Of course, there were also people who believed that if someone could kill in Spirit Hall City, the only possibility was that Spirit Hall itself had acted—very likely a Title Douluo who had a grudge with Bibi Dong.
Although this theory made sense, no one dared to say it out loud; they all just buried it silently in their hearts.
Jiang Xiaofeng had stayed in the Scripture Pavilion for three days but still had no leads. None of the records here matched his situation at all.
"Little guy, your cultivation has gone wrong."
Jiang Xiaofeng nodded while reading and said, "Yeah, I'm looking for related books to see if I can solve it!"
"Have you found it?"
"No. The Scripture Pavilion does have a lot of books, but none describe my situation."
"Of course not. You're missing something else. Cultivate properly. I'll come find you again."
Jiang Xiaofeng suddenly looked up sharply—only to find that there was nothing in front of him. However, a book had appeared out of thin air.
"Another book?"
Jiang Xiaofeng picked it up and opened it, only to see a six-pointed star formation fly out of the pages and shoot straight into his forehead at an incredible speed.
Immediately, Jiang Xiaofeng fell into deep meditation.
The six-pointed star formation appeared within Jiang Xiaofeng's spiritual sea, and in the next moment, it started to rotate.
Jiang Xiaofeng could clearly feel the surrounding soul power being absorbed into his body, and after passing through the six-pointed star formation, it directly transformed into the power of heaven and earth without any obstruction.
Not only that, the moment the formation began rotating, the bottleneck that had been blocking Jiang Xiaofeng at Level 20 began to loosen!
Jiang Xiaofeng was overjoyed and immediately started circulating his soul power, launching an assault on the Level 20 barrier.
Thanks to the six-pointed star formation, Jiang Xiaofeng could now use the power of heaven and earth with ease, treating it as if it were soul power directly. No longer did he have to worry about the depletion of the heaven and earth power outpacing his soul power conversion.
Because of this, Jiang Xiaofeng's bottleneck completely loosened—until it shattered!
"Break!"
With a furious roar, Jiang Xiaofeng fully stepped into the realm of Level 20 soul power. Now, as long as he obtained a spirit ring, he could officially be called a Grand Soul Master.
Jiang Xiaofeng stood up. Although Level 20 didn't feel much different from Level 19, once he acquired a spirit ring, the difference would be enormous.
"Thank you, senior, for recreating me!"
Jiang Xiaofeng bowed to the empty air. Without this mysterious senior's help, he wouldn't have cultivated so quickly or grown so much.
But Jiang Xiaofeng found it strange—every time he encountered a problem, this mysterious elder would appear. Yet he didn't even know what the person looked like, nor whether they were a friend or a foe. After all, not everyone who helps you is a good person... and not all who harm you are truly evil.
"Will you come find me again, senior? I'll be waiting for you!"
After breaking through the barrier, a rare smile surfaced on Jiang Xiaofeng's face. But when he returned to his own courtyard, his expression instantly darkened.
"What did you say? Nana's family was wiped out?!"
"Yes, Your Highness. Elder Yueguan rescued the Holy Maiden and Lord Xie Yue. The rest... almost all perished."
Jiang Xiaofeng's face was filled with rage. How could something like this happen? Who was so shameless as to strike while Bibi Dong was in seclusion, trying to kill Nana? Truly despicable!
Without hesitation, Jiang Xiaofeng rushed to Hu Liena's courtyard, where Xie Yue and Yan were currently sitting.
Upon seeing Jiang Xiaofeng arrive, both of them quickly stood up.
"Where's Nana?"
Xie Yue said worriedly, "Still grieving. Why did you only get here now?"
Jiang Xiaofeng replied bitterly, "I've been in the Scripture Pavilion these past few days, completely cut off. I didn't know anything had happened."
Xie Yue said, "Forget it. Go comfort Nana. It's a good thing you didn't agree to visit our clan that day. Otherwise, you would have been dragged into it too."
Jiang Xiaofeng's face looked even uglier. If he really had gone, their situation would have been even worse, and perhaps none of them would have survived.
"Got it. Xie Yue, stay strong."
As her brother, Xie Yue had to remain strong—but how could a ten-year-old child hold back his grief after losing his parents?
Xie Yue's eyes immediately reddened: "I'm going for a walk. Please watch over Nana for me. You're the closest to her."
Xie Yue left. Jiang Xiaofeng could clearly see how heartbroken he was. Life and death—Jiang Xiaofeng had seen plenty of it. But he never expected such a young child to bear such heavy pain. Truly, poor Xie Yue.
Even Yan, who usually loved to challenge Jiang Xiaofeng, didn't utter a word of defiance this time.
"Take good care of Nana. I'll check on big brother."
Jiang Xiaofeng nodded. He pushed open the door and walked inside.
"Nana, it's Brother Feng. I've come to see you."
Hu Liena was curled up in the corner of the bed, wrapped tightly in a blanket, her face streaked with tears, her entire body dazed.
Seeing her like this, Jiang Xiaofeng's heart ached uncontrollably.
He remembered the year his master had died right in front of him. Jiang Xiaofeng had cried until the heavens collapsed. He swore to kill everyone involved—and he did—but no matter how much he tried, he could never bring his master back. From that year on, Jiang Xiaofeng made too many enemies and began his life on the run.
"Nana, I heard what happened. Don't worry. Brother Feng will definitely find the murderers... and kill them!"
Hu Liena lifted her tear-stained face and stared blankly at Jiang Xiaofeng, then rushed into his arms.
"Brother Feng, my father... my mother... they're all dead... they're all dead! Wuuuuu~"
Jiang Xiaofeng gently stroked Hu Liena's little head to soothe her.
"Don't be afraid. You still have Xie Yue, you still have Yan, you still have me, and you still have Teacher. There are so many people who care about you. We'll all protect you. As long as we're here, everything will get better. When Teacher returns, she will definitely find the killers and avenge your parents!"
Hu Liena nodded. Right now, their teacher was their only hope.
"Mm. I'll stay strong, Brother Feng. You don't have to worry. I'll be fine."
Tears still filled Hu Liena's eyes. The pain of losing one's loved ones could never be healed quickly—it would take time.
Day by day, time passed. A month flew by.
Throughout this month, aside from his usual cultivation, Jiang Xiaofeng stayed with Hu Liena. The little girl had finally begun to emerge from the shadow of losing her parents. Except for speaking less than before, she was more or less back to normal.
Jiang Xiaofeng finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It had been delayed for a month. Now, it was time to look for a suitable spirit beast for himself.
However, this matter would require Elder Yueguan's help. With Jiang Xiaofeng's current strength, venturing alone into the spirit beast forest wasn't just dangerous—it was practically suicidal. After all, unknown dangers lurked everywhere.
"Elder Yueguan, my soul power has reached Level 20. I need a spirit beast!"
Yueguan nodded and said, "Alright. But Xie Yue will be coming with us as well. His soul power just broke through to Level 20 too."
Jiang Xiaofeng was a little surprised. He hadn't expected Xie Yue to have made a breakthrough in just one month. It seemed that the tragedy at home had dealt him a heavy blow.
(End of Chapter)