"Xiao Yan...!"
As that hearty laughter rang out, Xiao Yan slowly stepped out of the spatial rift. Looking at the many figures gathered around him, he smiled brightly and said, "Everyone, there's no need to be so formal. I'm only a junior—I can hardly accept such a welcome from all of you seniors...!"
Once Xiao Yan appeared, the soul pressure pervading the space swiftly dissipated. Yet as they looked at the young man in black, the ripples emanating from his dark eyes made them feel as though they were gazing into a bottomless sea.
"It really is you, kid!"
"Great! False alarm—I thought some powerful enemy had come knocking!"
"Ha ha ha!"
At the sight of Xiao Yan, everyone relaxed. Discussions broke out one after another, and smiles appeared on their faces.
"Your Soul Power... has reached the Emperor Realm?" Gu Yuan studied Xiao Yan, hardly able to believe it. His own Soul Realm was at the Emperor Realm, so he knew better than anyone how difficult it was to cultivate one's soul to that level. The difficulty was no less than reaching the late stage of the Nine-star Dou Sheng realm.
Moreover, even with the Ancient Clan at his back and its vast resources at his disposal, he had only cultivated his Soul Realm to the Emperor Realm after breaking through to the Nine-star Dou Sheng and spending several thousand more years training. Yet how old was Xiao Yan? He had not even lived a fraction of Gu Yuan's life! And how long had it taken him to break through from the peak of the Heaven Realm to the Emperor Realm? It seemed... half a month. Accounting for the different flow of time within the Heaven Tomb, it had been... three months in total. Less than half a year.