Chapter 251: Killing to Break the Dao, Breaking the Heart's Barrier

On the stone steps leading up the mountain, Li Fei walked upward step by step, with Xu Jing following not far behind him.

A moment later, a disciple of the Iron Blade Sect walked down from the mountain.

The other party shouted loudly at Li Fei from a distance:

"Zhuang Feng of the Iron Blade Sect. Those who trespass on our mountain gate shall die—"

As his voice fell, he charged downward, holding a blade in both hands!

The momentum and blade intent he unleashed were very similar to Guan Hanxiong's from before; both were like iron cavalry charging into battle, with a fierce, murderous aura, much like a valiant general on the battlefield.

This was the Iron Blade Sect's Iron Blade Array-Breaking Art, a high-level martial technique that could only be practiced upon reaching the Qi Transformation realm.

Whoosh—

As Zhuang Feng charged down from the steps, a gust of wild wind whistled, causing the trees on both sides of the steps to rustle. Countless leaves were swept up by the gale, swirling around Zhuang Feng as he charged downward together.

For a moment, Zhuang Feng alone unleashed the momentum of an entire army charging!

"Wind-attribute implant?"

Li Fei watched Zhuang Feng charging toward him and entered the "Tyrant Body" state once again.

Just as he lifted his right foot and had barely stepped onto a stair, a gust of wind struck, carrying countless leaves.

Driven by the gale and mixed with a strand of innate Qi, these leaves shot toward Li Fei like countless dense arrows!

Li Fei slashed his blade in front of him, sending out dark golden blade beams that surged like waves, stacking one upon another.

Seven-Fold Waves!

The blade beams slashed through the gale head-on, shattering the leaves and the wind-attribute innate Qi mixed within them.

Li Fei's clothes were shredded by the leaves, revealing his copper-colored skin beneath; in the "Tyrant Body" state, he was not injured.

The next second, Zhuang Feng arrived, slashing down with his blade held in both hands.

Li Fei responded with an upward-sweeping Rolling Thunder style as before.

Because a Martial Dao Master was watching from behind, he did not use his Blood Soul technique, nor did he use the True Blood Force within his body.

Bang—

The two blades collided, and a thunderous sound erupted on the mountain path!

This time, the blade in Zhuang Feng's hand was not snapped; after receiving the news, the Iron Blade Sect had specifically replaced it with a sturdier Grade 3 exotic weapon.

The stone steps beneath Li Fei's feet shattered completely, and his body sank downward, while Zhuang Feng was shaken back. However, he immediately used the wind force to stop his retreat, spun his body in mid-air, and then attacked Li Fei from the side.

Li Fei turned to the left in advance and swung his blade, perfectly intercepting the charging Zhuang Feng.

Facing the incoming Ghost-Slaying Blade, Zhuang Feng did not choose to change his move, but instead continued to slash at Li Fei!

Li Fei immediately understood the other party's intention; this was an attempt to trade lives with him.

The Iron Blade Sect must have known he was the top of the Martial University Martial Master combat ranking and realized their own Martial Master-level disciples were no match for him, which was why they ordered these disciples to trade lives with Li Fei!

If they couldn't kill him, they would trade their lives for injuries, so that a war of attrition would have meaning.

Facing Zhuang Feng's suicidal fighting style, Li Fei did not choose to change his move either and continued to strike.

"Good—"

Seeing this, Zhuang Feng felt a surge of joy.

He used a wind-attribute implant, which gave him a bonus to attack speed, and he was confident that his blade would strike Li Fei first.

The next instant, before the blade edge could strike Li Fei's neck, Li Fei's neck suddenly expanded, just enough to collide with the blade edge.

The blade edge was affected by a massive rebounding force, and after breaking the skin, it felt as if it had sunk into a swamp.

Zhuang Feng's eyes widened; he immediately channeled wind force to obstruct Li Fei's blade edge while exerting force with his feet to dodge.

