Although He Chen’s talent was lacking and disregarded by his father ever since he was a child, it did not mean that his older brother and sister did not love him. In fact, both of them dearly loved He Chen and were always protecting him from discrimination and impartiality from their father.

Hearing Xiu Yao about to sneer their young brother’s name with words, they would surely put a stop to that no matter what.

A loud shout from He Chuan and a saber from He Zhan resting at Xiu Yao’s throat startled the surrounding crowds. Rather than approaching to stop the fight, the crowds began gossiping with one another because they would not dare intervene with the business of the top three disciples.

As for Ying Lizhua, he did not give a shit about everything that happened around him. He was only there because his senior brother and sister demanded his presence by consistently inviting him all morning. Although he may seem to be standing ordinarily, in fact, he was cultivating Theríon inside his body even in that stance. Sensing this at first glance, Feng Luotian could not help but chuckle inwardly at the guy’s cultivating frenzy.

Feng Luotian eventually realized that no one was going to come and help him with the situation. He quickly mediated the tension by giving a friendly smile and slightly bowed to the He twins: “I apologize instead of my senior brother here for running his mouth too far. Please calm down for a bit because I would like to talk with you guys some more.”

He Zhan sheathed his saber into its scabbard: “Hmph! For the face of God’s Son, I will let you off today, Xiu Yao. Don’t you dare talk bad about my brother ever again!”

“Hehe. No worries. I was saying it too much, just like my junior brother said.” Xiu Yao shrugged his shoulders in his casual style, not afraid of He Zhan’s threat at all.

Feng Luotian started ‘interrogating’ in his own way: “Senior Brother He Zhan, I heard from Uncle Mei, the Peacock Lord, that he tasked you with a mission to go and carry it out with First Elder. May I ask what kind of mission it is and whether it is already complete?”

He Zhan and He Chuan gave each other a glance and nodded. They seemed to understand each other even if no word was expressed.

He Zhan calmly suggested: “Let’s talk via party chat.” After that, He Zhan offered his Theríon to both Feng Luotian and He Chuan to create a party between the three of them. Of course, he left Xiu Yao out of the circle, Not because it was a secret mission they did not want Xiu Yao to know, but because Xiu Yao would absolutely interfere with their conversations and make them waste more time talking with each other.

After connecting, He Zhan started explaining their mission with First Elder: “The mission is related to the Sikong Clan. Ever since the Wight Wolf incident, Master already suspected them moving around in the dark and prepared to launch their attacks against us soon. That was why Master ordered us to investigate every organization the Sikong Clan might be associating with.”

He Chuan added: “We did not find anything suspicious about these associates, except for the two. A formation guild named [Black Ring] and a carpenter shop named [Axel Wood].”

Feng Luotian asked: “What’s wrong with these two?”

He Zhan answered: “There are witnesses seeing people from the Sikong Clan walking in and out from these two places from time to time, yet there is no record of any transaction between them and the Sikong Clan. Furthermore, its guild master and the shop owner denied their relationship with the clan, so directly and outrightly that makes even more suspicious.”

Feng Luotian pondered for a bit before asking again: “There must be more to it, right? There is no way you would conclude the investigation with just this.”

He Chuan nodded and explained: “Yes, God’s Son. The thing is, the people from the Sikong Clan only visited Axel Wood Shop once. Nevertheless, with their presence and sigil, the shop’s neighbor took note of it. The place where they dropped by monthly is actually Black Ring Guild. Here is a catch. Before the end of each month when the Sikong would pay Black Ring Guild a visit, there would always be someone from Axel Wood Shop coming to Black Ring Guild two weeks before that.”

Feng Luotian continued asking, albeit his expression gradually turned sour by a minute: “What is this Axel Wood Shop mainly manufacturing? And since when did the Sikong first visit Axel Wood Shop?”

He Zhan noticed Feng Luotian’s mood, guessing that he must have reached some deduction. Curious of what Feng Luotian would conclude, He Zhan answered every question asked: “Axel Wood Shop generally made furniture. As for the Sikong’s first visit to Axel Wood Shop, the witness said it was about three years ago.”

