Chapter 407: Breaking the Deadlock with Force

"Your Majesty."

Wen Ren Zheng walked into the study and bowed to the Emperor.

"Greetings, Grand Marshal."

Li Fei stood up and bowed to Wen Ren Zheng.

This was his first time seeing this "God of War" at such close range; he was tall and broad-shouldered, with deep-set features and brows like blades.

Li Fei's appearance often made people feel he was full of uprightness, at first glance appearing to be a man of integrity.

But compared to Wen Ren Zheng, Li Fei's "uprightness" seemed somewhat lacking.

Anyone who saw Wen Ren Zheng for the first time would feel that this was absolutely a standard soldier:

Resolute! Upright! Valiant!

Wen Ren Zheng stood there like a towering sacred mountain, reaching straight to the firmament.

This "God of War" was also regarded as the "Wall of the Empire"; as long as he was not defeated, the Great Lan Dynasty would not be defeated!

"No need for formalities, sit."

The Emperor's attitude toward Wen Ren Zheng appeared much more casual.

Although the Emperor's uncle, Qin Mingli, had once sought martial arts guidance from Wen Ren Zheng, regarding him as a "half-master," in reality, Wen Ren Zheng was younger than Qin Mingli.

He and the Emperor were of the same age; he had been the Emperor's study companion in childhood, and the two had grown up together.

Although sitting on that dragon chair destined one to be a lonely man, if one were to ask who was the most special person in the current Son of Heaven's heart, it was certainly Wen Ren Zheng.

The Emperor regarded him as his most trusted confidant and also as half a friend.

"Wen Ren, I called you here because I want you to take a look at Li Fei."

The Emperor did not hide anything, speaking directly to Wen Ren Zheng, then signaled for Li Fei to inform the other party of his situation.

Thus, Li Fei repeated what he had previously told the Emperor.

Wen Ren Zheng listened expressionlessly. He first looked at the Emperor, who nodded, and then a pale golden light enveloped Li Fei.

In an instant, the sounds of thousands of troops fighting, the clashing of countless weapons, and limbs being severed rang in Li Fei's ears.

It was as if he were instantly placed on a battlefield of hundreds of thousands, with the intense stench of blood rushing toward him!

But soon, all of this vanished as if it were a hallucination.

Li Fei felt no further anomalies.

A few minutes later, the pale golden light vanished, and Wen Ren Zheng withdrew his Martial Dao Domain.

He pondered for a moment and said to the Emperor:

"Your Majesty, I cannot solve this matter either."

The Emperor was startled and frowned slightly: "Even you cannot solve it?"

Wen Ren Zheng explained with a serious expression: "Going into battle to kill the enemy is my strength; curing illnesses and saving people is not something I can do."

After speaking, he glanced at Li Fei: "If the Marquis of Jing'an is willing to abandon his current cultivation and start over, I can take action to help him destroy his Dao foundation, ensuring as much as possible that his roots are not harmed."

"Start over?"

The Emperor shook his head.

He did not know that Li Fei possessed the Ten Thousand Blood Pearl, so he did not feel that Li Fei would be completely unaffected if he destroyed his Dao foundation to start over.

Li Fei was currently the greatest Dao Establishment realm cultivator in history; if he started over, it was possible he would be far inferior to his current state.

Although Li Fei was still young and had time to slowly start over, the Emperor did not necessarily have that much time to wait for another peerless talent to grow up.

"Let's not rush into starting over for now. Wen Ren, thank you for the trouble of making this trip."

The Emperor said to Wen Ren Zheng.

Wen Ren Zheng stood up and bowed to the Emperor: "I take my leave."

Li Fei also stood up to thank the Grand Marshal.

After Wen Ren Zheng left, the Emperor comforted Li Fei:

"Don't worry, tomorrow I will ask the State Preceptor to take a look for you."

Since returning from the Daluo Sect, Xiang Du had been in seclusion, compensating for his damaged Dao principles.

