This martial saint's health bar is too thick

Chapter 676 Riding the Wind and Waves
The sea is vast.

The expeditionary force's fleet has been sailing at sea for three days and is currently sailing smoothly.

In the past, ships crossing the two continents, East and West, would need to drift at sea for at least three months.

The ships used by this western expeditionary force were entirely built with new technology and equipped with array formations. Each ship was staffed with dozens of sorcerers who took turns maintaining the arrays. According to prior estimates, if everything went smoothly, they could reach the western continent within 45 days at the earliest.

However, if there are strong winds and waves, or if the ship encounters any problems, it may take 60 days or even longer.

When the military intelligence department planned the operation, the necessary supplies such as 'black oil', fresh water, food, and medicine were prepared for 90 days. This was almost the maximum amount of supplies that the fleet could carry after loading enough weapons and equipment.

In other words, if the western expeditionary force cannot achieve any gains or results on the western continent, then it will certainly be impossible for everyone to return home.

Even if something unexpected happens on the route, it is not certain that everyone will be able to reach the Western Continent.

After all, this was the first time in the history of the Great Blue Dynasty, and even in the history of humankind, that such a large-scale transoceanic expedition had been undertaken!
No one has enough experience, and no one can guarantee that accidents will not happen.

With the current navigation technology of the Great Blue Dynasty, even with the assistance of extraordinary abilities, it would still be too difficult to send an army of more than 400,000 across the ocean on a long expedition.

Directly above the expedition fleet, on a large flying magical artifact.

Li Fei, the head coach, was in his room, where Ning Qingman, dressed in a blue robe, was also present.

Ning Qingman did not want to have anything to do with the imperial court, so she did not join the western expeditionary army under any pretext.

She traveled to the Western Continent in her own name, and it just so happened that she was traveling the same way as Li Fei.

After her cultivation level broke through again, she seemed to become one with heaven and earth. As long as she did not have any murderous intent, it was impossible for anyone below the Grandmaster level to detect her.

There were no Grandmasters on Li Fei's spaceship, so no one knew that Ning Qingman was there.

"After seeing the two ninth-grade exotic beasts, Xuchi Han and Gu Li, I felt like I had forgotten something. This should be related to our last trip to explore the depths of the Abyss. Do you remember anything about it?"

Li Fei asked Ning Qingman.

When a top-tier expert condenses the Dao principles, it establishes a connection with the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth. To some extent, the human heart is the heart of Heaven; the various sensations arising in the heart are not unfounded and may foreshadow something.

So after Li Fei had that feeling, he didn't ignore it; he's been thinking about it for the past few days.

No matter how he tried to adjust his mind or use the Nightmare Sect's techniques to 'search' his subconscious, he couldn't find the answer.

He had no choice but to ask Ning Qingman, who was also a top expert, if she had the same feeling as him.

Ning Qingman looked puzzled: "It seems like I've forgotten something? I don't feel that way. Didn't we find nothing when we explored the depths of the Abyss?"

Li Fei frowned slightly, looking at her:
"But don't you find it strange? Given my personality, if I failed to reach the bottom of the Abyss last time due to my lack of strength, why have I never thought of exploring it again in the past few years?"

Ning Qingman was taken aback and fell into deep thought:
"really."

The outside world believed that Li Fei had been in seclusion for years and had not made a move, possibly because he was severely injured in his battle with Lin Tianyi and had been in seclusion to heal his wounds.

However, she knew very well that Li Fei had indeed been injured in the battle, but he recovered quickly, contrary to outside speculation that he had been healing for a long time.

Among the world's top experts, Ning Qingman and Wenren Zheng are the two who understand Li Fei's strength the most.

Because in the past few years, the two had fought against Li Fei many times.

Although she couldn't find out Li Fei's limits in each encounter, Ning Qingman knew that her opponent was getting stronger and stronger!
Given Li Fei's personality, he certainly shouldn't have overlooked the possibility of exploring the Abyss again.

"What do you think happened when we explored the Abyss last time? What did we encounter there that affected our memories, and those of Taiyu as well?"

Ning Qingman looked at Li Fei and asked.

Li Fei nodded.

Although such speculation was too shocking, it was the only possibility he could think of.

