Chapter 743: True Person of the Curse Dao, Spirit in Heaven

Measuring "material properties" is an important prerequisite for "refining tools with one's own body."

Only by clearly and thoroughly understanding the "material properties" corresponding to all the tissues of one's own body can one begin to consider tool refinement.

It is just like a chef who, before putting ingredients into a pot, must at least figure out what those ingredients are and how to process them to make them taste good.

Regarding this, Bai Zihao wrote down a very detailed comparison table.

On this table, Li Fei can find the tool-refining materials that correspond to the various "material properties" of the human body.

If one knows which combinations of tool-refining materials can be used to craft which magic treasures, then theoretically, by pairing the human body with a portion of auxiliary materials, one could also refine similar magic treasures.

Li Fei suspects that the Dao principles mastered by this Martial Saint, Bai Zihao, are likely very closely related to the human body; otherwise, it would be impossible to have written such a comparison table.

However, he has encountered a problem now:

The "material properties" of all the body's components can be found on the comparison table, but the "material properties" of the blood soul cannot be found.

The blood soul is a type of life force bestowed upon Li Fei by the Myriad Blood Bead, or rather, it is a quantification of life force.

It is not something that can be seen or touched.

Human life force naturally also possesses "material properties," and it is one of the most important "materials" for refining tools with the human body.

For normal humans, or rather, normal martial artists, the "material properties" of their life force are all much the same; the only difference is in strength.

But Li Fei's life force is different from that of an ordinary person.

His thick, abundant life force mainly stems from the blood soul provided by the Myriad Blood Bead, rather than the physical enhancement brought about by practicing martial arts.

This causes his life force's "material properties" to contain an extra element that does not exist on the comparison table—namely, the "material properties" of the blood soul.

It is highly probable that there is no second thing in this world with "material properties" similar to the blood soul, which leaves Li Fei with no reference material whatsoever.

Because of the Myriad Blood Bead, Li Fei possesses the possibility of walking the path of "cultivating martial arts through techniques, refining the body as a tool."

But now, also because of the special nature of the Myriad Blood Bead, he is stuck at a critical step.

This has allowed Li Fei to truly experience the taste of fortune being the harbinger of misfortune, and the bitterness of a difficult fate.

"But at least I have already found a feasible plan to solve the problem."

Li Fei quickly adjusted his mindset.

Now what he needs to consider is how to accurately measure the "material properties" of the blood soul and find materials that can correspond to it.

Thus, he handed over another 2 million to the imperial court; apart from the materials already recorded on the comparison table, he bought a sample of almost every tool-refining material currently available.

Then, he followed the methods written in the secret manual to test them one by one, attempting to find materials with "material properties" similar to the blood soul.

This process also could not be separated from the guidance of True Person Qing Ding; Li Fei spent over half a month testing every single material he had obtained.

But not a single material had "material properties" similar to the blood soul; he couldn't even find one that was slightly close.

Without being able to determine the "material properties" of the blood soul, Li Fei cannot determine the plan for "refining tools with his own body."

It is just like adding a completely unknown seasoning to a pot of soup; what flavor this pot of soup will eventually boil down to is also a complete unknown.

If it were true tool refinement, it would be fine; at worst, one could just refine it again.

But for refining tools with one's own body, there is only one chance.

Even though Li Fei has the Myriad Blood Bead to transfer damage and does not need to worry about refining himself to death.

His body is only this one vessel; the flesh, bones, and even the implanted parts of a technical nature, once refined, cannot be changed again.

He cannot use his own body to gamble on an unknown result.

If he refines it wrong, not only will "refining tools with his own body" fail, but he might also damage his Dao foundation and completely ruin his body!

"Hoo—"

In the room, Li Fei let out a heavy breath and rubbed his forehead.

He discovered that he had underestimated the difficulty of this secret manual.

Li Fei suspects that the reason Bai Zihao created such a secret manual back then might have been this:

With the body of a Martial Saint, start refining from the most basic magic tools, then strengthen them bit by bit, and finally walk the path of dual cultivation of magic and martial arts.

In this way, one could solve the problem of insufficient body strength, and with the powerful life force of a Martial Saint, one would not need to worry about the impact caused by the conflict between magic and martial arts.

That is to say, first clear one path, and then use that massive advantage to walk the other path.

The idea was indeed beautiful, but reality is cruel.

