial Artist ranking.

On each list, there were only ten names from top to bottom.

Li Fei looked at the list in the center and saw that at the very top, the name ranked first was Wang Fengqing—327 points.

The rules of the arena are that in battles between martial artists, winning a match earns 1 point, and losing a match deducts 1 point.

Between martial masters, winning a match earns 5 points, and losing a match deducts 5 points.

Between force-refining martial masters, winning a match earns 10 points, and losing a match deducts 10 points.

Furthermore, the point difference between the two people sparring cannot be too large, otherwise, they cannot spar.

The point difference between martial artists cannot exceed 10 points, between martial masters cannot exceed 50 points, and between force-refining martial masters cannot exceed 100 points.

On the list, Wang Fengqing, ranked first, had 327 points, while the second place only had 205 points.

Therefore, Wang Fengqing could no longer be matched with an opponent in the arena.

In fact, with her Dao Foundation Realm cultivation, she truly could not find an opponent among the students of the Martial University.

She had been far ahead on the Combat Power Ranking, dominating the first place for nearly half a year.

Li Fei came to the arena today to fight.

The realm he currently revealed to the outside world was the late Body Breaking stage. He actually wanted to reveal his Qi Transformation Realm cultivation, but he really couldn't explain it clearly.

Breaking through from an ordinary person to the Qi Transformation Realm in half a year was too shocking; even Wang Fengqing had used nearly a year.

And it was precisely because he only had Body Breaking stage cultivation now that the outside world had never suspected his connection to the Green-Faced Ghost.

Once he exposed his Qi Transformation Realm cultivation, combined with the same Geng Metal True Qi, his identity as the Green-Faced Ghost would have the risk of being exposed.

Therefore, Li Fei's initial plan was to wait until he arrived at the Martial University to 'openly and honestly' break through his realm.

And to break through to the Qi Transformation Realm, one naturally had to undergo life-and-death tempering.

So the arena was the most suitable place.

Only after he 'openly and honestly' broke through to the Qi Transformation Realm would it be convenient for him to ask for advice on how to solve the problem of his state of mind, thereby breaking through to the middle Qi Transformation stage.

Besides that, Li Fei came to the arena to further reveal his edge and increase his weight in the eyes of various factions.

Now everyone knew his potential was astonishing, even higher than Wang Fengqing's.

But potential is just potential; whether he could truly convert that potential into combat power remained to be observed further.

Back then, Wang Fengqing had already revealed her edge in the arena when she was a freshman.

Now, Li Fei naturally wouldn't fall behind!

Inside the arena, Li Fei stepped forward.

The sunlight shone on him, stretching his shadow very, very long.

Seeking monthly votes.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 150 =====