Chapter 763: Let the Heroes of the World Witness Together (6000)

Li Fei followed Lu Wen behind, the two walked into the square and sat down in their corresponding area.

Two seating areas were set up on either side of the high platform in the center of the square; the left area was for the Crown Prince, Imperial Princes, Imperial Princesses, and imperial court officials to sit.

The right area was for the martial arts masters and True Persons from various regions to sit.

Although Li Fei was also a reserve member of the Blue Patrol Pavilion, his primary status was as a Marquis of the imperial court and a Blue Patrol Special Envoy, so he walked toward the left.

The first row of this seating area was occupied by the Crown Prince and several Imperial Princes; besides the First Imperial Prince and Third Imperial Prince whom Li Fei had met, there were also three other Imperial Princes and two Imperial Princesses.

For today's rare grand event, these Imperial Princes and Princesses were all here to watch the spectacle.

"Li Fei."

Just as Li Fei intended to walk to the back rows to find a seat, the Crown Prince, who was sitting in the middle of the first row, suddenly called out to him.

"Your Highness."

Li Fei had no choice but to stop and walk toward him.

The Crown Prince smiled as he stood up and beckoned to an Imperial Princess:

"Zishu, haven't you always wanted to meet the Marquis of Jing'an? Your Imperial Brother will help introduce you today."

As his voice fell, a young and beautiful woman wearing a gold hairpin with kingfisher feathers stood up somewhat shyly and walked toward the two.

She was dressed in a long brocade skirt embroidered with intricate patterns that shimmered with light. Her eyes were as clear as autumn water, carrying an innocent and lively spirit.

"Imperial Brother, how can you introduce someone like this?"

She said with a playful reproach.

The Crown Prince laughed: "He is either busy cultivating or busy going out to fight on normal days, so how would I have the time to take you to meet him? Today is the only time that is just right."

As he spoke, he patted Li Fei's arm very casually:

"This is my Imperial Younger Sister, Qin Zishu."

"Greetings, Your Highness the Princess."

Li Fei took the initiative to bow.

He vaguely remembered that the current Empress had one son and one daughter; it seemed this Qin Zishu should be born of the Empress and was the Crown Prince's own sister, which explained the Crown Prince's attitude.

"Zishu greets the Marquis of Jing'an. I have long heard of your great name and am finally able to meet you today."

Although Qin Zishu had appeared somewhat shy just a moment ago, now that she was formally speaking with Li Fei, she appeared poised and possessed a certain grace.

Li Fei: "You are too kind, Your Highness the Princess."

"You don't know, but my Imperial Younger Sister also practices martial arts and is very talented, so she became very curious about you after hearing of your deeds."

The Crown Prince said with a smile from the side.

"Marquis of Jing'an, don't listen to his nonsense. What kind of talent do I have?"

Qin Zishu suddenly became a bit anxious.

She was indeed proud of her martial arts talent in her daily life, but how could she dare to speak of such meager talent in front of the number one prodigy in history?

"Hahahaha."

The Crown Prince laughed loudly, causing everyone in the square to look over one after another.

The First Imperial Prince, who was also sitting in the first row, sneered and turned his head away, no longer looking in this direction.

The Third Imperial Prince stared at the group with an inscrutable expression.

With the Crown Prince being so close to Li Fei in front of so many people, especially in front of the reserve members of the Blue Patrol Pavilion from every province, everyone understood the implication.

Yet, this was indeed very effective; whether it was the crowd of ministers in this area or the martial arts masters and True Persons in the opposite area, they all became thoughtful after seeing this scene.

After the three chatted for a while, Li Fei walked to the back rows and found a seat to sit down.

A moment later, both seating areas were basically full.

When the time reached 8: 0 AM sharp, the solemn sound of horns rang out.

Behind the high platform, a row of horn players stood on the city wall of the Zhengyang Gate, blowing their horns.

Then someone began to beat drums; the drumbeats grew faster and faster, as if stepping on people's heartbeats, making one's blood boil uncontrollably!

On the high platform, that huge display screen lit up, presenting the scene from the high platform.

This was the start of the nationwide live broadcast!

Very few people could watch television at home at this time; in order to let more people see this broadcast, the imperial court specifically prepared many large display screens on the streets of major cities, allowing people to go out and watch today's broadcast.

In twenty-three provinces and hundreds of cities, over three thousand display screens were currently broadcasting the referendum ceremony about to begin in this square in Lanling City!

Thousands upon thousands of people walked onto the streets, gathering in front of these huge display screens.

Half of these people were commoners here to watch the spectacle, and the other half were people from the jianghu and gang members from various places.

