The Dragon Tower Master

The heavy doors slowly opened, and a majestic aura swept out to meet him.

Behind the doors stood a beautiful woman in white robes, her sleeves gathered in her hands, her expression so calm it was almost vacant.

The woman said, "Jiang Feng, the Tower Master has already given instructions. Please follow me." Her voice was utterly hollow. Once she finished speaking, she turned and walked inside.

Jiang Feng immediately followed. He noticed that the woman's steps were extremely stiff; when she walked, she looked just like a robot. With some curiosity, Jiang Feng examined her with his divine sense.

"Not human!?" With that look, Jiang Feng was somewhat astonished.

Aside from her face, which was exactly the same as a person's, the woman's entire body was actually made of metal. As for the inside of her body, Jiang Feng's divine sense could not see through it at all; it was blocked by some power.

"Looks like this is the legendary puppet."

Jiang Feng had also read some books on cultivation and knew of the existence of puppets. They were things only martial experts could make, absolutely obedient to their masters, their combat strength varying from strong to weak.

Following the puppet, Jiang Feng went straight up to the second level of the Dragon Tower, where the Tower Master was already waiting.

"Tower Master." Jiang Feng cupped his hands toward the Dragon Tower Master, who had long been waiting for him.

The Dragon Tower Master smiled and nodded, then handed over a tablet and said, "Jiang Feng, this is your identity nameplate."

The tablet had a distinctive shape, and its material was unknown. On the front, the two characters "Longxiang" were printed using a special technique. On the back was his relevant information.

"Jiang Feng, native of Great Yan Dynasty—Lieshan Marquisdom—Hengshan Prefecture—Qinghe Prefecture—Baima County—Zhushan Town. Longxiang Calendar Year 10388."

The empire's territory was vast. Under Emperor Longxiang's majesty, the imperial family had unified the seven great dynasties of Qi, Chu, Yan, Zhao, Han, Wei, and Qin. Beneath the dynasties were marquisdoms, each governing itself. Beneath the marquisdoms were prefectural administrations; beneath the prefectures were commandery cities; beneath the commandery cities were county cities; and beneath the county cities were small towns.

The empire's territory exceeded ten trillion square kilometers, and its exact data could not be calculated.

What kind of concept was ten trillion square kilometers? One had to know that the Earth where Jiang Feng had lived in his previous life had a total area of only 510 million square kilometers when land and sea were added together. The empire's territory was more than twenty thousand times the total area of Earth. Under such an enormous territory, the seven great dynasties each occupied a region, and even the smallest, the Great Yan Dynasty, covered nearly one trillion square kilometers.

The Hengshan Prefecture where Jiang Feng lived alone covered one billion square kilometers, equivalent to twice the total area of Earth.

And Jiang Feng's enemy—the Qi Family—was the colossal family entrenched upon this territory of one billion square kilometers. Across this billion-square-kilometer land, they covered the sky with one hand, did whatever they wished, and ruled over a population of more than ten billion!

With such a vast family machine in operation, no one knew how many little figures like Jiang Yunhai and Jiang Feng were crushed every day until not even dregs remained. It was precisely this kind of crushing operation that made the entire Qi Family's power grow bigger and bigger like a rolling snowball.

Such a small certification token made the ambitious Jiang Feng recognize the situation clearly—to save his parents, how could it be easy!?

That was right. From the moment he had become a martial artist, he had already been planning in his heart how to save his parents.

In his previous life, Jiang Feng had been an orphan. Carrying his memories, he had reincarnated into this world, and he had deeply felt how much extra love and devotion his parents in this life had given to him, their useless son. Yet unexpectedly, because his father had been upright and unyielding and had offended a silkpants child of the Qi Family, a dignified Black Martial Realm martial artist had actually ended up with the fate of being a slave for life.

So, ever since he had become a martial artist, he had begun planning how to save his parents.

He would never allow his own parents to be slaves for the rest of their lives!

But now, this token had made him see the situation clearly.

To save his parents meant becoming enemies with the Qi Family! With the Qi Family's power being so great, how could it be something he could easily shake?

"Many thanks, Tower Master." Jiang Feng gathered away his thoughts and thanked the Dragon Tower Master. Then he remembered something and asked, "Does the Tower Master not need to certify my strength?"

According to the rules, he should have undergone the Dragon Tower's test before he could obtain an identity certification token.

The Dragon Tower Master smiled faintly. "Today's Zhushan Arena Tournament was already the best certification. Actually, I could have given you this certification token on the spot, but I had you come to my Dragon Tower because there are some things I wanted to tell you in private."

Jiang Feng was somewhat surprised. What words had to be spoken inside the Dragon Tower? Out loud, he replied, "Please speak, Tower Master."

The Dragon Tower Master waved his hand. "No hurry. Let's first talk about this certification token."

"This token was made using a special technique and cannot be forged. Holding this token, you can receive a salary from any Dragon Tower within the empire. In addition, with this token, any consumption anywhere within the empire will enjoy a twenty percent discount. Holding the token, you are not restricted by the borders of marquisdoms and dynasties, and may freely cross national boundaries."

