Chapter 426

At 2:00 AM, the headquarters of the Inspection Pavilion was brightly lit.

Pavilion members arrived at the headquarters one after another by car.

It was the middle of the night; for these big shots to be dragged out of their beds and rushed to headquarters, it naturally wasn't a trivial matter.

In the center of the Inspection Pavilion headquarters stood a grand hall, which was where the Inspection Pavilion held its meetings.

All major matters requiring decisions from the Pavilion Master and Vice Pavilion Masters were deliberated here.

Inside the grand hall, Inspection Pavilion Master Lou Hongtao had already arrived.

Besides him, there was one Vice Pavilion Master and three pavilion members in the hall.

Aside from these people, Li Fei, dressed in a golden robe, sat to one side.

Lying at his feet were three people; they were none other than the three Westerners, Tuso, Luen, and the others.

Tuso's vitality far exceeded that of Dao Foundation martial artists of the same realm, so even though his internal organs were all damaged, he was still alive.

After Li Fei captured him alive, he tracked the markings in the Dream Realm and successively captured the other two Westerners.

After capturing the three, Li Fei brought them directly to the Inspection Pavilion headquarters and notified Lou Hongtao.

Thus, the current scene came to be.

"Everyone is here; let's begin."

After two more pavilion members arrived at the hall, Lou Hongtao, sitting in the main seat, said in a deep voice.

He did not summon all the members of the Inspection Pavilion, only those responsible for intelligence work in the Western Continent.

"Please, Marquis Jing'an, tell everyone about the situation."

Everyone present looked toward Li Fei, who was resting with his eyes closed.

Li Fei opened his eyes, pointed at the three people lying at his feet, and said:

"These three are Western spies I captured. Last night, they secretly traded with someone, using two hundred Star Stones to trade for over thirty martial arts manuals, including one top-tier Dao Foundation inheritance and a matching peerless martial art."

"How is that possible?!"

As Li Fei's voice fell, everyone present, except for Lou Hongtao, changed color.

"I have captured both parties to the trade; the Star Stones and the manuals are both here—caught red-handed."

Li Fei calmly took out a cerulean Star Stone and two manuals, placing them on the table to the side.

"Star Stones!"

The few people present were responsible for intelligence on the Western Continent, so they recognized this precious material unique to the Western Continent at a glance.

Trade between the two continents had been ongoing for decades, and even at its peak, the total amount of Star Stones circulating in the market did not exceed one hundred.

Yet Li Fei said this trade involved two hundred Star Stones!

If that were truly the case, trading for a top-tier Dao Foundation inheritance and a peerless martial art seemed plausible.

But a top-tier Dao Foundation involved too much; tonight's incident might be no less significant than the three major cases that recently shook the capital.

Could it be that the 'three major cases' were about to become the 'four major cases' so soon?

"May I ask Marquis Jing'an to explain in detail how you discovered these people? And who was the other party trading with the Westerners?"

Lou Hongtao asked in a deep voice.

Li Fei then gave a rough account of his experience tonight.

He did not say he found them through the art of the 'Dream Realm,' only that he relied on a certain secret technique and possessed special sensory abilities.

Regarding this, Lou Hongtao and the others were not suspicious.

Now, the high officials of the imperial court all knew that Li Fei had spent three full months in the Imperial Library, so it was normal for him to have learned some unique secret technique.

"Last time, I handed over important witnesses to the Pavilion, but in the end, they died. This time, they won't die again, will they?"

Li Fei asked.

As soon as these words were spoken, the grand hall fell silent, and the atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

Lou Hongtao's expression remained unchanged: "I have already reported to the palace, requesting His Majesty to send the Imperial Guard to assist the Inspection Pavilion in guarding these prisoners."

These words caused several pavilion members to change color slightly.

In truth, the experts of the Inspection Pavilion, the Zhige Pavilion, and the Zhengfa Pavilion were not necessarily inferior to the Imperial Guard, but the mobilization of the Imperial Guard carried a completely different meaning.

"Good."

Li Fei nodded in satisfaction.

He could not guard Tuso and the others forever; eventually, he would have to hand them over.

Moreover, Tuso and the others, as well as the four Dao Foundation-stage dead soldiers, still had oath-based techniques on them that required the Zhengfa Pavilion to resolve.

"Everyone, is there any information in your intelligence regarding members of the Deni Kingdom's royal family?"

Lou Hongtao asked the people present.

