Chapter 404

Bai Sha Province is a famous major martial arts province; there are three martial artists at the Dao foundation period level on the candidate list, and two on the top ten of the general ranking!

Besides this, Bai Sha Province also has a university, named after the province, called Bai Sha University.

Among the "Sanshan, Four Sects, Seven Families," one of the "Sanshan," Mount Baituo, one of the "Four Sects," the Gouchen Sword Sect, and one of the "Seven Families," the Shenquan Yu Family, are all within Bai Sha Province!

In terms of martial arts atmosphere, Bai Sha Province can definitely rank in the top three among the twenty-three provinces of the Great Lan Dynasty.

Besides a university, two top-tier Jianghu sects, and a top-tier martial arts family, Bai Sha Province also has a famous martial arts family—the Zhang Family.

The Zhang Family ancestor, Zhang Weifeng, had already been a Wu Gong Master a hundred years ago.

In a hundred years, this Wu Gong Master built the Zhang Family into a famous local martial arts family. Although it cannot compare to the "Seven Families," it is far superior to many Jianghu sects.

In fact, many martial arts families start from a Wu Gong Master, because even a peak Dao foundation period martial artist can live at most 120 years, and when they get old, their physical functions decline, their combat power will become weaker and weaker, and they are simply not enough to support the long-term inheritance of a family.

Only by becoming a Wu Gong Master can physical functions be locked at the peak, combat power never decline, and life be extended by sixty years, living at most 180 years, and at least 160-plus years.

A family can obtain the protection of a Wu Gong Master for a hundred years; even if one or two generations are not talented, they still have the opportunity to make a comeback.

The Zhang Family gradually grew under Zhang Weifeng's protection; now this ancestor is 172 years old, and everyone knows his time is running out.

Under these circumstances, whether the Zhang Family can produce a second Wu Gong Master will directly determine the fate of the entire family!

Over the years, the Zhang Family has also been working hard for this, but among the dozen or so Dao foundation period martial artists in the family, not one has touched that bottleneck yet.

Just when the entire Zhang Family was going crazy for the family to produce another Wu Gong Master, they were suddenly told a piece of good news and a piece of bad news.

Good news: The Zhang Family has a new Wu Gong Master.

Bad news: This Wu Gong Master is a rebel, and was just beaten to death by the Marquis of Jing'an...

March 27th, the fifth day of the Tomb of Heavenly Water incident, and also the deadline for the Emperor to demand that Lou Hongtao, the head of the Supervisory Pavilion, find out You Ming's true identity.

Bai Sha Province, Chenguang Prefecture.

Two hundred soldiers of the Imperial Guard surrounded the Zhang Mansion!

March 30th.

A motorcade drove into Heavenly Water City, with the Heavenly Water City Chief's car leading the way at the front.

A formation of one hundred Imperial Camp soldiers can rival a Wu Gong Master; while five hundred cannot rival a Grandmaster, they can still play a role in the clash between two Grandmasters.

Outside the mansion, hundreds of Imperial Guard soldiers were guarding here!

Even if the Heavenly Water City Chief led the way personally, bringing people into his own mansion, they had to go through layers of inspection, and then the group was allowed to pass.

"Vice Pavilion Master Bai, please."

The Heavenly Water City Chief led the way for the person behind him very humbly.

He was a level-12 imperial official, while the newcomer was a level-17 pavilion official, the Vice Pavilion Master of the Zhige Pavilion!

So this Heavenly Water City Chief had no choice but to be humble.

"Have those Imperial Guard soldiers outside been guarding your mansion all these days?"

Bai Yan asked.

"Yes, because of the worry that the New Heaven Society would kill to silence witnesses, the Marquis of Jing'an requested heavy troops to guard it."

The Heavenly Water City Chief replied.

He certainly couldn't mobilize these Imperial Guard soldiers; everything was at the request of that Marquis of Jing'an.

"Have there been any abnormal situations these days?"

Bai Yan continued to ask.

"No abnormalities."

