Within the empty hall, a chilling aura permeated the air. Hun Tiandi sat at the head of the long table, with the Three Sword Saints, Hun Xunzi, Hun Miesheng, and other important members of the Soul Clan present.
"Since everyone is here, let's begin," Hun Tiandi said softly.
"Hm?" Hun Zhang raised an eyebrow. The notice he received stated that this meeting would affect future strategic deployments. In such important occasions, usually all Elders would participate, except for the four living dead, but now quite a few people seemed to be missing... Void Swallowing Flame and the remaining three of the Four Demon Saints had not appeared.
"Everyone, I have some very bad news to tell you. Elders Hun Yan, Hun Sha, and Hun Tu have died, and Void Swallowing Flame has also been severely wounded... Therefore, our plan has to be completely restarted." Hun Tiandi's opening words surprised everyone except Hun Xunzi.
"They're dead? What happened?" Hun Dan asked in a low voice.
"Hun Xunzi, you explain what happened."
"Yes..." Hun Xunzi dared not conceal anything and recounted everything he knew in detail.
Finally, Hun Tiandi added, "One correction, that pill broke through to the late Nine-Star Dou Saint stage when it fought Void Swallowing Flame in the void... Regarding what our clan should do next, what are your thoughts?"
"Wait, Yao Chen refined a late Nine-Star Dou Saint expert?" Hun Zhang's first reaction was that he had misheard. He looked at Hun Tiandi, his gaze filled with inquiry.
Hun Tiandi replied, "Although it's incredible, that's the truth. When I saw that enormous being catching up to Void Swallowing Flame, I was also startled."
"I remember Yao Chen was an outcast of the Yao Clan, right? Is the Yao Clan insane? How could such a talent be forced to leave the clan?" Hun Dan's expression was strange. "Such a clan deserves to be destroyed."
Hun Zhang thought for a moment and said, "One thing is very suspicious: Yao Chen alone shouldn't be able to capture the entire Taixu Ancient Dragon clan and Heavenly Demon Phoenix clan. Someone is helping him... This pill was probably also commissioned by someone else, asking him to help refine it."
"Xiao Clan?" Hun Qiu spoke in a cold voice.
With this strength, and possibly connected to Yao Chen, only the Xiao Clan fits. After all, the Young Clan Leader of the Xiao Clan is Yao Chen's disciple, so his connection with the Xiao Clan is not surprising.
"Could it be the Xiao Clan plotting against us?" Hun Qianmo asked.
Hun Qiu pondered for a moment before saying, "This matter is inseparable from the Xiao Clan, but whether they are plotting against us is hard to say."
Hun Tiandi shook his head slightly. "There's a possibility, but it's not high. Even if they commissioned Yao Chen to refine the pill, they probably didn't expect it to be so powerful, nor did they expect Void Swallowing Flame to fight the pill fiercely.
"Hun Zhang, go to Soul Hall later and ask Xiao Zhan what their intentions are."
After the handover of Soul Hall, Hun Tiandi had already sent Xiao Zhan Amon, who was in the Soul Clan, away.
Although keeping him would facilitate communication between the two clans, the current Xiao Clan made Hun Tiandi feel a bit strange, and he was not very comfortable with them staying in his clan.
Hun Zhang nodded, then said, "When can Lord Void Swallowing Flame recover?"
"It's hard to say. He lost a lot of his origin, so it will be difficult for him to return to the Nine-Star Dou Saint stage in a short time." Hun Tiandi couldn't help but feel angry at the thought of this.
This had a greater impact on the plan than the demise of the Four Demon Saints.
Hun Miesheng said in a slightly low voice, "The Elders probably can't wait."
Hun Zhang thought for two seconds, then smiled and said, "Perhaps we don't necessarily have to insist on secrecy. If we truly can't do it stealthily, then we can just start a full-scale war."
This was completely different from the Soul Clan's long-held beliefs.
Hun Tiandi looked at him. "Tell me your thoughts."
Hun Zhang organized his words. "In the past, our plan was to first eliminate a few weaker clans, and then move on to the stronger ones.
"The ideal situation is to successively destroy the Stone Clan, Spirit Clan, Yao Clan, and Lei Clan, leaving only the Ancient Clan and Yan Clan as our final enemies... The next best scenario is that we would have to face the combined forces of the Ancient Clan, Yan Clan, and Lei Clan.
