Chapter 16: A True Monstrous Genius

Jiang Caiyun was startled by the calm and noble aura Mu Feng exuded. For a moment, a flicker of admiration and envy surfaced in her heart. How could such a man willingly lower himself to be someone’s slave? Her jealousy and hatred toward Jiang Ruoyun deepened.

“I advise you to stay away from Jiang Ruoyun. Otherwise, you’ll die a miserable death,” Jiang Caiyun spat out these venomous words before turning on her heel and leading her group of young disciples away.

As they disappeared into the distance, Jiang Ruoyun turned to Mu Feng, her eyes sharp. “Why did you stop me from teaching her a lesson?”

Mu Feng chuckled lazily, shrugging. “Why waste your energy on meaningless insults from insignificant people? If you can’t endure these petty slights, how will you handle the weight of future glories? Besides,” he added, his voice growing colder, “when someone truly crosses the line, we can always just kill them.”

Jiang Ruoyun froze for a moment, realizing that Mu Feng’s calmness wasn’t due to fear or cowardice. He simply didn’t care enough about such trivialities. His patience wasn’t weakness—it was indifference. He didn’t deem these people worth his time.

Her curiosity piqued. She found herself wondering what it would look like if someone did push Mu Feng to his limits. Would he break, or did he really view these people as beneath his notice?

Jiang Ruoyun cast a sidelong glance at Mu Feng’s relaxed expression and his familiar-looking clothing. For a moment, she was lost in thought, as if seeing the shadow of someone else from her memories.

...

Without realizing it, Jiang Ruoyun felt a deep sense of trust toward Mu Feng, an impulse she couldn’t explain. Almost instinctively, she asked, “Can you help me with something?”

Mu Feng raised an eyebrow. “What kind of help?”

Jiang Ruoyun blinked, her sudden boldness catching her off guard. She hadn’t meant to be so forward. “What’s your current cultivation level?” she asked, changing the subject.

“First Soul stage,” Mu Feng answered without hesitation.

“Oh…” Jiang Ruoyun’s initial hope faltered, and she let out a self-deprecating laugh. What had she been thinking, asking him for help? How could someone at the First Soul stage assist her?

Sensing her disappointment, Mu Feng smiled lightly. “I know I’m much weaker than you,” he said, acknowledging the gap in their strength. He couldn’t clearly gauge her cultivation level, as it seemed shrouded in a protective mist. But based on the force behind her earlier whip strike, she likely had the strength of someone close to the Fifth Soul stage.

“I’m only at the Second Soul stage myself,” Jiang Ruoyun said, smiling faintly. “I was lucky to break through recently.”

Mu Feng’s eyes flashed with surprise. “Second Soul stage? How could someone at that level have nearly fifty stones of strength?”

It seemed his “benevolent master” had her own fair share of secrets.

Jiang Ruoyun took a few steps forward, a hint of regret in her voice. “Neither of us is strong enough. I’ll need you to be at least at the Third Soul stage before you can help me.”

“Then I’ll just cultivate to the Third Soul stage,” Mu Feng said with a smile, the confidence in his voice unmistakable. Since waking up, he had felt the formations around two of his Seven Souls loosening, giving him hope that he would be able to restore them soon.

Jiang Ruoyun smiled gently, finding his nonchalance amusing. He spoke as if cultivating was a simple task. She wasn’t aware of Mu Feng’s past—how he had been grievously injured and stripped of his cultivation. She could only judge him by normal standards, unaware that his potential was far beyond what anyone in this small town could fathom.

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She, too, was considered a prodigy, having connected all seven of her souls by the age of twelve. If not for her regression, Jiang Ruoyun’s talents could have allowed her to carve out a name for herself in the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands. But in truth, Mu Feng’s potential was far more monstrous.

“Xiao Rou, fetch me a new set of bedding,” Jiang Ruoyun ordered, glancing at her maid. Her own bedding had been given to Mu Feng.

Xiao Rou nodded and quickly left to run the errand, leaving the two alone in the courtyard.

Mu Feng found the timing suspicious, as if Jiang Ruoyun had purposely sent Xiao Rou away. His suspicions were confirmed when Jiang Ruoyun spoke again.

“I trust you more than I trust Xiao Rou. Maybe it’s because of the binding contract, or perhaps it’s because you’re an outsider and have no vested interests in the Jiang family,” she said softly. From her tone, Mu Feng could sense that she didn’t fully trust Xiao Rou, despite the maid’s loyalty.

It made sense. When everyone around you mocks and distances themselves from you, it’s hard not to question the one person who suddenly sticks by your side.

“I didn’t regress from the Seven Souls stage as everyone thinks. Rather, I was forced to start the process over from the beginning,” Jiang Ruoyun confessed earnestly. She didn’t reveal every detail, but her admission was still significant.

Mu Feng wasn’t particularly surprised. The world was vast, filled with all kinds of unusual cultivation methods. His own experiences were far stranger.