With the strength of a Martial Saint, even if one successfully refines oneself into a magic tool of the Great Perfection of Heavenly Dipper and Earthly Fiend, the improvement to combat power is not significant, while the risks one must bear are extremely high.

Because the act of refining oneself into a magic tool, no matter how perfect it is in theory, may have problems in practice. And once a problem occurs, even one's own martial arts realm will be affected, and there may even be a danger to life!

This is like saying to a billionaire, there is a button in front of you now; if you choose to press it, you have a 50% chance of doubling your net worth, or even more.

But there is also a 50% chance that your net worth will return to zero, and you might even die!

The higher a person's net worth, the less likely they are to choose to press this button.

And those with low net worth are simply not qualified to press this button at all.

This is the reason why this secret manual of Bai Zihao is considered to be of low value.

Even Bai Zihao himself, who created this secret manual, did not end up practicing it.

Now, Li Fei is this person with low net worth, and he is qualified to press this button.

He might be the only exception in this world.

But the probability of his success now, let alone 50%, is not even 10%.

July 24th.

Li Fei left the Imperial Library.

The three-month period he promised the Emperor had arrived; he could no longer continue to stay inside the library.

In the final half-month, he also finished reading the few secret manuals on the dual cultivation of magic and martial arts on the eleventh floor, attempting to find inspiration from them.

Unfortunately, he gained nothing.

Regardless, Li Fei had to give the Emperor an answer.

Feng Cheng brought him to the Imperial Study once again.

"Your Majesty."

Li Fei bowed to the Emperor.

"No need for formalities, sit."

The Emperor was reviewing memorials; he looked up at Li Fei and gestured for him to sit down first.

After Li Fei sat down, the Emperor put down the memorial in his hand:

"I heard from Feng Cheng that you bought many tool-refining materials. Well, has the problem been solved?"

Li Fei said truthfully: "Your subject has now found a practically feasible path, but the risk is too great; I am currently contemplating how to reduce the risk."

He had previously set a deadline for the Emperor, and also for himself: if he could not find a method within three months, he would decisively choose to restart his cultivation.

But now, not only has he found a method, but it might also be the path most suited to himself, and perhaps even more perfect than Lin Tian's dual cultivation of magic and martial arts!

Li Fei truly did not want to give up easily.

"Are you talking about that secret manual left behind by the former dynasty's Martial Saint, Bai Zihao?"

The Emperor asked.

He naturally knew which secret manual Li Fei had been studying recently.

"Yes."

Li Fei nodded.

The Emperor frowned: "Refining tools with one's own body is merely a theory; there has never been any successful example. If you choose this path, it is not even as good as restarting your cultivation."

Li Fei stood up and bowed: "Your Majesty, your subject has seen the Great Dao I pursue on this path, and I wish to try!"

The Imperial Study fell silent; the Emperor did not speak, and Li Fei also maintained his bowing posture.

A moment later, the Emperor picked up the memorial on the desk again and said indifferently:

"Understood."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Your subject takes his leave."

Li Fei exited the Imperial Study.

This time, it was still Feng Cheng who saw him off.

When the two were about to part ways, Feng Cheng suddenly spoke:

"Marquis of Jing'an."

Li Fei turned to look at this imperial eunuch.

Feng Cheng had a smile on his face and said softly:

"Allow me to be a bit meddlesome."

"Please speak, my lord."

"I have been by His Majesty's side for decades, and this is the first time I have seen him care so much for a subject."

Li Fei was silent upon hearing this.

Feng Cheng finally said: "I hope the Marquis of Jing'an will think thrice before acting, and not fail the Emperor's grace."

Li Fei bowed to him: "Many thanks, Eunuch Feng."

Feng Cheng returned the bow earnestly.

The two parted ways there.

After leaving the Imperial City, Li Fei first went to the headquarters of the Inspection Pavilion.

He did not have any ideas for a solution for the time being, so he intended to go find He Jian first to ask about the situation with the night-shining.

Had the other party's oath technique been resolved?

Has the assassination case at the Altar of Heaven been accounted for?

Most importantly, did they confess about Xu Jing?

"Greetings, Marquis of Jing'an."

After Li Fei arrived at the headquarters of the Inspectorate Pavilion, he was quickly recognized.

"Is He Jian here?"

Li Fei asked.

"Lord He? He should be out on official business."

"Then is Pavilion Master Lou here?"

"Pavilion Master Lou is here."

"Good, thank you."

