Chapter 610: A Glorious Return

Lanling City.

A mansion within the inner city.

Inside the mansion was a massive training ground, where the First Imperial Prince, dressed in golden martial attire, was sparring with the martial arts master who always stayed by his side, holding a Soul-Severing Blade.

The martial arts master did not use any divine abilities or extraordinary powers, using only Dao energy to exchange blows with the First Imperial Prince, though he intentionally held back his strength.

Whether in terms of pure physical strength or Dao energy, the martial arts master was far superior to a Foundation Establishment martial artist, so even without using divine abilities, a vast gap remained between the two.

If he did not intentionally restrain his strength, the First Imperial Prince, with only a Tier 6 combat power, would have no way to spar with the martial arts master at all.

But even with restrained strength, the martial arts master relied on his fluid Dao energy to knock the First Imperial Prince down in just over a dozen moves.

After falling, the First Imperial Prince quickly stood back up and continued to charge forward with his blade.

He was knocked down again and again, and climbed back up again and again.

Even though the martial arts master was holding back, the First Imperial Prince already had injuries on his body, and they were worsening.

"Your Highness, that is enough."

The sparring martial arts master suddenly spoke.

The First Imperial Prince sheathed his blade and ordered the servants to prepare a medicinal bath.

"You still held back too much; it wasn't satisfying enough."

The First Imperial Prince shook the blood off his arm and shook his head.

The sparring martial arts master gave a wry smile: "Any harder, and Your Highness would truly suffer broken bones and damaged tendons."

"Broken bones and damaged tendons are still better than being trampled under someone's feet."

A flash of ferocity crossed the First Imperial Prince's eyes.

The martial arts master knew who he was thinking of and dared not respond.

If it were someone else, he could have comforted the First Imperial Prince, saying that a temporary setback didn't matter and that he would eventually surpass the other person.

But Li Fei...

The martial arts master remained silent.

"Third on the Wind and Cloud Ranking, how many moves can he last against you?"

The First Imperial Prince suddenly asked.

The martial arts master said solemnly: "If I go all out, I will kill him within ten moves!"

"Ten moves, is it?"

The First Imperial Prince's lips curled upward, as if imagining a certain scene.

Then he suppressed his smile: "And what about Zhu Fenghua?"

Being at the same Foundation Establishment stage, Zhu Fenghua had once lasted over a hundred moves against a martial arts master!

"Your Highness, that person cannot be viewed as a pure martial artist. Dual cultivation of law and martial arts is the most difficult path in the world; once mastered, the two powers combined cannot be calculated by simple addition."

The martial arts master said.

The peak of the Foundation Establishment stage combined with the peak of the Possession stage—these two powers combined were what created the legend of Zhu Fenghua.

This person truly could not be judged simply as a martial artist.

"I heard Li Fei chose that notebook of Lin Tianyi from the Library Pavilion."

The First Imperial Prince touched the blade in his hand.

The martial arts master on the side laughed:

"Your Highness, there is only one Lin Tianyi in this world."

The First Imperial Prince did not speak and turned to leave the training ground.

Over an hour later, he finished his medicinal bath and changed into a new set of clothes.

"Your Highness, Duan Qi, a member of the Stop-Conflict Pavilion, has sent over a visiting card."

A steward came to the First Imperial Prince's side, holding a visiting card in his hand.

The First Imperial Prince took the card and glanced at it:

"Reply to him, and invite him over to have lunch together."

"Yes."

The steward turned and withdrew.

A hint of a smile appeared on the First Imperial Prince's face.

Duan Qi was a member of the 'Canglin Lu Family,' and the other party had previously taken the initiative to contact him to arrange for assassins to kill Li Fei.

Now that they were taking the initiative to visit again, it was naturally still about Li Fei.

Li Fei had not only returned safely but had also performed a great service, and the old case from back then might be reopened; the Lu family could not sit idly by.

From the day he took the initiative to stand out at the court meeting and attack Li Fei, the First Imperial Prince had been waiting for this day!

