Chapter 237: Number One on Both Rankings, Secret Investigation

The moment the 【Blood Spring】 unlocked, Li Fei automatically comprehended the information related to it.

This blood soul technique can form a "spring eye" within Li Fei's body; in his daily life, Li Fei can deposit blood souls into the "spring eye" for storage, and extract them from the "spring eye" when needed.

However, within 24 hours, one can inject at most 1% of the total blood soul quantity into the "spring eye."

Li Fei's current total blood soul quantity is 211, so 1% is 2. .

Based on this current quantity, he needs 100 days to store over 200 blood souls in the Blood Spring.

It seems a bit slow, but the 【Blood Spring】 blood soul technique is equivalent to allowing Li Fei's "health bar" to continue growing, and most importantly, there is no upper limit.

Theoretically speaking, given enough time, he could store tens of thousands of blood souls in the Blood Spring, truly achieving "Ten Thousand Bloods"!

Of course, the blood souls in the Blood Spring are gone once used, unlike the blood souls in the Ten Thousand Blood Bead, which can all be recovered within 10 days regardless of how many there are.

"From now on, unless absolutely necessary, I will try not to use the Blood Spring, leaving myself a trump card that will only grow stronger."

Li Fei thought to himself.

He continued to sprinkle "Spirit-Awakening Powder" onto the Dream-Like Order, but this time only a small portion of the powder melted.

This indicates that the few implants inside the Dream-Like Order are already "full."

Li Fei can only wait a few days before using this method again to stimulate the 【Phantom Leaf】 to accelerate its growth, while also absorbing high-quality energy.

His 【Steel Armor】 implant took less than a month during its embryo-nurturing period; now with the Dream-Like Order in hand, the embryo-nurturing period for this 【Phantom Leaf】 implant will likely also take less than a month.

Li Fei put his things away and left this stronghold.

More than an hour later, he arrived outside the door of Zhao Yi's residence and knocked gently on the door.

After a while, the door was opened, and Zhao Yi looked at Li Fei with a vigilant expression:

"It's so late, why did you suddenly come over?"

"Let's go in and talk."

Li Fei stepped inside.

"Hmm? You have already absorbed the 【Phantom Leaf】?!"

After Zhao Yi closed the door, she suddenly looked at Li Fei in astonishment.

Li Fei had just absorbed the 【Phantom Leaf】 and still had the aura of the 【Phantom Leaf】 lingering on him; Zhao Yi, being of the same sect and origin, sensed it very keenly.

"Yes."

Li Fei admitted it directly.

Zhao Yi bit her lip and said with difficulty: "That was quite fast."

She had originally thought that it would take Li Fei at least some time to obtain the 【Phantom Leaf】, but she hadn't expected him to get it so quickly, and to have successfully absorbed it as well.

"Don't be anxious, you are still useful for the time being."

Li Fei said to Zhao Yi.

To maintain the Dream-Like Order, he must at least have the cultivation base of the late stage of Body Breaking to be able to perform the corresponding techniques.

"I thank you so much."

Zhao Yi sneered.

"Have the required materials been bought?"

Li Fei asked.

He had inquired about the various materials needed to maintain the Dream-Like Order in advance, and only after confirming the price did he give the money to Zhao Yi, letting her purchase them on the black market.

The reason he didn't buy them himself is, firstly, because Zhao Renjie had already established his own channels over the past years, making purchases discreet and convenient.

Secondly, it is because Li Fei does not want to be exposed, and does not want outsiders to know that he has a connection with the Dream-Like Order.

"They have already been bought."

As Zhao Yi spoke, she turned and walked into the room, then walked out carrying a pile of medicine packets and placed them on the table:

"Inside here, one part is the medicinal herbs and spell-casting materials needed to maintain the Dream-Like Order, and the remaining part is the more common medicinal herbs needed for martial arts cultivation."

If one only bought the things needed to maintain the Dream-Like Order, it would be too conspicuous and might lead the Nightmare Sect to follow the trail and find them; therefore, over the past years, every time Zhao Renjie made a purchase, he would buy in batches, and mix in a portion of other medicinal herbs in each batch so as not to reveal any flaws.

As for the extra portion of medicinal herbs, they are "hard currency" and can be sold through other channels; if lucky, one can even make a little profit from the price difference.

Li Fei untied the medicine packets on the table and checked each type of herb one by one; after confirming they were correct, he took a packet of medicinal powder from his bosom and handed it to Zhao Yi:

"Eat this."

"What is this?"

Zhao Yi looked at him vigilantly.

"A newly formulated poison, the effect is better."

Li Fei said calmly.

He had followed Mo Yizhou to study for half a month and finally managed to initially concoct the periodic poison targeting Zhao Yi.

"."

Zhao Yi gritted her teeth, and in the end, said nothing, swallowing the powder in the medicine packet in one gulp.

"This type of poison requires the antidote to be taken every 20 days, otherwise your internal organs will gradually decay, and eventually, your internal organs will completely rot."

