Chapter 421: Building the Life Bridge, Creating the Dao Foundation

(PS: I found that any fantasy novel, once written to the middle or late stages, will always have readers jump out and say: experts walk everywhere, and the strong are not as good as dogs.

I can tell everyone directly now that the number of Dao Foundation Realm martial artists in the Great Lan Dynasty does not exceed 3000, Martial Arts Masters do not exceed 200, and Grandmasters do not exceed 50. This was set from the beginning, and I even specified it for every force.

The number of Martial Arts Master and Grandmaster characters appearing next is definitely more than the Dao Foundation Realm characters appearing. Does that mean the number of strong people is more than the Dao Foundation Realm?)

Li Fei walked into his mansion.

Witnessing two martial artists who were on the same overall Wind and Cloud Ranking as himself break through to become Martial Arts Masters, to say that he had no waves in his heart would certainly be impossible.

If not for the accident in the Tomb of Heavenly Water, Li Fei should have successfully incorporated the fifth implant by now, and most likely triggered the core-level supernatural ability, and could prepare to break through the realm.

However, Li Fei did not regret going to the Tomb of Heavenly Water, because if not for this accident, even if he could break through the martial arts realm and become a Martial Arts Master, the subsequent sorcery realm would be very difficult to break through.

Now that he had embarked on the true path of combining law and martial arts, Li Fei believed more firmly than anyone else that his Great Dao would be a smooth road!

Passing through several courtyards, Li Fei returned to his secret room for practicing martial arts, closed the doors and windows, and began today's cultivation.

He first activated the formation in the secret room to isolate the inside from the outside, while also playing a certain defensive role, so as not to be easily disturbed.

Then he picked up a vermilion block-shaped object and put it into the incense burner for incense.

Soon, a faint fragrance permeated the secret room.

Just smelling it once made one feel refreshed and had a feeling of being like an immortal!

This was "Ghostly Immortal Flying Incense," a precious incense used to assist in sorcery cultivation, which could make a person's virtual intent easier to become calm and solid.

The small piece Li Fei just put into the incense burner was worth more than a thousand yuan!

He needed to use two pieces of "Ghostly Immortal Flying Incense" every day for his cultivation, and it had been going on for more than a month; the money spent on incense alone had already exceeded sixty thousand yuan.

Sorcery cultivation burned more money than martial arts cultivation; for non-wealthy families, it was absolutely impossible to afford!

In order to complete "Cultivating the Dao with Sorcery, Refining the Body as a Vessel," Li Fei had almost exhausted all the resources he could exchange from the Imperial Court in five years as a Marquis.

The "Ghostly Immortal Flying Incense" in his hand now was the last batch of resources he exchanged.

For the next five years, he would not be able to exchange resources through his title.

If he didn't find a way to obtain resources in other ways, the martial artists who relied on him at the Xingcheng Marquis Mansion would have no resources to use.

In this way, he would not be able to cultivate his own personnel, and it would also affect his reputation as the Jing'an Marquis.

However, as long as Li Fei became a reserve cabinet member of the Blue Patrol Pavilion, he could obtain a certain resource quota; if he could become a cabinet member, his annual resource quota could be comparable to that of a Marquis!

Apart from reserve cabinet members and cabinet members, even ordinary consultants could have a certain resource quota.

This was also an important reason why so many *jianghu* figures were flocking to the Blue Patrol Pavilion.

The Imperial Court wanted to control the *jianghu*, so of course, it wouldn't just give "fame," it would also give "profit."

With carrots and sticks, even if many local forces knew that the Blue Patrol Pavilion was a "trap," they had to step into it.

Because if you don't join, other forces will join. After these forces obtain the "fame" and "profit" given by the Imperial Court, they will continue to grow, thereby widening the gap with you.

This was Ye Ye Zean's open plot.

In the secret room, Li Fei soon entered a state of visualization with the assistance of the "Ghostly Immortal Flying Incense."

He had refined the Flying Sword Body for more than a month; during this month, he did not practice martial arts but focused on practicing sorcery every day.

Now his Dao Foundation's endurance was several times stronger than before, but it still could not reach a balance with the seventh-grade Heavenly Water Soul Bone, requiring him to use the power of sorcery to guide the excess Heavenly Water Soul Bone out.

