"Mm, rise." Feng Baiyu gave a slight nod. Without showing it, he activated Fire Phoenix True Sight, scanning everyone present—their auras, Soul Power fluctuations, and even the slightest changes in their expressions.
The Feng Family members over in Spirit City weren't especially talented. These people were even worse.
Out of more than a hundred people, only six had reached level seven Innate Soul Power, and even the youngest was already twenty-seven.
Perhaps they relied on having a Titled Douluo as their family head and had all grown lax in their cultivation. Feng Baiyu couldn't see a single genius among them.
They might manage some trivial errands, but building a retinue of his own would be difficult.
Only Titled Douluo or geniuses with at least level eight Innate Soul Power could cultivate Feng Baiyu's Phoenix Art!
Recruiting from within the family was undoubtedly the likeliest way to find such people. But these clan members had no drive, and they neither had the talent nor knew how to work hard. Feng Baiyu was sorely disappointed.
Feng Baiyu then asked about the family's business operations, and Feng Ziqian answered every question smoothly.
Even among its collateral branches, the Feng Family had several Soul Saints. They were a force to be reckoned with in Heaven Dou, and besides doing business, they also held shares in a Soul Fighting Arena.
Their annual profits were considerable, though Feng Baiyu and Feng Qingluan had no interest in such wealth.
Feng Baiyu instructed Feng Ziqian to have the rest of the Feng Family continue managing the business well. Anyone who made a significant contribution would receive a reward commensurate with it.
"Are these all the people in the Feng Family's collateral branches?" Feng Baiyu asked Feng Ziqian, who was in charge of them. "Are there any daughters who married out, or relatives by marriage?"
Only Feng Qingluan's Martial Soul had undergone a beneficial mutation, evolving into a top-tier Beast Martial Soul. The Martial Souls of the other clan members were merely average, nothing remarkable.
For that reason, the Feng Family didn't impose any requirement that collateral-branch women's husbands join the family. Over the years, twenty-four daughters from the collateral branches had married into other families in grand style.
"Reporting to the young master." Feng Ziqian replied respectfully, "Over the years, my granddaughter married the head of Wind Element Academy, Feng Ya's older sister married Hill, a noble of Heaven Dou City, Feng Jianxing's daughter married the lord of Suotuo City, and Feng Lang's younger sister married the Third Elder of Wind Sword Sect..."
As the person in charge of the Feng Family's collateral branches, Feng Ziqian had a Phoenix Thunder Eagle Martial Soul and was a level seventy-nine Soul Saint. He hadn't been interested in cultivation these past years, but he had managed the collateral branches with great efficiency.
Now that Feng Baiyu was asking, he wasn't the least bit flustered.
"These next few days, investigate the descendants of everyone who married out," Feng Baiyu said after hearing him out. "Especially anyone with exceptional talent. Bring them back to me."
"Yes, young master." Feng Ziqian hurriedly agreed. "Within three days, I'll have everyone who married out return with their children."
The family head might not pay any attention to the collateral branches for decades at a time. Now that the young master was taking an interest in them, someone might well be given an important position.
Feng Ziqian was eager to get ahead!
If he made a good impression now, perhaps the family head would offer him some guidance, helping him advance to Soul Douluo.
Feng Baiyu had finished meeting the people from the collateral branches, so he dismissed them.
War Eagle spoke up beside him. "Baiyu, I didn't expect you to have a knack for running the family! Apart from being a little young and lacking some presence, you did a fine job just now."
"Thank you for the praise, Great-Aunt." Feng Baiyu replied casually, then sighed. "The Feng Family's foundations are still too shallow!"
The Feng Family wasn't especially large, but after centuries of accumulation, it had grown to several hundred members. Yet among all those people, they couldn't find a single Soul Master with level eight Innate Soul Power.
That was perfectly normal, really!
