Chapter 758: Transcendence, Fate

In the valley, the dazzling golden light faded away.

Dozens of hidden sentries and guards scattered throughout the area were all struck by the golden light and collapsed to the ground, unable to rise.

Because the situation was temporarily unclear, Li Fei intentionally controlled the force of his strikes, not killing these people outright.

After his mental power reached the "Spirit-Connecting Realm," his Dao strength level had naturally broken through to the Wish-Fulfilling Realm, allowing him to manipulate his force with perfect ease, thereby knocking down dozens of people in a single move while leaving them injured but alive.

"Who goes there?!"

A sharp shout rang out.

The scar-faced man who had previously traded with Tuo Su held a large saber and charged toward this side with a murderous look on his face.

Besides him, three others also surrounded the area.

"Four Dao Foundation Realm cultivators?"

Li Fei raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

Dao Foundation Realm martial artists are not exactly a dime a dozen, as can be seen from the number of people who joined the Blue Patrol Pavilion from each province this time.

If Feng Province did not have two universities, the total number of Dao Foundation Realm martial artists in the entire province would not even reach 80.

That four Dao Foundation Realm martial artists could appear in such an ordinary valley was truly too abnormal!

The scar-faced man charged the fastest; the force of the 【Infinite Radiant Fire】 move just now had been too dispersed to pose any threat to him, and since he did not know that dozens of martial artists in the valley had already been knocked down simultaneously, he was still unaware of Li Fei's terror.

Instantly covering a distance of dozens of meters, the scar-faced man held his large saber high with both hands and delivered a simple downward slash.

Earth-yellow saber energy surged from the blade, descending upon Li Fei like an overwhelming tide.

The surrounding air rapidly solidified, turning into iron walls, and a heavy, mountain-like pressure bore down from above.

The earth beneath his feet seemed to come alive at this moment, turning into a giant beast waiting to devour him, opening its maw to swallow Li Fei whole.

Dao Strength—【Earth Beast】!

The scar-faced man was a 6th-tier Dao Foundation Realm martial artist; although he had not reached above the 7th tier, he could barely manifest Dao strength, and combined with his two core-level extraordinary abilities, the power of this 【Earth Beast】 move was not to be underestimated.

Li Fei stood calmly in place, the soil beneath his feet sinking, and a faint golden light radiated from his body.

The force coming from all directions twisted and squeezed together fiercely, intending to crush Li Fei and press him into the ground.

A series of sparks flew, and to the scar-faced man's astonishment, Li Fei stood there completely unharmed.

Li Fei lifted his right foot and performed a stomping motion.

BOOM!!!

The earth shook violently.

The pit in the ground became deeper, and the scar-faced man lost sight of Li Fei in an instant.

A strong sense of crisis arose in his heart; relying on instinct, he turned sideways, retracted his saber, and assumed a defensive stance.

The next second, his protective force was struck.

Only then did the scar-faced man see clearly that what had struck him was a golden palm.

He hurriedly channeled his force, intending to divert Li Fei's power into the earth beneath his feet.

He primarily cultivated high-tier earth-attribute force, which was actually better suited for defense than offense.

However, before his force could begin to circulate, that golden palm, in the posture of a hand-blade, cleaved through his protective force with unstoppable momentum!

Too fast! Too sharp!

Subsequently, the hand-blade struck the large saber in the scar-faced man's hand.

This large saber was a Level 4 exotic weapon; pitting flesh and blood against a Level 4 exotic weapon resulted in the saber being chipped!

The scar-faced man was terrified, immediately activating his core-level extraordinary ability "Rock Body," turning his own flesh and bones into a substance as hard as rock to withstand the incoming impact.

Massive power surged from the blade; the webbing between the scar-faced man's thumbs and forefingers split, and the large saber flew from his grasp.

Immediately following this, the golden palm flipped over, palm facing downward, and slammed heavily onto his chest.

Bang, bang, bang, bang—

A series of crisp sounds erupted from the scar-faced man's entire body, as if a giant boulder had been completely shattered, and he collapsed instantly!

He didn't even have time to divert the impact into the earth beneath his feet before his internal organs were severely damaged and ruptured.

SNAP—

With an explosive sound, another pit appeared on the ground.

The scar-faced man had been driven into the ground by Li Fei with a single hand, with only his head exposed, and he had already fainted.

