Chapter 491: Preparing to Depart

Reaching the six-star Dou Saint stage was not Zi Yan's only achievement. Her most notable progress was the development of her Dragon Phoenix Physique. With the absorption of another Dragon Phoenix Origin Fruit, her physique was nearing true perfection. At this stage, even an advanced six-star Dou Saint would be no match for her.

Moreover, this advancement in her Dragon Phoenix Physique further enhanced her innate talent. It was now difficult for Xiao Ming to determine which tier of talent Zi Yan belonged to. As long as there was Origin Qi, breaking through to the Dou God realm was no longer a problem for her.

Xiao Ming smiled as he gently touched Zi Yan's purple ponytail. He was about to suggest that she come out first as he continued his seclusion to break through the Soul Realm. But remembering Medusa and Xiao Yue, he changed his mind and said, "It's been a while since we went into seclusion, let's come out first."

"Mmhmm," Zi Yan nodded with a satisfied smile. After spending so much time in seclusion, transmitting the fruit energy through their lips, she could now feel a kind of resonance between their bloodlines. Her bond with Xiao Ming had also become much stronger.

As the door to the secret room swung open, three figures descended from the sky. The newcomers were Medusa, Venerable Tian Huo, and Xiao Shan.

As soon as they landed, a petite figure flew out of Medusa's arms and made a graceful arc through the air towards Xiao Ming.

"Daddy!"

"Ah, my little one has grown so much! You can even talk now!"

Xiao Ming stretched out his arms, a smile on his face as he caught the petite figure and cradled her in his arms. Looking at his daughter's delighted and tender face, he couldn't help but feel a surge of warmth in his heart.

"Hehehe, Xiao Ming, Yue'er is indeed a gifted and clever little girl, a quick learner. I think you were definitely not as smart as her when you were her age," said Venerable Tian Huo, who hadn't been seen for a while.

He approached with a kind smile and looked at the little girl in Xiao Ming's embrace. Having spent a considerable amount of time in the Xiao family, he had some say in the matter. Although Xiao Yue was only one year old, her learning ability was far beyond her peers. Not to mention the simple matter of speaking fluently; she had gained a certain level of control over her own abilities, which was truly extraordinary.

"Yue'er is truly gifted."

Pinching her daughter's small face, Xiao Ming nodded in agreement with a smile. Even if Yue'er didn't have an awakened Dou God Bloodline at the moment, she wouldn't face any bottlenecks on her way to becoming a Dou Saint, unlike what he faced in his early years.

Xiao Ming turned to Medusa standing beside him and said, "To be able to teach Yue'er so well, I really appreciate all the hard work you've done."

Medusa wore a gentle and charming smile at that moment. Seeing Xiao Ming's gaze, she took a few steps forward and took Yue'er from his arms.

"Yue'er is very well-behaved. It's not a matter of being hard or not."

Although that was the case, Xiao Ming was well aware that taking care of a child was not as easy as Medusa made it seem. To be honest, he felt a little guilty about leaving their daughter in her care.

He didn't say much more before he stepped forward to hug Medusa and Yue'er together. Medusa's expression softened as she breathed in the familiar scent.

Xiao Shan, who was nearby, couldn't help but become emotional. The Queen Medusa he usually saw was proud and assertive; where did this gentleness come from?

"Oh, by the way, there's some news from the Central Plains," Venerable Tian Huo remembered his purpose for coming and spoke up.

"What's the news?" Xiao Ming reflected that his return to the North-Western Region was not widely known. They shouldn't bother him unless something important happened.

"The first thing is that the Spirit Clan, one of the Ancient Clans of the Central Plains, has disappeared. The second is that the Hall of Souls has issued you a challenge. They want to have a showdown with you in three months' time."

"What? Is this little Hall of Souls getting tired of existing?"

Xiao Ming didn't have much of a reaction to the news, but Zi Yan was a bit disdainful and spoke up first. In her opinion, the Hall of Souls could easily be wiped out. They dared to challenge him in this manner—didn't they know Xiao Ming belonged to her?