"What about the situation of the Tomb of Heavenly Water?"

"It has completely collapsed and also triggered an earthquake; fortunately, there were few casualties in the city. Because it is underground, we are temporarily unable to excavate, and we don't know the specific situation inside."

"..."

The two walked into a courtyard while talking along the way.

Li Fei, wearing a white robe, stood in the courtyard.

The Golden Thread Jade Kirin Armor was severely damaged during the battle with You Ming and had to be repaired before it could be worn, so Li Fei was wearing ordinary clothes now.

"Marquis, this is Vice Pavilion Master Bai Yan of the Zhige Pavilion."

The Heavenly Water City Chief introduced to Li Fei.

Bai Yan looked to be in his thirties, with a goatee, wearing the black martial uniform specially made by the Zhige Pavilion, embroidered with gold thread, with a saber at his waist, and an extraordinary bearing.

Li Fei took the lead in cupping his hands and bowing: "I have met Vice Pavilion Master Bai; you have had a hard journey."

The Zhige Pavilion has a total of three Grandmasters, and Bai Yan is one of them!

After safely coming out of the Tomb of Heavenly Water with Ye Zhao, Li Fei immediately requested the two hundred Imperial Guard soldiers guarding the Tomb of Heavenly Water and the one hundred Imperial Guard soldiers who rushed over from Yanbo Prefecture to enter the city to assist him in guarding the prisoners.

Not only that, he also directly submitted a memorial to the Imperial Court, requesting the Zhige Pavilion to send experts to Heavenly Water City to escort the prisoners back to Lanling City for trial.

Regarding his application, the Emperor not only agreed but even sent a Grandmaster directly!

A Grandmaster is already a figure above the clouds, either holding an important position and unable to move easily, or in seclusion, pursuing the ultimate martial arts.

The time and energy of these people are very precious; let alone ordinary people, many Dao foundation period martial artists may not see a Grandmaster in their entire lives.

Under these circumstances, sending a Grandmaster thousands of miles from Lanling City to Gan Province just to escort a prisoner is really an unimaginable thing!

Li Fei sometimes makes some interesting comparisons in his heart, such as comparing the armed forces of his previous life with the experts of this world:

A Wu Gong Master is roughly equivalent to a heavy synthetic battalion of his previous life.

Nine heavy synthetic battalions form a heavy synthetic brigade; this is a Grandmaster. (Note 1)

As for the Martial Saints and True Lords at the peak, they can be viewed as the nuclear weapons of this world.

So Bai Yan coming personally to escort Ye Zhao is as unbelievable as sending a heavy synthetic brigade to escort a prisoner in the world before Li Fei traveled through time!

From this, one can see the Emperor's importance to this matter, or rather, his importance to Li Fei.

"I have met the Marquis of Jing'an."

Bai Yan returned the bow; he, who was usually stern and unsmiling, had a few smiles on his face after seeing Li Fei.

After the two exchanged pleasantries, Bai Yan said:

"His Majesty ordered me to escort the prisoner back to the capital as soon as possible; I wonder where the prisoner is?"

Li Fei was stunned: "Is Vice Pavilion Master Bai taking the prisoner back today?"

Bai Yan nodded: "I want to complete the holy decree as soon as possible."

Li Fei could understand that a Grandmaster like him had precious time, so he directly took the other party to the place where Ye Zhao was being held.

The two walked into a building, and Bai Yan was slightly stunned.

Because he sensed two Wu Gong Masters in this courtyard!

Having two Wu Gong Masters guarding a prisoner, with more than three hundred Imperial Guard soldiers guarding outside, this lineup was really too luxurious.

"Who are these two in the courtyard?"

Bai Yan turned to ask Li Fei.

Li Fei: "One is a master from the Red Dust Pavilion, and the other is Zhu Fenghua."

"Oh?"

Hearing the name Zhu Fenghua, Bai Yan's gaze moved slightly.

"People from the New Heaven Society previously attacked him and almost killed two disciples of the Tianyi Tower, so the Tianyi Tower is willing to cooperate with the Imperial Court to investigate the New Heaven Society."