But the sorcery power brought by the Flying Sword Body was not enough to completely suppress the Heavenly Water Soul Bone.

So Li Fei was constantly strengthening his sorcery power.

From the Spirit-Changing Realm to the Possession Realm, sorcerers needed to refine magic treasures, and then use their own implants to constantly strengthen the connection with the implants inside the magic treasures until they could form resonance, which was considered stepping into the Possession Realm.

This was also the reason why the magic treasures of the Possession Realm could only use lower-three-grade implants, because the sorcerer's own implants were only lower-three-grade and could only form resonance with lower-three-grade implants.

After reaching the Possession Realm, sorcerers needed to strengthen the magic treasures while borrowing the power of the magic treasures to feed back themselves and enhance their own virtual intent.

After the magic treasures were completely perfected, the internal implants were fully grown, and their own virtual intent was strong enough, they were considered to have reached the peak of the Possession Realm and could start trying to break through the realm.

Li Fei refined his body as a vessel; his body was the magic treasure. With the peak Dao Foundation Realm physique and powerful life force, the strength of his "magic treasure" had already far exceeded the level of the Possession Realm and did not need to spend time strengthening it.

Similarly, because he refined his body as a vessel, Li Fei's virtual intent and the "magic treasure" were combined very well, and there was no need for special cultivation at all; resonance was born naturally!

And the feedback brought by the Flying Sword Body also made Li Fei's virtual intent become powerful rapidly, even exceeding the peak level of the Possession Realm.

So after Li Fei refined the Flying Sword Body, he only needed to let the sorcery-type implants in his body complete their own growth.

Also benefiting from the dual cultivation of law and martial arts, these sorcery-type implants could continuously absorb Li Fei's *qi* and blood and *jinli*, and their growth speed was extremely fast!

In more than a month, the dozen or so sorcery-type implants in Li Fei's body had all grown to their limits.

At this point, Li Fei could finally start the next step.

From the Possession Realm to the True Spirit Realm, there were three passes:

Building the Life Bridge.

Condensing True Power.

Refining True Soul.

The first step, "Building the Life Bridge," was to build a "bridge" between oneself and the magic treasure, so that the sorcerer and the magic treasure were connected in life.

This was a necessary condition for refining a natal magic treasure.

Once the Life Bridge was built, a mysterious connection would be established between the void intent and the actual magic treasure; the sorcerer could further borrow the power of the magic treasure, thereby constantly condensing their own virtual intent, and finally turning the void into reality, cultivating True Power.

Reaching this step, they were only one step away from becoming a True Person.

The last step was to borrow True Power to turn the self-consciousness into a True Soul, and then separate a portion of the True Soul to merge into the magic treasure, refining it into a True Spirit.

At this point, the magic treasure would evolve into a natal magic treasure, and the sorcerer would also step into the True Spirit Realm, becoming a True Person of the current era.

Li Fei was now starting the first step of breaking through the realm—Building the Life Bridge!

If he still wanted to refine the Dream-Entering Order into his own natal magic treasure, then the difficulty of this step of "Building the Life Bridge" would be very great; this was also a problem that would inevitably be encountered when taking a shortcut to use a magic treasure that had already taken shape.

Back then, Zhao Zhao Renjie, the master of Zhao Yi, was stuck at this step; he stole the Dream-Entering Order for more than ten years and still couldn't complete "Building the Life Bridge."

Now Li Fei himself was the magic treasure, so the overall framework of this "bridge" was natural; the difficulty for him to build the Life Bridge was many times smaller than that of other sorcerers!

In the secret room, in the consciousness world of Li Fei's visualization, more than a dozen places in his body were glowing, and these light clusters were constantly dispersing golden threads toward the surroundings.

These golden threads merged into his flesh, bones, internal organs, and established an invisible connection with the light clusters.

When night fell, Li Fei walked out of the secret room.

He had used up two pieces of "Ghostly Immortal Flying Incense" and also ended today's cultivation.

The process of "Building the Life Bridge" would simultaneously consume virtual intent and his own sorcery-type implants; plus he himself was the magic treasure, so it would also consume his body, and it could not be carried out for a long time.

