Chapter 826: Flying Dragon in the Sky, the Sorrow of the True Dragon (6000)

A sheet of fiery red light enveloped the entire mountain peak.

Li Fei felt as if he were placed in a sea of fire; clearly knowing he was on a small mountain, yet surrounded by this sea of fire, he felt as if he were in a boundless world of flames!

This was the Martial Dao Domain of Shi Caiming.

Streaks of golden sword Qi appeared, crisscrossing to form a golden sphere within this world of flames.

Sword State: Primordial Sword Realm!

The current Primordial Sword Realm was vastly different from a few months ago; the spiritual energy of heaven and earth inside was orderly, divided into ten regions according to the Yin-Yang and Five Elements, finally converging at the center to form a primordial vortex.

A steady stream of spiritual energy of heaven and earth surged from this vortex, flowing into the ten different regions, and finally "re-flowing" back into the vortex, turning into chaos.

This was the result of the 【Primordial Heaven Golden Palace】 divine ability being integrated into the sword realm!

Li Fei stood above the primordial vortex, his eyes bright as stars.

The next second, cracks appeared in this sword realm.

These cracks were spatial interlayers.

Streaks of sword Qi surged into one interlayer, then flew out from another, shuttling back and forth through countless spatial interlayers in this manner.

Thus, the sword Qi of the entire sword realm possessed the 【No-Distance】 characteristic, gaining infinite variations!

This was the result of the 【No-Distance】 divine ability being integrated into the sword realm.

Li Fei looked up at the sky, where a crescent moon appeared above the sword realm.

Cold moonlight spilled down, illuminating every corner of the sword realm.

A sense of peace, naturalness, and the unity of heaven and man welled up in Li Fei's heart, making his comprehension of the entire sword realm more profound and his control over details more perfect.

This crescent moon in the sky was the "intentional image" of the 【Eternal Stability】 divine ability within the sword realm.

Beyond its use in mental defense, the 【Eternal Stability】 divine ability had other marvelous uses.

At the very moment Li Fei broke through his realm, his state of mind briefly reached the marvelous state of the unity of heaven and man, and he immediately used the 【Eternal Stability】 divine ability to hold onto this moment for a long time!

As long as his divine ability power was not exhausted, he could maintain this state of mind.

Thus, for the next day and night, he maintained his state of mind while taking the opportunity to perfect his Primordial Sword Realm, integrating his various divine abilities into it according to the "Yin-Yang dichotomy."

The state of the unity of heaven and man should originally only be maintainable for long periods after a Martial Dao Grandmaster possessed their own Martial Dao Domain.

Li Fei was effectively perfecting his own small world ahead of time at the Grandmaster realm!

This allowed him to progress rapidly, taking a day and a night to initially integrate all the divine abilities he currently possessed into the sword realm.

The progress of this day and night was worth months of hard work, perhaps even more!

After all, a momentary epiphany is hard to force, and Li Fei had effectively used the 【Eternal Stability】 divine ability to extend the time of his epiphany many times over.

"I am ready."

Li Fei suddenly said in a clear voice.

As his voice fell, the world of flames outside the sword realm suddenly turned into a terrifying pressure, crushing toward the entire sword realm.

Heaven and earth were overturning!

In an instant, the golden sphere formed by the Primordial Sword Realm was covered in cracks, and the streaks of sword Qi inside began to disintegrate.

The previously orderly spiritual energy of heaven and earth became chaotic, and the crescent moon in the sky became increasingly fragmented.

Li Fei, located above the primordial vortex, calmly watched everything before him.

He perceived the changes within the sword realm and then attempted to continuously adjust the sword realm to slow down its collapse.

After a dozen seconds, the entire Primordial Sword Realm completely collapsed, and Li Fei's various divine abilities were "sealed," unable to be used again.

Immediately after, the world of flames vanished, and Shi Caiming appeared more than ten meters away.

"Not bad, your concept is sound."

Shi Caiming said to Li Fei with appreciation.

