An Old Friend Returns, Killing Intent Rises

"Xiao Feng."

Yao Chen sighed and raised his illusory hand, wanting to pat his shoulder, but it could only pass through him futilely.

"It's all in the past. A gentleman's revenge can wait ten years. Soul Hall is powerful, so this matter... must be considered carefully."

His teacher's voice was like a clear spring flowing into Han Feng's mind, which had been on the verge of boiling over.

Han Feng took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, the killing intent around him, nearly solid enough to take form, had been completely reined in without leaking the slightest trace.

"Teacher is right." He gave Yao Chen a reassuring smile. "This disciple... lost his composure."

Seeing that Yao Chen's soul body had become much more solid, he felt somewhat reassured.

That was right. This was not the time for recklessness. His teacher's soul origin had only just been replenished and still needed time to absorb the medicinal power and stabilize his soul body. The materials needed to reconstruct his physical body also had to be prepared.

Most importantly, Feng Xian had to be informed.

Publicly, he was the acting pavilion master of Falling Star Pavilion and had the right to know of every major matter concerning their sect.

Privately, he was his teacher's only true friend. He should be present for this reunion that had transcended life and death.

"Teacher, rest here and recover properly. Fully refine the medicinal power. This disciple will be back soon."

Han Feng did not explain much. He merely gave Yao Chen a respectful bow.

He knew that his teacher would understand what he was about to do.

As soon as he finished speaking, he did not alert anyone. With a flicker of his body, he passed through the exclusive spatial wormhole between Sacred City and Falling Star Pavilion and returned to the Central Plains.

Falling Star Pavilion, atop the main peak.

Feng Xian was cultivating in a quiet chamber, consolidating his Seven-Star Dou Venerable cultivation.

Suddenly, he sensed something and abruptly opened his eyes.

The door to the quiet chamber silently opened.

A familiar figure in green robes slowly walked in.

"You little brat!" Feng Xian was both surprised and delighted. Thinking Han Feng had forgotten something, he rose and laughed as he scolded him. "Didn't you just leave? How did you come back in the blink of an eye? Don't tell me you missed Uncle Feng's tea?"

Han Feng looked at him. Unlike usual, he did not joke around. His face could not hide his excitement, though his voice remained steady.

"Uncle Feng."

"I found Teacher."

Those simple four words struck Feng Xian like a bolt from the blue.

His entire body instantly froze in place.

The joy, shock, and confusion on his face all stiffened, eventually becoming utter blankness.

"Y-you... what did you say?" His throat was dry, and his voice carried a tremor he had not even noticed.

"I said, I found Teacher." Han Feng repeated himself with absolute certainty. "He is in my Sacred City right now. He is safe."

Boom!

It was as though something exploded in Feng Xian's mind.

Found him!

The friend who had vanished for thirty-two years, whom he had worried about endlessly and blamed himself for failing time and again in the dead of night, had been found!

"In... in the Black-Corner Region?"

"Take me there!"

Feng Xian's reaction was even more intense than Han Feng had expected.

Before Han Feng could finish, Feng Xian grabbed his arm. His Seven-Star Dou Venerable Dou Qi burst forth uncontrollably, and he shot outside like an arrow leaving the bow.

"Uncle Feng, calm down!" Han Feng did not know whether to laugh or cry.

"Calm down my ass!" Feng Xian's eyes were bloodshot, and none of his usual immortal poise remained. "Hurry! Take me to see him! How is that old immortal doing?!"

Dragging Han Feng along, he rushed into the spatial wormhole connecting the two places in a single step, even faster than Han Feng had been when returning alone.

Black-Corner Region, Sacred City.

When space twisted and two figures appeared before Soul-Gathering Hall, Feng Xian's body trembled violently.

He could sense it. Beyond that door was a soul aura familiar enough to be carved into his bones.

It was Yao Chen!

It really was him!

Feng Xian could no longer hold himself back. He shoved open the hall doors and rushed inside.

Inside the hall, at the center of the formation.

That aged figure floated silently.

Hearing the door open, Yao Chen slowly turned around.

When he saw the distorted face of the visitor, overwhelmed by emotion, the former greatest alchemist on the continent could not help but feel his eyes redden.

"Feng Xian..."

"You old immortal!"

Feng Xian flashed before Yao Chen, reaching for his shoulders, only for his hands to pass straight through.

Only then did he react as though struck by lightning. The friend before him was merely a remnant soul.

"Where is your body?!" Feng Xian's voice was hoarse, full of fury and grief. "What did those bastards from Soul Hall do to you?!"

"It's a long story..." Looking at his old friend in this state, Yao Chen was overcome with mixed feelings that finally became a long sigh.

Han Feng slowly walked in. Watching the emotional reunion between the two old friends, he too felt deeply moved.

"Uncle Feng, don't get worked up yet."

He told Feng Xian everything from beginning to end without concealing anything, including Gu You's betrayal, Soul Hall's ambush, and how his teacher had escaped only by detonating his own body.

The atmosphere within Soul-Gathering Hall grew increasingly oppressive.

When Han Feng finished the last word, Feng Xian's body was already wrapped in a terrifying green storm.

"Gu! You!"

He forced out those two words through gritted teeth, each one filled with bone-chilling killing intent.

"I should have known! Back then, I knew there was something wrong with that brat's eyes. I never thought he would dare... he would actually dare!"

