The outside world knew nothing about the Mutated Sky Cloud Elephant. Only the Huo Family's true inner circle knew about it; even the Outer Sect disciples remained in the dark. Huo Hai had deliberately ordered it kept that way.
After all, the Huo Family's actual strength was not that great. If outsiders learned that such a powerful Sky Cloud Elephant was here, there was no telling what they might do. They might seize a moment when Huo Hai was distracted and destroy the Huo Family outright. Without the family, even the Sky Cloud Elephant would no longer pose a threat to them. To many people, that would be a very worthwhile trade.
With the Sky Cloud Elephant backing them, however, the family members' morale soared. They could stand straighter even when speaking to others. Outsiders knew nothing about the reason and merely found the Huo Family's confidence somewhat strange.
To preserve secrecy, outsiders did not even know that Huo Hai had returned. He had enemies of his own, after all. The Blood God Sect, for example, was currently looking to make trouble for him, while the Celestial Star Sect had always wanted him to join.
The name Insect Sovereign carried tremendous weight in the Heavenly Soul Domain, second only to existences such as the Heavenly Soul Sect and the Blood Blade.
Time slipped by. To Huo Hai's frustration, his cultivation took just as long as he had feared, exceeding his original estimate. The further he progressed, the longer it took to recover his depleted mental power. Only after three full years did he finally draw close to completing his will runes.
Over those three years, Huo Hai had not been entirely ignorant of events. News from the outside world frequently reached him. Although the Huo Family had not formally entered