Li Fei was clearly exhausted at this moment; he finally stopped casting 【Eternal Stability】 and retreated from the state of the unity of heaven and man.

Although the drain of maintaining the state of mind was not too great, Li Fei had occasionally cast other divine abilities during the process to integrate them into the sword realm, so he was now almost at his limit.

After speaking a few words with Shi Caiming, he returned to his room to meditate and rest.

After adjusting his breath for the whole night, Li Fei recovered a portion of his strength.

His internal force had fully recovered, but the drain on his mind and the implants within his body required more time to fully recover.

Having mastered 【Eternal Stability】 and completed the initial reconstruction of the Primordial Sword Realm, Li Fei no longer intended to stay at Wuan University.

Because he next needed to refine the 【Dragon-Elephant】 divine ability, and Wuan University did not have the implants required for the 【Dragon-Elephant】 divine ability.

Previously, Fang Ziyan had gone to talk to Wang Yilong, the sect master of the Dragon-Tiger Gate, and had reached an agreement; the other party was willing to provide the cultivation method for the 【Dragon-Elephant】 divine ability and was also willing to trade the implants required for the 【Dragon-Elephant】 divine ability with Li Fei.

Because many mid-tier implants were not suitable for long-distance transport, Li Fei planned to take a trip to Shisong Province to complete the refinement of the 【Dragon-Elephant】 divine ability there.

After bidding farewell to Shi Caiming, Li Fei first went to the Green-Faced Mountain Villa.

The person in charge of the villa was Yang Zhe, a former strategist for the "Beast King"; after defecting to Li Fei, Yang Zhe had managed the Green-Faced Mountain Villa very well.

After secretly observing the other party for a period of time, Li Fei accepted this subordinate.

Besides Yang Zhe, the Green-Faced Mountain Villa also had another person in charge—Zhao Yi.

This woman, who had high talent in the path of arts, had once been forcibly coerced by Li Fei into making a "three-year agreement":

Zhao Yi would serve Li Fei for three years, after which she would be granted her freedom.

Now the three-year period had passed, but Zhao Yi had not proposed to leave.

She and Yang Zhe, one managing external affairs and the other internal, had managed Li Fei's underworld forces very well.

Today, Li Fei came to the Green-Faced Mountain Villa to listen to their reports.

"My lord, these are all the gains the Green-Faced Mountain Villa has obtained from the Lu family over this period, divided into five account books: money, cultivation resources, various property rights, connections, and manpower."

In the main hall, Yang Zhe respectfully handed the five account books to Li Fei and gave a concise report.

Over the past few months, like a pack of wolves devouring an elephant, various factions had been consuming the faction of the Lu family head.

Li Fei, of course, would not just draw his blade without eating meat.

In fact, apart from Lu Wenyao, he was the one who profited the most!

Other factions still needed to struggle to snatch meat, but the portion belonging to Li Fei was not snatched by anyone.

Therefore, during this time, the Green-Faced Mountain Villa profited immensely, and its influence easily expanded out of Feng Province, gaining territory in many other provinces!

Previously, the Green-Faced Mountain Villa was only the underworld leader of Datong Prefecture.

Now it was a rising giant spanning multiple provinces!

And because Li Fei held the position of leader of the Blue Patrol Pavilion inspection team, the Green-Faced Mountain Villa naturally maintained good relations with various underworld leaders, and everyone gave him face.

This made the Green-Faced Mountain Villa appear no longer "bloated," but truly substantial!

Li Fei looked through the five account books one by one.

He discovered that they actually contained "Demon-Feeding Beasts."

In fact, every major faction inevitably had some second-generation members with status and background who were unwilling to be mediocre for a lifetime and attempted to take a gamble.

The Lu family also had such people, but the Lu family rarely brought "Demon-Feeding Beasts" out for sale.

In this "meat-splitting," the Green-Faced Mountain Villa received more than a dozen "Demon-Feeding Beasts."

Looking at the account book, Li Fei discovered that the implants cultivated within several of these "Demon-Feeding Beasts" were the ones required for the 【Dragon-Elephant】 divine ability.

