Chapter 175: 【Blood Might】! Fusion of Magic and Martial Arts

"Boss, Hao Yi has left the city."

At the Yu residence, a subordinate reported to Yu Hu.

"Oh?"

Yu Hu was somewhat surprised upon receiving the news, then sneered:

"That old fox Gu Zhenhui really has some tricks up his sleeve."

Zhang Mingze understood Hao Yi well enough, but Yu Hu did not; without Zhang Mingze there to scheme for him, he had not actually anticipated in this game of chess that Gu Zhenhui could move Hao Yi to act.

"A pity, cleverness can be the undoing of the clever."

Yu Hu did not panic because of this.

Although he had not expected Gu Zhenhui to be able to move Hao Yi, Hao Yi leaving the city was a situation he had wanted to see anyway; the opponent's move had indirectly helped him.

"Understood. Keep investigating and keep a constant eye on the movements of the City Guard."

After letting the subordinate leave, Yu Hu walked into the room, picked up the telephone receiver, and dialed a number.

Soon, the call connected:

"The plan has changed. Hao Yi has left the city."

The morning of October 21st.

The Administration Hall, Chief's office.

"My lord, the secret agent acting with Hao Yi has sent back word. They have discovered the tracks of the horse bandits. The opponent is currently near Liu Family Town and appears to be preparing to make a move on it."

Cheng Bi reported to Gu Zhenhui.

After Hao Yi agreed to act, he left the city the next day, and Cheng Bi had sent several secret agents skilled in tracking to act alongside him.

Hao Yi himself was not skilled in tracking; all he was responsible for was ensuring the safety of these secret agents.

Then, after a day of tracking, useful intelligence was finally sent back today.

Gu Zhenhui felt a bit invigorated upon hearing this and hurriedly asked:

"How many people are there? Are there any experts? Did they encounter any ambushes by experts during the tracking process?"

"There are about fifty-some horse bandits, all mounted, with firearms and heavy crossbows. No experts have been discovered for the time being, and the tracking process did not encounter any attacks by experts."

Cheng Bi replied.

"Only fifty-some people? No experts?"

Gu Zhenhui furrowed his brows. "Could it be a deliberate attempt to lure Hao Yi out of the city? What are they after?"

Unable to discern the opponent's intent for the moment, Gu Zhenhui decided to play it safe:

"Send a message back and ask Hao Yi to take action and resolve this group of horse bandits directly."

Since there were only fifty-some people and no experts, it should be very easy for Hao Yi to resolve them with his strength; even if a few people escaped in the end, it wouldn't matter. In any case, Gu Zhenhui was certainly not going to send troops out.

"Yes."

Cheng Bi accepted the order and left.

Soon, a falcon flew out of Xingcheng, heading toward the mountains and forests in the southwest.

This was the method the secret agents used to maintain contact with the city.

At the same time, Yu Hu also issued an order on his end:

"Let Gray Hawk make his move!"

Martial Arts Hall, inside the training room.

Li Fei had just taken a Geng Metal Elixir and was circulating the Geng Metal true Qi within his body to continuously stimulate the steel armor implant, accelerating the digestion of the medicinal power.

Although Hao Yi was not there, he still arrived at the training room on time every day to train.

With Hao Yi away these past two days, he had just happened to increase his dosage to boost the progress of his Qi Transformation stage cultivation, while also striving to complete the upgrade of the Ten Thousand Blood Bead.

More than twenty days had passed since the last upgrade of the Ten Thousand Blood Bead. During this time, Li Fei sparred with Shangguan Xiao every night, and combined with taking new elixirs, the Ten Thousand Blood Bead had absorbed a massive amount of energy and was only a tiny bit away from upgrading.

A moment later, a look of joy appeared on Li Fei's face.

【Level: 11, 1%

Blood Soul: 161

Blood Soul Skill: Blood Rage, Blood Fiend, Blood Might

Transformation Skill: Blood Demon】

After reaching level 11, the Ten Thousand Blood Bead increased his Blood Souls by 20, bringing Li Fei's total to 161.

And once the number of Blood Souls exceeded 150, the Ten Thousand Blood Bead unlocked a new Blood Soul Skill—Blood Might!

Through the information unlocked within the Ten Thousand Blood Bead, Li Fei immediately grasped the essence and understood the function of the 【Blood Might】 Blood Soul Skill:

After using 【Blood Might】, one can launch a mental shock against a single designated target; the more Blood Souls consumed at once, the more powerful the mental shock.

【Blood Might】 can consume at most 10% of one's total Blood Souls at one time.

"A mental shock?!"

Upon seeing this information, Li Fei immediately associated it with the sorcery of this world.

Hao Yi had once told him that in the stages of Body Breaking and Divine Transformation, all sorcery used could only produce effects on the mental level.

For example, illusions, hypnosis, intimidation, and so on.

And 【Blood Might】 also produced a shock on the mental level; it looked very similar to sorcery.

This reminded Li Fei of when he was pursuing people from the Peace of Mind Sect in the mountains and forests, and later, when Hao Yi and the others arrived, the mages from the Judicial Academy cast 'Terror Spell' on the followers of the Peace of Mind Sect.

At that time, the followers of the Peace of Mind Sect were so frightened they fled in all directions, and some even suffered mental breakdowns, losing all ability to resist.

Viewed in this light, the newly unlocked 【Blood Might】 looked very much like another version of the Terror Spell.

It was just that the Terror Spell was an area-of-effect attack, while 【Blood Might】 was a single-target attack.

"The Ten Thousand Blood Bead can actually unlock sorcery? Does this mean I can be considered a dual cultivator of magic and martial arts from now on?"

Li Fei thought to himself, feeling quite pleased.

