Inside the Pope Palace.
Bibi Dong was slightly stunned as she listened to Gui Mei's report.
She had only just returned to the Pope Palace, and before her seat had even warmed, Feng Xiao had done something astonishing. What had he done, you ask?
"Your Holiness, Young Master Feng Xiao beat Yan in public, and it happened during Director You's class."
"You mean that brat Feng Xiao beat Yan up on his very first day of school? During Yuxin's class, too? Yuxin didn't stop him? And why did he beat Yan in the first place?"
Bibi Dong stared blankly at Gui Mei below. To be honest, she was very curious about why Feng Xiao had beaten Yan up, and how You Yuxin could have allowed him to cause trouble during her class.
With that, Gui Mei handed Bibi Dong the report he had compiled. Bibi Dong accepted it and began reading.
After a long while, Bibi Dong put down the report in her hand and revealed a gratified smile. This little fellow really is different on the inside and out. If he likes her, he should just say so. It's not as if Nana doesn't like him.
However, just as Bibi Dong was considering how to bring the two together, someone clad in a black robe rushed into the Pope Palace.
"Your Holiness, Yan is dead. His body was severed at home. Judging by the wound, he was cut in two with a single slash. The killer is unknown, and there are no clues whatsoever. It was as though he had been sliced apart out of thin air."
Bibi Dong fell silent at the black-robed man's words. She seemed to have thought of something, then looked at the report in her hand again. This time, she noticed certain details.
At that moment, she vaguely sensed something. Thinking of You Yuxin's indifferent attitude, she asked, "What is Yan Xiao's response?"
"Reporting to Your Holiness, Yan Xiao is furious. He swore that he would dig three feet into the ground to find the killer."
Bibi Dong merely sneered at that.
"Dig three feet into the ground? It seems his wings have grown hard enough for him to forget who the true master of Spirit Hall is. Pass down the order: the Yan family secretly colluded with the Star Luo Empire and leaked Spirit Hall's secrets. The evidence is conclusive. Gui Mei, you understand what I mean, don't you?"
"I understand."
"Then go. Make it clean and swift."
"Yes!"
The two below immediately left the Pope Palace.
Bibi Dong leaned back in the Pope's chair, crossing her elegant legs as she murmured, "The Yan family no longer needs to exist."
To Bibi Dong, a minor Yan family without even a Title Douluo was dispensable. Not to mention that the Yan family lacked sufficient loyalty and harbored considerable ambitions. Destroying such a family was no great loss, and it would conveniently serve to intimidate those with ulterior motives.
That very night, blood dyed the skies above Spirit City red. Of the Yan family's one hundred and eight members, not one survived. By the following morning, news of the Yan family's overnight destruction had spread throughout Spirit City. Many families caught the scent of an impending bloodbath and became far more cautious.
After investigating from many angles, they finally found the source of the matter—Bibi Dong's newly accepted monstrous disciple, Feng Xiao, had beaten Yan up, and then the Yan family was gone.
For a time, every family warned their youngsters that anyone who provoked Feng Xiao would be disowned.
As for Feng Xiao, the person at the heart of it all?
At that moment, he was leisurely resting with his head on the desk during You Yuxin's class. Hu Liena, seated beside him, was extremely curious. Honestly, she wanted to pry open Feng Xiao's head and see what was inside. She could not understand how he possessed such extraordinarily abundant theoretical knowledge at such a young age.
His theoretical knowledge was so extensive that even You Yuxin willingly admitted defeat. At first, You Yuxin had intended to test Feng Xiao, but after bringing humiliation upon herself, she decided to let him do as he pleased. There was no helping it—his theoretical foundation was even more solid than hers. It seemed she could only salvage some dignity in other areas, such as practical combat classes.
As for everyone else, not a single person dared say anything to Feng Xiao. Why? Their elders had all told them that provoking Feng Xiao meant being disowned. The reason was that whoever provoked Feng Xiao, along with their entire family, had already vanished without even corpses left behind.
Thus, Feng Xiao was perfectly at ease, doing whatever he wanted since no one would stop him. On the surface, he appeared to be resting with his eyes closed, but he was actually having the system scan these so-called geniuses to see whether there were any suitable teammates. After one round of scanning, however, he discovered that these people truly were quite "gifted."
For example, the first person on the right in the first row.
[Name: Zhao Xie] [Gender: Male] [Age: Fourteen] [Martial Soul: Yin-Attacking Shield] [Soul Power: Level 32] [Evaluation: Trash]
And then there was the first person in the second row.
[Name: **] [Gender: Female] [Age: Fifteen] [Martial Soul: Vibration Staff] [Soul Power: Level 34] [Evaluation: Trash]
Most of the others were around fourteen or fifteen years old, with Soul Power at levels twenty-eight or twenty-nine. Perhaps such talent was already considered genius-level in the eyes of the world, but to Feng Xiao and the system, they were no different from trash. Only two people caught Feng Xiao's eye.
One was Hu Liena, a twelve-year-old at level twenty-nine, rated as a genius. The other was Xie Yue, a thirteen-year-old at level thirty-two, rated as outstanding. None of the others were worth mentioning.
Are these mediocre people the geniuses Master spoke of? Then Spirit Hall's future looks rather uncertain. As Feng Xiao thought this, he had the system scan students from classes other than Class One. Suddenly—
[Host, a genius-level talent has been discovered.] [Name: Suo Ying] [Gender: Male] [Age: Twelve] [Martial Soul: Yama Blade] [Soul Power; Level 22 (Level 29)] [Evaluation: A genius swordsman with the heart of a swordmaster and unparalleled talent in swordsmanship.] [Click for more detailed information] [...]
The moment the system said that, Feng Xiao's eyes lit up. "Well, well. The heart of a swordmaster? There's something like that on the Douluo Continent?"
"System, which class is this person in?"
[Class Two next door. He is the black-haired boy sitting in the last row on the left after entering the classroom.]
Feng Xiao's heart immediately grew heated, but at the same time, a question arose in his mind.
"System, what's with his Soul Power being level twenty-two and level twenty-nine?"
[He has concealed his Soul Power. He appears to only be level twenty-two, but he actually possesses level twenty-nine Soul Power.]
This only gave Feng Xiao another question. Why was this person named Suo Ying hiding his true strength?
"Explain."
[It's simple. With neither power nor influence, he can only lie low and grow stronger. Standing out too much makes it easy to die. Besides, he has two obsessions in his heart. Until he fulfills them, he will not allow himself to die.]
Hearing the system's explanation, Feng Xiao immediately laughed. Even obsessions had entered the picture. This made him even more curious about Suo Ying.
"What are his obsessions?"
[His first obsession is to avenge his deceased parents. Their killer is someone from a family in the Star Luo Empire.]
[His second obsession is to become the strongest swordmaster on the continent.]
Before you continue