Forging and Cultivating

The Chapter 27: Tempering Cultivation

The head of a town, though at the bottom, still counted as an official of the marquisdom.

By rights, he could not be killed at will.

However, in this world that had evolved around "martial" might, if one's skills were inferior and one was cut down by another, then one had only oneself to blame.

Jiang Feng's killing of Wei Changqing and Nie Hu, in terms of the law, left nothing to be pursued.

But in terms of power, Wei Changqing and Nie Hu both belonged to the Qi Family's dogs. Killing them meant killing the Qi Family's dogs; it meant giving the Qi Family no face. That was why the Dragon Tower Master had appeared in time to stop Jiang Feng, fearing Jiang Feng would throw his own life away.

Yet Jiang Feng's blade had already risen and fallen, taking Nie Hu's head.

"Ah..." The Dragon Tower Master sighed. Today, Jiang Feng had killed three of the Qi Family's people in a row. The Qi Family would definitely not let this rest.

However, things had already come to this. Saying more was meaningless.

At this moment, Jiang Feng was surrounded like the darling of the crowd.

"Jiang Feng, you truly are the pride of our Zhushan Town!"

"Jiang Feng, we have questions in our hearts and hope you will answer them."

"Have you truly cultivated to the Earth Martial Realm?"

"Do you even need to ask? Just now, Jiang Feng killed that petty man Su Di in one move, then easily dissolved Nie Hu's sword force while standing as unmoving as a towering mountain. That is already the best proof."

"Haha, the Earth Martial Realm! Our Zhushan Town has actually produced an Earth Martial Realm expert too."

"A fourteen-year-old Earth Martial Realm. Heavens!"

"Jiang Feng, in my view, you should take Zhushan Town as your own fief."

"Short-sighted! With Jiang Feng's Earth Martial Realm cultivation, he can accept a county seat as a fief. How could he take a fancy to a mere Zhushan Town? Besides, Jiang Feng's future is boundless. How could he accept a fief so early and be bound here? In my view, Jiang Feng should continue roaming the world. Who knows, one day he might achieve a transcendent life."

"Haha, transcendent? You're dreaming in broad daylight. That transcendent life is easy to talk about, but those who can achieve it, looking across the entire Lieshan Marquisdom, are fewer than the fingers on two hands."

The crowd gathered around Jiang Feng, discussing ceaselessly, abnormally excited, as if Jiang Feng's current achievements were inseparably connected to them.

Jiang Feng shook his head and laughed inwardly, sighing in his heart: People truly are strange!

Ignoring the crowd surrounding him and chattering away, Jiang Feng turned and helped Xiang Pang up from the ground, then pushed through the people and left.

This time, Jiang Feng brought Xiang Pang straight to the Jiang Mansion that had been sealed three years ago.

Three years ago, Jiang Yunhai had been demoted to a slave, and the Jiang Mansion had been sealed. Although many of the valuable things in the residence had been divided up by Nie Hu and Wei Changqing, at least the home was still there.

Now, Jiang Feng returned to the Jiang Mansion in an uncompromising posture, broke open the seals, and no one dared say a single word against it.

Before long, someone came to visit.

The first to arrive was the town's deputy mayor. After Nie Hu died, he naturally took over Nie Hu's position and became the mayor.

On this trip, aside from paying a visit, the deputy mayor also returned all the Jiang Mansion property that had originally been seized by Nie Hu and Wei Changqing.

"Many consumable items can no longer be recovered, so I made the decision to replace them with other things. I wonder if Young Master Jiang is satisfied?"

The deputy mayor was a fat-headed, big-eared fellow with tender white skin and cultivation at the fourth level of the Black Martial Realm. He also had some businesses in the town, but they had all been firmly suppressed by Nie Hu.

Jiang Feng looked over the items placed before the hall, his expression solemn.

There were eighteen chests in total, filled with all manner of things, most of them objects originally from the Jiang Mansion. There was one chest of gold coins, roughly close to two thousand coins, all scraped from the Nie Mansion and Wei Mansion before being delivered here.

In addition, there were more than eighty servants. Back when Jiang Yunhai had been demoted, all the Jiang Mansion's servants had been granted death by Wei Changqing and Nie Hu, so those standing here now were all servants from the Nie Mansion and Wei Mansion. Now that Wei Changqing and Nie Hu had been personally slain by Jiang Feng, the deputy mayor did not dare conceal even one of them and had sent them all over to Jiang Feng.

Apart from the servants, there were also the family members of Nie Hu and Wei Changqing, twenty people in all, old and young alike.

It was not hard to see that these family members hated Jiang Feng to the bone. After all, Jiang Feng had destroyed their homes with his own hands.

"Leave the servants. Send all the family members back," Jiang Feng said mildly.

