Vengeance for a Slaughtered Family? Nothing Much

[At age ten, your accumulated soul power reached level 13.]

[You did not choose to immediately attach a soul ring to your martial soul.]

[You knew the rules of this continent's soul master system well-every ten levels, a soul master needed a soul ring as the key to breaking through their bottleneck. Otherwise, their level could not increase any further, leaving them forever stuck before that bottleneck.]

[But this did not mean you could no longer cultivate.]

[You continued drawing Heaven and Earth soul power into your body, constantly compressing and stockpiling it.]

[Your soul master level did not increase, but your soul power continued to accumulate.]

[The soul power that could not break through the bottleneck did not dissipate. Instead, like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, it settled into your meridians, flesh, and bones, tempering your body day after day.]

[You decided to wait until your accumulated soul power could advance no further before attaching a soul ring. That way, you could acquire a soul ring far beyond the usual age limit.]

[You left Sunset Forest and returned to Heaven Dou City.]

[The moment you reached the city gates, you learned some earth-shattering news-your entire family had been brutally slaughtered overnight.]

[You froze for a moment.]

[The manor where you had lived for eight years, those cold or mocking faces, those days and nights spent in the woodshed... now, all of it had become a handful of scorched earth.]

[You shook your head, suppressed that faint, indescribable feeling in your heart, and mobilized your Intelligence Organization to thoroughly investigate the truth.]

[As it turned out, your father belonged to the Heaven Dou Empire's Second Prince's faction. During the year you had been away, the Second Prince had been secretly poisoned to death by the First Prince, "Xue Qinghe."]

[You knew this "Xue Qinghe" was a fake, an identity assumed by Spirit Hall's Qian Renxue. Spirit Hall's plan of replacing the plum with the peach to steal the empire and seize power had already been quietly underway for years.]

[After the Second Prince fell, the First Prince's faction began purging its opponents.]

[Your family was on the list for this purge.]

[You looked at the tragedy of your family's slaughter before you, without a ripple in your heart.]

[You knew perfectly well that this was only a simulation. Besides, that so-called "home" had never given you much warmth.]

[A mere father's murder, a mere family's slaughter-nothing much.]

[You only wanted to keep your head down and develop steadily.]

[You decided-to abandon revenge.]

[Yet though the tree wished for stillness, the wind would not cease.]

["Xue Qinghe" was wholly focused on scheming for Heaven Dou imperial authority and naturally would not bother with a small fry like you. But the others in the First Prince's faction had no intention of letting you go.]

[Through your clansmen who had pledged allegiance to them, they gradually pieced together your past-you had finished reading every book in the collection at three, and published a paper that shook academic circles at five...]

[They reached a conclusion: this child had boundless potential and hid his depths well. If allowed to grow, he would surely become a major threat!]

[They began hunting you down.]

[They followed your trail, pursuing, intercepting, and surrounding you, determined not to stop until you were dead.]

[Thanks to advance warnings from your underground Intelligence Network, you escaped before the encirclement closed. But your Intelligence Network was exposed as a result and suffered devastating losses.]

[You finally grew angry.]

[You felt they had already found their path to death.]

[Since they intended to exterminate you, there was no need for you to show any mercy.]

[That night, you compiled everything about Qian Renxue's true identity and Spirit Hall's entire plan to steal the empire, then used your remaining intelligence personnel to produce countless copies as leaflets.]

[Early the next morning, these leaflets fluttered all over Heaven Dou City.]

[Overnight, the entire city erupted in an uproar.]

[The leaflets documented "Xue Qinghe's" true identity and the full scope of Spirit Hall's years-long "replacing the plum with the peach" plan in meticulous detail.]

[From how Qian Renxue had replaced the Real Xue Qinghe, to the pawns she had planted in the Heaven Dou Empire's court, to how Spirit Hall would annex the Heaven Dou Empire... no detail was left out.]

[Qian Renxue's identity was completely exposed. Years of planning were ruined in a single stroke.]

[Qian Renxue was drenched in sweat.]

[Qian Renxue felt thorns digging into her back.]

[Word reached Spirit City. Spirit Hall's Great Enshrined, Qian Daoliu, rushed to Heaven Dou City overnight, hoisted Qian Renxue onto his shoulder, and fled.]

[Qian Renxue escaped back to Spirit City, where she was greeted by that woman's biting mockery.]

[Qian Renxue suffered a crushing blow.]

[Qian Renxue completely shut herself away.]

[Soon, hatred replaced despondency-]

[Qian Renxue swore to tear you into ten thousand pieces.]

[From then on, Qian Renxue began cultivating like mad, solely to take revenge on you.]

[Pope Bibi Dong immediately stepped forward to clarify matters, declaring that no such vicious plan existed, and that Spirit Hall had no soul master named Qian Renxue.]

