When even the most basic survival is so difficult, more dangerous malignant tumors are growing in the darkness.
The shadow of Evil Soul Master, like a persistent carbuncle, spreads across the corners of the continent.
During his travels, Tang Feng repeatedly sensed the lingering aura of coldness, evil, pain, and despair.
While passing through a massacred village, he saw dried, blackened bloodstains among the ruins, the plants withered and twisted eerily, and the air filled with a sweet, rotten smell and the lingering pain of a soul being torn apart. This was the scene of a "blood sacrifice to refine the soul".
Caravans encountered on the road would warn each other that a certain mountain road had been treacherous lately, with travelers disappearing, seemingly "drained of their life force." Drunkards in taverns would whisper terrifying rumors of babies disappearing one after another in distant towns.
The Spirit Hall was originally a church-like organization, with the Angel God as their faith. Its duty was to guide Soul Master in their cultivation and to resist Evil Soul Master and evil Soul Beast.
Afterwards, the Spirit Hall experienced a period of decline due to a talent shortage, but the six major families provided it with resources and personnel support, helping the Spirit Hall rebuild its power.
The six great families, also known as the Pope Token, are engraved with six images: the Clear Sky Hammer, the Seven Kill Sword, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, the Gui Mei, the Sky-Piercing Chrysanthemum, and the Star Crown.
However, the nature of the Spirit Hall changed later.
Starting from the time of Qian Daoliu, the Spirit Hall gradually became involved in political struggles.
By constantly eliminating dissidents and expanding its territory, it had grown into a power that surpassed both empires by the time of Bibi Dong.
Once upon a time, the Spirit Hall's Judgment Hall and Law Enforcement Team were a sword hanging over the heads of Evil Soul Master.
Although the methods were ruthless, they were effective in deterring and eliminating a large number of Evil Soul Master, providing the most basic safety guarantee for ordinary people.
This is one of the reasons why many ordinary people have always held a favorable impression of the Spirit Hall's grassroots staff.
But in recent years, the situation has been quietly changing.
Tang Feng personally witnessed a team of the Spirit Hall law enforcement knights who, after receiving a report of suspected Evil Soul Master causing trouble in a village, only conducted a hasty investigation, made a record, and then quickly left under the pretext of "insufficient clues and need to be reported for coordination," without pursuing the matter further.
Since Pope Bibi Dong assumed power, more and more elite forces have been drawn to the Heaven Dou Empire, or to carry out some closely guarded secret missions.
The joint adjudication force, which was originally led by the Spirit Hall and coordinated by various sects, has long been rendered ineffective due to years of division, co-optation, and intimidation, and has become the exclusive armed force of the Spirit Hall.
Its focus has clearly shifted to monitoring the movements of major sects and empires, especially potential rivals like the Upper Three Sects that are "disobedient".
For cases involving Evil Soul Master that occur in remote areas and whose victims are limited to civilians, the response is often slow or even perfunctory, as long as it does not cause widespread panic or affect the overall layout of the Spirit Hall.
Maintaining stability on the continent and protecting the people from Evil Soul Master —one of the core principles of the Spirit Hall's founding—is being abandoned due to the power-hungry desires of its higher -Spirit Hall ups.
The evils that fester in the shadows are becoming more rampant because they have lost their most powerful restraint, and in the end, it is always the ordinary people who have no power to resist who suffer the consequences.
Over the past two years, through wind, frost, rain, and snow, my footsteps have traveled from east to south, then turned west.
Tang Feng's skin had been tanned to a healthy wheat color, his features had become more defined and rugged, and his palms had developed thin calluses, but his eyes had become clearer and brighter.
Having witnessed too much suffering and injustice, I have also seen the unwavering warmth and hope in ordinary life.
From the initial shock, anger, and suffocating helplessness, to the later heaviness and sorrow, and now to a near-condensed determination.
All his observations and feelings ultimately coalesced into a cold yet clear understanding within him.
This world's deep-seated problems are rooted in its very essence. It is an increasingly rigid and unjust system built upon the privileges of Soul Power.
Parasitic on it were a greedy and insatiable aristocratic class and an increasingly corrupt imperial machine.
The Spirit Hall, which should have served as an important check and balance and a protective force, and which had fulfilled this duty in the past, has seen its leadership deviate from its original purpose, becoming engrossed in a grander power game and unspeakable conspiracies.
They either turn a blind eye to the festering wounds at the bottom and the malignant tumors growing in the darkness, or they are powerless to care, or they even deliberately condone them.
Tang Feng realized that personal strength, even if it reached the pinnacle like his great- Tang Chen, and even pursued that elusive divine position, might be able to intimidate for a time and resolve specific crises, but it could not fundamentally shake this intricate and vast system that had been in place for countless years.
If the ultimate goal of the Clear Sky Sect's revival is merely to replace the Spirit Hall or some empire and become another "privileged interest group" at the top of the pyramid, then what is the point of such a revival? And what is its essential difference from those it despises?
What Tang Feng wants to change is far more than just the fate of a certain sect or an empire. What he wants to try to shake is the " Soul Power supremacy" order itself, which has been solidified for too long and taken for granted!
He wants to fight for the basic dignity of being human and a relatively fair living space for the silent, majority of ordinary people on this vast land.
In this world where Soul Power determines everything, we attempt to explore and establish a new social order and set of values that can at least give ordinary people hope, a chance to breathe, and the possibility of upward mobility.
This goal is so grand it borders on arrogance, and so difficult it's like climbing a sheer cliff with bare hands.
The power it requires is not only devastating Soul Power, but also wisdom, perseverance, the ability to control complex situations, and the capacity to awaken people's hearts.
The resistance it faces will come from the entire existing privileged class, from entrenched ideas, and from human greed and fear.
However, it was this seemingly impossible goal that gave Tang Feng's wandering soul an unprecedented anchor and direction after nearly two years of wandering. His steps became more steady, and his gaze more determined.
This is no longer merely about bearing the responsibilities of one's sect, or the obsession with pursuing personal transcendence and a vague path to return.
This stems from the deepest compassion for the suffering I have witnessed, and from a solemn respect for the value of every life.
Carrying this profound understanding, as weighty as the earth itself, and a brand-new ideal bursting forth from the ground, Tang Feng's journey of thousands of miles reached its final stop: Star Luo City, the capital of the Star Luo Empire.
As he stood beneath the towering city walls, exuding an aura of iron will and solemnity, and looked back at the long road he had traveled that seemed to stretch for a lifetime, he felt no more confusion or hesitation.
This city, this empire, is the most steadfast, ruthless, and extreme embodiment and defender of the old order.
The city walls were high and the moats deep, and the gates, like the mouths of a giant beast, swallowed and spewed out the surging flow of people.
Beneath the bustling city sounds, luxurious carriages, and brightly colored clothing lies a strict hierarchy and an absolute worship of power etched in everyone's eyes and demeanor.
The air seemed to be filled with the smell of competition and oppression.
Carrying a simple bag, Tang Feng, just like when he left the mountain gate two years ago, slowly walked into this magnificent city on the mainland with the flow of people.
His ordinary appearance and reserved demeanor made him seem like a drop of water flowing into the ocean, causing no ripples.
Only in the depths of those calm eyes did the city's prosperity and splendor, along with the shadows flowing beneath, be reflected.