Chapter 409

Headquarters of the Zhengfa Pavilion.

In the basement of the headquarters courtyard, there is a dungeon.

Among the headquarters of the six pavilions, except for the Internal Affairs Pavilion, the other five pavilions all have dungeons.

Among them, the dungeons of the Supervision Pavilion and the Judicial Pavilion are used to hold ordinary prisoners.

The dungeon of the Zhige Pavilion is used to hold martial artists, and the dungeon of the Supervision Pavilion is basically used to hold officials.

As for the dungeon of the Zhengfa Pavilion, a small part is used to hold sorcerers, and most of it is used to hold exotic beasts.

Because the refining of magic tools requires materials from exotic beasts, many of which need to be taken directly from living exotic beasts, the dungeon of the Zhengfa Pavilion can also be regarded as an exotic beast farm.

Ye Zhao died inside here.

The level of the oath magic arts on his body is very high. To lift the magic arts without damaging his self-consciousness requires the Deputy Pavilion Master of the Zhengfa Pavilion, a top-tier True Person, to take action personally.

And the process of lifting is like peeling a cocoon, which takes at least half a month.

So during this period, Ye Zhao was locked in the dungeon of the Zhengfa Pavilion.

The vigilance level of this dungeon is no weaker than the prison of the Zhige Pavilion, and even in some places, it is even better.

Because the protective formation of the Zhengfa Pavilion dungeon was established by the current State Preceptor, True Person Yun Shu, personally!

Besides that, there are at least two True Persons sitting in the dungeon all year round.

In order to prevent Ye Zhao himself from suddenly thinking it through and doing something stupid, or having an accident with his body, the Zhige Pavilion also specially sent four Dao foundation stage martial artists to enter the dungeon together, two of whom are proficient in medical skills and good at first aid.

These four people are divided into two groups, guarding Ye Zhao closely in shifts 24 hours a day.

In this situation, Ye Zhao actually still died, which makes everyone who got the news feel very shocked.

When He Situ Jian arrives at the dungeon of the Zhengfa Pavilion headquarters with his two disciples, several big figures have already arrived at the scene:

Deputy Pavilion Master of the Zhige Pavilion, Grandmaster Bai Yan.

Two True Persons of the Zhengfa Pavilion responsible for guarding the dungeon this month.

Deputy Pavilion Master of the Zhengfa Pavilion responsible for lifting the oath magic arts for Ye Zhao, top-tier True Person Mi Han.

Those four Dao foundation stage martial artists guarding Ye Zhao closely are kneeling on the side at this time!

If it weren't for Li Fei requesting the Emperor to let He Situ Jian be responsible for the main interrogation of Ye Zhao, He Situ Jian wouldn't even be qualified to come directly to the scene and be listed with these big figures present.

After He Situ Jian arrives, he does not salute these people whose official positions and strength are above his, but looks at Ye Zhao's corpse in the cell for the first time.

Ye Zhao's eyes are wide open, his expression is terrified, as if he suddenly encountered something extremely terrifying.

From the appearance, there are no obvious wounds on his body, and there are no traces of fighting in the cell.

It really looks like he died suddenly without being affected by external forces.

"How did he die?"

He Situ Jian turns to ask the four Dao foundation stage martial artists kneeling in a row.

This action makes several big figures present frown slightly, somewhat dissatisfied with He Situ Jian's 'disregard for others'.

But in the end, no one spoke to stop He Situ Jian.

They all know that He Situ Jian has this kind of personality, and the Marquis of Jing'an's face still needs to be given.

The four Dao foundation stage martial artists kneeling on the ground are all miserable at this time. Hearing He Situ Jian's question, one of them looks up with a bitter face:

"At that time, we were guarding by his side. He suddenly shouted, and then before we could react, he lost all breath and died suddenly. We couldn't do anything at all."

He Situ Jian's eyes are like torches:

"What was the specific time of death?"

"Before he died, besides contacting you today, who else did he contact?"

"Did he have any abnormal behavior these past few days?"

