Two years later

Unbeknownst to him, nearly two years had passed since Xiao Yan was swallowed by the Fire Python formed from the Fallen Heart Flame, and then suppressed under the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower along with it.

During these two years, Jia Nan Academy remained largely unchanged.

About half a year ago, Medusa broke through the seal beneath the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower and appeared at the Jia Nan Academy, causing a minor commotion.

However, Medusa's appearance was good news for those at the Jia Nan Academy who were worried about Xiao Yan.

Because they can learn about Xiao Yan's current situation from Medusa!

Although Medusa doesn't really want to talk about Xiao Yan now, she has been staying at the Jia Nan Academy for so long, and she can't very well not say anything when the academy's Leadership try to find out about Xiao Yan from her.

When Su Qian and other Leadership of the Jia Nan Academy learned that Xiao Yan was safe and sound, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Xiao Lin had already mentioned it before, receiving confirmation from Medusa, who shared a similar experience with Xiao Yan, made Su Qian and the others feel even more at ease.

After that, Medusa originally intended to return to the Tagor Desert immediately.

After all, she had been away from the Snake-People Tribe for several years, so naturally she was worried about the safety of her people.

Moreover, she hasn't even obtained the Spirit Fusion Pill from Xiao Yan yet, and she's already successfully fused with the soul of the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python, so she naturally doesn't need it anymore.

As for the Medicinal Pills she had asked Xiao Yan to refine for her earlier, after what happened in the Underground Magma World, she no longer knew how to face Xiao Yan, so she thought she might as well return to the Snake-People Tribe.

But perhaps it was fate.

Before Medusa left, she met Zi Yan, and the two quickly became good friends!

Even though they haven't known each other for as long as in the Original Work, sometimes fate is just that wonderful.

Sometimes, the length of time two people have known each other does not affect the friendship between them!

After spending another two or three months with Zi Yan, Medusa left Jia Nan Academy and returned to the Tagor Desert.

Before leaving, Medusa even invited Zi Yan to be her guest!

Although Zi Yan didn't go with them directly, she readily agreed.

It's clear that the two get along very well.

And so, Medusa departed.

On the other hand, as Xiao Yan's fiancée, Nalan Yanran learned from Xiao Lin that Xiao Yan would be alright.

I stayed at the Jia Nan Academy for more than a month, and then applied to the college for two years of training outside the college.

Initially, Su Qian was reluctant to approve such a long training period.

But meeting Nalan Yanran's determined gaze, he finally agreed.

Therefore, Nalan Yanran had already left Jia Nan Academy a long time ago.

After all, for Nalan Yanran, the main reason she came to the Jia Nan Academy was because of Xiao Yan.

Now that Xiao Yan has to stay under the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower for about two years, what's the point of her staying alone in the academy?

Moreover, and most importantly, as Xiao Yan's talent gradually becomes apparent, the gap between the two is widening.

Although Nalan Yanran had already decided on Xiao Yan, she didn't want to just be a decorative figurehead by his side in the future.

Therefore, it is perfectly normal for her to want to go out and gain experience in order to improve her strength.

All she wanted was to become someone qualified to stand beside Xiao Yan, that's all!

Back to Xiao Lin, everyone else has their own things to do, so he's relatively free now.

Since Xiao Yan entered the Underground Magma World two years ago, although he has devoted most of his time to cultivation, the transition from the Late Five-Star Dou Sheng to the Early Six-Star Dou Sheng is a considerable hurdle.

It's important to know that Six-Star Dou Sheng can master the techniques of Spatial Displacement and creating Chaos Spaces!

This is something that even Five-Star Dou Sheng does not possess.

Despite his current stats, even disregarding his status as Spirit Array Master, Xiao Lin is comparable to Six-Star Dou Sheng.

In reality, if Six-Star Dou Sheng didn't want to fight Xiao Lin to the death and wanted to escape, even with the methods of Spirit Array Master, Xiao Lin wouldn't be able to stop him!

Because the ability to Spatial Displacement is so overpowered that it can forcibly move an entire area of space.

To be honest, if Xiao Lin had been Five-Star Dou Sheng and Hun Zhan a Six-Star Dou Sheng, even if he had meticulously planned to lure Hun Zhan into the Minor Zhoutian Star-Dipper Formation, the latter would probably still have had a way to escape!

This is the suppression that Six-Star Dou Sheng can exert over those of lower ranks!

Therefore, despite the passage of two years, Xiao Lin still has not found an opportunity to break through to the Six-Star Dou Sheng level.

Therefore, when he wasn't cultivating, Xiao Lin basically stayed in one of three places: the Myriad Formation Spirit Palace, Jia Nan Academy, and the Xiao Household Ancestral Residence.

With his current strength, traveling between these three places would only take him ten minutes at most, so it wasn't troublesome at all.

Of course, during this period, Xiao Lin must have also investigated Xiao Yan's situation at the Jia Nan Academy.

