Chapter 874: Rules

"Let me have a bit more fun."

"Impossible."

"I promise it will be quick."

"Sword Immortal Ning, please have some self-respect."

"Tch, so stingy."

"."

Li Fei's face darkened as he shook off Ning Qingman's pestering.

For the past few days, she had been trying every possible way to make him turn back into a divine sword so she could practice her swordsmanship.

Although Li Fei would also gain something from this process, being able to incidentally experience the power of Dao laws and Ning Qingman's sword Dao.

But Li Fei still refused without the slightest hesitation!

After shaking off Ning Qingman, he rode the wind to the center of Tancheng.

A massive ritual altar had been built on the plaza here, and over a hundred sorcerers were busy setting up an array.

Li Fei landed on the altar, and soon a man wearing purple Daoist robes walked up to greet him.

"Greetings, Marquis of Jing'an."

"True Person Wang, how is it going?"

Li Fei asked.

The person who had come was Wang Rui, the Chief True Person of the Eastern Plain Province's Department of Orthodox Law.

A single word from the Marquis of Jing'an had shaken the entire Eastern Plain Province!

Officials from the government, people from Eastern Plain University, and even those from the pugilistic world were all rushing toward Tancheng.

When Wang Rui first learned that the task was to deal with evil spirits, he had not set out, having already thought of various excuses.

But he soon learned that Li Fei and the "Sword Immortal" Ning Qingman had joined forces to repel two great evil spirits!

Thus, Wang Rui immediately set out, traveling by riding the wind, and reached Tancheng in a few days to meet Li Fei.

"The array will be ready today. Next, we only need to let the people of Tancheng enter the array one by one to receive purification."

Wang Rui said to Li Fei.

Although the Old Ancestor of the Underworld had already departed, he had used his yin soul to possess bodies, leaving behind traces of yin-evil energy on tens of thousands of people in Tancheng.

If this energy were not removed, those who were strong and healthy would at most fall into a major illness and lose some vitality.

But those who were weak or sickly could potentially be left with lasting complications, and in severe cases, it could even endanger their lives!

Therefore, Li Fei had asked the Eastern Plain Province's Department of Orthodox Law to come up with a plan to build a grand array and hold a "Body Purification Ritual" for the tens of thousands of people in Tancheng.

"I have troubled you, True Person Wang."

Li Fei cupped his hands to Wang Rui.

A smile bloomed on Wang Rui's face as he hurriedly returned the gesture: "You are too polite, Marquis of Jing'an."

He had spared no effort, even at the cost of his true power, to ride the wind for hundreds of kilometers to reach Tancheng, all just to meet Li Fei and build a bit of rapport.

If it were anyone else, it would be impossible to get the Department of Orthodox Law to bring out so many rare materials to set up a grand array.

Not to mention having him, a Chief True Person and a dignified cabinet official of the imperial court, lower himself to personally preside over the ritual.

After chatting with Wang Rui for a while, Li Fei left the plaza and encountered Ning Qingman again.

However, this Sword Immortal did not ask him to turn into a sword again, but said with a serious expression:

"Thank you."

Li Fei looked at her: "Hm?"

Ning Qingman looked at the ritual altar on the plaza: "I know that if it weren't for your sake, the Eastern Plain Province government would not be putting in such dedicated effort to save these people."

Li Fei was silent.

He also knew very well in his heart that for people like Wang Rui, human lives had a price.

It was likely that even if all tens of thousands of people in Tancheng died, it would not be as valuable as the precious materials the Department of Orthodox Law had brought out this time!

So, if Li Fei had not intervened in this incident, the tens of thousands of people in Tancheng would likely have been left to their fate.

A wandering cultivator from the pugilistic world thanking him for a matter that should have been the responsibility of the imperial court made Li Fei's mood somewhat complex.

As early as his time in Xingcheng, he knew that the Great Lan Dynasty had many problems.

It was just that at the time, he was only a minor martial artist at the Body Breaking realm and could not change anything, only killing a few corrupt officials for temporary satisfaction.