He realized he had forgotten some information, and even subconsciously forgot that he should explore the Abyss again.

"Then after this battle is over, I'll go with you again."

Ning Qingman said to Li Fei.

"it is good."

Li Fei nodded.

He suddenly turned to look out the window: "Wang Chengze is here."

"He's quite composed."

Ning Qingman smiled and said, "Shall I excuse myself for a moment?"

Li Fei laughed: "No need, it's not like it's something that can't be brought to light."

Ning Qingman glared at him, but didn't get up.

Her desire to avoid entanglement with the imperial court does not mean she needs to hide it.

Just because she doesn't want people to see her doesn't mean she's afraid to let people see her.

Given her personality, what does it matter if the whole world knows that she went to the Western Continent with Li Fei?
"Your subordinate, Wang Chengze, requests an audience with the Commander-in-Chief!"

A voice entered the room.

Upon hearing this, Li Fei sighed.

In the end, King Xuanmo finally put aside his pride completely.

He didn't come to see Li Fei as a prince, but as a subordinate, and his first words set the tone for the conversation.

"Please come inside for a chat."

Li Fei relayed the message back.

Soon, Wang Chengze entered Li Fei's room.

Upon seeing Ning Qingman inside, Wang Chengze was initially taken aback, but quickly recovered.

He first bowed to Li Fei:
"Greetings, Commander!"

He then bowed to Ning Qingman with his hands clasped in a gesture of respect, as if nothing had happened.

"I have met Immortal Ning."

Ning Qingman returned the greeting.

"Please sit down, Your Highness."

Li Fei said.

Wang Chengze said solemnly, "Since we are in the army, we should address each other by our official titles. The commander-in-chief can address me as Vice Commander Wang."

Judging from his posture, he didn't plan to sit down unless Li Fei changed his mind.

Li Fei didn't insist: "Alright, Vice Commander Wang, please have a seat."

Wang Chengze then sat down.

Ning Qingman watched silently from the side, thinking that it was quite rare for a Martial Saint to be able to achieve this level.

But then I thought, Wang Chengze is just bowing down to the number one person in the world, so even if word gets out, it won't be too embarrassing.

"The title of being the best in the world is indeed very useful."

Ning Qingman sighed inwardly.

"What does Vice Commander Wang want with me?"

Li Fei got straight to the point.

Wang Chengze frankly stated:
"To be honest, Commander, on the night last year when the ten powerful clans gathered at the Ye residence in connection with the case of Chief Minister Ye, Yan Weifeng, the patriarch of the Yan family, came to see me." (See the side story "Mayfly" for details)
Li Fei's expression remained unchanged; he was naturally aware of the matter.

However, Wang Chengze remained completely silent and obedient in the Ye Ze'an case, so Li Fei never mentioned it to Wang Chengze afterward, treating it as if it had never happened.

Now, Wang Chengze has brought it up on his own initiative.

Li Fei nodded: "I am aware of this matter."

Wang Chengze looked at him and said, "I am not saying this to claim credit, but to tell the commander-in-chief that although my Wang family has been around for about the same length as the Ten Clans, we are not like those families that cling to their remnants. In this world, if you don't move forward, you fall behind. The Ten Clans think they are powerful, but in reality, they are already old and decrepit, and it is only a matter of time before they are eliminated. As the head of the Wang family, I cannot let my family stagnate!"

"I am deeply grateful to His Majesty for granting me permission to accompany the army on this expedition to the Western Lands and for appointing me as the deputy commander of the entire army. These past few days, I have been racking my brains about how to repay His Majesty's grace and how to find a way forward for the royal family during this expedition. After much thought, I have decided to come and seek advice from the commander-in-chief."

In fact, everyone knew perfectly well that the reason Wang Chengze was sent on the expedition to the west was because the Great Lan Dynasty did not trust him.

If he stays in the Eastern Continent, who knows what he will do?

With Li Fei and Wenren Zheng keeping him in check during the expedition, and the Wang clan being entirely under the control of the imperial court, if he dared to cause trouble during the expedition, the Wang family could be wiped out at any time!

"As a martial saint, Vice Commander Wang is one of the most important combat forces in our western expeditionary army. Why should he worry about not having the opportunity to make meritorious contributions?"

