Chapter 747: Once This Sword Is Drawn, Ten Thousand Swords Fall Silent

The dungeon at the headquarters of the Stop-Arms Pavilion is specifically used to detain martial artists who have committed offenses.

From the iron bars and chains of the cells to the floors and ceilings, this dungeon is infused with special materials that can effectively withstand the impact of a martial artist's power.

The dungeon is divided into three levels; the first level holds martial artists of the Body-Breaking and Qi-Transformation realms.

The second level holds martial artists of the Dao-Foundation realm.

As for the third level, it is rumored to be used for detaining Martial Arts Masters.

But for so many years, the third-level dungeon has barely been used a few times in total.

Because the number of Martial Arts Masters is inherently scarce, and they are either in high positions or highly respected, it is very, very rare for them to end up in a situation where they need to go to prison.

Even if a Martial Arts Master truly commits a capital crime, as long as it does not involve something as egregious as treason, the imperial court will always give the Martial Arts Master a chance to redeem themselves through service, such as carrying out dangerous missions or going to the battlefield to kill the enemy.

To a certain extent, once one becomes a Martial Arts Master, one is essentially beyond the constraints of the law!

In a cell on the second level of the dungeon, Xi Yuchen sat cross-legged, practicing his arts.

Normally, martial artists who enter this dungeon would have their movements restricted by shackles and be required to take drugs like Qi-Dispersing Pills regularly.

But there were no such measures on Xi Yuchen, nor was he required to take any medication.

Not only could he practice in peace within the cell, but he could even obtain sufficient cultivation resources.

Being able to have such treatment was naturally because of the Prince Cheng Estate.

The Stop-Arms Pavilion and the Military Secretariat have many collaborations, and all official martial masters are obligated to be conscripted by the military to fight alongside the army.

Some martial artists who want to rise quickly and win fame will even choose to take the initiative to serve in the military.

And some powerhouses in the military, after retiring, will also enter the Stop-Arms Pavilion to serve and be assigned to local posts.

Therefore, these two departments with real power are often of the same mind and stance.

As one of the four Provincial Military Commanders of the Military Secretariat and the commander of the Northern Frontier forces, Prince Cheng's influence on the Stop-Arms Pavilion goes without saying.

Currently, many members of the Stop-Arms Pavilion have juniors in their families performing missions in the Northern Frontier border army, relying on Prince Cheng's care.

So when Xi Yuchen, a guest advisor to the Prince Cheng Estate, was locked in the Stop-Arms Pavilion's dungeon, there were plenty of people to look after him.

Rather than saying he was locked in prison for three months, it was more like he had changed to a place where no one would disturb his closed-door cultivation for three months.

Footsteps suddenly came from outside the cell.

A moment later, an official martial master guarding the dungeon stood outside Xi Yuchen's cell and called out softly in a respectful voice:

"Mr. Xi."

Xi Yuchen slowly opened his eyes: "What is it?"

"You may leave the prison."

The official martial master said with a smile.

"Oh?"

Xi Yuchen raised an eyebrow.

Having severely injured an imperial official, even if He Jian was not well-liked and the Prince Cheng Estate had pulled strings for him, three months in prison should have been served in full.

"Why?"

"That Lord He wrote a letter of understanding and has already submitted it to the Stop-Arms Pavilion, so your remaining sentence has been waived, and you can be released early."

"He Jian wrote a letter of understanding?"

Xi Yuchen found it incredible.

"Yes, I suppose he finally gave in."

The official martial master said while opening the cell door.

Xi Yuchen recalled the old man he had severely injured with a single sword strike, lying on the ground.

At the time, the old man's eyes did not look like those of someone who would give in.

He shook his head and stopped thinking about it.

In any case, there are many people in this world with stiff bones, but not everyone can hold out to the end under the weight of power.

He Jian was probably just another person who chose to kneel.

With this thought in mind, Xi Yuchen walked out of the cell.

Soon, he retrieved his sword and some personal belongings, walking out of the dungeon feeling refreshed.

An official of the Stop-Arms Pavilion personally escorted Xi Yuchen out of the headquarters gate.

The reason for being so polite to Xi Yuchen was not only because of his status as a guest advisor to the Prince Cheng Estate, but also because Xi Yuchen had made it onto the main list of the Wind and Cloud Ranking.

Over the years, at least half of the Dao-Foundation realm martial artists who made it onto this list have broken through to become Martial Arts Masters!

