Chapter 500: Western Expedition

"I have asked about your ambitions, will you not ask about mine?"

The Crown Prince asked with a smile, his tone like that of a friend.

Li Fei looked at him and also smiled: "I assumed that Your Highness's ambitions did not need to be asked? The whole world knows them."

Under heaven, what Crown Prince's ambition is not to become Emperor?

The Crown Prince: "From the time I understood things, I knew I would certainly become Crown Prince in the future, and I knew I would certainly sit upon that dragon throne."

When he said this, his tone was equally plain and calm, just like when Li Fei had said he wanted to 'reach the pinnacle of martial arts' just moments before.

"So this cannot be counted as my ambition; it is merely an achievement I will inevitably reach."

The Crown Prince said calmly.

"Then what is Your Highness's ambition?"

Li Fei asked, very cooperatively.

"The founding ancestor of our dynasty possessed great talent and bold strategy; he swept across the six directions, unified the Eastern Continent, and made the grassland royal court to the east, the small nations of the desert to the south, and the barbarians in the northern jungles all bow their heads and submit. He left behind such magnificent achievements that we, the descendants of later generations, truly have no merits left to establish, and it is hard to avoid appearing somewhat idle and incompetent."

The Crown Prince said with a smile.

This was not easy to respond to, nor was it something an outsider could evaluate, so Li Fei remained silent.

Ming Qi did not speak either, which made Li Fei heave a sigh of relief.

"It is just that no one expected there to be a Western Continent across the ocean, and even less did anyone expect those Westerners to have so many ingenious ideas and to have developed so many advanced skills."

The Crown Prince continued:

"The battle over a dozen years ago woke many people up, and it also made the Emperor resolve to make some changes! With the Mingxin Reform, our Great Lan Dynasty can be said to be changing with each passing day, radiating new life. However, wanting to conquer those Western nations based on this is still beyond our strength."

Hearing this, Li Fei was startled in his heart.

Listening to this implication, that Emperor His Majesty actually wants to strike at the Western Continent?!

Having been beaten all the way to the Imperial Capital a dozen years ago, and already wanting to counterattack a dozen years later?

But thinking about it, it is normal; there are truly no merits left to establish here on the Eastern Continent. If one wants to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the founding Emperor, or even surpass him, then the only way is to strike at the Western Continent and conquer even greater territory!

It is just that, as the Crown Prince said, with the current national strength of the Great Lan Dynasty, it is certainly beyond their strength.

Li Fei had some right to speak on this matter.

From the situation in a small place like Xingcheng, one could roughly see the problems of the Great Lan Dynasty; the rot at the bottom was already very severe!

And internal strife was constant; the Datong Prefecture, in order to protect their own official positions, could even directly wipe out a major martial arts sect.

And they want to strike over there with this?

"What our Great Lan Dynasty relies on to roam the world is the Imperial Camp Army, the military formations and military baleful energy."

The Crown Prince changed the subject and suddenly brought this up:

"But over these years, the Imperial Camp Armies in various places have been unable to make ends meet. Merely maintaining and replacing baleful weapons is already difficult for the local Sifa Academies to support, requiring funding from the central Cabinet. In this way, the total number of our Great Lan Dynasty's Imperial Camp Army is fundamentally difficult to increase."

Li Fei was thoughtful upon hearing this, while Ming Qi remained calm.

"So if we want to launch a western expedition, we must first increase the number of Imperial Camp Army troops. Li Fei, you asked what my ambition is? My ambition is that one day I can lead an army across the sea, travel far to the Western Continent, and for our Great Lan Dynasty, open up territory and conquer the world!"

The Crown Prince said with high spirits.

At this moment, he truly revealed his sharp edge!

Li Fei suddenly understood many things.

For instance, why did the imperial court suddenly want to support Buddhism?

Why was this Crown Prince personally participating in this event?

