Chapter 484

"What did you say?!"

Li Fei's words caused Xiao Xiuyong's brain to stall, and for a moment, he doubted if he had auditory hallucinations.

From childhood to adulthood, no one had ever dared to humiliate him like this.

Never!

Even the Crown Prince treated him with kindness and viewed him as a friend.

*Pa*—

The force in Xiao Xiuyong's body exploded, shattering the wooden table beside him!

His expression was gloomy, and he looked at Li Fei with cold eyes:

"I'm not worthy? Good, good, good! I almost thought a Martial Saint was talking to me!"

He was completely enraged by Li Fei's words.

You, Li Fei, might be the first genius in history, and your potential might be great, but that's just potential.

Who knows if you'll suddenly be beaten to death one day in the future? Or encounter some obstacle in dual cultivation of law and martial arts and stop progressing?

Before Lin Tianyi fully grew up, who dared to guarantee he would definitely become the world's number one?

No matter how awesome you, Li Fei, are, you're just a Martial Arts Master right now.

No matter how much power you have, once the Crown Prince ascends the throne, you'll still have to listen to the Crown Prince.

So why do you dare to humiliate me like this?

Xiao Xiuyong thought more and more angrily, his rage burning!

Facing the furious Xiao Xiuyong, Li Fei calmly picked up the teacup on the side, took a sip, and said slowly:

"This isn't the Xiao family; you have to pay for breaking things."

"Pay?"

Xiao Xiuyong's voice became somewhat shrill:

"If Bian Jingru were given ten guts, would he dare to make me pay?!"

Li Fei glanced at him and stopped talking, as if saying one more word to him would be beneath his dignity.

It was precisely this attitude that stung Xiao Xiuyong's self-esteem even more.

The pride and demeanor he had accumulated over the years were completely shattered by Li Fei with two sentences and a glance.

Actually, if someone else had treated Xiao Xiuyong like this, he wouldn't have been so broken.

It was precisely because Li Fei was so young and so dazzling that Xiao Xiuyong was particularly stimulated!

He didn't even realize himself that it was because Li Fei was so dazzling that he particularly wanted the other party to give him face, thereby satisfying certain psychological desires of his own.

"Young Master."

Seeing that Xiao Xiuyong intended to say something more, the gray-clothed man who had been standing silently beside him, shaped like an old servant, suddenly placed his hand gently on his shoulder.

This action made Xiao Xiuyong calm down a lot.

The gray-clothed man wasn't really a servant, but a bodyguard sent by the head of the Xiao family to Xiao Xiuyong's side, and also someone responsible for reminding him not to take the wrong path at critical moments.

Temporarily appeasing Xiao Xiuyong, the gray-clothed man stepped forward and took the initiative to cup his hands to Li Fei:

"I am Xiao Tao, a servant of the Xiao family. I've long heard of Marquis Jing'an's name. As fellow martial artists, I wonder if I could spar with the Marquis and exchange martial arts?"

A dignified Martial Arts Master calling himself a servant was enough to show the foundation of the Xiao family!

Xiao Tao stepped out to challenge Li Fei proactively to put an end to today's matter.

No matter what, Li Fei was now an important support for the Crown Prince's side, and the Xiao family could not, and should not, become enemies with him at this time.

If Li Fei had been willing to give Xiao Xiuyong face today, that would have been the most perfect outcome.

If he didn't give face, it wouldn't go so far as to become enemies.

Although Xiao Xiuyong had a conflict with Li Fei, he couldn't represent the Xiao family after all.

This conflict was also limited to words and didn't count as a major event.

So Xiao Tao stepped out in time; he couldn't let Xiao Xiuyong continue to escalate the matter.

Otherwise, the Crown Prince would be in a difficult position, and the family head would also punish Xiao Xiuyong.

But if he just dragged Xiao Xiuyong away, not only would Xiao Xiuyong be unable to accept it, but the Xiao family would also be looked down upon by Li Fei.

So Xiao Tao stepped out to challenge Li Fei as a martial artist.

I am a servant of the Xiao family; if you can't even beat a servant of the Xiao family, why do you look down on our Young Master?

Xiao Xiuyong immediately understood Xiao Tao's intention, so he suppressed his anger and waited for Li Fei's response.

Li Fei looked at Xiao Tao calmly:

"What qualifications do you have to spar with me?"

"Li Fei! How dare you humiliate my Xiao family like this?!"

Xiao Xiuyong stood up from his seat abruptly, his anger rising again.

Xiao Tao was calm from beginning to end, not even getting angry when he heard Li Fei's words:

"The Marquis has great military achievements and shakes the world; a nobody like me indeed doesn't have the qualifications to challenge you."

"Uncle Tao?!"

Xiao Xiuyong was suddenly anxious.

Xiao Tao sighed in his heart; the Young Master wasn't usually someone without composure, so why was he so flustered in front of this Marquis Jing'an today?

