Chapter 740: Climbing the Tower to See Me, I Seek the Dao Myself (6000)

Yun Shu also suggested that Li Fei should restart his cultivation!

Inside the Imperial Study, Li Fei fell silent.

The Emperor spoke, "Imperial Preceptor, you say that to break this deadlock through force, he needs to cultivate both magic and martial arts, correct?"

Yun Shu turned to nod at the Emperor: "Yes."

The Emperor glanced at the silent Li Fei: "Since that is the case, why not seek guidance from the Heaven One Tower?"

When it comes to dual cultivation of magic and martial arts, one can never bypass that Heaven One Tower, nor that "Supreme" figure.

Yun Shu believed that even if Li Fei were to break through his magic arts to the True Spirit realm, it would still be difficult for him to achieve dual cultivation of magic and martial arts afterward, or to integrate the power of magic into his Dao foundation to resolve the issues with it.

But if Li Fei were to obtain the heritage of the Heaven One Tower, or even receive guidance from that "Supreme" figure, given Li Fei's talent, is it possible he could create a miracle?

"Your Majesty."

Yun Shu hesitated, wanting to say more.

Li Fei also came to his senses and hurriedly said:

"Your Majesty, I have some acquaintance with Zhu Fenghua of the Heaven One Tower from my recent trip to Tianshui City. I can write a letter to Zhu Fenghua and ask him to help sound out the situation."

He had heard the story between the previous Son of Heaven and that "Supreme" figure.

Lin Tianyi had established the Heaven Tower at the peak of Mount Yu and written down his own heritage of dual magic and martial cultivation inside the tower, making it public to the world.

Anyone could enter the tower to study this heritage, provided that for every floor they climbed, they had to break a magic, otherwise they would have to stay forever to guard the tower and be at the beck and call of Lin Tianyi.

Back then, the imperial court coveted Lin Tianyi's heritage and sent the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard, Zhao Xin, to Mount Yu to climb the Heaven Tower.

At that time, Zhao Xin was already at the cultivation base of a Martial Arts Master, and he was only thirty-two years old, with exceptional talent!

But after breaking through the first five floors, Zhao Xin was ultimately stuck on the sixth floor.

Afterward, the previous Son of Heaven personally wrote a letter to Lin Tianyi, hoping to have Zhao Xin released. For this, he was willing to offer secret manuals from the Royal Library as an exchange.

As a result, after receiving the letter, Lin Tianyi did not release the person, nor did he reply, showing absolutely no face to that Supreme Ruler!

In such a situation, the previous Son of Heaven could only announce to the public that Zhao Xin's duties had been relieved, fulfilling the other party's pursuit of martial arts, giving himself a way to step down.

Otherwise, what else could he do?

The wrath of the Son of Heaven could certainly destroy the Heaven One Tower, or even raze the entire Mount Yu.

But it might not necessarily kill Lin Tianyi.

Once it failed, the imperial court would gain an extremely terrifying enemy, and the loss would outweigh the gain.

The previous Son of Heaven was the current Emperor's father; if Lin Tianyi did not give the father face, would he give the son face now?

This was the reason for Yun Shu's hesitation.

Your father has already been slapped in the face once; if you, as the son, get slapped in the face again, it might become a "fine tale" in the history books to come.

Li Fei also thought of this, so he took the initiative to say he would write the letter to Zhu Fenghua himself, letting the other party sound out the situation first.

This way, even if Lin Tianyi refused, it would not be too embarrassing.

The Emperor looked at Li Fei: "Good, then write the letter. You can let the other party set conditions; I will back you up!"

Li Fei bowed: "Many thanks, Your Majesty!"

Afterward, he took the initiative to excuse himself, leaving only the Emperor and Yun Shu in the Imperial Study.

"Imperial Preceptor, if the Heaven One Tower is unwilling to help, is there truly only the path of restarting cultivation?"

The Emperor asked.

Yun Shu looked at the Emperor: "Your Majesty, I just used the analysis of Dao principles to carefully examine Li Fei. His talent lies in a vitality that far exceeds ordinary people, as well as an incredible recovery ability! In fact, the Tianshui Soul Bone is continuously causing damage to his Dao foundation, but his recovery power is too strong, which is why the Dao foundation has not been damaged."

"Such talent is suitable for cultivating martial arts, but not necessarily for dual cultivation of magic and martial arts. If the Heaven One Tower is unwilling to help, I do indeed suggest that Li Fei restart his cultivation. As long as his constitution is not damaged, with his talent, he has a chance to return to the peak."

The Emperor did not speak; he walked to the window and looked at the sky outside.

