CHAPTER 45: CHAPTER 45: CLOP CLOP CLOP...

EDITOR: ENDLESSFANTASY TRANSLATION

"Who would come to see me?"

Hearing the sound from outside the door, Luo Feng furrowed his brows.

Very few people came to see him on regular days, but recently Bing Ruolan had often come to exchange pointers with him.

Opening the courtyard door, a male student in a Silver Moon class uniform was standing outside.

"Chen Yan, what’s the matter?" Luo Feng looked at the thin, weak young man at the doorstep and inquired.

Chen Yan was also a Silver Moon class student. Coming from an impoverished family, he was responsible for delivering letters within the academy, so Luo Feng had some impression of him.

Hearing Luo Feng call him by name, a glimmer of light sparked in the boy’s eyes.

"Senior Brother Luo Feng, a servant just delivered a letter. He said it’s for you." Chen Yan hurriedly unfastened the parcel on his back, retrieved a letter, and respectfully handed it to Luo Feng.

Luo Feng, as a Silver Moon class student, had won first place in the Challenge King competition and had even defeated the challengers from Wanluo School. His popularity in the outer court was now extremely high; Chen Yan even idolized him. He hadn’t expected Luo Feng to actually remember his name!

A letter...

Luo Feng was slightly startled as he took the envelope. The cover bore four characters: "For Luo Feng’s Eyes Only." The calligraphy was vigorous and forceful, hinting at the writer’s profound skill.

Father...

Recognizing the handwriting on the envelope, Luo Feng’s eyes flickered. He tore open the wax seal, took out the letter, and as he read it, his brows gradually knitted together.

"Senior Brother Luo Feng, has something happened?" Chen Yan couldn’t help but ask, seeing Luo Feng’s somber expression.

Luo Feng folded the letter, shook his head, and said, "It’s nothing."

"By the way, Chen Yan, I have a favor to ask. Could you find our instructor and tell him I’ll be leaving the academy for a while?" Luo Feng added.

"It’s my honor to help Senior Brother Luo Feng! I’ll be sure to deliver the message!" Chen Yan nodded affirmatively.

Luo Feng smiled faintly, took out three silver notes, each worth one hundred taels, and casually tossed them into Chen Yan’s hand. "This is your reward."

"Three hundred taels!"

Chen Yan stared at the silver notes in his hand, swallowed hard, and shook his head. "Senior Brother Luo Feng, this is too much..."

Chen Yan came from a small family. Compared to ordinary people, he might be considered a wealthy young master. However, in Purple Sun School, he was among the poor. Consequently, he undertook minor tasks within the academy each month to earn rewards. His payment for delivering letters for a month was merely ten taels of silver. To earn three hundred taels, he would need to deliver letters for three years!

"Take it since I’m giving it to you. Stop dawdling!" Luo Feng waved his hand dismissively.

He could now hunt Demon Beasts in the Red Chain Mountain Range for money, so he wasn’t short of such small amounts.

Chen Yan fell silent immediately, nodded quickly, and with a face full of gratitude, bowed to Luo Feng. "Thank you, Senior Brother Luo Feng!"

After Chen Yan left, Luo Feng finally exhaled and closed the courtyard door.

Entering the courtyard, Luo Feng took out the letter and read it again.

The letter contained only two stark sentences: "City Lord Han Yulong is dead. Return at once!"

"That’s Father’s style, alright."

Luo Feng gazed at the simple handwriting, shook his head with a slight smile, then clenched his fist. The letter immediately crumpled into a wad of paper, which he tossed aside.

So Han Yulong, the Family Head of the Han Clan—Panlong City’s foremost family—and also its City Lord, is dead. No wonder Father sent a letter urging me to return.

Luo Feng looked at the white clouds in the sky, his thoughts drifting to his family.

