Chapter 858: Asking the Sword

"A thousand years ago, the Western Continent was filled with small states and embroiled in wars between feudal lords."

"By the time our Great Lan Dynasty unified the Central Plains, three great empires had risen in the Western Continent, annexing various states and dominating the region in a tripartite balance of power."

"These three great empires were the Deni Kingdom, the Meijia Kingdom, and the Sefuren Kingdom."

"The wars between the three kingdoms lasted for over a hundred years, during which time they split and new kingdoms rose, eventually forming a situation where seven kingdoms carved up the territory."

"Although the Deni Kingdom, the Meijia Kingdom, and the Sefuren Kingdom are no longer as prosperous as they once were, their strength remains the greatest among the seven, which is why they are called the three great powers."

"One hundred and thirty-nine years ago, an ocean-going fleet dispatched by the Deni royal family discovered the Eastern Continent, opening up trade between the two continents. It was also from this moment that the nations of the Western Continent began to covet the vast and resource-rich Eastern Continent."

Inside the secret chamber, Li Fei stood before a bookshelf, reading a book in his hand.

This book recorded the historical trajectory of the Western Continent; he had no interest in the tripartite balance of power or the chaotic wars of the seven kingdoms.

What truly concerned him was their industrial revolution!

Unlike the Eastern Continent, where martial arts and the path of techniques flourished, the Western Continent determined status by bloodline; noble bloodlines were born with extraordinary power, thus stably occupying the ruling class.

If the common people's lineage was insufficient, they were destined to remain at the bottom for their entire lives, with no hope of ever rising.

Even though trade between the two continents had begun, the Western Continent had acquired many cultivation methods for martial arts and techniques from the East.

But for one thing, the Western Continent had almost no exotic beasts; to possess an implant, one would have to turn an extraordinary being with a noble bloodline directly into an implant, which was an absolute taboo, so martial arts and techniques did not flourish.

Another point was that the ruling class of the Western Continent did not allow the lower classes to possess large amounts of power that could autonomously make them stronger.

Under these circumstances, the common people could not study how to practice martial arts to become stronger and could only devote their energy to other areas.

Since extraordinary power could not be mastered, then they would master the power of science!

Thus, gunpowder weapons began to rise among various civilian resistance organizations, and through constant improvement, they became increasingly powerful.

When the first rifled gun appeared, the nobles of the Western Continent had to start taking these gunpowder weapons seriously.

As the seven kingdoms successively joined in the research, development, and manufacture of gunpowder weapons, the power of technology began to manifest in the Western Continent, and with it came the industrial revolution!

The seven kingdoms of the Western Continent completed their first industrial revolution about seventy years ago, entering the steam age.

They completed the second industrial revolution over forty years ago, entering the electrical age.

Heavy machine guns, bombers, mortars, warships—these epoch-making weapons were created!

It is said that once one holds a sharp blade, the intent to kill arises of its own accord.

With these powerful weapons, the ambitions of the seven kingdoms of the Western Continent gradually expanded.

If they had not discovered the Eastern Continent, the seven kingdoms would likely have already been fighting each other fiercely.

But did they not have an external target for conquest?

Moreover, the interests of the Eastern Continent were enough for the seven kingdoms to divide among themselves.

Thus, the seven kingdoms chose to join forces and act in unison against the outside!

Li Fei put down the book in his hand and began to search the bookshelf for intelligence related to various technologies.

He was very concerned about one point now—

Twenty-two years had passed; to what stage had the technological level of the Western Continent developed today?

Had they entered the third industrial revolution?

If they had already begun to utilize atomic energy and built atomic bombs, then even peak experts would be in danger!

If the Western Continent only possessed technological power, then even if they possessed the level of technology from Li Fei's past life, there was nothing to fear.

Sending any expert to infiltrate would easily accomplish a decapitation strike!

A single "Terror Spell" could make fully armed soldiers throw away their armor and flee.

But the problem was that the Western Continent also possessed extraordinary power, and it was not weak; it was only a cut below in terms of top-tier combat strength.

Under these circumstances, if the technological power of the Western Continent had also seen an epoch-making improvement, that would be terrifying!

"August, 36th Year of Hongguang: The Meijia Kingdom's military department secretly tested a batch of new-style firearms. Our side failed to obtain detailed intelligence, knowing only that the final experimental results were poor and they were not put into mass production."

"June, 37th Year of Hongguang: The Meijia Kingdom's new-style firearm research was successful; it is a rifle that has officially entered production. The firearm can automatically load ammunition, and its rate of fire is far higher than all existing rifles!"