To help Li Fei solve his problem, the Emperor did not hesitate to disturb Xiang Du, who was in seclusion!

In the room, the Third Imperial Prince was looking at a document in his hand while playing with a string of grapes carved from jade.

He was barefoot, not wearing shoes, with one foot stepped on the chair, sitting without any decorum.

If anyone else assumed this posture, there would be no elegance to speak of, yet when the Third Imperial Prince did so, it appeared dashing and unrestrained, making one feel that a person like him should be in such a posture.

A woman named Xiaohua sat to the side, silently accompanying him.

"Interesting."

The Third Imperial Prince looked repeatedly at the document in his hand, a smile appearing on his face.

A qualified subordinate would certainly cooperate by asking a question at this time, but Xiaohua had no intention of speaking at all.

This was the mode of interaction between the two.

If the Third Imperial Prince wanted to speak, she would listen quietly.

If he did not want to speak, she would only accompany him quietly by his side.

"Li Fei returned to Lanling City this time with the Martial Dao Master Qin Zhen by his side. It was also Qin Zhen who went to Tianshui City to pick him up previously. Why do you think that is?"

The Third Imperial Prince turned his head and asked.

Xiaohua replied without hesitation: "Because Li Fei is injured, and his injuries have not yet fully healed."

The Third Imperial Prince nodded: "I thought so too at first, but today, not long after Father summoned Li Fei into the palace, he summoned Wen Ren Zheng."

Xiaohua: "Summoned the Grand Marshal?"

The Third Imperial Prince blinked his peach-blossom-like eyes:

"Father was having a heart-to-heart with Li Fei to build a relationship, so why suddenly summon the Grand Marshal of the Military? Li Fei previously returned to Wu'an University first, with the excuse that he had cultivation problems he needed to consult Master Ming Qi about, and as a result, he brought Qin Zhen to Lanling City the next day. Father suddenly summoned Wen Ren Zheng today... I'm afraid Li Fei's injuries are not that simple."

"What kind of injury would require disturbing the Grand Marshal?"

Only when talking about these top-tier figures would Xiaohua reveal her curiosity.

The Third Imperial Prince smiled as he looked at her: "You are wrong. If he really suffered some serious injury, Father should have summoned those divine physicians in the Imperial Hospital, not Wen Ren Zheng. The 'God of War' is skilled at killing, not at saving people."

"That's right."

Xiaohua blinked her eyes, realizing it. "Perhaps there are cultivation problems he wants to consult the Grand Marshal about?"

The Third Imperial Prince put down the jade grapes he was playing with and sat up straight:

"My intuition tells me that this Marquis of Jing'an is likely in big trouble!"

Late at night, Li Fei was staying in a detached courtyard in the Imperial City.

Although he could not use his internal energy and extraordinary abilities, he could hone his martial arts in the illusion woven by the Dream-Returning Order, and he could also study techniques and the path of combining magic and martial arts, so he was still not idle, concentrating on cultivation in his room.

Suddenly, there was movement outside the main gate.

"Li Fei, I have come to see you."

The Crown Prince's voice entered the room.

Li Fei slowly opened his eyes, stood up, and walked out of the room.

"Hahaha, congratulations to you, the greatest Dao Establishment realm cultivator in history!"

As soon as they met, the Crown Prince laughed heartily and patted Li Fei's arm, like old friends reuniting after a long time.

"Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Li Fei bowed as usual.

"Eh, no need for formalities."

The Crown Prince grabbed Li Fei's arm, "Come, come, come, quickly tell me how you killed that Martial Dao Master; I've been dying of curiosity!"

Li Fei and the Crown Prince walked into the main hall. After sitting down, Li Fei began to give the Crown Prince a rough account of the situation inside the Tianshui Tomb.

The content he spoke was similar to what he had said in the Imperial Study during the day, only omitting the part about finally merging with the Tianshui soul bone.

After listening to Li Fei's account, the Crown Prince was filled with emotion:

"I originally thought Zhu Fenghua was already the limit of the Dao Establishment realm; I didn't expect you to be able to raise your combat power even higher. If you become a Martial Saint in the future, you will certainly have a chance to pull Lin Tianyi down from the throne of the world's number one!"

