The Xiao Wu Bloodline

When Xiao Han had first said he wanted to take Xiao Wu as his disciple, he had only planned to make him a Nominal Disciple. Of course, if Xiao Wu's performance met Xiao Han's requirements, promoting him to a full disciple would be perfectly fine.

Unexpectedly, when Shi Tou was preparing to travel to the Central Plains with Xiao Han, he brought out the Jade Pendant that could reveal Xiao Wu's origins.

According to Shi Tou, when he had found Xiao Wu, it had been a day of heavy fog, which was also how he had gotten his name.

At the time, Shi Tou had searched the surrounding area but had found no one else.

The swaddling clothes Xiao Wu had been wrapped in were richly decorated and extremely valuable, clearly indicating that he had come from an extraordinary background.

Occurrences like this were very common on the continent.

Usually, the child's family had provoked an extremely powerful enemy, forcing the elders to abandon the infant somewhere and then lead passersby to discover it, thereby preserving the family's bloodline.

The only thing on Xiao Wu that could identify him was a Jade Pendant bearing intricate patterns and the character "Xiao."

Back then, Shi Tou had chosen to give the Jade Pendant to Xiao Han precisely in hopes of using his power to locate Xiao Wu's clansmen.

The moment Xiao Han first saw the Jade Pendant, he had determined Xiao Wu's identity: he was a Xiao Clan Descendant.

Aside from the character "Xiao," it was the pattern on the Jade Pendant that allowed Xiao Han to reach that conclusion at a glance.

That was because Xiao Han himself possessed a Jade Pendant with a similar pattern. This Jade Pendant represented the identity of a core disciple of the Xiao Clan.

This was also what made Xiao Han feel fortunate.

As the Xiao Clan declined and its heritage was gradually forgotten, many things had slowly lost their original meaning in the eyes of the Xiao Clan members.

For example, the existence of the Tou She Ancient God Jade. If not for Xiao Han's appearance, everyone would have treated it as nothing more than an ordinary token of the Clan Chief.

The same was true of this pattern.

In Xiao Han's era, ordinary Xiao Clan disciples merely possessed a simple metal Xiao Character Token.

Only the Xiao Clan's core disciples possessed a Jade Pendant like this.

The character "Xiao" was engraved on the front, while the pattern was on the back.

However, because the pattern was too complicated and extremely difficult to produce, it seemed to have been simplified after Xiao Han's time.

It could be said that those who could still recognize this pattern were all old-timers on the level of the Xiao Clan's ancestors. There were no more than five such people in the entire Xiao Clan.

Xiao Han had been able to recognize the pattern because he had once suspected that it was the Xiao Clan Crest and had carefully searched through the relevant records, though he had found nothing.

Although the materials of the two Jade Pendants were completely different, their patterns were identical, which aroused Xiao Han's intense interest.

At the time, Xiao Han had personally asked Xiao Zhan whether any of the core disciples of the Xiao Clan from his generation had gone missing.

The answer he received was no. Every member on record could be accounted for.

Even Xiao Han himself, back when he had still been alive, had remained listed as missing rather than dead in the clan records until his death had been confirmed.

Aside from that, nearly all the other core members had died. The only two remaining core members were still alive and residing peacefully within the clan.

Since that was the case, the truth was obvious.

Xiao Wu was a descendant of the Xiao Clan from another branch, and he was also a core member.

This excited Xiao Han for a while. He had originally thought that the Xiao Clan had already been reduced to a lone surviving branch.

He had never expected there to be another pleasant surprise.

But this was soon followed by solemnity. Xiao Wu had been abandoned in the wilderness, which meant that the members of that branch of the Xiao Clan had probably met with disaster.

This strengthened Xiao Han's resolve to increase his efforts to search for the other Xiao Clan branches.

Since Xiao Wu's clan had managed to pass down its bloodline, it was not impossible that other branches still existed.

Although he did not hold out much hope, Xiao Han still arranged for people to keep an eye out for relevant news.

With Xiao Wu possessing the bloodline of the Xiao Clan, he was naturally Xiao Han's best successor.