"November, 38th Year of Hongguang: The Deni Kingdom secretly developed a new-style armored vehicle, suspected of mounting a cannon on the armored vehicle."

"March, 39th Year of Hongguang: The Deni Kingdom began mass production of the new-style armored vehicle, named 'MT-01'. Below are the blueprints copied by our secret agents."

"May, 39th Year of Hongguang: The Sefuren Kingdom developed a new-style artillery piece; its range and power are better than the largest caliber mortars currently in existence. Below are the data for the new-style artillery estimated by our side."

The Military Intelligence Agency's primary focus regarding the Western Continent was their various gunpowder weapons, so these were the intelligence points they prioritized investigating.

And as he looked at the intelligence gathered by these secret agents who had risked their lives and paid a huge price, Li Fei's heart gradually sank.

The Meijia Kingdom's new-style rifle—was that not a semi-automatic or automatic rifle?

The Great Lan Dynasty currently still used bolt-action rifles; one had to pull the bolt to reload after every shot, so the gap with automatic weapons went without saying.

As for the Deni Kingdom's MT-01 armored vehicle, Li Fei smiled as soon as he saw that familiar tracked structure; was this not a tank?

In his past life, this thing was the king of land warfare during World War II!

And the new-style artillery developed by the Sefuren Kingdom, with its longer range and heavier structure—that should be the development from short-to-medium range mortars to medium-to-long range howitzers.

Across one or two kilometers, it was still possible for cavalry to charge the enemy's artillery positions.

But if there were artillery bombardments from over a dozen kilometers away, only a team of all martial artists or the Imperial Guard could contend with it.

Li Fei carefully searched through much more intelligence and finally saw an inconspicuous record in one piece of intelligence:

"March, 44th Year of Hongguang: The Bowen Institute of the Zijing Duchy developed a large piece of equipment that can accelerate calculation speeds."

A computer!

The moment Li Fei saw this piece of intelligence, his expression changed.

He wanted to find more intelligence about this large piece of equipment, but he searched through all the relevant records and found nothing more.

It was just that one sentence.

Clearly, for the Military Intelligence Agency's secret agents lurking in the Western Continent, various new-style weapons were their primary target for investigation; for this equipment that merely accelerated calculation speeds, the agents had not taken it to heart and had only recorded it as a matter of routine.

"From the 44th Year of Hongguang until now, five years have passed; computer technology may have already been applied to multiple fields. I fear it won't be long before the Western Continent can fully enter the third industrial revolution!"

Li Fei felt somewhat heavy-hearted.

Compared to the Western Continent, although the Great Lan Dynasty had undergone the Mingxin Reform and introduced a large amount of Western technology, and possessed the ability to manufacture its own firearms and artillery, its level was far too behind.

It was not that the people of the Eastern Continent were not smart enough; it was just that the differences in the general environment and ideology led the Eastern Continent to still lean more toward the development of individual martial power.

Whether it was a large household or a small one, as long as there was an opportunity, they would certainly want their children to become martial artists or sorcerers, rather than running off to learn some scientific technology.

Under these circumstances, even with the Mingxin Reform and the imperial court advocating "learning the barbarians' techniques to control the barbarians," it was still difficult to change the overall situation.

If the Eastern Continent wanted to surpass the Western Continent in the field of science and technology, there was no hope in sight within a hundred years.

The only thing to be thankful for was that the Great Lan Dynasty at least had the Mingxin Reform; even if the technical level was lagging, they had at least transitioned from cold weapons to hot weapons.

Otherwise, if they were still using the swords, spears, and iron cavalry of decades ago against the semi-automatic rifles, howitzers, and tanks of today's Western Continent.

Then the ordinary soldiers would truly be of no use at all!

Li Fei put down the intelligence in his hand and began to browse the data on the extraordinary beings of the Western Continent:

Before that great war, only the three great powers of the seven Western kingdoms possessed multiple Prince-level experts, while the other four kingdoms only had one Prince-level expert, who was the king of that country.

Added together, the seven kingdoms had a total of 11 Prince-level experts!

Back then, the three great powers each dispatched one Prince, and together with extraordinary beings of various levels—Dukes, Marquises, Earls, Viscounts, and Barons—they launched an eastern expedition.

Later, two of the three Princes were killed by Wenren Zheng, and one was severely injured and fled back.

Over the next twenty-two years, the Great Lan Dynasty introduced a large amount of advanced technology from the Western Continent and purchased many weapons, strengthening its national power.

