Chapter 402: Grass Snakes and Grey Lines, Hidden Veins Stretching a Thousand Li

Establish the thirteenth university!

This is what Lu Wen was plotting all along.

The influence brought by a university is too great—politics, economy, comprehensive martial arts strength, and so on; this is an all-encompassing impact!

As the Inspection Commissioner of Feng Province, Lu Wen is a true regional official of the 17th rank.

Rising one more level would reach the pinnacle of the Great Lan Dynasty's civil official system.

For such a figure to be constantly suppressed by Datong Prefecture within his own jurisdiction is something Lu Wen cannot endure.

Therefore, he and his family have been silently planning to establish a new university.

The Great Lan Dynasty has twenty-three provinces in total, but only twelve universities; there aren't enough to go around for every province.

It is not that the imperial court does not want to establish more universities, but that the establishment of each one involves massive resource subsidies, and the court cannot produce that many resources.

Therefore, the matter of establishing a thirteenth university is not something that can be achieved overnight.

Especially when Feng Province already has a Martial Peace University.

The turning point appeared a few years after the twelve universities were established, when a cabinet minister argued that the educational methods of the twelve universities were too "soft," and that the students they cultivated lacked life-and-death trials, appearing like flowers carefully nurtured, with growth limits inferior to those of the great sects of the jianghu.

But after all, the twelve universities had only just been established, and everything still needed time to be tested, so the matter was ultimately left unsettled.

Lu Wen, however, saw an opportunity in this, so he used the Lu family's power to begin operating in the shadows, using over a decade to slowly lay the groundwork.

It was not until last year that the situation saw a new change: the central cabinet issued a document requiring martial arts academies everywhere to change their monthly examination methods and have students participate in actual combat. (See Chapter 39 of Volume 1 for details.)

The first actual combat Li Fei participated in while at the martial arts academy was the encirclement and suppression of the An Shen Sect.

This was actually an "experiment"—starting with the martial arts academies in various places to see the results, and then considering changing the educational methods of the twelve universities.

But the gap between the martial arts academies and the twelve universities is simply too vast; those who enter the martial arts academies are almost all from the lower-middle classes of society, with some from the commoner class.

And those who can enter the twelve universities are almost all from the elite class of society.

Even if those students at the martial arts academies suffer certain casualties, it is not a major event, but if the students of the twelve universities suffer heavy casualties, that would be very serious!

This is also the main reason why the educational methods of the twelve universities are difficult to change.

Whether it is the school's arena or the credit tasks issued, the first principle is always safety first.

At the current stage, the credit tasks of various universities have even deviated from their original intent, becoming a competition between factions.

For example, the top ten clubs at the martial arts university—whether credit tasks can be completed smoothly depends mainly on whether the forces behind them can provide good help.

Such tasks are naturally difficult to truly train a student's individual ability.

However, wanting to change this model is simply not something that can be done in a day.

So Lu Wen used this opportunity to provide a proposal to the central cabinet:

Why not establish a "pilot university"!

It is almost impossible to change the twelve universities all at once, and it might even trigger large-scale turmoil.

If only a few of them are changed, it is also easy to trigger serious disagreements.

Then it would be better to directly establish a brand-new university and paint directly on a "blank sheet of paper."

The Lu family had laid the groundwork for many years, constantly lobbying and winning over cabinet ministers in secret; after the martial arts academies in various places completed their reforms and achieved obvious results, Lu Wen finally waited for the best opportunity.

His proposal was adopted by the central cabinet!

But there is a key problem: the change in the "pilot university" lies in the Stop-Conflict Department and in martial arts; it does not require complete alignment with the other twelve universities, but at least it must have a powerhouse capable of holding the fort.

A powerhouse "capable of holding the fort" is a Grandmaster!

The top martial arts sects and martial arts families in the jianghu all have at least one Grandmaster holding the fort; the universities established by the imperial court naturally cannot be lower than this "configuration."

Otherwise, it would lower the university's prestige and fail to serve as a pilot.

Regarding this point, Lu Wen had thought of it at the very beginning of his planning, so his layout was divided into two lines.

One line was in the central cabinet, and the other line was with Xu Jing.

On Xu Jing's side, he joined forces with the other party to help him break through his realm.

Once the matter was accomplished, Xu Jing would not only serve as the president of the new university himself, but would also bring a group of people over from the martial arts university.

On the day Shangguan Xiao and the others were executed, Xu Jing took two professors, Wen Ke and Professor Guan Professor Guan Haoxuan, and over a dozen special-grade lecturers to the execution ground.

Like Xu Jing, these people all submitted their resignation notices that day.

They would all go to the provincial capital with Xu Jing to take up positions at the future new university.

Besides this, the Qingshan Sword Sect, a martial arts sect next to the provincial capital, would have two martial arts masters, a host of Dao Foundation realm powerhouses, and a large number of Force-Refining martial artists become professors and lecturers at the university after it was established!

The central cabinet would not directly announce who the "pilot university" would be awarded to, but Lu Wen had already prepared all the "resources" in advance and had cleared all the obstacles, allowing him to obtain the most support in the cabinet.