Feng Luotian frowned upon the revelation, thinking inwardly: “When Huo Zhihao saw First Elder with the Yin Clan, it was also three years ago. Are these two conspiracies related to each other? Or, did they coincidentally occur at the same time?”

Another thought flashed through his mind, making his eyes wider and his frown even tighter.

“This is bad!” Feng Luotian uttered out loud. He then cut the part connection between him and the He twins and turned to Xiu Yao with a serious expression: “Senior Brother Xiu, do you remember the event where the Sikong Clan Chief fought Uncle Mei? After the Sikong left the Peacock Pavilion, Uncle Mei ordered his squad to scan out the place and search for the remaining Sikong’s [Lightning Marks]. Do you know the result of that search?!”

Xiu Yao was confused at first but still responded to his junior brother’s questions anyway: “Oh, yes. Yesterday, Master and I met with Schoolmaster to report what I found in the Nefarious Valley. We did not mention your wisp, though. As for the result of that search, Master asked about it at the end of the meeting. Schoolmaster said they found nothing. More than that, he even ordered them to expand their search to every residence within the Peacock School. After using Theríon Sonar to scan every nook in that area, they found no other [Lightning Marks]. That’s why Schoolmaster called a halt to the search team.”

Feng Luotian returned to his thought: “No [Lightning Mark]? Am I overthinking this? Or, can they use a formation of that level? If it is the latter, then, by combining every fact together, this safest city and its peace will come to an end sooner than I expected. After I get into the Ten Feathers, I will use every ounce of its benefits to raise the strength of everyone, not just me.”

Discerning a couple of strange gazes from those around him, Feng Luotian came back to his usual self and cupped his hands: “Thank you, senior brothers and sister, for information.”

He Zhan waved his hand: “Not at all, God’s Son. But I am curious as to what made you have that stern expression just now. Have you figured something out? Mind to share it with us?”

Not only He Zhan, but He Chuan was also interested in hearing what Feng Luotian had to say. She heard about Feng Luotian’s brilliant feat from her little brother. Ever since he came back home from the entrance exam, He Chen had been talking about his exam with God’s Son nonstop to the point of being annoying sometimes. He also told them how Feng Luotian used the lion tail’s blade to help him with his father’s issue.

Despite the hope to see if this God’s Son was as impressive as their little brother deemed him to be, Feng Luotian only shook his head and smilingly said: “I’m sorry for the misunderstanding if my expression led you to think that I have something worthwhile. What I have is merely speculation without any evidence, so let’s not talk about it.”

He Zhan and He Chuan looked at each other, seemingly understanding what their counterpart was thinking. Ultimately, they decided to let it go and returned to their conversation about other things.

Feng Luotian, with a new short-term goal, asked Xiu Yao about the Ten Feathers. He anticipated that his senior brother would give him all of the information regarding the Ten Feathers, like when he ceaselessly divulged the Second Feather and Third Feather’s identities and personal data.

However, Xiu Yao gave out a dry laugh while scratching his head: “I’m sorry, Junior Brother Feng. I only know a lot about these two. Other than them, I barely recognize anyone in the school since they are not worth remembering.”

He Chuan could not help but sneer at such a remark: “Hmph! So much confidence with that pea brain, huh, Xiu Yao! To actually dare to say that no one is worth remembering.”

Xiu Yao spread his hands, shrugging his shoulders: “I’m just saying the fact. If they think they are strong enough for me to remember them, then be my guess.”

Under Xiu Yao’s casual and calm talking style, there lay supreme confidence and domineering mentality. He had been the First Feather ever since he broke through and became a Talon Warrior for five years straight. Now, he was at Four Talons. It was pretty impossible to find anyone amongst the disciples who was strong enough to threaten his position.

Of course, that was before Xiu Yao met his unexpected junior brother, who rescued him from the prejudicial situation. While he had been bored by this Feather Ranking Competition for the past few years, this year’s competition was entirely different. Xiu Yao really looked forward to fighting this junior brother. He could not bear to wait any longer.

He Zhan softly chuckled and said to Feng Luotian: “Ignore them, God’s Son. I will introduce every Feather to you instead.”