Jiang Ruoyun's Request

After nearly three years, the Two Soul Realm had finally arrived once more!

With the Spirit Soul connected, Lu Feng's physical condition had returned to its peak, and more than half of the injuries within his body had healed.

Although he had mastered the Strength Soul Formation, because of the injuries to his Seven Souls, Lu Feng was still unable to unseal the array and unleash the might of the Spirit Soul Array.

Thus, although he had now recovered to the Two Soul Realm, the strength he possessed was still far inferior to that of an ordinary person.

Lu Feng could not help but look forward to it curiously. If one day he mastered the entire Seven Souls Array and successfully found Dragon Saliva Water to stabilize it, allowing him to unseal the array, just how far would his strength rise in that state?

Perhaps unsealing just one formation would be enough to far surpass ordinary Soul Masters.

Jiang Ruoyun had finished eating the grilled fish and washed her hands. Seeing Lu Feng's smile as he awakened from his sudden enlightenment, she immediately understood his condition and stepped forward joyfully to confirm, "You broke through to the Two Soul Realm?"

Lu Feng nodded, unable to help recalling the request Jiang Ruoyun had mentioned in passing earlier. He asked, "You mentioned before that you had a difficulty and needed help. Can I be of some help now?"

Though it was only the change of a single soul, the improvement it brought Lu Feng was comprehensive.

Jiang Ruoyun had not expected that he had kept her casual remark in mind all this time, and she could not help feeling moved.

Jiang Ruoyun found a relatively clean boulder and sat on the ground beside Lu Feng. Watching the scattered stars in the night sky and listening to the fish playing in the water, she hesitated for a long while before finally voicing her request.

"I want to... borrow your spiritual energy... to nourish my meridians."

Lu Feng stared at Jiang Ruoyun in astonishment. What kind of cultivation method was this? Dual cultivation?

Jiang Ruoyun's face reddened. Lowering her head, she explained, "The spiritual energy I cultivate is inclined toward softness, while the force I wield is extremely domineering. If I cannot achieve Yin Yang Harmonization, with hardness and softness in balance and yin and yang complementing each other, then if I rashly cultivate to the Seven Souls Realm, I fear I will be unable to withstand the impact of that power and explode to death."

Lu Feng came to a sudden realization. He had witnessed Jiang Ruoyun's domineering strength before, yet he had never imagined that she would dare stake her life for power. Harmonizing hardness and softness, balancing yin and yang—those words sounded easy enough, but the slightest misstep would leave one either dead or crippled.

"How should I help you?" Lu Feng asked. If he refused such a request, how would that be any different from standing by and watching her die?

Jiang Ruoyun considered it before saying, "My cultivation is somewhat higher than yours. You can first use a small amount of spiritual energy to harmonize with mine. That will carry less risk and be more controllable."

Lu Feng nodded in agreement. The two discussed further details. Considering that they had both only recently broken through and their realms had yet to stabilize, it was not suitable to begin the harmonization immediately. In the end, they agreed to do it another day.

"You should rest. I'll keep watch tonight," Lu Feng said, seeing that it was already late.

Although they were now in the outer perimeter of Azure Mushroom Mountain, there was no telling whether some blind spiritual beast, or humans harboring ulterior motives, might appear. It was better to remain vigilant.

"Alright. Wake me in the latter half of the night, and I'll take over," Jiang Ruoyun replied. She took a tent from her Storage Ring, set it up, and crawled inside.

The night passed quietly.

Perhaps because she had been too exhausted during the day, Jiang Ruoyun slept all the way until dawn. Lu Feng did not have the heart to wake her in the middle of the night.

During the long hours of keeping watch, Lu Feng sorted and inscribed all the materials he had bought from the Array Core As You Wish shop.

After all, practice made perfect on the path of arrays. Inscribing whenever one had time and creating Vein Connections was practically a habit shared by every Array Master. Had he prepared these array materials beforehand, he would not have been so rushed and embarrassed when facing the mountain monkeys, the Violent Bear, the black-clad man, and the Sky Rat Swarm, nearly losing his life.

It had been daylight for some time, and the sun had already risen before Jiang Ruoyun slowly opened her eyes and woke.

Jiang Ruoyun blinked sleepily at her surroundings and froze for quite a while. Once she came back to herself, her face filled with embarrassed shame as she said apologetically, "Sorry, I seem to have overslept."

At the same time, she could not help wondering, Was it because Lu Feng was keeping watch that I slept so peacefully?

It seemed she had not slept so soundly in many years. As Jiang Ruoyun thought about it, she kept stealing glances at Lu Feng. Just then, Lu Feng happened to be looking at her too. Their eyes met, and Jiang Ruoyun's delicate little face turned red with a whoosh as she hurriedly ran to the stream to wash up.

Lu Feng smiled. He took it as embarrassment from having overslept.

"Let's go. It's time to head back," Jiang Ruoyun said. After washing up, she had returned to her usual calm demeanor. She packed away the tent, and the two set out for the manor.

Though this training expedition had lasted only a short day, the gains had been exceptionally abundant. Both of their strengths had risen by a level. In particular, the faint aura Jiang Ruoyun gave off even made Lu Feng's heart palpitate, showing just how terrifying the power she contained was.

Their improved realms significantly hastened their return. In less than half an hour, they were back at the Side Courtyard of Jiang Manor.

"Young... Young Miss." Xiao Rou said in surprise, joy mixed with worry on her face as her hands and feet fidgeted nervously.