The Feng Family was only a small clan with a few centuries of history. Producing even one person like Feng Qingluan, with Innate Full Soul Power, was already remarkable! As for the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, aside from its current head, Yu Yuanzhen, who had level nine Innate Soul Power, even the elders only had level seven or eight.
They'd struck it lucky with the younger generation. There were only two who had reached level eight or higher Innate Soul Power: Yu Tianheng and Yu Tianxin.
Beyond that, the only geniuses recorded by the Clear Sky Sect went back decades, to the Clear Sky Twin Stars, Tang Xiao and Tang Hao.
As for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, aside from Ning Fengzhi, who had level eight Innate Soul Power, there was only Ning Rongrong, who hadn't yet undergone Martial Soul Awakening but had reached level nine.
A few people with level eight or higher Innate Soul Power might appear each year, but those with bird-type Beast Martial Souls were truly rare.
Among the people Feng Baiyu could think of was Shui Bing'er. But that fellow Shui Duanliu had never mentioned his niece to him, so Feng Baiyu wasn't even sure whether she had undergone Martial Soul Awakening.
War Eagle didn't know the specific reason Feng Baiyu had asked about the collateral branches. She assumed he was simply concerned about the family's development. Feng Qingluan, however, knew that her grandson wanted to find a few reliable people to cultivate Phoenix Art and strengthen the family's foundations.
Unfortunately, the younger generation had let him down, leaving him helpless.
No, she had to redouble her efforts and win War Eagle over. That way, her grandson would have another powerful ally at his side.
As Feng Qingluan was thinking, she suddenly sensed a disturbance in the auras outside.
Feng Qingluan furrowed her brows and said coldly, "Get in here!"
As Feng Qingluan's Soul Power swept through the area, the black-clad figure outside realized at once that he had been exposed.
Seeing that, the man in black dropped his disguise and flew straight in. He bowed and said, "She Long pays his respects to the Third Offering."
"So it's Snake Lance." Feng Qingluan looked at Snake Lance Douluo. "Did the young lady send you?"
She Long hurriedly bowed and replied, "The Third Offering sees clearly. Your subordinate wouldn't dare conceal anything! Feng Mansion is an estate the young lady personally ordered us to keep under close watch. If anything at all happens there, I must report it to her immediately."
"Tsk, tsk. She's got her eye on you!" Feng Qingluan had been teased by her grandson several times lately, and now she finally had a chance to get back at him. "Baiyu, if I remember correctly, Xue'er had only just turned nine and a half when she left Spirit City. You were just three or four then, weren't you? You haven't seen each other in four years, and she still can't get you out of her mind?"
"Either she has a problem with me or she's interested in me." Feng Baiyu naturally understood that his grandfather was teasing him, but he didn't take the bait. Instead, he analyzed the matter solemnly. "Among the younger generation of men in Spirit City, I'm the only one who's got much going for him, so it would make sense if Sister Xue were interested in me. As for having a problem with me... maybe she wanted to bully me when we were little, and I wouldn't let her?"
Although Feng Baiyu had been reincarnated as a baby, he only vaguely remembered what had happened when he was one. Much of what he knew had come from memories his mother shared with him while she was still alive.
For instance, Qian Renxue had held him when they were little. And when she discovered that his body was built differently from hers, she had tried to pull it off. Fortunately, his mother stopped her—otherwise, Feng Baiyu would have had to start his life over.
As Feng Baiyu grew up, he and Qian Renxue had become playmates. Mm... the young lady and her lackey, the young lady and her child husband, the young master and his blonde maid...
Back then, Qian Renxue had been starved for affection, and Feng Baiyu was the only person her age she could talk to.
But Feng Baiyu never understood why Qian Renxue had always loved playing house.
It wasn't until after Qian Xunji's death, when Qian Renxue left to carry out the Nation-Stealing Plan, that the two of them lost touch.
Now, four and a half years had passed. It was only natural that she would keep an eye on a childhood friend.
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