Li Fei said calmly: "The road must be walked one step at a time; I am currently just a Dao Establishment realm martial artist."

The Crown Prince looked at him: "I heard that Father summoned the Grand Marshal temporarily today; did you request to see the Grand Marshal?"

Li Fei was not surprised upon hearing this.

He knew that the Emperor and Wen Ren Zheng likely would not tell others about his situation, but the news that Wen Ren Zheng had been summoned could not be hidden.

"Yes, I have some cultivation problems I want to consult the Grand Marshal about."

Li Fei replied.

The Crown Prince nodded upon hearing this and did not ask further.

After the two chatted for a few more sentences, the Crown Prince took the initiative to stand up and take his leave.

"Li Fei."

Just as he was about to walk out of the courtyard gate, he suddenly turned to look at Li Fei.

"Your Highness?"

"If there is anything you need help with, remember to tell me."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

The Crown Prince looked deeply at Li Fei and turned to leave.

Li Fei watched the other party's back and stood at the gate for a while.

He had a premonition that the problem with his body likely could not be hidden for long.

When he heard Wen Ren Zheng say he couldn't solve his problem, it would be a lie to say Li Fei wasn't disappointed.

Even a Martial Saint couldn't solve his problem and could only suggest he start over.

Could the True Lord Xiang Du necessarily solve it?

Li Fei's mindset at this moment was actually somewhat pessimistic.

If True Lord Xiang Du couldn't solve his problem tomorrow either, then it seemed only the path of starting over remained.

Once that happened, the news certainly couldn't be hidden.

By then, the world would know that he, who had just been called the greatest Dao Establishment realm cultivator in history, had been crippled...

Even with a firm will and full confidence in himself, Li Fei inevitably felt affected, his mood somewhat low.

He clenched his fists, stood in place for a while, then turned and returned to the room to continue his cultivation.

Under the night sky, this courtyard was brightly lit all night.

The next afternoon, Feng Cheng personally came to wait outside Li Fei's courtyard.

"Marquis of Jing'an, His Majesty requests your presence."

Li Fei followed this eunuch before the Emperor to the Imperial Study once again.

This time, besides the Emperor, there was also Xiang Du, who was wearing Daoist robes.

Xiang Du's appearance looked less aged than when he was at the Daluo Sect, but he had not returned to the appearance of the young Daoist he had at the beginning; he now looked to be about forty years old.

"Greetings, Your Majesty; greetings, State Preceptor."

Li Fei bowed in turn.

"Li Fei, come."

The Emperor beckoned to Li Fei, signaling for him to come over directly.

"I specially invited the State Preceptor to help you take a look."

"Thank you, Your Majesty; sorry to trouble the State Preceptor."

"Mm."

Xiang Du nodded at Li Fei, "Open your mind and spirit; I will use the Analytical Dao Principle to examine your Dao foundation."

The Dao principle condensed by his natal magic treasure, the "Luo Pan Star Chart," was the Analytical Dao Principle, capable of seeing through the essence of all things!

Conducting an investigation with such an ability could naturally see through everything.

Li Fei had thought beforehand that Xiang Du might use the power of Dao principles to investigate, as this was a matter personally requested by the Emperor, so he had not brought the Dream-Returning Order with him this time, but had left it in the courtyard where he lived.

He followed Xiang Du's request, opened his mind and spirit, and stood in front of the other party.

Clear light lit up in Xiang Du's eyes, and a great aura that transcended everything fell upon Li Fei!

Li Fei had perceived this aura more than once; it was the aura of the Great Dao!

Soon, Li Fei had the feeling of being thoroughly seen through, from the inside out, as if he were a piece of glazed glass displayed before Xiang Du:

Flesh, bones, meridians, the four types of implants, the Tianshui soul bone, including the 【Phantom Leaf】 at the center of his brow...

