Chapter 724: Fire in the Water, Shadow in the Mirror (Major Chapter)

Underwater.

When Li Fei saw Yeming and the others, he had not actually thought they had come specifically to kill him.

Just as Lou Hongtao had speculated, if Yeming truly wanted to kill him, he would not have deliberately hidden his second divine ability during their initial exchange, only revealing it at the very end.

Moreover, he could not think of a reason why the New Heaven Society would be determined to kill him.

To be honest, killing He Jian would be more useful than killing him.

It was not that Li Fei's value was less than He Jian's, but that killing a Marquis of the imperial court would only further enrage the court and invite even more forceful suppression.

Whereas killing a divine investigator could directly alleviate the pressure of the investigation into the New Heaven Society.

Therefore, Li Fei simply assumed he had happened to stumble upon the New Heaven Society's plot.

"Li Fei!!"

The water waves vibrated, and Yezhao's voice was transmitted through his internal energy:

"Didn't expect to see me again here, did you?"

Li Fei did not respond to him, instead looking at the glowing cave below; according to the resonance of the fragment in his hand, the complete Heavenly Water Soul Bone should be inside this cave.

And it appeared the New Heaven Society and the others had also come for this cave.

Seeing that Li Fei was not even looking at him, Yezhao's anger flared, and he prepared to strike directly.

The Dao foundation he cultivated was the top-tier water-attribute Dao foundation 【Water Lord Dragon Chant】; whether it was his internal energy or the core-level extraordinary ability he had developed, everything was suited for underwater combat.

Thus, his combat power could be significantly enhanced underwater, and he was confident he could rival Shentu Yue, the second-ranked on the Wind and Cloud General Ranking.

And in this special body of water, his combat power could be further increased!

Before entering the Tomb of Heavenly Water this time, Yezhao had specifically stated that Li Fei was to be left to him; he wanted to face Li Fei one-on-one first.

Just as Yezhao was channeling his internal energy to make a move, a surge of energy suddenly covered him.

"Senior?"

Yezhao turned his head to look at Yeming.

It was Yeming who had acted to stop him.

"Don't be impatient, let me talk to him first."

Yeming said calmly, then used his internal energy to transmit his voice to Li Fei:

"Previously, Yezhao tried to win you over; now, this seat will give you one more chance: join us."

"Senior?!"

Yezhao, who could also hear the words clearly through the vibration of the water waves, immediately became agitated.

Had they not already reached a deal with the Lu family and Xu Jing to kill Li Fei?

Why go back on their word so suddenly now?

Lu Wenzheng and Xu Jing would not trust the New Heaven Society so easily; to borrow a portion of the Martial Dao Domain from Xu Jing, the New Heaven Society had disclosed their personnel, spies, and secret strongholds throughout the entire Feng Province to the other party.

This even included the true identities of Yeming and another important member.

If the New Heaven Society failed to kill Li Fei this time, their forces in Feng Province would face retaliation, and Yeming and the other important member would also face the risk of exposure!

Only by killing Li Fei could both sides be considered to have fulfilled this cooperation; with each holding the other's leverage, they would not have to worry about the other party tearing up the agreement.

Therefore, Yezhao did not understand why Yeming was still trying to recruit Li Fei now.

Beside him, Zhu San grabbed his arm and shook his head, signaling him not to be agitated.

Recruiting Li Fei was his suggestion to Yeming.

He had always felt that since Li Fei could hold the identity of the Green-Faced Ghost, he had the value to be courted by the New Heaven Society!

In the distance, after hearing Yeming's transmission, Li Fei transmitted back:

"If I refuse, do you intend to kill me?"

"Yes."

Yeming was very direct.

"Even if I agree, can you trust me?"

"Of course, some safeguard measures will be needed, but once everyone trusts each other in the future, these measures can be removed."

"Heh, how about this: this Marquis will also give you a chance. Surrender now, and you will be treated leniently."

Li Fei's mocking voice came back.