Li Fei calmly said, "Rest assured and await orders." Upon hearing this, Wang Chengze stood up and saluted Li Fei: "Yes, sir!"

He didn't stay long, left the room, and returned to his spaceship.

Are you planning to use him?

Inside the room, Ning Qingman asked.

Li Fei: "Seven years ago, this person's mind was clouded because of me. I thought he planned to spend decades overcoming his mental tribulation and making further progress. I never expected that he would now take the initiative to bow down to me."

When Lin Tian first came to the Great Luo Sect to challenge them, he first defeated Tai Yu, and then Qing Xu.

Taiyu suffered the most crushing defeat, just like Wang Chengze, losing in a single move!
His principles were also crushed and completely countered by Lin Tianyi, resulting in damage to his mental state.

He finally secluded himself for decades to restore his mental state and further improve his cultivation.

Despite his damaged mental state, Wang Chengze has taken the initiative to bow down to Li Fei, which means he has completely given up on advancing in martial arts!
Every strong person is proud deep down.

The stronger one is, the more this is true.

The top experts are a small group of people who stand at the pinnacle of the world. Even when Lin Tianyi conquered the world, he never saw any top expert bow down to him.

Wang Chengze's actions today may not be worthy of his status as a Martial Saint, but they are worthy of his status as the head of the Wang family!
"It seems that he is now only thinking about the family, so he can be of use."

Li Fei said.

After he finished speaking, he noticed that Ning Qingman didn't say anything, but just stared at him, so he couldn't help but laugh:

"what happened?"

Ning Qingman smiled and said, "I was wondering if everyone who is the best in the world has this kind of mentality?"

Li Fei asked curiously, "What's your mindset?"

Ning Qingman: "There is no one above, and all living beings below!"

"In your eyes, a dignified Martial Saint is no different from anyone else. You will not be happy because he bows his head, nor will you be worried about his strength. All you care about is whether he is easy to use."

Li Fei was taken aback. He thought about it and it seemed that what Ning Qingman said was indeed true.

If it were the old him, he certainly wouldn't be as calm as he is now.

"However, the Supreme One is not without people."

Li Fei paused for a moment, then suddenly spoke.

Ning Qingman looked up at the sky:
"really."

The tenth day of the westward expeditionary army's voyage at sea.

The fleet finally encountered strange beasts in the sea, but the highest-ranking ones were only sixth-grade. They were easily defeated, and their corpses were collected to take back for research, to see if they could be used to create new implants.

A new implant could mean a new foundation, new supernatural powers, or even a new path of cultivation!
Therefore, many people in the fleet were actually looking forward to encountering more strange beasts. After all, even the most powerful strange beasts couldn't cause too much of a stir, since the number one expert in the world was watching from the air.

On the fifteenth day of their voyage, the westward expeditionary force finally encountered some trouble:
The 'Floating Feather' magic arrays on two ships suddenly malfunctioned. The 'Floating Feather' magic arrays were imprinted on the ships to enhance their load-bearing capacity.

The magic circle is broken, the ship's load capacity has decreased, and the excess supplies can only be transferred, otherwise the ship will sink.

The problems with the two ships are not a big deal; the important thing is to find out why the magic array suddenly broke down.

After analysis by several members of the Zhengfa Pavilion who were skilled in formations, it was discovered that the seawater in this area contained a special kind of primordial energy that corroded a formation material imprinted on the ship's hull, gradually causing the formation to collapse.

This result is somewhat frightening, because it means that the 'floating feather' magic arrays of all the other ships may collapse next!

The problem was quickly reported to head coach Li Fei.

Although there are several top-tier combatants in the army, only Li Fei, who cultivates both magic and martial arts, possesses the magical cultivation level of the True First Realm.

The Martial Saint can kill people, but he has no way to solve this problem.

Li Fei flew out of the spaceship and stood in the air directly in front of the fleet.

In the blink of an eye, a vast surge of true energy erupted from his body, like a river flowing into the sea!

Powerful true energy surged and intertwined in the seawater beneath the fleet.

A very simple, yet terrifyingly large-scale spell quickly took shape—

The art of water purification!
Li Fei thoroughly purified the seawater in the area where the fleet was located, filtering out any impurities or other contaminants.

