The arrow pointed toward the Misty Cloud Sect

"It's a long story." Gu Yuan shook his head, his expression gradually growing grave.

Although Gu Lie and Gu Dao were both seasoned veterans, neither had ever seen Gu Yuan wear an expression as grave as this.

They immediately grew more solemn.

Gu Yuan kept the long story short. His tone was more solemn than ever, his eyes utterly serious. "A mysterious Peak Nine-Star Dou Saint has appeared in the Misty Cloud Sect of the Jia Ma Empire, in the Northwest Region. His cultivation is the same as mine, but his combat strength far surpasses mine."

"These injuries of mine were his handiwork, sustained when I fought him."

"The most terrifying part is that this mysterious Peak Nine-Star Dou Saint is only around twenty years old."

At these words, Gu Lie's and Gu Dao's pupils trembled, waves of shock surging through their hearts.

"Clan Chief, are you certain?!"

They could hardly be blamed for asking.

After all, everyone knew how difficult it was for a Dou Sheng to emerge, let alone a Nine-Star Dou Sheng.

That required not only talent and bloodline power, but also immense foundations and boundless fortune.

Being questioned stirred Gu Yuan's temper. He snorted coldly. "How else do you think I got these injuries?!"

"Never mind that Hun Tiandi has remained in seclusion in the Soul Realm since his battle with Xiao Xuan a thousand years ago.

"Even if I truly encountered him, he wouldn't dare clash with me for the time being."

In truth, Gu Lie and Gu Dao already knew the answer when they voiced their doubts.

They simply refused to believe it.

Gu Yuan was right.

Neither Hun Tiandi nor Gu Yuan represented only himself. They represented the Gu Clan and the Soul Clan.

Unless one side had absolute confidence in defeating the other, neither would dare truly make a move.

Their earlier mobilization of the Black Annihilation Army at the gates to attack the Soul Realm had chiefly been prompted by the news that their young miss, who bore their clan's fortune, might have fallen into the Soul Clan's hands.

They had dispatched troops only to pressure the Soul Clan: if they did not want war between the two clans to leave both sides battered and broken, they had better release the Gu Clan's young miss immediately.

"Then what are we to do?" After a long silence, Grand Elder Gu Dao spoke with deep concern.

In that brief instant, many thoughts had passed through his mind.

Chen Yang's appearance had tipped the balanced scales. It was bad news for both the Gu Clan and the Soul Clan.

"Let's wait and see for now!" Gu Yuan could not think of a good solution either, so he could only let matters take their course.

Gu Lie and Gu Dao exchanged glances at his words and agreed that this was the best approach.

"That's all we can do."

"However, we should still send an envoy with generous gifts to pay a visit another day and try to mend our relationship."

"After all, Clan Chief, you did attack the Misty Cloud Sect. You even nearly killed his woman."

"That's our only option!" Gu Yuan nodded, his tone grave.

Meanwhile, on the frontier of the Northwest Region, Soul One, Soul Two, and Soul Three had finally arrived from the Central Plains after a day of relentless travel.

Upon entering the Northwest Region, they could clearly sense that the Heaven and Earth Dou Qi here was far sparser than in the Central Plains.

The enormous disparity caused them some discomfort, but it did not last long. They soon adjusted.

After traveling from the Central Plains to the Northwest Region, the first thing those three blockheads—Soul One, Soul Two, and Soul Three—did was take out their communication device and contact the Branch Hall Master to report their arrival.

Suddenly contacted in the middle of the night, the Branch Hall Master was speechless, then began cursing.

When they contacted him at such an hour, he had thought they had found the Tou She Ancient God Jade!

Instead, this was all they had to tell him?!

Irritated, the Branch Hall Master gave the three a thorough tongue-lashing and sternly told them not to contact him again unless it was important.

If there was anything they did not understand, they were to contact Protector Xuan or Iron Protector directly.

No sooner had he mentioned Iron Protector than the Soul Envoy responsible for tending the Soul Lamps reported that Iron Protector's Soul Lamp had just gone out.

The Soul Hall Branch Hall Master: "...!"

Yet another Dou Zong-level protector had been lost!

How little time had passed? What the hell was lurking in the Northwest Region?

This needed to be reported to his superiors so they could decide what to do.

After some thought, the Soul Hall Branch Hall Master relayed the matter to Soul Hall Headquarters through his communication token.

Headquarters soon replied that if the situation proved sufficiently troublesome, they would send a venerable elder to the Northwest Region to handle it.

Before that, however, the Branch Hall Master had to investigate the matter thoroughly.

The Branch Hall Master had no choice but to give Soul One and the other two an absolute order: uncover the truth within a week, or bring their heads back to him.

Soul One and the other two successfully contacted Protector Xuan.

Through the information Protector Xuan shared, they learned that Iron Protector and Protector Wu had both last disappeared at the Misty Cloud Sect.

At that moment, Protector Xuan was secretly investigating Wutan City.

He had learned something significant: not long ago, a "god" had appeared in Wutan City and brought rain upon it with a mere turn of his hand.

Moreover, after this "god" appeared, news had spread that the Misty Cloud Sect had broken off its engagement with the Xiao Clan. At the same time, Xiao Yan, the former genius, had regained his cultivation talent.

There was something strange at every turn.

Protector Xuan had caught a whiff of something unusual.

The events seemed unconnected, yet connections showed through everywhere.

Protector Wu's and Iron Protector's disappearances were connected to the Misty Cloud Sect.

Xiao Yan's broken engagement was also connected to the Misty Cloud Sect.

Could there also be a connection between the "god" who could summon rain with a turn of his hand and the man who had recently gone to the Misty Cloud Sect and forcibly married its sect master?

Three generations of Misty Cloud Sect Masters sharing the same husband was strange in itself.

Thus, after he sorted things out a little, every arrow seemed to point toward the Misty Cloud Sect.

Protector Xuan felt that he really needed to visit the Misty Cloud Sect.

But remembering that Protector Wu and Iron Protector had both died outside the Misty Cloud Sect, Protector Xuan, who cherished his life, hesitated.

After some thought, he decided to first reveal his suspicions to those three fools, Soul One and his companions, and let them lead the charge and scout the way.

If his suspicions proved correct, he would immediately report to the hall master and have the higher-ups send someone to take over.

Only after sharing his suspicions with Soul One, Soul Two, and Soul Three did Protector Xuan turn his gaze back to the Xiao Clan ahead.

The Xiao Clan bore the surname Xiao, as did the Xiao Clan of the Ancient Eight Clans. Could there be some connection between the two?

For instance, could Wutan City's Xiao Clan be the utterly fallen remnants of that ancient Xiao Clan?

If this Xiao Clan truly was the former member of the Ancient Eight Clans, the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Jade Fragment was very likely here.

Protector Xuan slipped into the Xiao Clan to investigate.

His investigation revealed nothing unusual.

The Xiao Clan seemed to be nothing more than the Xiao Clan, with not the slightest connection to the Xiao Clan of the Ancient Eight Clans.

In particular, their strongest member, Xiao Zhan, was only a Da Dou Shi. The clansmen as a whole were as weak as chickens, without the slightest bearing of descendants of the Ancient Eight Clans.

Which of the Ancient Eight Clans did not swagger with overwhelming might?

Thus, Protector Xuan set that notion aside for the time being. Having failed to find the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Jade Fragment he sought, he left the Xiao Clan.