Li Fei explained to Zhao Yi.

"Understood."

Zhao Yi nodded expressionlessly.

"You can now perform maintenance on the Dream-Like Order."

Li Fei said to Zhao Yi.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yi began to prepare the necessary medicinal herbs and spell-casting materials.

Li Fei observed from the side, watching her process the herbs and watching her use the spell-casting materials to set up the ritual, asking questions from time to time.

More than twenty minutes later, everything was ready, and Zhao Yi began to cast the spell.

The ritual was set up on the ground with spell-casting materials; she placed the Dream-Like Order on the ritual and then began to chant.

Soon, the symbols and tracks on the ground began to light up with a faint glow, and the Dream-Like Order also emitted a ghostly blue light.

After lasting for more than ten seconds, Zhao Yi cleared away the remaining materials and herbs on the ground and replaced them with new ones.

Repeating this four times, Zhao Yi performed four different techniques, and only then was this round of maintenance for the Dream-Like Order considered complete.

"There is no need for maintenance again for the next forty days."

Zhao Yi said to Li Fei.

For this round of maintenance, the purchase of medicinal herbs and spell-casting materials cost a total of over 4, 00 yuan; even if the extra herbs bought were sold, the maintenance cost was still around 3, 00 yuan.

Spending over 3, 00 every forty days to maintain the Dream-Like Order, and over 30, 00 a year—this is where the Dream-Like Order burns money.

Li Fei picked up the extra martial arts cultivation materials and left Zhao Yi's residence.

He prepared to mail these materials back to Xingcheng and hand them over to the people at the Qingyuan Property Management Company to use.

Now the Qingyuan Property Management Company has already sent a group of people into the Martial Arts Hall to prepare to train new martial artists, and it is exactly the time when these medicinal herbs are needed.

In the following days, Li Fei spent every morning studying the "poison formula" with Mo Yizhou, attended a certain professor's class in the afternoon, then went to the arena to fight one or two matches, and spent his evenings cultivating the 【Phantom Leaf】 and researching techniques.

Every day was very fulfilling.

January 27th.

Li Fei walked into the arena again.

His arena points had already reached 127, currently ranking second on the Martial Master combat power leaderboard!

The first place, Cao Yiqing, had 129 points.

Whether intentional or unintentional, the two were matched together again today.

In this way, the outcome between the two will directly determine who takes the top spot.

Fighting until now, Li Fei's record at the Martial Master stage is eighteen consecutive wins; he has already faced six experts on the combat power leaderboard, and won against all of them!

"Matched with the junior again; I don't know if this is good luck or bad luck."

Inside the martial arts arena, Cao Yiqing said to Li Fei.

Li Fei cupped his hands toward the other party: "I feel very lucky to be able to spar with Senior Cao."

Among the opponents at the Martial Master stage, Cao Yiqing brought him the strongest sense of pressure; only by sparring with such an opponent could Li Fei make progress.

"Begin."

The referee announced the start of the match.

The two quickly clashed.

This time, Cao Yiqing did not explode with flame flying needles right from the start like last time; he chose to play it steady and grind slowly with Li Fei.

Having had the experience from last time, Cao Yiqing fought very cautiously this time, holding back thirty percent of his strength with every strike, not giving Li Fei the chance to set a trap using his "Tyrant Body."

The two fought like this for more than ten minutes; Cao Yiqing had more advantages in speed and strength, and the situation looked more favorable for him. Li Fei was struck dozens of times by his iron mace, while he was only struck by Li Fei's blade three times.

But no matter how many attacks Li Fei suffered, his "Tyrant Body" was never broken, and he appeared to have no major issues, like a mountain standing tall and unmoving!

As time passed, most of Cao Yiqing's C-Fire True Qi was consumed, and his speed and strength began to decline, while Li Fei's state did not slide in the slightest.

Thus, the situation slowly reversed, and Li Fei began to gain the upper hand.

After another ten minutes or so, Cao Yiqing had no choice but to concede defeat helplessly.

He looked at Li Fei with surprised eyes:

"I really want to know how exactly you trained?"

He had been a Martial Master for more than two years, and it was only through his innate talent combined with special secret techniques that he had cultivated such a thick and deep Innate One Qi.

Yet Li Fei had been a Martial Master for less than a month, and his Innate One Qi was actually thicker and deeper than his own?!

Li Fei smiled without saying a word.

In reality, halfway through the fight, he had already started using 【Blood Rage】, exchanging blood souls for power to maintain his state so it wouldn't decline.

Compared to last time, this time Cao Yiqing not only let him use the Myriad Blood Bead to share the damage, but also used a blood soul technique, which was already an improvement.

A moment later, Li Fei, having changed his clothes, walked out of the martial arts arena.

He walked to the city gate of the arena and happened to see the combat power ranking being updated.

A brand-new ranking list was hung on the city wall—

Combat Power Ranking (Martial Master):

First place, Li Fei, 132 points.

Li Fei had long since topped the academic credit ranking, leading the second place by several dozen points.