Fortunately, this simple technique was enough to solve the problem. If it were any other complex technique, Li Fei would have had to learn it on the spot.

Li Fei then remained suspended above the fleet, continuously maintaining the water purification technique, and traveled with the fleet.

After a day of accelerated sailing, the fleet sailed out of this special sea area.

Li Fei, who had maintained such a large-scale spell for an entire day, returned to his spaceship without changing his expression, amidst the admiring gazes of all his soldiers.

The morale of the western expeditionary army soared!
On the twenty-first day of their voyage, the fleet encountered a sea storm!
The leaden-gray clouds hung low over the sea, like a giant rock clenched by a god, ready to be used for execution.

The few pale rays of light that had previously struggled to break through were now completely swallowed up. The air was thick and sticky, like an oil-soaked rag, pressing heavily on the chests of every soldier in the fleet, each breath carrying the salty, metallic taste of rust.

Then, the sky was torn apart!

The first pale bolt of lightning, like a gigantic axe weighing billions of tons, cleaved the chaotic world in two, and the sea began to surge violently.

A hurricane is coming!

The gale was like countless raging beasts, crashing wildly against the sea, trying to lift the entire ocean into the sky!

"Activate the formation—!"

Within the fleet, generals shouted orders.

In addition to the 'Floating Feather' magic array, each ship also has a 'Stone Array' engraved on its hull, in order to cope with sea storms.

The bottom of the steel ship gleamed in the almost black seawater, and the ship, which had been rocking violently, quickly became stable.

But before the soldiers could even catch their breath, the scene ahead made everyone's eyes widen in astonishment—

The sea has stood up!
Ahead, intermittently illuminated by flashes of lightning, was a moving, inky black mountain range!
The towering waves, forming a mountain range, carried the majestic power of the heavens and crushed towards this fleet of ships, which was as small as insects!

Even martial arts masters and grandmasters feel insignificant in the face of such power of heaven and earth.

"How can it be?!"

One of the admirals, who was familiar with navigation, murmured incredulously.

Of course, the Great Blue Dynasty would not send hundreds of thousands of troops on a route that had never been traveled before. The route that the western expeditionary army was traveling on had already been repeatedly verified and confirmed to be without major problems.

This route has never encountered such a terrifying storm in all these years!
Above the fleet, two malevolent auras, like angry dragons, clashed with the clouds and tore through the lightning.

The Zhenxi Army and the Chilin Army simultaneously activated their battle formations!
Faced with such overwhelming power, the top-tier combatants had to act, and more than one of them would do so.

Two streams of malevolent energy formed a barrier, protecting the entire fleet within.

Wenren Zheng and Wang Chengze, the two martial saints, appeared one on the left and one on the right, guarding the two flanks of the fleet.

The dark mountains drew ever closer, blotting out the sky and bringing a suffocating sense of oppression!
Finally, the figure everyone had been waiting for appeared directly in front of the fleet.

Li Fei stood calmly before the giant wave, casually throwing a punch forward.

A dazzling ray of light pierced the black mountain range ahead.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

The sound disappeared.

The devastating roar, the howling wind, the flashing thunder—all sounds ceased abruptly with that one punch!

Right in the middle of the inky black waves that were crashing down, a straight, perfectly smooth crack appeared.

The cracks spread rapidly upwards and to both sides, as if an invisible divine sword, spanning heaven and earth, had cleaved the raging sea monster in two with unparalleled sharpness!
The seawater parted to the sides, forming two smooth, mirror-like walls of water, each a kilometer high.

The wall of water remained frozen there, maintaining its surging and roaring posture, but it could not close up for the time being.

"keep going."

Between the lightning-streaked clouds and the pitch-black sea, the commander-in-chief, dressed in a golden robe, gave his orders.

The sound clearly reached the ears of hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

"go ahead--!!!"

The generals shouted loudly, their blood boiling with excitement.

The fleet sailed through this massive canyon of water, a sheer drop between heaven and earth, braving the winds and waves as it continued its journey.

P.S.: Happy holidays everyone, and may you all have a smooth and successful life!
(End of this chapter)