Mingdu's Major Powers Were Shaken

Xu Tianming nodded.

He knew that Worshiper Liu had sensed Jingliu's aura when she acted and had been frightened.

Someone capable of freezing two Soul Emperors and several Soul Kings in an instant had to be at least a Soul Douluo, perhaps even stronger.

Xu Tianming glanced once more at the baron's residence. Through the gate, he could vaguely see two people lying on the ground, a man and a woman, with a pool of dark red blood beneath them.

He frowned slightly but did not choose to linger. He turned and left.

A guard also appeared beside Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen. A wary expression crossed his face as he quietly said a few words to them, urging them to leave at once.

Everyone hurried away.

Although Xu Tianzhen was extremely curious and kept staring at Jingliu, she was not willful. She understood that a powerhouse capable of instantly killing Soul Emperors was not someone to provoke casually.

Even if someone was killed in Mingdu, it was still a matter for Mingdu's law enforcement team.

After returning to Mo Mang Palace, Xu Tianming temporarily dismissed everyone around him. He took out a communication soul tool and contacted Jingliu.

"Master, what happened just now?"

Jingliu's voice came from the soul tool, still exceptionally calm.

"I encountered a group of evil soul masters from the Holy Spirit Cult."

"They wanted to take away a girl, so I stopped them."

"A girl?"

"Yes. Her name is Nana."

Jingliu's tone remained calm.

"Her father was a baron. Because of her martial soul, her mother caught the attention of the Holy Spirit Cult's evil soul masters. Over the past two years, her mother was forced to work for them. In the end, she lost control and killed her father. After regaining her senses, her mother killed herself out of grief."

Xu Tianming fell silent for a moment. He found the situation somewhat familiar, then immediately remembered something, his expression turning to one of realization.

So it was her—Ghost Nana.

The pitiful girl with the Ghost martial soul, whom the Holy Spirit Cult had taken an interest in.

According to her original fate, her parents' souls would have been imprisoned by the Holy Spirit Cult. She would have had no choice but to join them and work for the evil soul masters. Later, with Huo Yuhao's help, she would rescue her parents and finally break free of her restraints, joining the Tang Sect.

But now, she had encountered Jingliu.

Jingliu had helped her kill those evil soul masters and avenge her. Her parents' souls could now rest in peace and would no longer be imprisoned.

Perhaps this was the luckiest thing that had ever happened in her life.

"Where is she now?"

Xu Tianming asked.

"Hearth House."

"You intend to take her in?"

"She has nowhere else to go."

Xu Tianming nodded.

"Then let her stay at Hearth House. We happen to be short-handed."

"I understand."

After ending the call, Xu Tianming leaned back in his chair and gazed at the night outside the window, a trace of coldness flashing through his eyes.

The Holy Spirit Cult and those evil soul masters were becoming more and more arrogant.

Because the Holy Spirit Cult had secretly helped his imperial father fight for the throne, it had gained his father's support and taken root in Mingdu. It ran wild among the common people, forcibly seizing those with special martial souls and killing innocents without hesitation.

Xu Tianming did not like those evil soul masters. He could even be said to loathe them. But the Holy Spirit Cult had helped his father ascend the throne, so they were still on his side.

Though he despised those murderous evil soul masters, he could only target them in secret. He could not reveal his disgust, and before his own power had grown strong enough, he could not enter into a major conflict with the Holy Spirit Cult.

The Holy Spirit Cult and the Sun Moon Empire would split sooner or later. Only then would it be time for him to act.

"Master."

Karna's voice sounded beside him.

"You are very dissatisfied with the Holy Spirit Cult."

"You could tell?"

"Your expression made it obvious."

Xu Tianming smiled and did not deny it.

"Dissatisfied or not, now is not the time."

"Then when will it be?"

"When the time is right."

Xu Tianming raised his head, moonlight from outside the window reflected in his red eyes.

"When that day comes, I will tear them out by the roots."

That night.

At Hearth House in the northwest corner of Mingdu, most of the lights had already gone out.

The children had gone to sleep early. The younger ones had been arranged in the inner courtyard, while the older children slept in the neighboring rooms. The night wind passed over the courtyard walls and stirred the bronze bells hanging beneath the eaves, producing faint, delicate chimes.

Jingliu sat alone on the roof.

She had not lit a lamp. Her silver-white hair draped behind her as her eyes, hidden beneath a black blindfold, faced the distant lights of Mingdu.

Mingdu was prosperous.

But behind that prosperity lay countless little-known shadows.

New merchants entered the city every day, and new corpses were carried beyond its walls. Nobles lived in tall buildings and discussed profit, while ordinary people argued endlessly in the streets over bread. Soul masters and soul engineers occupied most of the resources, while common folk without soul power could only struggle to survive in the cracks.

Jingliu had no interest in any of it.

She had merely promised Xu Tianming that she would help establish this orphanage. Since she had promised, she would see it through.

The shadows beyond the courtyard suddenly shifted.

Jingliu turned her head.

Several black figures silently leaped from the eaves to the outside of Hearth House. They wore loose black robes, their faces hidden beneath hoods, with no markings that could identify them.

But the cold, sinister aura around them had already revealed where they came from.

Evil soul masters.

The leader raised a hand and pulled a gray-black soul tool from his sleeve. Once soul power was injected into it, faint ripples appeared in the surrounding space.

"This is our target?"

"The intelligence cannot be wrong."

Someone beside him whispered.

"The girl inside has a very special Ghost martial soul. The higher-ups want her alive."

"As for that meddlesome woman..."

The leader glanced at Jingliu on the rooftop, lowering his voice even further.

"She killed members of our cult. I will pull out her soul and use it to light lamps."

Jingliu rose from the rooftop.

"You're disturbing the children."

Her voice was cold. The evil soul masters outside the wall all looked up at once.

Then, all they saw was a moonlit sword aura descending from the heavens. Snow fell in June, and terrifying cold followed, freezing their thoughts and locking their bodies in place. They could only watch helplessly as the sword aura came down.

The leader's face twisted in terror as he cried out, "A Titled Douluo?"

That final scream before death awakened countless people.

Evil soul masters of the Holy Spirit Cult had been killed in Mingdu, and the person responsible was suspected to be a Titled Douluo. Before long, all manner of forces in Mingdu received the news.

The royal family, Hall of Virtue, the Ordinary Alliance, the Aodu Chamber of Commerce, and the Holy Spirit Cult all quickly dispatched spies to investigate the circumstances behind Hearth House.

A suddenly appeared orphanage and an unknown Titled Douluo—those two pieces of information together were enough to put the powerful figures on alert.