Befriending Xi Yuchen now might mean befriending a future Martial Arts Master.

"My lord, please stay your step."

Xi Yuchen cupped his hands in a salute to the official, then turned and left with his sword.

Amidst the heavy snow, he did not take a tram or a tricycle, but walked back to the Prince Cheng Estate on foot.

The wind and snow came head-on, but not a single snowflake could land on Xi Yuchen.

He walked through the wind and snow, yet remained independent from this world shrouded by the storm.

At one moment, he suddenly stopped, extended his right hand, and turned his palm upward.

A pure white snowflake drifted onto his palm.

He looked at the snowflake in his hand, lost in thought.

Just like that, he stood on the street for a long time, motionless.

Soon, he turned into a 'snowman'.

Passersby on the street saw this scene and only took a few extra looks at Xi Yuchen; no one came forward to ask questions.

There are too many martial artists in Moyuncheng; with a sword in his hand, Xi Yuchen must also be a martial artist, so some strange behavior was nothing.

The wind and snow grew heavier, and Xi Yuchen stood still in the blizzard for over an hour.

At one moment, a vast momentum suddenly descended upon the street.

In an instant, the footsteps of pedestrians, the conversations in shops, the burning of charcoal in stoves, and the sound of falling snow—all noisy sounds disappeared.

Everything was deathly silent!

The wind stopped, the snowflakes stopped dancing, and they hung suspended in the air, one by one.

Everyone on the entire street felt a strong sense of heart palpitations and looked around in astonishment.

Covered in white snow and having not moved for over an hour, Xi Yuchen suddenly moved.

The white snow on his body melted and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Then, with him as the center, the snow on the ground, on the awnings of the shops on both sides, on the roofs, and even the snowflakes in the air, all melted!

A few seconds later, there was no trace of white snow left on this street, turning it into an abrupt black line in a world of white.

A brilliant smile bloomed on Xi Yuchen's face.

He began learning the sword at age 6, received an implant at 17, and cultivated to the Body-Breaking realm within a year, becoming an official martial artist.

At 18, he took first place in a Body-Breaking level martial arts tournament in Moyuncheng, caught the eye of the Prince Cheng Estate, and became one of their people from then on.

He reached the Qi-Transformation realm at 20 and became a Dao-Foundation realm martial artist at 27.

Xi Yuchen is 35 years old this year and is already at the peak of the Dao-Foundation realm.

When he activated four core-level extraordinary abilities and reached the 7th tier of combat power, he could rival experts above the 7th tier by relying on his extraordinary swordsmanship.

After activating his 5th core-level extraordinary ability, he entered the candidate list for the Wind and Cloud Ranking, and now he has even entered the main list.

Over the past dozen years, he has publicly dueled with others in Moyuncheng eleven times, without a single defeat.

And what truly made him famous was not his combat record, but a comment from a Deputy Pavilion Master of the Stop-Arms Pavilion:

"This child has excellent comprehension of the sword and is a natural swordsman. His rise in realm may not be fast, but his improvement in swordsmanship is worth looking forward to."

According to the "Theory of Heaven's Pride," Xi Yuchen breaking through to the Dao-Foundation realm before the age of 30 qualifies him as a heaven's pride.

And such a speed of breaking through realms is far inferior to the speed of his improvement in swordsmanship!

The Deputy Pavilion Master of the Stop-Arms Pavilion who commented on Xi Yuchen is also a grandmaster of the sword; for him to say "worth looking forward to" is enough to show Xi Yuchen's talent for the sword.

That is why Xi Yuchen was able to stand out in a place like Moyuncheng, which has tens of thousands of martial artists, and become a famous swordsman.

Spending two months in prison and encountering this heavy snow upon coming out allowed Xi Yuchen to have another realization.

Just now, in the heavy snow, he realized another sword strike.

This strike only used half a move, yet it cleared the wind and snow from an entire street!

Xi Yuchen felt completely fulfilled at this moment, one step closer to that threshold.

"Who would have thought that a misfortune could turn into a blessing."

He walked down the street with a smile on his face.

A prison term had affected his state of mind, ultimately leading to a chance improvement in his swordsmanship.

This made Xi Yuchen even want to thank He Jian.

"If I have one or two more such epiphanies, I should be able to break through."

With this good mood, he walked all the way to the gate of the Prince Cheng Estate.

He had stayed on the street for over an hour earlier, and then cleared the wind and snow from an entire street.