He first gave Xiao Xiuyong a look, signaling him to calm down, then turned to look at Li Fei:

"I know the Marquis is imitating Lin Tianyi, walking the path of dual cultivation of law and martial arts. My Xiao family has a notebook written by Lin Tianyi back when he was a Grandmaster and top-tier True Person, containing content on how to combine the Martial Arts Domain and the Array of the Art Path. I wonder if the Marquis is interested?"

Hearing this, Li Fei's eyes lit up.

Although the path of dual cultivation of law and martial arts he walked was no longer the same system as Lin Tianyi's, stones from other hills could serve to polish jade, not to mention the "mountain" erected by the world's number one person?

Moreover, the core problem of combining the Martial Arts Domain and the Array was something Li Fei would encounter sooner or later, and it was a problem he had to solve.

So the notebook Xiao Tao mentioned was truly very valuable to Li Fei!

He didn't doubt the authenticity of the notebook because the Crown Prince had previously specifically asked for an unpassed secret of the Tianyi Tower for him—"Practical Examination of Dual Cultivation of Law and Martial Arts." (See Chapter 86, Volume 3)

Combined with the relationship between the Xiao family and the Crown Prince, the Xiao family also had important notes from Lin Tianyi.

It seemed that this Xiao family and that world's number one person probably had some origins.

"You want to use this notebook to exchange for a chance to spar with me?"

Li Fei asked.

Xiao Tao nodded: "Correct. But if I luckily win against the Marquis, I hope the Marquis can apologize to our Young Master."

A priceless notebook in exchange for an apology; no matter how you looked at it, this bet was very unfair!

But with Li Fei's current status, Xiao Tao could only use such an unequal bet to gain the qualifications to spar with him.

After finishing, Xiao Tao turned to look at Xiao Xiuyong, asking for instructions: "Young Master, is this bet okay?"

Xiao Xiuyong nodded fiercely: "Okay!"

He had great confidence in Xiao Tao!

He looked at Li Fei: "How about it? This bet, do you dare to take it?"

Li Fei asked indifferently: "After I win, when will the notebook be in my hands?"

"If you win, within three days, I will have someone personally deliver the notebook to you!"

Xiao Xiuyong glared.

"Good."

Li Fei nodded, agreeing to this bet.

Xiao Tao lowered his eyes, his heart as still as water:

"Then please change to another place, Marquis; fighting here might not allow for full exertion."

Li Fei: "Just outside the city."

Soon, the news that the Marquis Jing'an was going to spar with a Martial Arts Master of the Changliu Xiao family spread throughout the upper echelons of Datong Fucheng.

Everyone who reached a certain status learned of this news, but not a single one dared to send people to watch.

Whether it was the Marquis Jing'an or the Xiao family, they couldn't afford to offend either!

However, this battle eventually had one spectator.

Qin Zhen, with a straight posture and every step as if measured by a ruler, arrived at a plain outside Datong Fucheng.

Facing Xiao Xiuyong's unfriendly gaze, this Vice Principal of Wuan University said calmly:

"I'm here to watch them spar."

Back at the National Martial Arts Exchange Competition, Qin Zhen broke through to become a Martial Arts Master on the spot in front of Li Fei.

Less than three years had passed, and Qin Zhen was still cultivating hard to condense his second divine ability, while Li Fei, his former student, had already walked ahead of him.

So upon hearing that Li Fei was going to spar with someone today, he couldn't help but want to come and see.

But this move of his was viewed by Xiao Xiuyong as Wuan University sending someone to stand for Li Fei and cheer him on!

This made Xiao Xiuyong harbor even more resentment toward Wuan University.

Qin Zhen clearly sensed the hostility in Xiao Xiuyong's gaze, but he didn't care at all.

If he knew what Xiao Xiuyong was thinking, he would only tell the other party calmly:

"Principal Shi didn't worry at all that Li Fei wouldn't win after learning of this matter, so he didn't intend to send anyone at all. If he were truly worried about Li Fei, the old man would have come himself."

On the plain, Li Fei and Xiao Tao stood opposite each other, less than a hundred meters apart.

This distance was within the range Li Fei could move with 【No Distance】.

With the Xiao family's ability to collect intelligence, it was impossible for Xiao Tao not to know what divine abilities Li Fei possessed, but he still stood calmly in place, seemingly not worried at all, showing great confidence.

The man who called himself a servant of the Xiao family suddenly began to expand; his originally somewhat withered muscles suddenly became congested and bulged, and his whole body's tendons and bones kept exploding—

*Pa pa pa pa pa! *

In the blink of an eye, Xiao Tao's figure grew from 1.7 meters to over 4 meters!

The gray robe he wore was torn apart by his expanding body, shattering into pieces of rags, revealing the dark black armor shimmering with scales underneath.

The next second, the dark black armor began to change, constantly spreading outward, wrapping around Xiao Tao's exposed hands, feet, and head, and growing many barbs.

Xiao Tao seemed to have changed from an inconspicuous ordinary person into a monster over 4 meters tall, covered in scales and barbs!