However, his progress today was very smooth, which could simply be described as godspeed!

At this speed, Li Fei estimated that it would only take more than ten days for him to complete "Building the Life Bridge."

"Marquis."

Just after walking out of the secret room, the butler of the Marquis Mansion who had been waiting outside walked over.

"What is it?"

Li Fei asked.

Butler: "Official Lu is waiting for you in the hall."

"Good, I know."

Li Fei walked toward the hall.

"Marquis."

In the hall, seeing Li Fei come, Lu Lu Wenxing stood up to welcome him.

"It's so late, is there still something?"

Li Fei signaled Lu Lu Wenxing to sit down, and he sat beside the other party.

"Marquis, the latest news, the reserve cabinet member of the Blue Patrol Pavilion reported by the Daluo Sect is Ning Tang Chuan, and the one reported by the Lan family is Lan Ruoyun; the reviews of both have been passed."

Lu Lu Wenxing said to Li Fei.

Ning Tang Chuan and Lan Ruoyun broke through to become Martial Arts Masters in front of Li Fei this afternoon, and they became reserve cabinet members in the evening.

This was obviously premeditated.

Ning Tang Chuan and Lan Ruoyun both had the certainty of breaking through the realm before arriving in Lanling City, and the sects and families behind them had long decided to push them out.

The Daluo Sect was now in its twilight years, and its reputation had fallen to the bottom; having Ning Tang Chuan break through today, breaking the historical record, was an excellent opportunity to raise their heads and exhale!

As for the Lan family, one of the Seven Great Families, it was just the opposite of the Daluo Sect; in recent years, its momentum had been growing, and many talents had emerged among the younger generation of the family.

Lan Ruoyun broke through to become a Martial Arts Master at 29; although she couldn't compare with peerless geniuses like Ming Qi, Miss Shentu Yue, and Ning Tang Chuan, she was better than those below. Among the Martial Arts Masters of her age, looking at the current Great Lan Dynasty, apart from the three people like Ming Qi, no one was younger than her.

The ancestor of the Lan family had just passed his hundredth birthday; according to the lifespan of a Grandmaster, he still had at least more than a hundred years to live.

And with the talent Lan Ruoyun showed, she had great hope of breaking through to become a Grandmaster within sixty years!

This meant that the Lan family was very likely to have two Grandmasters at the same time in the future.

In that case, the Lan family would surpass the remaining six great martial arts families, and would also surpass the "Three Mountains Four Sects," becoming a top-tier force second only to the Mount Pudu Temple, the Three Daoist Sects, the Lin Tianyi Tower, and the Hongchen Pavilion.

This time, the Daluo Sect letting Ning Tang Chuan become a reserve cabinet member of the Blue Patrol Pavilion was to strengthen their momentum and let the world know that the Daluo Sect had not fallen.

And the Lan family letting Lan Ruoyun become a reserve cabinet member was to further boost their momentum and let everyone see the potential of the Lan family.

"Is there anything else?"

Li Fei asked.

Lu Lu Wenxing: "Also, Zhu Zhu Fenghua has also arrived in Lanling City; he will represent the Lin Tianyi Tower to become a reserve cabinet member of the Blue Patrol Pavilion."

Regarding the establishment of the Blue Patrol Pavilion, the joining of the Buddhist and Daoist sects, as well as the Hongchen Pavilion, could be foreseen.

But whether the Lin Tianyi Tower would join was an unknown.

After all, that "Supreme" had not given the Imperial Court face more than once or twice. If the Lin Tianyi Tower really refused, many people would also feel it was normal.

But now Zhu Zhu Fenghua had arrived in Lanling City and officially announced that he would represent the Lin Tianyi Tower to join the Blue Patrol Pavilion!

In terms of foundation and comprehensive strength, the Lin Tianyi Tower could not be counted as the strongest, but because there was a "Supreme" Lin Lin Tianyi sitting in town, many people subconsciously regarded it as the leader of the *jianghu*!

Whether the Lin Tianyi Tower joined the Blue Patrol Pavilion was a very important sign.

Now that the Lin Tianyi Tower had joined, the significance of the Blue Patrol Pavilion to the *jianghu* had truly reached its highest point!

