Chapter 237: Intelligence

Early in the morning, bright sunlight gently spilled into the courtyard. Accompanied by a soft sound, the room door was opened from the inside, and Xiao Han, dressed in white, walked out of the room.

Stretching, Xiao Han could not help but gently rub his waist, a look of difficulty appearing on his face; this body was not doing so well!

Xiao Han pondered whether he had been overindulging recently and whether he should get some medicinal pills from Yi Huang to nourish himself.

But thinking of her strange gaze, Xiao Han shook his head and cast the thought away. When it came to a man's dignity, he absolutely could not admit defeat!

Thinking this, Xiao Han slowly walked toward the Pavilion Master's study. Two or three years had passed in a flash; he could afford not to handle the affairs of Langya Pavilion.

But he still needed to understand some intelligence from the Central Plains, at least so he wouldn't be completely clueless and make a fool of himself when the time came.

Sitting at the desk after a long time, looking at the pile of documents that had been organized in advance, Xiao Han could not help but feel a sense of comfort; having someone at home was truly pleasant.

Skillfully opening a document, Xiao Han then began to read it quietly.

Time passed bit by bit, and the mountain of documents on the desk was gradually decreasing. Overall, no major events had occurred in the Central Plains over the past two years.

It was basically just the changing of small factions, such as which faction had been wiped out or which factions had risen again.

Or it was friction between a few large factions; super factions like the Soul Hall and the Pill Tower remained as stable as Mount Tai.

Then there were the ancient ruins that had appeared in the Central Plains over the past few years, as well as the gains made by the disciples and Elders of Langya Pavilion within them.

Soon, Xiao Han gave a soft "huh," looking at the contents of the document with the green mark in his hand: Tyrant Blade Sect, Green Feather Gate, Pale Cliff Gang, Seven Feather Pavilion...

These factions were not very prominent. Breaking them down one by one, the strongest were merely first-rate factions possessing one or two Dou Zun powerhouses, roughly equivalent to the Four Directions Pavilion, and many were just second-rate factions at the Dou Zong level.

But what Xiao Han was concerned about was not the strength of these sects, but their distribution across the various locations in the Central Plains.

Looking closely, these factions were dotted across the vast land of the Central Plains like pieces on a chessboard, almost radiating throughout the entire Central Plains.

"It seems those lads have already gained a firm foothold in the Central Plains!" Xiao Han remarked with emotion.

Without exception, these sects were all factions where Xiao Clan members had settled. The Xiao Clan members were basically high-level figures within them, and some factions were even founded by Xiao Clan members themselves.

Although these factions, viewed individually, could not achieve any useful results, if they were gathered into a single force at a certain opportunity, they would form a terrifying momentum.

With a tremor of Dou Qi in his hand, the paper turned into nothingness. Xiao Han continued to browse the remaining contents.

Another piece of intelligence also caught Xiao Han's attention: a year ago, Mr. Xuan Yi, one of the Pill Tower Three Great Heads, had actually held the Silver Flood Dragon Token from the Langya Order and come to Langya Pavilion to exchange it for a Dou Saint corpse.

Ordinary people were not aware of this matter; it was just that Yi Huang had personally received the other party at the time and recorded it.

Clearly, both Yi Huang and he were very aware of the implications behind this, and they tacitly chose to conceal the truth.

However, what surprised Xiao Han was that Xiao Yan, that lad, had actually snuck into the Central Plains.

And he had met the Pill Tower Three Great Heads through some method, which was why Xuan Yi had come forward to exchange the Silver Flood Dragon Token possessed by Yao Lao and Xiao Yan for a real Dou Saint corpse.

Calculating the time, there were still more than two years until the next Pill Gathering in the Central Plains. Thus, it was unknown how far Xiao Yan, having found a backer in advance, would be able to go in two years!

"That Venerable Yao must have already broken through to the Dou Saint realm!" Xiao Han muttered to himself.

According to Xiao Han's calculations, Xiao Yan must have already obtained the Fallen Heart Flame by now.

Moreover, Venerable Yao's current Soul Power was nearly intact, and his strength was no less than a Dou Zong Peak or even an ordinary Dou Zun.

In that case, the Sea Heart Flame of Han Feng in the Black-Corner Region would likely not escape Xiao Yan's grasp. Added to that were the Green Lotus Core Flame he originally possessed and Venerable Yao's Bone Chilling Flame.

With four Exotic Fires gathered, a Ninth Grade Pill, a Dou Saint corpse, and the Ninth Rank Magical Beast Essence, plus the help of one of the Eighth Grade Peak Alchemist Pill Tower Three Great Heads, Venerable Yao's body refinement was likely secure.

However, what Xiao Han found quite intriguing was that the Starfall Pavilion had never released the news of Venerable Yao's return.

First of all, the option that Venerable Yao had not informed Feng Zunzhe was directly ruled out by Xiao Han.

Who was Feng Zunzhe? That was Venerable Yao's true brother of life and death, who had supported him when he was lowly, and later helped Venerable Yao manage the Starfall Pavilion for many years.

The bond between the two was exactly the same as that of Xiao Han and his two companions; therefore, Feng Zunzhe belonged to the category of people Venerable Yao could absolutely trust.

Since that was the case, one could easily think that Venerable Yao, or rather the Medicine Saint, must be secretly waiting to plot some things behind the scenes.

"The Soul Hall is in for a hard time!" Xiao Han said with schadenfreude. Being targeted by a Dou Saint powerhouse—he wanted to see what kind of reaction that scum Hun Miesheng would have.

Subsequently, Xiao Han picked up a red encrypted document again. The red pill cauldron pattern on it was recognizable at a glance as Yi Huang's exclusive mark.

Xiao Han did not open it directly; if he had, this document could be declared ruined.

Cold energy permeated his hand, corroding along the lines of the pattern on the document bit by bit. Gradually, the blood-red pill cauldron mark detached from the document and turned into blood-colored light spots in the air.

This was a document Yi Huang used specifically to record Xiao Clan intelligence, detailing some of the recent conditions of the Xiao Clan.

Xiao Han looked at the contents, his expression not looking very good; the Xiao Clan's days had not been easy recently.

After the war between the Jia Ma and Chu Yun nations, a large number of Dou Huang and Dou Zong powerhouses had suddenly appeared around the Jia Ma Empire.

The current Jia Ma Empire was almost struggling to hold on.

Yun Shan, who had said he would run away immediately after the great war, had not been able to escape either, and had been dealing with the endless stream of powerhouses coming to probe the Jia Ma Empire and the Yunlan Sect.

The Xiao Clan did not dare to reveal too much powerful strength, only sending two Dou Zun Elders and some Dou Zong powerhouses to help solve the problems, but it was clear that this situation could not be sustained for long.

When the Xiao Clan's intelligence was no longer hidden beneath the surface, what would follow would be the stormy strikes of the Soul Hall or the Soul Clan.

Although due to that deal with the Ancient Clan, the Soul Clan's Dou Saints could not get away, some of the Soul Hall's forces were still relatively powerful compared to the Xiao Clan; they could cope, but the losses would not be small.

However, things might not be without a turning point.

Xiao Han suddenly smiled, looking at the intelligence in his hand regarding the recent personnel movements of the Pill Tower.

As long as the movement here in the Central Plains was large enough, the Xiao Clan far away in the Northwest Continent would be safer. If it really came to it, the only option would be to have the Xiao Clan break into pieces in advance and move into the Central Plains.

While Xiao Han was guessing the undercurrents that were about to surge in the Central Plains, in a secret chamber of the Pill Tower, the Three Great Heads, along with Yao Lao, were also discussing a plan to make the Soul Hall pay the price.