Support me at patreon for 450+ advanced chapters :
patreon.com/YaoIk
**
"Whoosh!"
After absorbing Yan Penghong's soul, the iron token immediately attempted to fly off into the distance.
Snap!
However, how could Xiao Lin possibly allow such a thing to happen right before his eyes?
The moment the iron token shot out, Xiao Lin reached out and grabbed it firmly in his hand.
Buzz~
Yet the iron token in Xiao Lin's grasp seemed to have come alive. It began trembling violently.
"Hm? A mere iron token dares to resist me? Suppress it!"
Starlight spread across Xiao Lin's palm as Star Dou Qi erupted forth.
As Xiao Lin released his Star Dou Qi, the iron token that had been fiercely resisting instantly quieted down. Only now did Xiao Lin finally have the opportunity to properly examine this mysterious iron token that had suddenly appeared after Yan Penghong's explosion.
On the surface of the token were engraved the two characters:
"Soul Envoy."
This was none other than a Soul Envoy Token belonging to the Hall of Souls!
Above it were the Protector Token and the Tian Zun Token!
Yan Penghong had already chosen to join the Hall of Souls, so naturally he had received such a Soul Envoy Token. The function of this Soul Envoy Token was to collect souls, while also serving as a symbol of status and identity.
Of course, the souls it collected naturally included that of its owner as well!
It could be said that once its holder died, after absorbing the deceased's soul, the Soul Envoy Token would immediately fly back to the hands of that person's direct superior. Yan Penghong had been recruited as a Soul Envoy by Protector Wu, making Protector Wu his direct superior.
As for whose hands this Soul Envoy Token had originally been heading toward, the answer was already obvious.
"As expected, it's those persistent bastards again."
The moment Xiao Lin saw the Soul Envoy Token, he knew that his suspicions had been confirmed. For some unknown reason, Yan Penghong had come into contact with Protector Wu of the Hall of Souls.
It was precisely with Protector Wu's assistance that he had advanced into the Dou Huang realm.
"This is troublesome. It seems Hun Tiandi's injuries are nearing full recovery. Otherwise, the Hall of Souls, acting as the Hun Clan's lackeys, wouldn't be behaving with such increasing recklessness."
Thinking back to how the Hall of Souls' Sixth Tian Zun, Cha Luo, had once intercepted him, Xiao Lin felt a headache coming on.
Although he had fled before the other party could even finish speaking, he knew full well that whatever Sha Luo had intended to say couldn't possibly have been anything good.
Fortunately, after returning to Central Plains, Xiao Lin had established his own sect. As the leader of a sect, the Hall of Souls naturally could no longer approach him with offers to join the organization.
Thus, Xiao Lin had successfully avoided that particular calamity. However, the Hall of Souls had clearly already begun expanding its operations throughout the Northwestern Region. It was difficult to say when they might once again set their sights on the Xiao Clan.
In truth, there was one thing Xiao Lin had misunderstood regarding the Hun Clan.
At present, the Hun Clan actually did not know where the Xiao Clan was located. Back when the Xiao Clan had been destroyed, the Hun Clan had indeed possessed information regarding the descendants of the Xiao Clan.
They had also systematically eliminated the strongest experts among those descendants. However, due to the intervention of the Gu Clan, the Hun Clan later lost track of the Xiao Clan's descendants.
Over the course of the thousand years that followed, the Hun Clan had repeatedly rediscovered traces of the Xiao Clan. Each time they found them, the Hun Clan would eliminate the Xiao Clan's high-level combat forces.
To prevent the Xiao Clan from rising again!
Then, the Gu Clan would intervene once more, causing the Hun Clan to lose track of the Xiao Clan again. As for the Xiao Clan, they spent the past thousand years constantly relocating. They gradually moved all the way from Central Plains to the present-day Jia Ma Empire.
