Chapter 400: Raging Waves

"Principal."

Li Fei looked at Shi Caiming and said calmly:

"My Master failed to break through his realm back then, perhaps due to various reasons, but in the final analysis, it was because he was not strong enough."

Shi Caiming was taken aback.

Li Fei continued: "There are thousands of types of failure in this world, but the cause of failure can actually be summarized as one thing—not being strong enough."

Only the weak constantly make excuses for themselves; for the strong, there is always only that one reason for failure!

Shi Caiming was silent for a moment, then said:

"But even the Martial Saints standing at the peak of the martial path, or the Supreme Ruler holding the highest power in the world, cannot achieve what your Master wanted to do."

The reason he kept his agreement with those powerful figures back then and did not intervene at all in this incident was, of course, not just because he kept his word.

Unless one has absolutely no one or nothing they care about, the higher one climbs, the more one realizes the various lack of freedom in this world.

It is not that with greater ability comes greater responsibility, but that with greater ability, the level of involvement becomes higher, and many things become beyond one's control.

Shi Caiming had a deep understanding of this and had seen too many tragedies, which is why he cautioned Li Fei not to go to extremes.

"That just means they were also not strong enough."

Li Fei said this.

Shi Caiming was so angry he laughed.

But at the same time, he also heard Li Fei's deep self-reproach in these words.

Was Li Fei not also saying that he himself was not strong enough?

He shook his head: "Child, you have already done well enough; do not be too hard on yourself."

"Have I done well enough?"

Li Fei murmured.

If he hadn't bought more time for Hao Yi, perhaps the other party wouldn't have been able to successfully break through his realm.

If he hadn't protected Shangguan Xiao, Hao Yi wouldn't have been able to strike that final blade with peace of mind.

If he hadn't blocked Xu Jing's water-control divine ability multiple times, perhaps the other party wouldn't have chosen to retreat, and given Hao Yi's state at the time, he could only have died in battle on the spot, after which Shangguan Xiao would have been executed by slow slicing.

Looking at it this way, he had indeed done well enough and had changed many things.

But he still felt it was far from enough.

He was still far from strong enough!

So he said to Shi Caiming:

"You previously said that all the implants I need for the Dao Foundation stage can be provided by the school for free. Now, I want to obtain my second implant, the Earth-attribute, Third-grade Lower-tier 【Ghost Feet】."

The Dao Foundation 【Primordial Heaven Gold】 he intends to cultivate is primarily Metal-attribute, so the order in which he incorporates his implants is 'reversed.'

The first was the Metal-attribute 【Steel Armor】, so the second should be an Earth-attribute implant.

Because Earth generates Metal.

The Earth-attribute, Third-grade Lower-tier 【Ghost Feet】 is also a very rare implant, even rarer than Li Fei's Second-grade Upper-tier 【Steel Armor】.

【Ghost Feet】 comes from the Third-grade exotic beast, the Earth Ghost Beast, which is a dual-attribute exotic beast possessing both Earth and the mutated Dark attribute!

Over ninety percent of the exotic beasts in this world are single-attribute; only a very small number are multi-attribute.

The Earth Ghost Beast grows in swamps and can only survive where there is Nine-Ghost Earth Qi. There are only a few known places in this world with Nine-Ghost Earth Qi, so the number of Earth Ghost Beasts is extremely small.

If Li Fei had to rely on himself, he wouldn't know how much time and energy it would take to get 【Ghost Feet】, but having the Martial University as his backing is different.

"Fine, I will have someone find 【Ghost Feet】 for you."

Shi Caiming said nonchalantly.

"Thank you, Principal."

Li Fei bowed to him again, then turned and left.

On the same night, inside the building of the Datong Prefecture General Court of Justice.

Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru and a group of high-level officials of Datong Prefecture gathered together, sitting in a lounge waiting.

A moment later, an elderly man with white hair walked in, supported by others.

Upon seeing the person arrive, everyone, including the Garrison Commander Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru, stood up.

"Dean Liu, thank you for your hard work."

Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru said.

The person who arrived was the Dean of the General Court of Justice—Liu Lang.