Such a big commotion had long since attracted the attention of many people.

The news of 'Xi Yuchen realizing the sword in the snow' was spreading rapidly through the city.

When he arrived at the gate of the Prince Cheng Estate, the estate steward, Xi Ran, was waiting for him with a group of servants, wearing a smile.

Just as Xi Yuchen intended to enter the estate, a harsh screeching sound suddenly came from the street corner.

Xi Yuchen turned his head to look and saw a black car turn the corner, then drive straight toward him at an extremely fast speed!

He watched the approaching car with a calm expression, and through the window, he could clearly see the driver sitting in the driver's seat.

It was a middle-aged man; judging by the aura on his body, he was a Foundation Establishment martial artist!

Xi Yuchen, who had just made a breakthrough, did not dodge, but turned to face the oncoming car head-on.

The car was getting closer and closer to him, its speed not decreasing in the slightest.

When the front of the car was only five meters away from Xi Yuchen, the license plate at the very front suddenly split from the middle, followed by the hood, the crack spreading all the way to the front windshield.

It was as if an invisible sword had split the car down the middle; the car body was sliced into two halves!

Lü Wenxing leaped out of the car in a somewhat disheveled state, dodging this "sword."

He looked down at the hem of his clothes; a piece had been cut off. If he had dodged any slower, it wouldn't have just been his sleeve that was lost.

This sword strike from Xi Yuchen had made him clearly feel the massive gap between them.

Facing that invisible sword Qi just now, his protective internal energy had been like paper!

But instead of being frightened, Lü Wenxing pointed at Xi Yuchen's nose and cursed:

"Are you fucking blind? Don't you know how to get out of the way?"

A flash of anger crossed Xi Yuchen's eyes.

It had been a long time since he had been cursed at like this.

"You broke my car, pay up!"

Lü Wenxing walked toward Xi Yuchen as he spoke.

"Who are you, sir?"

The Prince's Mansion steward, Xi Ran, only then reacted and asked.

But Lü Wenxing ignored him, strode up to Xi Yuchen, and reached out to push him:

"I'm fucking talking to you!"

Xi Yuchen's gaze turned cold, and he pressed a palm toward Lü Wenxing's chest, a surge of overwhelming force slamming into Lü Wenxing.

*Swish—*

Lü Wenxing flew out like a cannonball, crashing heavily into the ground and kicking up a large spray of snowflakes.

"Pfft—"

After landing, Lü Wenxing spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

Xi Yuchen was stunned at the sight.

That palm strike of his looked fierce, but in reality, he had used soft force, which shouldn't have been able to hurt anyone at all.

Regardless, a Foundation Establishment cultivator who suddenly appeared could not be underestimated, and he was not yet at the point of injuring people without understanding the situation.

But Lü Wenxing had just spat blood and collapsed like that, looking severely injured.

"Audacious!!"

A thunderous voice resounded through the long street:

"How dare you severely injure an imperial official in the middle of the street?!"

Everyone looked toward the corner of the street, and a golden figure entered their view.

Xi Ran, standing at the entrance of the Prince's Mansion, widened his eyes, recognizing the newcomer:

"Jing—"

He had barely uttered one word before it was drowned out by a massive, piercing shriek.

This sound echoed between heaven and earth, extremely sharp, as if countless sharp swords were rapidly shuttling through the air, tearing it apart!

This was Li Fei moving at high speed; he had crossed a distance of a hundred meters in an instant.

A straight vacuum channel appeared amidst the accumulated snow on the ground and the snowflakes dancing in the sky!

Xi Yuchen's eyes lit up completely; he already knew who the newcomer was.

Not only was he not afraid, but he felt excited.

He had heard the rumors about Li Fei, and because he was at the Prince Cheng Mansion, he knew more of the inside story.

He knew that Li Fei's cultivation had indeed run into problems and that he was attempting to solve it through dual cultivation of martial arts and spiritual energy.

Before the problem was solved, Li Fei's combat power might be far inferior to before!

This gave Xi Yuchen the courage to fight him.

Especially since he had just realized a new sword technique today, and his cultivation and combat power had improved, he was now more confident than ever!

Without seeing how he moved, the snowflakes dancing around him all froze in mid-air.

Then he drew his sword from its sheath.

The clear ringing sound instantly resounded through the long street and the entire Prince's Mansion, piercing into people's hearts and lungs, causing them to feel a chill, as if they were about to be pierced by a sharp sword!