"Pavilion Master, the secret agents under my command have always maintained surveillance on these people from the Deni Kingdom, but... we did not discover that there were actually royal family members among them."

A pavilion member said cautiously.

Lou Hongtao looked at him, expressionless: "Then do you have a grasp on when and from where they transported so many Star Stones, and when they made contact with the other party to negotiate the trade for the top-tier Dao Foundation inheritance?"

The pavilion member hurriedly stood up and bowed: "It is this subordinate's dereliction of duty!"

Subsequently, Lou Hongtao questioned the other pavilion members in turn, exchanging information with them.

Listening to their conversation, Li Fei finally understood that the Inspection Pavilion had long known there were Western spies in Lanling City and had been secretly tracking their movements all along.

What puzzled him, however, was why the Inspection Pavilion hadn't moved to arrest them sooner, to the point of letting such an incident occur now?

A moment later, Lou Hongtao finished speaking with the pavilion members and instructed them to go about their respective tasks.

Afterward, someone came to report that those dead soldiers in the valley outside the city had all been brought back.

Hearing this result, Li Fei finally relaxed.

After he captured Tuso and the others and arrived at the Inspection Pavilion headquarters, he had immediately arranged for Lou Hongtao to send people to the outskirts of the city to meet up with Lu Wenxing and the others.

Now that everyone had been brought back, tonight's operation could be considered a complete success.

After everyone was locked in the dungeons of the Inspection Pavilion headquarters, Lou Hongtao said to Li Fei:

"Marquis Jing'an, please come with me."

Li Fei then stood up, followed Lou Hongtao out of the grand hall, and walked into the small pavilion where the other had his personal office.

After the two went up to the second floor, Lou Hongtao dismissed the others, leaving only himself and Li Fei in the entire pavilion.

Subsequently, a profound aura emanated from Lou Hongtao's body, shrouding the small pavilion.

"Divine Ability power?"

Li Fei sensed this aura and realized that Lou Hongtao had already used a Divine Ability to seal off the area!

"Pavilion Master Lou?"

He looked at Lou Hongtao, realizing that what the other was about to say was likely extraordinary.

Lou Hongtao looked at him: "Marquis Jing'an, were you just about to ask why the Inspection Pavilion didn't arrest them sooner, given that we had long since grasped the movements of these Western spies?"

Li Fei nodded: "Yes, I ask Pavilion Master Lou to enlighten me."

"Actually, the reason is very simple: because the imperial court is also trading with Western nations."

Lou Hongtao said calmly.

These words startled Li Fei; he narrowed his eyes and then gave a self-deprecating smile.

This answer was both surprising and yet within reason, leaving him speechless.

"Just like the Star Stones you brought out tonight, the Western Continent has many rare materials that the Eastern Continent lacks, which are very valuable for trade. Even though the two continents have had bloody battles in the past, it still doesn't affect trade between them."

Lou Hongtao explained to Li Fei.

Li Fei regained his composure: "Including trading with top-tier martial arts manuals?"

Lou Hongtao shook his head: "That, naturally, is not allowed."

"Let alone top-tier martial arts manuals, using any martial arts manuals or martial cultivation resources to trade with the Western Continent, once verified, will be treated as treason!"

"But this kind of thing cannot be completely prohibited."

Lou Hongtao revealed a mocking expression and shook his head:

"For many factions, taking out a low-value martial arts manual and a portion of ordinary martial cultivation resources can be exchanged for ten times or even more profit. How could they not be tempted?"

Li Fei was silent.

The logic was just that simple; for ten times or even more profit, there would always be people willing to take any risk!

As for the big picture or the future, how could those compare to the immediate benefits?

"So that is the reason the Inspection Pavilion didn't move against those Western spies. Rather than letting other factions secretly trade with the Western Continent, it is better to keep the trade channels in the hands of the imperial court. This way, the imperial court can profit and also control the development of the situation at any time."

Li Fei said.

On one hand, prohibiting the trade of martial arts manuals and resources with the Western Continent and punishing others for treason.

On the other hand, secretly trading with the Western Continent.

This kind of thing sounds very ironic and absurd, but it is precisely the reality.

And thinking about it carefully, Li Fei had to admit that the imperial court doing this was the choice that maximized benefits.

"This matter is mainly handled by the Military Council, with the Inspection Pavilion only assisting. The ones overseeing the big picture are the Senior Grand Secretary and His Majesty."

Lou Hongtao said to Li Fei.