The Great Lan Dynasty's original Imperial Camp Army was refined with the help of the Daoists, and later the Daoists also almost controlled the Sifa Academies in every region.

But as time passed, most of the imperial court's resources actually ended up in the pockets of the Daoists; ten portions of materials might only result in one being refined into a baleful weapon.

It would be fine if there were no foreign enemies, but precisely because there were suddenly foreign enemies, the current Emperor and that Chief Grand Secretary resolved to make changes!

In recent decades, the influence of the Daoists has been gradually reduced, and the Sifa Academies in various places have also been gradually taken back into the hands of the imperial court.

But this is not enough; to launch a distant expedition to the Western Continent, more Imperial Camp Army troops are needed.

So the imperial court is preparing to support Buddhism, letting the Buddhists provide people and effort to refine more baleful weapons for them!

All of the above are speculations Li Fei made based on the information he obtained; he felt this should be part of the truth.

"Both of you are peerless geniuses. If such a day truly comes, I hope to have the two of you by my side."

The Crown Prince picked up his teacup again and looked at Li Fei first:

"Reaching the pinnacle of martial arts—if one only stays on the Eastern Continent, it cannot be counted as the true pinnacle. Only by beating all the experts of the Western Continent into submission can one be considered the best in the world!"

Then he looked at Ming Qi:

"If one can conquer the Western Continent and truly unify the world, only those who participate in this matter will truly have the opportunity to leave a name for a hundred generations!"

It must be said that what he said was indeed moving.

"I wish Your Highness's ambition comes true."

Li Fei picked up his teacup and toasted the other party.

"This poor monk also wishes Your Highness success in all your endeavors."

Ming Qi also picked up his teacup.

"Hahahaha, good!"

The Crown Prince clinked cups with the two of them again.

Although he did not hear the answer he most wanted to hear, he did not mind.

For two 'firsts in history', he was willing to give enough patience.

Late at night, Li Fei was cultivating in a private box.

A bright, golden force with flame patterns surged from within his body.

This was the high-level force formed after fusing the Earth-Element Baleful Qi and the Fire-Element Profound Qi—the Primordial Vajra Force!

The Tiger-Subduing Vajra Force belongs to Yang, the Dragon-Descending Vajra Force belongs to Yin, and the Primordial Vajra Force is primordial in nature, containing both Yin and Yang.

The Primordial Vajra Force not only possesses the sturdiness and sharpness of the Vajra Force but also gains powerful malleable characteristics.

At this moment, with a thought from Li Fei, the force on his body surface rapidly changed into a suit of golden, glittering armor.

Then, another Ghost-Slaying Blade condensed from force appeared in his hand.

The Vajra Force simultaneously possesses the two most extreme characteristics of sturdiness and sharpness, but when used, it can only manifest one of them; during battle, one needs to make adjustments and changes at any time.

That is to say, Li Fei either chooses to defend with all his might or chooses to attack with all his might.

But after cultivating the Primordial Vajra Force, Li Fei can be both offensive and defensive, and he can switch between offense and defense as he pleases!

After practicing for this period, Li Fei can now be considered to have initially cultivated and mastered the Primordial Vajra Force.

He retracted his force, slowly transformed his heart's intent into virtual thoughts, and then probed those virtual thoughts into the Dream-Like Decree.

Soon, he entered the dream realm again.

Skillfully dispelling the thick fog, he arrived in that great hall.

When that young Daoist walked out from behind the screen, Li Fei lunged toward him and struck out with a palm.

A brilliant golden light bloomed from his palm, shining upon the young Daoist, then transformed into countless rays of light; the entire hall became a vast expanse of white, as if a sun had suddenly appeared!

Daoist Technique—【Infinite Brightness Fire】!

After practicing for this period, Li Fei had already mastered quite a few techniques of the Nightmare Sect, thereby making his strength in the dream realm much stronger.

The most intuitive point was that he could already use this body to display all the abilities he had mastered.