As the saying went, good things should not be given to outsiders. Even if countless generations separated Xiao Wu and himself, the inheritance was naturally best passed on to one of his own.

However, despite having confirmed Xiao Wu's identity, Xiao Han still had no intention of revealing it to him.

Otherwise...

"Xiao Wu, you are my long-lost clansman!"

Xiao Wu: "..."

"We are descendants of Dou Di. You must strive for the Xiao Clan's revival for the rest of your life!"

"Get lost!"

After all, Xiao Wu was still too young and might be unable to accept such an abrupt revelation. It would be better to follow the example of the Xiao Clan and slowly reveal certain secrets to him after his fifteenth Coming-of-Age Ceremony.

Let nature take its course. Xiao Han refused to believe that the little fellow would still be able to run away by then.

What a joke!

With his talent, reaching Dou Ling at the age of fifteen would already be the limit. How could he possibly break out of Langya Pavilion, where Dou Zong and Dou Zun experts were everywhere while Dou Wang and Dou Emperors were as common as dogs?

He was a Dou Sheng expert and the Langya Pavilion Master. If Xiao Wu escaped, he would change his surname to Xiao.

Of course, now was not the time to think about these things.

Xiao Han was currently making preparations for the many affairs of Langya Pavilion after he entered seclusion.

Yi Huang and Ye Jianxin had already begun arranging the aftermath before him.

"All right, is there anything else that needs to be explained?" Ye Jianxin asked helplessly.

He clearly wanted to enter seclusion as well. Could these mundane matters not simply be left to Deputy Pavilion Master Yi Huang? She was the publicly acknowledged big sister of Langya Pavilion!

Handling these minor matters would be effortless for her.

"All right, get lost!" Xiao Han waved his hand with an utterly disgusted expression.

So this was what it meant to be abandoned after finding a wife. Once he had a wife, he no longer cared about his brothers, did he? His wife was as close as his hands and feet, while his brothers had become worthless scraps, right?

Ye Jianxin gazed at Xiao Han with a resentful expression. The look on his face was so revolting that Xiao Han nearly attacked him outright. Then, carrying a deep sense of grievance, he walked out of the study.

"Huang'er." When Xiao Han turned toward Yi Huang, his tone immediately softened considerably.

"Is something the matter?" Yi Huang asked with a charming smile.

Watching the interactions between her Husband and his brother, she felt that the gloom weighing on her chest recently had lightened considerably.

"I hope you can pay attention to any news related to Exotic Fire," Xiao Han said solemnly.

"What happened? Haven't we always been keeping an eye on news about Exotic Fire?" Yi Huang asked in confusion.

"I hope you can find those Exotic Fire flames that already have masters."

"What do you mean?" Yi Huang was initially confused, but she quickly covered her mouth and said in shock, "You couldn't possibly be planning to target those inherited Exotic Fire flames, could you?"

"No..." The moment he heard this, Xiao Han knew that Yi Huang had misunderstood him.

He corrected her, "I mean finding second flames of those same Exotic Fire types."

Although Exotic Fire was born from heaven and earth, each type required a uniquely blessed environment and thousands upon thousands of years before it could take shape. They were incredibly difficult to produce and even harder to capture.

At the same time, this meant that as long as there was a similar environment, there was a chance for the same type of Exotic Fire to be born.

Although Xiao Han knew this speculation was incredibly crazy, success would mean the possibility of obtaining more Exotic Fire.

Even if they were not the world-destroying divine treasures ranked among the top three, having any of them would be enough.

Xiao Han knew exactly what kind of cultivation technique his future junior would practice, and that he would stop at nothing to obtain Exotic Fire.

If not for his overwhelming destiny, he might have lived an ordinary and unremarkable life.

Collecting some in advance could at least lighten his burden a little. Besides, when it came to Exotic Fire, the more, the better.

There were many people who wanted to obtain Exotic Fire. If not for certain reasons preventing him from fusing with Exotic Fire, he might have been extremely envious as well.

Moreover, even if it were only used as a decoration, it would instantly raise the entire faction's prestige by a considerable margin.