The Western Continent also obtained a large number of cultivation methods for martial arts and techniques from the Great Lan Dynasty to strengthen its own power.

Although none of the seven kingdoms promoted cultivation methods on a large scale, their nobles could practice them.

The advantage of the bloodline itself, combined with suitable cultivation methods, could not only make their cultivation progress faster but also accelerate the speed of their bloodline awakening, and even increase the probability of their bloodline evolution!

The member of the Deni royal family named Tuso whom Li Fei had encountered previously had a martial arts cultivation base at the peak of the Dao Foundation stage; combined with his bloodline power, it was hard to find many people below the level of Martial Arts Master who could defeat him.

This was the benefit brought by the combination of the Eastern Continent's martial arts and the Western Continent's bloodline power.

In that battle back then, the Western Continent lost two Prince-level experts and a large number of extraordinary beings.

Yet after twenty-two years of development, through constant acquisition and learning of the Eastern Continent's martial arts and techniques, the number of extraordinary beings in the seven Western kingdoms was even higher than back then!

There were now as many as 13 Prince-level experts, an increase of 4!

It was a pity that one succeeds because of bloodline and fails because of bloodline.

Bloodline gave the extraordinary beings of the Western Continent powerful talents, but it also limited their upper limits.

Some people were born destined to become Duke-level experts, while others could only be a Baron no matter how hard they tried.

Even with the cultivation methods of the Eastern Continent, it only increased the probability of bloodline evolution to a certain extent and could not change the broad statistics.

Below the Prince level was the Duke level, equivalent to the Grandmasters of the Eastern Continent.

According to statistics, the seven Western kingdoms had a total of only 56 Duke-level experts.

Within the Great Lan Dynasty alone, the combined number of Grandmasters from the imperial court and the martial arts world was roughly that number.

Not to mention the top-tier True Persons.

Outside the Great Lan Dynasty, the Grassland Royal Court, the fourteen Northern Barbarian tribes, and the two Desert Kingdoms all had Grandmasters and top-tier True Persons.

Therefore, the Eastern Continent far outnumbered the Western Continent in the number of experts at this level.

This was the limitation brought by bloodline; many things were fixed, and there were no major variables to speak of.

"It is a pity that the Western Continent is seven kingdoms united, while the Great Lan Dynasty is one against many."

Li Fei thought with some regret.

The Western Continent did not have a hegemon capable of suppressing the various countries; instead, the seven kingdoms were able to act in unison against the outside.

Even if they were not that united, at least their interests were consistent.

And here in the Eastern Continent, the Great Lan Dynasty had dominated for over five hundred years and had been suppressing the other countries for over five hundred years.

Whether it was the Grassland Royal Court or the two Desert Kingdoms, their thoughts were consistent with the seven Western kingdoms: they all wanted to carve up the Great Lan Dynasty!

Inside the secret chamber, Li Fei browsed through intelligence reports for the entire night.

It was, of course, impossible for him to finish reading twenty-two years' worth of intelligence in one night, so he merely selected some key content to review.

Early the next morning, he left the Military Intelligence Bureau and returned to the headquarters of the Inspection Pavilion.

"Marquis, this is the information Pavilion Master Lou had prepared for you."

A clerk delivered a heavy black iron box before Li Fei.

This black iron box was sealed with sorcery; it could only be unlocked by combining the golden seal and identity token of an Inspection Pavilion official with the corresponding incantations.

If forced open, the internal sorcery would be triggered, causing all the information inside to be burned to ashes.

This was the standard method for the Inspection Pavilion to store classified documents.

Li Fei's personal clearance was sufficient, and he had mastered the unlocking incantations, so he did not need anyone else's help; he opened the iron box himself and took out the materials within.

The Inspection Pavilion held nothing but information related to spies, and after reading it, Li Fei felt somewhat shocked!

Back when he was in Datong Prefecture, there had been a special-grade lecturer within Wuan University who was in collusion with spies from the Western Continent.

And had the spies from the Western Continent infiltrated more than just one Wuan University?

All thirteen universities in the country and twenty-three provinces had all been infiltrated!

It was no wonder that day at the Grand Court Meeting, that official from the Inspection Pavilion had said the Western Continent's delegation did not need to come to probe their true strength at all.

They likely understood the Great Lan Dynasty even more deeply than many of the Great Lan people themselves!

On this day, Li Fei stayed at the Inspection Pavilion headquarters until evening before returning to the Marquis's estate.

After returning to the Marquis's estate, he chose not to rest, nor did he go to the secret chamber to cultivate, but instead went to the study.