"..."

He Situ Jian asked many questions, down to the smallest detail.

A group of big figures present watched from the side, letting him ask.

Suddenly, the crowd on the periphery swayed.

"Pavilion Master Lou."

"Seen Pavilion Master Lou."

"..."

He Situ Jian turns his head to look, having to stop the interrogation, cupping his hands to salute the person who came.

The person who came is exactly the Pavilion Master of the Supervision Pavilion, Lou Lou Hongtao, He Situ Jian's direct superior.

"Pavilion Master Lou."

Mi Han takes the initiative to walk toward Lou Lou Hongtao.

Lou Lou Hongtao's expression is unkind, his gaze severe.

He glances at the dead Ye Zhao in the cell, and then looks at Mi Han:

"Such an important prisoner was handed over to you, how did you guard him?"

This makes Mi Han startle, his expression sinking immediately.

The number of sorcerers is smaller, and because they can refine evil tools, their status is generally higher than that of martial artists.

Plus, the Pavilion Master of the Zhengfa Pavilion is the current State Preceptor, True Person Yun Shu.

This makes the status of the Zhengfa Pavilion appear more transcendent among the six pavilions.

After all, the Pavilion Master of the Zhige Pavilion is only a Grandmaster, and certainly cannot be on equal footing with True Person Yun Shu.

Although the Supervision Pavilion can supervise all officials, its supervision of the Zhengfa Pavilion is the smallest. Many times, the problems of sorcerers are solved by sorcerers themselves.

For a long time, the people of the Zhengfa Pavilion naturally have a little superiority, feeling that their status is higher than their colleagues in the other five pavilions.

Mi Han is a level 17 pavilion official, one level lower than Lou Lou Hongtao, but he does not feel at all that he is inferior to Lou Lou Hongtao.

In terms of cultivation, he can even look down on Lou Lou Hongtao!

So upon hearing Lou Lou Hongtao's unceremonious questioning, he immediately retorted:

"Pavilion Master Lou, before this person was sent to our Zhengfa Pavilion, he passed through the hands of your Supervision Pavilion and the Zhige Pavilion. And the cause of this person's death is sudden death, not assassination by someone breaking into the prison. So it should be me asking you, was this prisoner tampered with before being sent here?"

He not only does not admit the problem, but instead wants to throw the pot away!

Bai Yan on the side can't take it anymore, stepping forward:

"Deputy Pavilion Master Mi, I personally escorted this person back to the capital. Are you doubting me?"

Mi Han looks at Bai Yan without showing any weakness: "Your Zhige Pavilion sent four people to guard the prisoner closely. Now that the person is dead, if you want to say who has the greatest suspicion, of course it is your Zhige Pavilion!"

Bai Yan laughs: "I escorted the prisoner for thousands of miles and nothing happened, but it just so happened that something went wrong when the person was sent into your Zhengfa Pavilion dungeon. You have been casting spells on him these past few days, do you think you can stay out of it?"

Mi Han also laughs in anger: "If I really wanted to harm him, would I be stupid enough to do it during my own spellcasting..."

"Enough!"

Lou Lou Hongtao suddenly shouts loudly, interrupting the argument between the two.

Among all the people present, his official position is the highest, and only he is qualified to stop Bai Yan and Mi Han.

The dungeon quickly becomes quiet, and the surrounding group of subordinate officials all lower their heads, like quails, pretending that they didn't hear anything and didn't see anything.

"He Situ Jian."

Lou Lou Hongtao looks at He Situ Jian, who is frowning and thinking hard on the side, "What do you think?"

He Situ Jian is a famous detective of the Supervision Pavilion and one of Lou Lou Hongtao's most trusted subordinates.

This detective has not disappointed Lou Lou Hongtao in many major cases in the past, and Lou Lou Hongtao very much hopes that this time will be the same.

"I want to apply for an autopsy on Ye Zhao."

He Situ Jian does not easily draw a conclusion, but applies for an autopsy first.