For a peerless genius like Li Fei, the first in history, he would of course want to win him over if possible.

Even if he was jealous, he could not make such a person his enemy for no reason.

But the Crown Prince had made his move first.

He believed his own advantages were not obvious compared to the Crown Prince, so with the Crown Prince having already laid out his plans in advance, he did not think he could snatch Li Fei away from the Crown Prince.

Since that was the case, it was better to use this "first in history" to secure benefits for himself.

After learning about Li Fei's life in detail, the First Imperial Prince decided to publicly attack Li Fei, to let everyone know that he and this "first in history" were at odds!

Only in this way could he win over two heavyweight allies for himself:

The Canglin Lu Family!

Hongyi University!

Last time, he and the two families jointly funded the hiring of the 'Twelve Owls' to assassinate Li Fei, which was a very good start.

In the end, Li Fei did not die in the assassination and returned alive, which was something the First Imperial Prince wanted to see even more.

Because as long as Li Fei was alive, the Lu family and Hongyi University had a reason to join forces with him.

The more trouble Li Fei caused, the more the Lu family and Hongyi University would need his power.

"Li Fei!"

The First Imperial Prince gritted his teeth as he said the name.

He reached out and touched his own chest, as if that footprint from back then was still there.

January 17th, afternoon.

The special train departing from Daluo Town finally arrived in Lanling City.

The train station had also been cleared out in advance, and on the square outside the station, officials from the Ministry of Rites of the Cabinet had already had an honor guard prepared:

The members of the honor guard, wearing pristine white uniforms, were lined up in two rows on the square, each carrying a rifle on their back.

When Xiang Yunshu led Li Fei and the others out of the train station, the two rows of honor guard members took their rifles off their backs in perfect unison and fired into the sky.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

After firing three shots in succession, the pipes and flutes played together, and the stirring music resounded across the square.

The surrounding crowd erupted into deafening cheers and applause.

The information released by the imperial court was that a rebellion had occurred in Ming Province, and the Imperial Preceptor Xiang Yunshu had led men to suppress it in time.

Therefore, in the hearts of the people of Lanling City, Li Fei and the others returning from Ming Province were heroes!

To a certain extent, they truly were.

At the very least, Li Fei had truly saved the lives of tens of thousands of people in Chong City!

"Which one is Li Fei?"

"Where is Li Fei?"

"The one in white, the youngest one is him!"

"Look, Li Fei!"

"..."

Because of the imperial court's deliberate publicity beforehand, even ordinary people who did not pay attention to the martial world knew Li Fei's name, and knew that he had performed a great service in the process of suppressing the rebellion, making him a well-deserved young hero!

"My lord, everyone is looking at you."

In the group, Lu Wenxing said to Li Fei with a smile.

Li Fei turned his head to look at the people blocked on the periphery by the inspectors, and looking at those simple, honest faces, he smiled and waved his hand toward them.

This action immediately ignited the entire scene, drawing even louder cheers.

Ahead, several cabinet members from the Ministry of Rites, along with a group of officials, came up to greet them, first bowing to Xiang Yunshu, and then expressing their condolences to Li Fei and the others.

Finally, the group boarded the luxury cars specially prepared for them by the Ministry of Rites and drove all the way into the Imperial City.

Xiang Yunshu went directly into the palace to see the Emperor, and Lu Wenxing had his own home in Lanling City, so everyone returned to their own homes.

Only Li Fei was arranged to stay in the Imperial City again, preparing to see the Emperor tomorrow.

It was late, and after Li Fei finished his dinner, he prepared to cultivate as usual, but a guest arrived.

"Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Li Fei bowed to the Crown Prince who had come to see him.

Although the Crown Prince was noble, he was as approachable as ever, stepping forward to help Li Fei up:

"It's been months, why so distant? I already said there's no need for such formalities."

He pulled Li Fei to sit down together, looked him up and down, and smiled:

"I truly never expected that you, kid, would go out for a trip and suddenly ascend to the third rank on the Wind and Cloud General Ranking!"

