Thinking that since he already understood their backgrounds, it was time to be open and honest.
Immediately, Feng Piaoling briefly recounted his own life story.
Thousands of years ago, his ancestors migrated from the Douluo Continent to the Sun Moon Empire to escape the ravages of war. Later, at the age of six, he awakened twin martial souls. Shortly after, what should have been a happy and beautiful family was slaughtered during an attack by evil soul masters.
His parents died tragically; his neighbors and everything he had known since childhood were reduced to ashes in a great fire.
Feng Piaoling did not speak of how he survived afterward, nor did he mention anything regarding Xu Tianran.
However, the laughter and joy the group had shared after refining the Mystic Water Pills vanished instantly. The gaze they directed toward Feng Piaoling had completely changed.
Huang Chutian and Wang Gang's eyes were filled with disbelief. They could hardly believe that their boss, whom they viewed as peerlessly powerful and exceptionally talented, had endured such an ordeal.
The girls' eyes turned red one by one, their gazes toward Feng Piaoling filled with pity. Jiang Nannan, in particular, was weeping so hard she looked like a pear blossom bathed in rain.
She stood up and lunged forward, pulling Feng Piaoling into her soft, fragrant, and warm embrace.
"Uh—" Feng Piaoling was stunned.
He knew that in the original story, Huo Yuhao relied on playing the pity card to gain a lot of sympathy, but his intention was merely to give his friends a brief look at his past to avoid misunderstandings and conflicts in the future. This reaction was a bit exaggerated.
Opening his mouth to speak, Feng Piaoling ultimately did not push Jiang Nannan away. He allowed her to hold him as she continuously sobbed in a girlish tone, saying things like, "Benefactor, you've suffered so much all these years. From now on, we are your family."
For a moment, Feng Piaoling didn't know if she was comforting him or if he was comforting her.
Once Jiang Nannan's crying subsided, Feng Piaoling stood up from her embrace and said calmly, "Everything is in the past. As long as I can take my revenge, it will be enough to console the spirits of those innocent people who died."
"Brother Feng, does that mean you went to Shrek to investigate the evil soul masters who killed your parents?" Xiao Xiao thought of Ma Xiaotao, who had chased her before. That person was an evil soul master.
Feng Piaoling replied, "That is part of the reason. However, the relationships involved are very complex. Telling you the truth before you have grown strong enough wouldn't do you any good."
Xiao Xiao's words reminded him that if he wanted to achieve his goals, Shrek would undoubtedly be a massive obstacle. Relying solely on himself and the newly established Spirit Hall to destroy Shrek would be incredibly difficult.
After all, only a transmigrator would know that Shrek's Inner Academy harbored two deities, Tang Hao and Ah Yin. Furthermore, it would be far too easy to make himself and the Spirit Hall public enemies, attracting the attention of the Great God-King Tang prematurely.
Instead of that, it would be better to propagate a "Shrek Threat Theory." Internally, he would tell Xu Tianran that if he wanted to conquer the three empires of the Douluo Continent and unify the land, Shrek was the greatest obstacle. To unify the continent, Shrek must be destroyed first.
Externally, he would promote Shrek as a den of evil soul masters. In any case, with Shrek's beastly behavior, they were no different from evil soul masters. If one had to describe the two, the only difference was between a hypocrite and an outright villain.
Crucially, their Dean, Yan Shaozhe, was the descendant of an evil soul master. It wasn't exactly a false accusation.
...
An hour later, the group left Star City and headed toward the capital of the Sun Moon Empire, Radiant City (Mingdu City).
Because he had to consider Jiang Nannan's mother, Feng Piaoling did not rush as he had before. Generally, they would travel underground for an hour and then find a safe area on the surface to rest for a while.
During this time, Feng Piaoling did not remain idle and began teaching everyone the Green Lotus Sword Art.
The difficulty of practicing the Green Lotus Sword Art exceeded Feng Piaoling's expectations. In his eyes, Jiang Nannan's talent was already quite good; for her to become a core disciple of the Shrek Outer Academy as a commoner without any background or resources spoke volumes. Yet even she spent a full two and a half months just to master the first stage.
Therefore, Feng Piaoling chose to sit cross-legged behind them. Pressing both hands against their backs, he slowly channeled his own soul power into their bodies, guiding their soul power through the first cycle of cultivation.
Doing this served two purposes: first, it ensured everyone's safety, and second, it prevented the leakage of the technique. Once these people had run through the technique once, they only knew how it circulated; they remained completely in the dark regarding knowledge of meridians and other intricacies. Even if they wanted to teach it, they wouldn't know how to describe it to others.
Could they lead someone else through a Great Circle of cultivation like Feng Piaoling did? They could try, but only if they possessed his level of powerful control. Otherwise, they would only harm themselves and others. This was a form of precaution for Feng Piaoling.
After all, one must always have a heart of caution. While not negatively affecting them, necessary defensive measures were still required.
This process essentially established the hierarchy of everyone's talent. Initially, it took Jiang Nannan about two hours to complete the first Great Circle. Xiao Xiao took an hour and a half. Nanmen Yun'er took two hours. Cui Yajie took two hours. Zhu Lu took two and a half hours. Huang Chutian took three hours. Wang Gang took five hours.
To Feng Piaoling's surprise, the sisters Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo only took an hour and a half, just like Xiao Xiao.
"Could it be that Body Martial Souls have a certain bonus when practicing my Green Lotus Sword Art? Or is it because their hair martial souls are compatible with the technique?" Feng Piaoling wondered to himself.
Thus, Feng Piaoling guided one person's cultivation each day while using the rest of the time for his own training and travel. Three days later, they finally passed through the Mingdu Mountains without any mishaps.
Having learned the first stage of the Green Lotus Sword Art, everyone felt the power of the technique. Not only did their soul power become much more robust, but their cultivation speed also increased by several levels. This was even before they had fully mastered the first stage. One could only imagine the boost they would receive when they reached the fourth stage like Feng Piaoling.
After passing the Mingdu Mountains, the group entered the territory of the Sun Moon Empire. The danger level dropped significantly. Feng Piaoling stopped leading them through the earth and chose to walk instead, officially beginning to teach them the "Shadow Clone" technique.
It was unrealistic to teach them the version of Shadow Clone merged with Jiang Nannan's Soft Boned Rabbit third soul skill, Teleportation. Firstly, they had just joined the Spirit Hall, and their loyalty had yet to be fully tested. Secondly, even Feng Piaoling himself had spent a great deal of time and energy to barely master it. Rashly teaching it to them would not only yield half the result with twice the effort but would also hinder their soul power cultivation progress.
Jiang Nannan was a prime example; Feng Piaoling had thought about teaching her before, but the soul power circulation route was so complex that she had tried several times without finding any clue.
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