A moment later, he sighed:

"Imperial Preceptor, do you think this is the evil consequence of the damaged national fortune beginning to emerge?"

Yun Shu's expression remained unchanged as he walked silently to the Emperor's side, looking at the sky with him:

"Your Majesty, the will of Heaven is hard to fathom. There are many manifestations after the national fortune is damaged; Li Fei's encounter might be related to this, or it might not."

The greatest damage caused to the Great Lan Dynasty by the rebellion of True Person Qingxu was not the death of hundreds of thousands of people, nor how many experts fell, but the depletion of the national fortune.

Those golden lotuses of fortune in the forbidden area of the Great Luo Sect affect the fortune of the Great Luo Sect for hundreds of years; they allow the Great Luo Sect to have geniuses appear in every generation, and every hundred years, a peerless genius like Ning Chuan appears!

Even every Sect Master of the Great Luo Sect can reach the realm of a True Person, which also has a lot to do with those golden lotuses of fortune.

By the same token, the national fortune of a country also affects every aspect of that country.

The appearance of talent, technological innovation, and the growth of national wealth are all influenced by the national fortune.

If the national fortune is prosperous, the country is peaceful and the people are secure.

If the national fortune is weak, various natural and man-made disasters will occur constantly!

Nearly half a year has passed since the rebellion of True Person Qingxu. Over these six months, although the imperial court has been doing all kinds of repair work with all its might, the backlash from the damaged national fortune has already begun to show signs.

The most obvious thing is the war currently happening in the Northern Border.

The Northern Border has not had a major war for nearly ten years, but now a war has suddenly broken out, and the scale of the war is intensifying!

Then there is the change that happened to Li Fei.

Li Fei broke historical records and created a cultivation monument, which can truly strengthen the national fortune; it is a kind of existence similar to an "auspicious omen"!

As a result, before the Emperor could be happy for too long, he was told that the greatest Dao foundation period in history might be ruined.

This made it impossible for him not to associate it with the backlash of the national fortune.

The white hair on the temples of this Son of Heaven was already very obvious; he stood by the window, looking up at the sky.

He stood there for a very, very long time.

Upon returning to his courtyard, Li Fei immediately retrieved the Dream-Like Order and put it back on himself.

Then he took out paper and pen and sat at his desk, lost in thought.

He had just said in the Imperial Study that he had some acquaintance with Zhu Fenghua.

But in reality, how deep could the acquaintance be?

If one speaks of favors, it was Zhu Fenghua who saved him from the collapsing Tianshui Tomb; it was he who owed the other person a favor.

In such a situation, to write a letter to Zhu Fenghua requesting guidance from Lin Tianyi?

Li Fei did not think he had that much face.

But one must treat a dead horse as if it were a live one; perhaps Lin Tianyi would be willing to give some conditions for the sake of the imperial court?

After deliberating for a moment, Li Fei wrote a letter.

He did not state the specific problem with his Dao foundation in the letter, only saying that he had encountered difficulties in his cultivation that required dual cultivation of magic and martial arts to solve, and asked Zhu Fenghua to help him ask Lin Tianyi.

As long as Lin Tianyi was willing to provide guidance, any conditions could be set!

Li Fei then handed this letter to Feng Cheng.

The imperial court has special "channels"; some important letters cannot be sent by telegraph or telephone, so they must still use the most primitive methods of transmission, such as carrier pigeons.

This world has farmed exotic beasts, and the imperial court keeps a type of third-grade exotic beast that can replace "carrier pigeons," with a flight speed many times faster than a pigeon.

Once Li Fei's letter is sent from Lanling City and arrives at Mount Yu, there will be an imperial messenger there to take the letter to the Heaven One Tower and hand it to Zhu Fenghua personally.

After sending the letter, in the days that followed, Li Fei stayed in his room almost every day, never stepping out.

Because he had to use the methods of dual magic and martial cultivation to solve the problem with his body, Li Fei had been studying dual magic and martial cultivation these days.

He read the notes of Lin Tianyi that he had exchanged from the Royal Library, as well as the secret manual that the Crown Prince had specifically requested for him, from beginning to end once more.

In the past, when he read these two secret manuals, he thought more about how to find means to enhance his combat power in time.

Now he was truly looking at these two secret manuals with the eyes of a cultivator climbing a mountain, and he gained a few more insights into dual magic and martial cultivation:

Martial arts cultivation is "internal cultivation," and magic arts cultivation is "external seeking."

Martial artists continuously strengthen themselves by incorporating implants, eventually forming a Martial Arts Domain, piecing together the rudiments of Dao principles.