Everything had nowhere to hide.

But the "Blood Spring" in his dantian was not discovered.

"The Blood Spring is a product of the Ten Thousand Blood Pearl; the Blood Spring was not discovered, which means the Ten Thousand Blood Pearl was also not discovered."

Li Fei's thoughts turned rapidly.

In fact, before coming, he had thought about the problem that the Ten Thousand Blood Pearl might be discovered by Xiang Du.

The Ten Thousand Blood Pearl was not a pearl that truly existed in Li Fei's body, but something bound to his soul.

So even if Xiang Du truly used the Analytical Dao Principle to discover the Ten Thousand Blood Pearl, Li Fei was not worried that the other party would have any designs on it, because it simply couldn't be snatched away.

Secondly, Li Fei had an inexplicable confidence in the Ten Thousand Blood Pearl.

He felt that even True Lord Xiang Du might not necessarily be able to discover it!

Now the facts confirmed his guess; Xiang Du had not discovered the "Blood Spring" in his body, let alone the Ten Thousand Blood Pearl.

A few seconds later, the clear light in Xiang Du's eyes vanished, and he withdrew the Dao principle.

He turned his head to look at the Emperor:

"Your Majesty, the Marquis of Jing'an's problem cannot be solved by relying on pure power. To solve the imbalance of the Dao foundation, there are only two paths."

Hearing this, Li Fei's spirit was lifted.

"Which two?"

The Emperor asked.

"The first path is to start from the Dao foundation itself, weakening the grade of the Tianshui soul bone, or strengthening the grade of the remaining four types of implants.

The former requires me to use Dao principles to analyze it daily, taking several years, and perhaps it can fundamentally weaken, or even break, this Tianshui soul bone.

The latter requires finding another four types of seventh-grade implants that can form a Dao foundation."

Xiang Du said calmly.

The Emperor frowned immediately upon hearing this.

The Analytical Dao Principle could analyze the origin of all things; to a certain extent, as long as one was willing to spend time and energy, Xiang Du was almost omnipotent!

But how precious was the time of a True Lord?

Let alone that Xiang Du currently still needed long-term seclusion to repair himself, even if he didn't need to heal, would he spend several years doing nothing, consuming the power of Dao principles every day specifically to analyze the Tianshui soul bone for Li Fei?

It would be about the same as Li Fei becoming the Emperor!

As for finding another four types of seventh-grade implants, this sounded impossible to achieve.

Even if the Emperor were willing to help Li Fei with all his might, the remaining seventh-grade exotic beasts in this world would likely not be able to make up the four types of implants Li Fei needed.

After all, the composition of a Dao foundation was not that simple; it wasn't enough to just gather implants of the five attributes of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

"What is the other path?"

The Emperor asked.

Xiang Du: "The other path is to break the deadlock with external force."

The Emperor was puzzled: "If external force can break the deadlock, shouldn't you and Wen Ren Zheng be enough?"

Xiang Du shook his head: "It is not the external force of outsiders. Whether it is me or Grand Marshal Wen Ren, if we take action, we will only destroy the Marquis of Jing'an's Dao foundation along with it. This external force refers to the power within the Marquis of Jing'an's body other than martial arts."

Li Fei, who was to the side, had his eyes light up: "Does the State Preceptor mean the power of techniques?"

Xiang Du turned to look at him: "Correct. A portion of the Tianshui soul bone has already merged into your Dao foundation; to exert influence on this portion of the Tianshui soul bone without damaging your Dao foundation, one can only rely on the power of techniques, and it must be your own power of techniques."

Li Fei had a sudden realization.

In the situation where the Tianshui soul bone and his other four types of implants were merged, wanting to use the power of martial arts to influence the Tianshui soul bone was like asking a person to pull their own hair to lift their feet off the ground.

No matter how strong one's own martial arts power was, this was impossible to achieve.

Therefore, one could only rely on external force, and it had to be external force that also came from oneself.

This power was different from martial arts power, but it could merge with one's own martial arts power; only in this way could one exert influence on the Tianshui soul bone merged into the Dao foundation.