"Yes." The deputy mayor immediately bent at the waist, turned, and gave the order.

"Jiang Feng!!" Jiang Feng was just about to turn and go back into the house when a voice came from behind him.

He turned his head and looked, only to see a youth standing in the center before the hall, glaring at him viciously.

"Wei Shan." Jiang Feng recognized him at a glance. The youth before him was none other than Wei Shan.

Thinking back, when Jiang Yunhai had first been demoted, Wei Shan had also racked his brains to humiliate Jiang Feng. Later, when he discovered Jiang Feng remained unmoved, he had stopped pestering him too much. If not for Nie Xiaoyue's insistence that Jiang Feng kneel, Wei Shan would not have wanted to take Jiang Feng's life either.

Therefore, Jiang Feng had never planned to look for trouble with Wei Shan.

After all, in Jiang Feng's eyes, Wei Shan was nothing more than a clown jumping on a beam, not worthy of his regard.

"Jiang Feng, you're not killing me?" Wei Shan asked aloud, his voice upright and forceful, without the slightest fear.

Ever since Wei Changqing died, over the past half month, Wei Shan could be said to have changed greatly. From the wastrel young master he had originally been, he had become someone with hot blood and integrity. Now, the fate of his Wei Family was completely held in Jiang Feng's hand. With a single word from Jiang Feng, perhaps the entire Wei Family would be wiped out to the last door.

Jiang Feng only glanced at Wei Shan once, then turned and went back into the house.

Wei Shan instantly felt a sense of loss. He could tell that Jiang Feng had not placed him in his eyes at all. Just like these past three years, when he had never placed Jiang Feng in his eyes either.

"Wei Shan, Young Master Jiang spared your life. Are you actually seeking death?" Someone stepped forward and escorted Wei Shan away.

Wei Shan shouted hysterically, "Jiang Feng, if you don't kill me today, I will definitely kill you one day!"

Inside the house, Jiang Feng and Xiang Pang sat side by side, chatting and laughing merrily.

"Ah Feng, you really aren't going to kill Wei Shan?" Xiang Pang asked.

Jiang Feng smiled faintly. "What would I kill him for?"

"That's true. This Wei Shan poses absolutely no threat to you." Xiang Pang nodded. "You're already an expert of the Earth Martial Realm now. If Wei Shan can become a martial artist in this lifetime, that'll already be pretty good."

"Maybe he'll encounter some fortuitous opportunity?" Jiang Feng said bluntly. "Nothing is absolute. The reason I'm not killing him isn't because I look down on him, but because I want to give him a chance—a chance for revenge."

Xiang Pang froze, then said quietly, "I really don't understand the way you think."

"The path of a martial artist is itself one of rolling and tempering oneself among thorns. The more tempering one undergoes, the easier it naturally becomes to shine and blaze, to stand resplendent among all living beings, unmatched atop the summit of millions upon millions. If I can create more chances for tempering myself, why wouldn't I?" Jiang Feng raised his head and drained the wine in his cup, heroic spirit surging through him.

"Good, good!" Xiang Pang said "good" twice in succession. Now he understood why Jiang Feng had achieved what he had today. Aside from possessing extraordinary talent, he also possessed a will unafraid of tempering.

Other people, on the path of cultivation, either avoided danger and sought safe cultivation, or seized clever shortcuts, caring only for raising their cultivation. But Jiang Feng was different. Not only would Jiang Feng take the initiative to meet difficulties head-on, he even created chances to temper himself.

It was just like at the Zhushan Arena Tournament. He had clearly possessed the strength to defeat any young opponent with a single strike, yet he still circled around with them in the arena, tempering his moves. He had clearly possessed the strength to kill Yuchi Hong in one blow, yet he had still fought Yuchi Hong for more than a hundred moves.

Although those people could not help him raise his cultivation, they could help him temper his techniques.

In his previous life, Jiang Feng had been an assassin, and naturally had experienced countless temperings and moments between life and death. Thus, he had long since understood such a simple principle.

Actually, to Jiang Feng, Wei Shan's life could be spared or taken. With Wei Shan's aptitude, if he wanted to pose any threat to him, there really was not much hope!

He, Jiang Feng, bore the Sutra of Observing Heaven and Eternal Treasures, and was destined to be unparalleled! His threats and opponents lay only in the future, not in the past! For those he had surpassed to surpass him again—the possibility was practically zero.

"Ah Feng, tell me what the Earth Martial Realm feels like," Xiang Pang said, setting down his wine cup and asking with a solemn expression.

Although his talent could be considered decent, he simply did not dare dream of reaching the Earth Martial Realm. So he held limitless yearning and passion for the Earth Martial Realm. Now that Jiang Feng had reached the Earth Martial Realm, he very much wanted to learn from Jiang Feng's own mouth what the Earth Martial Realm felt like.