After thanking them, Li Fei walked directly toward Lou Hongtao's office pavilion.

Along the way, he encountered many people and noticed that when they greeted him, their gazes were all strange.

Soon, Li Fei ascended to Lou Hongtao's office pavilion:

"Greetings, Pavilion Master Lou."

Lou Hongtao, who was reading through files, looked up and saw Li Fei, revealing a look of surprise:

"Marquis of Jing'an? You... are you alright?"

Li Fei smiled: "What could possibly be wrong with me?"

Lou Hongtao realized what he meant and nodded:

"It is good that you are fine."

Li Fei: "Pavilion Master Lou, I would like to ask, what was the result of the interrogation of Yezhao?"

Lou Hongtao pursed his lips: "Yezhao is dead."

"Dead?!"

Li Fei frowned, anger suddenly rising in his heart.

Lou Hongtao looked at Li Fei and recounted what had happened in the dungeon of the Law Enforcement Pavilion more than two months ago.

After listening, Li Fei remained expressionless:

"And then? What was the final result of the investigation?"

Lou Hongtao: "Yezhao died from a curse technique. The oath-bound spell he had sworn was planted with a curse from the very beginning, and in the end, he was cursed to death by the person behind the scenes casting the spell remotely."

"Huh?"

Li Fei let out a dry laugh and asked quite bluntly:

"Then why didn't they curse him sooner or later, but chose to cast the curse only after Yezhao was sent into the dungeon of the Law Enforcement Pavilion? If I recall correctly, the defensive array of that dungeon was set up by the Imperial Preceptor, right? What kind of curse technique can break through an array set up by a True Monarch?"

Lou Hongtao did not take offense at Li Fei's tone.

Yezhao was an important witness that Li Fei had brought back from the Tomb of Heavenly Water after risking his life, yet the Inspectorate Pavilion had failed to guard him well.

Li Fei certainly had the right to lose his temper.

"The people from the New Heaven Society worked from the inside and outside. They first made a move on Yezhao inside the dungeon, and combined with the sorcerer outside casting the spell remotely, they finally managed to curse Yezhao to death."

Lou explained patiently: "Although curse techniques can be cast over long distances, there are distance limitations. The reason they didn't act at first is likely because it was beyond the casting range, or perhaps the New Heaven Society had not yet confirmed whether Yezhao had defected, and they might have still held onto the idea of rescuing him.

But as Yezhao was escorted back to the capital and cooperated with the Law Enforcement Pavilion to lift the oath-bound spell on his body, the New Heaven Society finally developed the intent to kill, and their sorcerer had also entered the casting range."

Li Fei looked at Lou Hongtao: "Working from the inside and outside—who was the inside man?"

"A Great Mage of the Possession Realm responsible for handling the body tissues of exotic beasts in the Law Enforcement Pavilion. He tampered with the room separated from Yezhao's cell by only a wall in advance, and set up the materials for casting the curse."

"Did none of the True Persons in the Law Enforcement Pavilion notice?"

"These materials were mixed into the unprocessed body tissues of exotic beasts, and their aura was masked."

"And this was enough to curse a peak Dao Foundation martial artist to death through an array set up by a True Monarch?"

Li Fei still felt that something was wrong.

Although Yezhao had been severely injured by him, he had not been crippled; his mental strength was still at the peak of the Dao Foundation realm, and he possessed 'Dragon Might,' a core-level extraordinary ability that could resist sorcery.

With the protection of a great array, what kind of sorcery could curse him to death directly?

"The seed of the curse was planted in his mind beforehand, and materials that could trigger the curse were placed near him. Furthermore, the great array set up by the Imperial Preceptor was not primarily designed to defend against sorcery.

Of course, the most critical point is that the sorcerer who acted in the shadows must be a top-tier True Person whose natal magic treasure possesses curse-type divine abilities!"

Lou Hongtao said in a deep voice.

"A top-tier True Person?"

Li Fei's pupils contracted.

He immediately thought of the New Heaven Society's plot within the Tomb of Heavenly Water.

Besides killing him, there was also the acquisition of the soul core of the eighth-rank Heavenly Water Azure Soul Beast.

He had thought at the time that the New Heaven Society was likely acquiring this item to refine a top-tier magic treasure.

And only a top-tier True Person could possibly wield such a magic treasure.

A sorcerer can possess many magic treasures, but they can have at most one or two natal magic treasures; very few gifted sorcerers can possess four or five.