"Just a stroke of luck."

"Haha, you really don't seem like a young man at all."

"."

The Crown Prince chatted casually with Li Fei, asking about his experiences in Ming Province.

Li Fei had to admit that this Crown Prince truly had a way of making people feel like they were bathed in a spring breeze; conversing with him, one would not feel the slightest bit uncomfortable due to the disparity in status.

After chatting for a while, the Crown Prince said with a serious expression:

"Speaking of which, when I previously said that investigating the Longevity Pill case was exceptionally dangerous and advised you to stop, I was the one who misjudged the situation. Fortunately, you withstood the pressure from True Person Qingxu and persisted in the investigation, winning the appreciation of the Emperor."

Li Fei's expression was calm: "Your Highness's warning was also well-intentioned; it was just that I was unwilling to let it go, which is why I did not heed the advice."

"What a fine 'unwilling to let it go'."

The Crown Prince clapped his hands, "That is why you are the first in history, capable of doing what others cannot!"

He looked at Li Fei: "Tomorrow is your birthday, right?"

Li Fei was stunned.

The original body's birthday was January 18th, which was tomorrow.

After he arrived in this world, he had only celebrated his birthday once, which was when Li Tianyu accompanied him at the Martial University.

This time, after returning to Lanling City from the Great Luo Sect, his mind had been entirely focused on what kind of rewards he would receive and how to reopen the case of Shangguan Xiao.

He had not thought about his birthday at all.

If the Crown Prince hadn't brought it up today, he would have almost forgotten about it.

Looking at the smile on the Crown Prince's face, Li Fei also smiled:

"Yes, tomorrow is my birthday. I didn't expect Your Highness to know."

"Not only do I know, but I have also prepared a gift for you."

The Crown Prince smiled and took a book from his robes, handing it to Li Fei:

"This is the gift for you; I am giving it to you in advance today."

Li Fei was stunned, quickly stood up, and received it with both hands:

"Many thanks for Your Highness's great kindness!"

"Sit, sit."

The Crown Prince pulled him to sit down and pointed at the book, "Take a look and see if you like it."

The book in Li Fei's hands was very thick, and nothing was written on the cover.

He flipped to the first page and saw the large characters 'Practical Study of Dual Cultivation of Dharma and Martial Arts' written on it.

In the bottom right corner, there was also a line of small text:

Gifted to my good friend Li Fei by Qin Ziheng.

"This 'Practical Study of Dual Cultivation of Dharma and Martial Arts' comes from the Tianyi Pavilion; I specifically had someone request it from them."

The Crown Prince said.

Regarding the exploration and cultivation secrets of dual cultivation of Dharma and Martial Arts, many sects had relevant content, but the Tianyi Pavilion was undoubtedly the most authoritative existence in the world.

One didn't even need to think to know that this 'Practical Study of Dual Cultivation of Dharma and Martial Arts' was surely an untold secret of the Tianyi Pavilion. To request such a book from the Tianyi Pavilion, even the Crown Prince would likely have to pay a significant price.

Because the Tianyi Pavilion had the number one person in the world!

Li Fei looked at that line of small text in the bottom right corner and was indeed moved for a moment.

Regardless of the other party's motives, at the very least, he kept this thoughtful gesture in his heart.

"Many thanks, Your Highness, I like this gift very much!"

Li Fei stood up again to salute the Crown Prince.

"Hahaha, as long as you like it."

The Crown Prince's hearty laughter echoed in the room.

It was not until late at night that the Crown Prince left Li Fei's residence.

Li Fei did not go to sleep; he opened the 'Practical Study of Dual Cultivation of Dharma and Martial Arts' in his hands and began to read, continuing until dawn.

"Lord Li."

The voice of a eunuch came from outside the courtyard gate.

Li Fei slowly stood up.

It was time for him to attend the morning court session.

PS: There was a situation with the renovation that needs to be resolved, so I cannot make up for the missed update today. I will try my best to make up for it tomorrow, apologies.

(End of chapter)