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Now that he had a plan, Xiao Lin had no intention of lingering on this desolate mountain on the border between the Jia Ma Empire and the Luo Yan Empire.
After suppressing the Soul Envoy token that originally belonged to Yan Penghong, Xiao Lin chose to head home. However, although Xiao Lin had left quietly for his life-and-death duel with Yan Penghong, his return was done with great fanfare!
Not only that, even though Xiao Lin had easily killed Yan Penghong with a single strike, he returned in a "severely injured" state!
On that day, many people in the Jia Ma Imperial Capital saw a familiar figure fall from the sky toward the city gates, stumbling all the way back to the Xiao Clan while coughing up blood.
"Did you see that? Who was that person just now?"
"I could never mistake him, that's the Clan Leader of the Xiao Clan, Xiao Lin!"
"I'm also very sure, that person is Xiao Lin!"
"But, don't you think it's strange? Why would the Xiao Clan Leader be so heavily injured?"
"Who knows what he actually went out to do?"
"Did he run into an enemy?"
"But, what kind of enemy could injure Clan Leader Xiao to that extent?"
"Yeah, don't forget that Clan Leader Xiao is, after all, ranked fifth on our Jia Ma Empire's Top Ten Experts Ranking!"
"Not long ago, he even single-handedly wiped out the Qieke Clan, which was also a Dou Wang clan!"
"Who was it? Did some Dou Huang make a move?"
"I think it's unlikely to be someone from our Jia Ma Empire."
"I think so too."
"The Xiao Clan, the weather is about to change for them!"
"Go back immediately and report this matter to the Clan Leader!"
...
At this moment, the clouds and winds surged in the Jia Ma Imperial Capital!
One had to know that Xiao Lin, the Clan Leader of the Xiao Clan—one of the four great clans of the Jia Ma Empire—was heavily injured.
This was absolutely a massive piece of news!
Furthermore, Xiao Lin had previously been vaguely called the number one person below the Dou Huang level in the Jia Ma Empire. Now that he was clearly "severely injured" and seen by so many people, how could it not cause a massive uproar?
To the outsiders, the reason the Xiao Clan possessed its current formidable power was entirely due to this current Clan Leader, Xiao Lin, fighting to establish it!
In an instant, various factions and secret spies within the Jia Ma Imperial Capital all sprang into action. Of course, there were also many people who came to the Xiao Clan to investigate, whether out of goodwill, to test the waters, or perhaps harboring some unknown secrets.
However, facing the "severely injured" return of their own Clan Leader, how could the members of the Xiao Clan allow ordinary people to come and cause trouble at this time?
Therefore, except for a few factions that shared a good relationship with the Xiao Clan, everyone else was barred from entering by the Xiao Clan!
Of course, after Xiao Lin returned "severely injured", the entire interior of the Xiao Clan was actually in a complete mess as well. None of them had expected that their Clan Leader would just go out for a trip, only to return looking like this!
Actually, this was mainly because Xiao Lin had not spread the word before going to his life-and-death duel with Yan Penghong. Thus, the ordinary clan members only thought that Xiao Lin had gone on a long journey.
However, as his biological son, Xiao Zhan was currently filled with endless self-blame!
"It's all my fault, all my fault! I should have tried my hardest to stop Father from going to that suspicious life-and-death duel!"
Seeing his own old man sink directly into a "severely injured and comatose" state upon returning to the Xiao Clan, still lying on the bed even now, Xiao Zhan blamed himself so much that he wished he could slap himself a few times.
At this point, the Xiao Clan had already seen off an unknown number of physicians who had come to check on Xiao Lin's injuries. However, after these physicians finished examining Xiao Lin's condition, every single one of them shook their heads, sighed, and left the Xiao Clan.
This caused panic to spread even deeper throughout the entire Xiao Clan.
In the end, even Gu He, a Tier 5 alchemist, had examined Xiao Lin's injuries.
The conclusion he reached was also only one.
"I am truly sorry, Brother Xiao, I am also powerless against Clan Leader Xiao's injuries. To heal this kind of injury, one would need at least a Tier 7 or higher pill! With my current level as an alchemist, I am still unable to refine a pill of that grade."
As he spoke, a look of guilt also appeared on Gu He's face.
He felt quite blamed for being unable to help his friend's father.
Especially since, not long ago, his friend's father had agreed to his request without a second thought and went to wipe out the Qieke Clan, yet he could do nothing for the man now, which made him feel terrible.
"Brother Gu, there is no need to be like this, this is not your responsibility. It's all my fault, I should have stopped my father from going to that life-and-death duel back then!"
Xiao Zhan was naturally not the kind of person who would mindlessly shift the blame onto others. In his eyes, the crux of this matter still lay with himself and his own father, and it had nothing to do with anyone else!
Looking at his friend's self-blaming expression, Gu He, for a moment, did not know how to comfort him.
On the other side, Xiao Lin, who was lying in bed "severely injured and comatose", actually felt a little bit of guilt seeing his son's self-blaming expression. However, for the sake of his plan, he could only let his son continue to feel guilty.
That's right, Xiao Lin's so-called "severely injured coma" was faked.
This was also for his upcoming plan.
His recent actions had indeed been a bit too high-profile.
If things continued like this, by the time Gu Yuan brought Gu Xun'er to the Xiao Clan, he would definitely want to meet him, the current Clan Leader of the Xiao Clan. Therefore, since that was the case, he had to choose to retreat into the background!
There was no reason for a retreat more suitable than being "severely injured".
Didn't he just happen to go to a life-and-death duel with Yan Penghong?
Anyway, no one saw the process of their life-and-death duel, right?
This was the perfect excuse.
In addition, Xiao Lin's retreat due to being "severely injured" could also serve as a motivating force to stimulate Xiao Zhan!
Perhaps because Xiao Lin was there as the pillar of the Xiao Clan, all along, Xiao Zhan, as the Young Clan Leader of the Xiao Clan, had not been overly proactive on the path of cultivation.
So, if Xiao Lin, the pillar of the Xiao Clan, collapsed at this moment, in order to prevent the Xiao Clan from falling into decline again, Xiao Zhan would have no choice but to stake everything and strive!
Although Xiao Lin never expected his son to cultivate to how powerful of a level. But he also didn't want him to be too much of a salted fish. Now, this was a very good opportunity to stimulate Xiao Zhan.
Furthermore, Xiao Lin's "severe injury" had another purpose, which was that he wanted to gradually shift his focus back to raising his own strength first. After all, since he was "severely injured", all matters big and small within the Xiao Clan could be handed over to other people.
As for himself, he could peacefully raise his own strength!
It was precisely out of the above three considerations that Xiao Lin came up with this decision to be "severely injured" after his life-and-death duel with Yan Penghong. However, Xiao Lin had clearly underestimated just how much of an impact his "severe injury and coma" would cause.
It could be said that almost every faction in the Jia Ma Imperial Capital was alarmed!
**
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