Li Fei explained.

"So that's how it is."

Bai Yan nodded, came to a room with Li Fei, pushed the door and entered.

Ye Zhao was sitting inside in a daze; seeing the two, he slowly stood up, his expression a bit uneasy.

There were two Wu Gong Masters guarding the rooms on the left and right, so there was no need for any measures against Ye Zhao at all.

"Is it him?"

Bai Yan glanced at Ye Zhao.

"Yes, he has oath-type Art techniques on him, which need to be unraveled before he can provide useful information."

Li Fei said.

This was the reason for sending Ye Zhao to Lanling City.

There, there were a group of True Persons from the Zhengfa Pavilion, and Yunshu, this True Lord; there must be a way to unravel the oath-type Art techniques on Ye Zhao.

Bai Yan: "Good, then hand him over to me to take away."

"Ye Zhao, follow this Master Bai to Lanling City."

Li Fei said to Ye Zhao.

Ye Zhao opened his mouth and looked at Li Fei nervously.

His pride had all been shattered, and now he just wanted to survive.

Li Fei looked into his eyes and said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, as long as you cooperate fully and confess everything that should be confessed, I guarantee you will survive."

Bai Yan on the side heard this and glanced at Li Fei without speaking.

With Li Fei's current status, reputation, and imperial favor, he indeed had the qualifications to make such a promise.

Hearing this, Ye Zhao breathed a sigh of relief and walked to Bai Yan's side.

"Vice Pavilion Master Bai, this person was brought out of the Tomb of Heavenly Water by me after a narrow escape; I hope he can exert the value he should have."

Li Fei looked at Bai Yan and said seriously.

Bai Yan's expression also became serious: "Marquis of Jing'an, rest assured; I dare not guarantee anything else, but I will definitely bring the person back to Lanling City safe and sound."

"Good, thank you, Vice Pavilion Master Bai."

"Marquis of Jing'an, you are too polite."

Subsequently, Bai Yan took Ye Zhao and left.

If possible, Li Fei actually wanted to return to Lanling City together and participate in the interrogation of Ye Zhao throughout the process.

But now he had more urgent matters to attend to, so he could only let Bai Yan take Ye Zhao back to Lanling City first.

After Bai Yan took the people away, the door of the room on the left was pushed open, and Zhu Fenghua, wearing a black robe, walked out.

He said to Li Fei: "Since the person has been taken away, I will return to the Tianyi Tower."

Li Fei cupped his hands to this newly promoted Wu Gong Master who had saved him from the Tomb of Heavenly Water:

"Thank you for guarding this place for the past few days, Brother Zhu."

"You're welcome; if there are any follow-ups on the New Heaven Society, please send a letter to the Tianyi Tower."

Zhu Fenghua said.

When he wasn't competing in martial arts, he looked very dull, and his speech was also very rigid.

"Definitely."

Li Fei nodded in agreement.

So Zhu Fenghua strode toward the courtyard gate; just as he was about to walk out of the courtyard, he suddenly turned to look at Li Fei, his calm eyes gaining a bit more spirit:

"Li Fei, after you break through, I want to have a competition with you."

Li Fei heard this and nodded with a smile: "Good!"

A trace of a smile also appeared on Zhu Fenghua's face, and then he turned and left.

Watching the back of the other party leaving, the smile on Li Fei's face gradually faded.

He returned to his room and then probed his mental power into his dantian.

The four types of implants were still in a state of intertwining, and the cold current turned into by the Heavenly Water Soul Bone had merged a part into the four implants, while the vast majority of the rest formed a "vortex."

Over the past few days, Li Fei had been thinking about how to solve the problem of his Dao foundation every moment.

He and True Person Qingding discussed together and redesigned more than a dozen illusions, but the effect was not obvious, at most only managing to prevent the remaining cold current from continuing to merge into the Dao foundation, but unable to completely eradicate the part that had already merged into the Dao foundation.