Previously, he might have been interested in this, but after Shi Caiming's guidance, he had abandoned the idea of taking shortcuts.

So he was not that concerned about these "Demon-Feeding Beasts," but he also did not intend to sell them for the time being, as it involved trading with demonic martial artists.

After listening to Yang Zhe's report, he nodded at Yang Zhe:

"You've done very well. What about the expansion of the Qingyuan Urban Management Company?"

Yang Zhe immediately said: "As you ordered, my lord, everything takes the expansion of the Qingyuan Urban Management Company as the top priority, so every time we arrive at a place, we first establish a Qingyuan Urban Management Company, then take over a piece of territory and operate it according to the Xingcheng model."

"Good."

Li Fei nodded.

He looked at Zhao Yi and smiled: "How is your cultivation going?"

Zhao Yi no longer appeared as unruly as she used to in front of Li Fei; she was now a bit more reserved.

She did not dare to look into Li Fei's eyes and lowered her head:

"Thanks to your generosity, my lord, in providing enough cultivation resources, I have already begun to attempt to refine magic treasures."

Three years ago, she was already at the late stage of the Divine Transformation realm; now she was at the peak of the Divine Transformation realm and was attempting to refine magic treasures to break through to the Possession realm.

Her talent was actually very high, but she still had not broken through after three years.

This was actually the norm; breaking through realms like drinking water, as Li Fei did, was "abnormal."

Cultivation in the path of arts was inherently more time-consuming and resource-intensive than Martial Dao cultivation.

Relatively speaking, the bottlenecks in breaking through were not as difficult as in Martial Dao.

Zhao Yi was not lacking in resources or talent, so breaking through was only a matter of time.

"Hmm, Yang Zhe, you may withdraw first; Zhao Yi, stay behind."

Li Fei said.

Yang Zhe glanced at Zhao Yi beside him without changing his expression, feeling a bit envious, then bowed and exited the hall.

Left alone, Zhao Yi became visibly nervous, her body tense.

"Zhao Yi, sit."

Li Fei gestured.

". es, my lord."

Zhao Yi walked stiffly to a sofa furthest from Li Fei and sat down.

"If you have any questions about your cultivation, you may ask now."

Li Fei looked at Zhao Yi and said indifferently.

"Huh?"

Zhao Yi looked up, looking completely bewildered.

"Huh what?"

Li Fei smiled, "Why, have you not encountered any problems in your cultivation?"

"No, no. I just... thank you, Marquis!"

Zhao Yi immediately relaxed, but for some reason, she also felt a sense of regret.

Next, Zhao Yi asked about all the various problems she had encountered during her cultivation one by one, and Li Fei answered them patiently.

Finally, he even imparted some profound techniques of the Nightmare Sect to her.

It was not until late at night that Li Fei left the Green-Faced Mountain Villa.

Watching Li Fei's departing back, Zhao Yi bit her lip, then gave a self-deprecating smile.

She turned and went to the practice room to cultivate.

On the other side, Yang Zhe, having received a report from his subordinate that Li Fei had just left the mountain villa, rubbed his chin.

In his mind, he pictured Zhao Yi's short hair, her lack of chest, her lack of hips—the image of a pure tomboy.

"Could it be that the Marquis likes this type?"

Yang Zhe clicked his tongue in wonder.

The next day, Li Fei and Chen Lixin met at a clubhouse.

As soon as they met, Chen Lixin took out a thick account book, handed it to Li Fei, and said with an excited expression:

"People always used to talk about the 'Ten Great Clans,' saying each one was as wealthy as a nation! I didn't believe it before, but now I half-believe it!"

"You don't know, the benefits our Feixin Trading Firm swallowed up this time were at most one-twentieth of the Lu Family Trading Firm's, but the final estimated value is truly astonishing!"

Immediately after, he began to talk incessantly to Li Fei about the development and profits of the Feixin Trading Firm during this period.