"Yao Chen, you trusted people too easily!" Feng Xian trembled with rage as he pointed at Yao Chen's nose and cursed him, but his voice was full of regret and self-reproach.

Yao Chen gave a bitter smile and did not argue.

"Uncle Feng, it's too late to say all this now." Han Feng's voice pulled them both back from their emotions. "The urgent matter is revenge, as well as reconstructing Teacher's body."

Feng Xian took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the killing intent in his heart. He looked at Han Feng, his expression turning solemn.

"Xiao Feng, tell me. What should we do?"

The current Han Feng was no longer the junior who had needed his protection. He had become the pillar holding up their entire sect.

"It's simple." Han Feng's eyes turned cold. "I want everyone involved in what happened back then to pay in blood."

"Uncle Feng, I need your help with two things."

"Tell me!" Feng Xian did not hesitate in the slightest.

"First," Han Feng said in a heavy voice, "use every intelligence network Falling Star Pavilion has. Investigate! Find out where Gu You is now! Whether he is hiding in Soul Hall or tucked away in some corner of the Central Plains, I want him dragged out!"

"Fine!" Killing intent burst from Feng Xian's eyes. "I'll handle this personally! Even if I have to turn the Central Plains upside down, I'll find that beast!"

"The second matter," Han Feng continued, his tone growing colder, "is Soul Hall. I want to know the movements of all their Dou Sheng experts. It doesn't have to be too precise. I only need to know where they have been active recently and what major moves they are making."

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.

Han Feng was confident, but never arrogant. Soul Hall had stood for a thousand years as a public enemy of the continent. Its foundations ran deep and could not be underestimated.

He needed intelligence. He needed to know precisely where the enemies he would face in the future were.

Feng Xian frowned deeply at this.

"Investigate Soul Hall's Dou Sheng experts? That will be difficult. Those old monsters move in secret, and ordinary spies cannot get close to them at all."

"Do your best." Han Feng said, "I do not need them to risk their lives. I only need a general direction. Once you find anything, send word to me immediately."

"I understand." Feng Xian nodded heavily.

After giving these two instructions, Han Feng looked at Yao Chen's much more solid soul body and suddenly added something else.

"Uncle Feng, Teacher will also need a skeleton as a foundation to reconstruct his body."

"Ordinary bones are not worthy of bearing Teacher's soul power. So..."

Han Feng paused, then said something that made Feng Xian's scalp go numb in an utterly casual tone.

"So, the skeleton of a Dou Sheng would be quite suitable."

"..."

Soul-Gathering Hall once again fell into deathly silence.

Feng Xian stared blankly at Han Feng, his mouth slightly open. For a long while, he could not say a single word.

The skeleton of a Dou Sheng?

Quite suitable?

This brat... what did he take Dou Shengs for? Magical beasts by the roadside, to be killed whenever he pleased?

Looking into Han Feng's calm eyes, he suddenly understood.

Han Feng had asked him to investigate the movements of Soul Hall's Dou Sheng experts because he was... selecting suitable "materials"!

A chill shot up Feng Xian's spine.

He looked at the disciple he had watched grow up. This child had already grown to a terrifying level beyond anything he could imagine, one where saints were no more than grass and dirt in his eyes.

Only after a long while did Feng Xian recover from his shock. He shook his head with a bitter smile and turned to Yao Chen.

"Yao Chen, you really... took in a fine disciple."

Yao Chen also looked caught between laughter and tears, but there was even more pride and satisfaction in his eyes.

"If you are jealous, take one in yourself," he said with a smile.

Feng Xian rolled his eyes at him. "You make it sound easy. Where am I supposed to find another freak like him, one that appears only once in eternity?"

Seeing the two return to their usual bickering, Han Feng knew he was no longer needed here. Smiling, he cupped his hands toward them.

"Teacher, Uncle Feng, you two catch up. This disciple will not disturb you."

With that, he quietly left Soul-Gathering Hall and left the space to the pair of friends reunited after so long apart.

As he walked back to his room, the night wind in Sacred City felt especially cold.

He recalled that Uncle Feng had a personal disciple in the original story.

"Mu Qingluan... Heavenly Luan Clan..."

How old was that little girl now? She probably had not reached the age to take human form yet.

"Looks like Uncle Feng has quite a wait ahead of him."

Han Feng chuckled softly, then withdrew his smile as his gaze deepened.

The current situation in the Central Plains appeared stable on the surface, but undercurrents surged beneath it.

Soul Hall, the Ancient Clan, Pill Tower... every one of those massive powers had deep foundations and more than one Dou Sheng expert.

As for Falling Star Pavilion, even counting him, a Three-Star Dou Saint, its top combat power was still not enough on the surface.

In the end, its foundations were still lacking.

Though it was a first-rate faction, it did not possess the power to truly overturn the board.

Otherwise, why would he have let those two jumping clowns from Wind-Lightning Pavilion and Yellow Springs Pavilion escape back then? Would it not have been faster to cut them down with a single sword strike and reshape the balance of the Central Plains through thunderous force?

Ultimately, he was still not strong enough.

With that thought, Han Feng pushed open the door to his room and sat down cross-legged again without hesitation.

He slowly closed his eyes and sank his awareness into his dantian. The golden core of Nine Yang Dou Qi began spinning madly.

"Three-Star Dou Saint... still too low."

A sigh that only he could hear faded into Sacred City's silent night.