Autopsy is also a very profound science, and many unexpected clues are hidden in the corpse.

And He Situ Jian is the most powerful autopsy expert in the Supervision Pavilion!

"This matter is not urgent. Before I came, I had already reported to the Chief Minister and His Majesty."

Lou Lou Hongtao says, "Wait for the reply first."

So the cell becomes quiet again, and several big figures wait here together.

The reason why they were throwing the pot at each other just now is also because they are very clear about the seriousness of this matter.

More than half an hour later, Feng Cheng holds an imperial edict in his hand and walks into the dungeon with a man, coming before everyone.

Upon seeing the two, several big figures all have serious expressions.

Feng Cheng, the imperial eunuch who has always been by the Emperor's side, goes without saying. He personally came to announce the edict, representing the Emperor's importance to this matter.

The man who came with Feng Cheng wears the official uniform of a pavilion official. His name is Hu Hu Tingzhong, the youngest pavilion official in the history of the Central Secretariat, and also a student of Chief Minister Ye Ye Zean, a Grand Secretary of the Zixu Hall.

All the civil and military officials in the court are very clear that Ye Ye Zean intends to cultivate Hu Hu Tingzhong as his successor, and the other party is very likely to be the next Chief Minister!

Hu Hu Tingzhong has come, naturally bringing the will of that Chief Minister.

"His Majesty has an edict."

Feng Cheng says loudly, holding the imperial edict.

Among the people present, some kneel on one knee, and some bow and salute.

"Order Supervision Pavilion Pavilion Master Lou Lou Hongtao to be fully responsible for the case of prisoner Ye Zhao's sudden death, and find out the truth within five days. This is the edict!"

Hearing this edict, the expressions of Bai Yan and Mi Han are a bit heavy.

"I, accept the edict!"

Lou Lou Hongtao takes two steps forward and takes the imperial edict with both hands.

After Feng Cheng leaves, Hu Hu Tingzhong takes out two documents from his sleeves:

"Deputy Pavilion Master Bai, Deputy Pavilion Master Mi. Chief Minister has an order: before this case is clarified, you two temporarily put down all affairs in your hands and fully cooperate with the Supervision Pavilion to investigate this case."

After speaking, he hands the two documents in his hand to Bai Yan and Mi Han respectively.

Now the expressions of Bai Yan and Mi Han change completely.

They are already Deputy Pavilion Masters of a pavilion, even if Lou Lou Hongtao is the Pavilion Master of the Supervision Pavilion, he cannot point fingers at the two.

But now with these two documents from Ye Ye Zean, it is different.

To say something disrespectful, compared to the Emperor, the two are actually more afraid of Ye Ye Zean, this Chief Minister.

"He Situ Jian."

Lou Lou Hongtao orders immediately after Bai Yan and Mi Han accept the documents:

"You immediately perform an autopsy on Ye Zhao!"

"Yes."

He Situ Jian walks into the cell decisively.

Then Lou Lou Hongtao looks at Bai Yan and Mi Han again:

"Trouble the two Deputy Pavilion Masters to follow me back to the Supervision Pavilion."

Ye Zhao's death triggered an 'earthquake' in the court and the public!

Even the two Deputy Pavilion Masters were implicated, making many people gasp.

However, this 'earthquake' did not affect Li Fei, who was painstakingly studying dual cultivation of magic and martial arts in the Royal Library.

He still does not know that the witness he brought out from the Tomb of Tian Shui is dead.

He now has no heart to pay attention to the case.

Because no matter what, strength is the most fundamental thing.

Without strength, his desire for revenge is just a joke.

Even if the Emperor favors him again, it is impossible to target a Grandmaster and the Lu family, who have one Marquis and three Earls, for the sake of a Marquis whose potential is exhausted.

It took nearly ten days for Li Fei to finish reading all sixty-one secret manuals of dual cultivation of magic and martial arts on the seventh floor!

He does not seek to master all the means in the secret manuals, but only wants to find ideas from them to solve his Dao foundation problem, so his reading speed is very fast.