At this very moment, the number of people watching this broadcast had already exceeded two million!

"Please welcome the Chief Councilor—"

In the square, a loud, resonant voice suddenly shouted.

Subsequently, the people in the seating areas on both sides stood up one after another.

Even the Crown Prince, the heir apparent, stood up as well to show respect to the Chief Councilor.

Inside the Zhengyang Gate, Ye Ze walked out in a blue official robe, looking straight ahead, and walked directly onto the high platform.

A loudspeaker microphone had already been placed on the high platform in advance.

Ye Ze walked to the microphone:

"Thank you all, please be seated."

The scene quickly quieted down.

"Today is the first day of the official establishment of the Great Lan Dynasty's Blue Patrol Pavilion. We are holding the first referendum ceremony of the Blue Patrol Pavilion here; it now begins."

Without a passionate or eloquent opening, Ye Ze did not say any superfluous words, simply announcing the start of the referendum like this:

"Representatives from Yidong Province, please come to the stage."

Everyone present was somewhat stunned, not expecting the pace to be so fast.

After waiting a few seconds, three people from the opposite seating area stood up and walked toward the high platform.

These three were all martial arts masters, representing the three strongest factions of Yidong Province to participate in the referendum.

After the three went on stage, the image on the large display screen behind Ye Ze changed:

A high platform appeared as well, but the surrounding scenery was clearly different from here.

That was the branch venue set up in the provincial capital of Yidong Province; next, all the councilors of the Yidong Province Blue Patrol Pavilion would take the stage one by one to cast their votes in the live broadcast in front of everyone!

This form of referendum was unprecedented and also eliminated the possibility of any backroom deals.

Ye Ze's move was to tell the people of the world:

The Blue Patrol Pavilion pursues fairness and justice!

Only when one has no issues oneself does one have the confidence to supervise others.

The branch venue was presided over by officials from the provincial capital, and the Patrol Inspector and a group of pavilion officials of Yidong Province were also on-site.

Soon, an elderly man with some white hair took the stage.

The old man was a councilor of the Yidong Province Blue Patrol Pavilion, with a cultivation base at the Dao Foundation realm.

He was clearly somewhat nervous; he walked to the microphone and paused before saying:

"I am... Jiang Deyu, Elder of the Red Leaf Gate. It is an honor to serve as a Blue Patrol Pavilion councilor. I cast this vote for Master Tan Feng, the reserve member!"

As his voice fell, someone at the main venue immediately shouted loudly:

"Reserve member Tan Feng receives one vote!"

On the high platform, a wooden board had already been placed, covered with white paper, on which the names of the three reserve members from Yidong Province were written.

A eunuch holding a brush recorded a mark under Tan Feng's name.

At the branch venue on the other side, Red Leaf Gate Elder Jiang Deyu left the stage, replaced by the Sect Master of the Red Leaf Gate, who also cast his vote for Tan Feng.

Just like that, councilor after councilor took the stage to vote, and at the main venue, votes were continuously recorded on the platform.

In the end, a total of 94 councilors from Yidong Province took the stage to vote; Tan Feng received 35 votes, two more than the second-place candidate, succeeding in the election by a very narrow margin.

This person was the sect master of a large jianghu sect in Yidong Province; with no major academies or top-tier factions in the province, this sect master being able to succeed in the election gave the sect an opportunity to take a step further!

"I announce that Tan Feng has become a member of the Yidong Province Blue Patrol Pavilion."

On the platform, Ye Ze announced calmly.

Tan Feng, this martial arts master, showed obvious excitement; if the occasion hadn't been inappropriate, he would have wanted to give an acceptance speech.

But Ye Ze had not arranged for this process; after the result came out, he directly had the three representatives leave the stage and then had the representatives from another province take the stage to conduct the referendum in the same way.

Once the process began, it appeared somewhat tedious.

Except for the people from the corresponding province who were very concerned about the results, everyone else was somewhat absent-minded.

Someone roughly estimated the time required for the public election of each province and finally reached a conclusion:

If this public election were to end completely, it would likely have to continue uninterrupted until late tonight!

Upon thinking of this, the expressions of many people changed, especially the several Imperial Princes and Princesses sitting in the first row.

Today's referendum ceremony was unprecedented, and with the Chief Councilor and the Grand Marshal of the Military Council present, the specifications were very high, which was why they felt curious and ran over to watch the spectacle.

But after the initial freshness passed, all that remained was tedium.

These Imperial Princes and Princesses already regretted coming to observe the ceremony.

Yet Ye Ze was still standing on the platform; even though they were noble Imperial Princes and Princesses, they dared not show disrespect to this Chief Councilor, so for the time being, no one dared to slip away and could only look around from their seats.

