Could it be that I am the cruel villain?
Chapter 376 - 242: The Past Spiritual Energy Depletion Incident

Chapter 376: Chapter 242: The Past Spiritual Energy Depletion Incident

This time, it was a stare-down.

History always repeats itself similarly; Jiang Feng also realized that his earlier words were somewhat inappropriate, so he coughed dryly.

"I’m just curious as to why Cen Yueyue would appear there. It’s not too far from the Southern Border, but leaving from Cen Family Village, it would also mean crossing a thousand miles. Could it be that her family, the Cen Family, truly had a part in the little princess’s disappearance?"

Although it sounded like a deflection, he was still genuinely curious about why Cen Yueyue would be in the territory of Country Liang.

Letting his junior brother massage his legs, from toes to soles and then spreading upwards to the calves, to be honest, his junior brother really had a knack for massage. Now Jiang Feng had become his appointed massage master.

But the woman did not answer directly, instead counter-questioning.

"Do you know what has happened these recent two years?"

He shook his head.

Nothing significant had happened in the last two years. If anything, it was the discovery of Evil Cultivator traces around the world, leading to collective attacks where some weaker parties perished on the spot, soul scattered, while those with strong forces fled, continuing their misdeeds.

Conflicts between the Great Sects were also unending, generally maintaining the old ways; the national power struggles within the Central Plains had hardly ever stopped, but there was always a relatively balanced phase maintained, and even now, it was rare to see a total fallout among major powers.

It was nothing more than small skirmishes.

"Over these two years, many promising young disciples have emerged around the Central Plains—from the Southern Border, Demon Race, Northern Territory, East Sea—all kinds of external sect disciples moving toward Central Plains, coming and going, mostly third or fourth generation disciples under fifty."

"There have been many conflicts among them, including frictions involving disciples from Purple Cloud Palace, not only due to youthful zeal but also related to sect interests."

"You should remember what event is coming up in a few months."

The youth nodded.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, cradling a pair of jade-like feet, those soft curves and shapes enough to delight a foot enthusiast, but their conversation was somewhat serious, dispelling the ambiguous air.

"Remember, Nine Peaks Martial Arts Competition... wait, have they finished?"

Jiang Feng only then realized.

Initially, when his senior sister mentioned external forces moving towards Central Plains, he hadn’t grasped what it meant, even thinking these unsatisfied ’grandsons’ were gearing up for more conflict, but her latter half remark woke him up.

It turned out it was because their sect power’s internal selection process had ended, he wasn’t sure if it was about coming out to temper themselves or what, making him involuntarily furrow his brows.

"What are these people thinking, coming to our territory after their internal selection is done?"

"What do you think they’re here for?"

The hand massaging the calf slowly came to a halt.

Jiang Feng was quite serious when pondering over questions, his brows tightly knit; it took him a while to tentatively respond, "They’re here to provoke... no, it should be said they’re here to test."

His eyes brightened.

But Liu Tangxi didn’t speak, just letting her junior brother perform on his own. She found that when her junior brother got serious, he indeed looked somewhat like a great master, even his usually playful and mischievous voice sounded more profound and stable.

"They’re not only testing Purple Cloud Palace but also the entire strength of Central Plains. Senior sister, you once said that the martial arts grand assembly held in Jiuzhou isn’t held every so many years but rather within a general range."

"Maybe thirty years, maybe fifty years, sometimes even a hundred years apart, and every time it’s held, there are anomalies between heaven and earth. This time however, the anomaly is severe, as you mentioned, something immense enough to cover the skies, a Candle Dragon."

"At first, I thought since all the sects are only up early for benefits, without resources to fight over, they wouldn’t strike out so vastly, but now I think my view was too simplistic."

"More precisely, every generation of disciples that appears in the Cultivation World inevitably leads to internal consumption. Their arrival in Central Plains is to test—to see how much of a gap there is between our young disciples and theirs."

"If the gap isn’t significant, their next moves will only be more aggressive. If the gap is quite large, they’ll definitely hold back somewhat in this martial arts competition and the following period, and might even seek to build alliances."

"They’re not just here for trouble but also to seek allies. In the face of common interests, there are no factions, keep distant foes close and attack near ones, the pressure from those nearby is always greater."

"Look, it’s like that for our Purple Cloud Palace, the only few rival forces are dominate in Central Plains, yet we are closer to the more distant Demon Race, aren’t we."

Without saying a word.

Just staring straight into Jiang Feng’s eyes, even in the darkness, one could feel that somewhat fervent gaze, yet this time he didn’t respond with a teasing smile.

He softly said, "Senior sister, do you remember the cake I once mentioned?"

"Hmm."

She nodded without hesitation.

It wasn’t Jiang Feng’s considerable baking skills she knew about, she knew what cake the young man was talking about.

It was Cultivation Resources.

This lad once made a very abstract metaphor with her while she was eating dessert, so Jiang Feng compared the Cultivation World to a huge cake, limited in quantity, a situation where one person eats an extra piece definitely causes another to miss out.