"I understand." Jiang Feng nodded in acknowledgment. In truth, the greater function of this certification token was that it symbolized identity, status, and glory. There had once been an expert holding such a nameplate who traveled through Zhushan Town, and at that time the entire town had been thrown into agitation.

"There is one more point I must remind you of." The Dragon Tower Master looked at Jiang Feng and said with great seriousness, "Although you now possess an empire-certified nameplate, the empire will not protect you. Do you understand what I mean?"

Jiang Feng thought for a moment, then nodded. "I understand. The empire does not participate in any struggle over power or interests. If someone wants to kill me, the empire will not stop them."

The Dragon Tower Master nodded and gave Jiang Feng a meaningful look. "The Qi Family—you still need to deal with them carefully."

"Many thanks for the reminder, Tower Master." Jiang Feng cupped his fists.

Now, he had risen against the current and changed his fate, altering the destiny the Qi Family had assigned him of begging under orders, and had also killed Wei Changqing, that Qi Family lackey. Whether by reason or by feeling, the Qi Family could not possibly let this pass. They would definitely come looking for trouble with him.

So there was no need to wait until Jiang Feng sought out the Qi Family for his parents; someone from the Qi Family would naturally come find him.

The Dragon Tower Master understood this point deeply, which was why he had spoken to remind him.

Perhaps because a heaven-defying monster like Jiang Feng had appeared within his jurisdiction, the Dragon Tower Master very much hoped that Jiang Feng could live and grow up. For him, this would count as a respectable matter before the imperial family. So he did not want to see Jiang Feng die beneath the oppressive might of the Qi Family, and was even less willing for Jiang Feng to oppose the Qi Family.

After all, that great mountain that was the Qi Family was not something that could be moved casually.

"Jiang Feng, I know you are now wholeheartedly thinking of saving your parents." The Dragon Tower Master pierced through Jiang Feng's thoughts and continued, "However, I advise you to dispel this idea. The Qi Family's power is beyond your imagination. Although the entire Hengshan Prefecture is not the Qi Family's fief, it is not far from it. In the future, even if you obtain Heaven Martial Realm cultivation, with Qi Xingyun's personality, it would still be impossible for him to easily release your parents."

Jiang Feng frowned when he heard this. It seemed this was the reason the Dragon Tower Master had deliberately wanted him to come inside the Dragon Tower.

"Then I ask the Tower Master to point out a clear road," Jiang Feng immediately asked for guidance.

"A clear road?" The Dragon Tower Master shook his head, thinking, why was this Jiang Feng still not giving up?

"Jiang Feng, have I still not spoken clearly enough?" The Dragon Tower Master sighed. "With the strength of you and me, saving your parents is simply impossible. The reason I told you all this was to have you dispel the idea of opposing the Qi Family, and to avoid the Qi Family as much as possible so that you will not suffer the Qi Family's threat."

Jiang Feng remained silent. The Dragon Tower Master continued, "This time, the reason I had you come inside the Dragon Tower was because I wanted to recommend you to enter Huilong Academy. With the aptitude you have displayed so far, entering Huilong Academy should be feasible. As long as you enter Huilong Academy, you will have jumped out of Hengshan Prefecture's territory, and you will no longer need to worry about the Qi Family's threat."

Seeing that Jiang Feng gave no response, the Dragon Tower Master pressed him with another question. "Jiang Feng, are you willing to go to Huilong Academy? If you are willing, I will naturally do my utmost to recommend you."

Jiang Feng raised his head and looked at the Dragon Tower Master, yet he did not answer the Dragon Tower Master's question. "Tower Master, as far as I know, according to imperial regulations, once one's cultivation reaches a certain level, one can be granted a fief and receive an official title and rank. Is that true?"

Seeing that Jiang Feng not only refused to answer his question, but instead asked such an irrelevant one, the Tower Master was somewhat displeased, but he still replied, "That is correct. To encourage martial artists to advance, according to imperial regulations, once one's cultivation reaches the Earth Martial Realm, a county town can be assigned as one's fief; once one's cultivation reaches the Heaven Martial Realm, a commandery city can be assigned as one's fief; once one's cultivation reaches the Spirit Martial Realm, a prefecture can be assigned as one's fief... Wait, could it be..."

The Dragon Tower Master suddenly cut himself off and stared at Jiang Feng in disbelief. "Could it be that you intend to reach the Spirit Martial Realm and take the entire Hengshan Prefecture as your fief?"

Jiang Feng looked straight at the Dragon Tower Master and asked, "Is it feasible?"

Hearing this, the Dragon Tower Master suddenly burst into loud laughter. The laughter echoed through the tower, unbearably grating, and within it, he made no attempt to hide his mockery of Jiang Feng.

"Jiang Feng, do you even know what you are saying?" the Dragon Tower Master asked teasingly.

Jiang Feng smiled faintly. "Tower Master only needs to answer me. Once I reach the Spirit Martial Realm, can Hengshan Prefecture be taken as my fief?"