This was the truth behind the cycle involving the Hun Clan, the Gu Clan, and the Xiao Clan over the last thousand years. The Hun Clan would find the Xiao Clan and eliminate its high-level experts. The Gu Clan would then step in and conceal the Xiao Clan's whereabouts.
The Xiao Clan would relocate. Then the Hun Clan would find them again...
The cycle repeated endlessly.
By the time the original story began, this was why the strongest expert in the Xiao Clan was merely Xiao Zhan, a Da Dou Shi.
It also explained why, in the original novel, only Protector Wu was active around the Jia Ma Empire. That was because he had discovered traces of the Xiao Clan and wanted to claim all the credit for himself!
Unfortunately, Xiao Lin was unaware of this.
That was why he had previously come to such a misunderstanding.
But honestly, he couldn't really be blamed for it!
As a member of the Xiao Clan, and the strongest expert of the current generation, how could he not be wary of the Hun Clan? To be frank, Xiao Lin was even wary of the Gu Clan!
After all, judging from the Xiao Clan's history over the past thousand years, the Gu Clan might not have been completely innocent either.
For all he knew, they might have deliberately waited until the Hun Clan had wiped out the Xiao Clan's high-level experts before stepping in to conceal the clan's whereabouts.
Perhaps the Gu Clan did so because it would make it easier for them to obtain the Tuo She Ancient God Jade from the Xiao Clan in the future. Still, compared to the Hun Clan, the Gu Clan at least cared about maintaining appearances.
It was unlikely that they would personally take action against the Xiao Clan. At most, they might harbor a few ulterior motives. Furthermore, they had ultimately preserved a portion of the Xiao Clan's bloodline.
Because of that, Xiao Lin found it difficult to criticize them too harshly.
Nevertheless, caution was still necessary!
Countless thoughts flashed through Xiao Lin's mind as he stood alone atop the mountain peak.
The fact that Yan Penghong had become Soul Envoy Yan, coupled with hearing the name "Protector Wu"—the chief culprit behind the Xiao Clan's tragedy in the original story—from the man's own mouth, had already prompted Xiao Lin to begin considering his next course of action.
"I can't keep idling around like this, staying in the Xiao Clan every day, teasing Xiao Yan and waiting for him to grow up."
Xiao Lin suddenly realized that ever since Xiao Yan's birth, he seemed to have become somewhat complacent. Every day, all he thought about was how to mold Xiao Yan, forgetting that a great danger was still hanging over the Xiao Clan.
"Continuing to improve my own strength is the top priority right now! Besides, if my predictions are correct, the Gu Clan should soon begin making their move regarding the Xiao Clan. Gu Xun'er, my future granddaughter-in-law..."
"And Gu Yuan, that slacker. If he's planning to send his daughter to the Xiao Clan, he'll definitely appear in person the first time. A peak Nine-Star Dou Sheng with an Emperor Realm soul! With the little secrets I'm carrying, there's no way I can hide them from him."
"It seems that before he brings his daughter to the Xiao Clan, I'll have to find an opportunity to avoid meeting him."
Xiao Lin quietly muttered his plans for the future.
He was also extremely wary of Gu Yuan.
Although Gu Yuan was somewhat laid-back, and many people in his previous life had criticized his character and personality online...
No one could criticize his strength!
After all, throughout history, how many people had ever reached the level of a peak Nine-Star Dou Sheng with an Emperor Realm soul?
Even counting all the famous figures, there weren't more than ten.
If Gu Yuan wanted to see through the little secrets hidden within Xiao Lin, it would be effortless. Therefore, in Xiao Lin's view, avoiding Gu Yuan when the latter brought his daughter to the Xiao Clan was absolutely necessary.
At present, Xiao Lin had no intention of exposing himself to the Gu Clan's attention.
Thinking pessimistically, Xiao Lin certainly didn't want the Gu Clan to use him as a pawn and sell him out to the Hun Clan with a borrowed knife...
**
Support me at patreon for 450+ advanced chapters :
patreon.com/YaoIk