With this 'carving up' of the Lu family, Li Fei had expanded not only his own influence in the martial arts world but also his commercial influence.

The Feixin Trading Firm had followed along to have a 'big meal'!

Currently, the Feixin Trading Firm's main industries remained the same—food delivery and lotteries.

Following this 'carving up,' the Feixin Trading Firm took the opportunity to expand its commercial map, pushing food delivery and lotteries into more provinces.

Food delivery only had a market in relatively prosperous large cities; in economically underdeveloped regions, people didn't actually have that many requirements for dining—being able to eat their fill was what mattered most.

In contrast, the more economically underdeveloped a region was, the more popular lotteries became!

After listening to Chen Lixin's account, Li Fei said to him:

"The firm's development is indeed going very smoothly, but we still lack our own pillar industry."

Chen Lixin understood immediately and nodded:

"Indeed, whether it's food delivery or lotteries, they can be imitated. In fact, many provinces have already started to copy us one after another."

Li Fei: "Let them imitate. What we must do is stay one step ahead of them forever, slowly letting the Feixin Trading Firm become a symbol."

"I understand what you mean!"

Chen Lixin's eyes lit up, and he looked at Li Fei with anticipation:

"What do you want to do next?"

"Make burgers, make fast food."

"What?"

Li Fei gave Chen Lixin a rough explanation of the concept of a burger.

After listening, Chen Lixin frowned: "Isn't this just two white flour steamed buns with some vegetable leaves and seasoning in the middle? Is there anything special about this kind of thing?"

Li Fei: "What's special isn't the taste, but the business model. What we need to do is seize the 'sinking market' before everyone else reacts, and make our burgers a popular symbol."

Next, he told Chen Lixin some key points:

What is important is not the taste, but the service, the price, the marketing, and the brand effect.

In this current era, some seemingly simple marketing concepts from his past life were practically a dimensionality-reduction strike!

Because they contained a very deep study of human nature and psychology.

Li Fei didn't need to understand business; he only needed to state the already mature business models he had seen in his past life.

Although they might not all be practical—after all, these were two different worlds—many of the principles could be borrowed.

Chen Lixin was already a business genius; after Li Fei gave him a slight nudge, he could draw inferences and grasp many things.

After listening to Li Fei, he looked at him with the eyes one would use to look at a deity.

The more one had experience and research in business, the more one could understand how formidable the series of business methods Li Fei had just described were!

If one were to describe it in cultivation terms, it was simply the Great Dao made simple!

"You really don't leave anyone a way to survive."

Chen Lixin thought for a long time, truly unable to find a way to describe Li Fei, and could only squeeze out this sentence.

In cultivation, he was the first in history.

Could it be that he was also the first in history in business?

Is this even a person?!

Li Fei smiled and did not explain further.

After giving his instructions to Chen Lixin, he directly steered the Black Boat and took off, flying toward Shisong Province.

This time, he had only stayed in Datong Prefecture for half a year, yet the influence under his command had surged many times over!

Such a grand spectacle, combined with the power in his hands, meant he was truly a flying dragon in the sky, with the whole world looking up to him!

49th Year of Hongguang, July 2nd.

Li Fei arrived in Shisong Province and headed to the Dragon Tiger Gate to prepare to begin a new round of cultivation.

On this same day, the Prince of Li, Qin Mingli, arrived in Yong Province and returned to his prince's mansion.

As a prince, his fief was the entire Yong Province!

Although it was not a real fief, relying on the influence of the prince's mansion, plus Qin Mingli's status as a Human Martial Saint, the Li Prince's Mansion should have easily become the 'King' of Yong Province.

But in reality, the time Qin Mingli spent in his fief each year never exceeded two months, and he spent most of the rest of the time in Lanyun City.

Moreover, the entire Li Prince's Mansion was extremely low-key and did not touch any power at all.

Qin Mingli had only broken through to become a Martial Saint in the fifth year after the current Son of Heaven ascended the throne.

Although his seniority and age were greater than Wenren Zheng's, in terms of cultivation, he was considered Wenren Zheng's junior.

