# Chapter 39: Nets Above and Snares Below
Sima Bu sensed the terrifying killing intent erupting from Jian Wushuang's body, yet he couldn't help but shake his head inwardly.
He could understand Jian Wushuang's murderous hatred toward the Blood Feather Tower at this moment, but the Blood Feather Tower—just how powerful was it? How could just anyone afford to provoke it?
Inside the cave, Jian Wushuang sat with his hands clenched tightly, eyes closed. The sky-piercing killing intent radiating from his body slowly receded from its extreme ferocity, making it clear that he had already calmed himself down.
"The Blood Feather Tower is, for me right now, a true colossus. With my current strength, I am simply no match for it. Therefore, I must endure!"
"Endure. Lie in wait."
Jian Wushuang's clenched hands had nails digging deep into his flesh, blood flowing freely.
Even with killing intent soaring to the heavens, he had to sheathe his own edge.
"Besides revenge, I still have to find a way to uncover the truth behind all of this," Jian Wushuang growled in a low voice.
Although he now knew his origins and the ocean of blood-debt he carried, many doubts still lingered in his heart.
For instance, what exactly was the Sword Soul?
Why would the Blood Feather Tower go to such lengths to hunt down him and his father, the two of them who had awakened the Sword Soul?
And what was this "Ancestral Land" that his aunt, Ji Wuyue, had spoken of with her final breaths?
Too many, too many questions—questions he would have to slowly explore on his own.
"Strength. In the end, it all comes down to my strength being too weak—so weak that when the Blood Feather Tower's experts came hunting me, I didn't even have the room to fight back, and only survived by a stroke of luck because my aunt and Old Hong shielded me with their very lives!"
"If my strength were great enough—great enough to make even the Blood Feather Tower fear me, to make them not even dare provoke me—then none of this would ever have happened!"
"Strength! Strength!"
Jian Wushuang roared and raged madly in his heart.
He had never craved strength as desperately as he did now. Not even when he was betrayed by Jian Meng'er had it reached this level.
After all, his battle with Jian Meng'er had been for his own dignity, his father's dignity, the dignity of the Sword Pavilion. But with the Blood Feather Tower, it was a blood feud—a battle to the death with no quarter given!
Amid this unprecedented thirst for strength, even Jian Wushuang himself failed to notice that the spiritual power within his body had surged up at this very moment, naturally beginning to circulate according to the Grand Heaven Creation Art.
The Grand Heaven Creation Art—seizing the creation of heaven and earth.
Abruptly... *Hum~~*
Jian Wushuang's figure trembled. A hint of astonishment first flashed through his eyes, but it was quickly followed by a trace of pleasant surprise.
"The Ninth Heaven of the Divine Dao... I've broken through, just like that?"
Jian Wushuang himself had never expected it. At the very moment his desire for strength reached unprecedented heights, his spiritual power cultivation had naturally achieved a breakthrough. And yet, it had only been a few days ago that he had relied on swallowing large quantities of Innate Spiritual Liquid to raise his cultivation to the peak of the Eighth Heaven of the Divine Dao!
Now, only a few days later, he had broken through directly.
The Ninth Heaven of the Divine Dao was equivalent to the Great Achievement of the Sea Formation stage for ordinary martial artists. Coupled with the Grand Heaven Creation Art's advantage in raw power, even without unleashing the Spirit Seizing Secret Art, his spiritual power output would absolutely not be the slightest bit weaker than Jian Meng'er at the peak of Great Achievement in the Sea Formation stage.
His strength had soared once again!
"The Grand Heaven Creation Art truly is miraculous," Jian Wushuang couldn't help but think, and his confidence in his future growth grew even stronger.
The Blood Feather Tower was indeed a colossus to him now—but in the future, perhaps not.
"Father, Mother, Aunt, the four Elders, the Ji Clan, and all the innocent people implicated because of me this time—I, Jian Wushuang, can stake everything I have to promise you! Within my lifetime, I will bathe the Blood Feather Tower in blood, uproot it entirely, and for your sake... avenge you and settle this grudge!"
Jian Wushuang's eyes were ice-cold, filled with a resolve that had sunk deep into his very marrow!
...
The next day, at dawn.
"Kid, you stay here and wait for me. I'll go scout out the situation in the nearby city first," Sima Bu said.
"Alright." Jian Wushuang nodded. He knew full well that the Blood Feather Tower would never let the matter rest so easily.
Jian Wushuang stayed in the cave, cultivating quietly by himself. After roughly an hour, Sima Bu returned.
"Big Brother Abbu, how was it?" Jian Wushuang immediately asked.
"The situation is far worse than I imagined. I went to a nearby city and made a round—just the Blood Feather Tower assassins I detected numbered no fewer than ten. As for those hiding deeper, the ones I didn't spot, there are surely far more. And I visited a secret intelligence post of the Golden Dragon Hall and learned that the Blood Feather Tower has issued a blood-colored bounty order for you. Many of the Blood Feather Tower's spies are now lurking in all the major cities, just waiting for you to show up." Sima Bu's voice was grave.
"You could say the Blood Feather Tower has woven a net of heaven and earth across the Ba Water Prefecture—no, across the entire Tianyan Province. The moment you show your face, you won't even have room to struggle before the Blood Feather Tower's experts exterminate you. And with the Blood Feather Tower's intelligence capabilities, even if you wear a mask or disguise your appearance, the slightest flaw or trace and you'll be detected by them immediately."
"I originally planned to take you back to the Golden Dragon Hall in the Ba Water Prefecture to complete this mission, but now it seems that's simply impossible," Sima Bu sighed.
"I can't stay in the Ba Water Prefecture any longer," Jian Wushuang said in a low voice. "I need to leave the Tianyan Province as soon as possible, too."
"You're right," Sima Bu nodded. "I already thought it through on my way back. The Blood Feather Tower's manhunt for you is still concentrated mainly within the Tianyan Province. Here, you can't move an inch, but in other provinces, you still have room to survive. And the most suitable place for you would be the Tiannan Province, right next to the Tianyan Province."
"The Tiannan Province is one of the provinces where the Life-and-Death Arena chiefly operates, so the Blood Feather Tower's influence there isn't particularly strong. It's the most suitable place for you. But the journey from the Ba Water Prefecture to the Tiannan Province is quite long, and you must also pass through the Forest of Darkness."
"The Forest of Darkness?" Jian Wushuang's gaze sharpened slightly.
He had heard of the Forest of Darkness—a vast forest lying between the Tianyan Province and the Tiannan Province, teeming with spirit beasts and riddled with danger. It was a notoriously perilous land.
"Good, the Tiannan Province it is," Jian Wushuang said solemnly. "As for the Forest of Darkness, I'll simply pass through it."
"Haha, young in age but big in spirit. Don't worry—I'll travel with you to the Tiannan Province. With me around, I'll naturally see you safely through the Forest of Darkness," Sima Bu said with a laugh.
"Even without you, this Forest of Darkness is something I must cross," Jian Wushuang said, brilliant light flashing in his eyes.
The Tiannan Province was his only chance at survival. No one could stand in the way of his path to life.
...
PS: Brothers, where are the recommendations, favorites, and donations????