But now, whether in terms of personal martial power or political status and influence, he stood at the peak of the Great Lan Dynasty!

He could already influence the great trends of the world!

Thinking of this, Li Fei made a decision in his heart.

He stayed in the Eastern Plain Province for the next ten days.

During these ten days, besides watching the Department of Orthodox Law hold the purification ritual in Tancheng, he also secretly visited the major cities of the Eastern Plain Province—

In his capacity as a Special Envoy of the Lan Inspection.

Thus, in just ten days, two imperial court seat officials, five imperial court appointed officials, and twenty-seven subordinate officials in the Eastern Plain Province were taken away by inspection personnel!

For a time, the entire officialdom of the Eastern Plain Province was shaken!

Ever since Li Fei took the position of Special Envoy of the Lan Inspection, apart from the initial "battle of techniques" with the Lu family, this was the first time he had truly fulfilled the duties of his office—

To inspect the world on behalf of the Son of Heaven and sweep away the filth of the officialdom!

But Li Fei could only stay in the Eastern Plain Province for ten days, because the delegation from the Seven Western Nations was about to arrive in Lanlingcheng.

As the person in charge, he had to return.

Before leaving, Li Fei, in his capacity as Special Envoy of the Lan Inspection, issued an order to the other provinces: the inspection departments of each province were to take the lead in conducting self-inspections of each prefecture and city, and the results were to be reported to him uniformly.

Although Li Fei knew that this round of self-inspection could at most kill the chicken to warn the monkey and could not fundamentally solve the problems.

But even if it only reduced the "silt" that had accumulated in the Great Lan Dynasty for over five hundred years by a fraction, it would be enough to change the fate of many common people at the bottom.

"Sword Immortal Ning, until we meet again."

In Tancheng, Li Fei cupped his hands to bid farewell to Ning Qingman.

He was setting off for Lanlingcheng today, and Ning Qingman would not be traveling with him, as she had to continue tracking the whereabouts of Li Ming.

"Until we meet again."

Ning Qingman also cupped her hands to Li Fei, her face full of regret.

In the end, she still hadn't been able to make Li Fei turn into a sword one more time so she could play with it.

Li Fei steered his flying boat and soared into the sky.

Ning Qingman watched him disappear into the horizon before withdrawing her gaze and opening her left hand.

In the center of her palm lay a nearly transparent thread.

Across a thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers, there is finally a thread of connection.

November 16th, 49th year of Hongguang.

A motorcade was driving toward Lanlingcheng.

This motorcade consisted of over a dozen cars, and each one was a stretched model that had never appeared in the Great Lan Dynasty before.

Whether in terms of material, exterior design, or speed, these cars were far ahead of the cars of the Great Lan Dynasty.

All dozen or so cars came from the Western Continent and were the official vehicles of the Seven Western Nations delegation, brought over by ship.

Above this motorcade was a flying boat, and two people stood on it.

One of these two was a member of the Orthodox Law Pavilion, and the other was a member of the Stop-War Pavilion.

At first, officials sent by the imperial court followed the motorcade of the Western delegation in cars.

But these Western cars had speeds far exceeding those of the Eastern Continent, and the people of the Western delegation had no intention of slowing down, quickly leaving the court officials behind.

To avoid losing the dignity of a great nation, the Central Secretariat urgently dispatched two cabinet members to ride flying artifacts in the air to "lead the way."

"This Grand Duke Ryan really doesn't hide anything at all."

Wei Yan looked at the motorcade below and sighed.

He was a member of the Stop-War Pavilion and a Martial Arts Master; his hearing was far superior to ordinary people, and he could hear the constant sounds of impact and lewd cries coming from inside a silver sedan below.

It was self-evident what was happening inside the car.

"I heard that the bloodline of the Ryan family is naturally lustful and cannot live without women, similar to the dragon race among exotic beasts."

Shao Chenfeng, who was steering the flying boat on the side, said.

A flash of envy crossed his eyes.

