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**
A month's time passed in the blink of an eye.
Although Xiao Lin had accepted a life-and-death challenge letter delivered in the form of a blood letter, he did not feel any sense of tension, still eating when he should eat, drinking when he should drink, and sleeping when he should sleep every day.
Oh right, he could also tutor his little grandson along the way.
The feeling it gave people was as if this matter simply did not exist at all!
In reality, Xiao Lin truly had not taken this matter to heart. If it weren't for this fellow Yan Penghong constantly biting onto him and refusing to let go, Xiao Lin wouldn't even have bothered to pay him any attention!
On the day the agreed time arrived, Xiao Lin didn't make any preparations either, heading directly out toward the destination. Whether Yan Penghong had found people to ambush him or not, it didn't matter to Xiao Lin.
Either way, it would just be one more corpse.
On a nameless small mountain at the border where the Jia Ma Empire and the Luo Yan Empire intersected, a figure had already been waiting here early on.
This figure was precisely Yan Penghong!
It was just that the current Yan Penghong looked incomparably down and out, completely lacking the high and mighty spirit he had when they first went to the secret realm.
A face full of stubble, wearing a ragged gray robe, eyes hollow, his original black hair was not only half white now, but also stained with quite a bit of dirt, dust, and fallen leaf fragments. Compared to back then, his entire being really looked as if he had aged more than twenty or thirty years!
The reason Yan Penghong had become like this was not only because he had already stayed on this small mountain for a month, but even more so because after the previous Sect Grand Meeting of the Four Great Empires, he had left the Luo Yan Empire to roam around everywhere.
That's right, ever since he sent out the blood letter to Xiao Lin, Yan Penghong had been staying here. One month, no eating, no drinking, no sleeping!
It could only be said that Yan Penghong was currently in a semi-insane state.
Actually, before the Sect Grand Meeting of the Four Great Empires, although Yan Penghong was already a bit abnormal, it was far from reaching the current state!
Mainly, the combat power Xiao Lin displayed in the Sect Grand Meeting of the Four Great Empires made him completely certain that his older brother had died at Xiao Lin's hands.
You tell me, knowing who the enemy who killed your brother was, but being unable to seek revenge, and moreover, the Imperial Family of his clan even stopped him from seeking revenge. You tell me, could Yan Penghong not go crazy?
Therefore, after the Imperial Family stopped him from seeking revenge, Yan Penghong left the Luo Yan Empire. Later, Yan Penghong roamed everywhere and moved through many places, all for the sake of raising his strength so that he could go find Xiao Lin for revenge himself!
Because he himself also knew, with the strength Xiao Lin displayed in the Sect Grand Meeting of the Four Great Empires, before he broke through to the Dou Huang realm, he would absolutely not be his opponent!
It was just that with Yan Penghong's talent, normally speaking, it was almost impossible for him to break through to the Dou Huang realm. Therefore, the more he journeyed across the continent, the more despair settled in his heart.
Because despite all his travels, his strength had barely increased at all. This also proved that his desire to find Xiao Lin for revenge was almost equivalent to dreaming. However, it was unknown whether to count Yan Penghong's luck as good, or to say his luck was bad.
Just when he was about to completely despair, by coincidence, he met a person!
A person whom one could tell at a single glance was not a good person!
It was just that at that specific moment, how could Yan Penghong still have the mind to care whether the other party was a good person or not?
For Yan Penghong, as long as someone could give him power and could help him seek revenge, even if the other party was a devil, he was willing to sell his soul to him!
Not to mention, the result was that Yan Penghong really sold his soul to the other party. Similarly, after Yan Penghong sold his soul, he also obtained power.
That's right, the current Yan Penghong, with the help of that mysterious person, had successfully broken through to the Dou Huang realm!
This also made him believe that he finally possessed the power for revenge!
That was why he had sent the life-and-death duel challenge to Xiao Lin. In addition, through this matter, Yan Penghong also realized the terrifying nature of that mysterious person.
The other party had actually so easily helped him break through to the Dou Huang realm that he had previously dreamed of. From this, it could be seen that the other party's strength was absolutely beyond imagination.
The other party's background was presumably just as powerful beyond imagination.
However, to Yan Penghong, it didn't matter anymore.
After all, the moment he accepted the other party's help, it meant he had also joined the faction the other party belonged to. Afterward, Yan Penghong also learned a small part of the information about the other party and the faction they belonged to.
The other party called himself Protector Wu, and he was one of the many people in charge of a faction named the Hall of Souls in the Northwestern Region. As for the other party's cultivation level, it had already reached Dou Zong!
Of course, given Yan Penghong's earlier status and strength, he naturally didn't know what this faction called the Hall of Souls represented. However, from Protector Wu's brief words, it wasn't hard for him to hear the terrifying nature of this Hall of Souls.
A mere protector actually possessed a Dou Zong cultivation level, so above the other party, just how many big figures were there exactly? Not to mention, he learned from Protector Wu's mouth that protectors like him were quite numerous in this area of the Northwestern Region!
Additionally, the information Yan Penghong was able to obtain was that this faction named the Hall of Souls absolutely did not have its foundation in the Northwestern Region, but rather in the Central Plains where the strong gathered like clouds!
After knowing this information, Yan Penghong was both excited and apprehensive.
Excited that he had now become a member of this terrifying faction, and apprehensive that a small fry like himself actually had the opportunity to join such a faction?
Let alone Yan Penghong, if it were anyone else, they would have the exact same feelings as him. After Yan Penghong joined the Hall of Souls, he also obtained an identity, which was a Soul Envoy!
This was considered the lowest rank of identity in the Hall of Souls.
However, even so, to want to become a Soul Envoy of the Hall of Souls, the lowest requirement was a Dou Wang cultivation level!
A Dou Wang was an ordinary Soul Envoy, a Dou Huang was a high-level Soul Envoy, and a Dou Zong above that was qualified to serve as a protector.
As for the levels continuing further up, they were not things that Yan Penghong, who had just joined the Hall of Souls, had the chance to understand. Upon joining, his cultivation level was raised, directly making him a high-level Soul Envoy.
While this made Yan Penghong thrilled, he also began to have a greater sense of belonging toward the Hall of Souls. At this moment, when he looked at Protector Wu again, how could he still think the other party wasn't a good person at all?
Wouldn't that be equivalent to saying he himself wasn't a good person either? That was absolutely impossible!
Therefore, their Hall of Souls members were a group of aspiring people striving for their ideals!
This was Yan Penghong's current view of the Hall of Souls and himself. However, Yan Penghong had no idea that during the process of Protector Wu raising his cultivation level, his soul had already been secretly tampered with by the other party long ago.
Just like Yun Shan, the Sect Master of the Yun Lan Sect in the original story, those whose cultivation levels were forcibly raised by the Hall of Souls would naturally have their souls secretly controlled by the people of the Hall of Souls.
Not only that, after the soul was tampered with, the dark side of his heart would slowly be amplified without him noticing, until he went completely mad!
Yun Shan in the original story was exactly like this!
From a generation's revered grandmaster, he fell into becoming a dog of the Hall of Souls.
At this moment, Yan Penghong was the exact same!
**
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