Nine Nether Heavenly Emperor

"Tell me, have you ever heard of someone named Shi Jintian, whose Martial Arts Cultivation is at the Martial King Level?" Shi Feng asked. In such a remote and small country in the Eastern Domain, a Martial Artist of the Martial King Level should have some fame.

"Shi Jintian? A powerhouse of the Martial King Level? No, not at all; we don't have any strong practitioners at the Martial King Level in Moon City. The highest Cultivation Level is my father, Hai Batian, who, along with the heads of the other three major families, is at the Martial Spirit Level." Hai Ming answered seriously, afraid that his response would displease Shi Feng and bring about a deadly consequence.

Shi Feng frowned slightly, realizing that this guy only knew about Moon City.

"I definitely didn't lie to you, definitely not!" Seeing Shi Feng's frown, Hai Ming thought that his answer had displeased him, and hurriedly started explaining, his face full of panic.

"All right, all right." Shi Feng waved his hand dismissively and continued, "Why did your Hai Family invite a Second-stage Alchemy Master to Moon City?"

A minor family spending a fortune to invite a Second-stage Alchemy Master to Moon City definitely signified something was going on.

You have to know, it's far more expensive to invite an Alchemy Master personally than to buy a Mysterious Artifact.

"This... this..." Hai Ming hesitated, his face showing reluctance.

"If you don't talk, you might as well go to die." Shi Feng gestured with his hand, and the snow-colored longsword that lay not far on the ground moved as if it had come to life, sliding over to him. When it reached Shi Feng's feet, he tipped it with his toes, flicked the sword into mid-air, and then grabbed it with his hand.

"I... I'll talk! Please don't kill me," Hai Ming pleaded in panic. "Some time ago, a servant in our household accidentally discovered an underground passage. Later, he took my father there, and they found a secret chamber with a blood-red skeleton and a blood-red sword inside."

"A blood-red sword? What is so strange about this sword that you needed an Alchemy Master to appraise it?" Shi Feng asked.

"That… it's a Demon Sword, a sword that sucks blood. When my father picked up the Demon Sword, a large amount of blood in his body was immediately drained. Fortunately, he was quick to throw it away, but it landed on that servant… I saw with my own eyes… The servant's blood was completely sucked out by the sword, and his body shriveled up, like… like a mummified corpse that had been dead for thousands of years."

Looking at Hai Ming, it seemed he still had lingering fear when talking about the incident.

"This is indeed quite interesting," Shi Feng said with satisfaction after hearing Hai Ming's detailed account.

"You now know everything I am aware of, and you should also fulfill your promise and let me go," Hai Ming looked up at Shi Feng and said.

Shi Feng smirked and replied, "You wish!" With a swing of the longsword in his hand, Hai Ming's head instantly soared into the air. With his left hand, Shi Feng caught the head and placed it into a Storage Ring, then watched as Hai Ming's body slowly sank into the ground.

A flash of white light appeared on Shi Feng's body. This light was stronger than before. Having killed Hai Ming and absorbed the Power of Death, Shi Feng had successfully advanced into the One-star Martial Warrior Realm and had become a true Martial Artist on Tianheng Continent.

Shi Feng took a moon-white robe out of the Storage Ring and threw it to Yinz, saying, "Put on this robe. Tomorrow you'll accompany me to the city for an important task. It's not seemly to be always naked."

The robe belonged to Ming'an and felt silky to the touch. Shi Feng didn't care if Yinz understood or not; once the instruction was given, Yinz would obey.

Shi Feng planned to visit Moon City tomorrow. Instead of letting that Hai Family continue to cause trouble, it was better to eradicate them completely and, by chance, take a look at that interesting Blood Sword.

After finishing these tasks, Shi Feng reinserted the snow-colored longsword into the ground and walked back into the house.

The sky was already beginning to light up; it seemed that in a few hours, it would be daylight.

Returning to the house, Shi Feng instructed Yinz to hide underground, because if Bai Yue'e or Shi Ling suddenly woke up and saw such a ghastly-looking creature in the house, they would certainly be scared to death.

Shi Feng sat cross-legged on the ground above the Dark Evil, silently absorbing the Dark Evil Qi to cultivate. After entering the Martial Warrior Realm, advancing further required at least ten times the energy than at the Martial Disciple Peak.

Without absorbing the Power of Death, advancing to a Two-star Warrior just by absorbing Dark Evil Qi would take three days under the current circumstances.

As his Cultivation Level grew, future advancements would become more challenging. However, Shi Feng advancing from a One-star Warrior to a Two-star Warrior in just three days made him an Evil Demon-level entity on the Tianheng Continent.

Time passed quickly during cultivation, and soon the crowing of a rooster could be heard outside the house.

"Brother." The childish voice rang out in the room. Shi Feng came to his senses, stopped cultivating, and looked toward Shi Ling, who had already gotten out of bed.

Shi Feng smiled gently at her and said, "You fell asleep without eating last night. Are you hungry now?"

"Mm, hungry." Shi Ling nodded, then seemed to realize something. With a cute look of confusion on her little face, she asked, "Brother, why are you sitting on the floor?"

Shi Feng wasn't quite sure how to explain it to her and chuckled softly, brushing her off, "Brother is just thinking about some things. You're still young, and there are many things you don't understand!"

Shi Ling blinked her large eyes, still puzzled. She didn't understand—what did sitting on the ground have to do with being a child?

Shi Feng gently patted his clothes, stood up, and told Shi Ling, "Brother will go make breakfast for you. Go wash your face first."

"Mm, okay!" Shi Ling agreed, "After we eat, I want to go chop wood with you on the mountain, and then we can go to the city together to make money."

Shi Feng walked over, stroked the little girl's head with affection, and said, "You just stay home and take care of mother today; don't go anywhere. When brother comes back, I'll bring you a big chicken leg."

He had important matters to attend to today and couldn't afford to take the little one along.

"Ah! A big chicken leg! Brother, are you really going to bring Ling'er a big chicken leg?" As soon as Shi Ling heard about the chicken leg, her eyes sparkled with excitement, looking incredulously joyful. The last time she had a chicken leg was a wild one Shi Feng had caught in the mountains a year ago. For Shi Ling, it had been the most filling and delicious meal ever.

"Ah, these troubled kids!" Shi Feng sighed inwardly with a tinge of sadness in his heart. There was a time when even eating meat was a luxury for them. Reflecting on the past brought a slight ache to his heart.

Then Shi Feng smiled again at the little one and said, "Not just a big chicken leg, brother will also bring you a large pig's trotter, osmanthus cake, bird's nest soup, and shark fin. Basically, if it's tasty, brother will bring it back for you, so I can fill up Ling'er's little belly—how does that sound?"

"Brother, Ling'er just wants the big chicken leg, but a pig's trotter... hehe, that could be nice too." Shi Ling's face beamed with a bright smile.

In fact, aside from chicken legs and pig's trotters, Shi Ling had never tasted the other foods he mentioned—they were as unfamiliar to her as tofu and wild vegetables.

"Alright! Go wash your face, and brother will make breakfast."

"Okay, brother." Shi Ling looked quite happy, her little face full of anticipation, and she hopped off to fetch water and wash her face.

After Shi Ling left, Shi Feng went to the bedside to check on his mother, Bai Yue'e, and found that she indeed had no serious issues.

Moreover, after a night's rest, the injuries caused by Shi Jintian's Power yesterday had mostly healed, and the body that had been damaged by Dark Evil Qi over many years was also gradually recovering.

Shi Feng then confidently walked toward another corner of the room, to the worn and dilapidated kitchen.