This made it impossible for him not to associate it with the backlash of national fortune.
The emperor's temples were clearly flecked with gray hair as he stood by the window, gazing up at the sky.
He stood there for a very, very long time.
Upon returning to the other courtyard, Li Fei retrieved the Dream Command for the first time and placed it back on his person.
Then he took out paper and pen, sat dazed at the desk.
He had just said in the Imperial Study that he had some connections with Zhu Fenghua.
But in reality, how deep were those connections?
If we talk about favors, it was Zhu Fenghua who saved him from the collapsing Tianshui Tomb, so he owed a debt to him.
Under such circumstances, should he write a letter to Zhu Fenghua, asking if it's possible to get guidance from Lin Tianyi?
Li Fei didn't think he had such influence.
But treating a dead horse like a living one, perhaps Lin Tianyi might be willing to give some conditions on account of the court?
After contemplating for a moment, Li Fei wrote a letter.
In the letter, he did not directly mention his specific issues with the Tao Foundation, but simply stated that he encountered difficulties in cultivation and needed dual cultivation of magic and martial arts to resolve them, asking Zhu Fenghua to inquire with Lin Tianyi on his behalf.
As long as Lin Tianyi is willing to give guidance, any conditions could be proposed!
Afterwards, Li Fei handed this letter to Feng Cheng.
The court has a dedicated 'communication path', some important letters cannot be sent by telegraph or phone, so they still resorted to the most primitive way of delivery such as carrier pigeon.
In this world, there were bred exotic beasts, and the court raised a type of third-grade exotic beast which can replace 'carrier pigeons' and fly much faster than pigeons.
Sending Li Fei's letter from Lanling City, upon reaching Yu Mountain, a court messenger there will take this letter to the Heavenly Tower, personally handing it to Zhu Fenghua.
After sending out the letter, in the days that followed, Li Fei stayed in his room almost every day, not leaving the house even once.
Because only through dual cultivation of magic and martial arts could he resolve his own issues, these days Li Fei continually delved into dual cultivation.
He reread from beginning to end the notes by Lin Tianyi that he had exchanged from the Royal Book Collection Pavilion, as well as the secret manual that the Crown Prince had specially obtained for him.
Previously, when reading these two secret manuals, he mostly thought about how to find means within to promptly enhance his combat power.
Now, he was truly viewing these two manuals with the perspective of cultivation ascent, gaining a deeper understanding of dual cultivation of magic and martial arts:
Martial arts cultivation is 'inner cultivation', while magic cultivation is 'outer seeking'.
A martial artist continuously strengthens his body by incorporating implants, ultimately forming a Martial Arts Domain and piecing together the embryonic form of Taoism.
A magician also starts by strengthening their spiritual power with the help of implants, then refines it into Void Thought.
From the Possession Stage, a magician's power is more reflected in external objects, that is, magic artifacts.
From the Possession Stage to the True Spirit Realm, a key point is to refine a magic artifact into a lifebound magic item, selecting a magic artifact to forge a life connection with, drawing on its power to shape reality out of illusion, condensing the True Soul, True Spirit, and True Power.
In a sense, a lifebound magic item can be viewed as an 'external Tao Foundation', because a lifebound magic item will also have divine skills.
Subsequently, martial arts cultivation involves building the Martial Arts Domain, while magic dao cultivation is about constructing the 'Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends' system.
The Seventy-two Earthly Fiends and Thirty-six Heavenly Gang. Once the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends reach Perfection, the lifebound magic item is just one step away from becoming a magic treasure.
A True Master with a Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend perfection magic artifact can also be regarded as a top-tier True Master, comparable to a Martial Arts Grandmaster.
And the final step for both martial arts and magic dao becomes mutual convergence, both practicing to forge Daoism.
It's just that one possesses Daoism in essence, while the other possesses Daoism within the magic artifact.
But in essence, whether it's a Martial Saint or a True Monarch, it's merely a different manner of utilizing Daoism.
Thus, from an overarching perspective, the path of dual cultivation of magic and martial arts essentially grasps the essence of cultivation from the very beginning!
Lin Tianyi's status as 'supreme' is exactly because his application of Daoism is closer to the essence than other peak powerhouses.
Unfortunately, this way of directly grasping the essence of cultivation has a barrier truly too high, and in a thousand years, there has been only one 'supreme' like Lin Tianyi.
Previously, Li Fei believed he could surely walk the path of dual cultivation of magic and martial arts, relying on his Myriad Blood Pearl.
He thought the biggest challenge in dual cultivation lay in the conflict between martial arts implants and magic dao implants.
Others couldn't solve it, but he could rely on the Myriad Blood Pearl to push through.
But now, understanding more about dual cultivation, Li Fei realized he had underestimated the complexities.
The dual cultivation of magic and martial arts entails two challenges:
First is the conflict between magic and martial, the second is the fusion of magic and martial.
The former, Li Fei can handle thanks to the Myriad Blood Pearl.
But the latter, the Myriad Blood Pearl couldn't assist, as it solely pertains to comprehension.
Upon realizing this, Li Fei no longer had much confidence in his ability to complete dual cultivation.
He knew that as the ancient and modern first Tao Foundation period, it actually had little to do with comprehension...
On the seventh day after the letter was sent, Li Fei received a reply.
Feng Cheng personally delivered the letter into his hands, then did not leave, instead waiting outside the courtyard.
Li Fei opened the letter directly in front of Feng Cheng.
The reply was from Zhu Fenghua, whose writing, much like his character, seemed simple and unadorned.
In the letter, Zhu Fenghua stated that he had conveyed Li Fei's request verbatim to the master, Lin Tianyi.
And Lin Tianyi's reply consisted of four words:
Climb the tower to see me.
Li Fei looked at the four words at the end of the letter, was silent for a moment, then laughed at himself.