Chapter 258: Shadow Appears, Heading to Daluo

"Why am I leading the team?"

Li Fei asked, puzzled.

He was currently just a student at Wu'an University; was it really appropriate for him to represent the university in such an important matter?

"The previous martial arts exchange competition was designated by the Son of Heaven to be held at Wu'an University, and communication with the Daluo Sect had already been made in advance. My going there was just to show the importance attached to this competition, a mere formality."

Shi Caiming explained to Li Fei while smoking:

"For this exchange competition, the Son of Heaven has not designated the location, and the Central Cabinet has not yet reached a definitive conclusion, so all the universities will be sending people to the Daluo Sect to discuss this matter together."

Li Fei understood.

Such a martial arts exchange competition was undoubtedly a grand event; whichever university hosted it could use this opportunity to enhance its own influence.

Besides that, the Imperial Court would provide a portion of rewards to the participants of the competition, and the university responsible for hosting the competition could naturally share in some of the benefits.

In short, hosting such a competition had many benefits.

Wu'an University had already hosted the first one; it was impossible for all the good things to be Wu'an University's, as there were over a dozen universities waiting in line behind them.

So for this second competition, it was definitely impossible to host it at Wu'an University again.

Shi Caiming was very clear about this point, so he couldn't be bothered to go to the Daluo Sect again; since he couldn't win the bid anyway, he might as well just slack off and let Li Fei go.

"I understand, thank you, Principal."

Li Fei bowed to Shi Caiming.

Such an errand was of no consequence to Shi Caiming, who could afford to slack off, but it was very important to him.

Not everyone had the opportunity to represent Wu'an University.

Shi Caiming sending him to represent Wu'an University at the Daluo Sect was a public announcement of the importance he attached to him, and it was also adding weight to Li Fei's standing!

Li Fei was going as a representative of Wu'an University; targeting him was equivalent to targeting the entire Wu'an University.

Finally, the martial arts exchange competition was a matter decided by the current Son of Heaven; Li Fei's trip could also be considered as handling an "Imperial errand," so targeting him was also equivalent to showing contempt for the Imperial majesty!

Although the provincial capital probably didn't know yet that Li Fei was the Green-Faced Ghost, Shi Caiming was still taking this opportunity to add several layers of "insurance" for Li Fei.

In this way, unless someone wanted to perish together, at least Li Fei's identity would be safe.

Even if one day the identity of the Green-Faced Ghost was exposed, the other party would have to be full of misgivings before taking action against Li Fei.

Li Fei understood Shi Caiming's painstaking efforts, so he bowed to him.

Shi Caiming saw that Li Fei understood his intentions and revealed a gratified smile.

Teaching such a student was very heart-warming.

"Go."

He waved his hand, signaling that Li Fei could leave.

The next day, after Li Fei finished a class, he returned to his dormitory.

He took a bottle of Sleep-Wood Elixir from the safe; this was an elixir used to soothe wood-attribute implants, allowing them to enter a state of deep sleep.

After taking three Sleep-Wood Elixirs, Li Fei sat cross-legged and performed the accompanying meditation technique.

Soon, the 【Phantom Leaf】 in his brain entered deep sleep and would no longer interfere with his other implants.

Li Fei opened his eyes and took two more types of elixirs used to stimulate the 【Ghost Feet】.

Over the past month, every day, besides going to Shi Caiming's place to practice the "Red-Sound Fire Vajra Method," he spent the remaining time attending classes and cultivating the 【Phantom Leaf】 and 【Ghost Feet】.

Although he had already stepped into the Dao Foundation stage, there were still some courses at Wu'an University that were helpful to him.

Besides Mo Yizhou's poison class, he had also signed up for courses from several professors, learning the techniques of fusing the Five Elements Innate Qi, the application of metal-attribute high-tier internal energy, and how to conduct deep-level stimulation of multi-attribute implants.

These three courses corresponded to his current realm, especially the last one, which gave him many insights and inspirations for deep-level stimulation of the 【Ghost Feet】.

Over a month ago, Li Fei had fought Gu Yuefeng.

That battle had stimulated the 【Ghost Feet】 very well, and Li Fei felt that he was not far from stimulating the second extraordinary ability of the 【Ghost Feet】, which was that core-level extraordinary ability.

It was easy to conduct deep-level stimulation for the first implant, thereby unlocking the second extraordinary ability, but starting from the second implant, the difficulty of deep-level stimulation increased geometrically!

Over the next month, Li Fei used the techniques he learned from the Wu'an University professors to constantly stimulate the 【Ghost Feet】 with the effort of grinding a pestle into a needle.

He could feel that he was very close to success.

In the room, Li Fei, having taken the medicine, channeled the 【Ghost Feet】, activated "Divine Movement," and moved rapidly within the room.

The dormitory he lived in alone was very large, and he had deliberately placed many obstacles in the room, and even tied bells to every obstacle.

