Chapter 217: A Century of Jianghu, Great Waves Washing the Sand

Zhao Yi returned to her own home.

This was an ordinary residential area; she lived on the first floor, which made it convenient to run away at any time.

After returning home, Zhao Yi immediately tidied up her things, taking out all her important items.

It was not to run away, but to hide them properly again to prevent Li Fei from taking them later.

Li Fei's judgment of her was very accurate; she was a person with great ambition.

Zhao Renjie named her Zhao Yi in the hope that she could be first in everything on her cultivation path, because Zhao Renjie himself had never taken first place, and "first" was his own regret.

Although Zhao Yi did not like Zhao Renjie much, she liked her name very much.

A person who wants to be "first" naturally would not give up a supreme treasure like the "Dream-Ordering Decree."

Without the Dream-Ordering Decree, how could she be first in the future?

Therefore, Zhao Yi would not run away; she would stay and continue to deal with Li Fei until she took back what belonged to her!

"Poison him? Use a trap?"

After hiding her valuables, Zhao Yi began to ponder whether to set up some means to deal with Li Fei.

But her most proficient technique attacks had no effect on Li Fei at all, so she had even less confidence in other methods.

Once she failed...

Zhao Yi recalled the experience of taking poison twice today and immediately shuddered.

"Forget it, I'll find an opportunity when my cultivation realm is higher later."

Zhao Yi finally decided to honestly wait at home for Li Fei to come over.

She waited until past eleven o'clock at night before a knock sounded at the door.

Zhao Yi stood up very vigilantly, went to the door, took a look through the peephole first, and only then opened the iron door.

Outside the door, Li Fei, holding the Ghost-Slaying Blade, stood there quietly.

"You weren't followed here, were you?"

Zhao Yi asked.

Over the past few years, she had followed Zhao Renjie around hiding, and had long since developed a cautious personality.

"No."

Li Fei said very firmly.

After he put his luggage in the dormitory, he had dinner with Li Tianyu and Chen Lixin, and then they each went their separate ways.

Next, he packed his equipment, walked out of the Martial University, and strolled around the city.

This stroll lasted for more than two hours; it was not a casual walk, but to familiarize himself with the terrain and routes.

He would definitely have to take action in Datong Prefecture City under the identity of "Green-Faced Ghost" in the future, so he had to familiarize himself with the terrain first to make it easier to run away later.

Besides that, Li Fei also wanted to see if anyone was following him.

After having the identity of the Green-Faced Ghost, he specifically studied and learned tracking and anti-tracking techniques, and even sought out Shangguan Xiao to practice them.

After some training, coupled with the extraordinary ability of "Danger Perception," even a powerhouse at the Dao Foundation realm like Shangguan Xiao would find it extremely difficult to follow Li Fei silently.

That was why Li Fei could be so confident in telling Zhao Yi that no one was following him.

Walking into the room, Li Fei looked around and found that the furnishings were simple and clean; he didn't know if Zhao Yi had just cleaned it or if she was just very neat in her daily life.

"Write down all the cultivation methods of the Nightmare Sect and give them to me."

Li Fei said to Zhao Yi.

"They are already prepared."

Zhao Yi turned and walked into the bedroom, took out a thick notebook from inside, and handed it to Li Fei:

"This contains the cultivation methods of the Nightmare Sect, enough for you to cultivate all the way to the Dao Foundation realm."

Li Fei took the notebook and flipped through it roughly; the handwriting was quite delicate, and it should have been copied by Zhao Yi herself.

"You know I am a student at the Martial University."

"Yes, so what?"

"So if I want to verify the truth of the content here, I have plenty of ways."

"I know."

"Good."

Li Fei said no more.

Everyone was a smart person; some things didn't need to be said.

Zhao Yi naturally had thought about playing some tricks on this cultivation method, but considering Li Fei's identity as a student of the Martial Peace University's Stop-War Department, she finally gave up.