Magicians also start by incorporating implants to strengthen their own spiritual power, then refining it into virtual thoughts.

From the Possession stage onwards, a magician's power is reflected more in external objects, namely magic tools.

From the Possession stage to the True Spirit realm, a key point is to refine a magic tool into a Life-Bound Magic Tool, which means choosing a magic tool to be connected to one's own life, thereby borrowing the power of this magic tool to turn the virtual into reality, condensing a True Soul, True Spirit, and True Power.

To a certain extent, a Life-Bound Magic Tool can be regarded as a kind of "external Dao foundation," because Life-Bound Magic Tools also have divine abilities.

Next, martial arts cultivation is to build a Martial Arts Domain, while magic arts cultivation is to build a "Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend" system.

Seventy-two Earthly Fiends, thirty-six Heavenly Gangs. With the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend perfection, the Life-Bound Magic Tool is only one step away from becoming a magic treasure.

A True Person who possesses a Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend perfection magic tool is also regarded as a top-tier True Person and can be compared to a Martial Arts Grandmaster.

And the final step of martial arts and magic arts becomes the same, both leading to the practice of Dao principles.

It is just that one has Dao principles in the body, and the other has Dao principles in the magic treasure.

But in essence, whether it is a Martial Saint or a True Person, it is just a different way of using Dao principles.

Therefore, the path of dual magic and martial cultivation, if looked at from top to bottom, actually grasps the essence of cultivation from the very beginning!

The reason why Lin Tianyi is a "Supreme" is that his use of Dao principles is closer to the essence than other peak experts.

It is a pity that the threshold for this way of cultivation that directly grasps the essence is too high; for a thousand years, only one "Supreme" like Lin Tianyi has appeared.

Li Fei used to think that he would definitely be able to walk the path of dual magic and martial cultivation because he relied on having the Ten Thousand Blood Bead.

He felt that the biggest difficulty in dual magic and martial cultivation was the conflict between martial arts implants and magic arts implants.

Others could not solve it, but he could rely on the Ten Thousand Blood Bead to push through it.

But now, with a deeper understanding of dual magic and martial cultivation, Li Fei realized that he had thought too simply in the past.

There are two difficulties in dual magic and martial cultivation:

The first is the conflict between magic and martial arts, and the second is the fusion of magic and martial arts.

For the former, Li Fei can solve it by relying on the Ten Thousand Blood Bead.

But for the latter, the Myriad Blood Bead cannot help, because this only relates to comprehension.

Li Fei knows that his status as the greatest Foundation Establishment cultivator in history actually has little to do with comprehension.

On the seventh day after the letter was sent, Li Fei received a reply.

Feng Cheng personally delivered the letter into his hands, then did not leave, but waited outside the private courtyard.

Li Fei opened the letter in his hand right in front of Feng Cheng.

This letter was the reply from Zhu Fenghua; the handwriting of this "Peerless Fenghua" was very ordinary, looking as plain and unadorned as the man himself.

In the letter, Zhu Fenghua said that he had informed his master, Lin Tianyi, of Li Fei's request without changing a single word.

And Lin Tianyi's reply to this consisted of only four characters:

Ascend the tower to see me.

Li Fei looked at these four characters at the end of the letter, was silent for a moment, and then gave a self-deprecating smile.

Lin Tianyi's meaning was very clear: if he wanted to obtain his guidance, he had to follow the rules, break through the nine-story Heavenly Tower, and ascend to the top.

Li Fei had to first be qualified to see Lin Tianyi, and only then would he be qualified to have Lin Tianyi guide him.

But if one followed Lin Tianyi's rules to ascend the Heavenly Tower, once they stopped at a certain floor and could go no further, they would have to remain there forever to guard the tower.

At that time, even if the current Emperor wrote a letter to demand the person back, the other party would certainly ignore it.

"Marquis of Jing'an, His Majesty is waiting for you to enter the palace."

Seeing Li Fei put down the letter in his hand, Feng Cheng said.

"Very well, please lead the way, Eunuch Feng."

"Marquis of Jing'an, please this way."

More than an hour later, Li Fei walked out of the Imperial Study once again.

This time he did not return to the private courtyard, but under Feng Cheng's guidance, headed toward the Royal Library.

Soon, Li Fei arrived once again beneath that tall tower located in the center of the lake.

"His Majesty has decreed: within three months, the Marquis of Jing'an may read any secret manual within the Royal Library."

Feng Cheng said to the official responsible for managing the Royal Library at the entrance.

"Your subject accepts the decree."

