Above the plaza where the Ancient Clan held its coming-of-age ceremonies, in the Ancient Realm!
The air began to writhe violently, sending ripples across its surface. Then a crack appeared!
A figure in blue robes stepped out of the fissure!
It was Gu Yuan!
Seeing the scene before him, which looked like a wasteland, Gu Yuan froze for several seconds!
In the thousand years since he had become clan leader, the Ancient Clan had never faced anything so horrifying!
In an instant, an uncontrollable, towering fury surged in his heart!
He swore that no matter who was responsible,
he would grind the culprit's bones to dust!
"Clan leader, you're finally back!"
A voice choked with joy came from below!
Gu Yuan moved in a flash and appeared before the speaker.
"What happened to the clan? Why does everything look like this? Who did this? Was it the Hun Clan?!"
In the Central Plains, aside from the Hun Clan,
who else had the strength to break into the Ancient Clan's stronghold and wreck it like this?
Gu Chi shook his head, his face bitter. "Clan leader, it wasn't the Hun Clan. It was... it was... the Xiao Clan leader..."
Gu Yuan said coldly, "Impossible! I just came back from the Xiao Clan. Its current leader, Xiao Zhan, is only a Da Dou Shi!"
"Clan leader, not that Xiao Clan leader. It was... it was Xiao Xuan. Xiao Xuan did this!"
"Who did you say?! Xiao Xuan?!"
Gu Yuan thought he must have misheard!
Xiao Xuan had fallen a thousand years ago!
He had seen with his own eyes how Xiao Xuan, relying on his formidable strength, managed to preserve a sliver of his soul and enter the Heavenly Tomb, where he clung to life in another form.
Given the Heavenly Tomb's unique nature, Xiao Xuan's remnant soul couldn't possibly leave it!
"Do you really think I wouldn't kill you?!"
"Clan leader, it really was Xiao Xuan. This is what happened..."
Gu Chi nodded and quickly told Gu Yuan everything that had happened.
Gu Yuan stood stunned for a full minute after hearing him out!
Xiao Xuan was still alive?!
The news was so shocking, it was like being told that the Hun Clan leader had suffered a cultivation deviation and suddenly died!
Shock!
Petrification!
Disbelief!
None of it could describe the tangled emotions he felt.
When he came back to himself,
Gu Yuan vanished in a flash.
When he appeared again, he was already in the Ancient Clan's reception hall.
At that moment,
inside the reception hall,
the Black Annihilation King, the Three Immortals of the Gu Clan, Gu Nanhai, and the other Dou Sheng Experts of the Ancient Clan were all present.
Xiao Xuan sat in the seat of honor, legs planted wide!
His expression was calm,
as if he were the clan leader here!
He drank his tea without a care in the world.
The Ancient Clan elders stood by cautiously, their faces wreathed in obsequious smiles.
It was just like the scene back at the Xiao Clan!
However, as a peak nine-star Dou Sheng Expert,
Gu Yuan could tell at a glance that Xiao Xuan was only a soul body!
But he wasn't a remnant soul!
He was a complete soul body!
This astonished Gu Yuan!
Even he had no way to restore a remnant soul to a complete soul body!
Could it be... Xiao Xuan had encountered some fortuitous opportunity in the Heavenly Tomb?
Besides, Gu Lie was an eight-star Dou Sheng!
Even he had to sit in the hall with the other Ancient Clan elders, smiling ingratiatingly at Xiao Xuan!
Clearly, he was no match for Xiao Xuan either!
So what level of strength had Xiao Xuan reached?
Wait!
Could this Xiao Xuan...
be an impostor sent by the Hun Clan?!
Gu Yuan began to suspect as much.
Just then, Xiao Xuan's voice rang out.
"Gu Yuan, I thought you were going to hide from me forever!"
Xiao Xuan set down his teacup and looked up at the man who had suddenly appeared before him, giving a cold laugh.
"Clan leader!"
Everyone else stood and called out in unison.
Every face was marked with guilt.
Gu Yuan waved them off and walked straight toward Xiao Xuan.