Anger also appeared in Yeming's eyes, and he turned to look at Yezhao: "Do it!"

In his view, Li Fei was someone who would not shed tears until he saw the coffin.

Yezhao had long been unable to restrain himself; like an arrow released from a bow, he rushed out of the flying boat and charged toward Li Fei.

Li Fei also channeled his internal energy, moving rapidly through the water.

When the two were still over fifty meters apart, majestic internal energy surged from Yezhao's body like a raging tide; the skin on his body turned deep blue as he activated his core-level extraordinary ability, 'Water Lord'.

'Water Lord' could enhance Yezhao's water-control ability and allow him to absorb and control the Qi of the Water Element.

In this Tomb of Heavenly Water, the concentration of the Qi of the Water Element was more than ten times that of the outside world!

This was the source of Yezhao's confidence in daring to fight Li Fei.

A massive amount of the Qi of the Water Element, along with his internal energy, drove the water to surge; a bone-chilling cold increased sharply, as if it wanted to freeze a person's soul!

Yezhao raised his right hand, his palm aimed at Li Fei, and tens of thousands of tons of water, mixed with internal energy and the Qi of the Water Element, squeezed toward Li Fei from all directions.

The silt at the bottom of the water sank continuously, and the entire body of water vibrated violently, as if an earthquake had occurred!

It was not just on a physical level; Li Fei also felt as if he were trapped in the deep sea on a mental level, with terrifying water pressure threatening to crush him.

Dao Energy—【Sea Abyss】!

Back at the bottom of the lake, Li Fei had encountered the same move, but the power of this strike was far stronger than before!

However, Li Fei was also stronger than before.

He entered the 'Blood Demon State' directly, and supported by his Golden Body and Jade Marrow, he consumed 56 Blood Souls to execute 【Blood Rage】!

When the terrifying water pressure crushed the Hunyuan Star Armor on his body, he also completed the Vajra Seal: Dragon Elephant.

Streams of deep blue water formed a massive vortex, squeezing Li Fei within it.

Then, this massive vortex suddenly twisted, split open from the middle, and a torrent surged out!

A set of golden scales was revealed from the vortex; Li Fei held his blade with both hands and slashed downward, forcibly breaking through this 【Sea Abyss】!

"."

Yezhao stared blankly ahead, unable to accept that Li Fei had once again broken his ultimate move in the same way.

Li Fei charged toward this side, while a large mass of black flames surged from his body.

His speed moving underwater was not as good as Yeming's, and the transmission speed of his internal energy was also inferior to Yeming's; it was difficult to hit Yezhao, so he chose to use Heart Fire.

Heart Fire could be transmitted rapidly through any medium!

For some reason, after Li Fei released the Heart Fire, he clearly felt its power increase, as if it had also been stimulated by this environment.

Yezhao wanted to strike to disperse the incoming black flames, but his mind shook violently, and he was hit first by a full-power 【Blood Might God】 from Li Fei!

However, Yezhao had been prepared, having already visualized a Water Qilin within his mind to execute a defensive Dao Energy.

But now, Li Fei's total Blood Soul limit was 1027, so 【Blood Might】 could consume up to 102. Blood Souls, which doubled in the 'Blood Demon State'; its power was over 30% stronger than when he had fought Yezhao before!

The Water Qilin in Yezhao's mind collapsed and shattered instantly, causing his internal energy circulation to stall.

A large amount of Heart Fire ignited him completely!

First having his mental defenses shattered by 【Blood Might God】, and then being struck by the Heart Fire, Yezhao's eyes immediately turned blood-red.

He looked at Li Fei with eyes of extreme hatred, the jealousy and anger hidden deep in his heart erupting like a volcanic explosion!

"Die—"

Yezhao charged toward Li Fei crazily.

"Fool!"

On the black boat, seeing this scene, Yeming could not help but curse in his heart.

