"They probably planned to raise you until you were ripe, then kill you."
Yao Hongchen could tell that Jiang Xia could take a lot, so he spoke very bluntly.
But his blunt explanation left Jiang Xia silent.
Raise me until I was ripe, then kill me?
"Both your parents were soul masters, and both had Soul King cultivation. As their child, you were very likely to have innate Soul Power, and your talent wouldn't be too poor. Once you developed, you'd be another pair of your parents."
"Under the Federation's suppression, evil soul masters aren't that rampant at present. To sustain their cultivation, of course they have to pay attention to this sort of 'sustainable development.'"
The more Yao Hongchen said, the more silent Jiang Xia became.
They probably never imagined that the food they were raising would be this talented, did they? Jiang Xia thought.
"The family that harbored evil soul masters has already been arrested. They'll be executed tomorrow. Do you want to watch?"
Jiang Xia did not refuse.
"We're also tracing your parents' estate. Everything will be returned to your name when the time comes," Yao Hongchen said.
Jiang Xia asked, "Senior, can you identify the evil soul master who hunted down my parents?"
"Calling me senior is a little distant. Call me Uncle Yao."
Yao Hongchen glanced at Han Tianyi.
Han Tianyi gave no indication of anything and merely looked at Jiang Xia.
"Uncle Yao."
Jiang Xia did not slight him. After all, he had helped him, and it was entirely thanks to this tower master that he could become Han Tianyi's disciple.
No matter how outstanding his talent or how dazzling his future, over sixty percent of the credit for his becoming Han Tianyi's disciple at this point belonged to this man.
Yao Hongchen smiled.
"We've also investigated that evil soul master. For now, we've narrowed it down to someone named Long Bing."
Jiang Xia's gaze sharpened instantly.
"Who?"
"It's connected to a woman named Long Bing," Yao Hongchen said. "The evil soul master who dealt with this family wasn't Long Bing, but she was probably the one who acted when your parents disappeared."
Jiang Xia's gaze grew deep.
Long Bing. It was a familiar name.
If she was the Long Bing he knew of, then he really would have to investigate this grudge thoroughly.
As far as he knew, Wu Zhangkong's wife was Long Bing, and Long Bing was the daughter of Dark Hummingbird, one of the Holy Spirit Cult's Four Heavenly Kings.
She had inherited her mother's Martial Soul, which was not an evil Martial Soul, but Dark Hummingbird had raised her as an evil soul master. Only after growing up had she met Wu Zhangkong and fallen in love with him.
However good Long Bing was in Wu Zhangkong's eyes, in Jiang Xia's view, she could not escape her nature as an evil soul master.
With Dark Hummingbird's utterly inhuman disposition, how could Long Bing possibly have grown up without incident if she had never truly killed using an evil soul master's methods?
"You've heard the name Long Bing before?"
Yao Hongchen had noticed Jiang Xia's unusual reaction.
In fact, Han Tianyi had noticed too; he simply had not asked.
"It sounds a little familiar, but I can't remember where I've heard it."
Jiang Xia bluffed his way past it.
"We're still investigating this evil soul master named Long Bing."
"Uncle Yao, please help me investigate the other evil soul masters that family usually contacted."
Jiang Xia felt that the other evil soul masters the family usually contacted were probably connected to Dark Hummingbird.
In any case, Dark Hummingbird's faction within the Holy Spirit Cult had become entangled with him.
"Don't act rashly."
"Uncle Yao, I won't throw my life away for no reason. I just want to learn about them. If I achieve success in cultivation someday and encounter those evil soul masters, surely I shouldn't avenge my great grudge without even knowing it?"
Yao Hongchen sighed.
He took out a list. All the entries on it were code names belonging to evil soul masters.
Jiang Xia committed every name on it to memory.
The next day.
He went to the execution grounds and saw the family of four who had stolen his parents' estate.
Throughout the entire process, Jiang Xia's expression remained very calm.