But whether it was the powerful wind force he unleashed or his innate Qi, both were slashed apart by the dark golden blade beam, and then the Ghost-Slaying Blade struck his waist.

Slash—

The dark golden blade beam flashed, and Zhuang Feng was cut in two at the waist; his internal organs spilled out and scattered across the mountain path.

Behind him, Xu Jing narrowed his eyes and looked at Li Fei's neck, where there was a deep wound with fresh blood flowing out.

"Interesting."

A smile appeared on his face.

In that last strike, Li Fei had actually dared to gamble his life against his opponent, which surprised him somewhat.

Li Fei glanced at Zhuang Feng, who had not yet completely breathed his last, and continued to climb the mountain.

The moment he was struck, he did not use the Myriad Blood Bead to share the damage, lest Xu Jing notice anything unusual.

However, he was confident he could "gamble his life" against his opponents relying solely on his "Tyrant Body"; if all else failed, he could at least use the Myriad Blood Bead to save his life at the end.

The disciples sent by the Iron Blade Sect to "guard the pass" were all very strong, and each one was there to fight to the death.

Under the premise of not being able to use the Myriad Blood Bead, Li Fei could only kill with a single strike as much as possible to save his stamina.

The road ahead of him was still very long.

After walking up a few hundred more steps, a new blocker appeared.

This time, the person was wearing a full set of iron armor and holding a large iron shield taller than a man.

The other party did not charge at Li Fei but stood on the mountain path waiting for Li Fei to arrive.

Li Fei slashed his blade, and the man raised his shield to block, with an earthy-yellow aura wrapping around the shield in his hand.

This was Earth-Origin Qi, the most suitable type of innate Qi for defense.

Clearly, the Iron Blade Sect had changed its strategy, intending to have people constantly wear Li Fei down.

If Zhuang Feng from before was an iron cavalry charge, then this was an iron pass standing in the way!

Facing the "iron pass" blocking his path, Li Fei's response was simple: he slashed at the large iron shield again and again.

He did not choose to go around or use any other clever methods, but instead wanted to chisel open this "iron pass" bit by bit in the most rigid way possible!

Bang!

Bang!

Bang.

Huge metallic clanging sounds echoed continuously on the mountain path, and gusts of wind caused the surrounding trees to rustle.

Originally, this Iron Blade Sect disciple had been standing on a higher step than Li Fei, but after blocking dozens of Li Fei's strikes, the steps beneath his feet shattered, and he was driven into the mud, ending up a head shorter than Li Fei.

Bang!

When Li Fei slashed the large iron shield heavily once more, the Iron Blade Sect disciple behind the shield suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Although he could block Li Fei's strikes, he could not completely block the Geng-Metal True Qi carried by the Ghost-Slaying Blade; each time, a trace of the extremely sharp Geng-Metal True Qi would invade his body.

True Qi was the most difficult type of innate Qi to clear away, so after dozens of strikes, the Geng-Metal True Qi accumulated in this person's body reached a certain point, and his meridians and internal organs felt as if they were being sliced by blades, finally unable to bear it any longer.

Li Fei seized the opportunity to knock the iron shield out of the opponent's hand with one strike, then thrust his blade toward the opponent's throat, which was not protected by iron armor.

The opponent hurriedly raised his arm to block, but this reaction was also within Li Fei's expectations; the thrust was merely a feint, and it suddenly changed direction halfway to strike toward the opponent's armpit.

The opponent had raised his arm at that moment, just exposing the gap under his armpit.

The next second, the Ghost-Slaying Blade pierced into the opponent's armpit and then flicked upward, severing an arm!

The opponent let out a cry of pain, and then a blade was thrust into his throat, cutting the cry short.

After killing another person, Li Fei let out a heavy breath and continued upward.

"Senior Brother Wen is dead too!"

"Is that person really just a Martial Master?"

"Could it be that the students of the Martial University are really that much stronger than us?"

"..."

At the summit of Iron Blade Mountain, a group of disciples gathered at the stone steps leading up.