Only the Crown Prince, the First Imperial Prince, and the Third Imperial Prince appeared very composed, sitting calmly in their seats the entire time.

Qin Zishu turned around to look toward the back; she wanted to see what Li Fei was doing.

Then she saw Li Fei sitting in his seat with his back straight and his eyes closed.

"Could he be cultivating?"

Qin Zishu looked surprised.

Before, when the Crown Prince said that Li Fei spent his days either cultivating or fighting others, she had thought it was a bit of an exaggeration.

Now, seeing this scene, she could not help but admire him inwardly.

Some people, whose talent is already peerless, can still work this hard; it truly leaves one speechless.

"Will the representative from Shangyu Province please come to the stage."

On the high platform, Ye Ze called out another province.

Hearing this name, everyone present perked up, and many revealed looks of curiosity.

This was because Shangyu Province was home to the Heaven One Tower, and the representative sent by the Heaven One Tower this time was the one known as the "Peerless Elegance," Zhu Fenghua!

Amidst the curious gazes of the crowd, Zhu Fenghua walked onto the stage with a calm expression, ultimately reaping countless sighs of disappointment.

This election had no suspense; Zhu Fenghua was elected as a member of the Blue Patrol Pavilion for Shangyu Province with a high number of votes.

After another province passed.

"Will the representative from Baisha Province please come to the stage."

As Ye Ze's voice fell, everyone present raised their heads.

Like Shangyu Province, where there is only one top-tier major power within the province, the election naturally had no suspense.

But Baisha Province was the exact opposite; it was likely to be one of the most intense provinces in this referendum election!

Baisha Province is a famous major province for martial arts; besides having Baisha University, it also has several top-tier powers.

Among the "Three Mountains, Four Sects, and Seven Great Families," Mount Baituo, one of the "Three Mountains," the Hook-Deep Sword Sect, one of the "Four Sects," and the Divine Fist Yu Family, one of the "Seven Great Families," were all within the borders of Baisha Province!

When Ye Ze called the names, a total of seven Martial Arts Masters stood up!

The seven of them stood in a row on the stage, looking quite spectacular.

This was also a very important point that attracted the martial arts community to this referendum.

The vast majority of people rarely even see a Dao Foundation Realm martial artist in their daily lives, let alone a Martial Arts Master?

Seeing seven Martial Arts Masters standing on the same stage at once like today was, for many, the only time they would see such a thing in their lives!

More than 200 councilors participated in the voting for Baisha Province, and after more than an hour of long voting, the representative from the Hook-Deep Sword Sect, one of the "Four Sects," was finally elected as a member of the Pavilion.

The martial arts world often speaks of the "Three Mountains and Four Sects," placing the "Three Mountains" before the "Four Sects." Beyond the relationship of the numbers, the comprehensive strength of the "Three Mountains" is also slightly stronger than that of the "Four Sects."

But the result of this election was that the Hook-Deep Sword Sect, one of the "Four Sects," defeated Mount Baituo, one of the "Three Mountains."

Although they could not see the power struggles hidden behind this, many could imagine that the future martial arts landscape of Baisha Province was likely to change drastically!

After Baisha Province came Qing Province.

Qing Province also did not have any top-tier major powers, but it did have the Nightmare Sect, which was famous throughout the martial arts world.

The techniques of the Nightmare Sect could construct illusions, thereby allowing people to hone their martial skills within them.

Therefore, many martial arts sects would send disciples to the Nightmare Sect to "train" for a period of time, and the Nightmare Sect had thus made friends all over the world, maintaining friendships with many sects.

Added to the fact that its own strength was among the best in all of Qing Province, it succeeded in the election without any suspense.

On the stage, the True Person Shen Zhen, who had become a member of the Blue Patrol Pavilion, glanced at the area on the left, his gaze finally landing on Li Fei, who was cultivating with his eyes closed.

Li Fei felt something and suddenly opened his eyes.

But by this time, Shen Zhen had already withdrawn his gaze and was walking off the stage with a normal expression.

Li Fei remained expressionless, closed his eyes again, and continued his own cultivation.

Time passed bit by bit, reaching past 2: 0 PM.

During this period, people brought tea, snacks, and various foods to those in the seating area.

Several of the Imperial Princes and Princesses sitting in the first row had already snuck away, leaving only the Crown Prince, the First Imperial Prince, the Third Imperial Prince, and Qin Zishu.

Qin Zishu had actually been unable to sit still for a long time; the reason she had persisted until now was that she wanted to wait and see Li Fei take the stage.

"I'll leave after watching Li Fei!"

