Chapter 825: A Pack of Wolves Devours the Elephant, Breaking Through the Realm to Attain Truth (6000)

"Dismiss Lu Wenzheng from his position as President of the Chamber of Commerce!"

This proposal was truly earth-shattering.

As the head of the Lu family, Lu Wenzheng being proposed for dismissal from his position as President of the Chamber of Commerce at a shareholders' meeting without being notified to attend actually spoke volumes.

"I disagree!"

A shareholder from the family head's faction immediately stood up and loudly objected, "Without the family head's permission, what right do you have to convene a shareholders' meeting? What right do you have to dismiss the President?!"

The elderly man who proposed the motion looked at this person coldly:

"According to the rules of my Lu Family Chamber of Commerce, as long as more than half of the shareholders agree, a shareholders' meeting can be convened. As long as more than two-thirds of the shareholders agree, the President can be dismissed!"

"Today's shareholders' meeting already has half of the shareholders agreeing to convene it. As for dismissing the President, I have now proposed the motion; we can proceed with the voting process next."

"You—"

The person objecting had nothing to say.

This was indeed in accordance with the Chamber of Commerce's rules, but such rules had never been used in the past few decades.

"Let's begin the vote. Those who agree to dismiss Lu Wenzheng from his position as President of the Chamber of Commerce, please raise your hands."

The elderly man said, then was the first to raise his own hand.

Subsequently, people raised their hands one after another.

There were a total of twenty-seven shareholders present, and the total number of shareholders in the Lu Family Chamber of Commerce was thirty.

This meant that more than twenty shareholders had to agree in order to dismiss Lu Wenzheng from his position as President of the Chamber of Commerce.

Normally, this was an impossible occurrence, because the number of shareholders controlled by the family head's faction accounted for nearly half.

But as more and more people raised their hands, several shareholders who had firmly stood on Lu Wenzheng's side realized the situation was dire.

Several shareholders from the family head's faction had actually raised their hands and cast votes in favor!

"You..."

"Zou Ze! You are an outsider; without the family head's support, what right do you have to be a shareholder of my Lu Family Chamber of Commerce? You actually dare to betray the family head? You wolf-hearted, dog-lunged thing!"

The person who had first stood up to object pointed at a man's nose and cursed angrily.

The man named Zou Ze was a son-in-law of the Lu family; he spread his hands:

"I reached where I am today by relying on my own talent! Have I earned little money for Lu Wenzheng over these years? Calling me wolf-hearted and dog-lunged? Are the merits I established and the money I earned for him not enough to repay his kindness?"

"Besides, the Lu family isn't Lu Wenzheng's alone. As long as I continue to work hard in the Chamber of Commerce and earn money for it, have I betrayed the Lu family?"

Many people watched this scene coldly.

Those who understand the times are heroes.

In the current situation, any smart person knew that Lu Wenzheng's momentum was gone, but the Lu family still had to survive, so naturally, they would not accompany Lu Wenzheng in making mistake after mistake.

If one had to blame someone, it could only be blamed on Lu Wenzheng for not having placed Li Fei on the opposing side when he made his initial decisions.

"If Lu Wenzheng had chosen to win over Li Fei instead of supporting Xu Jing back then, how different would the Lu family's situation be now?"

Many Lu family members would have such thoughts in their hearts today.

But in reality, at that time, Li Fei was merely just entering the Dao Foundation realm, with no power or influence. And Xu Jing was already a young Grandmaster, with the potential to become the president of a new university.

No matter who it was, it would have been impossible to give up on Xu Jing to choose Li Fei at that time.

It was just that although the logic was sound, it did not in the slightest hinder the current Lu family members from harboring resentment toward Lu Wenzheng.

"A total of twenty-one votes, exceeding two-thirds!"

The elderly man wearing glasses scanned the people present, his gaze majestic:

"I now announce the formal dismissal of Lu Wenzheng from his position as President of the Lu Family Chamber of Commerce!"

On March 5th, the Lu Family Chamber of Commerce dismissed Lu Wenzheng from his position as President.

This matter was like a fuse, triggering an 'assault' from within the Lu family against the family head's faction!

On March 9th, a deputy factory manager of the Feng Province branch of the Blue Tide Military Factory was dismissed.

The Blue Tide Military Factory was one of three military factories built by the imperial court after the Mingxin Reform, mainly used for producing various types of rifles and bullets.