Panlong City was a city in the southern part of the Flowing Cloud Region, under the Canglang Dynasty. It was home to four great families: the Han, Li, Luo, and Feng. All four possessed considerable power and collectively controlled the entirety of Panlong Town.

Han Yulong was Panlong City’s City Lord and the Family Head of the Han Clan, the most influential of the four great families. His strength was at the peak of the eighth-fold Meridian Wheel, Hell Realm, allowing him to look down on all others.

Luo Feng’s clan, the Luo Family, was one of these four great families in Panlong City.

The Luo Family had developed in Panlong Town for several decades, primarily engaged in mining, and possessed substantial financial resources.

"Come to think of it, I haven’t been home for two years now," Luo Feng murmured to himself, a wry expression on his face.

Apart from returning home once during his first year at Purple Sun School, Luo Feng had remained at the academy for the past two years.

It wasn’t that he didn’t miss home; rather, he hadn’t dared to return before.

As a scion of one of the four great families, Luo Feng should have been a radiant figure in Panlong Town, with people clamoring to curry favor with him.

Indeed, before he turned ten, that was precisely the case.

Many small and medium-sized families in Panlong Town did their utmost to please him. Even before he reached the age of ten, dozens of families had expressed intentions to betroth their daughters to him; the line of girls willing to be his concubines could have stretched down an entire street.

However, everything changed when, at the age of ten, he was tested and found to have abysmal cultivation aptitude.

Although, out of respect for the Luo Family—one of the four great families—and Luo Feng’s father, Luo Hao, the Luo Family Head, others didn’t dare to openly ridicule or disrespect him.

But those who had once fawned over him gradually distanced themselves. As for those unfinalized marriage proposals, they naturally all fell through. Even his peers would secretly bully him.

Luo Feng’s most vivid memory was of the young masters from the Li Family and Han Clan, both fellow great families, constantly seeking trouble with him. A few times, Luo Feng couldn’t stop himself from fighting back. However, the Li Family’s young master was a renowned cultivation genius in Panlong Town, and it was always two against one. He was no match for them and would be severely beaten every time.

The last time Luo Feng returned home, his maid, Zi Ling, accompanied him shopping. Because of the Li Family’s young master’s scornful remarks, she cried all night...

It was for this reason that Luo Feng had not harbored the slightest desire to return home in the past two years.

"It’s time to go home."

Luo Feng took a deep breath. As the images of two particular figures surfaced in his mind, a cold glint flashed in his eyes. He sneered, "Li Tianyang, Han Ji, I truly want to see if you can still maintain those haughty, disdainful expressions when you’re groveling on the ground, looking up at me..."

He didn’t have many belongings to pack. Luo Feng quickly gathered them, slung the Tiger Soul Saber over his shoulder, and walked out of the academy gate, heading towards Qingfeng Town.

Purple Sun School was located in the central part of the Flowing Cloud Region, while Panlong City was in a remote area in the southern part of the region. The distance was over ten thousand li, far too great to travel on foot. Luo Feng planned to buy a horse in Qingfeng Town for transportation.

Just as Luo Feng left the academy gate, three figures flashed out from the forest opposite Purple Sun School and converged.

Two of them were middle-aged Martial Artists, burly and dark-skinned, with menacing faces. They carried long sabers at their waists and looked like trouble.

"Eldest Brother, that brat has left the academy and is heading towards Qingfeng Town! He’s carrying a pack; looks like he’s planning a long journey," one of the middle-aged Martial Artists said to the green-robed Martial Artist standing between them.

The green-robed Martial Artist appeared to be around thirty years old. He was tall and slender, with a foot-long bundle on his back. As his eyes opened and closed, they revealed an aura as sharp as a sword’s edge, indicating his formidable cultivation.

"Excellent! We’ll wait for him to leave Qingfeng Town before we make our move, to avoid exposing our identities! Our last operation failed because we were too careless. This time, we’ll plan meticulously. We must ensure there are no mistakes and that the brat dies without a burial place!"

