Chapter 879: The Mansion is About to Collapse

Lanling City, Grand Marshal's Mansion.

On the drill ground.

Clad in golden armor, Li Fei swung his fist toward Wenren Zheng before him; the air was instantly sucked dry, and the vacuum zone pulled the blue bricks of the ground upward until they shattered!

Wenren Zheng wore a black martial arts uniform, without the battle armor condensed from a Martial Dao Domain on his body.

He raised his hand to block the fist strike aimed directly at his face, and his left leg lashed out from bottom to top.

Li Fei kicked out at almost the same time, intercepting the opponent's leg.

Bang!

A thunderous explosion rang out across the drill ground, and the circular sonic boom spread in all directions, grinding the flying stone fragments into dust.

Cracks appeared on the battle armor on Li Fei's right leg, and his entire body was kicked off the ground, flying backward.

He immediately utilized 【No Distance】 to vanish, taking advantage of the momentum to dissipate the impact force on his body.

But just as he emerged from the spatial fold, Wenren Zheng's fist was already coming straight at him!

Li Fei crossed his arms to brace against this punch; his battle armor emitted a dull thud, and the ground beneath his feet collapsed violently downward.

Layer upon layer of mountain and river phantoms shattered under Wenren Zheng's fist!

Li Fei vanished from his spot again, instantly appearing behind Wenren Zheng, and slammed an elbow into the center of the opponent's back.

Wenren Zheng allowed Li Fei to strike him; as if stars were lighting up within the acupuncture points on his back, they completely repelled the incoming force.

He twisted his waist, turned around, and raised his left knee to strike at Li Fei's ribs.

Bang—

Li Fei was sent flying again.

This God of War's fighting style was simple and direct, not complex at all.

First, it was powerful and heavy—so heavy that even if Li Fei used 【Blood Rage】 at full strength and then increased it tenfold with the 【Dragon Elephant】 divine ability, he still could not compare!

Second, it was fast as lightning—so fast that Li Fei could not continuously use 【No Distance】 to dodge within an interval of less than 0. seconds!

Li Fei slid backward, suddenly twisted his waist to turn, and pushed both palms out in front of him.

The Sun and Moon Wheels, the Array of a Thousand Mountains, and the imagery of the Heavenly River pouring backward all condensed into a brilliant line, as if Li Fei had merged heaven and earth between his palms—

【Ignorance of Heaven's Height】!

The next instant, an iron fist with a metallic luster roared in, shattering this line of heaven and earth.

It was like a heavy cavalry charge, striking directly at the enemy's head, crushing everything in its path!

Rumble—

The entire drill ground had been reinforced by divine abilities and protected by arrays, yet the ground was still constantly shattering and collapsing.

Crumbled stones filled the sky, and gray clouds fell slowly.

Li Fei was repelled again, dodged with 【No Distance】, and was then caught up to by Wenren Zheng again.

Two figures collided time and again amidst the sky-filling dust.

Both of their Qi and blood were as scorching as the great sun, and every collision exploded like a thunderclap!

It was not until the entire drill ground was completely destroyed into ruins, becoming a giant downward-sunken crater, that the two stopped fighting.

The battle armor on Li Fei's body was like porcelain about to shatter, covered in cracks.

Yet Wenren Zheng, in his black martial arts uniform, had not even been touched by dust.

"Not bad."

Wenren Zheng nodded approvingly at Li Fei, "You are already stronger than those two Princes of the Western Continent who died under my fists back then."

Previously, Ning Qingman had personally commented on Li Fei's strength, believing he was already comparable to a Prince of the Western Continent.

Now, Wenren Zheng gave an even further evaluation.

Coming from this Martial Saint who had personally beaten two Princes to death, his evaluation was naturally more convincing.

This meant that Li Fei was no longer just potentially ranked in the top thirty in the world, but had firmly entered the top thirty!

"Many thanks for the guidance, Marshal."

Li Fei cupped his hands in a salute to Wenren Zheng.

His fighting style was very similar to this God of War, so the guidance during this period had indeed benefited him greatly.