Just as Li Fei said, he had many ways to verify its authenticity, and once a trick was discovered, the one who would suffer in the end would still be Zhao Yi.

Zhao Yi did not want to try the Nether Spring Poison again.

"Come, take this."

Unexpectedly, Li Fei suddenly took a paper packet from his bosom and handed it to Zhao Yi.

Zhao Yi's expression changed immediately, and she said somewhat excitedly: "What are you doing? The cultivation method I gave you is real, there are absolutely no tricks! If you don't believe me, you can go to the Martial University to verify it yourself!"

"I am not trying to verify the authenticity of the cultivation method."

Li Fei looked at Zhao Yi calmly, "This poison is different from the one you took before; it is a chronic poison I just concocted. It will only flare up periodically, and you will be fine as long as you take the antidote in time."

"What do you mean?"

Zhao Yi stared fixedly at Li Fei.

Li Fei looked at her very frankly:

"Given our current relationship, I must have some means to restrict you, otherwise I will have to worry about being bitten back by you at any time in the future. If one day you can't help but make a move and fail in the end, I probably won't keep you anymore; after all, there is only one chance. To reduce your impulsiveness, and also for your own safety, I have no choice but to poison you."

"..."

Li Fei's frankness left Zhao Yi speechless.

"You use a tone that sounds like it's for my own good, yet you say things about poisoning me; do you actually think you're a good person?"

Zhao Yi sneered.

Li Fei looked at her calmly:

"I have said it before, only those who can point a gun at others can be good people."

Zhao Yi wanted to mock him a few times, but suddenly thought of one thing:

Today, Li Fei could have followed her home and directly ransacked her place.

But Li Fei let her return home by herself first, and only came to the door after she had hidden everything, and other than the cultivation method, he did not ask her for anything else.

Such a person—if you call him a bad person, he happens to have a bottom line.

If you call him a good person, his methods are too ruthless.

In the end, Zhao Yi said nothing, took the paper packet from Li Fei's hand, and swallowed all the medicinal powder inside.

Li Fei did not leave immediately, but sat down in the room and began to look through the notebook in his hand.

The Nightmare Sect's cultivation method also started with an implant, requiring the inclusion of a wood-attribute implant called 【Phantom Leaf】.

This was a technique-type implant, second-grade inferior.

The notebook recorded in detail how to absorb and cultivate the 【Phantom Leaf】, and the precautions and medicines needed for the Embryo-Nurturing stage, Body-Breaking stage, and God-Transformation stage were also recorded on it.

Li Fei browsed through the content of the notebook carefully, asking Zhao Yi a few questions from time to time.

After confirming there were no more questions, Li Fei left Zhao Yi's residence.

He did not return to the Martial University immediately, but took a roundabout route repeatedly, and only after confirming no one was following him did he head to his destination.

A dozen minutes later, Li Fei walked into a pawnshop.

It was already close to dawn, and other shops on the street were already closed; only this pawnshop was still open.

"Boss, I'm here to pawn something."

Li Fei said, taking a token made of black iron from his bosom and placing it at the pawn window.

The boss sitting inside was a middle-aged man wearing a long robe and glasses; his expression changed slightly when he saw this token.

He hurriedly picked up the token to examine it carefully, then stood up and walked out from the back.

"Please wait a moment."

He said to Li Fei, then walked to the shop door and closed it first.

Then he turned to look at Li Fei, took out a black iron token from his own bosom, and joined the two tokens in his hand together; they fit perfectly.

After confirming the token was correct, the middle-aged man held Li Fei's token with both hands and bowed to Li Fei:

"Lu Mengyang, Level 4 Inspector of the Datong Prefecture Inspection General Office, greets Lord Li!"

"You know me?"

Li Fei looked at the man in front of him.

Before coming to Datong Prefecture City, he was granted the position equivalent to a local Level 4 Inspector by Xia Huan of the Inspection General Office. The other party gave him this token that could prove his identity and told him to come to this pawnshop if he had anything to do.

