The bck-robed figure on the right also removed his hood, revealing her than Yun Shan!

  Surprise and doubt flickered in Yun Shan's eyes as he scrutinized Xiao Yan from head to toe. He could sehat the Soul Robe Xiao Yan wore was of exceptionally high grade, which meant his rank couldn't be too low!

  "Are you a Human Grade Protector?" Yun Shan furrowed his brows as he looked at Xiao Yan. What he most wao knoas why Protector as ah Grade Protector, didn't make a move against Xiao Yan.

  The Hall of Souls wasn't like the alchemists, who foolishly dispyed their ranks on their robes. Unless one was acquainted, no one khe other's rank.

  Xiao Yan mused inwardly, 'Human Grade Protector? Could it be that Protector ranks are divided into Heaveh, and Human, while Soul Envoys are divided into Tian, Di, Xuan, and Huang due to their rger numbers?'

  He spread his hands and said with a wry smile, "As I said. I'm merely a Di Css Soul Envoy, not a Protector."

  "Really a Di Css Soul Envoy?!" Yun Shan's expression was one of astonishment as he turo look at Protector as shrouded in a mass of bck fog beside him.

  Yun Shan had just joihe Hall of Souls and, by virtue of his peak Dou Emperor strength, had bee a Tian Css Soul Envoy. After using medial pills to break through to the Dou Aor realm, he became a Human Grade Protector. So what gave Xiao Yan, a mere Di Css Soul Envoy, such authority?!

  He couldn't make sense of it!

  Just then, a hoarse voice emanated from within the bck fog oher side: "When I learhat the Xiao Wu Tan City hadn't been eradicated by that lord, I sensed something was amiss. But I never expected that you would actually join the Hall of Souls."

  A glint fshed in Xiao Yan's eyes. As expected! So it was this old fellow who caused the trouble!

  "Defeating the Misty Cloud Sect was the trial given to you by that lord, wasn't it?" Protector Wu said slowly.

  Xiao Yan's heart sank as he thought, 'Hmm? This guy doesn't know about the Soul and Tokehinks my causing a big se in the Misty Cloud Sect art of a trial given by Hun Huzi, which is why he didn't appear. So the one he's wary of is Hun Huzi?'

  'He 't see the soul light of the Soul and Token, but Hun Lao Gui se.'

  tless thoughts raced through Xiao Yan's mind at this moment. The ers of his mouth curved upward, his eyes gleaming. As speak louder than words; why not test it out?

  With a light flick of his ste ring, an a-looking token appeared in his palm.

  "The Soul and Token!!" The Earth Grade Protector Wu underwent a drastic ge in expression at this moment. He even took an involuntary step back, his eyes wide as he stared at Xiao Yan, utterly incredulous!

  In trast, Yun Shan was stupefied. He had no idea what the Soul and Token was.

  For a moment, Protector Wu was so shocked that even the bck fog around him dissipated. He stood there speechless. It was only after a while that he murmured to himself, "That lord actually bestowed a Soul and Token upon you."

  Xiao Yan casually pyed with the token in his hand and said, "It seems this thing is quite precious. I thought it was just a piece of rotten wood."

  "Rot... rotten wood... This is something tless Protectors, even Heaven Grade Protectors, desire. Only by possessing it oer the Sacred Land of the Hall of Souls in the tral Pins and truly be sidered a member of the ." Protector Wu gazed longingly at the Soul and Token in Xiao Yan's hand, his eyes revealing undisguised jealousy. This was something even Heaven Grade Protectors didn't have; only the higher-ranked Honorable Elders qualified to possess one.

  And all the Honorable Elders were Dou Vees who mahe Disha Halls!!

  Xiao Yan lightly furrowed his brows, 'So this Soul and Token is indeed akin to a token. If it's like the Xiao , where only core disciples have tokens, then this token is indeed quite important.'

  'Even Dou Aors don't have tokens. Doesn't that mean one must be a Dou Vee to be sidered a ember? Just how powerful is this Hun !'