On this day, Li Fei ascends to the eighth floor and continues to read new secret manuals...

May 23rd.

Li Fei has entered the Royal Library for nearly a month.

Because of the damage continuously brought by the Tian Shui Soul Bone, the Ten Thousand Blood Pearl has completed its upgrade again, rising to level 30:

【Ten Thousand Blood Pearl

Level: Level 30 18%

Blood Soul: 568 (1141)

Blood Soul Skill: Blood Rage (Strong), Blood Fiend (Strong), Blood Might (Strong), Blood Spring (Strong), Blood Breath (Extreme)

Transformation Skill: Blood Demon (Strong)】

After the upgrade, the number of blood souls increased by 58, and the total blood volume became 1141.

It is just because the Tian Shui Soul Bone is still continuously causing damage, so the number of blood souls in the Ten Thousand Blood Pearl has been hovering around 50%.

Below 50%, 【Blood Breath】 is triggered, and after recovering to 50%, it drops again, cycling like this.

After a month of hard work, Li Fei has now ascended to the tenth floor, preparing to read the last secret manual of dual cultivation of magic and martial arts on the tenth floor.

During this period, he has not heard anything outside the window, and no one has come to disturb him.

【"Using Magic to Cultivate Martial Arts, Refining the Body into a Tool"?】

Looking at the name of the secret manual in his hand, Li Fei shows an interested expression.

He turns to the first page of the secret manual and reads the outline:

"Martial arts is internal cultivation, magic arts is external seeking. A True Person's life-bound magic tool can be regarded as a kind of martial arts foundation outside the body."

"Since the magic tool outside the body can be refined as a Dao foundation, can the Dao foundation inside the martial artist's body be refined as a magic tool in reverse?"

"This book explores the way of cultivating martial arts by practicing magic arts, refining the martial artist's body into a magic tool, thereby achieving the integration of magic and martial arts..."

After reading the outline, Li Fei only feels his eyes light up.

Because the dual cultivation method of magic and martial arts written in this book is something he has never seen before, it is an unprecedented angle!

He looks at the author of this book—Bai Bai Zihao.

He immediately calls Ji Huang Qian and asks about this person's life.

"Back to the Marquis, Bai Bai Zihao was the Martial Saint of the previous dynasty, the General of Divine Might, and was later killed by the Great Ancestor Emperor on the battlefield."

Ji Huang Qian says to Li Fei without the slightest hesitation.

He has not been idle during this period and has done a lot of homework in advance.

"Martial Saint of the previous dynasty?"

Li Fei is startled, "Since it is a secret manual left by a Martial Saint, why is it only placed on the tenth floor?"

The secret manuals in the Royal Library, the higher the floor, the higher the level.

A secret manual written by a Martial Saint should at least be placed on the highest twelfth floor.

Ji Huang Qian glances at the secret manual in Li Fei's hand and explains with a smile:

"Marquis, you don't know, this secret manual in your hand has been read by more than one Grandmaster, and even the Grand Marshal has read it. But in the end, everyone's evaluation of this secret manual is that it is unorthodox and whimsical."

"So the value of this secret manual has been lowered again and again. If it weren't written by a Martial Saint, it wouldn't even be able to enter the tenth floor."

What kind of content can make a secret manual written by a Martial Saint be identified as unorthodox?

Li Fei's curiosity is aroused, and after thanking Ji Huang Qian, he begins to flip through the secret manual here.

Just like this, he sat in the room until late at night.

For those previous secret manuals, he read them very quickly, only seeking to roughly understand the meaning and see if they were helpful to him.

But for this secret manual, Li Fei reads it very slowly, almost every page, every word needs to be read repeatedly.

Because this secret manual really opened up a whole new world for him!

According to Bai Bai Zihao's conception, the martial artist's body should be refined as a magic tool!

After the magic arts enter the Attachment Period, one needs to continue to incorporate magic arts-type implants to refine oneself into a magic tool.

