Noticing Feng Luotian's silence, Wu Ya asked gently, "What is wrong, Benefactor? You look troubled."
"Nothing," he replied softly, his voice tinged with a sharp, suppressed sorrow that he quickly masked. "I was simply contemplating why a people with such potential must endure these conditions. This is... not how things were meant to be."
Wu Ya's heart warmed at the sentiment, misinterpreting his royal indignation for pure, altruistic sympathy. She offered a weary but resilient smile. "Do not let it trouble you, Benefactor. Aside from the shadow of the Vultures, we find true happiness in our simple lives. We have the forest, and we have each other."
Before Feng Luotian could challenge the tragedy of that "simplicity," a persistent tug at his sleeve broke his train of thought.
"Come on, Big Brother! I'll take you to meet the village head!" Wu Xin chirped, her youthful enthusiasm cutting through the somber atmosphere like a blade of light.
"Oh? You know the village head well, Little Xin?" Feng Luotian asked curiously.
Wu Xin skipped ahead, her voice bright and playful as she looked back over her shoulder. "Of course! He is my father. Hehe!"
Understanding dawned on Feng Luotian as he turned to Wu Ya. "I see. That explains why your daughter was so confident that her word alone would grant me entry."
Wu Ya nodded with a small smile, gesturing for him to follow as they moved deeper into the cluster of huts. Along the way, she detoured briefly to hand the basket of medicinal herbs to an elderly woman—the village healer—ensuring the herbs they had gathered wouldn't go to waste. Once the task was complete, she resumed her role as his guide.
The surrounding villagers initially froze at the sight of the unfamiliar young man, their hands tightening on their tools. But as they noted the relaxed postures of Wu Ya and the skipping Wu Xin, the tension evaporated. They returned to their routines, though many lingered to catch a glimpse of the refined stranger.
Wu Xin darted ahead, her small figure vanishing into the largest hut at the center of the clearing. Moments later, her muffled voice could be heard echoing from within, excitedly announcing the arrival of a "Lightning Hero."
Inside the hut, Feng Luotian met a bulky man whose imposing frame was at odds with the relief on his face. Bloodline Sensing confirmed that he was a Seven Fangs Fighter, the strongest cultivator in the village.
Behind him stood a group of muscular villagers gathered around a crude map. It was clear they had been in the middle of a desperate tactical meeting before the interruption.
"Benefactor, I am Wu Neng, head of Raven Village." He cupped his hands and bowed deeply. "I just heard what happened. Thank you for saving my family from those bandits."
Feng Luotian quickly returned the elder's salute. "There's no need, Village Head. I couldn't stand by and watch."
"No," Wu Neng insisted, his voice firm with the gravity of a man who knew how close he had come to ruin. "If you had not intervened, I might never have held my family again. You deserve every honor we can afford, Benefactor."
"Very well," Feng Luotian said with a faint smile. "I accept your thanks. Please, stand up."
"Thank you, Benefactor!" Wu Neng said, offering one final, respectful salute before straightening his back, his eyes finally moving to assess the young man who had single-handedly dismantled a Six Fangs scout team.
"And please, call me Feng Luotian," he added with a dry, self-deprecating smile. "Being called 'Benefactor' every other sentence feels a bit… formal."
The room fell silent. Several elders exchanged startled looks, and Wu Neng stared at Luotian. The name had clearly meant something to them.
Feng Luotian frowned and looked around the room. "What is it, Village Head? You look as though you've seen a ghost."
"Your surname is… Feng?" Wu Neng asked cautiously. His voice was hushed, as though he were confirming a forbidden suspicion or an ancient prophecy.
"Yes," Feng Luotian replied calmly, his posture remaining relaxed despite the weight of their gaze. "My name is Feng Luotian. Is there a problem with that?"
The villagers exchanged uncertain, flickering glances, a frantic, silent conversation passing between them through nothing but shared history. Finally, Wu Neng cleared his throat, forcing a stiff, diplomatic smile back onto his face.
"No, nothing at all. We likely have the wrong person in mind. Memories of the past, you understand," he said, his tone dismissing the awkwardness with practiced ease. "Anyway, Young Hero Feng, please—join our circle."
He gestured toward a seat within the gathering of warriors, steering the conversation away from the precipice of the "Feng" name. Luotian didn't press the issue. If they chose to guard their secrets, he wouldn't tear them open by force. Besides, he already had a solid idea of exactly why the name of the Underworld's royal house would strike such a chord in a village of Underworld Ravens.
As he took his seat, his gaze fell on a girl sitting quietly among the weathered warriors. She wore simple travelling clothes, unadorned but well made. Dust marked the hems, though the fine weave and careful stitching hinted at a more comfortable upbringing.
She didn't possess the ethereal, bone-chilling beauty of someone like Mei Yue'er, but her twin buns and shy, timid demeanor gave her a charm of quiet innocence. However, it was her eyes that caught him—they held a fierce, steel-clad determination. She wasn't a victim; she was a predator waiting for the right moment to strike.
Noticing his curiosity, Wu Xin darted behind him and whispered into his ear, "That's Big Sister Tu. The one I told you about!"
"Mhm. As I thought," Feng Luotian murmured under his breath, his CRONOS already locking on her bloodline and ability.
///// Six Fangs White Bolt Floral Rabbit
///// [Void Jump]: The user can jump from anything without ricocheting or impacting the jumping ground.
///// [Petal Prance]: Increases the user's jump speed and jump force when jumping from a flower petal.
White Bolt Floral Rabbit? Feng Luotian thought, his eyebrows arching in genuine surprise. So, she hails from the Vermilion Kingdom's Tu Minister Clan. This isn't a flying ability at all, but a rare bloodline with two abilities.