He was a practitioner of both Law and Martial Arts; although his martial arts realm had already reached the Divine Derivation Realm, his Flying Sword Body was still at the Earth Level, and he had to wait until the Flying Sword Body reached the Heaven Level and balanced with his martial arts realm before he could proceed to the next breakthrough.

For the Flying Sword Body to break through from the Earth Level to the Heaven Level, it required the integration of a Grade 6 sorcery-type implant.

Li Fei was not lacking in resources, but he was still deliberating on which specific Grade 6 implants to integrate, how to combine them, and how to cultivate them.

After all, no one had ever walked this path before; he could only explore it himself.

This was not something that could yield results in a short period of time.

From last night until today, he had read so much information about the Western Continent.

The more he understood the situation in the Western Continent, the heavier Li Fei's mood became, and the greater the pressure on his shoulders!

Previously, Shi Caiming had told him—if the sky falls, there are taller people to hold it up.

But now, looking across the entire Great Lan Dynasty, only Wenren Zheng remained as a peak powerhouse.

If one did not count the four Imperial Guard armies, Li Fei felt that he might very well be the second-strongest expert in the Great Lan Dynasty today!

There were no taller people above him left to hold it up; he was that tall person, and now he had to hold it up for the Great Lan Dynasty!

This kind of pressure was indescribable.

This made Li Fei even more urgent in his desire to improve his own strength.

Breaking through his realm in a short time was impossible, so he thought of using other methods:

After sitting down, he took out a secret manual—"Great Thousand".

That's right, it was precisely "Great Thousand," one of the twelve Creation Sword Arts of the Gouchen Sword Sect!

After the Gouchen Sword Sect was destroyed, its four hundred years of accumulation fell into the hands of others.

Among the most valuable things, besides various cultivation resources, were the cultivation manuals.

Twelve sword arts that could lead directly to the Creation Realm were priceless treasures for any swordsman!

After breaking through to become a Grandmaster, Li Fei could quickly cultivate all the Dao Power he mastered to the Profound Scene level.

But Dao Power at the Creation Realm was not so easy.

It required inheritance, talent, and arduous cultivation.

If one already held a martial art that had been deduced to the Creation Realm level, cultivating it would yield twice the result with half the effort.

That was why the twelve Creation Sword Arts of the Gouchen Sword Sect were so exceptionally precious.

Although Li Fei had voluntarily ceded the distribution rights back then, neither Xiao Ruihang nor Huo Hansi dared to let him suffer a loss.

In addition to being allocated a large sum of resources, the entire four-hundred-year inheritance of the Gouchen Sword Sect had been copied and handed to him!

Li Fei himself possessed a Flying Sword Body, and his self-contained small world was the 【Primordial Sword Realm】, but he had never practiced a profound set of sword techniques until now.

This was undoubtedly a waste of heavenly treasures!

With the four-hundred-year inheritance of the Gouchen Sword Sect now in hand, he intended to start practicing sword techniques.

This was also the way to increase his combat power most effectively in a short time.

With the Flying Sword Body, the 【Sword Sacrifice】 divine ability, and the 【Primordial Sword Realm】, Li Fei could be said to be uniquely gifted in the matter of practicing sword techniques.

Even though he had never practiced sword techniques before, his realm was set there, and with such excellent foundational conditions, his progress in sword practice was advancing by leaps and bounds!

In just one night, Li Fei had clarified all the content of the "Great Thousand" sword art from the 'Entering the Dao' to the 'Profound Scene' level of Dao Power.

Then, without resting, he went directly to the estate's martial arts arena, unfolded the 【Primordial Sword Realm】 to shroud the entire arena, and began to practice the sword art.

Two days later, inside the 【Primordial Sword Realm】:

The sun and moon wheels shone together at the dome; the red sun poured down like molten gold, and the silver moon flowed like ice essence.

At the intersection of heaven and earth, a bronze altar stood as towering as a divine sword thrust upside down, with golden sword Qi flowing through its complex patterns.

Surrounding the altar, one hundred thousand mountains stood in reverence, and a thousand rivers surged like silver dragons rushing to the sea!

Li Fei stood with his hands behind his back in the center of the altar, his sword intent awe-inspiring; with every breath, he resonated with the ten thousand sword energies within the sword realm.

He raised his right arm, his right hand gripping the air.

In an instant, the one hundred thousand mountains trembled violently, the craggy mountain bodies peeling off inch by inch into waterfalls of gilded sand, the hanging rivers reversing to become golden ribbons of light, and billions of golden rays surged toward Li Fei's palm!