Now this cold current was absorbing Li Fei's power, Qi, blood, and mental power while causing damage to Li Fei's Dao foundation.

Fortunately, this part of the damage was less than the blood souls recovered by 【Blood Breath】, keeping the blood soul amount of the Ten Thousand Blood Bead at about 50%.

But if this problem was not solved, the Ten Thousand Blood Bead in Li Fei's body would forever only be able to maintain about 50% of its blood soul amount.

And he couldn't use power or extraordinary abilities, and his combat power had dropped significantly.

The most serious thing was that if this problem was not solved, Li Fei couldn't break through!

Because 【Green Bone】 was affected, Li Fei couldn't even perform "Unity" on the implant branches of 【Green Bone】 now.

The only benefit was that this cold current was providing energy value to the Ten Thousand Blood Bead every second, and the energy quality was not low.

According to the current speed, Li Fei only needed to wait another dozen days to upgrade the Ten Thousand Blood Bead to level 30.

Putting his mental power into the dantian, sensing the situation of the Dao foundation in detail, Li Fei then injected Void Thoughts into the Rumen Order to simulate the corresponding illusion.

Next, he began to discuss with True Person Qingding in the illusion, trying again and again.

This was what he had been doing every day for the past few days.

"I am not a martial artist after all, and I don't know enough about the Dao foundation of martial arts; you still need to find a powerful martial artist to help you refer."

After today's discussion ended, True Person Qingding said to Li Fei.

"I understand; next, I will consult a Grandmaster."

Li Fei said to True Person Qingding.

The reason he didn't return to Lanling City with Bai Yan was because he wanted to return to the Martial University first to find Shi Caiming.

His Dao foundation had a problem, and such a secret could only be told to the most trustworthy person; otherwise, it could very likely lead to serious consequences!

There were not many people Li Fei could fully trust, and among these people, the only one capable of helping him solve the current problem was Shi Caiming.

He couldn't say this matter with great fanfare and couldn't let outsiders know that his Dao foundation had a problem, so he had to have a reason to return to the Martial University—to break through!

The external explanation was that in the battle with the Wu Gong Master in the Tomb of Heavenly Water, Li Fei had gained some insights and found the opportunity to break through, needing to return to the Martial University first to consult Principal Shi Caiming.

Although Li Fei hadn't incorporated the fifth implant yet, talking about breaking through was a bit too early.

But who made him the number one Dao foundation period in history now?

He said he found the opportunity to break through, even if he hadn't incorporated all the implants, others wouldn't dare not believe it!

When Bai Yan took Ye Zhao and left Heavenly Water City by train, a long-distance bus drove into Heavenly Water City.

Half an hour later, a middle-aged man with a straight figure, every step he took looking as if it had been measured with a ruler, walked into the mansion of the Heavenly Water City Chief.

After Li Fei got the news, he came to welcome him personally:

"Senior Qin, thank you for your hard work."

The newcomer was Qin Zhen.

Li Fei didn't explain his situation directly on the phone, only saying that his current physical condition was not very good and he needed to return to the Martial University.

After Shi Caiming found out, he sent Qin Zhen over immediately!

Although Li Fei is now the Marquis of Jing'an and the Special Envoy of Lanling, the Wu Gong Masters of the Imperial Court all have the lowest rank of Pavilion Official, with a rank above him and status equivalent to him.

Unless there is official business, Li Fei has no way to command any Wu Gong Master to act as his bodyguard.

Only the Martial University could directly send a Wu Gong Master to escort him when he needed it!

Qin Zhen carefully looked Li Fei up and down: "Are you okay?"

A smile appeared on Li Fei's face: "Nothing serious, just some problems that need to be consulted with the Principal."

"Good, when are we leaving?"

"Take the train tonight, go to the provincial capital of Gan Province first, and then return to Datong Prefecture."

"Good."

Qin Zhen was unusually straightforward and didn't ask anything else.

That night, Li Fei, Qin Zhen, Xiang Dongliang, Wang Fengqing, Miss Shentu Yue, and others took the train to the provincial capital of Gan Province together.