"What happened?" Jiang Ruoyun asked, her expression darkening as she glanced over the exceedingly messy courtyard.

Although Xiao Rou had already cleaned it after returning, some traces of battle could not be removed, nor could the scratches be wiped away.

Xiao Rou glanced at the broken fragments of a basin in the corner and explained, "It was already like this when I returned this morning. I heard from the other servants that Young Master Jiang Feng came here yesterday. He also..."

"What else did he do?" Jiang Ruoyun asked.

Xiao Rou said fearfully, "Young Master Jiang Feng was seriously injured here yesterday and was taken away by the Manor Lord."

"Seriously injured?" Jiang Ruoyun froze for a moment, then looked at Lu Feng beside her and said delightedly, "The array you set up was that powerful?" There was not the slightest hint of blame in her words. Instead, she seemed eager for the world to descend into chaos.

Lu Feng smiled mildly. "They were merely some defensive array inscriptions, not enough to be called an array. They would not have been triggered if they had not forced their way in and damaged them."

"They brought it upon themselves. Ignore them," Jiang Ruoyun said with an indifferent smile. Though she had long prepared herself to move away, seeing her home damaged still pained her.

"Oh, right. The Manor Lord asked for you to see him when you returned," Xiao Rou said.

"Was it the First Manor Lord or the Second Manor Lord?" Jiang Ruoyun frowned, clearly displeased.

"The Second Manor Lord," Xiao Rou said.

"I'm not going," Jiang Ruoyun said coldly. If her grandfather had summoned her, she might have considered it. But the Second Manor Lord had never thought highly of her. There could be no good reason for him to summon her now. Most likely, he would blame Jiang Feng's injuries on her.

Xiao Rou smiled helplessly. Suddenly recalling another matter she had heard about, she hurriedly said anxiously, "Young Miss, not long after you left, something happened to Young Miss Qiao..."

"What happened to Sister Qiao?"

"She... she killed Yan He," Xiao Rou said, dropping a bombshell.

"What?!"

Jiang Ruoyun's expression turned panicked, her face full of disbelief. She argued, "That's impossible. Sister Qiao is so softhearted that she has never even killed livestock. How could she possibly kill someone?"

Lu Feng was also somewhat shocked. He had met Qiao Xue'er once. Although they had not interacted much, she had seemed exceptionally gentle and refined, not like someone who would kill.

Though Yan He was somewhat lustful and lecherous, his crimes did not warrant death. Besides, Qiao Xue'er had no reason to kill him over something so minor. If she had truly wanted to kill him, she could have acted back at the jewelry shop on the street.

The cultivation techniques Qiao Xue'er practiced usually leaned toward defense and healing. They simply did not possess much killing power. Even if her strength far exceeded Yan He's, she should not have been able to kill him.

Jiang Ruoyun firmly believed that Sister Qiao had been framed.

"Xiao Rou, quickly tell me the whole story. The more detailed, the better," Jiang Ruoyun ordered.

Xiao Rou nodded and explained, "Last night, Yan He's corpse was discovered in that Abandoned Temple east of the city. Young Miss Qiao was the only one present at the time. She was even holding a dagger with blood that had not yet dried on it. The prison officers who rushed over after hearing the news arrested her on the spot."

"That's all I heard. That's all I know," Xiao Rou said with lingering fear.

After Jiang Ruoyun and Lu Feng learned that Qiao Xue'er was currently being detained in the Prison Manor, they immediately rushed over.

Azure Dragon Town had always been a peaceful place. Moreover, with prison officers dispatched by the Spirit Prison governing the town, there had not been such a brazen murder in many years.

The Spirit Prison was divided into the Civil Spirit Prison and the Martial Spirit Prison. The Civil Spirit Prison oversaw all forms of teaching and imparting knowledge across the continent, while the Martial Spirit Prison oversaw order and peace throughout the continent. One civil, one martial—they nurtured the continent's future.

Although most prison officers were trained through the Civil Spirit Prison, they served under the Martial Spirit Prison. The authority they held allowed them to judge all manner of worldly disputes, determine right and wrong, and decide life and death.

The Prison Manor stood in the center of Azure Dragon Town. Its grand gates were wide open. Looking inside from the street, one could see an enormous character for "Prison" on the wall of the inner manor through the entrance, with all kinds of weapons and instruments of torture arranged along both sides...

Lu Feng followed Jiang Ruoyun to the gates of the Prison Manor. Looking at the familiar gates and the familiar attire of the prison disciples within, for one brief moment, Lu Feng felt as though he had returned to the days when he had studied and trained in the Northern Nether Spirit Prison.

On this continent, anyone who wished to grow stronger had to study and train at the Spirit Prison. Whether one was a disciple of a sect or an ordinary commoner, none could avoid spending a period of time training within the Spirit Prison. Not only could one learn vast knowledge there, but more importantly, the atmosphere and resources for study and training at the Spirit Prison were unmatched anywhere else on the continent.

Lu Feng and Jiang Ruoyun stepped forward toward the entrance.

"This is an important area of the Prison Manor. No entry without notification."

A young man stretched out his hand and stopped them. He wore a dark cyan Prison Robe, the standard attire of the Spirit Prison. The robe was engraved with patterns representing the Spirit Prison, while specks of golden light formed the character "Prison" across its back. A plain belt around his waist bore a white wooden pendant inscribed with the words "prison disciple," displaying his status within the Spirit Prison.