Medusa, on the other hand, was a bit worried. The Hall of Souls' infamous reputation made her fear for Xiao Ming's safety.

"It's alright. The Chief of the Hall of Souls is only a five-star Dou Saint. During my seclusion, I've already broken through to a five-star Dou Saint. He's no match for me. Even if he seeks help from the Hun Clan, unless a seven-star Dou Saint arrives, they won't be able to do anything to me. If they go too far, the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe of Zi Yan won't stand by and watch either."

Xiao Ming stroked Medusa's back to comfort her. Yue'er, who was in her arms, was too young to understand. She just blinked her big eyes and seemed perplexed.

Hearing that Xiao Ming had already broken through to a five-star Dou Saint, Xiao Shan and Venerable Tian Huo were slightly surprised, while Medusa felt relieved.

She was well aware of Xiao Ming's strength. Even though he was a five-star Dou Saint, the Chief of the Hall of Souls was no threat to him.

Zi Yan also patted her ample bosom and said, "Just an insignificant Hall of Souls. You can rest assured, Sister Medusa. I will be there to help Xiao Ming if he needs any help."

"Hm! But in that case, are you all going back to the Central Plains?" Medusa nodded, then suddenly thought of this.

"Yes, but this time you and our daughter can come with us," Xiao Ming replied.

Originally, he had planned to break through to the Great Perfection of the Heaven Realm in the Xiao family and then return to the Heavenly Court. However, plans had changed and now he would have to break through in the Heavenly Court itself.

"That's... That's fine then. But we have to wait two days. I need to settle things within the clan," Medusa looked at Yue'er in her arms and nodded after a short moment of silence.

"No problem, I also want to wait a few days to see if Xian'er and Qing Lin can come out in time. If they can't, then we'll go first."

When Xiao Ming and Zi Yan went into seclusion, so did Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin. He estimated that they would come out of seclusion in about five days. So he decided to wait for them and take care of the clan's affairs in the meantime. If they didn't make it out in time, they could always go to Holy Pill City on their own. The wormhole recently established in the Jia Ma Empire allowed everyone to travel to the Heavenly Court headquarters with ease.

On another note, the position of the Clan Chief in the Xiao family had long since changed. In recent years, the overall strength of the Xiao family increased tremendously, and due to his old age and inability to keep up with the younger generation in terms of strength, Xiao Zhan willingly stepped down from his position and wished to pass it on to a younger successor.

At that time, the most prominent contenders for the position of Clan Chief were Xiao Shan, Xiao Ding, and Xiao Yu.

Xiao Ding, although the son of the Clan Chief, had established his own power outside the Clan and, combined with the Xiao family's attitude towards Xiao Yan in his early years, wasn't particularly interested in taking the position of Clan Chief.

Xiao Yu was still at Jia Nan Academy and didn't show much interest either.

Xiao Shan had the greatest strength, prestige, and age, making him the most likely candidate to take on the role of Clan Chief.

However, Medusa happened to return to the Jia Ma Empire at that time and presented Xiao Ming's token and a considerable amount of resources.

As a result, the responsibility of the Clan Chief fell to Xiao Ming, who was far away in the Central Plains. This decision was made to facilitate Medusa's management and support of the Xiao family in her capacity as the Clan Chief's wife.

History proved this to be a wise decision, for under Medusa's leadership, the Xiao family did indeed flourish.

Upon learning of this, Xiao Ming could only marvel at the cunning nature of his family members.

Now that he was preparing to leave and take Medusa with him, the responsibility of managing the Xiao family would have to be delegated to someone else.

The most suitable candidate was still Xiao Shan. He had served as an elder for many years and had honed his abilities. Moreover, his strength was relatively high among the family members, making him more than capable of temporarily leading the Xiao family.

In fact, Xiao Ding, Xiao Yan's older brother, was also skilled in management, but Xiao Ming had heard that he was still focusing on his Desert Metal Mercenary Company and was doing quite well. So he didn't bother to mention it.