The silent atmosphere persisted for a full hour. Even if the girls didn't know what had happened in that village, they could guess the general idea. After all, Yang Tian had revealed a bit; the five words "Evil Soul Master slaughtering a village" were enough for them to imagine.
It just wasn't Yang Tian's fault, so why did he...
Huo Wu didn't think too much. She only knew that the current Yang Tian was very charming...
The dead were dead, and Yang Tian wouldn't let them continue to affect his Dao Heart.
Whether it was caused by him or fated, people were ultimately selfish. The power of people was, after all, limited.
All he could do was try his best to resolve the disasters that arose because of him. As for who was implicated... he could only say sorry.
Sorry was the most pale and powerless word in this World, but it also better reflected Yang Tian's powerlessness at this moment.
"Is it still a lack of strength? If I were strong enough, I could completely avoid all of this from happening!" Yang Tian looked up at the sky. Lin Zhiling looked worried and softly said, "How can you blame yourself for this?"
"Of course, I don't blame myself, I blame the System! I'm just atoning for the System," Yang Tian smiled, his Dao Heart clear.
Blaming anyone was meaningless; looking forward was the attitude Yang Tian should have.
The girls were full of questions, confused by Yang Tian's sudden remark.
"System? Who is the System? The leader of the Evil Soul Masters?"
"So, the Evil Soul Masters were all brought out by the System...."
System: "....."
The fine rain was continuous, but not a single drop fell on anyone. Above their heads, an invisible starlight barrier kept the rain out.
The girls got back into the carriage, and Yang Tian drove it away.
Everyone who should have rested had no mood to do so. The three big black horses slowly moved forward, while Yang Tian found two storage spirit tools from his spatial ring.
There were many things in the spirit tools, including several spiritual crystals, which were probably from the Sun Moon Continent.
What Yang Tian paid most attention to were the few letters inside.
Yang Tian opened and read the contents, and he had some guesses.
The Holy Church had somehow gained support and intended to build a cross-continental altar teleportation array. This grand array used the lifeblood of living beings as its source and vengeful Spirits as its guide...
"Ding! Mission issued: Within three months, go to the extreme north and destroy the Evil Soul Master's preliminary altar teleportation array. Mission reward: One legendary theft voucher!"
"Altar teleportation array?" Yang Tian's eyes flickered. These Evil Soul Masters were quite fast.
He shook his head slightly. Three months was ample time, not enough to make him cancel his original plan.
Yang Tian's gaze fell into the System backpack again. This time, he took out an illusory yet truly existing light seed.
The Seed of Faith. This was a treasure stolen by the legendary theft voucher rewarded by the System when the God Creation Plan reached (6/9). It could collect the power of faith, and when the power of faith was sufficient, it could hatch supreme treasures from the Seed of Faith.
The Seed of Faith had been dormant since it was stolen, until today.
When he left the sky above that village, wisps of pure power of faith condensed from the void and were absorbed by the Seed of Faith.
However, those powers of faith were too weak, just wisps, sinking into the Seed of Faith like a stone into the sea, with no further news.
But at least there was a ripple on the surface, which gave Yang Tian a method to collect the power of faith.
In a flash, a small town appeared in Yang Tian's sight. Xu Youyou, in his arms, opened the map and pointed her jade finger at an icon: "Starfall Town."
Starfall Town was an ordinary small town outside the Starfall Forest, surviving by providing supplies to the Spirit Masters passing through.
After handing the carriage over to the hotel's attendant, Yang Tian directly booked the most expensive luxury king-size room, which instantly made others envious.
"Young brother, you're so lucky. It's good to be young." A middle-aged wine guest drinking in the hotel's first-floor lobby praised. Yang Tian ignored him. That middle-aged man was clearly a patron of pleasure houses, with a scruffy beard and a weak constitution.
Upstairs, Xu Xiaoxiao and Xu Youyou, the two sisters, gathered together and began to write letters.
The content of the letter was very simple, merely reporting their safety to their family, stating that they had gained a lot from their training, and that they would return by themselves after some time.
Yang Tian read the letter, then picked up a pen and added a few strokes at the end of the letter: "Youyou and Xiao Xiao are being looked after by a junior and will not encounter any accidents. Seniors, please rest assured — Swordsman, left!"
Xu Youyou and Xu Xiaoxiao felt sweet in their hearts upon seeing Yang Tian's message, but Xu Youyou still said with some worry, "Big Brother Swordsman, your reputation is too widespread. If the Sect wants to find us, it will be very easy."
"It's okay, Papa knows we have Big Brother Swordsman protecting us, so he definitely won't send people to find us and bring us back," Xu Xiaoxiao, on the other hand, was mischievous, with no shortage of little ideas in her mind.
Yang Tian smiled and stroked Youyou's head, saying, "Don't worry, even if people from your Sect come, I won't let them take you away. You're already my people, how could you be so easily snatched away by others? Even if your father-in-law comes to snatch you, it won't work!"
"What father-in-law, really~" Xu Youyou said shyly, but more than that, she was happy.
"Should this letter be mailed or...?" Yang Tian asked, holding the envelope.
Xu Xiaoxiao said, "Just leave it with the owner of this hotel. If people from the Sect come, they will come to this hotel to pick up the letter."
The Star Crown Sect was reclusive, and the information channel from outside to inside was very blocked. This hotel was actually an information liaison point under the Star Crown Sect, and people from the Star Crown Sect would come here irregularly to pick up letters.
Yang Tian nodded at her words, then left a wisp of divine sense in the envelope. This divine sense had no power, but it could transmit some different information.
In the cultivation room, Shui Bing'er and Huo Wu, one ice and one fire, were sparring.
Both of them used the self-created Spirit Abilities taught by Yang Tian, which were diverse and powerful.
Even under Yang Tian's influence, they rarely used their own Spirit Abilities. Shui Bing'er even completely transformed her Spirit Abilities into her own skills, able to activate Spirit Abilities without the aid of her Spirit and spirit ring, and their power would not be weakened much.
Huo Wu was slightly inferior in this aspect, but her shadow clone had progressed rapidly, now able to exert 60% of her main body's strength. Shui Bing'er also responded with caution, otherwise, she could easily be tricked.
Of course, there were pros and cons. The consumption of Huo Wu's shadow clone was no less than that of her main body. It was fine for short-term burst combat, but its stamina was lacking.
Lin Zhiling was a Spirit Emperor and occasionally faced joint attacks from Shui Bing'er and Huo Wu. But there was a thirty-level gap between a Spirit Emperor and a Spirit Elder, and moreover, Huo Wu had only just evolved her Spirit and did not yet have suitable cultivation methods.
As for her aptitude, if Huo Wu had the opportunity in the future, it was not impossible for her to become a Divine King, but it would be difficult to cultivate to the Divine King level on her own.
The System had not yet determined that Huo Wu had reached Divine King aptitude, and Yang Tian didn't dwell on it. After all, Huo Wu's Spirit had not yet fully demonstrated its power. He believed that before long, even without cultivation methods, Huo Wu would possess the potential to become a Divine King.