A sword hum pierced the nine heavens, and a three-foot green blade formed in his hand.

Li Fei delivered a sword strike forward with a light touch, yet it seemed to carry the weight of heaven and earth, carrying the ten thousand miles of rivers and mountains.

Boom!!!

The sword momentum was heavier than moving mountains and filling seas; where the sword light passed, the void bloomed with spiderweb-like cracks, and the entire sword realm shook in its wake.

After the one strike, the long sword in Li Fei's hand completely dissipated.

This sword strike just now was precisely "Great Thousand"; in just two days, he had practiced it to the Profound Scene level!

However, wanting to break through to the Creation level next would not be so easy.

As Li Fei's thoughts stirred, the mountains and rivers that had just dissipated reappeared.

Lava erupted from the cracks in the earth, and divine trees formed of crimson flames rose from the ground, every fiery leaf a dancing flame.

Vermilion firebirds flapped their wings across the treetops, their tail feathers dragging behind them ten thousand zhang of flowing clouds.

Buddhist chants pierced through the flames, and streaks of golden Buddha light fell from the firmament.

These layers of imagery were all manifestations of the Dao Power Li Fei had practiced within the 【Primordial Sword Realm】.

After reaching the Divine Derivation Realm, multiple divine abilities fused with one another, capable of deriving new changes.

This was the change derived from Li Fei's Divine Derivation Realm—【Myriad Phenomena】!

Everything he practiced, saw, and felt in terms of Dao Power could be transformed into Dao Rhyme, presenting imagery within his Martial Arts Domain.

The two characters "Primordial" inherently carried the meaning of encompassing all phenomena, so the more imagery within the sword realm, the more real this small world became, and the greater its power!

The reason Li Fei chose "Great Thousand" as the first sword art for his cultivation was precisely because this sword art was the most compatible with 【Myriad Phenomena】, and it possessed the greatest number of images, capable of maximizing the power of the sword realm.

The Imperial Palace.

The new Emperor, Qin Ziheng, was processing memorials in the Imperial Study.

Since his ascension, in terms of diligence, he was second to none compared to the late Emperor.

As for his level of handling state affairs, he had been the Crown Prince for over twenty years, after all, and had begun participating in court politics and winning over officials long ago.

When it came down to it, with the First Imperial Prince and the Third Imperial Prince serving as whetstones, Qin Ziheng's level could not have been low regardless.

"Your Majesty, the Marquis of Jing'an has submitted a memorial."

Outside the study, Feng Cheng suddenly said while holding a memorial.

Qin Ziheng looked up: "Bring it here."

"Yes."

Feng Cheng personally handed over the memorial.

Qin Ziheng took the memorial and glanced at it, pondered slightly, and then spoke:

"Tell the Marquis of Jing'an that his request is granted by the Emperor."

"Yes."

The 49th year of Hongguang, August 27th.

Li Fei drove a flying boat alone and left Lanling City.

The request he gave to the new Emperor contained only one sentence—

"Your subject intends to challenge the martial arts world and hone my martial path before the Western Continent delegation arrives."

With the derived divine ability 【Myriad Phenomena】, it was not only the Dao Power he cultivated himself that could form imagery within the Martial Arts Domain.

By fighting other powerhouses, seeing and experiencing the Dao Power of others, and gaining insights, he could likewise form imagery.

That was why Li Fei intended to challenge the martial arts world!

Firstly, he could hone his martial path and strengthen himself.

Secondly, he was now the Pavilion Master of the Lan Inspection Pavilion, and it was his duty to subdue the martial arts world for the imperial court.

Before breaking through his realm, he found it very difficult to win against a Grandmaster.

Although he had defeated the Dao-Establishing Grandmaster Bai Chen on the Baifeng Plains, it was largely due to luck; if it hadn't been for the fact that he happened to counter the opponent's ultimate move, he likely would not have been able to defeat another Dao-Establishing Grandmaster.

Now that he had broken through his realm, his combat power had increased significantly.

Li Fei felt that if he were to encounter Bai Chen of the Dao Establishment realm again, winning would not be too difficult for him!

Yet Bai Chen, having mastered the Five Divine Abilities and the Five Gates of Creation Sword Arts, was definitely not weak among the Grandmasters of the Dao Establishment realm, even if he had just broken through to that realm.

Therefore, Li Fei also really wanted to know, as for himself now—

Beneath the peak, who could be his match?

Requesting monthly votes.

(End of this chapter)