This move, 【Infinite Brightness Fire】, was performed by Li Fei using the newly cultivated Primordial Vajra Force, and its power was even greater than before!

Facing the sudden attack, lightning flashed on the young Daoist's body surface, and lightning also appeared in his pupils.

His mind was not affected in the slightest, and the lightning on his body surface annihilated all the incoming force!

Li Fei was not surprised by this at all; he had already rushed to the front of the other party and grabbed at the other party's body with both hands, wanting to use grappling techniques at close range.

For a sorcerer to be approached by a martial artist, they are bound to be at a great disadvantage.

However, in the next second, Li Fei suddenly lost sight of the young Daoist; the other party suddenly seemed to be far away at the edge of the sky, difficult to touch, causing Li Fei to grab at empty air.

He knew this was a mental hallucination and immediately introspected on the 'Red-Sound Fire Vajra Image'.

The next second, the young Daoist reappeared before his eyes and 'lightly' pressed a palm onto Li Fei's chest.

BOOM!!!

A thunderclap rose from flat ground.

Li Fei was truly blasted away by a bolt of thunder!

If it were in the past, he would have 'died' by now and would have been forcibly ejected from the dream realm.

But after these days of 'strengthening', he could now simulate the abilities of the Ten Thousand Blood Pearl within the dream realm.

So he only had a patch of charred black on his chest, quickly stood up from the ground, and rushed toward the young Daoist again.

The young Daoist looked majestic, surrounded by lightning, as if he were the Lord of Ten Thousand Thunders.

He flicked his sleeve at the rushing Li Fei, and a thunder dragon composed of lightning appeared out of thin air, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws as it pounced toward Li Fei!

Li Fei's body surface was draped in a suit of golden armor, embroidered with the sun, moon, and stars, filled with a vast sense of desolation and a grand aura.

This was the ultimate art of the Tiangang Gate—the Primordial Star Armor!

The high-level force cultivated from 【Primordial Heavenly Gold】 all has excellent malleability, so the sages of the Tiangang Gate created this martial technique to condense a suit of armor from force.

When the thunder dragon struck Li Fei, it was suddenly bounced away by a majestic force.

This was the characteristic of the Primordial Star Armor—Dou Zhuan Xing Yi (Shifting Stars and Changing Fights)!

It can bounce back the attacks received; as for how much can be bounced back, it depends on the intensity and characteristics of the attack.

Bouncing away the thunder dragon, Li Fei struck out with both palms, using two 【Infinite Brightness Fire】 moves in succession without any pause, tearing the thunder dragon before him to shreds!

In the dream realm, his mastery of Daoist techniques could also be smooth and effortless.

After tearing apart the thunder dragon, Li Fei immediately executed the Golden Body Seal: Great Peng, appearing instantly before the young Daoist priest, and then smashed a fist toward the other's face!

At some unknown moment, a sword had appeared in the young Daoist priest's hand, a Daoist sword wreathed in thunderous light.

Having fought so many times, it was only now that Li Fei had initially mastered the Primordial Golden Body Force that he finally forced out the other's magic treasure.

The next second, everything before Li Fei's eyes vanished, leaving only a single flash of sword light.

A flash of sword light that seemed to split the primordial chaos and create the heavens and earth!

This sword strike cleaved the heavens and earth, and also completely shattered Li Fei.

Inside the private room, Li Fei opened his eyes, still shaken by the lingering fear.

"Is he really that strong?"

In the dream realm, he could not only freely control Daoist force but also simulate the abilities of the Ten Thousand Blood Bead, and the number of blood souls simulated was even greater than in reality.

In other words, his combat power in the dream realm was currently stronger than in reality.

And yet, he was cleaved to death by that young Daoist priest with a single sword strike?

This was something that even Xu Jing had not been able to do back then!

"Who exactly is this person?"

Li Fei became increasingly curious.

Seeking monthly tickets.

(End of this chapter)