Li Fei nodded; no wonder the other reported to the palace immediately.

"The Deni Kingdom royal family member who fought me tonight, relying solely on the power of his own bloodline, at most rivals the combat power of a 7th-tier Dao Foundation stage, but with the addition of martial arts cultivation, his combat power is even stronger than many people on the current Wind and Cloud Ranking!"

Li Fei looked at Lou Hongtao:

"Is the imperial court not worried about raising a tiger that will cause trouble?"

Lou Hongtao: "Naturally, there is worry, but Marquis Jing'an need not be too anxious. Even if the Western Continent truly masters our top-tier martial cultivation resources, it is very difficult to cultivate too many experts."

As he spoke, he began to explain the situation of the Western Continent to Li Fei in detail:

The Western Continent respects Transcendentals and God-gifted ones; these people who possess powerful strength are almost all nobles there, so the power grading in the Western Continent is also based on noble ranks.

The noble titles in the Western Continent are the same as in the Eastern Continent: King, Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and Baron.

Under normal circumstances, a Baron's combat power is equivalent to a Body-Breaking stage martial artist.

A Viscount's combat power is equivalent to a Qi-Changing stage martial master.

An Earl's combat power is equivalent to the Dao Foundation stage.

A Marquis's combat power is equivalent to a Wu Gong Grandmaster.

A Duke's combat power is equivalent to a Great Grandmaster.

The most critical part is the 'King' rank; whether it is a Prince of the Blood or the highest King, their combat power is higher than a peak Great Grandmaster but lower than a Martial Saint.

"People of the Western Continent rely on bloodline power, like some kind of humanoid exotic beast. But the human body has its limits; even if the purity of bloodline power reaches the extreme and strength is pushed to the limit, it still cannot rival a true 9th-rank exotic beast."

Lou Hongtao said:

"Does Marquis Jing'an know that the legendary 9th-rank exotic beasts actually haven't mastered complete Dao Principles?"

Li Fei was startled and shook his head.

He really didn't know this; he only knew that 9th-rank exotic beasts were enough to rival Martial Saints and True Persons.

And Martial Saints and True Persons were both peak experts who had mastered Dao Principles. If 9th-rank exotic beasts hadn't mastered Dao Principles, what did they rely on to rival peak experts?

Lou Hongtao saw Li Fei's confusion and smiled: "Although 9th-rank exotic beasts haven't mastered complete Dao Principles, they possess unimaginably powerful bodies; their physical strength and vitality are powerful to an incredible degree!

As the saying goes, quantitative change leads to qualitative change. When vitality reaches a certain level, even by just grinding away, these 9th-rank exotic beasts are enough to rival Martial Saints and True Persons. Even if Martial Saints and True Persons want to kill them, it is very difficult to do so."

"Uh..."

Li Fei was stunned.

The more he listened, the more he felt that his future template might be the legendary 9th-rank exotic beast?

"The Transcendentals of the Western Continent, even when their bloodline power reaches the limit, still cannot escape the shackles of the human body; they simply cannot compare to those 9th-rank exotic beasts whose bodies are as large as mountains. Therefore, their power ceiling is naturally restricted—Martial Saints and True Persons are realms they can never touch."

Lou Hongtao said.

Li Fei frowned slightly: "But can't they incorporate implants and walk the path of martial cultivation like us? I saw that Deni Kingdom royal family member tonight; he clearly became stronger with the help of martial arts power."

Lou Hongtao shook his head: "The Great Dao is fifty, the Heavenly Derivation is forty-nine; there is nothing perfect in this world. The Transcendentals of the Western Continent possess natural bloodline advantages and can rival our years of bitter cultivation without much effort, so naturally, there are flaws.

This flaw is the cultivation of martial arts and arts. They succeed because of bloodline power and fail because of bloodline power. With this bloodline power, their natural bloodlines are impure, and they will be restricted everywhere on the path of cultivation.

Just like the most powerful 9th-rank exotic beasts can never master complete Dao Principles, no matter how hard people of the Western Continent work on the path of cultivation, their achievements will only be lower than those of 9th-rank exotic beasts."

"This..."

Li Fei felt somewhat puzzled.

Don't people of the Eastern Continent also rely on the bloodline power of exotic beasts when they embark on the path of cultivation?

Why are people of the Western Continent, who are born with bloodline power, restricted everywhere on the path of cultivation instead?