This official suppressed the shock in his heart, bowed his head, and performed a salute.

"If the Marquis of Jing'an has any needs, just let someone know."

Feng Cheng turned to look at Li Fei and said with a smile.

"I have troubled you, Eunuch Feng."

Li Fei returned the salute, then stepped into the tall tower.

The first floor still held that stone carving of the Founding Emperor, but this time Li Fei did not go to "fleece the sheep."

He walked directly toward the upper floors.

"Marquis, we meet again."

The official who had just received the decree came to Li Fei's side with a face full of smiles.

His name is Ji Qian, and the last time Li Fei entered the tower, he was also the one accompanying him.

Ji Qian is a third-rank official; he is responsible for managing this Royal Library. It seems noble and clean, but in reality, he is just a "librarian," and one cannot speak of him having any real power.

He manages this Royal Library, yet he has no authority to read the secret manuals inside at will.

Although his daily work is easy, there are also no opportunities for promotion.

So, having finally made contact with Li Fei, this red-hot legendary figure, Ji Qian was unwilling to miss this precious opportunity:

"I wonder what needs you might have, Marquis, upon entering the tower this time?"

"Besides that notebook of Lin Tianyi's, how many other secret manuals related to dual cultivation of magic and martial arts are there in this tower?"

Li Fei asked.

Ji Qian's spirits lifted, and he hurriedly said: "Throughout the dynasties, there have been people specializing in the dual cultivation of magic and martial arts. Although only Lin Tianyi, this 'Supreme,' has truly walked this path to the end, over the past few hundred years, there has been no lack of people who have achieved something in dual cultivation.

Among them, there are no secret manuals for dual cultivation below the sixth floor. There are sixty-one in the seventh-floor tower, twenty-five on the eighth floor, thirteen on the ninth, seven on the tenth, three on the eleventh, and only one on the twelfth—which is the notebook of Lin Tianyi that you, Marquis, chose previously."

A thousand years ago, the Martial Saint Gongsun Yan was the first to propose the concept of "dual cultivation of magic and martial arts."

Since then, countless predecessors and sages have poured their heart and blood into this Great Dao; although they did not succeed, they left behind their thoughts and creations.

These things turned into individual secret manuals, most of which were preserved in this Royal Library.

With the Emperor's special permission, Li Fei could directly read these "treasures" left behind by a thousand people.

He said to Ji Qian: "Then I will trouble you, Official Ji, to help me find all these secret manuals; I want to read them all."

Hearing this, Ji Qian was overjoyed and hurriedly said: "It is this subordinate's honor to do things for you, Marquis. Please wait a moment, Marquis; this subordinate will go and select the secret manuals for you now."

Subsequently, Li Fei first went up to the seventh floor, intending to finish reading all the secret manuals on the seventh floor first.

Lin Tianyi did not agree to guide him directly; he was not surprised by this.

But he did not intend to ascend the Heavenly Tower.

The Heavenly Tower set up by Lin Tianyi does not test pure cultivation base or realm; it tests more of technique, adaptability, and comprehension.

The other party sets up corresponding clones on every floor. The higher the realm of the person fighting, the higher the realm of the clone will rise, until it reaches the limit of that floor.

Starting from the fifth floor, the limit of the clones' cultivation is that of a Martial Arts Master and a True Person.

Li Fei can fight across realms mainly because his "blood is thick"; he is not sure if Lin Tianyi's clones would recognize this way of passing, so he does not intend to impulsively go and ascend the Heavenly Tower.

If he were left behind, there would be no more freedom to speak of.

So he intends to try relying on himself first, coming to the Royal Library to study the dual cultivation of magic and martial arts.

If he can find a feasible path, then he will try it.

If it doesn't work, then he will recultivate!

"How much time do you intend to use to attempt this?"

"Three months."

"Oh?"

"Your subject only gives himself three months. If I cannot find a solution within three months, I will choose to recultivate."

"... ood. Do you have any needs?"

"Your subject wishes to read all the secret manuals in the Royal Library related to the dual cultivation of magic and martial arts."

"Granted."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

This was the conversation between Li Fei and the Emperor in the Imperial Study.

Three months of time, browsing any secret manual in the Royal Library at will—such treatment can be called unprecedented!

Now, Li Fei begins to "ascend the tower."

Since others cannot be relied upon, then he will carve out a path himself!

He wants to start from the seventh floor of the Royal Library and go all the way to the twelfth floor, reading all the relevant secret manuals to find a path for himself.

On this very day that he began to "ascend the tower," Bai Yan, the Deputy Pavilion Master of the Stop-War Pavilion, returned to Lanling City with Yezhao.