At that time, there will be two sets of implants in the human body, one set of implants constitutes the Dao foundation, and the other set of implants becomes the core of the magic tool.

Seeing this, Li Fei finally understands why this book is identified as unorthodox and whimsical.

The cultivation of martial arts is designed and created with reference to the limits of the human body. Incorporating just one set of implants carries the risk of physical collapse and mental loss of control, so how could one incorporate another set?

And dual cultivation of magic and martial arts will naturally produce conflicts. Incorporating only one kind of magic arts-type implant in the body, as the cultivation realm improves, the conflict with the Dao foundation will constantly intensify, not to mention incorporating more magic arts-type implants?

Finally, the most difficult point is that the human body is a flesh-and-blood body, different from materials like steel and ore, and its strength and toughness cannot be compared.

The most critical point is that refining tools, if refined wrongly, can at most be re-refined. If the human body is used to refine tools and it is refined wrongly, wouldn't it be an eternal disaster?

This is the reason why Bai Bai Zihao's secret manual is considered to have little value.

It can exist as a possibility, with academic value, and bring some inspiration to future generations.

But to actually practice it, this is simply impossible.

Even Bai Bai Zihao, who compiled this secret manual, only wrote down the theory and did not leave any practical content.

But this secret manual is like a light that illuminates Li Fei!

For others, it is like a natural chasm, but for Li Fei, who has the Ten Thousand Blood Pearl, he can walk on flat ground.

Others' physical bodies in the Dao foundation stage cannot incorporate more implants, but Li Fei's vitality is even stronger than that of a Martial Arts Grandmaster, and he can completely continue to incorporate implants.

Others cannot solve the conflict between the two types of implants, but Li Fei can carry it through.

Others use their bodies as tools, and one wrong step is death. Li Fei has the Ten Thousand Blood Pearl to transfer damage and is not afraid of making mistakes at all.

"This is simply tailor-made for me!"

Li Fei is overjoyed.

Although this cultivation method of Bai Bai Zihao is whimsical and extremely difficult to practice, it has one advantage, which is that it can easily solve the problem of the integration of magic and martial arts.

The Dao foundation is integrated with the human body, and the human body is refined into a magic tool, so the power of magic arts will naturally be integrated with the Dao foundation, because they all come from the same body.

Dual cultivation of magic and martial arts has two difficulties: one is the conflict between magic and martial arts, and the other is the integration of magic and martial arts.

Bai Bai Zihao's cultivation method is equivalent to reducing the difficulty of the integration of magic and martial arts by ten times, then increasing the difficulty of the conflict between magic and martial arts by ten times, and also increasing the danger of cultivation by ten times!

However, this is just right for Li Fei.

With his physical strength, if he refines himself into a magic tool, the magic power he can use will definitely far exceed that of a normal Attachment Period Grand Sorcerer.

Then, after the integration of magic and martial arts, there will be a chance to affect the Tian Shui Soul Bone within the Dao foundation.

After working hard for nearly a month, he finally found a path that looked feasible. Li Fei stood up happily and walked back and forth in the room several times.

After calming down, Li Fei sat down again, intending to study the secret manual in his hand all night, not sleeping...

On June 2nd, Li Fei suddenly called Feng Cheng, and then requested the Emperor to advance the cultivation resources he could exchange as the Marquis of Jing'an within the next five years.

He did not directly ask for it, because he was very clear about the necessity of clear rewards and punishments.

The Emperor allowed him to stay in the Royal Library for three months and read any secret manual at will, which is already a very exceptional reward, unprecedented!

Li Fei frustrated the conspiracy of the Anshen Sect, killed a martial arts master, and captured Ye Zhao.

Plus, he broke historical records and became the first Dao foundation stage in history, which is also good for the enhancement of national fortune.

Adding these together, plus the Emperor's deep love for him, barely blocked other people's mouths.

But if he were to be rewarded with a large amount of cultivation resources next, it wouldn't make sense.

So Li Fei took the initiative to propose advancing his exchange quota as the Marquis of Jing'an for the next five years, so that he would not be criticized.