The bright sword light became the only brilliance amidst the flying snow; as the sword light moved forward, all the frozen snowflakes moved along with it.

The wind and snow had come alive!

Or rather, the wind and snow filling the sky were all being driven by this one sword strike.

This sword strike seemed to have leveraged the power of heaven and earth!

Dao Force—【Flying Snow Covers the Sky, Leaning on a Long Sword】!

This was a new sword technique Xi Yuchen had realized, making improvements on the basis of his original Dao Force to make it more consistent with his own sword heart, internal force, and blood energy.

Facing an unprecedentedly strong enemy, he was also stimulated to his full potential, unleashing the most peak, most vigorous sword strike of his life!

In terms of sword Dao alone, with this sword, Xi Yuchen was indeed qualified to be proud.

When this sword was truly unleashed, there was only a hundred meters left between the two.

But they were now separated by a world of flying snow!

Xi Yuchen watched Li Fei confidently, waiting for the other party to crash headlong into his "world."

Within this "world," he had the confidence to use his sword to face any opponent within the Foundation Establishment realm!

But the next instant, his expression changed.

From his entrance until now, Li Fei's momentum had been astonishing enough.

But when Li Fei truly began to display his power, Xi Yuchen realized that the previous displays were just Li Fei saying "hello" to him.

If the other party had intended to ambush him, this fight would already be over.

But the other party clearly wouldn't do such a thing; this Marquis of Jing'an intended to crush him in a straightforward, upright manner!

The explosive sound of the sword ringing instantly drowned out all other sounds!

Xi Yuchen widened his eyes; Li Fei's figure had vanished from his sight, replaced by a sword.

A peerless, unparalleled sword!

The long sword in Xi Yuchen's hand stopped vibrating and could no longer make any sound.

In all of heaven and earth, there could only be the sound of one sword!

Once this sword appeared, ten thousand swords fell silent!

The entire world of flying snow was instantly torn apart, and a clear path of the sword appeared.

Hundreds of sword Qi collapsed one after another.

By the time Xi Yuchen reacted, that peerless sword had already arrived before him!

This sword was simply too fast, so fast that Xi Yuchen hadn't even been able to see how it had passed through his world of flying snow.

In a trance, this swordsman who had once been famous in Lanling City had an epiphany:

This is what a sword is!

A true sword!

*Boom—*

With a loud explosion, the entire long street shook violently.

Xi Yuchen's protective internal energy was torn apart, and he was sent flying, crashing into the snow just like Lü Wenxing before him, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

He looked up with a dazed and terrified expression.

There was no precious sword; Li Fei himself was standing in the spot where he had just been.

The next second, a heart-wrenching pain struck.

Xi Yuchen let out a painful cry, only then discovering that both of his legs were broken!

"Ah—"

He let out a miserable howl in the snow, looking extremely helpless.

Hearing Xi Yuchen's screams, Xi Ran, who was standing at the gate of the Prince's Mansion, finally reacted.

He turned his head to look, only to see Xi Yuchen lying in the snow, his legs bent, revealing ghastly white bones, and blood quickly staining the snow red.

His expression changed drastically; he first turned to instruct his subordinates to notify the Heir Apparent, then braced himself to face Li Fei outside the gate:

"This humble one is the head steward of the Prince Cheng Mansion, Xi Ran, greetings to the Marquis of Jing'an!"

Li Fei turned to look at Xi Ran.

If he had been like a lifeless block of iron when he went to see He Jian before.

Then he was now a peerless divine sword, his sharpness fully exposed!

Xi Ran only glanced up once before feeling as if his eyes were about to bleed!

He dared not approach, bowing with cupped hands, lowering his head and smiling apologetically:

"This person is a guest advisor of the Prince's Mansion. I do not know why the Marquis suddenly struck and injured him; is there perhaps some misunderstanding here?"

"There is no misunderstanding."

Li Fei's tone was cold and hard, "This person committed violence in broad daylight, injuring an imperial official who is also my colleague. I, the Marquis, happened to be passing by, so I took action to stop him."

Xi Ran's expression stiffened, and he glanced at Lu Wen, who was still lying in the snow:

"Marquis, just now it was this lord who drove over and rammed into us first, our guest elder only struck out in self-defense."

"Are you implying that this Marquis has wronged him?"

The gaze Li Fei cast upon Xi Ran grew a degree colder.

Xi Ran's body trembled, feeling that if he said one more word, he might be torn to pieces!

