The day Xiao Fan emerged from the Heavenly Tomb, he did not head for the Soul Realm.
He returned to Serene Water Snake Valley.
When Qing Lin finally saw him at the valley entrance, she first spotted Zi Yan, then saw that no black mist had pursued them. Only then did her anxious heart settle.
"Brother, the food is still warm."
Xiao Fan had intended to say he would inspect the defenses first.
But when the words reached his lips, they became something else.
"All right. Let's eat first."
Xiao Yi Xian placed the medicinal scrolls brought back from the Yao Clan on the bookshelf. Medusa watched him from beside the table, the wine in her cup untouched.
"Finally willing to rest?"
"For a few days."
"Your few days had better be as long as everyone else's."
Xiao Fan smiled without arguing.
He slept deeply that night.
There were no dark rifts, nor anyone urging him onward in his dreams. When he woke, the half-eaten medicinal fruit Zi Yan had left sat beside the window, while the medicine schedule Xiao Yi Xian had written lay on the table.
He gazed at them for a long time before picking up the fruit.
Over the next three years, war still raged in the Central Plains, but the Soul Hall could no longer reach out unchecked from the shadows.
Gu Yuan and the clan leaders of the Flame and Lei Clans jointly investigated the missing clan realms. Yao Dan gathered the Yao Clan's survivors, while Danta opened its Medicine Garden and offered places for disciples. The Ancient Void Dragons handled the void passages, and the Nine Nether Deep Earth Pythons tracked down underground soul formations. For the first time, every faction's intelligence appeared on the same map.
The Soul Clan tried to seize