Feng Cheng soon brought back the Emperor's message:

"Granted."

So Li Fei immediately contacted Datong Prefecture, letting the Qingmian Villa, the Qingyuan City Management Company, and the newly established Feixin Firm raise money for himself.

In this era, no matter how talented a cultivator is, it is absolutely impossible without money.

Fortunately, the Qingmian Villa has already unified the Jianghu of Datong Prefecture. Even though Li Fei has forbidden many money-making activities, after possessing such a large territory, its money-making ability has exceeded that of the Duanmu family, known as the richest in Feng Province.

The Qingyuan City Management Company and the Feixin Firm are also continuously making profits.

Especially the newly established Feixin Firm, which first gained a foothold in Datong Prefecture with takeout, and now has started to engage in 'Feixin Lottery' with the support of the Garrison Commander Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru, making a lot of money!

So when Li Fei suddenly proposed to use money, Datong Prefecture, as his 'base camp', successively transferred three huge sums of money to him:

Qingmian Villa transferred 8.75 million.

Qingyuan City Management Company transferred 1.96 million.

Feixin Firm transferred 3.68 million.

Adding up to a total of 14.39 million!

This sum of money is the limit that can be taken out without affecting the normal operation and development of the three parties.

The annual salary of a Grand Secretary of the Central Secretariat is about 200,000 to 500,000.

Without taking bribes and without making extra money, it takes at least 20 years to save 10 million.

Of course, the vast majority of the Grand Secretaries in the Central Secretariat must have a net worth of more than 10 million, and some may even be huge fortunes!

However, not everyone can take out 10 million in cash at any time.

So Li Fei can barely be considered to have some wealth now.

He handed over 3 million of this 14.39 million to the imperial court, exchanging for a large number of magic arts-type implants, elixirs, and some precious materials for refining magic tools.

After all these things were in hand, Li Fei began his attempt in the Royal Library.

The Royal Library is quiet and safe, with no one to disturb him, and he can check secret manuals at any time, so Li Fei intends to complete the dual cultivation of magic and martial arts inside here.

He first tested his own 'material properties' through magic arts-type implants and various refining materials.

Although Bai Bai Zihao's cultivation method is all theory and no practice, the theory written is very perfect.

Li Fei can be sure that when this Martial Saint compiled this secret manual, there must have been magic arts experts and masters good at refining tools around him for reference.

In the secret manual, Bai Bai Zihao wrote a set of methods to test one's own 'material properties'.

The so-called 'material properties' are which materials the various tissues of the body are close to, and can be used as substitutes.

Only after all the 'material properties' of the body are tested can one begin to consider which type of magic tool one is suitable to be refined into.

This process cannot be completed by relying solely on theoretical knowledge, because the fields involved have exceeded simple martial arts and magic arts.

Fortunately, Li Fei has True Person Master Qingding, the former world's number one alchemist, to consult.

Alchemy and refining tools are connected in many aspects.

If True Person Master Qingding is willing, he can also become a very outstanding tool refiner. Even if he cannot become the world's number one, at least he is in the top twenty in the world!

With the guidance of True Person Master Qingding, Li Fei's process of testing 'material properties' went very smoothly.

Sometimes he couldn't help but think, is it heaven's will in the dark?

Having the Ten Thousand Blood Pearl, having True Person Master Qingding as a 'grandfather' by his side, and having the qualification to read the Royal Library at will and the support of the imperial court's resources.

If any one of these conditions were missing, he would not be able to embark on this path of 'cultivating martial arts with magic, refining the body into a tool'.

June 27th.

Li Fei completed the test of all his own 'material properties', and the materials and implants exchanged with a huge sum of 3 million were almost exhausted.

The process of testing was very smooth, and the results were very clear, but he encountered a difficulty:

The 'material properties' of all the components of his body were recorded in Bai Bai Zihao's secret manual, but there was one thing whose 'material properties' were missing—

Blood Soul.

Seeking monthly tickets

(End of chapter)