[Following Qian Renxue's exposure, the First Prince's faction came under particular suspicion. Xue Ye personally intervened, thoroughly investigating every family close to "Xue Qinghe."]

[Those who had hunted you suffered devastating losses.]

[Although this move felt immensely satisfying, it also completely exposed the Intelligence Organization you had secretly cultivated for years. Your identity as its hidden leader was also pinpointed by the various parties.]

[The First Prince's remaining followers began retaliating against you like mad. Spirit Hall's agents lurking in Heaven Dou City were also secretly investigating you. Even Xue Ye began guarding against you.]

[Three forces had set their sights on you at once.]

[Your underground Intelligence Network suffered another devastating blow. Contact points were wiped out one after another, and informants lost contact one after another. The foundation you had painstakingly built over several years was almost destroyed in a single stroke.]

[With Qian Renxue's downfall and the reshuffling of imperial power in the Heaven Dou Empire, the wastrel prince Xue Beng rode the tide to become the new crown prince.]

[Xue Beng learned what you had done and took an interest in the vast Intelligence Network in your hands.]

[He believed you possessed great wisdom, great perseverance, and great boldness, and sent people to win you over.]

[You considered Xue Beng a useless wastrel, a worthless piece of trash.]

[You flatly rejected his overtures.]

[Your refusal directly enraged Xue Beng.]

[He believed that since you could not be used by him, you had already found your path to death.]

[He, too, began sending people to hunt you down.]

[Several parties surrounded and hunted you, but the last core members of your Intelligence Network still risked their lives to cover your escape from Heaven Dou City.]

[Seeing that you had escaped Heaven Dou City, the other parties gave up pursuing you. But Xue Beng believed you possessed great wisdom, great perseverance, and great boldness. If he did not cut the grass and pull out its roots today, it would surely bring disaster another day, so he continued hunting you.]

[You once again embarked on a life on the run.]

[From Heaven Dou City to the Balak Kingdom, then from the Balak Kingdom to Fasinuo Province.]

[You fled south all the way.]

[One group of pursuers replaced another.]

[At first, there were only a few soul masters, whom you easily shook off.]

[Later came professional assassins, level-twenty Soul Grandmasters, and you began sustaining injuries.]

[Later still, even level-forty Soul Ancestors were dispatched. You no longer dared confront them head-on. You could only hide, could only flee.]

[With your astonishing intelligence, you escaped death time and again.]

[After a winding journey, you arrived in Nuoding City.]

[Believing you had shaken off your pursuers, you rented a small house in an alley in the south of the city. You planned to rest here for a few days, then continue fleeing south into Star Luo Empire territory.]

[But you were exposed.]

[A team of assassins led by a Soul Ancestor surrounded your residence.]

[You climbed out the back window, passed through the alley, scaled the city wall, and fled into the mountain forests outside the city.]

[They pursued you relentlessly.]

[You had not closed your eyes for three days and nights. When thirsty, you drank stream water; when hungry, you gnawed on dry rations. Thorns had slashed your legs bloody, and branches had torn your robes into strips.]

[You rested briefly in the woods, then continued fleeing.]

[You arrived at Holy Soul Village.]

[You fled into a mountain forest.]

[You saw a waterfall.]

[The curtain of water was thick, crashing into the pool below with a deafening roar.]

[But you noticed a small patch midway up the waterfall where the flowing water was a few shades lighter than its surroundings.]

[Through the refraction of light, you deduced that there must be a concealed cave behind the waterfall.]

[You knew you had found the right place.]

[This was the secluded refuge Tang Hao had carved out back when he was fleeing Spirit Hall's pursuit, and also where the last thread of life left behind after your Fated One's sacrifice resided.]

[You silently calculated the distance, angle, and timing.]

[You secured your Blue Silver Grass martial soul to a large tree beside the waterfall, leaped, and swung straight into the waterfall.]

[The waterfall's impact was fiercer than you had expected.]

[Like a spear piercing the air, you penetrated the thick curtain of water and crashed into the cave, every bone in your body trembling.]

[You successfully leaped into the cave.]

[The instant your feet touched the ground, you could hold out no longer and slumped against the damp rock wall.]

[The exhaustion of days on the run surged over you like a tide, and your consciousness gradually sank into boundless darkness.]

[Your final sensation was the faint, elusive fragrance of vegetation lingering around your nose.]

[Outside the cave, your pursuers retraced your route and scoured three nearby mountains. They found the corner of your clothing torn off by thorns, and the crumbs left from your dry rations.]

[But at the waterfall, the roaring curtain of water had washed every scent and trace away.]

[They never imagined there would be a cave to hide in behind the waterfall, so they never found your trail.]

[Further south lay Star Luo Empire territory. This was their last chance to catch you.]

[Thus, they left one person to wait near the waterfall for two days, while the others continued pursuing you south.]

[Two days later, having seen no sign of activity, the person left behind also departed.]