April 22nd.

The third day of Li Fei entering the Royal Library.

Feng Province capital, Lu Mansion.

"Li Fei is reading secret manuals related to the dual cultivation of magic and martial arts in the Royal Library."

Inside the room, Lu Wenzheng said to Xu Jing.

Ever since he suddenly vomited blood last time, Xu Jing had been in seclusion for more than half a month to stabilize his Martial Dao Domain.

"Secret manuals for dual cultivation of magic and martial arts?"

Xu Jing narrowed his eyes. "Can you be sure?"

Lu Wenzheng nodded: "I can."

In order to obtain this intelligence, the Lu family utilized many connections and dark lines hidden for many years.

Those dark lines buried in the palace, after being used this time, will likely be unusable in the future.

"Now it can basically be confirmed that something has gone wrong with Li Fei."

Lu Wenzheng asserted, "He must have paid a price for killing Youming in the Tomb of Heavenly Water!"

"What kind of problem could it be that even the Grand Marshal and the State Preceptor cannot solve, such that he has to specifically go and beg Lin Tianyi?"

Xu Jing's gaze shifted constantly.

Lu Wenzheng: "It can only be confirmed that it is related to the dual cultivation of magic and martial arts."

"Then that is a problem with his cultivation; he has encountered a bottleneck or an insurmountable obstacle."

Xu Jing stated his judgment.

A smile appeared on Lu Wenzheng's face: "If that is truly the case, then Heaven is helping us!"

April 28th.

Various rumors about Li Fei began to circulate in the outside world.

Among them, the most widely circulated theory is: although the Marquis of Jing'an, Li Fei, killed that Martial Arts Master with dual divine abilities, he himself also suffered heavy injuries, leaving behind an incurable root of illness.

Regarding such rumors, the common people at the bottom and the people of the jianghu are half-believing and half-doubting; after all, it was only recently that "Beneath Heaven" publicly acknowledged Li Fei as the greatest Foundation Establishment cultivator in history.

How much time has passed since then, and why is it suddenly being said that Li Fei is no longer capable?

However, many upper-class figures in Lanling City are more inclined to believe that Li Fei has truly run into trouble, because they each have their own news channels and know many secrets that the outside world does not.

Inner City, headquarters of the Inspection Pavilion.

"Master, do you think something has really gone wrong with the Marquis of Jing'an?"

Yuan Mengfei asked He Jian.

The old man was still meticulously organizing various documents and did not answer his female disciple's question.

A moment later, after he finished organizing all the documents in his hands, he looked up at Yuan Mengfei:

"Do your own work well; even if something has really gone wrong with him, do you think you could help him?"

Yuan Mengfei bit her lip, feeling a bit angry, but she also knew that the old man was right.

She was just an ordinary agent of the Inspection Pavilion, a level 10 official. If Li Fei had really run into trouble, what could she possibly do?

He Jian glanced at his dejected female disciple, hesitated for a moment, and spoke:

"If we focus on handling the assassination case at the Altar of Heaven, interrogate Yezhao, and investigate the New Heaven Society clearly, that is the best help we can provide him, because he also needs to uncover the secrets behind this and know who is targeting him from the shadows."

Yuan Mengfei looked at the old man and nodded vigorously:

"I understand, Master!"

Just as the two were about to continue working, a man suddenly rushed into the room:

"Master, it's bad!"

The person who arrived was also in He Jian's team; he was his disciple.

"What happened?"

He Jian looked up abruptly.

"Yezhao is dead!"

"What did you say?"

He Jian's eyes changed color in an instant, resembling a pair of hawk eyes, as he stared fixedly at the man.

"Just a few minutes ago, Yezhao died suddenly in the dungeon of the Law Enforcement Pavilion!"

"How could that be? Weren't there experts from the Cease-Arms Pavilion guarding him at all times?"

Yuan Mengfei found it hard to believe.

After Yezhao was escorted back to Lanling City, he was transferred from the Cease-Arms Pavilion to the Law Enforcement Pavilion, because the Law Enforcement Pavilion's personnel were needed to break the oath-binding technique on Yezhao.

This process could not be accomplished overnight.

For the past few days, Yezhao had been locked in the dungeon of the Law Enforcement Pavilion, with a True Person from the Law Enforcement Pavilion casting spells on him every day.

And besides the Law Enforcement Pavilion's own guards, the Cease-Arms Pavilion had also sent extra people to guard Yezhao in 24-hour shifts.

Under these circumstances, Yezhao had suddenly died.

(End of chapter)