With Yezhao's ability underwater, even if he were not a match for Li Fei, he could have played a guerrilla game, constantly wearing Li Fei down.

Yet his state of mind was so poor that he was so easily caught in a loophole by Li Fei.

In Yeming's view, this genius, whom the organization was focusing on cultivating, had decent ability, but his state of mind was truly a mess!

Yezhao condensed a deep blue flood dragon with his internal energy, biting toward Li Fei with endless coldness.

Even in a state of mental imbalance, the power he erupted with could not be underestimated; every move could trigger a large amount of the Qi of the Water Element and a coldness that froze the mind.

Li Fei held his blade with both hands and slashed downward, the golden blade light restrained and entirely concentrated on the edge of the Ghost Slaying Blade.

He was using the Armor-Piercing Style taught to him by Hao Yi; the move was not particularly profound, but when power reached a certain level, even the simplest "Splitting the Mountain" was enough to slaughter dragons and slay gods!

The blade edge collided with the flood dragon, and majestic power erupted, slicing through the dragon's head, cutting through its body, and slashing toward Yezhao, who was located at the dragon's belly!

Only then did Yezhao wake up, realizing he should not have gotten into close quarters with Li Fei.

But it was too late; the golden blade edge cut through his protective internal energy like a hot knife through butter.

When the blade edge struck his forehead, a force suddenly pulled him backward.

At the same time, a black flood dragon collided with Li Fei from the side, knocking him away.

It was Yeming and Zhu San acting simultaneously, one to save a person, the other to attack Li Fei.

The two naturally could not stand by and watch Yezhao die under Li Fei's blade.

Fresh blood flowed down from the wound on his forehead, running into Yezhao's eyes, turning everything before him blood-red.

He stared blankly at the golden figure in the distance that had slashed through the black dragon with one strike, forgetting for a moment to use his extraordinary ability to heal his wounds.

The injury caused by this strike was not heavy, but it had slashed a huge gap in Yezhao's state of mind!

He had come to the Tomb of Heavenly Water full of confidence, thinking he could wash away his previous shame.

Yet he did not expect to be defeated even faster than last time.

Compared to last time, Li Fei was like a completely different person; he could not understand why a person's strength could increase so rapidly.

"I have already told you not to underestimate this person. I hope you can recognize yourself in the future."

Zhu San's voice rang out beside Ye Zhao's ear.

You Ming had witnessed Li Fei's terrifying strength when they fought last time and had informed Zhu San, but Zhu San had deliberately kept it from Ye Zhao.

Because he wanted the arrogant Ye Zhao to suffer a proper setback.

He believed this would be more beneficial to Ye Zhao's future growth.

Regarding this genius carefully cultivated by the organization, Zhu San felt he had truly exhausted his heart and mind.

On the other side, You Ming had already leaped out of the black boat and engaged Li Fei in battle.

His entire body was covered by a layer of dim blue light, which allowed him to temporarily avoid the suppression of this Dead Domain.

He had already experienced Li Fei's terrifying physical strength, so he directly used 【Heart Mirror】 to copy this power.

Li Fei held his blade with both hands and slashed horizontally, while You Ming held his sword and struck the blade from the side.

As blade and sword collided, the surrounding water first surged crazily toward the center, then violently exploded outward.

A massive wave was generated; it was as if a bomb had exploded underwater!

The one who was knocked back was Li Fei.

You Ming had used 【Heart Mirror】 to perfectly replicate Li Fei's physical strength, and since his own internal energy was superior to Li Fei's, he held the upper hand in a direct head-on collision.

After knocking Li Fei back, You Ming vanished like a phantom.

The next second, he appeared at Li Fei's side and swept his leg horizontally, kicking Li Fei hard in the lower abdomen!

The Hunyuan Star Armor was kicked to the point of bursting; the golden scales dented inward, deformed, and over a dozen scales shattered.

Li Fei ignored the pain and swung his blade toward You Ming's leg.

But before the blade edge could touch him, You Ming vanished again.