The discovery intrigued him. Unlike his own unique situation with two separate bloodlines, this girl's single lineage granted her two distinct powers that worked in perfect synergy. Such occurrences were exceedingly rare—on par with the legends of natural flight.
It's no wonder she can move through the air, he mused, watching her carefully. While she couldn't technically achieve sustained flight, her abilities allowed her to navigate the sky seamlessly, using falling petals as a platform for her next explosive leap. In the chaos of a forest canopy, she would be nearly impossible to pin down.
As if sensing the weight of his gaze, Tu Lingxi looked up, her dark eyes locking onto his with a sharp, preternatural clarity. Her expression remained neutral, a mask of guarded composure, but she offered him a simple, respectful nod.
Feng Luotian returned the gesture, his own respect evident in the tilt of his chin. He recognized the quiet intensity of a fellow talented cultivator.
The elders resumed their meeting. Luotian studied the crude map on the table and listened to their reports.
Wu Ya stepped forward to begin her report, her voice steady despite the morning's trauma. "I have something vital to share. While Xin'er and I were foraging for healing herbs, we unexpectedly encountered the troupe's third squad. I managed to repel six of them, as their cultivation remained below the Three Fangs level, but their squad captain possessed a strength far beyond my ability to suppress. I had no choice but to flee. They eventually cornered us, and we were on the verge of being slaughtered by Xiong Fan. Thankfully, Young Hero Feng intervened. He killed the captain along with another of his men."
"Young Hero Feng killed Xiong Fan?"
"How is that possible? I cannot sense even a stray ripple of Theríon from the boy."
"And look at him—he is perfectly pristine. That implies the struggle was not only quick but entirely effortless."
A ripple of disbelief spread through the cramped hut, the low murmurs quickly escalating into a frantic commotion.
Tu Lingxi's gaze lingered on Feng Luotian, her internal perspective of him subtly shifting. Like the others, she had been searching for the familiar hum of energy, yet she found nothing but a void where his power should be. To kill a Six Fangs combatant without sustaining a single scratch? She knew her own limits; she would have to rely on her ultimate skill just to stand a chance against Xiong Fan's brute force, and walking away uninjured was a feat she couldn't even imagine.
She surmised that Luotian was likely utilizing a high-grade treasure to shroud his true cultivation. However, even with concealed power, for someone of his years to dismantle an opponent like the "Rice Bear" so casually, he had to be an exceptional prodigy—a monster in human skin.
Wu Ya noticed the skeptical faces and smiled slyly, deciding to stoke the fires of their awe. "It was more than just a victory. He required only two moves to twist Xiong Fan's head clean off."
"What?!"
"That is absurd! A physical impossibility!"
"You're making that up! No one his age could do that!"
Wu Neng snapped back indignantly, his Seven Fangs aura flaring briefly in warning. "Who dares call my wife a liar? Are you looking for a beating before the bandits even arrive?"
"But seriously... how could that be possible? He looks no older than fourteen or fifteen!"
The objections grew louder, mingling with exclamations of amazement.
"Amazing!" Tu Lingxi exclaimed, her admiration now blooming like a summer petal. She knew Wu Ya to be a woman of grounding integrity, and the weight of that testimony was enough to shatter her remaining skepticism.
Wu Neng studied Feng Luotian, still trying to understand how he had won so easily. "May I ask your cultivation level, Young Hero Feng?" A concealed aura could hide considerable strength, and the village head no longer knew what to expect.
Feng Luotian met the elder's gaze and answered flatly, "I am a Five Fangs Fighter."
Hiss.
The sound of twenty lungs collectively sucking in a cold breath filled the cramped hut. A few villagers visibly shuddered, the fine hairs on their arms rising as a primal chill swept through the room.
Wu Ya herself was momentarily paralyzed by the revelation. She had stoked the flames of the crowd's curiosity to tease them, but she had never imagined that Feng Luotian's cultivation would be numerically inferior to the man he had just dismantled. Given the sheer physical dominance he had displayed against a hardened Six Fangs Fighter like Xiong Fan, she had assumed his rank was far beyond her own.
"You have my utmost, unreserved respect, Young Hero Feng," Wu Neng said with profound earnestness, cupping his hands in a deep salute. The rest of the warriors followed suit as if pulled by a single string, their lingering doubt replaced by a sudden, electric reverence for the youth.
Wu Neng then cleared his throat, steering the meeting back to the grim reality written on the map before them. "Now, let us return to the main tactical thread. With their third squad effectively wiped from the board, the Vulture troupe's total numbers are significantly thinned. However, their leader remains a formidable Eight Fangs Fighter, and with his remaining veterans, we still lack the raw power for a direct confrontation.
"The most optimal course of action remains a defensive posture," the Village Head continued, his finger tracing a path on the crude parchment. "The moment we spot their leader mobilizing toward our gates, Miss Tu will utilize her ability to ambush their outpost and set the storehouses ablaze. The smoke will force a retreat, keeping the Vultures distracted and unable to commit to a full-scale slaughter of our families."
The villagers offered somber nods of agreement, the logic of the "distract and survive" strategy being the only thin line between life and a shallow grave.
But suddenly, a firm, resonant voice cut through the air like a crack of static.
"I disagree."
All heads snapped toward Feng Luotian. The atmosphere, previously warm with respect, shifted instantly into a fog of confusion and muffled surprise. Wu Neng's plan was the most calculated, survivable path they had ever devised—so why would this young man, who had just been hailed as their savior, choose this moment to oppose it?