The green-robed Martial Artist’s expression was grim, his eyes filled with a potent killing intent.

Upon reaching Qingfeng Town, Luo Feng found a horse stable. He spent two thousand silver pieces to select a top-quality Black-maned horse.

This type of Black-maned horse wasn’t particularly fast, capable of covering only a few hundred li a day, but its endurance was excellent, making it well-suited for long-distance travel.

After spending two thousand silver pieces, Luo Feng also restocked some dry rations and supplies for the journey, costing him several hundred more silver pieces. The more than three thousand taels of silver he had earned in the Red Chain Mountain Range were depleted almost instantly.

"Spending money is easy, earning it is hard. It’s the same in every world..." Luo Feng led the Black-maned horse, clutching his now-empty money pouch, and sighed as he looked at the animal.

NEIGH...

The Black-maned horse let out a loud neigh, its hooves pawing the ground in excitement.

"You understand what I’m saying?" Luo Feng was slightly surprised. To think I could buy such an intelligent horse for a mere two thousand silver pieces! My luck is incredible!

However, the Black-maned horse continued to prance about excitedly. Luo Feng finally sensed something was amiss. He glanced to the side, and his face immediately darkened.

Next to them was a small paddock. The creature was currently staring, eyes wide, at the plump hindquarters of a mare in the paddock...

"Damn it!" Luo Feng was thoroughly exasperated. This horse didn’t understand human sentiment; it was in heat!

Luo Feng decided to teach this irresponsible creature a lesson and swung himself into the saddle.

"Giddyup!"

Luo Feng squeezed his legs and cracked the whip. The Black-maned horse yelped in pain, neighed loudly, and, with reddened eyes, carried Luo Feng away, disappearing in a cloud of dust.

After leaving Qingfeng Town and traveling for some distance, they skirted a patch of forest. Suddenly, the view opened up before them: a vast, boundless green plain.

Azure sky, white clouds, air as clear as if freshly washed, endless green grass, and the wide, flat expanse of the plain!

All of it unfolded before Luo Feng’s eyes.

A heroic feeling of wanting to brandish a saber on horseback and gallop through the rtiad surged in Luo Feng’s heart, accompanied by an urge to throw back his head and roar at the sky.

WHOOSH!

The Black-maned horse pushed its speed to the limit. The wind howled past Luo Feng’s ears, giving him the sensation of soaring through the air.

"Hahaha... Exhilarating! I wonder when I’ll truly be able to achieve Aerial Flight..."

Luo Feng couldn’t help but laugh, his gaze drifting to the white clouds floating in the sky. Riding a horse is exhilarating, but it’s not true freedom since I’m still bound by the earth! When will I truly be able to achieve Aerial Flight, unbound by anything, to roam the heavens and myriad worlds as I please!

Luo Feng felt a surge of excitement at the thought, but then he gave a wry smile and shook his head.

Even an expert at the Ninth Level of the Meridian Wheel, the Heavenly Court Realm, couldn’t achieve true Aerial Flight. For me, with my current strength, to harbor such thoughts is indeed nothing short of wishful thinking.

"CLAP. CLAP. CLAP. Dreaming of Aerial Flight as a mere late-stage, fifth-level Iron Bone Realm Martial Artist! What audacity! I didn’t expect this target to be such a brazenly arrogant brat. Too bad you’ll never realize your wish, because today you die here!"

A cold, sinister laugh suddenly echoed from the sea of grass nearby.

NEIGHHH...

Startled, Luo Feng immediately reined in the Black-maned horse. His gaze swept around, searching for the source of the voice.

About one or two hundred meters to his left, in the tall grass, stood a slightly gaunt, green-robed Martial Artist. He stood motionless, shoulders hunched. Combined with his emaciated physique, he resembled a vulture waiting to feast on carrion.

"Who are you!" Luo Feng’s eyes narrowed as he demanded in an icy tone.