She made a decision in her heart.

She did not know why she had to wait to see Li Fei take the stage, but just looking at Li Fei, who had been cultivating with his eyes closed in his seat, she had a vague intuition:

This Marquis of Jing'an seemed to be preparing for something.

Inside the Imperial City, the Military Intelligence Archive.

This storage room was specifically used to store confidential documents of the Military Intelligence Office. An official holding a wooden box walked to the gate of the Military Intelligence Archive and handed the wooden box in his hand to the Military Intelligence Office official responsible for verification.

"Is this the box that was given to the Marquis of Jing'an yesterday?"

The Military Intelligence Office official responsible for verification outside the archive gate asked.

"Yes, it was delivered yesterday and has been kept in the front courtyard. The materials were selected by you yesterday, and today it is still up to you to archive them."

"Alright."

The two Military Intelligence Office officials opened the wooden box in front of the person who had brought it.

On the top layer of the wooden box lay a folded piece of white paper, which made both of them freeze for a moment.

All the materials in this wooden box had been counted one by one by them yesterday before being put in, and both of them clearly remembered that they had not put a single piece of white paper inside.

The two took out the white paper, opened it, and saw four lines of text written on it, which looked like a poem.

"This..."

The two looked at each other.

They could be certain that this paper and the content on the paper definitely did not come from the Military Intelligence Archive.

"Is there a problem?"

The official on the side noticed the clue and asked with a frown.

"Has this wooden box passed through anyone's hands in the meantime?"

"Yesterday, it was sent by people dispatched by Eunuch Feng, the Grand Overseer of the Inner Court. After it was delivered, the wooden box was kept in the front courtyard under guard. During this period, absolutely no one has touched this wooden box. The Imperial Guards on duty yesterday and today can testify to this!"

The matter involved first-class secrets of the Military Intelligence Office and was no small matter, so the person who brought it said very seriously.

Confidential materials borrowed from the Military Intelligence Archive were sometimes stored in the front courtyard under the guard of the Imperial Guards if there was no time to archive them.

For so many years, there had never been any problems.

"We must investigate immediately!"

The two Military Intelligence Office officials responsible for archiving also said very seriously.

Consequently, the entire Military Intelligence Archive was alarmed.

Soon, the news was passed back to the palace, and Feng Cheng, the Imperial Eunuch responsible for this matter yesterday, also learned of it.

Once he knew, it meant the Emperor knew.

"An extra note appeared in that wooden box?"

The Emperor was somewhat surprised after learning the news:

"Have you found out who put it there?"

Feng Cheng: "It has already been investigated; no one else has touched that wooden box."

The Emperor laughed: "So, this note was written by Li Fei? Heh, bring it for Us to see."

"Yes."

Feng Cheng turned and left.

"Will the representative from Feng Province please come to the stage."

Ye Ze's voice rang out in the square.

Qin Zishu perked up and sat up straight.

In the back row, Li Fei, who had been cultivating with his eyes closed, slowly opened his eyes and rose from his seat.

He walked calmly toward the high platform and went up on stage with two other Martial Arts Masters.

The entire audience focused their gaze on Li Fei.

Among all the representatives who took the stage today, Li Fei was the only one with a Dao Foundation Realm cultivation base.

At the same time, he was also the most famous of all the representatives!

"Begin..."

"Lord Chief Councilor!"

A voice suddenly interrupted Ye Ze.

This left everyone present stunned.

On such an occasion, with a national broadcast, who would dare to act presumptuously?

"It's here!"

In her seat, Qin Zishu looked excited.

She really hadn't guessed wrong!

Li Fei was indeed going to stir up trouble!

"What is it?"

Ye Ze turned to look at Li Fei, his gaze stern.

Although this Chief Councilor had no cultivation, his aura at this moment was like that of a Grandmaster!

Li Fei looked directly at him and said in a loud voice:

"Today's referendum is a grand event for our Great Blue Dynasty. This Marquis wishes to add some splendor to this grand event!"

These words caused a commotion at the scene.

Just at this moment, a man walked quickly to the side of the First Imperial Prince and said a sentence to him using sound transmission via internal energy.

At the same time, two more people came to the sides of the Crown Prince and the Third Imperial Prince respectively, also speaking via sound transmission.

The First Imperial Prince was startled and looked up at the other person:

"What is the content written?"

The person who arrived handed him a slip of paper.

The other two also each took out a slip of paper and handed them to the Crown Prince and the Third Imperial Prince.

The three of them glanced at each other, all feeling somewhat curious.

The investigation of the military arsenal had even alarmed the palace; such a major commotion naturally could not be hidden.