As a True Person of the current age, he was no weaker than Wei Yan in combat power, but his physical constitution was far inferior.

That Grand Duke Ryan in the motorcade below had been at it since they departed, and it had already been going on for over three hours!

This really made Shao Chenfeng very envious.

Suddenly, the roof of the silver car that the two cabinet members were watching opened.

A figure flew out from inside and arrived in the air.

The person was bare-chested with fair skin, muscles as solid as granite, and a thick head of golden hair, making him look like a golden lion.

Wei Yan and Shao Chenfeng exchanged a glance, hovered the flying boat, and bowed to the person together:

"Grand Duke Ryan, is there something you need?"

The person turned in the air and looked at the two cabinet members.

He had a high bridge of the nose, deep eye sockets, and a pair of golden eyes.

He was Grand Duke Ryan of the Deni Kingdom, and also the representative of the Deni Kingdom for this diplomatic mission.

Zeke Ryan gave the two a warm smile and said in somewhat stiff Central Plains language:

"I only want to see the place where my father died in battle all those years ago."

These words caused Wei Yan and Shao Chenfeng to be startled.

Since the two of them were responsible for the reception arrangements this time, they naturally understood the relevant intelligence.

Twenty-two years ago, the Western Continent Allied Forces fought their way to the outskirts of Lanling City.

Among the three Princes leading the army at that time, one of them was Prince Ryan.

Later, this Prince died under the iron fist of the "God of War," Wenren Zheng.

Zeke Ryan was the second son of that Prince Ryan from back then; he had now grown step by step to the level of a Duke, becoming the new head of the Ryan family.

He stood in the air with a smile on his face, doing nothing, yet Wei Yan and Shao Chenfeng felt as if they were caught in the middle of a storm!

A suffocating pressure loomed over their minds.

In the Western Continent, titles are divided into "Real Titles" and "Empty Titles."

"Real Titles" refer to when one's personal strength is commensurate with their title, while "Empty Titles" are when they are not.

Among the lower ranks of Barons, Viscounts, and Counts, there are quite a few "Empty Titles."

But starting from the rank of Marquis, almost all are "Real Titles."

Zeke Ryan's ducal title was earned through his own strength!

Transcendent beings of the Western Continent are divided into three tiers at the Duke level: Vice Duke, Grand Duke, and Glory Duke.

Zeke's title is Duke, but his personal transcendent strength is that of a Glory Duke!

The Duke level of the Western Continent corresponds to the Grandmaster level of the Eastern Continent, while a Glory Duke is equivalent to a Grandmaster of the Dao-Establishing Realm.

That is why Wei Yan and Shao Chenfeng felt such immense pressure when facing Zeke.

However, both were people of firm will; they struggled to hold on under the pressure, maintaining their composure so as not to lose the nation's face.

Originally, Li Fei should have been the one to face this.

But this Marquis of Jing'an had first challenged the martial arts Grandmasters of the Jianghu, and afterwards went with the "Sword Immortal" Ning Qingman to deal with two great evil beings.

He was so busy that he still hadn't returned to Lanling City.

Therefore, Wei Yan and Shao Chenfeng could only bite the bullet and hold the line.

A few seconds later, all the pressure vanished like an illusion.

The smile on Zeke's face remained unchanged: "I wonder if I will have the opportunity to meet your country's Grand Marshal this time?"

Wei Yan calmed his mind and said neither humbly nor arrogantly:

"The Grand Marshal is not responsible for liaising with the diplomatic mission."

Zeke spread his hands: "That is truly a pity."

Wei Yan looked at him: "Duke Ryan, please return to the motorcade; we will arrive at Lanling City very soon. Lanling City has a prohibition: without permission, no one is allowed to fly over Lanling City."

"You certainly have a lot of rules."

Zeke withdrew his smile.

Wei Yan met the golden eyes of this Glory Duke and said word by word:

"The number of rules is not important. What is important is whether there is enough power to make people follow the rules."

Zeke's expression shifted; just as he was about to speak, he suddenly paused and turned his head to look to his left.

