Chapter 171: One Year

As soon as he sat down, Xiao Wu went straight to the point, "May I ask Clan Leader Xiao, when will the war between the Jia Ma Empire and the Chu Yun Empire begin?"

This point is very important, because everything is currently hidden beneath the surface, and only when both sides go to war and are locked in a fierce struggle will that Soul Hall Heavenly Venerate be unable to sit still and make a move.

In Xiao Han's plan, Yun Shan taking out that Soul Hall Heavenly Venerate Du Xiezi is only the first step.

As for Xiao Wu and his companion, they are to come to the Jia Ma Empire and then help the other party sweep away the Soul Hall's retaliation against the Jia Ma Empire after the fall of a Heavenly Venerate.

Moreover, they might even be able to take the opportunity to swindle the Soul Hall out of a fortune.

Of course, as for the most important task of finding the Venerable Medicine, although it has been put on the agenda, both of them are clear that there is no great rush right now, and it can wait for a while.

After all, the Venerable Medicine is right there on their own person; the monk may run, but the temple cannot, so he cannot get away.

Regarding Xiao Wu's question, Xiao Zhan was clearly prepared; combining the intelligence recently gathered by the Xiao Clan and the analysis of the high-level members, Xiao Zhan gave his answer.

"The war will likely officially begin in about a year or two; perhaps the upcoming Alchemist Grand Meeting in the Jia Ma Empire will be the fuse."

"Alchemist Grand Meeting?" Xiao Wu asked curiously.

"Yes." Xiao Zhan nodded and explained to the two: "The Jia Ma Empire holds an Alchemist Grand Meeting every eight years, and all alchemists under the age of thirty can participate."

"The upcoming session is less than a year away, and by then, many alchemists from the Jia Ma Empire and foreign lands will rush over to participate."

"This is an opportunity for the Chu Yun Empire."

"An opportunity?" Xian'er asked, puzzled.

Xiao Wu, however, reacted, "For the Chu Yun Empire, which wants to provoke a war, they could completely send a high-level alchemist to infiltrate the Alchemist Grand Meeting."

"If they can win the championship, then the Chu Yun Empire can use this to strike at the Jia Ma Empire's reputation and take the opportunity to launch a war."

After all, for both sides of a war, momentum is also a very important part.

"Of course, if this alchemist is exposed and surrounded and killed by the experts of the Jia Ma Empire, then things will be even simpler..."

Xiao Zhan took the initiative to pick up the conversation and said, "A high-level alchemist dying in the Jia Ma Empire, regardless of the reason, can become an excuse for Chu Yun to launch a war."

"No matter which of these two points happens, it is not a bad thing for the Chu Yun Empire."

Xiao Zhan paused and continued, "Moreover, the current Jia Ma Empire and Chu Yun Empire are not yet prepared for war; it is not a good time to start."

Hearing Xiao Zhan's words, Xiao Wu nodded and muttered to himself, "There is still a year left?"

Originally, when they came over, they thought things would end very quickly; they never expected that the time for them to make a move would still require at least a year. They had miscalculated!

"The two of you can travel around the Jia Ma Empire and the many surrounding empires during this year."

"Of course, if you do not want to delay your cultivation, you can also cultivate in my Xiao Clan's space. With the existence of the Gathering Yuan Array, I believe the cultivation speed will not be slow."

Seeing Xiao Wu's hesitation, Xiao Zhan spoke up proactively; this was also the arrangement Yi Huang had told him about initially.

"Hmm..." Xiao Wu pondered for a while and finally said, "Let's go travel and gain experience! Now that the cultivation speed has slowed down, it doesn't matter if we wait this year."

"Xian'er, what do you think?" Xiao Wu turned his gaze to Xian'er.

The latter only nodded gently to show her agreement, and the softness in her eyes increased by a fraction.

She understood that Xiao Wu was only sacrificing his own precious cultivation time to accompany her on travels because he wanted to take care of her, this "ticking time bomb" who could not cultivate.