"In martial arts cultivation, the further one goes, the lower the reliance on implants becomes. Martial arts and arts, in the final step of reaching the peak, can only rely on oneself."

Lou Hongtao continued to explain:

"Combined with the cultivation situation in the Western Continent, the Imperial Preceptor once had a speculation."

"Oh?"

Li Fei became curious, wanting to know what True Person Xiang Yunshu's speculation was.

Lou Hongtao did not keep him in suspense:

"The Imperial Preceptor believes that perhaps the purest human bloodline of our Eastern Continent is the one most favored by the Heavenly Dao. We use implants like humans use tools, using implants to build a ladder to the heavens for us.

But in the end, we still rely on our own strength to master Dao Principles. Other exotic beast bloodlines, as well as Western Continent bloodlines, are abandoned by the Heavenly Dao and can never get close to the Great Dao."

Li Fei was thoughtful, then smiled:

"The Transcendentals of the Western Continent all feel that they are the favored ones of heaven. I really don't know what they would think if they heard the Imperial Preceptor's speculation?"

Lou Hongtao also laughed: "They enjoyed the dividends of natural bloodline power, so naturally, they must also accept the evil consequences brought by natural bloodline power."

Li Fei suddenly thought of a question:

"Pavilion Master Lou, what about the other ordinary people in the Western Continent? Will they also be restricted?"

Lou Hongtao nodded: "Yes, the ordinary people of the Western Continent just have weak bloodline power, so they haven't triggered transcendent power. But their bloodlines are also naturally impure, so even if they aren't Transcendentals, they will be equally restricted in cultivation."

That was even more miserable...

Li Fei: "In that case, the Deni Kingdom royal family member I met tonight can be considered a genius at martial arts, as he was still able to cultivate to the Dao Foundation stage while being restricted."

"Not bad, this person can indeed be considered a genius at martial arts. If there were no restrictions brought by bloodline power, his ceiling might be much higher than it is now."

Lou Hongtao said, "The Military Council and the Inspection Pavilion have also sent secret agents to the Western Continent. According to the intelligence gathered over these years, we have a rough estimate:

Among a thousand people on our side, about one can become a martial artist. In the Western Continent, there might not even be one in ten thousand who can become a martial artist.

The further up one goes, the greater the difference in the number of martial arts experts will be. As for the number of Transcendentals on their side, it is also far lower than the number of our martial artists."

Hearing this, Li Fei breathed a sigh of relief.

At least the situation was much better than he had imagined.

But even so, trading a top-tier Dao Foundation inheritance and a peerless martial art to the Western Continent was still a very malicious act!

Even if people in the Western Continent were naturally restricted in cultivation, Transcendentals like Tuso who cultivated to the Dao Foundation stage had appeared.

If they mastered stronger Dao Foundations and martial arts, perhaps a group of people with even stronger combat power would appear!

Therefore, although the imperial court had been secretly trading with the Western Continent, high-level Dao Foundations and top-tier martial arts were already the ceiling for trade; any techniques or resources beyond that were absolutely prohibited!

"Is there large-scale promotion of martial arts and arts cultivation in the Western Continent?"

Li Fei asked.

Lou Hongtao shook his head.

"Why?"

Li Fei was surprised.

Clearly, promoting cultivation methods was a way to narrow the combat power gap with the Eastern Continent.

"Because it is not conducive to rule."

Lou Hongtao answered Li Fei in one sentence, his eyes meaningful.

"..."

Li Fei understood.

The Western Continent divides noble and base classes purely by bloodline; social oppression would only be more severe than in the Great Lan Dynasty!

The path for upward mobility was also far inferior to the Great Lan Dynasty.

So once cultivation methods were promoted on a large scale, the impact would be very severe!

The difficulty of this was likely several times harder than Ye Zean pushing for the Mingxin Reform in the Great Lan Dynasty!

"And there is another key point: the Western Continent has no exotic beasts, and cultivation resources are scarce."

Lou Hongtao said.

"That's true."

Li Fei nodded.

He looked at Lou Hongtao: "Why did Pavilion Master Lou suddenly want to tell me these things tonight?"

Many of these contents were secrets among secrets!

Lou Hongtao: "You captured those Western spies and broke the secret trade. There must be a result for the follow-up of this matter, and it would be difficult to hide many inside stories from you.

Moreover, with your current status and identity, you also have the authorization to know these secrets."

Li Fei narrowed his eyes.

Lou Hongtao had something behind his words.

