Seclusion

The Dragon Tower Master's smile still lingered, but he nodded all the same. "That's right. In principle, as long as you become a Spirit Martial Realm expert, and as long as you're willing, the entire territory of Hengshan Prefecture—nearly one billion square kilometers—will all become your fief. When that time comes, everything within the prefecture will be decided by you, Jiang Feng. Even if you want to uproot the entire Qi Family, no one will dare step forward and say otherwise."

"However..." The Dragon Tower Master's tone shifted. "To attain the Spirit Martial Realm and become a transcendent lifeform beyond the mundane world—how could that be easy?"

"Think of Qi Xingyun. His greatest dream in this life is merely to attain the Spirit Martial Realm and become a transcendent lifeform. Yet even now, he still hasn't touched the threshold of the Spirit Martial Realm."

"Jiang Feng, attaining the Spirit Martial Realm and becoming a transcendent lifeform is not as simple as you imagine. This world is vast beyond measure. Those with outstanding talent are everywhere, but those who can truly become transcendent are few and far between."

"To attain the Spirit Martial Realm, talent alone is not enough. You must also possess fortune!"

"No matter how high your talent is, what use is it if you don't live until that day?"

The Dragon Tower Master looked at Jiang Feng, his expression solemn, his words earnest and heartfelt.

What he said was not false. Attaining the Spirit Martial Realm meant truly leaping out of the mortal world, and the difficulty was immense. Looking across the entire Lieshan Marquisdom, though it governed thirty-two prefectures, the number of those who had truly reached the Spirit Martial Realm was not enough to count on two hands.

Even within the entire Great Yan Dynasty, Spirit Martial Realm experts numbered no more than three digits.

One had to know that the Great Yan Dynasty had a population of over two trillion, with two hundred billion martial artists. Yet the transcendent martial artists who could reach the Spirit Martial Realm numbered fewer than three digits. The odds were truly too small!

Precisely because of this, in the Dragon Tower Master's eyes, Jiang Feng's bold ambition was extremely laughable.

However, faced with the Dragon Tower Master's words, Jiang Feng still seemed unmoved.

Since he now knew that becoming a Spirit Martial Realm expert would allow him to take a prefecture as his own fief, then what he had to do was simply work hard in that direction.

"Tower Master..." Jiang Feng looked at the Dragon Tower Master. "If I enter Huilong Academy to study, can it guarantee that I'll attain the Spirit Martial Realm?"

Hearing Jiang Feng's words, the Dragon Tower Master looked as if he had swallowed a dead cockroach. Only after a long while did he reply, "No."

"Although Huilong Academy gathers countless heroes, since its founding, not a single person has attained the Spirit Martial Realm. The mysteries of the Spirit Martial Realm are such that different people naturally have different ways of achieving it. It absolutely cannot be reached simply through teaching and study."

Jiang Feng continued, "In other words, those who attained the Spirit Martial Realm all did so by groping their own way forward. If that's the case, then I have even less reason to join Huilong Academy."

Hearing this, the Dragon Tower Master could not help finding it both infuriating and amusing. This Jiang Feng truly was young, ignorant of the world, and fearless; he actually intended to single-mindedly cultivate his way into the Spirit Martial Realm.

Seeing that Jiang Feng remained unmoved, the Dragon Tower Master prepared to persuade him another way.

"Jiang Feng, even if you are gifted beyond others and are confident you can attain the Spirit Martial Realm, can your parents wait until that time? With your parents' cultivation, they have at most a hundred years of lifespan. Don't tell me you can attain the Spirit Martial Realm before their hundred years are up?"

"Moreover, as far as I know, three years ago, both your parents were seized by the Qi Family and made beast-hunting slaves. Day after day, they fought Magic Beasts, walking between life and death. Whether they are still alive now is hard to say. Why must you cling to this so stubbornly?"

"In my view, you should first enter Huilong Academy and preserve your own life. It won't be too late to discuss rescuing your parents after that."

Hearing the Dragon Tower Master's words, Jiang Feng's brows tightened. Although the Dragon Tower Master's words were unpleasant to hear, they were indeed the truth.

"Thank you, Tower Master, for worrying so much on my behalf." Jiang Feng cupped his hands. "If Tower Master truly wants to help me, then please help me find out whether my parents are still alive."

Hearing Jiang Feng say this, the Dragon Tower Master knew that all the words he had spent this long speaking had been wasted.

The Tower Master nodded helplessly. "All right."

With his status, finding out whether Jiang Feng's parents were dead or alive was still something he could manage.

"Thank you, Tower Master." Jiang Feng bent at the waist. "In that case, I'll take my leave first."

The Dragon Tower Master's words had not worn away Jiang Feng's desire to rescue his parents. Instead, they spurred him to train even harder. He was truly afraid, truly afraid that after he reached the Spirit Martial Realm, his parents would already be gone from this world.

"Father, Mother..." Gazing at the distant setting sun, Jiang Feng's eyes were resolute. "You must wait for me!"

Before night fell, Jiang Feng rushed back to the town and arrived at the Nie Family.

The one receiving him naturally would not be Nie Hu, nor would it be Nie Xiaoyue, but only an ordinary steward.

After all, if not for fulfilling the wager, Nie Hu would absolutely never have allowed Jiang Feng to set half a foot into his Nie Family.

