Nie Kong shook his head slightly, but the next moment, he couldn't help but laugh out loud. With his current strength, did he really need to worry about someone he could crush with a mere flick of his finger? If Mo Ye or the Mo Luo Holy Mountain dared to come knocking over this matter, the outcome wouldn't be as simple as it was tonight.

Tonight, he made Mo Ye roll out of the room in humiliation; next time, he would take his life!

As this thought crossed his mind, Nie Kong's spirits suddenly lifted. Just then, he detected a massive spiritual sense rapidly closing in on the Four Seas Tower.

Nie Shen Gong?

Indeed, he had alerted the Great Elder!

Nie Kong immediately entered the mental state of "Fusion with Heaven and Earth," allowing his spiritual sense to surge out of his body without hesitation, instantly sweeping across the entirety of Jiyang City.

"Oh?"

Faintly, Nie Kong seemed to hear a surprised, soft exclamation from a corner within Jiyang City. Immediately after, the spiritual sense paused in mid-air, hesitating slightly.

The owner of that spiritual sense was indeed Nie Shen Gong!

Years ago, a Dark Path Cave Spirit Master from the Spirit Temple had caused havoc in Jiyang City, and Nie Shen Gong’s astonishing palm strike had shaken heaven and earth. Nie Kong had once assumed the Great Elder had already achieved the Heaven Spirit realm. However, Nie Kong later realized that Nie Shen Gong had only just set one foot across the threshold into the Heaven Spirit realm.

But judging by the intensity of Nie Shen Gong's spiritual sense now, he was a true Heaven Spirit Master!

Without the suppression and corrosion of the "Yin Ruins Blood Toxin," the formerly astonishing genius of the Nie family had finally broken through his own shackles and become a powerhouse!

Nie Kong felt a stirring and immediately thought of moving toward Nie Shen Gong.

However, before he could act on his intention, Nie Shen Gong's spiritual sense quietly receded. Seeing this, Nie Kong had no choice but to withdraw his own. Continuing to pursue now might lead to a misunderstanding with Nie Shen Gong, potentially sparking a clash of spiritual senses.

It was a blessing that Nie Shen Gong was still residing in his old location; he could visit him later.

And that piece of Seven-Colored Spirit Leaf—that also needed to be reclaimed at some point. Otherwise, given Aunt Qing's temperament, she would never let the matter rest. It was precisely because Nie Shen Gong had seized the Seven-Colored Spirit Leaf that the two sisters had turned on each other, nearly plunging the Yin Ruins into an abyss of eternal damnation.

Were it not for Nie Kong and Nie Qingyang, she would have already stormed over and slaughtered the entire Nie family!

Retrieving the Seven-Colored Spirit Leaf was the final boundary line for her to spare the Nie family.

"I must think of a clever way to handle this."

Lost in thought, Nie Kong’s spiritual sense returned to his body. In a glance, he saw the attendant from the Four Seas Tower peeking nervously outside the door. He quickly beckoned, and Li Dan hurried in with the food tray, trembling slightly. Upon seeing the small cabbages, Tai Yan's beautiful eyes immediately narrowed into crescent moons.

While Tai Yan continued to savor the delicacies, in a small apothecary shop within Jiyang City, Nie Shen Gong, sitting cross-legged, slowly opened his eyes.

"I wonder which powerhouse has arrived in Jiyang City?"

A trace of astonishment and confusion flickered across Nie Shen Gong’s aged face as he murmured, "I hadn't realized spiritual sense could integrate so miraculously with the world. If he hadn't intentionally allowed me to sense him, I might not have known even if he was secretly spying on me."

"The Mo Luo Holy Mountain can afford to disregard such a powerhouse, but our Jiyang Nie family must proceed with caution. If we cannot befriend him, we certainly cannot afford to offend him easily. Alas, these decades lost due to delay—if not for that, I would have long since broken through to the Ninth Grade of Heaven Spirit, and I wouldn't need to be so cautious in handling affairs?"

"However, given my circumstances, managing to break through to Heaven Spirit is already a blessing granted by heaven, and I owe it all to that little fellow. Several years have passed; I wonder how that little fellow is doing now? He must still be cultivating in Lingyu City..."

"..."

...

"Who did this?"

In the courtyard, bathed in bright light, Nie Qingsong looked at his eldest son lying unconscious on the stretcher, his expression a mixture of suspicion and uncertainty. Beside him, Nie Xinghai, Nie Xingyun, and several other elders were equally astonished. They had rushed over after being notified by clan members, only to find this scene.

Facing the sharp gazes of Nie Qingsong and Nie Xinghai, the clan member quickly explained, "Clan Head, esteemed Elders, this is what happened. Tonight, the Eldest Young Master was drinking with the Holy Son of the Mo Luo Holy Mountain at the Four Seas Tower. For some unknown reason, the Eldest Young Master suddenly tumbled down from upstairs. Not long after, the Holy Son's two guards were choked unconscious and thrown from upstairs into the pond behind the building, and then the Holy Son himself tumbled down."

"What?"

Hearing this, Nie Qingsong and the others were struck speechless.

Nie Fenglei possessed outstanding aptitude and was already a Void Spirit Master.

With such cultivation, he was certainly qualified to serve as an elder in the Nie family. It was at his invitation that the Holy Son of Mo Luo Holy Mountain came to Jiyang City to travel, and the Nie family hoped to deepen their ties with Mo Luo Holy Mountain through Mo Ye. Thus, they had tried their best to accommodate Mo Ye’s requests, as had Nie Fenglei.

But unexpectedly, just a few days later, this incident occurred.

"Was the fight fierce at the time?" Nie Qingsong urgently asked.

"I was eating downstairs at the time, Elder, and I barely heard any sounds of fighting."

"..."

Hearing this, the others were even more shocked. If they recalled correctly, the two guards of the Mo Luo Holy Son were both Cave Spirit Masters. Though perhaps not quite as strong as the Nie family’s Second Elder, they were not far off. Yet, such experts were subdued so easily—choked unconscious and tossed into the pond!

Could the perpetrator be a Heaven Spirit expert?

After a long pause, Nie Xinghai finally came to his senses and asked in a deep voice, "How are Mo Ye and his two guards injured, and where are they now?"

"Mo Ye was not injured, thankfully."

The clan member paused, sounding quite perplexed. "From what I observed, it seemed he was forced to roll down from upstairs. His guards were also not severely injured; after being fished out of the pond, they regained consciousness. Afterward, they didn't even bother collecting their luggage at the Four Seas Tower; they left in a hurry, probably leaving Jiyang City overnight."

"No injuries, that's good, that's very good."

Nie Qingsong and the others, amidst their surprise, also breathed a silent sigh of relief. Mo Ye was the son of the current Mo Luo Mountain Master. If he and his guards had been seriously injured in Jiyang City, their Nie family would be hard-pressed to escape blame. Once the Mo Luo Holy Mountain sought retribution, resolving the matter would be extremely difficult.

Exchanging glances, Nie Qingsong spoke, "What about the person who acted? Did anyone see what he looked like?"

Upon hearing this question, the Nie clan member's expression became even stranger: "Clan Head, after I arranged for the Eldest Young Master to be sent away, I discreetly inquired. It seems the one who clashed with the Eldest Young Master and the Mo Luo Holy Son was a very young pair of siblings, both appearing to be in their early twenties. The woman, especially, was stunningly beautiful—even the Fourth Miss would pale slightly in comparison to her..." After blurting this out, the clan member suddenly realized the Fourth Miss's father was standing right there, and he anxiously glanced over, only relaxing when he saw that the Clan Head and the Elders seemed oblivious.

...

...RO