Both relied on power to suppress others, and Wenren Zheng had taught Li Fei a lot.

Li Fei's power was indeed very strong; because of his Flying Sword Body, his power was also sufficiently concentrated, almost capable of perfect eruption.

But in aspects like the combination of reality and illusion, the transition between offense and defense, and the rhythm of attacks, he still appeared somewhat 'immature'.

This 'immaturity' was not reflected in his moves, but in his experience.

The Great Dao is simple; every strike from Wenren Zheng pointed directly to the core, always capable of causing the greatest damage to Li Fei's 【Hunyuan Sword Realm】!

This kind of combat technique was the most critical link in battles at the Grandmaster level.

After all, Li Fei had only recently broken through his realm; although he had consecutively defeated many Grandmasters before, he had won without suspense, and his opponents could barely even shake his 【Hunyuan Sword Realm】, so they naturally could not provide Li Fei with much experience.

Now, after being repeatedly 'hammered' by Wenren Zheng, Li Fei had finally made up for this link.

"The Northern Barbarians have also dispatched troops; does the Grand Marshal have a countermeasure?"

After the sparring ended, Li Fei began to inquire about national military affairs.

The news that the nine tribes of the Northern Barbarians had joined forces, with Bo'erhu as the commander, and a million-strong army was heading south, had just reached Lanling City today.

First, the two great desert nations dispatched troops, and then the Grassland Royal Court declared war.

Now, the Northern Barbarians had also come to join the fray.

Bad news came one after another, and the entire capital was in a state of panic.

In the imperial court, the civil and military officials were also filled with fear.

Wenren Zheng looked at Li Fei: "What are your thoughts?"

Li Fei said solemnly: "We just fight!"

"Hahahahaha—"

Wenren Zheng laughed out loud, his voice shaking the clouds:

"Well said!"

He nodded with gratification: "If the imperial court were all of your mettle, even if the whole world were our enemy, what would my Great Lan Dynasty have to fear?"

His tone carried a hint of mockery and a hint of anger.

Li Fei knew why.

When the two desert nations advanced into the southern border, there were still many voices in the court in favor of sending troops.

But when the Grassland Royal Court suddenly declared war on the Great Lan Dynasty, some ministers began to feel fear.

People in the court began to propose 'peace talks', even going so far as to suggest ceding territory and marriage alliances!

Now that the million-strong Northern Barbarian army was attacking, there would only be more cowards among the court officials.

"At tomorrow's Grand Court Meeting, I will petition His Majesty to lead the army on an expedition!"

Li Fei said decisively.

Wenren Zheng nodded, his expression somewhat desolate.

If he could, how could he not want to lead an army on an expedition and sweep across all directions?

But in the current situation, neither the civil and military officials nor the Emperor would allow him to leave Lanling City.

With the current national destiny of the Great Lan Dynasty, if any accident were to happen to Lanling City, the hub of the nation, then it would truly be not far from the fall of the country!

Wenren Zheng was now the Great Lan Dynasty's last resort; not only could he not move lightly, but he did not even dare to let himself suffer any serious injury.

Otherwise, why would he have let go of the opportunity to kill Qin Mingli back then?

This destined that he could not be as unrestrained as Li Fei.

After leaving the Grand Marshal's Mansion, Li Fei headed to the Imperial City, going directly to the office of the Central Cabinet.

He walked into the pavilion prepared for him by the Inspection Pavilion, ordered his subordinates to gather information, and sat in his seat, closing his eyes to rest and summarize his gains from this period.

From the time the Ten Thousand Blood Bead reached level 50 and condensed the first blood crystal until now, less than two months had passed.

In these less than two months, Li Fei had raised the Ten Thousand Blood Bead to level 63!

During this time, he went to the Grand Marshal's Mansion every few days to be hammered by Wenren Zheng, so Wenren Zheng had made the greatest contribution to the upgrade of the Ten Thousand Blood Bead.