The next second, he appeared behind Li Fei and stabbed his sword into Li Fei's back.

Dao Energy—【Ghost Shadow】!

This is a type of Dao Energy focused on movement techniques; it can confuse an opponent's mind and is extremely ghostly in its method of movement.

In underwater combat, everyone's agility drops significantly, but You Ming could use Dao Energy to displace himself, which gave him the upper hand.

When You Ming used 【Ghost Shadow】 to move to Li Fei's side once more and slashed his sword toward Li Fei's neck.

Li Fei, like a cluster of blooming sparks, also vanished from where he stood.

"Hmm?"

You Ming was somewhat surprised.

The next second, Li Fei appeared above him to the left, holding his blade with both hands and slashing down in a rage!

You Ming had anticipated this and turned to strike with his sword in advance; after one blow, both of them vanished simultaneously.

One turned into a ghost shadow, the other into sparks.

As Li Fei vanished and reappeared time and again, a rain of fire actually began to fall within the dim blue water.

Dao Energy—【Flying Flowers and Rain of Fire】!

This is one of the three styles of Dao Energy created by Hao Yi.

Previously, Li Fei had only mastered the style 【Fire Trees and Silver Flowers, a Night Without End】; after this period of bitter training in the illusion created by the Dream-Like Decree, he had finally mastered another style.

This style, 【Flying Flowers and Rain of Fire】, like You Ming's 【Ghost Shadow】, is also a movement-based Dao Energy. Furthermore, as the number of uses increases, the scorching energy accumulates, thereby creating an advantage similar to a 'home field' for the user.

It is just that, situated in this bone-chilling Tomb of Heavenly Water, the energy of 【Flying Flowers and Rain of Fire】 could not accumulate.

Li Fei did not seek to use this move to slowly accumulate an advantage; he only needed to keep up with You Ming in terms of movement.

The two collided again and again, and vanished again and again.

Every collision stirred up astonishing waves, and spherical ripples constantly spread outward, making it seem as if a storm were occurring on the seabed!

Li Fei was still in a suppressed state.

For one, 【Flying Flowers and Rain of Fire】 was heavily restricted when used in the Tomb of Heavenly Water.

Secondly, in head-on collisions, he could not match You Ming.

Finally, his strongest power could only erupt after using the Vajra Seal: Dragon-Elephant, whereas You Ming obtained it directly after copying it with 【Heart Mirror】.

This resulted in Li Fei being far inferior to You Ming in the consistency of his power output.

You Ming stabbed Li Fei with his long sword time and again, the tip piercing through the Golden Thread Scale Armor and striking Li Fei's Golden Body and Jade Marrow.

In just over ten seconds, Li Fei had already been struck by five swords!

Zhu San sat on the black boat with Ye Zhao, keeping their distance from the two who were fighting.

Only now did Ye Zhao truly realize Li Fei's power; that surging blood energy almost permeated out of his body, like a burning fireball in the icy water!

The terrifying strength made Li Fei look more like a true flood dragon, churning the seas underwater!

Even though he was at a disadvantage and was being stabbed by You Ming's sword repeatedly, he acted as if nothing were wrong, completely unaffected.

To be able to go head-to-head with a Martial Dao Master possessing two divine abilities while only at the Dao Foundation realm, and to fight like this, was truly unheard of!

A black curtain shrouded the two combatants, and You Ming finally unleashed his most powerful Dao Energy, 【Netherworld Heaven】.

This move could maximize the advantages of his 【Heart Sword】.

Last time, it was because Chi Chengyu was about to arrive that he did not have time to unleash the properties of 【Netherworld Heaven】.

Zhu Fenghua was able to break 【Netherworld Heaven】 using Profound Scene-level Dao Energy; You Ming was very curious to see how Li Fei would break it.

Under the night curtain, Li Fei felt the surrounding water turn into countless tentacles pulling at him, and his Hunyuan Vajra Energy was constantly draining away.