Whether it was reporting news, finding someone, or wanting to obtain intelligence, it was all possible.

A local Level 4 Inspector was a Grade 9 official, and the authority was already quite high, so Li Fei wanted to use this authority to investigate the Nightmare Sect.

"Lord Xia Huan greeted me in advance, saying that I would be responsible for connecting with you, my lord, in the future, so naturally I must recognize you."

Lu Mengyang bowed, his face full of smiles, and said to Li Fei: "What's more, your reputation now resounds throughout the Martial University, and I believe it will soon spread throughout the entire Datong Prefecture City. If I, a subordinate, could not recognize you, that would be too derelict of duty."

Apparently, Lu Mengyang had already received wind of what happened at the Martial University today.

"Good, I want detailed intelligence on all the major sects and factions in the Jianghu; is that possible?"

Li Fei asked.

Out of caution, he did not directly ask for intelligence on the Nightmare Sect to avoid exposure.

Since the Nightmare Sect has a True Person of the current era presiding over it, it certainly counts as a major sect of the Jianghu.

"May I ask, my lord, just how detailed should this detailed intelligence be?"

Lu Mengyang asked cautiously.

Li Fei: "As long as it is intelligence that my clearance level can access, it should be as detailed as possible."

"Very well, this subordinate understands."

Lu Mengyang nodded.

"I will give you three days. I will come here to collect the intelligence in three days."

Li Fei said to Lu Mengyang.

Just as he intended to leave, Lu Mengyang suddenly called out to him:

"My lord, wait a moment."

"Is there anything else?"

Li Fei turned to look at him.

Lu Mengyang was still bowing, smiling as he said to Li Fei:

"I wonder if my lord is in a hurry?"

"What do you mean?"

"My lord, please do not misunderstand. This subordinate means that if my lord is not in a hurry, you could wait here with this subordinate for a while; this subordinate can have the data my lord wants ready for you tonight."

"You can give it to me tonight? So fast?"

"Since this is the first time my lord has entrusted this subordinate with a task, this subordinate naturally dares not be negligent."

Lu Mengyang said with a smile.

Li Fei scrutinized the other party carefully, feeling that this subordinate was somewhat interesting:

"Fine, then I will wait for you here."

"This way, my lord."

Lu Mengyang led Li Fei to the side to sit down, then poured him a pot of tea before leaving.

Li Fei sat quietly in his seat, waiting, while simultaneously fusing the Geng Metal True Qi within his body with the newly generated Blood Fiend Qi to form True Blood Force.

The Blood Fiend Qi was constantly dissipating, but because the rate of dissipation was not as fast as the rate at which Li Fei replenished it, it was able to accumulate more and more within his body.

However, this presented a problem: Li Fei needed to periodically re-fuse the newly generated Blood Fiend Qi with the Geng Metal True Qi, otherwise the True Blood Force in his body would continuously decrease.

Yet, this process was also a way for Li Fei to exercise his control over the Geng Metal True Qi. Once his proficiency became high enough to complete the fusion of Blood Fiend Qi and Geng Metal True Qi in an instant, he would no longer need to use this current method to store True Blood Force in advance.

After Li Fei had been sitting in his seat for over an hour, Lu Mengyang returned carrying a package.

"My lord, this is the data you requested."

Lu Mengyang placed the package on the table and opened it, revealing several dozen small booklets inside:

"There are several dozen major sects and factions in this Jianghu, and each one has a separate booklet recording it. Furthermore, to make it easier for my lord to read, this subordinate wrote a summary myself—it is the booklet on the very top."

Upon hearing this, Li Fei picked up the booklet on top and flipped through it.

He discovered that the ink on some of the handwriting was not yet dry, so it must have been written just now.

He looked up at Lu Mengyang: "You have put in the effort. Thank you."