The three Dao Foundation Realm martial artists charging toward this side hadn't even seen what happened; they only heard a series of explosions, and the scar-faced man, who had the strongest strength and the strongest defense among them, had been "planted" into the ground.

Their expressions changed drastically, and before they could react, Li Fei disappeared from their field of vision again.

SWISH—

The air was torn apart, and the earth was likewise torn; a straight crack appeared on the ground, and weeds and mud were swept up, forming an earth dragon that collided with one of the Dao Foundation Realm martial artists.

The next second, this person was also "planted" into the ground.

Following that was the third, then the fourth.

In the blink of an eye, all four Dao Foundation Realm martial artists had been dealt with by Li Fei.

He stopped and stretched his limbs.

From beginning to end, the Ghost-Slaying Saber had not been unsheathed; he had used only one hand to fight the enemy.

This level of combat didn't even count as a warm-up for him now.

Suddenly, a beam of starlight descended from the sky, falling toward Li Fei.

Li Fei felt something and dodged in advance, but was ultimately still struck by the starlight.

This starlight seemed like fate itself; it could not be avoided, only faced.

At this moment, Li Fei was in the Sword State: Golden Body and Jade Marrow, with his defense maxed out, yet he could not prevent the starlight from entering his body.

He frowned slightly; after the starlight entered his body, a feeling of nausea immediately arose, and the circulation of force within his body suddenly glitched, but it was quickly calmed down.

And then, there was no "then."

"That's it?"

Li Fei was stunned.

Such a profound method, which made it impossible for him to even dodge and rendered all his defenses completely ineffective, only resulted in making him feel a bit nauseous and causing a slight issue with his force circulation?

Inside the cave, Qi Jin was in the middle of a grand array set with hundreds of star stones, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

This array had used up all the star stones and was originally intended to be used to cast the "Star-Fate Insertion Technique" when Li Fei officially broke through his realm.

The commotion outside just now had alarmed Qi Jin, and relying on the connection of fate he had established with Li Fei, he immediately knew that Li Fei had found him.

Qi Jin knew that he would certainly not be a match for Li Fei in a head-on confrontation, and he also knew that the defensive forces outside would certainly not be able to stop this terrifyingly powerful Marquis of Jing'an, so he decided to go all out, fully activating the array to use the "Star-Fate Insertion Technique" on Li Fei in advance!

He wanted to forcibly disrupt Li Fei's fate and cause Li Fei to suffer qi deviation, thereby winning a glimmer of survival for himself.

Unfortunately, under normal circumstances, Li Fei's own fortune combined with the fortune of a Marquis was too difficult to shake.

Qi Jin failed to disrupt Li Fei's fate and ended up suffering the backlash himself.

He looked up in despair, only to see the heavy iron door of the cave being cleaved in half, and Li Fei, wearing the Golden-Thread Jade-Scale Armor, walking in with a leisurely gait.

Glancing at the array set up in the cave, Li Fei looked at Qi Jin:

"Will you confess clearly yourself, or shall this Marquis use some methods on you?"

Qi Jin smiled miserably:

"I am willing to confess truthfully, but some matters involve oath-based techniques that I cannot speak of; I ask the Marquis to forgive me."

As his voice fell, his vision blurred; Li Fei had already arrived before him, lifted him up with one hand, and injected a burst of force into his body, causing him to lose the ability to move.

Subsequently, Li Fei carried Qi Jin out of the cave with one hand and then moved through the valley at extreme speed, controlling all the martial artists who had been knocked down.

After finishing all this, Li Fei returned to stand before Qi Jin:

"Speak."

"I was entrusted by someone to cast a technique to interfere with your breakthrough."

Qi Jin said quite straightforwardly.

As for who entrusted him, that was obviously content he could not speak of.

Next, he informed Li Fei about the "Star-Fate Insertion Technique."

The reason he confessed this key technique so readily was mainly to demonstrate his own value and thereby save his life.

As for the matter regarding Hao Yi, Qi Jin naturally dared not mention a single word.

"Star-Fate Insertion Technique?"

After hearing Qi Jin's description, Li Fei's expression became grave.

This technique had been able to forcibly disrupt his force circulation while he was in the Sword State: Golden Body and Jade Marrow; if it were suddenly used at a critical moment when he was breaking through his realm in the future, it really might cause him to fall short of success!

Li Fei asked a few more questions, and seeing that he could not extract any key information, he decisively cast the "Gate of the Dream Realm."