Besides that, the 【Refining Gold Fire Quenching】 of the Ghost Severing Blade caused his body to suffer damage every second, thereby allowing the Ten Thousand Blood Bead to absorb energy.

Previously, he could only spend at most two to three hours a day specifically absorbing the essence of heaven and earth to attack himself, thereby absorbing energy.

Now he was absorbing energy 24 hours a day without interruption, which increased the efficiency by more than ten times!

This was the reason for the rapid upgrade of the Ten Thousand Blood Bead.

After reaching level 60, as Li Fei expected, it condensed a second blood crystal.

The blood soul skill corresponding to this blood crystal was 【Blood Fiend】, which happened to be the second blood soul skill Li Fei unlocked.

From then on, 【Blood Fiend】 no longer needed to consume blood soul energy.

In addition to the improvement of the Ten Thousand Blood Bead, Li Fei had also incorporated the sixth-grade fire-attribute implant 【Fierce Mountain Armor】.

He already had ideas for the implant to follow the 【Fierce Mountain Armor】.

Next, he only needed to wait for the 【Fierce Mountain Armor】 to reach the Qi Transformation stage before he could incorporate a second type of implant.

Li Fei estimated that he would only need to incorporate four to five types of implants to raise his Flying Sword Body from the Earth-grade to the Heaven-grade, thereby balancing magic and martial arts, allowing his realm to further improve.

"Young Master."

More than an hour later, the subordinate Li Fei had sent to gather information returned:

"This subordinate has inquired through many channels; the lords of the Central Cabinet were greatly shaken after learning the news of the million-strong Northern Barbarian army. Currently, the Inspection Pavilion, the Supervision Pavilion..."

The subordinate reported the information he had gathered one by one.

Just as Li Fei expected, there were even more ministers who wanted to sue for peace!

"My subordinates also discovered that several Elders of the Judiciary Pavilion believe we can offer official titles and promises to those peak powerhouses in the Jianghu, pledging to enfeoff them with the Great Deserts, grasslands, and other lands in the future in exchange for their help."

Upon hearing this, Li Fei could not help but smile.

Having such an idea showed that these ministers in the imperial court simply did not understand peak powerhouses.

No one who has reached the level of a peak powerhouse step by step did so for the sake of wealth and status.

They are either single-mindedly pursuing the Dao, or they harbor great ambitions to achieve something significant.

The Master of the Red Dust Pavilion, Xue Xian, follows a path that requires severing all karma; why would she abandon her own Great Dao to meddle in these affairs just for some official title or fief?

That Sect Master of the Feathering Sect is still in closed-door meditation to seek a breakthrough; it is even more impossible for him to rashly emerge to fight to the death for these matters.

As for Tai Yu of the Great Luo Sect, he is likely wishing for the imperial court and the Buddhist school to both suffer heavy losses and ideally perish entirely.

And then there is that number one person in the world; everyone knows exactly what path that person seeks—the peak above the peak!

When Lin Tian broke through to the peak, he used his own strength to prove the Dao and disdained borrowing power from others.

I seek only my own Dao!

The rise and fall of dynasties, the prosperity or decline of the world, whether it is a time of peace or a time of war—this number one person in the world likely cares for none of it.

Of the remaining peak powerhouses, the Three Evils might possibly be swayed by profit.

But not to mention that once the imperial court uses the Three Evils, its reputation would be instantly ruined.

Just speaking of the Three Evils themselves, compared to helping the imperial court deal with others, isn't the Central Plains more prosperous? More "delicious"?

Just as the Buddhist school would plot against the Great Lan Dynasty but would never consider occupying the two Great Desert nations or the grassland royal courts first.

If one can take gold directly, why go pick up the straw on the side?

Moreover, for the Three Evils, the less order there is, the freer people like them are.

It is better if the world is in chaos!

Counting them all, the only peak powerhouse who might possibly help is that warm-hearted Sword Immortal.

But the grievances between the Ning family and the imperial court are there; if not for being utterly disheartened, Ning Qingman would not have chosen to become a rogue cultivator.