In his mental world, the emerald-green Fixed-Fate Vajra Dharma Image had already shattered, and his mental power was also being continuously absorbed.

He was already at a disadvantage; once he was continuously drained by 【Netherworld Heaven】, he would only become more and more passive.

Li Fei still had 2, 84 Blood Souls stored in his body's blood spring, and with the Blood Souls inside the Myriad Blood Pearl, he could absolutely afford to slowly wear You Ming down until the opponent's divine ability power was exhausted.

But he preferred to take the initiative in controlling the situation, and there was not much time left on the Domain-Breaking Talisman, so he chose to take the offensive.

He unleashed a full-power 【Blood Might God】 at You Ming.

You Ming sensed it and immediately blocked it with his 【Heart Sword】.

He suddenly appeared above Li Fei's head using 【Ghost Shadow】, holding his sword with both hands and hacking down heavily.

Li Fei blocked with his blade, then was pressed down to the seabed by the sword; the silt beneath his feet exploded outward, forming a deep pit.

The next second, Li Fei exploded into a cluster of sparks and leaped out of the deep pit, simultaneously hitting You Ming with another 【Blood Might God】.

You Ming turned into a ghost shadow and vanished; Li Fei turned in place and slashed horizontally to the right, the golden blade light restrained, carving a golden mark in the dim blue water.

A long sword appeared abruptly and violently stabbed the latter half of the blade; immense power exploded, and a massive wave surged forth.

Li Fei failed to connect this strike with the Vajra Seal: Dragon-Elephant, leaving him at a disadvantage in power, so the strike was directly intercepted.

The energy contained in the long sword shifted, pressing down on the blade, then flicked forward; the sword tip pierced through Li Fei's Hunyuan Star Armor and struck the scales on his chest.

The scales were also pierced, and finally, the sword was stopped by his flesh and blood.

After copying his physical strength, the damage You Ming dealt rose linearly, no longer 'scraping' as it had last time.

This sword strike cost Li Fei 21 Blood Souls.

Li Fei did not even blink, and hit You Ming with another full-power 【Blood Might God】.

Compared to the damage You Ming dealt to him, he actually consumed more Blood Souls himself; three full-power 【Blood Might God】 strikes had already consumed over 300 Blood Souls!

But this price was worth it; having been hit by three 【Blood Might God】 strikes in a row, You Ming already felt the pressure.

He was currently using 【Heart Mirror】 to copy Li Fei's strength, 【Heart Sword】 to enhance 【Netherworld Heaven】, and still had to use 【Heart Sword】 to defend against Li Fei's 【Blood Might God】.

His divine ability power was being consumed too quickly!

The two collided with blade and sword once more; Li Fei unleashed a fourth 【Blood Might God】, then immediately followed up with the style 【Infinite Bright Fire】.

Beams of brilliant golden light tore through the black curtain!

The black curtain dissipated completely, and Li Fei and You Ming appeared once again in the field of vision of Ye Zhao and Zhu San.

With Li Fei's Dao Energy cultivation, he originally could not have broken 【Netherworld Heaven】 which was bolstered by divine abilities, but You Ming was distracted by using 【Heart Sword】 to defend against 【Blood Might God】, so the divine ability power bolstered onto the Dao Energy was reduced. This gave Li Fei the opportunity to find a flaw and break it in one stroke using 【Infinite Bright Fire】!

【Netherworld Heaven】 was broken, and You Ming suffered a backlash, his figure stalling for a moment.

Li Fei instantly exploded into a cluster of sparks, then appeared before You Ming, slashing his blade horizontally toward the opponent's neck!

You Ming's protective energy was torn apart, and the blade edge rested against his neck.

His expression was calm, and he unhurriedly channeled 【Heart Mirror】.

The backlash from 【Netherworld Heaven】 only slightly affected his energy flow, but it would not affect his ability to unleash divine abilities.