Li Fei's mind flashed with that simple face, and he nodded:

"Anything else?"

Lu Lu Wenxing: "Also, Marquis, you asked me to pay attention to the movements of the Nightmare Sect; I just received news that the Supreme Elder of the Nightmare Sect, Shen Zhen, will arrive in Lanling City tomorrow; she will represent the Nightmare Sect to join the Blue Patrol Pavilion and become a reserve cabinet member."

Back on Daluo Mountain, Li Fei encountered a True Person from the Nightmare Sect tracking him in the "Dream Realm."

Since then, he had intentionally kept an eye on the movements of the Nightmare Sect and privately asked Lu Lu Wenxing to help him pay attention.

Lu Lu Wenxing did not ask Li Fei why he wanted to pay attention to the Nightmare Sect, just completing his work well.

"Shen Zhen."

Li Fei's mind flashed with the other party's information.

The Nightmare Sect had two True Persons; apart from the Sect Master, there was this Supreme Elder Shen Zhen.

The Nightmare Sect was located within Qing Province; there were no top-tier forces in this province, so the Nightmare Sect, which possessed two True Persons, had a great chance of becoming a Blue Patrol Pavilion member of Qing Province.

"I know. After Shen Zhen enters the city, don't send people to inquire about anything specifically; just pay attention to some basic movements."

Li Fei said.

The Nightmare Sect mastered the sorcery of the "Dream Realm," which was very easy to pry into secrets, so Li Fei did not want Lu Lu Wenxing to startle the snake.

After Lu Lu Wenxing left, Li Fei stood up and walked into a courtyard.

"Marquis."

Xu Xu Xiaotian, who was practicing martial arts in the courtyard, stopped immediately after seeing Li Fei and saluted Li Fei.

"Hmm, how is the preparation?"

Li Fei asked.

"It's already prepared, we can start at any time!"

Xu Xu Xiaotian nodded heavily.

"Good, then let's start."

Li Fei said, walking into the room with the other party, and both sat cross-legged on the bed.

Li Fei sat behind Xu Xu Xiaotian, his hands pressed against the other party's heart.

Next, Li Fei performed his self-created "Hundred-Day Realm-Breaking" method inside Xu Xu Xiaotian's body.

Xu Xu Xiaotian showed a painful expression, but he was already very familiar with such pain and had gradually adapted to it.

More than two hours later, Li Fei took action to assist Xu Xu Xiaotian in digging out a portion of flesh and blood in his body, "exposing" that portion of the implant branch intact.

Immediately after, Xu Xu Xiaotian used *jinli* to maintain the "channel" while gathering this portion of the implant branch that had broken free from the flesh and blood, gathering it at the *dantian*.

After completing these, Li Fei activated "Green God" to accelerate the healing of the injured parts of Xu Xu Xiaotian, making the flesh and blood recover.

At this point, tonight's cultivation could be considered to have come to an end.

Xu Xu Xiaotian slowly opened his eyes, revealing an excited expression:

"With the assistance of the Marquis's core-level supernatural ability, I can persist for twice as long every day, and I should be able to break through the realm within this month!"

Li Fei's self-created "Hundred-Day Realm-Breaking Method" was built on his powerful perception ability and his unique "Return to One" experience in the world.

Back then, he estimated that Xu Xu Xiaotian had hope of completing "Return to One" and breaking through to become a Dao Foundation Realm martial artist within two hundred days with his help.

It was just that later he incorporated the Heavenly Water Soul Bone in the Tomb of Heavenly Water, and he couldn't take care of Xu Xu Xiaotian for most of the year.

After the closed-door cultivation ended, in this month, Li Fei would spend a few hours helping Xu Xu Xiaotian cultivate every day apart from his own cultivation.

The core-level supernatural ability "Green God" he triggered could not only heal himself but also heal others, and could heal mental trauma.

This made his self-created "Hundred-Day Cultivation Method" like a tiger with wings!

Xu Xu Xiaotian, while enduring great pain, obtained the healing of "Green God," which allowed him to persist for a period of time longer than usual, thereby accelerating the cultivation progress.

"In about 10 days, you should be able to completely complete the Return to One."

