Chapter 287: Western Expedition

"I asked about your ambitions, don't you want to ask about mine?"

The Crown Prince asked with a smile in a friendly tone.

Li Fei looked at him and also smiled: "I thought, Your Highness's ambition doesn't need to be asked, right? The whole world knows it."

In this world, which Crown Prince's ambition is not to be the Emperor?

The Crown Prince: "Since I was old enough to understand, I knew that I would definitely become the Crown Prince in the future, and I also knew that I would definitely sit on that dragon chair in the future."

When he said this, his tone was equally flat, just like Li Fei saying he wanted to "reach the absolute peak of martial arts" just now.

"So this cannot be counted as my ambition, it is just an achievement I will inevitably reach."

The Crown Prince said calmly.

"Then what is Your Highness's ambition?"

Li Fei asked very cooperatively.

"The founding Emperor of this dynasty had great talent and bold vision, sweeping across the six directions, unifying the Eastern Continent; the grassland royal court in the east, the small countries in the southern desert, and the barbarians in the northern jungles all bowed their heads and submitted. He left behind such great achievements, which actually leaves us descendants with no merits to establish, inevitably appearing somewhat mediocre."

The Crown Prince said with a smile.

This was not easy to respond to, nor was it something an outsider could evaluate, so Li Fei remained silent.

Ming Qi also did not speak, which made Li Fei breathe a sigh of relief.

"It's just that no one expected that there was a Western Continent across the ocean, and even more unexpectedly, those Westerners had so many whimsical ideas and developed so many brilliant skills."

The Crown Prince continued:

"The battle more than ten years ago woke up many people, and also made the Emperor determined to make some changes! With the Mingxin Reform, our Great Lan Dynasty can be said to be changing with each passing day, glowing with new life. However, wanting to conquer those Western countries just like this is still beyond our power."

Hearing this, Li Fei was startled in his heart.

Listening to this meaning, that Emperor wanted to fight all the way to the Western Continent?!

Being beaten all the way to the Imperial Capital more than ten years ago, and wanting to counterattack after more than ten years?

But thinking about it, it was normal; there really were no merits to establish on the Eastern Continent side, and if one wanted to be on par with the founding Emperor, or even surpass him, then the only way was to fight to the Western Continent and conquer a larger territory!

It was just that, as the Crown Prince said, with the current national strength of the Great Lan Dynasty, it was definitely beyond their power.

Li Fei had some say in this matter.

From the situation in a small place like Xingcheng, one could roughly see the problems of the Great Lan Dynasty; the rot at the bottom was already very serious!

And infighting was constant; in order to protect their own official hats, the Datong Prefecture could even directly wipe out a major martial arts sect.

And they still wanted to fight over there?

"What our Great Lan Dynasty relies on to dominate the world is the Imperial Army, the military formations and military Sha Qi."

The Crown Prince changed the subject and suddenly brought this up:

"But over the years, the Imperial Army in various places has been unable to make ends meet; just maintaining and replacing Sha weapons has already made the local Judicial Academies unable to support themselves, requiring financial aid from the central cabinet. In this way, the total number of our Great Lan Dynasty's Imperial Army simply cannot increase."

Li Fei was thoughtful upon hearing this, while Ming Qi had a calm face.

"So if we want to launch a Western Expedition, we must first increase the number of the Imperial Army. Li Fei, you asked what my ambition is? My ambition is that one day I can lead the army across the sea, travel far to the Western Continent, open up territory for our Great Lan Dynasty, and conquer the world!"

The Crown Prince said with high spirits.

At this moment, he truly revealed his sharpness!

Li Fei suddenly understood many things.

For example, why did the imperial court suddenly want to support Buddhism?

Why was this Crown Prince personally participating in this event?

The Great Lan Dynasty's initial Imperial Army was refined with the help of the Daoists, and later the Daoists also almost controlled the Judicial Academies in various places.

But as time went on, most of the imperial court's resources actually went into the pockets of the Daoists; ten portions of materials might end up with only one portion being refined into Sha weapons.

It would be fine if there were no foreign enemies, but precisely because there were suddenly foreign enemies, the current Emperor and that Chief Grand Secretary were determined to make changes!

In the past few decades, the influence of the Daoists had been gradually reduced, and the Judicial Academies in various places had also been gradually taken back into the hands of the imperial court.

But this was not enough; wanting to launch a long-distance expedition to the Western Continent required more Imperial Army.

Therefore, the imperial court was prepared to support Buddhism, letting Buddhism provide people and effort to refine more Sha weapons for them!

All of the above were speculations Li Fei made based on the information he obtained, and he felt that this should be a part of the truth.

"You two are both peerless geniuses; if there really is such a day, I hope to have you two by my side."

The Crown Prince picked up his teacup again, first looking at Li Fei:

"To reach the absolute peak of martial arts, if one only stays on the Eastern Continent, it cannot be counted as the true absolute peak; only by beating all the experts of the Western Continent into submission can one be counted as the world's number one!"

Then he looked at Ming Qi:

"If one can conquer the Western Continent and truly unify the world, only those who participate in this matter will truly have the opportunity to leave their name in history!"

It had to be said that what he said was indeed moving.

"I wish for Your Highness's ambition to come true."

Li Fei picked up his teacup and toasted the other party.

"This poor monk also wishes for Your Highness to get what you want."

Ming Qi also picked up his teacup.

"Hahahaha, good!"

The Crown Prince clinked cups with the two of them again.

Although he did not hear the answer he most wanted to hear, he did not mind.

For the two "First in History," he was willing to give enough patience.

Late at night, Li Fei was cultivating in his private carriage.

A bright golden force with flame patterns surged out from his body.