When they heard that someone was going to trespass on the mountain gate, these people were stirred up and wanted to see who was so bold.

Later, Guan Hanxiong's corpse was carried up the mountain, and these people realized the visitor was not to be trifled with and learned that the other party was a genius student from the Martial University.

The one trespassing on the mountain gate today was from the Martial University!

Then, one Martial Master-level disciple after another went down the mountain to intercept that person, and then news of their deaths was reported back one after another.

This made the mood of the Iron Blade Sect disciples present increasingly heavy.

If the Martial University had sent a high-realm powerhouse to fight their way up, these disciples wouldn't have felt anything, as the Martial University was, after all, the highest mountain in the entire Feng Province.

But the Martial University had only sent a Martial Master-level student, and he was actually fighting the Iron Blade Sect to a point where they were helpless?!

It would be one thing if they couldn't win one-on-one, but they weren't even a match in a war of attrition?

"Report—"

The reporting disciple ran back to the summit once again and shouted in a panicked voice:

"Elder Wang, Senior Brother Ning was entangled in a fight with that person. While the other party was fighting Senior Brother Ning, he continued to climb the mountain. In the end, in order to block that person, Senior Brother Ning had to fight him head-on for over a dozen moves, but he was caught in a moment of weakness and was cut down by his blade!"

Whoosh—

There was another uproar among the people present.

That Senior Brother Ning who had just gone down the mountain had won first place in the inner sect disciples' monthly examinations many times and was one of the best among the inner sect disciples.

In the Iron Blade Sect, one could be promoted to an inner sect disciple upon breaking through to the early stage of Qi Transformation, and one step further, after becoming a Qi-Refining Martial Master, one could be promoted to a sect deacon.

This time, for Li Fei's mountain gate trespass, according to the agreement between Xu Jing and the Iron Blade Sect, the Iron Blade Sect could only send Martial Master-level disciples to fight, so that Senior Brother Ning was already one of the "trump cards" the Iron Blade Sect could put forward.

"Was that person injured?"

Elder Wang of the Iron Blade Sect, who was in charge of arranging this matter, asked with a gloomy face.

One had to break through to the Dao Foundation realm to become a sect elder, so he was a true high-level member of the Iron Blade Sect.

"Senior Brother Ning struck that person with a few blades."

The reporter replied.

Elder Wang gritted his teeth: "He should be reaching his limit soon, and his Innate Qi is also nearly exhausted."

Having said this, Elder Wang turned his head to look at a disciple:

"Chi Dou, you go! During the fight, find a way to use your Innate Qi to trigger the internal injuries within his body."

The disciple called by name stiffened, then quickly revealed a look of determination and bowed to Elder Wang:

"Yes, this disciple accepts the order!"

These inner sect disciples had long been firmly bound to the Iron Blade Sect; the sect had cultivated them for many years, and when the time came, they had to offer everything for the sect!

Since they had chosen the path of the jianghu, they should have been prepared for a day like this long ago.

Even if it weren't students from the Martial University coming to storm the mountain gate today, if it were anyone else, they would still have to go up and meet the enemy.

If they were defeated, they could only blame their own lack of skill.

Once entering the jianghu, one has no regrets in life or death!

"Fellow brothers, this Chi will take his leave first!"

The Iron Blade Sect disciple named Chi Dou cupped his hands to everyone present one last time, then turned and resolutely headed down the mountain.

For a moment, the atmosphere at the scene was tragic and solemn.

On the mountain path, Li Fei continued to climb, his entire body stained with blood.

Without using the Myriad Blood Bead, he already had over a dozen wounds on his body. Being able to win all the way to now relied on his Geng Metal True Qi and his willingness to risk his life more than his opponents.

He had originally thought he would feel guilt, reluctance, or similar emotions, but as he killed his way up, his state of mind instead fell into a strange, eerie calm.

As he killed more and more people, he felt as if his soul had been pulled out of his body, watching everything this person named 'Li Fei' was doing from the perspective of a bystander.