When he moved rapidly in the room, he had to ensure that he wouldn't touch any obstacle, and he had to keep the bells from ringing.

Not only that, he kept his eyes closed throughout the entire process.

So this exercise trained not only "Divine Movement" but also "Danger Perception."

After incorporating the second implant, both "Tyrant Body" and "Danger Perception" had been enhanced.

Back then, when Hao Yi trained Li Fei's "Danger Perception," he made him fight blindfolded; this was to train Li Fei's perception of "motion."

Now Li Fei moved rapidly in the room blindfolded, precisely avoiding all obstacles.

This was to train his perception of "static" objects.

Li Fei's "Danger Perception" was about to become the "Eye of the Heart," anticipating the enemy, observing the subtle, and imprinting all things in the heart!

In the room, it appeared very cramped because it was piled with various obstacles.

Li Fei constantly changed directions flexibly in the narrow space, moving rapidly, and his speed became faster and faster, until finally, he left behind a series of afterimages!

At a certain moment, the afterimages he left behind suddenly became clearer and clearer, until finally, they were "vivid in every detail," completely indistinguishable from the real person.

Even the details of the wind blowing his sleeves and hair were displayed.

This was no longer something that could be caused by mere speed.

When Li Fei suddenly stopped moving, there were a total of seven "Li Feis" in the room!

These seven Li Feis turned around, looked at each other, and smiled.

Finally, six "Li Feis" turned into a wisp of ghostly light and disappeared.

These six "Li Feis" were not illusions, but the core-level extraordinary ability Li Fei had stimulated—Ghost Shadow!

In the process of using "Divine Movement," Li Fei could release Earth-Element Origin Sha Qi through the 【Ghost Feet】, and consume a certain amount of blood energy and strength of will, finally combining it with "Earth Qi" to form "Shadow Clones"; this was "Ghost Shadow."

The "Shadow Clones" formed by Ghost Shadow looked indistinguishable from the real person, and Li Fei could control these clones to move, or even attack enemies.

The speed and strength of these "Shadow Clones" depended on the intensity of Li Fei's own blood energy and strength of will, and were also related to the concentration of "Earth Qi" present in the environment.

Besides that, the "Shadow Clones" also carried strong corrosive characteristics.

Li Fei took a step forward and activated "Ghost Shadow" again.

A "Shadow Clone" identical to him remained in place.

He controlled this "Shadow Clone" to punch himself.

Bang!

The fist hit Li Fei's chest, making a muffled sound.

Li Fei weighed the power of this punch; it was roughly equivalent to thirty percent of his main body's power.

This was thirty percent power without channeling internal energy or using 【Blood Rage】.

Li Fei then controlled this "Shadow Clone" to move at full speed.

Swish—

The clone left an afterimage in place.

Li Fei nodded.

This speed was quite good, roughly equivalent to seventy percent of his main body's speed after channeling internal energy and using "Divine Movement"!

Coupled with the corrosive characteristics, the "Shadow Clones" were still quite impressive in offense.

And there was no upper limit to the number of "Shadow Clones"; as long as Li Fei's Innate Qi, blood energy, and strength of will were sufficient, he could continuously create clones.

Li Fei carefully sensed this "Shadow Clone"; it contained his blood energy, strength of will, and Innate Qi.

If the opponent didn't have a core-level extraordinary ability related to perception, or high-tier internal energy that could enhance perception, such as the Azure Jade Bright Moon Energy, it would be very difficult to distinguish the real from the fake.

Taken together, as long as it was used well, the "Ghost Shadow" ability could indeed raise Li Fei's combat power by at least half a grade!

And "Ghost Shadow" could be used for more than just combat.

Now Li Fei had trained his "Danger Perception" to the level of the "Eye of the Heart," which meant he could perceive everything around him just by relying on his strength of will.

The shadow clones created by "Ghost Shadow" also contained Li Fei's strength of will, which meant that if Li Fei could perfectly combine "Danger Perception" and "Ghost Shadow," he could use shadow clones to act as his "scouts" in the future.

"If I combine it with 【Blood Rage】, 【Blood Sha】, and other means..."

The more Li Fei thought about it, the more he felt that the "Ghost Shadow" core-level extraordinary ability was suitable for him, and there were still many areas that could be developed!

After completing the deep-level stimulation of the 【Ghost Feet】, Li Fei could start considering incorporating the third implant.

The third implant was fire-attribute, because fire generates earth.

Only after incorporating the fire-attribute implant could Li Fei truly master the "Heaven and Earth Single Blade" left to him by Hao Yi.

The third implant required for 【Mixed Origin Heavenly Gold】 was called 【Flame Core】, third-rank superior, also from a very rare exotic beast; there were no such exotic beasts in Feng Province.

Fortunately, with a university like Wu'an University supporting him from behind, Shi Caiming had already had someone pre-order a 【Flame Core】 in another province, which would be delivered to Li Fei's hands in at most another month.