Jiang Ruoyun continued, “This isn’t just a meaningless reset. It’s allowed me to build an even stronger foundation. I’ve spent the last six years comprehending this cultivation system, and now, every time I reconnect one of my souls, I gain strength equivalent to three times that of an ordinary cultivator.”

Mu Feng couldn’t help but chuckle wryly at her words.

While he only gained about a third of the power of a normal cultivator when reconnecting his souls, Jiang Ruoyun gained three times that. The difference between their progress wasn’t just threefold; the disparity was staggering.

If she reached her full potential, her strength would be nothing short of terrifying. This girl, far from being the Jiang family’s so-called disgrace, was a true monster in the making.

Mu Feng suddenly felt a bit of sympathy for those young disciples from earlier. If a real fight broke out, Jiang Ruoyun could likely flatten them all with a single punch.

“But spending six years on just one soul—was it worth it?” Mu Feng asked. Though building a solid foundation was important, wasting that much time for a single soul seemed inefficient.

Jiang Ruoyun shook her head, smiling. “No, no. I spent those six years comprehending the system. Once I understood it, reconnecting my second soul only took a little over a month.”

“A little over a month? Not only did you reconnect a soul, but you also tripled your strength?” Mu Feng’s eyes widened. That kind of talent was terrifying. Although Jiang Ruoyun was already eighteen, she hadn’t missed the prime period for cultivation.

On the Tianxuan Continent, there were two widely accepted principles: first, if a person hadn’t awakened their Original Soul by age eighteen, it was unlikely they would ever achieve greatness; second, if they hadn’t reconnected all seven of their souls by the end of their first quarter-century, their chances of reaching the top were slim.

A full lifespan was divided into four stages, each lasting twenty-five years. This first stage was considered the golden period for cultivation.

Neither Mu Feng nor Jiang Ruoyun had yet missed their window of opportunity. Both still had the potential to reach unimaginable heights.

Mu Feng chuckled inwardly, thinking about how the Jiang family was about to cast out such a prodigy. He could almost imagine the regret on their faces when they realized what they had lost.

“What path of cultivation are you following?” Jiang Ruoyun asked, eyeing Mu Feng’s relatively thin frame.

“Array cultivation,” Mu Feng replied without hesitation.

Jiang Ruoyun burst out laughing. “Array cultivation? Isn’t that something usually practiced by women? You’re still young; it’s not too late to switch paths. How about learning martial cultivation with me?” she offered, her tone playful.

Mu Feng waved her off. “I’ve already chosen my path, and I won’t change it.”

If this had been three years ago, Mu Feng might have hesitated. But after witnessing the power of arrays, he was more determined than ever to master the craft.

“Fine, suit yourself. But since you insist on sticking with arrays, I guess I’ll just have to protect you,” Jiang Ruoyun said teasingly, puffing out her chest in a mock display of confidence. Her playful, innocent demeanor made Mu Feng chuckle.

“You want me to follow you around forever?” Mu Feng joked, smirking.

Jiang Ruoyun blushed slightly, her mind racing before quickly changing the subject. “So, what weapon do you use? I use a whip,” she said, twirling her pale pink whip through the air.

Mu Feng hesitated for a moment. Array masters rarely used weapons, relying instead on their formations. But in his mind, an image of Huogen drawing his bow and nocking an arrow flashed before him, along with the memory of the "Netherworld Bow."

His heart skipped a beat, and he immediately checked the Qilin Ring on his wrist. After searching through the ninety-nine compartments, he finally found what he was looking for.

The Netherworld Bow lay quietly in the corner of one space, but the Netherworld Beast Core was missing. In its place were several books—copies of the arrow techniques engraved in that stone chamber.

How could this be?

“Wasn’t Wuyou Village supposed to be a place from a hundred years ago? How do I have all these things?”

Mu Feng’s mind raced, torn between what was real and what was illusion. The bow was undeniably real, but if Wuyou Village truly existed a hundred years ago, how could any of this be explained?

“What are you thinking about?” Jiang Ruoyun’s voice snapped him out of his reverie. Seeing his distracted expression, she smiled self-deprecatingly. “I forgot that array masters usually don’t use weapons…”

“Bows,” Mu Feng interrupted.

“Bows?” Jiang Ruoyun paused, confused. “Isn’t that just for hunting? Who uses a bow in battle? Besides, how many arrows can you even shoot during a fight?”

Her misunderstanding of bows was clear. Like many in this world, she saw them as tools, not weapons.

But Mu Feng simply nodded, smiling. While he still didn’t fully understand the mystery behind Wuyou Village, the arrow techniques he had learned were undeniably real.

Jiang Ruoyun hesitated for a moment before speaking. “I can get you a sword or a spear, but bows… we’ll have to go into town to buy one. Coincidentally, I was planning to go tomorrow. You can come with me.”