Five days later, the train arrived at the provincial capital of Gan Province.

After Li Fei got off the train, he went directly to see He Jian.

After he came out of the Tomb of Heavenly Water, he immediately had the provincial capital of Gan Province send people to hand over the bodies of Zhu San and You Ming to He Jian.

Now that He Jian had obtained the bodies of the two for some time, Li Fei felt that this detective would definitely have some gains.

"You Ming's identity has been confirmed; his real name is Zhang Xiujie, a collateral descendant of the Zhang Family in Chenguang Prefecture, Bai Sha Province. His talent was very high, and he was already at the peak of the Dao foundation period fifteen years ago, and then he was killed by someone in an accident. Of course, this is only the situation on the surface; in reality, the New Heaven Society saved him in secret."

He Jian went straight to the point and said the most important intelligence first.

"How was it verified?"

Li Fei asked curiously.

"Although You Ming, or Zhang Xiujie, had nothing to do with the Zhang Family's ancestral martial arts in the two times he openly exhibited his martial arts, his Dao foundation cannot be changed, and some subtle habits of attacking cannot be changed; this is something that is set when a martial artist first builds their foundation.

Based on the process of your description of fighting him, and the divine abilities he exhibited, we reverse-engineered the martial arts he might have practiced and what his Dao foundation was. Finally, based on this information, we investigated bit by bit, and finally determined You Ming's identity."

He Jian said it lightly, but Li Fei could imagine the huge workload and meticulous analysis behind this.

"Zhang Xiujie shouldn't care about being discovered as a Zhang Family member, because the one who harmed him back then was a Zhang Family member; he might even have been waiting for us to find out his true identity so he could drag the Zhang Family into the water."

He Jian said to Li Fei.

Li Fei: "Then why did he still deliberately cover it up? He could have directly exposed himself the first time he attacked."

He Jian: "Because the New Heaven Society didn't want him to be exposed, or rather, didn't want him to be exposed so quickly."

Li Fei: "So, investigating the Zhang Family is useless?"

He Jian looked at him, the old man's expression serious:

"As long as it is a clue, it must be useful. Through this line of the Zhang Family, I can investigate more of the New Heaven Society's past actions and the traces they left behind."

Li Fei nodded: "Good, then what about Zhu San?"

"Zhu San is a bit special; this person's appearance was completely changed, including the bones of his body. We can't restore his original appearance, nor can we determine his specific age. The Art-type implants he used are very ordinary, with a wide range of sources, and are also very difficult to investigate. I heard he had a flight-escape magic treasure; this kind of magic treasure is very rare, and I need to use this magic treasure to conduct an investigation."

He Jian stared straight at Li Fei after finishing speaking.

Li Fei smiled.

The flight-escape magic treasure left behind by Zhu San could actually be counted as important evidence and could be confiscated.

Whether it was the Zhige Pavilion or the Supervisory Pavilion, they often used such reasons to embezzle some good things when investigating cases in the past.

But the flying boat was Li Fei's spoils of war, and no one dared to embezzle the Marquis of Jing'an's things, so now this thing was in Li Fei's hands, and no one had come to ask for it.

Only He Jian dared to directly ask Li Fei to hand over the magic treasure.

In this old man's eyes, investigating the case always came first.

"Sorry, I still have use for this magic treasure for the time being and cannot hand it over to you for investigation; later, after I'm done, I can lend you the magic treasure to investigate the case."

Li Fei said to He Jian.

His combat power was greatly reduced now, and having a flight-escape magic treasure on him would be much safer.

He Jian frowned: "What are you going to be busy with next? Isn't the Tomb of Heavenly Water already destroyed?"

"Going to deal with some cultivation matters, very important."

Li Fei didn't explain too much, "Ye Zhao has already been sent to Lanling City; as long as he speaks up on that side, I believe the assassination case at the Altar of Heaven can be closed."

He could basically determine that the New Heaven Society was the mastermind behind the assassination case at the Altar of Heaven, but he still lacked effective evidence.