The fact that she was willing to save the people of Tancheng previously was more to resolve the knots in her heart from those years.

Therefore, Li Fei was not certain that Ning Qingman would definitely help.

"Perhaps if I change my swordsmanship a few more times, I can move her?"

As this bizarre thought flashed through his mind, Li Fei gave a self-deprecating smile.

After gathering the information, he rose to leave and returned to his Marquis Mansion.

He continued to cultivate.

Early the next morning, the Grand Court Assembly was convened.

Inside the great hall, the hundred officials gathered.

"The nine tribes of the Northern Barbarians have raised an army of one million and are now about to invade our northern borders!"

"Now that our Great Lan Dynasty is facing war on all three borders, you are all the pillars of our Great Lan Dynasty; do you have any sound strategies?"

From above the imperial dais, Qin Ziheng asked.

"Your Majesty!"

An Elder of the Internal Affairs Pavilion immediately stepped out and said loudly:

"Our Great Lan Dynasty is currently facing internal troubles and external threats, and the seven nations of the Western Continent are watching from across the sea with covetous eyes; it is truly not the time to start another war!"

On the Dragon Throne, Qin Ziheng remained expressionless:

"Then what do you, Minister, think should be done?"

The Elder bowed and said:

"This old minister believes we can sue for peace!"

"Absurd!"

As soon as he finished speaking, another minister stood out and said in a rage:

"How can there be a war in this world that ends in peace without fighting? Calling it suing for peace is actually fawning and begging! How can a person like you have the face to wear this official uniform?!"

The berated Elder straightened up and retorted furiously:

"Do you think this old man wants to sue for peace for my own selfish interests? In the current situation, blind stubbornness will only waste the nation's strength! Only by enduring humiliation can we see the light of day again!"

The argument between the two immediately drew in more ministers, who joined in one after another.

In the imperial court, the pro-war faction and the pro-peace faction were clearly divided.

Out of every ten ministers who stood out, seven advocated for peace!

Among them, some were truly concerned for the country, genuinely feeling that they were acting for the nation and the people, and believing that this war should not be fought.

The Great Lan Dynasty was in dire need of rest and recovery!

"Grand Marshal."

After the ministers finished their round of arguing, Qin Ziheng finally spoke:

"Do you think we should fight or make peace?"

Wenren Zheng stood up, his voice like a booming bell:

"We must fight, of course!"

"Oh?"

Qin Ziheng looked at him, "Does the Grand Marshal have a strategy for certain victory?"

"Replying to Your Majesty."

Wenren Zheng stood straight, as imposing as a mountain:

"The two Great Desert nations have been weak for many years and have fewer than three hundred thousand soldiers capable of fighting; once the Green Frost Army arrives, we will surely defeat the enemy!"

"The grassland royal court has just experienced internal strife; they appear aggressive, but their morale is unstable. Our Eastern Border is guarded by the White Flame Army; even if they have a million archers, they will find it hard to cross the line!"

"Although the Northern Barbarian army is large in number, they lack a solid foundation. We only need to send powerhouses to lead the army, behead their generals, and seize their banners, and the crisis in the north will be resolved!"

In a few words, he clarified the situation on the three borders.

The threat from the two Great Desert nations in the south was the smallest, and the Great Lan Dynasty had the highest chance of winning by sending the Green Frost Army.

The grassland royal court was the strongest, but Wenren Zheng believed that with the White Flame Army stationed there, the Eastern Border could at least hold, and there would be no problems in the short term.

As for the Northern Barbarians, without the Green Frost Army, relying only on the hundred thousand border troops to stop a million-strong army was indeed too difficult, so the imperial court needed to send reinforcements.

"Therefore, we only need to stabilize the defense lines of the Eastern and Northern borders, and once the Green Frost Army settles the war in the south, they can provide support, and all three borders will be pacified!"

Wenren Zheng said at last.

His strategy was not without flaws.

But since this Grand Marshal was the only pillar of the imperial court, the ministers dared not speak up to refute him for a moment.