Dual cultivation of magic and martial arts might seem powerful, possessing nearly invincible combat strength among those of the same rank, but the further one progressed, the harder the cultivation became, as the implants of two different systems would cause violent conflicts.

Throughout history, many who boasted of supreme talent felt they could walk the path of 'dual cultivation of magic and martial arts,' but they all failed in the end.

However, Li Fei's Ten Thousand Blood Bead was different; no matter what the ability was, it belonged to the Blood Soul Skills, so there was absolutely no conflict at all. Therefore, rather than saying he was a dual cultivator of magic and martial arts, it was better to say he was a fusion of magic and martial arts!

"Currently, it seems that a sorcery-side Blood Soul Skill like 【Blood Might】 and martial-side Blood Soul Skills like 【Blood Rage】 and 【Blood Fiend】 do indeed have essential differences."

Li Fei pondered quietly in the training room, summarizing:

"【Blood Rage】 and 【Blood Fiend】's power ceiling depends on my own physical strength; the stronger my physique and the higher my tolerance, the higher the ceiling for 【Blood Rage】 and 【Blood Fiend】 can be. But 【Blood Might】 is different; it explicitly states that the maximum casting power is 10% of my total Blood Souls, so it has nothing to do with physique. Only when the total number of Blood Souls goes up can the power of 【Blood Might】 go up. Hmm, one martial-side, one sorcery-side, interesting."

Bang, bang, bang.

Just as Li Fei was summarizing the characteristics of his Blood Soul Skills, a knocking sound suddenly came from outside.

Li Fei was startled; he and Hao Yi trained in this room, and very few people would come to disturb them.

He stood up, walked over, and opened the door. Standing outside was a man wearing the uniform of a Martial Arts Hall administrator.

The man smiled at Li Fei and said very politely:

"Student Li Fei, hello. The Hall Master wishes to see you."

"The Hall Master wishes to see me?"

Li Fei was stunned for a moment. "Is there something the matter?"

Did this new Martial Arts Hall Master, who had only been in office for a few days, want to chat with him while Hao Yi was away?

"I wouldn't know about that; I'm just here to pass on the message."

The man outside the door said.

Li Fei nodded: "Wait a moment."

Having said that, he turned and walked into the training room, picking up the Ghost Severing Blade placed to the side.

This blade was originally contained in a wooden box and had no scabbard.

For the sake of convenience in carrying it, Li Fei had specifically found someone to craft a scabbard for it.

After unlocking the Ghost Severing Blade's transformation ability, he could already use this blade openly under the identity of Li Fei, without fear of being seen by others.

"Let's go."

Li Fei walked out the door with the scabbard in his left hand.

The man outside the door looked at the blade in Li Fei's hand, hesitated for a moment, and spoke:

"Going to see the Hall Master while carrying a blade, isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

Li Fei smiled:

"This blade was a gift from an elder, and I dare not lose it. Please lead the way."

A level-five exotic weapon was incredibly precious, so he naturally had to keep it on his person.

The man said nothing more and turned to lead the way in front.

The two of them soon walked out of the training room building.

Just after walking out of the building, Li Fei looked suspiciously at the man leading the way in front.

His sensory abilities were no longer what they used to be, and even without being in the 'Tyrant Body' state, he was extremely sharp, so he could clearly feel the muscles of the man leading the way beginning to tense up; he seemed somewhat nervous.

This made Li Fei immediately heighten his vigilance.

The two walked along a tree-lined path, with ginkgo trees on both sides of the road.

It was the golden autumn season, and the leaves of the ginkgo trees had all turned golden yellow, drifting onto the ground one by one, looking very beautiful.

Suddenly, Li Fei turned sharply, drew his blade, and slashed to the right!

Just as Li Fei drew his blade, a figure rushed out from behind a ginkgo tree and lunged at Li Fei.

The person moved extremely fast, and as they swung their palms, the force of the wind they stirred up swept up all the ginkgo leaves on the ground, turning them into a golden wave that surged toward Li Fei, blotting out the sky!

Li Fei's vision was completely obstructed, preventing him from seeing the specific location of the person who had arrived.

However, this did not affect his blade work in the slightest; the Ghost-Slaying Blade transformed into a cold glint, thrusting toward a spot in front of him and piercing a hole through the surging golden tide.

"Oh?"

The newcomer seemed somewhat surprised, reaching out a finger to flick the side of the Ghost-Slaying Blade.

Bang—

A sound like a thunderclap rang out, attracting many nearby students and instructors to look over.

A flash of fire streaked past, and the golden leaves surging toward Li Fei were instantly ignited, turning into countless sparks that fell upon him and set his clothes on fire as well!

The tide turned into a sea of fire!

The Ghost-Slaying Blade that Li Fei had thrust out trembled violently, nearly flying from his hand, and through this exchange, he determined the newcomer's cultivation base—

A Strength-Refining Martial Master!

The opponent was using fire-attribute internal strength, indicating a cultivation base of at least the mid-stage of Qi Transformation.

Although there were many students and instructors nearby, their strength could not compare to a Strength-Refining Martial Master, so counting on them for rescue was impossible.

If Li Fei wanted to protect himself, he would have to reveal his strength in front of so many people.

If that happened, his identity as the Green-Faced Ghost might also be exposed!

But if he did not reveal his strength, how could a Grade A student of the Martial Lecture Hall, who only possessed a mid-stage Body-Breaking cultivation base, escape from the hands of a Strength-Refining Martial Master?

Ignoring the flames burning on his body, Li Fei remained extremely calm, retreating while swinging his blade to block, simultaneously activating "Tyrant Body."

Just as he entered the "Tyrant Body" state, the newcomer had already reached out to grab him.

Only then did Li Fei clearly see the newcomer's appearance:

Wearing a black martial robe and a green evil ghost mask.

The Green-Faced Ghost?!

(End of chapter)