He had even taken the initiative to ask Wenren Zheng questions about martial arts cultivation in the past.

This imperial uncle of the current Son of Heaven had always presented himself to the world as a martial fanatic obsessed with martial arts.

It was precisely because of this that he had not been caught up in the struggle for the succession of the previous generation, nor had he aroused too much vigilance.

But after he broke through to become a Martial Saint, this vigilance became unavoidable.

On the surface, the Son of Heaven gave him all kinds of honors and gave him sufficient respect and courtesy.

But in secret, this Prince of Li held almost no real power, and the Li Prince's Mansion was watched closely, making it difficult for him to act.

Regarding this, Qin Mingli appeared very calm, showing no dissatisfaction and not attempting to do anything.

He seemed truly indifferent to power, obsessed only with martial arts.

But after so many years, the Son of Heaven's vigilance toward him had never diminished by even a fraction.

Just as the Emperor said to the Crown Prince—a monarch cannot afford not to be suspicious!

As in previous years, Qin Mingli returned to Yong Province and the prince's mansion every July.

Because his great-grandson's birthday was on July 5th of each year.

This great-grandson of the Prince of Li had shown extremely high martial arts talent from a young age and was very much loved by the Prince of Li.

In recent years, Qin Mingli would return to the prince's mansion every year to celebrate his great-grandson's birthday and then stay to guide his cultivation for a period of time.

"Greetings, Your Highness!"

Outside the main gate of the prince's mansion, a group of people bowed in salute one after another.

These people were all relatives of Qin Mingli.

Qin Mingli swept his cold gaze over these people, nodded casually, said "no need for formalities," and walked straight into the prince's mansion.

The group of relatives followed cautiously behind him.

He was one hundred and fifty-four years old this year; the wife he had taken and the concubines he had accepted back then had long since died of old age, and he had not remarried.

The two sons and one daughter he had sired had also already died of old age.

The relatives still alive today were at least one generation removed from him and did not dare to be close to him at all.

Only one young man, who looked quite heroic, walked boldly to Qin Mingli's side and looked up at him:

"Grandfather, I have already mastered the set of fist techniques you taught me last year. I will demonstrate them for you in a moment."

The young man was named Qin Chengxi; he was one generation lower than the Crown Prince and the First Imperial Prince, would turn twenty-two in a few days, and was a martial master at the peak of the Qi Transformation stage.

Stepping into the Dao Foundation stage before the age of thirty could be considered a heaven-gifted talent.

Stepping into the Dao Foundation stage before the age of twenty-three was a peerless heaven-gifted talent.

Based on Qin Chengxi's current cultivation progress and aptitude, he was guaranteed to have the potential of a heaven-gifted talent!

Among Qin Mingli's sons and grandsons, two generations had not produced a single martial arts master.

It was only with Qin Chengxi's generation that he saw hope, so he valued this great-grandson exceptionally highly.

Hearing Qin Chengxi's words, a smile finally appeared on Qin Mingli's cold, hard face.

He reached out and patted Qin Chengxi on the shoulder:

"Good, show me in a moment."

The group of relatives behind them saw this scene and immediately relaxed, smiling at one another.

In a Prince's Mansion like this, which held little real power, there was truly no need for intrigue.

Thus, the people within the Prince's Mansion were actually more harmonious than those in other wealthy, powerful households.

Seeing a promising descendant finally emerge from their own family, they were all genuinely happy from the bottom of their hearts.

If Qin Chengxi could also become a Martial Saint in the future, he could protect the peace and prosperity of their descendants for hundreds of years to come!

Soon, the group arrived at a very spacious martial arts arena.

Although the Emperor was wary of the Li Prince's Mansion, the various supplies and treatment he provided were of the highest level.

The sheer size of the entire Li Prince's Mansion was practically a city within a city!

In front of Qin Mingli, Qin Chengxi demonstrated a set of fist techniques.

He was indeed very talented and had already begun to manifest the intent of his fists.