Li Fei's understanding of Xu Xu Xiaotian's body was even more detailed than his own, and he made a more specific judgment.

"Ten days?!"

Xu Xu Xiaotian clenched his fists upon hearing this.

Ten days later, he would be a Dao Foundation Realm expert?

He was only 24 years old; a 24-year-old Dao Foundation Realm martial artist, according to "The Theory of Heaven's Pride," could also be considered a genius!

"Thank you, Marquis!"

Xu Xu Xiaotian got off the bed, stood straight, and sincerely thanked Li Fei.

He knew very well that without Li Fei's help, he would have to spend several more years to have a chance to complete "Return to One."

"No need to be polite, rest well."

Li Fei got off the bed and patted Xu Xu Xiaotian's shoulder.

He had been helping Xu Xu Xiaotian cultivate every day during this period, apart from wanting to have one more Dao Foundation Realm martial artist under his command, more importantly, he wanted to win one more vote for himself in the upcoming referendum.

It was just a pity that Li Fei's time was also very precious, and the Hundred-Day Realm-Breaking Method had very high requirements for talent and willpower, making it impossible for him to cultivate Dao Foundation Realm martial artists in large numbers.

Xu Xu Xiaotian could reach the peak of the Spirit-Changing Realm at 23 and start "Return to One"; such talent was already close to the level of a genius.

Plus his powerful willpower, he could maintain the "channel" with *jinli* while enduring great pain, and then gather the implant branches.

If it were someone else with weaker talent and willpower, even with Li Fei's help, they wouldn't be able to use this set of "Hundred-Day Realm-Breaking Method."

However, after Li Fei triggered a supernatural ability like "Green God," he could appropriately lower the cultivation standard of the "Hundred-Day Realm-Breaking Method."

He had already passed the word to Xingcheng that his Marquis Mansion had two important indicators for martial artists who came to rely on him:

First is the fine control over *jinli* and implants.

Second is willpower.

As long as these two indicators could meet the standard, and they themselves reached the peak of the Spirit-Changing Realm, Li Fei had the confidence to let them complete "Return to One" within a year at the slowest, becoming a Dao Foundation Realm expert!

In the next ten days, Li Fei would help Xu Xu Xiaotian cultivate every night.

Sure enough, as he expected, on the night of February 23rd, Xu Xu Xiaotian completed the "Return to One" of all the implant branches in his body.

At this point, although Xu Xu Xiaotian had not incorporated the second implant, he could already be counted as a Dao Foundation Realm martial artist!

Li Fei immediately let Lu Lu Wenxing go to handle the procedures for Xu Xu Xiaotian; next, Xu Xu Xiaotian would join the Blue Patrol Pavilion in the capacity of a guest of the Jing'an Mansion and become a Blue Patrol Pavilion consultant in the Feng Province region, possessing one vote in the upcoming referendum.

"Let Xingcheng send a martial arts master who meets the requirements."

After Xu Xu Xiaotian's procedures were handled, Li Fei instructed Lu Lu Wenxing.

He had been a Marquis for more than a year, and the Marquis Mansion in Xingcheng had been officially built; the martial arts masters who came to rely on him totaled eleven.

There were four who reached the peak of the Spirit-Changing Realm, and two met Li Fei's requirements.

After Xu Xu Xiaotian became a Dao Foundation Realm martial artist, Li Fei intended to continue creating Dao Foundation Realm experts!

February 25th.

The day after Xu Xu Xiaotian became a Dao Foundation Realm martial artist, in the secret room, Li Fei was building the "Life Bridge."

At a certain moment, golden light suddenly bloomed all over his body.

A sword intent that was extremely sharp and peerless in sharpness erupted from his body, instantly piercing the formation arranged in the secret room!

Subsequently, this sword intent rushed straight into the sky, as if it wanted to pierce a hole in the firmament!

Ning Tang Chuan, Lan Ruoyun, Ming Qi, Zhu Zhu Fenghua, these Martial Arts Masters living in the inner city almost all felt something and looked toward the direction of the Jing'an Marquis Mansion.

On this day, more than half of the strong people in Lanling City perceived the movement from the Jing'an Mansion!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 422 =====