Wei Yan and Shao Chenfeng were a step slower than him, but they also sensed that something was wrong.

They saw a streak of sword light speeding over from the distance!

The sword light carried an extreme sense of icy cold, with a cold wave following closely behind.

Wherever the cold wave passed, the ground froze one after another.

This cold wave was surging toward the motorcade on the road.

Someone was attacking the diplomatic mission!

As a True Person, Shao Chenfeng immediately prepared to unleash his life-bound magic treasure to cast a technique to block the incoming sword light and cold wave.

But someone's movements were faster than his.

Zeke, with his upper body bare, transformed into a golden meteor and crashed head-on into the sword light!

Just as they were about to collide, Zeke raised his right arm and struck the sword light with a straight punch.

The outer layer of sword Qi was shattered like dry wood, revealing a palm-sized exquisite flying sword inside.

Immediately following, the tip of this flying sword bent upward, the sword body twisted and deformed, and it finally turned into a lump of scrap metal!

Boom—

Only then did the sonic boom caused by Zeke's punch come rolling in.

As he threw the punch, golden flames rose from the ground, burning the incoming cold wave to nothing!

The fierce fist wind was overwhelming, pushing forward and uprooting the large trees on the ground, blowing them into the air.

The residual power of Zeke's punch continued to spread forward for over a thousand meters, uprooting hundreds of large trees before it ended!

A figure was forced out of the jungle below by the fierce fist energy, turning into a blue streak of light and fleeing rapidly into the distance.

Zeke calmly lowered his arm, having no intention to pursue.

"I will go after them!"

Shao Chenfeng said to Wei Yan with a grave expression, then had Wei Yan jump off the flying boat while he steered it to pursue the streak of light at full speed.

Wei Yan landed on the ground, his expression grave.

The diplomatic mission of the seven countries of the Western Continent had each sent a Duke to lead their team.

Therefore, there were a total of seven Dukes in this mission, equivalent to seven Grandmasters!

This intelligence was practically public knowledge.

And the attack just now could not possibly have posed any threat to the mission.

Yet the person behind the scenes still planned such an attack, and at a time when the mission was about to enter Lanling City.

The intent behind this was truly chilling!

Zeke flew back from the distance and landed in front of Wei Yan with a relaxed expression.

He looked at Wei Yan and smiled meaningfully:

"It seems you no longer have enough power to uphold your rules."

Wei Yan opened his mouth to speak, but for a moment, he did not know what to say.

At this moment, it seemed that whatever he said would appear powerless.

In the vicinity of their own imperial capital, someone actually dared to openly attack a foreign diplomatic mission.

This in itself already explained many things.

Boom!!!

Between heaven and earth, thunder struck again.

"Hmm?"

Zeke turned his head in surprise toward the direction where the streak of light had fled.

An astonishing sword intent suddenly erupted in the distance, as if it were about to pierce through heaven and earth!

This sword intent caused Zeke to involuntarily feel a sense of trembling.

Wei Yan's expression changed drastically, thinking that Shao Chenfeng had encountered a powerful enemy while in pursuit.

But soon, he saw Shao Chenfeng returning while steering the flying boat.

There was one more person on the flying boat.

As the flying boat drew closer, Wei Yan finally saw clearly who the extra person on the boat was, and he could not help but heave a sigh of relief.

"Who is this person?"

Zeke turned his head to ask Wei Yan.

A look of pride appeared on Wei Yan's face:

"He is our country's Marquis of Jing'an, and also the main person in charge of receiving the diplomatic mission this time."

"He is the Marquis of Jing'an, Li Fei?"

Clearly, Zeke had heard of Li Fei's name.

He revealed an interested expression.

When the flying boat descended from the air, both Wei Yan and Zeke could see that there was another person lying on the boat, whose lower abdomen had been pierced, dripping with blood.

It was very obvious that this person was the one who had just attacked the diplomatic mission.

"Duke Ryan."

Wei Yan suddenly spoke again:

"For anyone who dares to break the rules, we will make them pay the price!"

(End of chapter)