  Xiao Yan also possessed his own 's token. It was a 'Little Leader's Token' that his father Xiao Zhan had given him on his sixteenth birthday ing-of-age ceremony. Only with the token could one freely enter pces like the Dou Skill Pavilion and the treasury.

  Moreover, different tokens ferred different levels of authority. For instance, with his Little Leader's Token, he had the right to read all the Qi Methods and Dou Teiques within the d could withdraw up to three thousand gold s from the treasury each month.

  Xiao Yan recalled that ba the Soul Sacrifice Old Shop, he had used the Soul and Token to open the Soul Path and undergo a trial. bining this with Protector Wu's words, it meant that this Soul and Token could open the Soul Path in the tral Pins and grary into the so-called Sacred Land.

  "However, this token of yours doesn't seem to have been activated," Protector Wu said with a hint of doubt. After all, he had never possessed a Soul and Token himself; he had only once seen a Heaven Grade Protector who, by a stroke of immense luck, had captured a Dou Vee's soul body and thus received a Soul and Token as a reward.

  That Soul and Token was identical to the one in Xiao Yan's hand, but it had been activated and bore that Protector's name, whereas Xiao Yan's did not.

  Xiao Yan's heart trembled slightly, but he maintained a calm expression as he said, "Isn't that quite normal? My trial isn't over yet. Causing a otion in the Misty Cloud Sect was just one part of the trial."

  "I still o ehe Gate of Life ah to plete the remaining trials."

  Protector Wu had no doubts about Xiao Yan's words and nodded slowly.

  "You just said that the Xiao hadn't been eradicated. What did you mean by that?" Xiao Yan looked at Protector Wu with a solemn gaze. Family was the most important thing to him; he o know why Hun Huzi had e to the Xiao back then and what he was searg for.

  To his surprise, Protector Wu actually looked toward Yun Shan!

  After a round of expnations, Xiao Yan was left pletely speechless.

  It turned out that after Nan Yanran sought Yun Yun's permission to annul the e, she came to the Xiao to do so. However, she was utterly crushed by him with absolute superiority in strength.

  Although Nan Yanran had inteo ceal this matter, the fact that the future Little Sect Leader was defeated with a single punch by someone from a a remote city naturally reached the ears of the higher-ups of the Misty Cloud Sect.

  sequently, Yun Shan learned about a genius young man named Xiao Yan who had defeated Nan Yanran with a single punch, arousing his suspis.

  The Hall of Souls had always had a top-level mission: to find a hidden super , the Xiao .

  inally, such a small a remote pce like Wu Tan City couldn't possibly have attracted Yun Shan's attention. But it recisely Xiao Yan's insta of Nan Yanran that made him take notice!

  Later, when Protector Wu heard about Xiao Yan's situation, he went to Wu Tan City intending to capture the Head, Xiao Zhan, to cim credit. However, he discovered that the small Xiao Wu Tan City actually had a peak Dou Emperor expert guarding it.

  Therefore, he didn't startle the snake in the grass. Instead, he reported the matter to the highest-level Tiangang Hall of the Hall of Souls.

  This led to the subsequent series of events.

  It was also because of the Xiao matter that Protector romoted from a Human Grade Protector to ah Grade Protector. He was even allowed to establish a brand-new branch hall within the Misty Cloud Sed ut in charge of it.

  The reason Xiao Yan entered so few people upoering was that this branch hall had only beeablished i years.

  After hearing this, Xiao Yan wished he could travel back three years and give his past self a good beating. Why couldn't he just properly annul the e? Why did he have to show off? The e was bound to be annulled anyway!

  "Hun Huzi looked in the wrong pce. I'm not the person the Hall of Souls is searg for. Later, I passed his trial and obtaihis Soul and Token," Xiao Yan said, f himself to remain posed.

  Of course, the first half of that statement was a lie. Back then, he already khat the Xiao Hun Huzi was searg for was indeed his own Xiao of Wu Tan City. What he hadn't anticipated was that his had once been so powerful that it possessed something the Hall of Souls would stop at nothing to obtain.