This dark black scale armor on his body, like Li Fei's Golden Thread Jade Scale Armor, was also a Level 7 Divine Garment!

So in terms of equipment, Xiao Tao didn't lose to Li Fei at all.

Li Fei didn't rush to make a move, letting Xiao Tao perform.

A white steam surged from the other party's body like wolf smoke, rushing straight into the sky.

This was the phenomenon formed by Xiao Tao's blood energy being too vast, combined with his heart-spirit power and force, penetrating through his body.

This white column of air gave people a feeling of a flood dragon in the sky, with a magnificent momentum; the column of air stirred the clouds, as if there were truly a flood dragon surging in the sea of clouds!

Just by releasing his momentum, Xiao Tao showed the power of Dao force close to the Emperor Xuanjing level.

In other words, he must have mastered Dao force at the Emperor Xuanjing level, and his attainments were extremely high!

Because Grandmasters possess the Martial Arts Domain, they can naturally master Dao force at the Emperor Xuanjing level.

But it was very difficult for Martial Arts Masters.

Among ten Martial Arts Masters, it would be hard to find one who could master Dao force at the Emperor Xuanjing level.

Therefore, it is recognized in the world that a Martial Arts Master who has mastered Dao force at the Emperor Xuanjing level can be considered to have more than half a divine ability!

And Xiao Tao was a six-divine-ability Martial Arts Master.

Added to the Dao force at the peak of Emperor Xuanjing, he had few rivals among Martial Arts Masters!

Even looking at the whole world, there wouldn't be more than three people who dared to say they could steadily win against Xiao Tao, whether they were Martial Arts Masters or True Persons!

This was Xiao Tao's confidence, and also the reason why Xiao Xiuyong agreed to this bet.

When Xiao Tao was young, he was also high-spirited and arrogant, not deigning to break through to become a Grandmaster with the lowest three divine abilities.

He was determined to challenge the legendary seven divine abilities, and then break through with the posture of the strongest Martial Arts Master.

As a result, after practicing six divine abilities, he found that he might have to spend seventy or eighty years to practice the seventh divine ability, and his lifespan was only eighty-plus years left.

So he could only give up the goal of seven divine abilities and began to try to break through.

As a result, he found that he had overestimated himself again.

The more divine abilities, the greater the difficulty of breaking through.

The difficulty of breaking through with six divine abilities far exceeded Xiao Tao's imagination!

The final result was that after spending more than twenty years, Xiao Tao still hadn't succeeded in breaking through and was thus trapped in the realm of Martial Arts Master.

Those three-divine-ability Grandmasters he once "looked down upon" became existences he could never reach and could easily crush him!

Such an experience dealt him a heavy blow, and his spirit was completely broken.

Now he looked at Li Fei opposite him, as if he saw his former self:

"Marquis, the tree that stands above the forest will be destroyed by the wind. Have you ever read a book called 'The Tragedy of Geniuses'?"

Hearing this, Li Fei couldn't help but smile.

Back when he had just broken through to become a Dao Foundation martial artist and broken the historical record, someone had sent him a copy of "The Tragedy of Geniuses." (See Chapter 83, Volume 2)

This book detailed how many peerless geniuses in history had fallen halfway or eventually faded into the crowd.

There are too many variables in the future; unrealized potential is ultimately just potential. (Note 1)

This was what Xiao Tao wanted to tell Li Fei.

Li Fei didn't answer the other party's question, but asked back:

"Do you have any life-type divine abilities?"

Xiao Tao was startled: "Why does the Marquis ask this?"

*Boom! *

Li Fei didn't speak, only a golden column of air surged from his body.

This column of air was like a golden sharp sword, also rushing straight into the sky, piercing through the sea of clouds in the air!

Xiao Tao's white column of air was a combination of his blood energy, heart-spirit, and force, a manifestation of his exquisite Dao force.

And the golden column of air that Li Fei erupted at this moment, like a sharp sword, was purely because his vitality was too powerful, his blood energy was exaggeratedly vigorous, combined with the characteristics of the Flying Sword Body, quantity changing into quality, thus forming the phenomenon!

On the plain, one golden and one white, two sky-piercing columns of air confronted each other across the distance.

Xiao Tao's expression finally changed, revealing a look of astonishment.

At this moment, Li Fei answered his question just now:

"If you don't have any life-type divine abilities, I'll be a little afraid."

"Afraid?"

Xiao Tao frowned.

Li Fei looked at him and nodded earnestly:

"I'm afraid I'll accidentally beat you to death!"

*Boom—*

As the words fell, he stepped forward and walked toward Xiao Tao.

The golden column of air tore through the sky clouds!

Note 1: I wrote the book "The Tragedy of Geniuses" in the story to illustrate this phenomenon: there are too many variables in the future, and those who were the most talented in history basically fell halfway.

You know Li Fei is the protagonist and definitely won't die, but the characters in the book don't know that.

So if the reader's evaluation of the protagonist is 10, the evaluation of the protagonist by many characters in the book might only be 5.

(End of chapter)