He 'watched' himself kill, 'watched' the expressions of those he killed before they died, and their corpses after they fell to the ground.

Then, he naturally associated them with the people he had killed before: Yu Hu, Private Secretary Zhang, and those corrupt officials.

Was there any difference between those people in the past and these Iron Blade Sect disciples dying under his blade now?

Of course there was a difference.

In Li Fei's heart, those people in the past were all people who deserved to die; even if they were resurrected a hundred times, Li Fei could kill them again a hundred times without a ripple in his heart!

He had a clear conscience.

But these people from the Iron Blade Sect had no grudges against Li Fei, and subjectively, he did not want to kill them.

If one were to talk about innocence, these Iron Blade Sect disciples could not be considered innocent either. Since they chose the jianghu, Li Fei was storming the mountain gate according to jianghu rules, and the Iron Blade Sect had agreed to this duel, so these disciples dying under his blade was not a matter of innocence or lack thereof; it was their own choice.

What truly made Li Fei feel uncomfortable was his inability to resist.

Facing a Martial Dao Master who was temperamental and truly capable of killing him, he had no room for choice at all.

Without being able to use Blood Soul Skills, he also had no room to hold back.

And these Iron Blade Sect disciples who came down the mountain to stop him likewise had no room for choice.

If Li Fei did not kill them, they would kill Li Fei!

Both sides were pawns that had crossed the river; they could only advance, not retreat.

In Xingcheng, Li Fei could directly smash the chessboard and make those who held the pieces pay the price.

But in Datong Prefecture, at least for now, he did not yet have the ability to smash someone else's chessboard.

"Without sufficiently powerful strength, one cannot live according to one's own will. Before becoming invincible in the world, if I encounter similar situations in the future, how should I respond?"

Li Fei began to ponder this question.

This was the first time he had examined his own heart from the perspective of a bystander.

At this moment, the disciple named Chi Dou had already killed his way from the mountain, drawing his blade and charging at Li Fei.

Li Fei swung his blade to meet him.

"Killing those corrupt officials in the past was for the sake of righteousness in my heart, to let the common people live better, but in truth, it was more to let myself live more freely."

Clang—

Li Fei and Chi Dou clashed blades, the extremely sharp blade aura forcing the opponent back.

"Now, killing these Iron Blade Sect disciples is to let myself survive."

Swish!

Li Fei used 'Tyrant Body' to take a blow from Chi Dou head-on, and he took the opportunity to slash the opponent as well.

"In the end, it is all for myself; I have never been any kind of saint."

The injured Chi Dou intended to fight to the death, recklessly swinging his blade toward Li Fei's neck, but Li Fei anticipated it in advance, actively using his left shoulder to block it, then utilizing the Tyrant Body to clamp the opponent's blade with his muscles using a 'combining hardness and softness' technique.

"I am just a person... trying hard to grasp my own destiny in this chaotic world!"

Li Fei took the opportunity to slash his blade across Chi Dou's neck, severing the opponent's head.

Fresh blood sprayed out once again, dyeing the world before Li Fei's eyes blood-red.

He watched calmly as the headless corpse before him slowly fell, and the feeling of his soul being pulled away suddenly vanished.

It was as if his 'soul had returned to its place.'

His mind shook, and the words Wen Ke had said in class surfaced in his mind:

"The key to a heart of slaughter lies in adhering to one's original intent, always being able to clearly know why one is killing."

A smile appeared on Li Fei's face, and his gaze, once a pool of stagnant water without ripples, truly became peaceful.

For the question Wen Ke had posed, he now had an answer:

A general fighting on the battlefield kills for the country.

A compassionate hero kills for the people.

Li Fei kills—only for himself.

At this moment, the Geng Metal True Qi within his body suddenly underwent a wondrous change; the True Qi, which was already extremely pure and without any impurities, seemed to have been washed clean of all dross, becoming even purer and more refined.

At this moment, Li Fei broke through his mental barrier and realized his own heart of slaughter.

(End of chapter)