"When we formulated the plan, we considered our Soul Clan's strength alone against the combined forces of the other clans... because as long as we dared to attack other ancient jade, we would inevitably become the target of all.
"But now it's different; the Xiao Clan has allied with us... When one clan breaks the ancient alliance, they will be attacked by all.
"But when two clans both tear up the agreement, it's not necessarily these two clans that will be ostracized by the others. It's more likely that the alliance will collapse, leading to a war among the Eight Clans.
"However, I've always had doubts about the Xiao Clan's stance... Xiao Zhan's son is too close to the Ancient Clan."
"What about your sister? Haven't you always planned to bring them together to deepen the ties between our two clans?" Hun Dan looked over.
Hun Zhang shrugged. "That girl is crazy all day long, never serious... Ever since she found out Xiao Yan snatched her hard-won Fallen Heart Flame, she's been sulking. If she sees him again, she'll probably cut him down with a sword."
Hun Tiandi shook his head. "Xiao Zhan will not ally with the Ancient Clan... Xiao Chen used his life to end the grievances between the two clans, and Xiao Zhan leaning towards us has already shown his attitude."
A hint of doubt flashed in Hun Zhang's eyes, somewhat unclear why the Clan Leader was so certain.
Hun Tiandi smiled. "Because a thousand years ago, the Xiao Clan and the Ancient Clan already cooperated, and the final outcome was Xiao Xuan's death and the clan's downfall... This time, they want a different partner."
After a pause, he continued, "Hun Zhang, Hun Qiu... This matter is your responsibility. Go and deepen your ties with the Xiao Clan. It's best if you can ascertain their strength.
"Ask them about that ninth grade golden pill... Also, ask them when they will be ready? Set a time, and let's move against the Spirit Clan and Stone Clan together.
"Void Swallowing Flame appearing before the clans will certainly alert the other Ancient Clans. It's best to eliminate some of them before they can unite."
"Yes," Hun Zhang and Hun Qiu said in unison.
...
Under the dim sky, violent winds raged, and large spatial cracks remained unhealed for a long time.
The land below was scarred, with interwoven gullies and deep pits.
Medicine Heaven and Medicine Spirit, the siblings, looked at the Medicine Mountain, which was only half-remaining, their faces filled with grief.
The Clan Leader was dead, Elder Wanhuo was dead, Yao Wangui and all the other Elders also did not survive... All the Dou Saint experts of the Yao Clan were annihilated, and even more than half of the Dou Venerate backbone was gone...
The Yao Clan was already a clan in name only.
"Who exactly were those three guys?" Medicine Spirit's eyes were filled with hatred.
Medicine Heaven said with sorrow and indignation, "Who else could it be? They came for the ancient jade, so they must also be from one of the Ancient Eight Clans... The Ancient Clan, Yan Clan, Lei Clan, it must be one of them."
In their view, the Soul Clan's suspicion was the least, because they knew Void Swallowing Flame and the Soul Clan Four Demon Saints had gone to pursue the ninth grade golden pill. The Soul Clan's focus was on that pill, so it was unlikely they would dispatch three Seven Star Dou Saint to seize the ancient jade.
"Brother, what do we do next?" Medicine Spirit looked at Medicine Heaven, asking.
Medicine Heaven was silent and did not answer immediately.
Having lost the Dou Saint experts of the clan, the Yao Clan would certainly not be able to protect this vast Medicine World. Although most of the pills and medicinal ingredients had been consumed by being thrown into the previously activated grand formation, the small portion that remained was still a huge fortune.
This fortune would attract countless covetous eyes, and without matching strength, it could not be protected.
If the Yao Clan had not been sealed off, the news would not have spread so quickly, and perhaps people would already be gathering like hyenas.
After a long while, Medicine Heaven slowly spoke, "Medicine Spirit, go gather the remaining clan members. We will all go to Starfall Pavilion to seek refuge with Senior Yao Chen."
Medicine Spirit thought for a moment, felt it was a good choice, and nodded.
After the Yao Ceremony ended, Clan Leader Yao Dan had originally intended for her and some of the Yao Clan disciples to go to Starfall Pavilion, but before they could transfer, the three invaders attacked.
After all, Yao Chen's surname was Yao, and he was the undisputed number one Alchemist on the continent. Seeking refuge with him, the clan members would not have too much resistance.