Looking at that familiar yet unfamiliar figure and hearing that long-missed voice,
his throat tightened.
After hesitating for a moment, he asked as if needing confirmation, "You... you really are Xiao Xuan!"
"What? After a thousand years, you don't recognize me? If it weren't for me, would you and your wife have ever gotten together?"
Xiao Xuan said with a cold laugh.
At that, Gu Yuan's old face flushed red.
Back then, Gu Yuan had met his wife and successfully won her over thanks to Xiao Xuan.
Only the three of them knew about it.
That dispelled his suspicions about Xiao Xuan's identity completely.
Gu Yuan sighed and looked at Xiao Xuan, his tone complicated. "It's not that I don't recognize you. I just... I just can't believe you're still alive!"
He had thought his old friend was dead, yet a thousand years later, Xiao Xuan had appeared before him once more.
For a moment, Gu Yuan didn't know what to say.
He had even forgotten that he was supposed to demand an explanation.
Just then, the thoughtful Gu Nanhai stepped forward. "Clan leader, please punish me."
"Clan leader, please punish us."
The other elders also bowed to accept their punishment.
Only then did Gu Yuan remember.
His expression turned cold as he said,
"Xiao Xuan, I'm glad you've returned, and this is certainly worth celebrating. But you've left my Ancient Clan in that state. Don't you owe me an explanation?"
"I owe you an explanation? Fine! But before that, shouldn't you give me a reasonable explanation? I gave you so many things and asked you to look after the Xiao Clan. You could've refused back then, but since you accepted my gifts, how did you look after them? The current clan leader is only a Da Dou Shi, weaker than the guards at your gates! Is that how the mighty Ancient Clan looks after people?"
As his words fell, a terrifying power, like that of a sovereign ruling over heaven and earth, swept out from Xiao Xuan's body!
It transformed into a storm of soul power that ground every table and chair in the hall to dust!
The floor cracked rapidly outward from Xiao Xuan.
Several Ancient Clan elders couldn't withstand the pressure and instantly fell to their knees.
"An Emperor Realm Soul, too! How is that possible?!"
Feeling the soul power sweeping out, Gu Yuan's expression changed abruptly!
A thousand years ago, Xiao Xuan had also possessed an Emperor Realm Soul, but he had already fallen, and the one in the Heavenly Tomb was only a remnant soul!
How had a remnant soul cultivated an Emperor Realm Soul?
"Gu Yuan, you're surprised too soon. Try taking this move as well!"
Xiao Xuan channeled his soul power and unleashed a soul technique, conjuring a fist dozens of zhang across and smashing it toward Gu Yuan!
Gu Yuan didn't dare be careless. He likewise condensed a barrier from his Emperor Realm Soul!
Boom!
Crack!
The fist struck the barrier. It paused for only two and a half seconds before smashing through it!
Defeated, Gu Yuan was aghast!
"We both have an Emperor Realm Soul. Why is your attack so powerful?!"
"Pure soul power alone couldn't break through a barrier formed by another Emperor Realm Soul. But I used a high-tier soul technique!"
"You... you used a soul technique just now?" Soul techniques were exceedingly rare throughout the Dou Qi Continent. Even the Ancient Clan had only one low-tier soul technique.
"Exactly!" Xiao Xuan admitted.
Gu Yuan said enviously, "I never imagined you'd encounter such a fortuitous opportunity in the Heavenly Tomb!"
"Gu Yuan! Enough nonsense. We haven't settled our score yet!"
Things had come to this. For the sake of the Ancient Clan, Gu Yuan had no choice but to weigh whether he truly wanted to fall out with Xiao Xuan and fight to the death!
After considering the matter for a moment,
Gu Yuan gritted his teeth and said,
"Xiao Xuan, my Ancient Clan did break its word regarding the Xiao Clan. To show our remorse, the Ancient Clan is willing to return double the Cultivation Methods and Combat Skills from back then. We can also offer some additional compensation. As for the damage you've caused the Ancient Clan... let's call it even. What do you say?"
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