Listening to the other, the follow-up handling of tonight's incident was likely to be different from what he thought.

Otherwise, Lou Hongtao wouldn't have gone to the trouble of telling him so many inside stories first.

However, Lou Hongtao did not say it explicitly, so Li Fei did not ask further.

He thanked Lou Hongtao and then stood up to leave.

Early the next morning.

Someone came from the palace; it was the Imperial Eunuch Feng Cheng.

Lou Hongtao and Li Fei went to greet him.

Outside the main gate of the Inspection Pavilion headquarters, Feng Cheng stood quietly, followed by a team of Imperial Guards clad in golden armor, looking majestic.

The leader was a commander of the Imperial Guard, with the cultivation of a Wu Gong Grandmaster!

"Eunuch Feng."

Lou Hongtao and Li Fei walked out of the gate and bowed to Feng Cheng.

Feng Cheng returned the bow: "Greetings, Lord Lou, Marquis Jing'an."

"His Majesty has an edict for me to hand over a team of Imperial Guards to Pavilion Master Lou; they will cooperate with Pavilion Master Lou in guarding the prisoners."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Lou Hongtao bowed.

Just handing over a team of Imperial Guards did not require the Chief Eunuch Feng Cheng to make the trip personally.

Therefore, the point was still a matter of posture.

Feng Cheng looked at Li Fei and said with a smile: "Marquis Jing'an, His Majesty summons you to the palace."

Li Fei was startled.

He had applied for so long to enter the palace to see the Emperor, and today he finally received the summons.

Subsequently, Li Fei and Feng Cheng took a car to the palace together.

The car drove into the Imperial City, unimpeded all the way, and entered the depths of the palace.

Afterward, the two got out of the car, and Feng Cheng led Li Fei toward a palace.

Li Fei looked at the road and realized it wasn't leading to the Imperial Study, so he couldn't help but be startled and asked softly:

"Eunuch Feng, may I ask where His Majesty is summoning me?"

Feng Cheng turned around, his face still smiling:

"At the Yangxin Hall."

Li Fei suddenly realized.

The Zhenlan Hall was where the Grand Morning Assembly was held, while the Yangxin Hall was where the 'Small Morning Assembly' was held.

Usually, the Emperor would summon some high officials to discuss matters at the Yangxin Hall.

Compared to the Imperial Study, the Yangxin Hall was much more formal.

In the past, Li Fei was summoned to the Imperial Study; this time it was changed to the Yangxin Hall.

The meaning behind this made him chew on it a bit more.

Soon, Li Fei was led into a palace.

Compared to the grandeur of the Zhenlan Hall, this palace was much more exquisite and elegant, and the area was not that large.

Inside the palace, in the main seat at the front, was a dragon robe; it was the current Son of Heaven.

On the left and right were two rows of seats, without a platform, bringing the distance between the Emperor and the officials much closer.

At this time, one person sat in each of the left and right seats:

Ye Zean, Wen Ren Zheng.

One was the head of the civil officials, the other was the peak of the military generals; both were pillars of the empire!

Li Fei was stunned for a moment; he had originally thought today was a private audience with the Emperor, not expecting the scale to be so 'top-tier.'

"Your subject pays respects to Your Majesty."

Li Fei walked into the hall with large strides and bowed to the Son of Heaven in the front.

"No need for formalities, sit."

The Emperor's expression looked very calm, and his tone was neither cold nor indifferent.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Li Fei walked to the left and sat beside Ye Zean.

This Senior Grand Secretary, who had played three games of chess with him not long ago, looked straight ahead and did not look at him much.

"Senior Grand Secretary, continue."

The Emperor said.

Clearly, before Li Fei arrived, the three were already discussing matters.

Ye Zean spoke slowly, talking about the Lanxun Pavilion matter:

"Representatives from twenty-three provinces have already arrived in the capital, and the identities of the participants from all localities have been confirmed..."

Li Fei listened quietly from the side.

Today was already February 27th; the day after tomorrow was March 1st, which was the day of the Lanxun Pavilion's first referendum.

Listening to Ye Zean's introduction, Li Fei realized that the referendum the day after tomorrow was actually in the form of a national television broadcast.

The previous National Wu Gong Exchange Competition had done a national television broadcast once, and the Lanxun Pavilion referendum the day after tomorrow would be the second time.

At that time, live broadcast sites would be set up in various places, and the participants involved in the referendum would cast their votes in the television broadcast in front of the national public!

(End of chapter)