"Very well, I will have someone send over the information on all the surrounding countries later, and then the two of you can set off at any time." Xiao Zhan smiled and offered his help.

"Then many thanks!" Xiao Wu cupped his hands in gratitude.

"No need for such formalities; that would be making things distant between us!"

With everything discussed, Xiao Zhan had someone take Xiao Wu and his companion to the guest rooms to rest, while he himself continued to pay attention to subsequent news.

Central Plains, Langya Pavilion.

Xiao Han and Yun Lei Jing Ling sat opposite each other.

"How is it? Is there any news about those fellows outside the Central Plains?" The stoic Yun Lei Jing Ling revealed a hint of nervousness on his face, his tone asking with slight urgency.

Xiao Han shook his head gently, "No. I don't know if it's because the Soul Clan is too cautious, but those Evil Clan members seem to have vanished without a trace."

Afterward, Xiao Han asked again, "What about the Central Plains?"

"Nothing either!"

Yun Lei Jing Ling answered with some disappointment. He had originally thought this matter would not be very difficult; he never imagined that nearly a year of time would yield nothing.

Soon, Xiao Han smiled again,

"It doesn't matter, at least I have tracked down that seal that was broken over a decade ago."

"Really?"

Yun Lei Jing Ling suddenly stood up in excitement. That incident had also troubled his heart; although he had also been investigating in recent years, he had found nothing.

"Where is it?"

Xiao Han said with a wry smile, "I have to say, that seal really knew how to pick a spot..."

Yun Lei Jing Ling frowned; it seemed that location was very unusual!

He shifted his gaze to Xiao Han, the meaning in his eyes self-evident.

The latter had no intention of keeping him in suspense, "In the Wanyun Mountain Range near the Spirit Realm."

"Spirit Realm? Is that where the Ling Clan, one of the Ancient Eight Clans you mentioned, is located?" Yun Lei Jing Ling said, relying on his limited memory.

"That's right."

"This..." Yun Lei Jing Ling was speechless for a moment. He really hadn't expected it to be right under the noses of an Ancient Race.

Recalling the cooperation between the Ling Clan and the Langya Pavilion back then, Yun Lei Jing Ling understood, "So that was when you made contact with the Ling Clan?"

Xiao Han took a light sip of tea and said calmly, "To be precise, they took the initiative to ask me for help."

"You?" Yun Lei Jing Ling looked at him in disbelief, his eyes filled with shameful suspicion.

"Do you think too highly of the Ancient Races?" Xiao Han couldn't help but laugh.

"They are at least a Dou Emperor Family; even if they have declined somewhat, they shouldn't be so weak that they don't even have an Eight-Star Dou Sheng, right? Do they really need your help?"

Yun Lei Jing Ling speculated based on his past impressions. He was already analyzing this according to the strength of the worst Dou Emperor Family; in his era, a Dou Emperor race without a Nine-Star Dou Sheng would have long been swallowed by others.

His Eight-Star Dou Sheng status is heavily discounted, considering how weak the current Dou Qi Continent is.

"Eight-Star Dou Sheng?" Xiao Han smiled and shook his head, saying:

"Even counting me, there are no more than fifteen Dou Sheng above the Eight-Star level on the Dou Qi Continent right now, and several of them are basically living dead, while the Clan Leader of the Ling Clan is only a Six-Star Late Dou Saint."

These words made Yunlei Jingling click his tongue in secret once again at the current strength of the Fighting Energy Continent.

"Too weak!"

"Actually, what I find even stranger is why nothing was left behind after that seal was broken..." Xiao Han said with a headache.

If he hadn't captured the extremely faint residual Evil Qi at the time, he might have really let the Wanyun Mountain Range go, and everything that followed would not have happened.

Yunlei Jingling could only remain silent in response; although he was the one suppressing the seal, he really did not know much about such matters.