"My lord, there is no need for such courtesy; it is all what this subordinate should do."

Lu Mengyang waved his hand with a smile, "If my lord has any further instructions later, you can come find this subordinate at any time, or give this subordinate a phone call."

"Good, give me your phone number."

Li Fei said.

Lu Mengyang then handed over a slip of paper with the number written on it.

Li Fei packed everything away, stood up, and left the pawnshop.

"Safe travels, my lord."

Lu Mengyang's farewell came from behind him.

It was already past two in the morning when Li Fei returned to the dormitory at the Martial University.

The dormitories provided by the Martial University for each student were individual, so Li Fei did not need to worry about disturbing others.

He turned on the desk lamp and took out the small booklet Lu Mengyang had written to read:

"The major sects of the Jianghu are led by the Buddhist and Daoist schools; the Buddhist school is headed by Pudu Temple, and the Daoist school is headed by the Three Sects."

In this booklet, Lu Mengyang first summarized the top sect forces and the most elite powerhouses in the Jianghu for Li Fei, giving him a rough concept.

The Buddhist and Daoist schools were the two most mainstream forces in the Jianghu. The representative of the Buddhist school was Pudu Temple, and the representatives of the Daoist school were the Daoist Three Sects, which were the Daluo Sect, the Wuwei Sect, and the Yuhua Sect, with the Daluo Sect at the head.

Li Fei remembered that when he was listening to the radio, he heard the President of the Martial Security University personally visit True Lord Qingxu of the Daluo Sect to discuss the arrangements for the first Martial Arts Tournament, allowing the outstanding students from the Combat Departments of the twelve universities to spar with the elite disciples of the Daoist Three Sects! (See Volume 1, Chapter 12 for details)

The location for the first Martial Arts Tournament was at the Martial University.

It was just that Li Fei was still cultivating at the Xingcheng Lecture Hall at the time and missed this grand event.

He continued reading.

After finishing with the Buddhist and Daoist schools, Lu Mengyang mentioned 'One Pavilion, One Tower, Three Mountains, Four Sects, and Seven Great Families' in the booklet.

These were the sixteen most elite forces in the Jianghu outside of the Buddhist and Daoist schools. Among them, 'One Pavilion, One Tower, Three Mountains, and Four Sects' were nine Jianghu sects, while the 'Seven Great Families' were seven martial arts clans with a thousand-year heritage.

Including the Buddhist and Daoist schools, the Great Lan Dynasty had a total of twenty top-tier Jianghu forces. Even the weakest had at least one Martial Arts Grandmaster presiding, and the strongest even had the 'Number One Person in the World' presiding!

Li Fei looked at the content in the booklet, reading with great interest.

Half of the world's top martial arts inheritances were in the imperial court, and half were in the Jianghu.

But the vast majority of the world's most elite powerhouses were in the Jianghu!

'One Pinnacle, Three Evils, Five True Lords, Seven Martial Saints'.

These were the sixteen most influential pinnacle figures of the Great Lan Dynasty's century-long Jianghu, summarized by Lu Mengyang in a single sentence.

Although Lu Mengyang only used a few brief strokes in the booklet to describe these peerless powerhouses, Li Fei could still perceive the individual charisma of these pinnacle figures from them.

That night, the light in Li Fei's dormitory stayed on all night.

Through the booklet in his hand, he looked at the century-long Jianghu of the Great Lan Dynasty.

He watched the waves wash away the sand, and watched the figures of great talent.

PS: The specific 'One Pavilion, One Tower, Three Mountains, Four Sects, and Seven Great Families' as well as the 'One Pinnacle, Three Evils, Five True Lords, and Seven Martial Saints' will be written about one by one in future chapters, so they will not be detailed in this chapter.

Whether it is the imperial court or the Jianghu, I have made very detailed settings for this book, and I hope to present the story in my heart to everyone as completely as possible~

(End of chapter)