Then the final result naturally goes without saying.

But now, a problem has appeared on Xu Jing's side.

"Come in."

Lu Wen put down the document in his hand and called out.

"My lord."

The secretary who had been waiting outside the door pushed it open and entered.

"Make arrangements; I want to meet with Xu Jing today."

Lu Wen said.

"Yes."

The secretary nodded in agreement.

That afternoon, Lu Wen rode in a "Red Qilin" and, escorted by a motorcade, arrived outside a private residence.

Subsequently, protected by a group of guards, Lu Wen walked into this private residence and saw Xu Jing in a pavilion in the middle of a lake.

Xu Jing possessed the Cloud-Soaring divine ability, flying from Datong Prefecture to the provincial capital overnight and moving into this private residence specially arranged for him.

At this time, he appeared to have no major issues; the eye blinded by Hao Yi, the ear cut off, the arm, and so on, had all recovered as before.

"You stay here."

Lu Wen instructed the group of guards, then walked alone onto a long corridor and entered the pavilion in the middle of the lake.

"Is Mr. Xu doing well?"

Lu Wen wiped the sweat from his forehead, found a stool to sit on, and asked.

Xu Jing looked at him expressionlessly: "Is Lord Lu here to see me make a fool of myself?"

Lu Wen revealed a smile, the fat on his face all piling up together:

"Mr. Xu, what are you saying? Am I not the person who most wants to see you succeed?"

Xu Jing turned his head to look at the lake: "Then I have disappointed Lord Lu."

He had been severely wounded by Hao Yi; although he had consumed the life force stored in the Black Water to recover from his injuries, that portion of power from the "Blade King" Gu Vanguard Commander was originally intended for breaking through his realm. Without this accumulation, it would be very difficult for him to break through.

After all, it would be difficult for him to find a second martial arts master whose Dao Foundation was compatible with his own to devour.

Coupled with his defeat by Hao Yi again, his state of mind was once again clouded, making the difficulty of breaking through even higher.

"Hao Yi and Shangguan Xiao are already dead."

Lu Wen said with a smile.

"What did you say?!"

Xu Jing turned around abruptly, staring fixedly at Lu Wen.

"I had Master Qi Qi Yiming specifically perform a divination, and he confirmed that both Hao Yi and Shangguan Xiao are no longer among the living. If one wanted to deceive his divination, only a True Person proficient in this path could do so, but it is impossible for Hao Yi to have quietly known such a True Person without being detected."

Lu Wen said.

"Life-Refining! So that day he used up all his remaining lifespan!"

Xu Jing's eyes became bright, and he said excitedly.

"No wonder that blade of his was so strong; it turns out he consumed decades of his lifespan!"

The gloom in Xu Jing's heart was swept away instantly.

He had guessed Hao Yi's method of breaking through, but he did not know that Hao Yi had not actually gained 60 years of added lifespan after breaking through.

So he mistakenly thought that Hao Yi's final blade had refined all 60-plus years of his lifespan!

Losing to such a blade, Xu Jing could fully accept it.

He did not understand the Object-Refining divine ability, and having not fought for over thirty years, he also did not know what stage Hao Yi had reached in his blade path.

So this was a very wrong perception, but Xu Jing felt that this was the truth.

Hao Yi had exhausted his life and still failed to kill him, and in the end, he could be considered to have died at his own hands.

A smile appeared on Xu Jing's face.

History is written by the victors; in this struggle between the two, he had ultimately won.

Seeing that Xu Jing had regained his confidence and the problem with his state of mind had been resolved, Lu Wen's smile grew even wider:

"Since Hao Yi is dead, how much certainty do you have in breaking through now, Mr. Xu?"

Xu Jing regained his composure: "The power I devoured from Gu Vanguard Commander has been completely exhausted. Lacking that accumulation, if I force a breakthrough now, the chance of success is less than one in ten."

Lu Wen nodded, not surprised by this:

"Then what if Mr. Xu could devour a Green Water Heavenly Cloud Beast—how much chance of success would there be for the breakthrough?"

"A Green Water Heavenly Cloud Beast?!"

Xu Jing lost his composure for the second time today.

This is a Grade 7 superior exotic beast with water attributes!

Exotic beasts of the top three grades are rare in the world, and the combat power of a single Grade 7 superior exotic beast is stronger than the vast majority of martial arts masters.

Most importantly, the Green Water Heavenly Cloud Beast also possesses the divine ability to control water; if Xu Jing could use his Black Water divine ability to devour it, the power obtained would be perfectly compatible with his own!

"Can Lord Lu obtain a Green Water Heavenly Cloud Beast?"

Xu Jing looked at Lu Lu Wenzheng in surprise, "As far as I know, the only Azure Water Heaven Cloud Beast in this world is the guardian divine beast of the Great Luo Sect."

The Great Luo Sect is a sacred land of Daoism and a top-tier force in the world of martial arts, possessing not only a Martial Saint but also a Daoist True Person to oversee it.

Xu Jing did not believe the Lu family could obtain someone else's guardian divine beast.

Even the current Son of Heaven might not be able to pull that off!