The Crown Prince, the First Imperial Prince, and the Third Imperial Prince all had their own eyes and ears within the palace, so they received the news almost simultaneously.

"A thousand years ago, martial arts and sorcery stood side by side, and the Martial Saint Gongsun Yan first proposed the concept of the Unification of Sorcery and Martial Arts."

On the stage, Li Fei's voice resonated throughout the venue.

The four words "Unification of Sorcery and Martial Arts" immediately captured the attention of the three, causing them to subconsciously look up.

"Afterward, generations of predecessors and sages poured their heart and blood into trying to find a method for the Unification of Sorcery and Martial Arts. But for a thousand years, only the predecessor Lin Tianyi of the Tianyi Tower has truly walked this path to the end."

Imperial Study.

The Emperor sat on his chair, with a television set placed opposite him, also broadcasting the Blue Patrol Pavilion referendum.

A few minutes ago, Feng Cheng had handed the slip of paper written in Li Fei's own hand to the Emperor.

There were only four sentences written on this slip of paper; it looked like a poem, but even the most basic rhymes were wrong, as if several sentences had been pieced together forcibly.

From this perspective, this was undoubtedly a "lousy poem."

But the spirit contained within the verses was truly stunning!

After seeing this poem, the Emperor remained silent for a moment before smiling and shaking his head, then letting Feng Cheng turn on the television.

Li Fei's voice came from the television:

"Though I, Fei, am untalented and far inferior to the predecessor Lin, today I am willing to walk this Great Dao, which only one person in history has successfully traversed, before the heroes of the world!"

This voice was not impassioned, but it was resonant and firm.

Inside the Imperial Study, the Grandmaster Feng Cheng, upon hearing these words, could not help but change his expression.

"Heh."

The Emperor looked at the young face on the black-and-white screen, "But it is... fitting."

On the paper in his hand, the first line read impressively:

Our generation should have lofty ambitions, and not fail the eternal flow of the rivers and mountains!

Feng Province capital, Lu Residence.

Inside the study, Lu Wenzheng and Xu Jing sat in a row, watching the live television broadcast together.

Upon hearing what Li Fei said, Lu Wenzheng's expression changed, and he looked at Xu Jing:

"What does he want to do?"

Xu Jing's expression also sank; he stared fixedly at the screen without speaking.

Datong Prefecture, Wu'an University.

On the small mountain where Shi Caiming resided, in the courtyard, Shi Caiming and Qin Zhen were watching the live broadcast together.

"Principal, has he really mastered the Unification of Sorcery and Martial Arts?"

Qin Zhen asked.

Shi Caiming looked at the television screen and laughed, scolding:

"This brat, he didn't even reveal a hint of news beforehand."

"What do you want to do?"

On the high platform, Ye Ze asked the question that was in everyone's hearts.

Li Fei smiled:

"For a thousand years, only the predecessor Lin Tianyi has simultaneously broken through to the realm of Martial Arts Master and the realm of True Spirit."

Martial arts reaching the Master realm and sorcery reaching the True Spirit realm are both very large barriers and very clear dividing lines.

For these two paths, if one chooses to break through one, the difficulty of breaking through the other becomes extremely great; this is also an unavoidable problem of dual cultivation of sorcery and martial arts.

In a thousand years of time, only Lin Tianyi broke through to the Martial Arts Master realm and the True Spirit realm simultaneously when breaking his boundary.

In the end, he was the only one who completely walked the path of the Unification of Sorcery and Martial Arts and ascended to the pinnacle.

The one known as the "Peerless Elegance," Zhu Fenghua, wished to emulate his master and bitterly suppressed his own cultivation realm for many years, but ultimately failed.

"Today, I wish to emulate the predecessors and high-level experts, breaking through both realms at once; I ask the heroes of the world to witness it together!"

On the high platform, Li Fei stated his purpose.

These words could be called earth-shattering, triggering a huge uproar!

When Lin Tianyi broke through both realms back then, he was already over thirty years old; how old is Li Fei this year?

Twenty years old, breaking through to Martial Arts Master and True Person simultaneously—how many historical records would this break?!

Off the stage, the Crown Prince, the First Imperial Prince, and the Third Imperial Prince could no longer hold back; they each opened the slips of paper in their hands and saw the four lines of majestic power written on them:

Our generation should have lofty ambitions,

And not fail the eternal flow of the rivers and mountains.

A single person turns to fight across three thousand miles.

A single sword can hold off a million troops!

PS: The poem is pieced together because I really couldn't find a complete poem suitable for giving a "response."

Anyway, the protagonist doesn't follow the "cultural posturing" route, so let's just leave it like this~

(End of chapter)