Now, he had also reached the top of the combat power ranking.

Number one on both lists!

In the history of the Martial University, Li Fei was the only one to have achieved such an honor.

The academic credit ranking only recorded students within two years of enrollment, and it was too difficult to make it onto the combat power ranking within two years of enrollment.

Back then, when Wang Fengqing topped the academic credit ranking, she only managed to rank first on the Martial Artist combat power ranking; later, she failed to reach the top of the Martial Master combat power ranking, and only topped the combat power ranking again after breaking through to the Qi-Refining Martial Master level, by which time she had already left the academic credit ranking.

Compared to the dual number one status on the academic credit ranking and Martial Artist combat power ranking created by Wang Fengqing, Li Fei's current dual number one status was clearly more valuable.

And the most terrifying thing was that Li Fei had been enrolled for less than a month!

"Is it possible for him to achieve the dual number one status on the academic credit ranking and the Qi-Refining Martial Master combat power ranking in the future?"

The students around the city gate all looked at Li Fei, who was looking up at the combat power ranking.

At this moment, the jealousy in the eyes of these students was gone, replaced only by amazement.

When the gap becomes large enough, people lose the urge to compare, because it truly has no meaning.

Li Fei lowered his head and stopped looking at the ranking list.

He looked around, smiled slightly, and walked out of the city gate amidst the amazed gazes of the crowd.

That night, after taking a long detour to confirm he was not being followed, Li Fei walked into a pawnshop.

This was a stronghold set up by the General Supervision Institute of Datong Prefecture, and Lu Mengyang, the contact person arranged by the General Supervision Institute for Li Fei, was right here.

"My lord, you've arrived."

Lu Mengyang, the bespectacled pawnshop owner, saw Li Fei walk in, his face beaming with an enthusiastic smile. He hurried up to greet him and then bowed to Li Fei:

"Lu Mengyang pays his respects to Lord Li."

"Old Lu, I've told you many times, there's no need to be so formal."

Li Fei helplessly helped Lu Mengyang up.

Lu Mengyang shook his head, his expression firm:

"My lord, it is only right! Every time I see you, this heartfelt admiration I feel is like the surging river water..."

"Alright, alright."

Li Fei interrupted the other's flattery.

Lu Mengyang was very capable at handling affairs; he could always complete the tasks entrusted to him by Li Fei with the fastest speed and in perfect order.

It was just that he was too fond of flattery, which often made Li Fei feel cringed.

"Speak, what is the matter that made you call me over?"

Li Fei asked.

He had suddenly received a call from Lu Mengyang today, asking him to come to the pawnshop tonight, saying there was an important matter.

"My lord, this is a secret order for you from Lord Xia Huan."

Lu Mengyang immediately became serious, carefully took out a letter from his bosom, and handed it to Li Fei with both hands.

The wax seal on the letter was still intact.

"You could have just read it and told me over the phone, couldn't you?"

Li Fei took the secret order.

Lu Mengyang hurriedly waved his hands: "How would a lowly person like me have the qualifications to read such a secret order."

Li Fei tore open the envelope, took out the letter inside, and began to read.

This letter contained the task Xia Huan had assigned him.

Back then, when Xia Huan promoted Li Fei's rank to level 9, besides wanting to befriend the people behind Li Fei, it was also to have Li Fei investigate spies for the General Supervision Institute after entering the Martial University.

The General Supervision Institute suspected that someone inside the Martial University was colluding with spies from the Meijia Kingdom, but they hadn't found evidence yet. After all, they were people from the Martial University with special identities, so even the General Supervision Institute found it difficult to investigate directly.

Li Fei had been in the Martial University for almost a month, and Xia Huan had never issued him a task.

Now, the task had finally arrived.

In this secret order, Xia Huan asked Li Fei to find a way to approach a Martial University lecturer named Chen Xiang.

The other party was a special-grade lecturer at the peak of the Qi Transformation realm.

Xia Huan said in the letter that since Li Fei was now a genius famous throughout the Martial University, if Chen Xiang was truly colluding with spies from the Meijia Kingdom, then the people from the Meijia Kingdom would inevitably want to eliminate a peerless genius like Li Fei. If Li Fei took the initiative to approach Chen Xiang, the other party might try to make a move on him.

"Fishing for a confession?"

Li Fei muttered after finishing the secret order.

In fact, with the talent he had shown at the Martial University, he could completely refuse Xia Huan; at worst, he would just stop being this secret inspector.

But this identity had many benefits; much of the information he had checked previously was accessed using the authority given by the Supervision Institute.

Besides that, he also shouldered the responsibility of investigating the 'Green-Faced Ghost'. With this identity, his own identity as the 'Green-Faced Ghost' could be better covered.

Moreover, if someone really wanted to harm him, this task could also be considered as clearing away hidden dangers for himself.

"Tell Lord Xia for me that I have received the task, and I will act as soon as possible."

Li Fei looked up and said to Lu Mengyang.

There is another chapter coming later.

(End of this chapter)