The smile on Lu Lu Wenzheng's face remained unchanged: "I naturally couldn't obtain the one from the Great Luo Sect, but I can cultivate one myself. For so many years, hard work pays off; I successfully cultivated a sixth-rank superior Azure Water Cloud-Patterned Beast to the seventh rank."

The Azure Water Cloud-Patterned Beast is a mid-three-rank exotic beast, only a hair's breadth away from the upper three ranks, and it is equally rare.

The difficulty of obtaining an Azure Water Cloud-Patterned Beast is already immense, and to secretly cultivate it into a seventh-rank exotic beast—such methods...

Looking at the smiling Lu Lu Wenzheng, for the first time, Xu Jing felt wary of an ordinary person who had never practiced martial arts!

"This Azure Water Heaven Cloud Beast is certainly not as good as the one from the Great Luo Sect, but it is still a seventh-rank exotic beast. With it, Mr. Xu, how much confidence do you have?"

Lu Lu Wenzheng asked.

His style of doing things was always to strive for absolute certainty, so for every plan, he would prepare many backup schemes just in case.

To establish this pilot university, the Lu family had spent over a decade laying the groundwork; how could Lu Lu Wenzheng not have prepared a backup plan?

As early as over a decade ago, he had begun to secretly cultivate the Azure Water Heaven Cloud Beast.

Now, this backup plan was being put to use.

"If it is truly seventh-rank, then I have at least a seventy percent chance of breaking through the realm!"

After pondering for a moment, Xu Jing said to Lu Lu Wenzheng.

"That is good."

Lu Lu Wenzheng nodded with a smile.

May 25th.

Inside the dormitory, Li Fei slowly opened his eyes.

Just a moment ago, his 【Illusion Leaf】 broke through to the late stage of Body Breaking.

After the 【Steel Armor】 implant entered the Dao Foundation stage and all its branches were retracted into the dantian, the interference it caused to the 【Illusion Leaf】 was reduced to a minimum.

The growth speed of the 【Illusion Leaf】 accelerated accordingly, and it finally broke through today, reaching the late stage of Body Breaking.

Upon reaching the late stage of Body Breaking, Li Fei could cast techniques himself to replenish energy for the Dream-Command Token without needing to rely on Zhao Yi anymore.

Moreover, with this breakthrough, Li Fei felt that his power of intent had also strengthened somewhat.

After cultivating the "Red Sound Fire Vajra Method," Li Fei discovered that the core of 'Dao Power' is actually the power of intent.

Therefore, the strengthening of the power of intent helped him unleash the ultimate techniques of the "Red Sound Fire Vajra Method."

Besides this, the 'damage' brought about by the 【Illusion Leaf】 breakthrough also allowed the Ten Thousand Blood Bead to absorb enough energy required for an upgrade.

During the battle a few days ago, Li Fei was attacked many times by Xu Jing using divine abilities; the damage caused by the divine abilities provided the Ten Thousand Blood Bead with very high-quality energy, causing its progress to rise rapidly, leaving it just a little bit away from upgrading.

Now, it has upgraded again:

【Level: Level 16, 1%

Blood Soul: 310

Blood Soul Skills: Blood Rage, Blood Fiend, Blood Might, Blood Spring (Strong)

Transformation Skill: Blood Demon】

With this upgrade, the Blood Soul increased by 30 at once.

Just like the last upgrade, no new Blood Soul skill was added; instead, it provided an opportunity to strengthen a Blood Soul skill.

Previously, Li Fei had already strengthened 【Blood Spring】, so 【Blood Spring】 could not be strengthened again this time.

He could choose one from the three Blood Soul skills—【Blood Rage】, 【Blood Fiend】, and 【Blood Might】—to strengthen:

After strengthening Blood Rage, the duration will increase from one minute to three minutes.

After strengthening Blood Fiend, the existence time of the fiendish aura will be significantly extended.

After strengthening Blood Might, it will add a group attack effect.

Li Fei pondered for a moment and decided to choose to strengthen 【Blood Rage】 this time.

After entering the 'Blood Demon State,' the limit his body could withstand was 【Blood Rage】 cast with 20 Blood Souls.

That is to say, he would consume 20 Blood Souls in one minute!

When his physical strength improves further in the future, the number of Blood Souls consumed per minute will be even higher.

Strengthening 【Blood Rage】 and extending it from one minute to three minutes would allow Li Fei to save a large amount of Blood Souls during battle.

After completing the strengthening, 【Blood Rage】 also became 【Blood Rage】 (Strong) in the 'information' provided by the Ten Thousand Blood Bead.

Li Fei hadn't gone anywhere these past few days, staying honestly inside the Martial University.

Because the Blood Souls consumed in the last battle hadn't recovered yet, even if he wanted to do something, he had to wait for himself to return to his peak first.

Now it was fine; once the Ten Thousand Blood Bead upgraded, his state reached a new peak directly!

Picking up the Ghost Severing Blade placed on the table, Li Fei walked out of the room.

PS: I am preparing for the final climax of this volume. I will organize it, so there will only be one update today.

(End of this chapter)