This counted as a 'state-owned enterprise' and belonged to a national lifeline industry!

Behind these three military factories, the shadows of the 'Ten Great Clans' could be found.

The Lu family had primarily invested in the Blue Tide Military Factory, providing money, personnel, and land.

The branch located in Feng Province was half-controlled by the imperial court and half-controlled by the Lu family!

Now that internal power had shifted, a deputy factory manager whom Lu Wenzheng had personally supported lost his influence, and Lu Wenyao supported a new deputy factory manager to take the position.

On March 12th, at the Wulong Exotic Beast Farm, a total of five imperial officials and two sitting officials were imprisoned due to being reported.

The Wulong Exotic Beast Farm also belonged to a 'state-owned enterprise' and was one of the seven largest exotic beast farms in the Great Lan Dynasty.

These officials who were reported and imprisoned were all people from the Lu family head's faction.

On March 27th, several officials at the Changsheng Exotic Weapon Manufacturing Factory were also imprisoned.

The nature of the Changsheng Exotic Weapon Manufacturing Factory was the same as the Wulong Exotic Beast Farm; one raised exotic beasts, and the other manufactured exotic weapons.

April 5th...

From military industry, exotic beast farming, to exotic weapon manufacturing, exotic beast fodder cultivation, elixir refining, and implant manufacturing...

This series of industries were all 'national lifeline industries,' and the Lu family had participation in all of them!

The reason the 'Ten Great Clans' were honored as 'prospering alongside the nation' was because these families had been deeply involved in the various constructions of this country since its founding.

If the Great Lan Dynasty were viewed as a towering tree that had grown for over five hundred years, then the 'Ten Great Clans' were equivalent to the symbiotic plants of this towering tree.

These ten families had always been attached to the Great Lan Dynasty, absorbing its 'nutrients' for over five hundred years!

Their 'roots' had long since been deeply intertwined with the 'roots' of the Great Lan Dynasty.

If one were to pull any one of them out by the roots, it would inevitably cause the Great Lan Dynasty to 'suffer damage to its sinews and bones'!

If it were more serious, it might even affect the national fortune!

National fortune was never just about how many strong individuals there were; it involved factors such as population, economy, and the hearts of the people.

This was why, at the beginning, the Emperor did not want to let Li Fei take action against the Lu family.

On the surface, the Lu family only had one Martial Dao Master as a retainer, and there was also Lu Wenyao who was a Martial Dao Master.

Even if Xu Jing were viewed as an ally of the Lu family, in terms of force, the Lu family was still 'not worth mentioning' and completely unable to contend with the imperial court.

If the imperial court wanted to, it could kill everyone in the Lu family who was on the surface!

But if the imperial court were the first to not follow the rules and chose to kill indiscriminately, then in the long run, the one who would suffer the greatest loss would still be the imperial court itself.

Because when rules are wantonly destroyed, the one who suffers the most is always the one who established the rules.

When the Third Imperial Prince originally thought that Li Fei would need at least ten years to topple Lu Wenzheng through power and influence, it was actually not an exaggeration.

It was just that he had not anticipated that Li Fei could establish such great military merits, and that the Emperor would let the Crown Prince supervise the state so quickly.

Now, Li Fei had used Lu Wenyao to make the Lu family fight amongst themselves; a single move of borrowing strength to strike strength had saved him too much effort.

He only needed to 'borrow' his supervisory power as the Blue Patrol Special Envoy, and people would naturally provide him with a steady stream of various criminal evidence, thereby striking down the people of the Lu family head's faction!

The faction represented by Lu Wenzheng possessed the strongest power within the Lu family.

If the family head's faction were viewed as a giant elephant, then the other branches represented by Lu Wenyao were wolves.

Now, the pack of wolves was devouring the elephant!

After Lu Wenyao 'fired the first shot,' everyone scrambled to join this 'gluttonous feast.'

And it was not just within the Lu family; the other major clans, aristocratic families, and forces in various regions also participated in this feast.

Everyone was impatient to tear a piece of meat from the 'giant elephant' and swallow it into their own bellies, thereby strengthening themselves.

Everyone was afraid that if they were a step too slow, the benefits would be snatched away by others.

From the beginning of March to May, in just over two short months, all the major important industries involved with the Lu family head's faction were affected!