After entering the Dream Realm, Li Fei first observed left and right, and after confirming there was nothing unusual, he cast a technique to conceal himself, leaving behind a false projection in place, and then entered Qi Jin's subconscious world...

A moment later, Li Fei exited the Dream Realm and looked at Qi Jin with cold eyes:

"You are trading with the Westerners?"

He had seen information related to star stones in Qi Jin's memory.

Upon hearing this, Qi Jin's pupils contracted, revealing a look of terror.

He had just felt his mind go into a trance, and a lot of information related to star stones had involuntarily surfaced in his mind; he had not expected Li Fei to know about it.

"What kind of method is this?"

Qi Jin was already a warlock who had condensed true power, and the vast majority of methods targeting the mind were difficult to take effect on him.

But he hadn't even sensed any fluctuation of techniques just now!

Qi Jin looked at Li Fei with a bit more awe: "I only know that star stones are a specialty of the Western Continent and are a treasure of the Deni Kingdom's royal family."

"Deni Kingdom?"

Li Fei realized that this matter was likely not that simple.

Back when he was in Xingcheng, he had caught Western spies collaborating with local officials, and he still remembered that they were secret agents sent by the Meijia Kingdom.

Now, he had encountered another transaction involving the royal family of the Deni Kingdom.

It seemed that although the seven Western kingdoms had been defeated back then, they had never given up on their schemes against the Great Lan Dynasty!

"These star stones were only handed to you tonight; does that mean the Westerners who traded with you are still in Lanling City?"

Li Fei asked.

Qi Jin hesitated for a moment, then pointed at the scarred man not far away:

"They traded with those Westerners tonight, and then brought the star stones to me."

Consequently, Li Fei decisively entered the Dream Realm again, then successively infiltrated the subconscious projections of the four Foundation Establishment martial artists.

These people's subconscious defenses were extremely heavy; they had clearly undergone professional training and had also been implanted with oath-bound spells to guard their secrets to the death.

However, their memories of trading with Tuso and the others last night and tonight still remained, even if some key parts—such as whom they were taking orders from, or where the martial arts manuals used for the trade came from—were sealed by the oath-bound spells.

But Li Fei could still find much important information through the fragmented memory images.

After exiting the Dream Realm, a hint of murderous intent appeared in Li Fei's eyes as he looked at the scarred man and the others.

To think they had traded so many martial arts manuals to the Westerners, even including top-tier Foundation Establishment legacies and peerless martial arts!

He had witnessed the wolfish ambitions of the Western nations with his own eyes while in Xingcheng, and now, seeing that the Deni Kingdom had even sent royal family members to the Great Lan Dynasty to carry out secret missions, he was even more certain that there would inevitably be a war between the two continents in the future!

Under these circumstances, the fact that there were still people within the Great Lan Dynasty trading martial arts manuals to Westerners ignited a fire of rage in Li Fei's heart.

When the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact; once the flames of war ignited and the Great Lan Dynasty was defeated, many people he cared about would be affected.

This was something he could not tolerate!

Next, Li Fei waited on the spot while continuously exploring the subconscious minds of the people present within the Dream Realm.

Except for Qi Jin, the others were all death-sworn soldiers raised by the forces behind the scenes; counting on these people to serve as witnesses, or digging key clues out of their mouths, was basically impossible.

Moreover, besides the four Foundation Establishment martial artists, the other dozens of martial artists did not even know who they were truly serving.

They had been orphans since childhood, raised in secret at some location, and then worked for others.

Li Fei actually didn't need to ask; he could roughly guess which family these death-sworn soldiers belonged to.

To be able to raise four Foundation Establishment martial artists as death-sworn soldiers, it could only be one of those major forces with a heritage of over a hundred years. There weren't many such forces in the world, and even fewer that had a grudge against Li Fei.

More than an hour later, Lu Wenxing arrived at this valley with a team of men.

Li Fei had greeted Lu Wenxing before leaving and had taken a communication jade talisman with him.

This communication jade talisman was a standard magic treasure; they came in pairs and could be used for long-distance communication via spells within a certain range.

After dealing with the people in the valley, Li Fei used the communication jade talisman to notify Lu Wenxing to bring a team over.

"Keep a close watch on these people."

Li Fei instructed Lu Wenxing, then vanished from the spot.

He directly executed Sword State: Heaven and Earth Unbound, rushing back to Lanling City at the fastest speed.

Lu Wenxing and the others were not like Li Fei, who could completely conceal his form, so their sudden departure from the city in the middle of the night might have already alerted those hiding in the shadows.