He was going to use 【Heart Mirror】 to copy Li Fei's defensive means!

This was the unsolvable aspect of the 【Heart Mirror】 divine ability: any method you have an advantage in, I can directly take and use.

A crystalline mirror surface in his mind radiated light, and Li Fei's image was reflected upon it.

But the next instant, the Li Fei in the mirror became blurry, then twisted and deformed, and finally vanished.

You Ming's eyes widened abruptly, and the composure in his eyes vanished completely.

"How is this possible?!"

*Swish*—

The blade edge sliced open his neck, fresh blood sprayed out, and black flames exploded!

When his neck was half-severed, You Ming unleashed 【Ghost Shadow】 and vanished, dodging the blade.

He reappeared more than thirty meters away; his neck had already been sliced open more than halfway, and a large mass of blood mist suddenly erupted from the severed wound!

*Pfft*—

You Ming spat out a mouthful of blood.

A wound where the neck is half-severed is not fatal even for a Foundation Establishment martial artist, and for a Martial Arts Master with even greater physique and vitality, it counts for even less.

It was just that at the moment of the strike, Li Fei used Heart Fire, forcing You Ming to divert his attention to deal with it, while simultaneously injecting a massive amount of Blood Fiend Qi into You Ming's body, which caused his injuries to compound.

Since the fight began, You Ming had stabbed him over a dozen times, while he had only managed to land one blade strike on You Ming.

Yet, it appeared that You Ming was more heavily injured than he was.

You Ming covered his neck with one hand and activated a core-level extraordinary healing ability, causing the severed wound to begin healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The injuries on his body were nothing compared to the shock in his heart; You Ming stared fixedly at Li Fei, unable to comprehend why his 【Heart Mirror】 divine ability could not replicate Li Fei's defensive methods.

【Heart Mirror】 could even replicate the divine abilities of other Martial Arts Masters, so how could it fail to reflect the abilities of a mere Foundation Establishment martial artist?

Things that 【Heart Mirror】 cannot reflect are either a Martial Arts Domain composed of multiple divine abilities or the Principles of the Great Dao.

Li Fei clearly did not possess a Martial Arts Domain, so it could only be the Principles of the Dao.

But how could a Foundation Establishment martial artist possibly possess the Principles of the Dao?

"Could it be that he carries a treasure containing the Principles of the Dao?"

The look in You Ming's eyes as he gazed at Li Fei turned greedy.

A treasure containing the Principles of the Dao was something that even Martial Sages and True Lords would covet!

Li Fei keenly sensed the change in You Ming's gaze; he did not know what the other party had associated in his mind in that instant, nor did he want to know.

In any case, it was not important.

Once again arriving at You Ming's side using 【Flying Flower Fire Rain】, he held his blade with both hands and slashed down in a rage, simultaneously unleashing a full-power 【Blood Might God】.

You Ming blocked the 【Blood Might God】 with his 【Heart Sword】 and raised his sword to strike upward.

Blade and sword clashed, and Li Fei was knocked back.

You Ming took a deep look at the retreating Li Fei and did not use 【Shadow of the Nether】 to pursue, but instead continued to retreat to put distance between them.

Within his mind, that crystalline mirror surface suddenly reflected the image of a massive beast:

A body over a hundred meters long, covered in deep blue scales, resembling a giant whale but possessing four limbs and a long tail.

This giant beast had four enormous eyes like blue crystals, each appearing to contain a star within it.

An aura of ancient desolation and frigid silence emerged from the mirror surface.

This was an eighth-rank exotic beast, the Heavenly Water Azure Soul Beast!

Located within this Tomb of Heavenly Water, the strongest power You Ming could replicate using 【Heart Mirror】 did not come from Li Fei.

Hum, hum, hum—

The Tomb of Heavenly Water, which had been devoid of life and like a dead sea, suddenly began to shake violently.

This expanse of water seemed to have suddenly come to life!

PS: This chapter is a two-in-one.

(End of chapter)