This was the high-level force formed after fusing the Wutu Origin Sha Qi and the Binghuo Profound Qi—the Hunyuan Diamond Force!

The Fuhu Diamond Force belonged to Yang, the Jianglong Diamond Force belonged to Yin, while the Hunyuan Diamond Force belonged to the Hunyuan attribute, containing both Yin and Yang.

The Hunyuan Diamond Force not only possessed the sturdiness and sharpness of the Diamond Force but also had powerful plastic characteristics.

At this moment, Li Fei's mind moved, and the force on his body surface rapidly changed into a suit of golden armor.

Then, a Ghost-Slaying Blade condensed from force appeared in his hand.

The Diamond Force possessed both the sturdiness and sharpness of the two most extreme characteristics, but when used, it could only express one of them, requiring adjustments and changes at any time during combat.

That is to say, Li Fei either chose to defend with all his might, or chose to attack with all his might.

And after practicing the Hunyuan Diamond Force, Li Fei could be both offensive and defensive, and could perform offensive and defensive conversions as he pleased!

After this period of practice, Li Fei could now be considered to have initially practiced and mastered the Hunyuan Diamond Force.

He restrained his force, slowly transformed his Heart Intent power into Void Thought, and then probed his Void Thought into the Dream Order.

Soon, he entered the dream realm again.

Skillfully driving away the thick fog, he arrived inside that great hall.

When that young Daoist priest walked out from behind the screen, Li Fei stepped forward and rushed towards the other party, striking out with a palm.

A brilliant golden light bloomed from his palm, shining on the young Daoist priest's body, and then turned into countless rays of light, making the entire great hall white and vast, as if an extra sun had suddenly appeared!

Dao Strength—【Infinite Brightness Fire】!

After this period of practice, Li Fei had mastered quite a few Nightmare Sect techniques, thereby making his strength in the dream realm much stronger.

The most intuitive point was that he could already use this body to display all the abilities he possessed.

For this move 【Infinite Brightness Fire】, Li Fei used the newly practiced Hunyuan Diamond Force, and its power was even greater than before!

Facing the sudden attack, thunder light flashed on the young Daoist priest's body surface, and there was also thunder light in his pupils.

His mind was not affected in the slightest, and the thunder light on his body surface annihilated all the incoming force!

Li Fei was not surprised by this at all; he had already rushed to the other party's front, grabbing at the other party's body with both hands, wanting to perform grappling techniques at close range.

A sorcerer being approached by a martial artist was bound to be at a great disadvantage.

However, the next second, Li Fei suddenly lost the figure of the young Daoist priest before his eyes; the other party suddenly seemed to be far away in the sky, difficult to touch, making Li Fei grab at empty air.

He knew this was a mental hallucination, and immediately introspected the "Red Sound Fire Diamond Image."

The next second, the young Daoist priest reappeared before his eyes, and a "light" palm was printed on Li Fei's chest.

BOOM!!!

Thunder rose from flat ground.

Li Fei was truly blasted away by a thunderbolt!

If it were before, he would have "died" by now and would be forcibly exited from the dream realm.

But after these days of "strengthening," he could now simulate the ability of the Ten Thousand Blood Beads in the dream realm.

So he only had a scorched patch on his chest, quickly stood up from the ground, and rushed towards the young Daoist priest again.

The young Daoist priest had a majestic face, surrounded by thunder light, as if he were the Lord of Ten Thousand Thunders.

He flicked his sleeve at the rushing Li Fei, and a thunder dragon composed of lightning appeared out of thin air, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws as it pounced on Li Fei!

Li Fei's body surface was draped in a golden armor, embroidered with the sun, moon, and stars, full of vast meaning, possessing a grand aura.

This was the unique skill of the Tiangang Sect—Hunyuan Star Armor!

The high-level force practiced by 【Hunyuan Heavenly Gold】 would all have good plasticity, so the sages of the Tiangang Sect created this martial art, condensing a suit of armor from force.

When the thunder dragon hit Li Fei, it was suddenly bounced away by a majestic force.

This was the characteristic of the Hunyuan Star Armor—Moving Stars and Changing Fights!

It could bounce back the attacks suffered; as for how much could be bounced back, it depended on the intensity and characteristics of the attack.

Bouncing away the thunder dragon, Li Fei struck out with both palms, using two 【Infinite Brightness Fire】 moves in succession without any pause, tearing the thunder dragon before him to shreds!

In the dream realm, his mastery of Dao Strength could also be rounded and free.

After tearing the thunder dragon to shreds, Li Fei immediately performed the Diamond Seal·Peng, instantly appearing before the young Daoist priest, and then smashed a fist towards the other party's face!

The young Daoist priest had a sword in his hand at some point, a Dao sword surrounded by thunder light.

Having fought so many times, only now that Li Fei had initially mastered the Hunyuan Diamond Force did he finally force out the other party's magic treasure.

The next second, everything before Li Fei's eyes disappeared, leaving only a sword light.

A sword light that seemed to split the primordial chaos and open heaven and earth!

This sword slashed open heaven and earth, and also completely shattered Li Fei.

Inside the carriage, Li Fei opened his eyes with lingering fear.

"Is he that strong?"

In the dream realm, he could not only freely control Dao Strength but also simulate the ability of the Ten Thousand Blood Beads, and the number of Blood Souls simulated was even more than in reality.

That is to say, his combat power in the dream realm was now stronger than in reality.

And he was slashed to death by that young Daoist priest with one sword?

This was something even Xu Jing hadn't done back then!

"Who exactly is this person?"

Li Fei became increasingly curious.

Begging for monthly tickets.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 288 =====