Li Fei had to race against time now to find those Westerners before they could react!

In a basement in the outer city of Lanling City, a Westerner was using a wireless telegraph machine to send a telegram.

Beside him were stacked martial arts manuals; they were the very ones the scarred man had traded to them tonight.

However, this Westerner was only categorizing these manuals and sending out their titles and the general content involved, not the complete content of the manuals.

Although these Westerners had learned the script of the Eastern Continent, they needed to first translate the text on the manuals into Western script through their own understanding before they could send the content out.

Such translation would inevitably cause errors.

And almost every martial arts manual had corresponding diagrams, detailing the routes of force circulation; these contents could not be sent via telegram either.

Therefore, these martial arts manuals ultimately had to be physically sent away.

Sending the telegram now was just to let the rear determine how these manuals would be allocated in the future.

Tuso was sitting to the side, holding a manual and reading it.

This manual was the very peerless martial art that the scarred man had traded to him tonight.

After reading for a while, Tuso closed the manual in his hand and shook his head.

"My lord, what is wrong?"

A follower to the side asked.

"The script of these Easterners is too complex and too profound. A single character not only has many pronunciations but also many meanings; it even represents different things when used in different contexts."

Tuso frowned and said, "The more profound these martial arts manuals are, the more obscure and difficult to understand the meaning of the text becomes. Without a teacher's guidance, self-study is almost impossible; this is also the confidence they have in trading these profound martial arts to us."

The follower to the side was dismissive: "Just capture some Eastern martial artists who understand martial arts to be teachers; every country is doing this in secret."

"No, Rune, to truly practice Eastern martial arts to a profound realm, we must deeply study their culture."

Tuso sighed with emotion, "Just as they are also seriously studying and exploring our scientific technology."

"But our bloodline power is something they will never possess."

The follower named Rune said with an arrogant expression.

The Western Continent had no strange beasts, but it had "strangers," which were people born with bloodlines different from ordinary people.

These people were similar to strange beasts, possessing stronger physiques and various extraordinary abilities.

In the Western Continent, they called people born with bloodline power "Transcendents."

Many countries also regarded Transcendents as God-gifted, believing this was a gift bestowed upon humanity by the gods!

The nobles and royal families of every country were inevitably Transcendents who possessed bloodline power.

The martial artists of the Eastern Continent needed to incorporate implants postnatally and needed to cultivate diligently to possess powerful strength.

Whereas the Transcendents and God-gifted of the Western Continent were born with powerful strength; the stronger a person's bloodline, the more their power would grow with age, without needing any effort at all.

This was the source of Rune's pride.

People of the Western Continent could learn the martial arts and spells of the Eastern Continent, while the people of the Eastern Continent could never possess their bloodline power.

"Yes, so destiny is with us; we will surely rule this continent!"

A flash of fanaticism crossed Tuso's eyes.

Suddenly, his expression changed drastically, and an image appeared in his mind:

A young man wearing a golden robe was walking toward him holding a blade, and a massive sense of crisis, like a surging tidal wave, swept over him, covering the sky and earth!

The next second, this image shattered.

Tuso came back to his senses, his body secreting a large amount of sweat, and his physical strength drained away along with it!

"My lord?!"

Rune to the side was shocked, "What happened to you?"

Tuso's expression was ugly; he took a small glass bottle containing blue liquid from his bosom and drank the liquid in the bottle in one gulp.

His physical strength quickly recovered, and he muttered: "I saw destiny!"

"Destiny?"

Rune was startled.

Tuso was a member of the Deni Kingdom's royal family; the Leonard family was known as the Destiny Family, and family members were born with the extraordinary ability to perceive destiny!

The more relevant it was to oneself, and the closer the timeline of the destiny, the easier it was for members of the Leonard family to perceive it.

It was just that destiny was fickle, and human power was too insignificant, so sometimes the destiny perceived was not necessarily what would happen, but merely a possibility.

Tuso was not of the direct royal line, but his bloodline power was no weaker than some of the direct descendants, and the vast majority of the destinies he perceived were accurate.

"What kind of destiny was it?"

Rune asked with concern.

"Li Fei!"

Tuso gritted his teeth and shouted this name, saying word by word:

"This Marquis of Jing'an is coming for us!"

PS: Celebrating the festival, today's update is a little less; wishing everyone a happy Winter Solstice~

(End of chapter)