After watching, Qin Mingli nodded:

"Not bad, but at this stage, your focus should not be on perfecting your martial arts, but on completing 'Unity' as quickly as possible."

Having said this, he led Qin Chengxi toward a secret chamber to guide the other's cultivation.

Seeing this, the others stopped following and went about their own business.

"Grandfather, how much longer do you think it will take for me to complete 'Unity'? Do I have the potential to become a peerless prodigy?"

Inside the secret chamber, after Qin Mingli finished guiding Qin Chengxi's cultivation, Qin Chengxi asked with an expectant look.

Qin Mingli smiled: "If you can do everything I just mentioned, you have a chance to break through within a year."

"Yes, I will certainly not let you down!"

Qin Chengxi nodded heavily.

Breaking through within a year—by then, he would possess the stature of a peerless prodigy!

"Grandfather, tell me, how large is the gap between me and that Marquis of Jing'an?"

Qin Chengxi asked suddenly out of curiosity.

Qin Mingli looked at him: "Why, do you want to become someone like Li Fei?"

Qin Chengxi shook his head, looking earnest: "I only want to become someone like you!"

Looking at his great-grandson's resolute eyes, Qin Mingli was suddenly dazed for a moment.

Then, his expression turned cold and hard once more:

"Becoming someone like me is not necessarily a good thing."

"Ah?"

Qin Chengxi was stunned, not understanding what his grandfather meant.

To become a Martial Saint of the human world—was that not good enough?

"It is nothing. You may go; your grandfather needs to cultivate."

Qin Mingli said.

"Yes."

Qin Chengxi rose and exited the secret chamber.

Inside the secret chamber, Qin Mingli's gaze grew increasingly cold.

Looking back through history, no ambitious, top-tier powerhouse would ever be content to stop here.

To take that step, Qingxu did not hesitate to gamble the fate of the entire Daoist school, seeking to establish a Daoist kingdom on earth!

To take that step, Yunshu did not hesitate to bind his own Great Dao to the Great Lan Dynasty, all to support the dragon and rise.

To take that step, Wenren Zheng had spent these years supporting the Emperor in sharpening his weapons and training his troops, never abandoning his ambition for the Western Continent!

Even Qiming, who had already been executed, had planned his path beyond the peak before he even broke through.

If he could crush the Great Lan Dynasty with his own strength and cause this five-hundred-year-old empire to fall, Qiming would also have had a chance to take that step!

Qin Mingli had not broken through for very long, and in truth, he had yet to find the path ahead.

It was not until the rebellion of True Lord Qingxu that he was suddenly summoned into the palace to assist the Emperor, while Ye Ze and Wenren Zheng worked together to channel the national fortune to support Yunshu in the distance.

That day, he learned from the Emperor's own mouth about the possibility of ascending beyond the peak. (See Chapter 59 of Volume 3 for details)

It was also from that day that he understood the true desires of Yunshu and Wenren Zheng.

But whether it was supporting the dragon to rise or leading troops to sweep across the Western Continent to establish unprecedented 'martial achievements'.

These had nothing to do with Qin Mingli.

He was not a warlock and could not walk the path of Yunshu.

If the Great Lan Dynasty were to truly launch an expedition to the Western Continent in the future, the Regional Commander would absolutely not be him.

Therefore, even if he switched to cultivating the path of war, it would be meaningless.

As for other paths that could lead beyond the peak.

Never mind whether Qin Mingli could find them; even if he truly did, at that time, no matter who was Emperor, they would absolutely never allow him the possibility of taking another step forward!

This was why Qin Mingli had told Qin Chengxi just now that becoming someone like him was not necessarily a good thing.

He was clearly an Imperial Uncle of the Son of Heaven, possessing an extremely noble status.

He was clearly gifted with supreme talent, a Martial Saint of the human world.

Yet, he could not possess the thing he desired most.

If Li Fei was a flood dragon just beginning to ascend.

Then Qin Mingli was the true dragon of the world, beyond any doubt!

But, even a true dragon has its sorrows.

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(End of chapter)