This Martial Saint’s Health Bar is Too Thick!
Chapter 579 - 85 Eldest Prince

Chapter 579 -85 Eldest Prince

Hong Guang 47th year, January 6th.

Five days after the sacrificial ceremony ended, Yun Shu was finally ready to return.

The Righteous Law Pavilion had assigned a True Master to guard the Daluo Sect.

Of course, this True Master did not take on any responsibilities at Daluo Sect, nor did he have any authority.

He represented the court’s supervision over the Daluo Sect!

Even though such supervision was merely nominal, it was enough to change many things.

Just as Yun Shu would preside over the Sacrificial Ceremony with Tai Yu every year from now on.

After the True Master arrived, Yun Shu took Li Fei and others, leaving the Daluo Sect to board a special train back to Lanling City from Daluo Town.

On the train, Lv Wenxing took the opportunity to briefly explain to Li Fei what had happened during the past period:

“Previously, seeing that you were engrossed in your cultivation every day, I did not disturb you. But now that we have left the Daluo Sect and are about to return to the Capital City, I feel there are some things you should be aware of.”

Through his narrative, Li Fei learned what had transpired over the past two-plus months:

Daluo Sect’s influence on the Da Lan Dynasty extended beyond Ming Province, with people from Daluo Sect present in the Righteous Courts of seven or eight provinces.

In the past two-plus months, while Yun Shu was stationed at Daluo Sect, the court was simultaneously pruning the ‘tentacles’ of Daluo Sect elsewhere.

In that time, over a hundred cities’ Righteous Courts were cleansed!

Twenty-three provinces, including the Central Forbidden Army, all the border armies, and the weapons used by the Imperial Camp Army were all scrutinized.

In addition, a total of eleven cabinet ministers, seventy-seven subordinated Officials, and four hundred fifty-nine Imperial Officials were imprisoned!

As for the involved subordinate Officials and clerks, the number was countless!

And this was already a lenient handling; otherwise, the number of people dealt with could have been many times more!

After all, Daluo Sect is a Taoist ancestral home, and the court’s process inevitably involved people from the other two sects.

In this regard, the Central Government’s stance was to release where possible and not to utterly decimate the entire Taoist community because of the Daluo Sect affair.

After all, targeting just the Daluo Sect was already akin to cutting to the bone!

An age-old towering tree that had stood for over eight hundred years was felled, and the number of roots unearthed was unimaginable…

“Sir, after we return to the Capital, do you plan to bring up the matter of revisiting old cases?”

After finishing about the past, Lv Wenxing began discussing the future.

He knew Li Fei had taken on the case of the Lifespan Extension Pill at the court meeting to restart an old case.

Li Fei did not hide it, nodding his head: “Yes, although the Lifespan Extension Pill was not recovered, the accomplishments I have made should be sufficient to earn one more review of the case.”

Lv Wenxing gazed into Li Fei’s eyes: “Sir, forgive my blunt speech, your accomplishments might be sufficient, but when you return and face His Majesty, it would be better not to bring up this matter yourself; it should come from His Majesty.”

Li Fei gave a smile.

With his experiences from his past life, he of course understood the taboos of those in position.

Merits naturally deserved rewards, but how and what to reward, should not be initiated by him.

Lv Wenxing hesitated for a moment, then spoke softly: “Sir, if you are concerned about the success of the matter, you might ask the Crown Prince for help.”

Li Fei was startled, looking at him somewhat unexpectedly: “Do you think I should align with the Crown Prince?”

Lv Wenxing first used his force to completely envelop the compartment to ensure that voices wouldn’t leak out, then he cautiously said,

“In my humble opinion, if the Crown Prince makes no mistakes, he is most likely to succeed.”

Li Fei looked into Lv Wenxing’s eyes, seeing sincerity.

These words, no matter where or to whom they were spoken, were utterly taboo!

The fact that he could speak such words to him meant he truly planned to follow him in the future.

“What about the other two princes?”

Since Lv Wenxing had gone this far, Li Fei continued, becoming more direct.

Lv Wenxing was visibly pleased.

That Li Fei would discuss this with him was also a sign of recognizing him as one of his own, so he decided to share some ‘substance’:

“I entered the Zhi Ge Pavilion fifteen years ago and have held this position ever since. I claim no great skills, but I do have a fair judgment of character. Among the princes of the court, the Eldest Prince is bold and domineering, the Third Prince is tactful and profound. The Eldest Prince might seem more reckless and less intelligent, but in my opinion, if there were ever an unlikely scenario… the Eldest Prince’s chances might actually be greater.”

“Oh?”

Li Fei was somewhat surprised.

He recalled the Eldest Prince who had chased after him from the Imperial Palace, intent on trampling him. He had thought him to be narrow-minded and unruly, but to hear Lv Wenxing’s higher estimation of him over the Third Prince was unexpected.

“You should know that most imperial offspring do not achieve high martial accomplishments or Magic Dao cultivation.”

Lv Wenxing said.

“Yes.”

“It’s simply because the child of wealth does not endure hardships, already born into one of the most esteemed statuses in the world, how many are willing to risk such a blessed fate to vie with the less fortunate?”

“…”

“Yet, among the imperial family, there are always anomalies, and the Eldest Prince is one of them.”

“Is it solely because of his martial arts achievements that you favor him more?”

“Of course not, do you know of Prince Li, Your Majesty?”