Only a natal magic treasure can give birth to divine abilities.

If one simply uses high-grade implants combined with top-quality materials, no matter how powerful the refined magic treasure is, it cannot be considered a top-tier magic treasure.

Therefore, regarding the New Heaven Society's plot for the soul core of the eighth-rank Heavenly Water Azure Soul Beast, Li Fei felt that there might be a top-tier True Person behind it who wanted to refine a new natal magic treasure or enhance their own.

Now, this speculation had been confirmed.

"According to the judgment of the Law Enforcement Pavilion, this top-tier True Person's attainments in sorcery are extremely high, already very close to the level of Dao principles, likely only half a step away from the True One Realm."

Lou Hongtao said with some gravity.

"The True One Realm..."

Li Fei's gaze sharpened.

The True Spirit Realm corresponds to True Persons and top-tier True Persons, while the True One Realm corresponds to True Monarchs!

"Only half a step away from the True One Realm, plotting for the soul core of an eighth-rank exotic beast... Could it be that the top-tier True Person of the New Heaven Society wants to use the soul core to seek a breakthrough?"

This thought suddenly occurred to Li Fei.

The core divine ability of the eighth-rank Heavenly Water Azure Soul Beast involves the soul, or rather, the mental consciousness.

And curse techniques also involve mental consciousness; the two must share some commonalities.

That was why Li Fei guessed that the top-tier True Person might want to use the soul core, which contains fragments of Dao principles, to seek an opportunity for a breakthrough.

If that were truly the case, wouldn't the New Heaven Society hate him to death?

If a True Monarch were to truly emerge in the New Heaven Society, the landscape of this world might really be changed by them.

A True Monarch proficient in curse techniques—the deterrent power is too great!

"More than two months have passed; are there any new developments now?"

Li Fei's inner anger subsided, and he asked calmly.

Since the person was already dead, there was no point in venting his anger on anyone else; it was better to ask about something practical.

When the martial arts master You Ming made a move, his background was uncovered; a top-tier True Person only half a step away from a True Monarch couldn't have just appeared out of thin air, right?

"There are currently three suspects: first, Bei Wan, a former True Person of the Law Enforcement Pavilion who defected from the imperial court thirteen years ago; second, the rogue sorcerer Han Jinpeng; and third, the sect master of the Curse Spirit Sect who has been missing for over twenty years. The natal magic treasures of all three individuals possess curse-type divine abilities, and all have the potential to have ascended to top-tier True Persons."

Lou Hongtao said, "Currently, He Jian is leading people to investigate. Although the New Heaven Society killed Yezhao, they also exposed more clues. He Jian has already achieved some results; during this period, he has captured eleven secret agents planted by the New Heaven Society within the Six Pavilions! Give him some time, and I believe he will not disappoint."

The image of that white-haired old man with eyes like a hawk appeared in Li Fei's mind, and he nodded:

"Since the New Heaven Society possesses such a True Person of the curse path, is it possible for the opponent to act directly against Lord He? Does the Inspectorate Pavilion have any precautions?"

Yezhao was cursed to death even with a great array guarding him; He Jian's cultivation was even lower, so Li Fei could not help but worry for him.

"We have already prepared items for He Jian to resist sorcery. Unless the opponent acts directly in person, if they only try to curse him remotely through some personal items, they certainly won't be able to kill He Jian."

Lou Hongtao said.

After all, He Jian had not been planted with a curse seed.

"The Marquis of Jing'an can also go to the Law Enforcement Pavilion to collect a protective talisman. This is a standard-issue talisman that the Law Enforcement Pavilion has just refined recently, and officials of the Six Pavilions have all collected one."

Lou Hongtao said to Li Fei.

This is the terrifying aspect of a True Person of the curse path: killing invisibly, forcing people to be on guard.

"Good, thank you for the reminder."

Li Fei nodded, stood up, and took his leave.

Since the case was being investigated step by step, he did not intend to interfere further; professional matters should be left to the professionals.

What he needed to consider next was still 'refining the body as a magic treasure.'

Walking out of the Inspectorate Pavilion headquarters, Li Fei did not go to the Law Enforcement Pavilion to collect the talisman, but instead returned directly to his own residence.

This residence was granted to him by the Emperor at the time he was enfeoffed as a Marquis before the throne.

Since obtaining the residence, Li Fei had not lived in it for many days.