Either officials were directly imprisoned, or they were forced to concede power and interests.

Of course, Lu Wenzheng did not sit still and wait for death; he also actively launched counterattacks.

But under the tilting of the general trend, his counterattacks appeared somewhat powerless.

Now, the internal Lu family was determined to abandon him and re-establish friendship with Li Fei, so as to be able to cling to the thigh of the future sovereign.

In this situation, Lu Wenzheng, as the family head, was already dead in all but name.

Feng Province provincial capital, Lu Mansion.

Lu Wenzheng was making a phone call in his study.

He appeared calm and composed, without the slightest bit of the dishevelment of being 'depleted of troops and generals' and being pressed step by step.

"Yes, I only want cash!"

"Sell them all! I said all of them!"

"I will only give you three days."

Lu Wenzheng was issuing orders over the phone.

"Family Head, but if we do this, as soon as there is a slight 'run' from the outside, we will have to declare bankruptcy!"

An anxious voice came from the other end of the phone.

"You only need to execute the order."

Lu Wenzheng said expressionlessly.

"... es!"

Hanging up the phone, Lu Wenzheng leaned back in his chair and lit a cigarette.

In over two months, his power in various places had basically been beaten to pieces!

Now he only had this 'base' of Feng Province left.

After all, he had been the Feng Province Patrol Inspector for over a decade, and coupled with the Lu family's foundation, Feng Province, as his 'base,' was not so easily broken.

However, he was very clear that this was only a matter of time.

"Lu Wenzheng, you must remember, the best way to kill a powerful opponent is—first destroy their 'reputation,' then annihilate their 'substance.'"

Lu Wenzheng still remembered that when he was twelve years old, his father had taught him this while reading that essay, "On the Distinction Between Reputation and Substance."

The best way to kill someone with power and influence is to first sever their social connections!

Once all of a person's social connections have been severed, it means that whether this person lives or dies is already of no consequence to society.

More than two months ago, if Lu Wenzheng had suddenly died, his death would have been like a stone stirring up a thousand ripples for the entire Great Lan Dynasty!

The resulting impact and turmoil would have been immeasurable.

To say nothing else, there were over a hundred thousand people who relied on the Lu family to make a living and hold their jobs. Once the Lu family suffered serious turmoil, over a hundred thousand families might be affected!

Not to mention the chain reactions in every industry, the economic losses, and so on.

But now that the Lu family is fighting internally, although it will still cause social turmoil, at least the degree is within a controllable range.

With the continuous "nibbling away" from the outside, Lu Wenzheng's influence is constantly shrinking, and various social connections are being severed one after another.

Once the "base" of Feng Province is finally breached, and once this official robe on his body is stripped off by Li Fei.

Then, even if he were to suddenly die in his bed one night, it would have no impact at all!

Inside the study, Lu Wenzheng silently and forcefully stubbed out his cigarette, then picked up the phone to continue issuing orders.

May 23rd.

The Wenxing Bank was subjected to a "run" in five provinces simultaneously, and it declared bankruptcy after holding out for only two days!

Wenxing Bank was a bank established by Lu Wenzheng after he became the head of the family, equivalent to his personal "money bag."

The bankruptcy of Wenxing Bank, in the eyes of the outside world, meant that Lu Wenzheng was not far from "reputation destroyed and substance lost"!

May 26th.

The day after Wenxing Bank announced its bankruptcy.

Li Fei had already been staying on this small mountain where Shi Caiming lived for nearly five months.

During this time, he had almost never gone down the mountain, but in the eyes of the outside world, this Marquis of Jing'an was "active" all over the country.

Because everywhere, supervisory officials were receiving his authorization to go and arrest suspects.

For several months, Li Fei spent most of his time every day cultivating, incorporating spell-type implants, and constantly strengthening his Flying Sword Body.

Today, he finally completed the refinement of the last type of implant required for the 【Eternal Stability】 divine ability!

Within his Flying Sword Body, the first "Twelve Malignances" had been constructed.

Six types of implants in just over five months—this speed could be called shocking!

After completing the refinement of the twelve implants, Li Fei could next begin refining the divine ability.

"For the refinement of a divine ability, whether it is Martial Dao or spells, everyone's first divine ability is to combine their own life essence with the implants, thereby completing a sublimation."