"Since you feel that this Marquis has wronged him, then report it to the authorities."

Li Fei said indifferently.

Outside the main gate of the Prince Cheng Mansion, Li Fei sat on a chair, closing his eyes to rest his mind, with Lu Wen standing by his side.

Not far away was the car cut into two halves and parts scattered all over the ground.

Dozens of meters away, there was also a shocking pool of blood.

Xi Yuchen, whose legs were broken, lay on a stretcher, and two physicians from the mansion were treating him.

Given his injuries, he should have been sent indoors for treatment, but Li Fei did not let him leave, so he could only remain at the scene.

Xi Ran stood to the side with a grave expression.

The Heir of Prince Cheng had not yet appeared.

Li Fei was reviewing the battle that had just occurred.

The opponent's strength was not weak; if it were him before his Dao foundation had issues, to defeat Xi Yuchen in one move, he would have had to enter the 'Blood Demon State', first using the maximum power of 【Blood Might Divine】, then using the extreme 【Blood Rage】 combined with the Vajra Seal · Dragon Elephant to unleash Dao power, only then would he have a chance.

Calculating it this way, it would have been more than one move.

But just now, he had indeed used only one move!

During the few months of seclusion, first, the Ten Thousand Blood Bead had been continuously acquiring energy, leveling up three times, increasing by a total of 186 blood souls.

Of course, this was not the most important thing.

Drawing on the weapon-refining plans in the secret manual and relying on the 'Five Phases Inversion Method' to try and fail time after time, Li Fei finally groped his way to a flying sword refining method suitable for himself.

After integrating the spatial attribute 【Void Trace】, he successively integrated two more spatial attribute implants, five metal attribute implants, and three fire attribute implants.

Adding the original 【Illusion Leaf】, this time in refining the weapon, Li Fei integrated a total of twelve spell-type implants!

The refining of a magic treasure is different from a martial artist's Dao foundation; it does not require the five elements to be complete, nor does it require five types of implants.

Some require as few as two types of implants, while others require even more than a dozen!

Li Fei had the Ten Thousand Blood Bead on him and possessed powerful vitality, so naturally, he had to pursue the best.

The former dynasty Martial Saint Bai Zihao wrote in the secret manual that the flying sword refining method is divided into three grades: upper, middle, and lower:

The lower-grade refining method integrates five types of implants.

The middle-grade refining method integrates nine types of implants.

The upper-grade refining method integrates twelve types of implants.

Li Fei chose the upper-grade refining method without hesitation!

Twelve lower-three-grade spell-type implants, using his own flesh and blood as 'material', plus some auxiliary materials for weapon refining, and most importantly, integrating the 'material' of blood souls, which had never been used before.

Finally, he successfully refined a flying sword.

Or rather, Li Fei successfully refined himself into a flying sword body!

The improvement brought by the flying sword body was comprehensive, and the most intuitive manifestation was the blood souls.

When the flying sword body was refined, Li Fei's physique was greatly enhanced, increasing by more than 600 blood souls at once!

【Ten Thousand Blood Bead

Level: Level 33, 11%

Blood Souls: 974 (1951)

Blood Soul Skills: Blood Rage (Strong), Blood Fiend (Strong), Blood Might (Strong), Blood Spring (Strong), Blood Breath (Extreme)

Transformation Skill: Blood Demon (Strong)】

This was an unprecedented improvement; Li Fei's total number of blood souls reached 1951, just a little short of exceeding 2000!

When the total number of blood souls exceeded 1500, he once again obtained an opportunity to strengthen a blood soul skill.

However, this time he did not rush to make a choice, but instead kept this strengthening opportunity in his hands.

When the sword body was refined, the spell and martial arts automatically completed their fusion.

The power of spells perfectly merged with the power of the martial Dao, and Li Fei finally possessed external force to influence the Heavenly Water Soul Bone integrated into his Dao foundation.

It was just that this Heavenly Water Soul Bone belonged to a seventh-grade implant, and a flying sword body refined solely from lower-three-grade implants was not yet enough to fully pry it loose.

However, Li Fei was not anxious, because he had already passed the most difficult hurdle.

On the chair, Li Fei opened his eyes.

Several cars drove into the street where the Prince Cheng Mansion was located.

At the same time, the Heir of Prince Cheng, Qin Ziyu, also walked out of the mansion gate.

Li Fei slowly stood up.

(End of this chapter)