Previously, when he and Qin Zhen arrived in Lanling City, he had let Qin Zhen live in this residence for a period of time.

Later, when he entered the Imperial Library, he sent a message to Qin Zhen, asking him to return to Datong Prefecture first.

After all, a martial arts master, who was also the vice-chancellor of the Martial Arts University, could not keep guarding him forever.

Now, Li Fei's residence was still empty.

He did not hire servants or a steward to manage the residence for him because he was worried that when he was not in Lanling City, the people in the residence would cause trouble using his name.

There were too many precedents for such things in Lanling City.

Arriving outside his residence, Li Fei looked up and saw four large characters written on the door plaque—Marquis of Jing'an's Mansion.

Walking up the steps, Li Fei took out the key, opened the main gate, and walked inside.

"Once Lu Wen and the others are transferred from the Stop-Arms Pavilion to the Inspection Pavilion, have them arrange for people I can trust to manage the residence for me, and incidentally act as my eyes and ears within Lanling City."

Looking at the empty residence, Li Fei thought to himself.

It was necessary for him to establish his own information channels within Lanling City.

Closing the gate, Li Fei passed through the front and middle courtyards, entered the back courtyard, and walked into a room.

This room was filled with several tables, and on the tables were many bottles and jars, as well as some medicinal herbs.

This was the "laboratory" Li Fei had prepared for himself; he had previously researched the "Ghost Spring" poison he took himself here.

"If only I could conduct experiments again and again to test the 'physical properties' of the Blood Soul; even if I don't know the 'physical properties' of the Blood Soul, I could test them out bit by bit."

Looking at the "laboratory" before him, such a thought occurred to Li Fei.

Unfortunately, one only has one body, and it cannot be used to conduct experiments multiple times.

As for using other living people for experiments, to say nothing of the fact that Li Fei could not cross that moral bottom line, other living people did not have Blood Souls in their bodies.

"If only I could restore my body after finishing an experiment."

Li Fei muttered.

The refining of the body fundamentally changes the body's tissues and is not a form of injury, so the Myriad Blood Bead could not restore it.

Once the refining begins, there is no turning back.

"If it were Master, would he choose to recultivate?"

Li Fei suddenly thought of Hao Yi.

Because Hao Yi had also faced the problem of recultivation back then.

"Wait a minute!"

Li Fei's body trembled as he suddenly remembered something:

"When Master recultivated his martial arts, he didn't destroy his Dao foundation and start over; he restored all his implants to their initial state. Since implants can be restored to their initial state, can other body tissues be as well?"

Back then, in order to recultivate his martial arts, Hao Yi had sought a supreme technique from Baoyun Temple—the Five-Phase Reverse Wheel Method.

This unique skill was originally used for error correction; if any mistakes occurred during the growth of an implant, the Five-Phase Reverse Wheel Method could be used to restore it to its state from a few days prior.

But relying on his own talent and intelligence, Hao Yi made significant changes and innovations to this unique skill, allowing it to restore implants all the way back to their initial state.

After Hao Yi died, Master Yun Shen, in his capacity as the abbot of Baoyun Temple, passed this unique skill on to Li Fei.

At first, Li Fei had not thought of using the Five-Phase Reverse Wheel Method to solve the problem with his Dao foundation, because his Dao foundation was different from Hao Yi's situation back then; it was not severely damaged, but rather the balance had been broken by the integration of the Heavenly Water Soul Bone.

In such a situation, the Five-Phase Reverse Wheel Method was useless.

But now, Li Fei suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of something:

What if he didn't use the Five-Phase Reverse Wheel Method to restore his implants, but instead used it to restore his own body tissues?

He could first use his body tissues to refine artifacts, and if he refined them incorrectly, he could use the Five-Phase Reverse Wheel Method to restore them to their initial state, repeating this process.

This way, he could conduct experiments repeatedly!

The more Li Fei thought about it, the more he felt this plan was feasible.

Although he had never practiced the version of the Five-Phase Reverse Wheel Method that Hao Yi had modified, since this unique skill could reverse implants fused with the body, it must, in principle, also be able to reverse other tissues of the human body.

"Master, is it your spirit in heaven protecting me?"

Li Fei walked out of the room and looked up at the sky.

At this very moment, he suddenly missed Hao Yi very much.

PS: The foreshadowing buried in the second volume has finally been used~

Asking for monthly tickets.

(End of chapter)