"At this step, theoretically, one has already reached the limit of life. But the sages, after experiencing ten thousand hardships, still pioneered the path forward—incorporating higher-tier middle-three-grade implants and using the first divine ability to guide them to undergo a qualitative change, connecting with the life essence, and finally completing the sublimation."

In Li Fei's world of consciousness, True Person Qingding was explaining it to him.

In terms of realm, Shi Caiming was certainly higher.

But when it came to the understanding of spells, True Person Qingding was naturally stronger.

After all, there is a specialty in every field.

After listening to True Person Qingding's explanation, Li Fei also resolved some doubts in his heart.

For example, on the spell side, perhaps seven or eight lower-three-grade implants could refine a Profound-grade magic treasure and generate a divine ability.

But after becoming a True Person, it might require twelve middle-three-grade implants to refine into a divine ability.

From an energy perspective, this was clearly unbalanced.

But in reality, everyone's first divine ability not only fused the energy of the implants but also contained their own life essence.

And the subsequent second divine ability, third divine ability... relied more on the energy of the implants themselves.

The individual's life essence only played the role of a "primer" in it, or what could be called a "catalyst" in chemistry.

This principle also explained why a martial artist's lifespan would increase when they built their Dao foundation and refined their first divine ability.

But refining more divine abilities afterward could only strengthen the physique and could not continue to increase lifespan.

Because only when the first divine ability was refined was the life essence sublimated.

Li Fei's second Martial Dao divine ability was a divine ability seed obtained directly, and it did not go through the normal refinement process.

So this time, refining 【Eternal Stability】 was the first time he truly attempted to "break through the realm" in the real sense.

In the world of consciousness, True Person Qingding continued:

"Refining a new spell divine ability requires three steps: setting the array points, guiding the true soul, and gathering the true form."

"From a Profound-grade life-bound magic treasure to an Earth-grade life-bound magic treasure, the most important thing is to construct an Earth Malignance array within the life-bound magic treasure. And one of the keys to forming the array lies in the points. You are refining a superior Earth-grade magic treasure, and the Twelve Malignances form one divine ability, so twelve array points form a set."

"You need to first 'mark' the twelve refined implants on your Flying Sword Body to form the array points."

"There are many ways to mark array points. The superior flying sword refinement method that Yunshu gave you records the 'Nine-Guidance Array Setting Method,' which is a superior technique from my Daoist school."

"My Great Luo Sect also has a 'Falling Star Soul-Suppressing Method,' known as the 'number one for setting arrays.' I will now pass it to you."

Saying this, True Person Qingding passed the "Falling Star Soul-Suppressing Method" to Li Fei in his consciousness.

The value of this "old grandfather" was once again reflected at this moment!

When it came to spell cultivation, apart from the Pudu Temple, there was probably no other place in the world more authoritative or with more heritage than the Great Luo Sect.

With the teaching and guidance of True Person Qingding, Li Fei quickly learned this "Falling Star Soul-Suppressing Method."

Moreover, he possessed the spells of the Nightmare Sect, so he could first use spells to construct an illusion, practice in the illusion to increase proficiency, and then operate in reality.

It took a few hours for Li Fei to become proficient in the "Falling Star Soul-Suppressing Method" in the illusion.

So he began the actual operation.

"This step is very difficult. Do not be impatient; you must be calm and steady. It does not matter if the speed is slower."

True Person Qingding reminded him at the end.

The true soul within Li Fei's body sat quietly in the center of the heart lake, then began to visualize stars one by one.

As a "star" was pulled down from the distant firmament by his true soul and landed on a certain part of the Flying Sword Body, a spell-type implant he had previously refined began to change, gradually forming an array point.

"What a fast speed!"

True Person Qingding, who had been watching from the side, could not help but exclaim.

Although he had seen many miracles created by Li Fei, every time he saw him break others' cultivation common sense and records as easily as eating and drinking, True Person Qingding was still amazed.

From completing the refinement of the twelve implants to refining a new divine ability, the difficulty of the three steps—"setting the array points, guiding the true soul, and gathering the true form"—was actually very high.

Many True Persons had enough resources and spent enough time to complete the refinement of all implants bit by bit, but in the end, they still could not refine a new divine ability because they were stuck on these three steps.

But Li Fei...

He seemed not to have encountered any bottlenecks!

Because he cultivated both martial arts and spells, he could convert his mental power into true power, so his true power was far stronger than True Persons of the same realm, and his true soul was the same.