After discovering that Xiao Yan was making good progress, he simply observed without interfering.

It's fair to say that everything has been quite peaceful for the past two years!

However, at the same time, something else was about to erupt...

Inside one of the Earth Fiend Halls of the Central Plains Soul Hall, the interior appeared extremely dark.

At the very depths of this Earth Fiend Hall lies an incredibly spacious palace!

Around this palace are placed vessels that Naling.

Among these vessels, some souls have fallen into a deep sleep, while others are angrily pounding on the vessels.

However, no matter how hard they struggled, they could not break free.

The souls contained within these vessels belong to powerful individuals from Central Plains and several other continents!

It's likely that no one expected that the souls of these powerful figures who had mysteriously disappeared would fall into the hands of the Soul Hall.

In the center of this palace stood two black iron thrones inlaid with skulls!

On these two skeletal iron thrones, two figures in black robes sat leisurely, their gazes occasionally sweeping over the souls within the vessels around them.

Both of their eyes held a mixture of cruelty and mockery.

"Hehehe, you lot, give up your futile struggle! Your souls have fallen into the hands of my Soul Hall, do you think you can escape?"

One of the figures in black robes spoke with a strange laugh.

The other figure in black robes showed no reaction whatsoever, not even a change in expression.

The two have been working together for over a decade, so they naturally know each other's personalities well.

This companion of mine had no other hobbies but enjoyed seeing the despair in the eyes of these souls.

These two people are the Hall Master and Vice Hall Master of this Earth Fiend Branch Halls.

Furthermore, they all possess the cultivation level of Dou Venerable.

The one who just made that strange laugh was the Vice Hall Master of this Earth Fiend Hall, Venerable Qing Hai, who possessed the cultivation of Late-Stage Two-Star Dou Venerable.

As for the other one who remained silent, it was the Hall Master of this branch hall, the Venerable E Yuan, a Mid-Stage Three-Star Dou Venerable.

The two were ordered by Hun Miesheng, the master of the Hun Miesheng Soul Hall Master, to jointly manage this Earth Fiend Branch Halls.

Just recently, various guardians from the Northwest Continent came to this Earth Fiend Hall to hand over the souls they had collected over the years.

After a series of rewards and punishments were handed over based on the souls submitted by these guardians, those who deserved promotion were promoted, those who deserved demotion were demotiond, and others remained unchanged.

Now, apart from the necessary staff maintaining operations, everyone else has left this branch hall to begin a new five-year cycle of soul collection.

With nothing else to do, the two Hall Masters naturally took to teasing these souls who had not yet fallen.

After joking around for a while, the two Hall Masters finally got down to business.

"Qing Hai, the souls that the protectors sent this time don't seem to be of very good quality! If we hand these souls over to the three main halls, we'll probably get a scolding."

As the Hall Master of this Earth Fiend Hall, E Yuan spoke first.

"I know, those guardians down there are doing nothing but causing more and more anger! This time, there were even guardians sent to the Northwest Continent who didn't return to hand over their souls!"

Upon hearing E Yuan mention it, Qing Hai's expression also turned sour.

"Oh? The Northwest Continent? Is there anyone in that small place who could kill my Soul Hall Protector?"

An expression of disbelief appeared on E Yuan's face.

After all, over the years, the protectors of the Soul Hall have indeed frequently suffered various casualties in the Central Plains, but in the other continents, the number of protectors has basically reached its limit.

Normally, as long as you don't provoke those few forces with Dou Venerable power, nothing should happen.

"No, he's not dead, but he hasn't returned! I suspect he might be trapped by some powerful figure from the Northwest Continent!"

Qing Hai shared his guess.

"The person isn't dead, but hasn't returned? Heh heh heh, interesting. They actually dared to imprison Soul Hall Protector! What do those small-town bastards want? To probe the secrets of my Soul Hall?"

"Qing Hai, would you like to make a trip there?"

After hearing Qing Hai's guess, E Yuan also sneered.

In Central Plains, the waters run deep. If the Dharma Protector falls, so be it; they can disregard it.

But it's absolutely unacceptable for the enemy's protector to fall!

"Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking. I'll see who this person is, daring to have such audacity!"

Qing Hai nodded and did not object.

Or rather, this was his original idea.

"Okay, if anything unexpected happens, send me a message immediately! We've been working together for so many years, I'll decide whether to help you or report it to higher authorities, depending on the situation."

As E Yuan said, the two have been working together for so long that they have developed a certain level of friendship, and he has no intention of changing partners for the time being.

"Hehehe, don't worry, it's just a small place like the Northwest Continent, what kind of accidents could happen? Even if things go wrong, I'll always be able to escape back!"

Clearly, Qing Hai didn't really believe such a thing could happen.

As Qing Hai finished speaking, he had already left the Earth Fiend Branch Halls.

As for the one he mentioned who hadn't returned, it was none other than Protector Wu!