“Yes, the Emperor’s Imperial Uncle, the human Martial Saint.”

“Prince Li might be closer to the Eldest Prince!”

Lv Wenxing said somewhat nervously.

Li Fei showed a surprised expression, “How do you know about this? Or does everyone know?”

“How could everyone possibly know.”

Lv Wenxing laughed.

Li Fei also realized he had asked a foolish question.

Imagine a royal family member of Martial Saint cultivation openly favoring a prince who has a chance at the Dragon Chair, what kind of scene would that be?

No matter who becomes Emperor, such an occurrence cannot be allowed!

Li Fei looked at Lv Wenxing, not expecting the latter to actually reveal such a ‘big piece’ of news!

“It’s just my guess, without any solid proof.”

Lv Wenxing said, “I serve in the Zhi Ge Pavilion as the Supervisor of the Strange Device Department, responsible for casting, maintaining, and distributing the Abnormal Weapons in Yong State. About nine years ago, the Zhi Ge Department in Yong State submitted an application on behalf of a registered martial master for a Fifth Level Abnormal Weapon.

I reviewed the merit record, which was for a bandit suppression, with most of the credit attributed to this martial master because he was the most outstanding. Even so, his merit this time hardly justified a Fifth Level Abnormal Weapon.

This person had no significant background, and no one had approached me about him beforehand, so my response was to deny the request, and I submitted it upwards. To my surprise, the application was approved.

Of course, such things have happened before… I didn’t pay much attention to it, until half a year later a good friend of mine from Yong State came to Lanling City, and during our conversation, he mentioned that a junior in his family had gained the favor of Prince Li’s Mansion, and this junior was the same one for whom the Yong State Zhi Ge Department had applied for the Fifth Level Abnormal Weapon.

I was somewhat surprised after hearing this, because Prince Li’s Mansion doesn’t have much influence in the Zhi Ge Pavilion, and the final approval for the Fifth Level Abnormal Weapon application came from cabinet minister Lu Feng, who is one of the Eldest Prince’s men.”

After hearing this, Li Fei clarified the connections.

Prince Li owns his own territory in Yong State, thus Prince Li’s Mansion is also there, but Prince Li himself is mostly in Lanling City all year round.

Being favored by Prince Li’s Mansion and working for the mansion can naturally be considered being one of Prince Li’s people.

“You mean to say, the registered martial master from Yong State was able to receive that Fifth Level Abnormal Weapon through the Eldest Prince’s connections, and subsequently, he became one of Prince Li’s men?”

Lv Wenxing nodded, “Exactly, so I say there is no solid proof, only conjecture. After all, this registered martial master started working for Prince Li’s Mansion after receiving the Fifth Level Abnormal Weapon.”

Li Fei: “But what could allow a registered martial master with no significant background, to have the Eldest Prince’s people approve his request? A mere Fifth Level Abnormal Weapon isn’t worth involving a cabinet minister, that’s your doubt, right?”

Lv Wenxing smiled, “Exactly that.”

“However, based on just this incident, to say that Prince Li is siding with the Eldest Prince is far from enough; it might have just been a gesture of goodwill.”

Li Fei muttered.

“My lord, even if it was just a gesture of goodwill, the fact that Prince Li’s Mansion accepted this gesture nine years ago also shows that the Eldest Prince is not as simple as he seems.”

Lv Wenxing stated.

Li Fei was taken aback, then nodded, “Indeed.”

In a world where martial prowess is supreme, the support of a Martial Saint is indeed a heavy bargaining chip, and even if it was just a possibility, Lv Wenxing was still willing to rank the Eldest Prince ahead of the Third Prince.

He mentioned these things to Li Fei because Li Fei had already offended the Eldest Prince, and deeply at that!

“I won’t pick sides.”

With Lv Wenxing revealing such secrets, Li Fei didn’t hide his thoughts.

He didn’t plan to stand with the Crown Prince.

After being tasked with investigating the Lifespan Extension Pill case, both the Crown Prince and the Third Prince had talked to him once.

Their views on the case were completely opposite; the Crown Prince urged Li Fei to drop the investigation, while the Third Prince told him it was a good opportunity.

The eventual outcome proved the Third Prince right.

Li Fei had wondered afterward, was the Crown Prince truly unaware of the implications?

If he really didn’t know, då why was it him who went to the Daluo Sect, him who personally sought to win over the Buddhist, and him who spoke for Buddhism at the court meeting?

Without knowing the court’s plans beforehand, would the Crown Prince really dare to offend the Taoist so recklessly?

And if he was informed, the Crown Prince must have known, that sending Li Fei to investigate the Daluo Sect case regarding the Lifespan Extension Pill carried no risks at all; it was a test set by the Emperor.

Thus, the depths of the Crown Prince’s intentions are also worth considering.

Li Fei had never intended to align with him, and now he had even less reason to get too close.

“That makes sense, my lord. With the great merit you’ve achieved this time, you have a chance to soar high, plus with your own talents, you can become a towering tree on your own, indeed there’s no need to rely on anyone else.”

Inside the compartment, Lv Wenxing said with certainty.

He was sure that upon returning, Li Fei would indeed receive a great reward, though he couldn’t be certain to what extent.

At that moment, the train happened to pass through a field of flowers.

The colorful petals opened competing with each other under the sunlight, with distant mountains undulating in layers, lush and inviting.

A gentle breeze passed, causing the petals to sway gently.

Outside the train window, the scenery was just right.

….