And because he was his own life-bound magic treasure, the connection between his true soul and his life-bound magic treasure was unparalleled in the world.

So, "sensing the implants minutely, precise positioning, and precise control"—these difficulties for others were as simple for Li Fei as using his right hand to pick up a pen and draw a circle on the back of his left hand.

What he needed to do next was to draw eleven more circles.

It took less than three days for Li Fei to complete the marking of the twelve array points!

Li Fei: "Senior, it doesn't feel that difficult?"

Qingding: "..."

The next day, after recovering his true power, Li Fei continued to listen to Qingding's explanation:

"The second step, 'guiding the true soul,' is to 'guide' your true soul into these twelve array points one by one and establish a deeper connection with the corresponding implants."

"The difficulty of this step lies in 'the soul being fixed as one, while the intent is scattered in all directions.' It is somewhat similar to multitasking, but the essence is different. This step is also very difficult, requiring the connection with the life-bound magic treasure to be... well, for you, it should be... anyway, I will first pass you the technique of my Great Luo Sect."

Having learned the "lesson" from last time, this time True Person Qingding no longer told Li Fei about the difficulty.

Just like yesterday, he first learned the technique, then practiced in the illusion, and finally operated in reality.

Compared to "setting the array points," "guiding the true soul" was more "abstract" and required some comprehension and opportunity.

Even though Li Fei had an unparalleled life-bound connection, the time he spent this time was longer than for "setting the array points."

Well, he spent... eleven days to complete "guiding the true soul."

Having completed this step, Li Fei understood a little why the more divine abilities one had, the harder it was to refine them.

It was like multitasking; for every additional divine ability refined, the true soul needed to divide another portion of mental energy.

So the further one went, the greater the difficulty.

The Martial Dao side followed the same principle; he could clearly feel that after adding the 【Refining Objects】 divine ability, his life essence and mental energy both had an extra "burden."

"The final step, 'gathering the true form,' is also the most critical step. The array points have been set, the true soul has been guided, and next, you need to stimulate this small 'array' to complete the final sublimation, sublimating the power of the implants into a divine ability."

"This step requires the use of everyone's life essence, making it the 'primer' to trigger the array while establishing the connection, completing the final sublimation."

True Person Qingding also passed a "gathering the true form" technique of the Great Luo Sect to Li Fei.

At this step, the strength of true power and true soul, and the strength of the life-bound connection were no longer the decisive factors.

What determined whether this step could succeed, besides comprehension, was the need for a sufficiently powerful life essence.

So Li Fei discovered that he still had a unique advantage!

Because he had sufficiently powerful vitality!

Although vitality was not exactly the same as life essence, the stronger the vitality, the higher the life essence would certainly rise.

In this situation, others were "slowly simmering over a small fire," trying to slowly "boil" the array to successfully stimulate it.

While Li Fei was directly "stewing with a big fire"!

Even if his comprehension in this aspect could not be considered first-class, he had the advantage of his vitality being so powerful that it was exaggerated; no True Person could compare to him.

Thus, in only nineteen days, Li Fei successfully activated the "Formation"!

The 49th year of Hongguang, June 28th.

At Wu'an University, on the small hill where Shi Caiming lived, a golden sword light suddenly soared into the sky.

This sword light did not give off an aura of peerless sharpness or unrivaled power; instead, it left everyone who saw it feeling somewhat dazed, as if the sword light had slashed through falsehoods, allowing people to glimpse the "truth" of heaven and earth.

Inside the room, a smile appeared on Li Fei's face.

He had successfully refined the 【Eternal Fixation】 divine ability!

At the moment of breaking through his realm, aided by the insights gained from the breakthrough, his state of mind was incomparably peaceful, possessing a realization akin to the unity of heaven and man.

Thus, he subconsciously unleashed the 【Eternal Fixation】 divine ability, fixing this current state of mind in place.

Breaking through to attain "truth," 【Eternal Fixation】 preserves the truth!

The 49th year of Hongguang, June 30th.

The last day of June, the sun was bright, and everything was as usual.

Feng Province capital, Lu Residence.

Lu Wenzheng picked up the phone and dialed a number.

After the call connected and he confirmed the identity of the person on the other end, he calmly spoke four words:

"Everything is ready."

Seeking monthly votes.

(End of this chapter)