As long as Ye Zhao spoke up, the assassination case at the Altar of Heaven would be considered closed.

Hearing the name "Ye Zhao," He Jian's expression softened slightly.

After all, Ye Zhao was captured alive by Li Fei.

If the case was finally closed based on Ye Zhao's confession, then Li Fei would be the number one contributor!

"Lord He, I hope you can return to Lanling City first to make preparations; after Ye Zhao arrives in Lanling City, I hope his interrogation work will be completed by you."

Li Fei stated his intention.

He didn't feel at ease handing Ye Zhao over to others to interrogate.

"Good."

He Jian also understood the importance of Ye Zhao, "But whether I can interrogate this person, I dare not guarantee."

Li Fei smiled: "Don't worry, I will submit a memorial to His Majesty, applying for you to be in full charge of the interrogation."

He Jian wanted to say, would His Majesty necessarily listen to you?

But he immediately remembered the "number one Dao foundation period in history" that his group of disciples had been chanting recently, and immediately felt that Li Fei shouldn't be bragging.

The Emperor would probably give this Marquis of Jing'an some face?

"Good."

"Then I'll leave it to you, Lord He."

"..."

After seeing He Jian, Li Fei met Lu Wenxing again, gave him some instructions, and finally found Qin Zhen:

"Senior Qin, we can set off."

"Good."

Qin Zhen's answer was always simple.

So Li Fei took out a black boat the size of a washbasin from the wooden box behind him, and then pinched the formula with both hands, injecting Void Thoughts into it continuously.

He hadn't been able to completely refine this flight-escape magic treasure yet.

The so-called refining is that one's own Void Thoughts can resonate with the magic treasure, which is the biggest characteristic of the Possession Period, capable of significantly enhancing the power of a magic treasure.

Currently, Li Fei had only broken all the "tricks" left inside the black boat under the guidance of True Person Qingding, and could initially control this magic treasure.

But this was enough.

Soon, the washbasin-sized black boat turned into a boat that could accommodate at least five people.

Then Li Fei, Qin Zhen, Xiang Dongliang, and Wang Fengqing all stood on the black boat.

Just as Li Fei intended to cast an Art technique to control the black boat to take off, a voice suddenly came:

"Marquis of Jing'an!"

Li Fei turned his head to look, and a red figure came into view.

Miss Shentu Yue had come.

"Does Miss Miss Shentu have something to do?"

Li Fei asked.

Miss Shentu Yue looked at Li Fei, a smile appearing on her face:

"In the Dao foundation realm, I dare not compete with you, but I have already found the opportunity to break through. I hope that next time we meet, I can compete with you!"

Li Fei was stunned, and a smile also appeared on his face:

"Congratulations, Miss Miss Shentu."

Peak Dao foundation period martial artists all have the opportunity to break through to become Wu Gong Masters, but it is only an opportunity.

No one dares to guarantee that they can break through 100%.

Miss Shentu Yue being able to find the opportunity to break through means she has already stepped half a foot into the realm of a Wu Gong Master!

Whether it was Zhu Fenghua or Miss Shentu Yue, they all felt that Li Fei breaking through to become a Wu Gong Master was a matter of course.

Perhaps everyone in the world thinks so now.

But only Li Fei himself knows that the road ahead will likely be very difficult.

"Good, I hope next time we meet, you and I will have the chance to have a competition."

Li Fei cupped his hands to Miss Shentu Yue, performing a Jianghu person's etiquette.

Miss Shentu Yue returned the salute.

Subsequently, under her gaze, the black boat before her eyes glowed, rising rapidly, flying higher and higher.

Finally, it disappeared into the horizon.

Please give me monthly tickets.

Note 1: The 9:1 ratio is just an analogy, not saying that 9 Wu Gong Masters joining forces will definitely be able to beat a Grandmaster, or definitely won't be able to beat one.

In addition, interested friends can go and learn about our country's heavy synthetic brigade; just sending one out can directly destroy a country in many places~

(End of chapter)