This immediately made Li Fei think of the dual cultivation of magic and martial arts!

The dual cultivation of magic and martial arts was never simply practicing martial arts and techniques at the same time, but having to be able to merge two completely different powers, forming a positive influence on each other.

The 【Blood Might God】 Li Fei created himself was the merging of mind power and the power of techniques; this was a manifestation of the dual cultivation of magic and martial arts.

Now, Xiang Du's suggestion to Li Fei was to have him find a way to merge his power of techniques into the Dao foundation, thereby influencing the Tianshui soul bone within the Dao foundation.

This kind of thing could only rely on Li Fei himself, because mind power and virtual thoughts were two sides of one person's mental consciousness; only mind power and virtual thoughts from the same person could merge with each other, and only the martial arts and techniques of the same person could merge with each other.

This was what Xiang Du called breaking the deadlock with force!

This "force" could not come from the outside world; it could only come from Li Fei himself.

"Please guide me, State Preceptor."

Li Fei said hurriedly.

"It seems you have already thought of it; this is exactly the path you are pursuing, the dual cultivation of magic and martial arts."

Xiang Du said to Li Fei, "Your cultivation in the path of techniques has reached the Possession realm, but wanting to use power of this level to influence the seventh-grade Tianshui soul bone, you still lack the strength."

Li Fei was startled: "Does that mean I must first break through my cultivation in the path of techniques to the True Spirit realm?"

Xiang Du: "In the merging of the dual cultivation of magic and martial arts, the greater the difference in level between martial arts and the path of techniques, the greater the difficulty of merging. If you first break through your cultivation in the path of techniques to the True Spirit realm, and then conversely use the power of techniques to merge into your Dao foundation, the difficulty will be very great. And next, if you want to break through the realm of martial arts, the difficulty will also be very great."

Li Fei was stunned.

He immediately thought of Zhu Fenghua.

Zhu Fenghua could have broken through several years ago, whether it was martial arts breaking through to the Master realm, or the path of techniques breaking through to the True Spirit realm. As long as he wanted to, he could break through at any time.

But Zhu Fenghua had always suppressed his realm without breaking through, precisely because once he chose one of the paths to break through, the difficulty of the other path breaking through would increase by a lot.

And next, wanting to dual cultivate magic and martial arts, perfectly merging the two powers together, the difficulty would also become very great!

Lin Tianyi took seven disciples; among the six senior brothers and sisters before Zhu Fenghua, five were stuck at this step, wasting decades without being able to cross this hurdle.

That was why Zhu Fenghua wanted to "ascend to the heavens in one step," breaking through the realms of martial arts and the path of techniques at the same time.

But the final result was that Zhu Fenghua was forced to break through; he ultimately still failed to achieve "ascending to the heavens in one step."

As for Li Fei, his Dao foundation currently had problems, martial arts couldn't break through, and there was even less of a chance to "ascend to the heavens in one step."

"The first key node of the dual cultivation of magic and martial arts is the Dao Establishment realm, this step of the Possession realm. Next, you first break through one of the realms; even if the other one can't break through, you can at least choose to give up and concentrate on one path."

Xiang Du said to Li Fei, "Your talent is more manifested in martial arts; if you, in order to solve the problem of martial arts, ultimately break through the path of techniques first, then in the future, I'm afraid you won't have a chance to regret it, and can only choose to concentrate on walking the path of techniques."

This was the point he wanted to remind Li Fei of.

If he broke through the path of techniques first, it might lead to martial arts cultivation forever remaining in the Dao Establishment realm!

"Let alone that you want to break through to the True Spirit realm in the path of techniques, the difficulty is not low either. Even if you truly break through, your martial arts might also stagnate from then on. In this way, it is actually putting the cart before the horse. So my suggestion to you is the same as the Grand Marshal's."

Xiang Du looked at Li Fei, saying word by word:

"Destroy the Dao foundation and start cultivating again."

(End of chapter)