All along, the main work of the Court of Justice was not to participate in battles, but to refine evil-suppressing weapons for the imperial court.

Military formations and military evil-energy are the weapons the Great Lan Dynasty values most and are also the most powerful:

Two hundred Imperial Camp soldiers can threaten a Martial Master, one thousand Imperial Camp soldiers can fight a Grandmaster, and ten thousand Imperial Camp soldiers forming a military formation can even force a Martial Saint to avoid their edge!

The Great Lan Dynasty possesses a total of four fully established Imperial Camp armies, each with over ten thousand people, and coupled with the Imperial Camp armies distributed across various regions, this is the reason it is called the Central Empire and is able to suppress everything.

The evil-suppressing weapons used by the Imperial Camp are consumables that require regular maintenance and replacement, so the quantity of these weapons is always in short supply, and the local Courts of Justice are never idle.

Previously, the batch of evil-suppressing weapons Liu Lang was responsible for refining had reached a critical stage, so he was not present during the siege of the Iron Peak Sect or at the execution ground today.

But tonight, he was still persuaded by Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru to come.

Liu Lang was helped to a seat, and Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru and the others sat down one after another.

"Those two people should both be dead."

As soon as he sat down, Liu Lang said directly.

Qi Qi Yiming, who is best at searching and tracking, is currently in the provincial capital, and the other party is also likely a person from the provincial capital, so Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru could only seek help from Liu Lang.

Besides Qi Qi Yiming, the person in the entire Datong Prefecture most skilled in tracking techniques is this Dean of the General Court of Justice.

Although he was unwilling to take the blame for the provincial capital, Hao Yi had publicly raided the execution ground and rescued Shangguan Xiao, who was supposed to be executed by slow slicing.

As the Garrison Commander of Datong Prefecture, Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru had to come up with a solution for this matter!

"Dead? How could they be dead?"

Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru looked puzzled.

Hao Yi had clearly succeeded in rescuing the person.

Could it be that Xu Jing chased after them and killed them? But wasn't the other party heavily injured and fled at the time?

Liu Lang looked at him with some fatigue:

"If I were to determine the specific location of these two, I might make a mistake, but when it comes to determining their life or death, I would not be wrong, unless a contemporary True Person skilled in this path intervened to conceal the heavenly secrets for them."

For sorcerers who follow the path of sorcery, after the Possession stage comes the True Spirit realm, where they refine a magic treasure into a True Spirit, thus becoming a life-bound magic treasure, and can be called a contemporary True Person.

A True Person is at least a presence comparable to a Martial Master.

A powerhouse of this level could not be unknown; if Hao Yi knew such a person, it would have definitely been discovered long ago.

Therefore, Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru immediately dismissed this possibility.

"So, they are indeed dead."

He suddenly felt relieved.

If the two were still alive, wanting to put a bounty on a Martial Master, plus a 'Blood-Faced Ghost' with combat power comparable to the peak of the Dao Foundation stage, would be very difficult to handle.

And it would also mean offending a peerless genius with the fastest breakthrough speed in history.

It was clearly a disaster caused by the provincial capital, so why should Datong Prefecture take the blame for them?

Now that he heard Hao Yi and Shangguan Xiao were both dead, Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru suddenly felt that there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

"In that case, prepare your external explanation."

Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru instructed the others.

As long as they are dead, there can be many explanations.

The next morning, Li Fei received an invitation from the Government Building; Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru invited him over for a talk.

Li Fei agreed, but he did not take the car arranged by the other party; instead, he still rode in that 'Red Qilin,' escorted by a team of Martial Security Guards to the Government Building.

In a reception room, Li Fei met Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru.

"Please sit."

The smile on Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru's face was very kind.

As soon as Li Fei sat down, he spoke:

"I am very sorry about Xu Jing's matter. I did not expect that he was not only hired by the provincial capital as an honorary consultant for the Stop-War Department but also left the Martial University, so I was unable to stop him that day."

Previously, Li Fei had asked Xia Xia Huan to pass a message to Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru that as long as Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru could hold Xu Jing back yesterday and not let him appear at the execution ground, he would owe him a favor.

Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru had indeed agreed to Li Fei's request, but he had failed to do so.

So as soon as they met, the Garrison Commander expressed his apologies to Li Fei.

"Lord Senior Bian is too polite; I am very grateful that Lord Senior Bian was willing to intervene."

Li Fei said calmly.

The Qingyuan City Management Company and the Green-Faced Villa were not implicated, and the Baoyun Temple and Master Master Yunshen were not investigated; these were all expressions of goodwill from the Garrison Commander before him.

For this, Li Fei was still appreciative.

Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru looked into his eyes: "Xiao Fei, have you figured out the situation behind this?"

Li Fei: "I have pretty much figured it out."

"Good."

Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru nodded, "I know you had Chen Xiang change his testimony, but relying solely on Chen Xiang's testimony is not enough to overturn this case. If you want to convict the true mastermind behind the scenes, the difficulty will be extremely high!"

Li Fei: "I understand."

"I have already reported this matter to the imperial court and raised an objection, but without substantive evidence, I am afraid the final result of this case will not change."

Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru said.

Although he had already planned to break ties with the provincial capital, he could not bring himself to directly identify the culprit of this case as Xu Jing, or even that Inspector General!

"I understand."

Li Fei repeated with an expressionless face.

"Little Fei, your Master and your Martial Aunt..."

Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru asked tentatively.

"They are already dead."

Li Fei said directly.

He knew this matter could not be hidden; rather than letting the other party keep probing, it was better to just say it.

Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru observed Li Fei's expression carefully and was fairly certain that Li Fei was not lying.

So Hao Yi and Shangguan Xiao were truly dead.

"Please accept my condolences."

Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru looked deeply sorrowful.

"Thank you."

Li Fei nodded and took the initiative to ask:

"Does my lord Senior Bian know what the provincial capital is actually seeking by cooperating with Xu Jing?"

He did not believe the provincial capital would be so kind as to pay so much just to help Xu Jing break through his realm.

The other party must also have something they are seeking.

Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru's eyes shifted, and he shook his head:

"I am also very eager to know what they are actually trying to do right now."

Feng Province, provincial capital.

If it were not for the fact that Datong Prefecture has a Martial Peace University, this place should be the center of the entire Feng Province.

Provincial capital, government affairs building.

Inside the office.

A fatty less than 1.6 meters tall, with a protruding belly and a face full of fat, sat on the sofa, wearing a blue official robe embroidered with the sun, moon, and stars.

The official robe was embroidered with patterns of the sun, moon, and stars; this was a privilege reserved only for the highest-ranking Cabinet Officials.

So-called Cabinet Officials are those who can enter the imperial court to serve in the Cabinet as Cabinet Ministers, or when sent out to the provinces, become high-ranking regional officials!

This unremarkable-looking fatty was named Lu Lu Wenzheng, the Inspector General of Feng Province and the highest-ranking official of the province.

In the martial world, there are the Seven Great Families; in the civil world, there are the Ten Great Clans.

This is a saying in the Great Lan Dynasty regarding powerful aristocratic families.

"The Seven Great Families of the martial world" refers to seven martial arts families with legacies spanning hundreds of years, each with a Grandmaster holding down the fort in every generation!

"The Ten Great Clans of the civil world" refers to ten families that follow the path of the imperial government, with members becoming the highest-ranking Cabinet Officials in every generation!

The Lu family, to which Lu Lu Wenzheng belongs, is one of the "Ten Great Clans," and the family's history of inheritance is even longer than the existence of the Great Lan Dynasty itself.

Among the big shots that Hao Yi defeated back then, some came from the Lu family.

However, the reason Lu Lu Wenzheng teamed up with Xu Jing to plot against Hao Yi was not to avenge members of his family.

As the current head of the Lu family, what he seeks is naturally much greater.

At this moment, Lu Lu Wenzheng was reading a document, a document that would cause a massive uproar throughout the entire Great Lan Dynasty if it were made public!

The title of the document was:

"Minutes of the Meeting Regarding the Establishment of the Thirteenth University."

Requesting monthly votes.

(End of this chapter)