Qin Ziheng looked at him: "Then who does the Marshal think should lead the troops to support the Northern Border?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a figure in a golden robe stepped out from the front row.

"This subject is willing to lead the troops to campaign and support the Northern Border!"

The person who stepped out was none other than Li Fei.

His Slaughtering Barbarian Army was at the Northern Border, and Li Tianyu was still there leading the troops for him.

So, both for public and private reasons, he should choose to go to the Northern Border to provide support.

Seeing Li Fei step out, many ministers who intended to speak fell silent again.

After this Marquis of Jing'an swept through the Jianghu and defeated various Grandmasters one after another, his reputation had risen to a new level.

Later, joining forces with the Sword Immortal to defeat the two Great Evils pushed his reputation to a peak!

Now, the hundred officials in the court had basically reached a consensus—

Li Fei was the second strongest person in the Great Lan Dynasty, second only to Wenren Zheng!

He was also the sharpest sword of the Great Lan Dynasty, besides Wenren Zheng and the Imperial Guard!

His standing out to express his willingness to support the Northern Border gave some people confidence, at least.

But it was not enough.

"Your Majesty, this subject is willing to go with the Marquis of Jing'an to support the Northern Border!"

Another figure stepped out.

This person was not wearing official robes but rather Daoist robes, appearing somewhat out of place in the imperial court.

But no one dared to underestimate this person.

In fact, the level of importance placed on him was even higher than that on Li Fei!

This person was the newly promoted Deputy Pavilion Master of the Orthodoxy Pavilion, True Person Xuanchen of the Upper Clarity Sect.

Xuanchen stepping out represented not only himself but also the Upper Clarity Sect behind him.

His willingness to support the Northern Border meant that at a critical moment, that True Lord Xuanxin might possibly take action!

With a peak powerhouse plus Li Fei, it seemed that the million-strong Northern Barbarian army was not invincible after all.

"Good!"

Qin Ziheng was overjoyed, "With two pillars of the nation sharing my worries and killing the enemy for the country, why should I worry about the war going poorly?"

His majestic gaze swept across everyone present: "My mind is made up!"

The ministers bowed one after another.

"Order the Marquis of Jing'an, Li Fei, and Xuanchen of the Orthodoxy Pavilion to lead one hundred thousand Imperial Guards north!"

The Son of Heaven's voice rolled out from the Zheng Lan Hall.

After the Grand Court Assembly ended, the ministers walked out of the great hall in twos and threes.

Everyone was whispering and discussing among themselves.

Everyone noticed that today, in the great hall, the Son of Heaven inquired about major national military affairs and made a decision directly without asking for the opinion of that Senior Grand Secretary.

And Ye Ze remained silent from beginning to end, without expressing a stance.

Combined with the attitude of the Internal Affairs Cabinet, many people realized one thing—

I am afraid this Senior Grand Secretary does not approve of going to war.

With so many in the peace faction in the imperial court today, and the Senior Grand Secretary not expressing support for the war, even if the Son of Heaven, the Grand Marshal, and the Marquis of Jing'an have reached a consensus, will the subsequent war really go smoothly?

Moreover, the strategy proposed by Wenren Zheng is actually very idealistic.

The Qingshuang Army has been fighting continuously; could there really be no attrition?

That Great Khan of the Grassland Royal Court is hiding his true strength; once he launches, he completely suppresses the royal power, and with a sudden declaration of war, can the Baiyan Army really hold him off?

Will the Buddhists really stay obediently in their temples and not send people to cause trouble?

Most importantly, will the seven nations of the Western Continent really watch the Dalan Dynasty go to war quietly without causing trouble?

With all these factors, if the Dalan Dynasty insists on fighting, as long as one place goes wrong, it could immediately trigger a total collapse!

This is why many officials would rather negotiate for peace than go to war.

And their thoughts represent the will of the entire elite class of the Dalan Dynasty.

With hearts not united, how could the war go smoothly?

This battle has not yet begun, but it is already shrouded in a haze.

The wind and rain are coming, and the great mansion is about to collapse!

(End of this chapter)