With their collusion with evil soul masters, coupled with Yao Hongchen's pressure, all four had naturally been sentenced to death. Not one could escape.
After witnessing their entire execution, Jiang Xia slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.
He felt no fear from witnessing death. Instead, he felt only the relief of a great stone settling in his heart.
As for the estate his parents had left behind, of course he wanted it too. It was just that, for him as he was now, its monetary value was no longer that great. Its significance mattered more.
The Blacksmith's Association.
The office of Zhen Hua-the continent's only Divine Blacksmith.
"Martial Uncle, what brings you here?"
Mu Ye, dressed as a chef, was rather surprised.
Han Tianyi glanced at him with a look of disdain.
Compared to ten thousand years ago, the Body Sect faced increasing difficulties, but that did not mean its strength had weakened.
Since the battle armor system had emerged, the sect had produced a Limit Douluo in almost every generation.
Mu Ye possessed exceptional talent and should likewise have had the potential to become a Limit Douluo.
But his excessive obsession with mechas had caused problems with his cultivation, leaving him stuck at rank ninety-four, unable to advance an inch.
As his elder, Han Tianyi naturally found him displeasing.
After all, Han Tianyi was no longer young. He did not know whether he would see the Body Sect produce another Limit Douluo within his lifetime.
"I've taken a new disciple. He counts as your junior martial brother. Come meet him."
As he spoke, Han Tianyi motioned for Jiang Xia to step forward.
"Little Jiang, this is Mu Ye, the Body Sect's sect master, the rank ninety-four Body Douluo."
Han Tianyi placed heavy emphasis on rank ninety-four.
The corner of Mu Ye's mouth twitched.
He was surprised that his martial uncle had taken a disciple, but upon hearing him stress rank ninety-four, he also offered a rebuttal.
"Martial Uncle, I'm a Four-Word Battle Armor Master."
He was very pleased with himself.
A Four-Word Battle Armor Master was equivalent to a Limit Douluo.
However, under normal circumstances, anyone who was not a Limit Douluo would never get a turn at a full set of heavenly-refined metal for four-word battle armor.
And even if they could obtain it, generally speaking, they would have to be a Super Douluo to withstand fusion with an entire set of heavenly-refined metal.
Becoming a Four-Word Battle Armor Master at rank ninety-four was an exceedingly rare occurrence.
Han Tianyi ignored Mu Ye's words and continued speaking to Jiang Xia. "Your Martial Soul isn't a body Martial Soul, and you don't count as a member of the Body Sect. Going by seniority, you can simply call him Big Brother Mu from now on."
Han Tianyi could say that, but Jiang Xia and Mu Ye could only stare at each other, neither comfortable accepting such a form of address.
Mu Ye was already middle-aged, while Jiang Xia was just a six-year-old brat.
Calling him Big Brother Mu at every turn would truly be bizarre.
Watching this, Zhen Hua also felt a headache coming on.
He and Mu Ye were good friends. Did that mean he would have to treat this child as a peer too?
"Martial Uncle, since he isn't a disciple of our Body Sect, why don't we reckon our relationships separately?" Mu Ye said solemnly.
Han Tianyi snorted.
"Zhen Hua can reckon his relationship separately, but you can't. Little Jiang isn't a member of our Body Sect, but that's only for now. His Martial Soul isn't completely unrelated to the body, either."
"Little Jiang, if you find Big Brother Mu hard to say, just call him Senior Martial Brother."
This time, Jiang Xia did not hesitate.
"Senior Martial Brother."
The corner of Mu Ye's mouth twitched.
Han Tianyi continued the introductions. "This is Zhen Hua, the Divine Blacksmith of our age."
"Call me Uncle Zhen Hua."
"Uncle Zhen Hua."
Han Tianyi looked at the glum-faced Mu Ye and said, "It's your first meeting. Aren't you going to show your junior martial brother what you can do?"