And for Li Fei to incorporate the 【Flame Core】, he needed to first perform "Unity" on the 【Ghost Feet】.

With the previous experience, he had full confidence this time; if he went into closed-door cultivation, he wouldn't even need ten days to complete the "Unity"!

"After I finish this errand and complete the 'Unity' of the 【Ghost Feet】, the 【Flame Core】 should be arriving soon."

Li Fei thought to himself.

August 18th, a group of people left Wu'an University and headed to the train station.

This group included the Executive Director of the Academic Affairs Office of Wu'an University's Stop-Conflict Department, two professors from Wu'an University, two teams of Wu'an Guards, and one student.

The team leader was this student—Li Fei.

This group was representing Wu'an University to go to the Daluo Sect to discuss the second martial arts exchange competition.

"I have already chartered an entire carriage, so everyone doesn't need to worry about being disturbed after getting on the train."

A man wearing black-rimmed glasses and looking very scholarly said to Li Fei and the others.

His name was Ke Yan, and he was the Executive Director of the Academic Affairs Office of Wu'an University's Stop-Conflict Department.

Martial arts powerhouses could become high-level officials, but the high-level officials couldn't all be martial arts powerhouses, because someone was always needed to handle various affairs.

Ke Yan was such a character.

He was only thirty years old this year; in terms of civil service, being able to become the Executive Director of the Academic Affairs Office of Wu'an University's Stop-Conflict Department at this age could be described as having a boundless future!

The power and connections of the vast majority of Imperial officials in Datong Prefecture were not as good as his.

"Thank you for your hard work, Director Ke."

Li Fei said to Ke Yan.

In this operation, he was the team leader on the surface, but in reality, he needed Ke Yan's assistance for many things; after all, he really didn't understand, and he didn't want to waste time dealing with miscellaneous affairs.

"It's my duty, it should be done."

Ke Yan said with a smile.

Facing a young man more than ten years younger than himself, his attitude from the moment they met until now was just right—not appearing servile, yet giving Li Fei plenty of face.

Out of a cautious habit, before setting off, Li Fei had inquired in detail about who he would be going with on this operation.

So he had a certain understanding of these people in the team.

Besides his current identity, Ke Yan also had a background as a distant nephew of the Garrison Commander Governor Bian Jingru.

That the other party could reach this position at such a young age naturally had a certain connection with Governor Bian Jingru.

Wu'an University letting Ke Yan join this team might also have Governor Bian Jingru's intentions behind it.

"Probably wanting Ke Yan to befriend me."

This was Li Fei's deduction.

As for the other two professors, one was teaching Li Fei "The Fusion of the Five Elements Innate Qi," and the other was teaching "The Application of Metal-Attribute High-Tier Internal Energy."

Bringing these two along was Li Fei's suggestion; he didn't want to delay his class time.

And through over a month of contact with these two professors, Li Fei was certain that neither of them was the type who valued fame and fortune, and they shouldn't mind him, a student, becoming their team leader.

This wouldn't offend anyone.

The group boarded the train to Ming Province and walked into the carriage Ke Yan had chartered in advance.

For the next journey, everyone had to take the train for over three days to reach Yidu Prefecture in Ming Province, then transfer to a train in Yidu Prefecture, and sit for over another day before they could reach the territory where the Daluo Sect was located.

Throughout this journey, although he was the team leader, Li Fei always acted as a student, seeking the opinions of Ke Yan and the two professors before making any decisions.

This made Ke Yan and the two professors feel very valued, and the slight awkwardness at the beginning was completely let go, and their perception of Li Fei became better and better.

In such a harmonious atmosphere, on the morning of August 23rd, the group arrived at Daluo Town.

This town was at the foot of the Daluo Sect's mountain.

Although it was called a town, it was actually more prosperous than a city like Xingcheng.

Many supplies needed by the Daluo Sect were purchased in Daluo Town, and because the Daluo Sect was here, the Imperial Court had specially built a railway that could reach Daluo Town directly.

After Li Fei and the others walked out of the train station, they saw a young Daoist priest wearing green Daoist robes and a hairpin on the street opposite, standing there holding a wooden sign.

On the wooden sign was written:

"Wu'an University Delegation, please look here."

Li Fei smiled slightly; this scene gave him a sense of familiarity.

"Let's go, let's go over."

Li Fei greeted, walked across the street, and arrived before the young Daoist priest:

"Hello, we are the delegation from Wu'an University."

The young Daoist priest looked at Li Fei and was stunned for a moment.

Li Fei looked even younger than him!

"Welcome, everyone. Please follow me to check into the hotel in town first. After the delegations from all thirteen universities have arrived, we will proceed to the Daluo Sect together."

The young Daoist priest said.

"Thirteen universities?"

Li Fei was stunned upon hearing this.

In that case, Hongyi University would also be sending people this time.

Requesting monthly votes.

There is another chapter tonight.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 259 =====