Jiang Feng had made him lose tremendous face in front of the entire town, and he was still pondering how to win back this round!

Inside the room, candlelight flickered. Nie Hu held two black beads in his hand, and the beads rolled in his palm, giving off clicking sounds of friction.

The steward pushed open the door and entered, bending at the waist to report, "Master, Jiang Feng has already entered the library. Should we have someone..."

Nie Hu waved his hand with a cold face. "No."

Although he very much wanted Jiang Feng to die by his own hand, he knew clearly that if Jiang Feng died in his Nie Family, he would not be able to explain it away in terms of face. Jiang Feng was no longer that little beggar whose fate others could casually manipulate. Hundreds of thousands of residents in the town were watching. Even if Nie Hu had courage as great as the heavens, he could not possibly make a move against Jiang Feng in the Nie Family.

"Act according to my previous arrangements. Split the troops into two routes," Nie Hu added.

The steward bowed his waist and answered, "Yes," then turned and went out to make arrangements.

Nie Hu pushed open the window and looked in the direction of the library, a cold and sinister look appearing on his face. "Jiang Feng, you refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!"

"I'm determined to get the Meridian Opening Pill!"

"As for your life, naturally, someone will come to take it!"

"Hmph, I should even thank you. If not for you, I wouldn't have been able to climb aboard the Qi Family's great ship!"

Inside the Nie Family Library, Jiang Feng was earnestly flipping through all kinds of books.

As the mayor of Zhushan Town, Nie Hu's collection of books was indeed richer than the town library's. The books in the library were merely open to ordinary civilians, and their level was limited. But the books here in Nie Hu's possession could be considered to have reached a certain level.

With Jiang Feng's current soul strength, he could easily comprehend even a secret manual as unfathomable as the Golden Body of the Wisdom King, let alone the books in the Nie Family Library. Any book that came before him was something he would never forget after seeing it once. He needed only glance at it to easily memorize and comprehend it. After reading enough, he could naturally fuse everything together, and his mind would give birth to his own understanding and insights.

In the Nie Family's library, there were cultivation methods, all kinds of martial skills, and also cultivation experiences left behind by predecessors.

Jiang Feng spent five days finishing these books. After he finished, his gains were enormous.

Using many mental cultivation methods as his foundation, Jiang Feng integrated them on his own and comprehended a method suited to himself.

However, this mental cultivation method was not perfect either, and still had many flaws. He could only wait until he had read more books in the future, then improve it further. Even so, this method of his once again caused the depth of qi force in his body and the speed of his breathing circulation to surge severalfold.

For the next ten days, Jiang Feng devoted himself wholeheartedly to cultivation.

The crisis his parents faced did not allow him the slightest slack!

Just as Jiang Feng was wholeheartedly cultivating the second level of the Golden Body of the Wisdom King, Zhushan Town welcomed honored guests!

Nie Hu personally led a crowd of supporters out to greet them.

From far away, one could see a troop making its way down the street, while pedestrians on both sides moved aside one after another.

There were twelve people in the troop altogether, all mounted on Black Brocade Mounts. Their steps were neat and uniform as they advanced at an unhurried pace.

The Brocade Mount Beast was a creature similar to horses on Earth. It had a gentle nature, was easily domesticated by humans, excelled at running, moved extremely fast, and possessed remarkable stamina. It was commonly used as a riding beast for human transport.

The Brocade Mount Beast had an extremely beautiful appearance. It had a horse-like build but was even taller, its entire body wrapped in scales. Its head resembled a dragon's, with a pair of horns growing from the top, and on either side of its breath were whiskers that floated by themselves, glowing softly.

The Black Brocade Mount was a relatively ordinary type among Brocade Mount Beasts, often used as a military riding beast. It could run continuously for three days and three nights, covering three thousand kilometers in a day.

Brocade Mount Beasts were extremely precious. Only large clans or forces had the strength to domesticate and raise them. A small town like Zhushan Town had no ability to raise them at all; even in a county city one level higher, only a small number of officials and nobles possessed them.

This troop before them clearly had an extraordinary bearing.

"Isn't that the prefectural city's guard? Why have they come to our little place?"

"Yeah, looking at their armor and the Black Brocade Mounts beneath them, they should be the guards of Qinghe Prefecture City."

"You don't know, do you? These are the helpers Town Mayor Nie invited from the Qi Family."

"Helpers? Could it be to deal with Jiang Feng?"

"That's right. Jiang Feng killed Wei Changqing at the Zhushan Arena Tournament and offended Town Mayor Nie. Did you really think Town Mayor Nie would just swallow that anger? Jiang Feng was in closed-door cultivation at his Nie Family, and out of consideration for all sides, he couldn't make a move against Jiang Feng. So after Jiang Feng entered seclusion, he sent a servant to the prefectural city to pay a visit to that Qi Family young master who had once caused Jiang Yunhai to be demoted into a slave."

"The Qi Family... Nie Hu actually got his wish and climbed aboard the Qi Family's boat too. If Jiang Feng hadn't displayed extraordinary talent, he probably wouldn't have had this chance."

"Exactly. That Qi Family young master could never let Jiang Feng rise, even though Jiang Feng has absolutely no chance of threatening the Qi Family."

"Ah, looks like this time, Jiang Feng is truly facing more calamity than fortune!"