In the meeting room of the Great Xia Kingdom's War Department Headquarters in the capital, four elderly men were seated...

They had been there the entire night without consuming even a drop of water, each with a heavy expression on their faces. The matter at hand was related to the Temple of the Gods, a very peculiar entity. Although it wasn't officially part of the Great Xia Kingdom’s forces, all its members were citizens of Great Xia.

Over the years, the Temple of the Gods had helped Great Xia eliminate many hostile forces. Thus, dealing with the current situation was particularly tricky. After all, now that the Temple of the Gods had destroyed the Black Sky Organization, it had become the most powerful force on the extraterritorial battlefield... Most importantly, the Temple of the Gods had become an external barrier, preventing enemy war divisions from entering Great Xia...

"Bang!" The next moment, the Grand Elder, emanating an overwhelming and terrifying aura, shouted coldly, "How dare they! In our Great Xia's domain, someone has gone this mad! We must investigate with all our might! Punish them severely! We cannot let our younger generation, who fight on the extraterritorial battlefield for us, become disheartened!"

The Second Elder nodded in agreement, "Indeed, the Temple of the Gods is unlike any other long-established organization in the extraterritorial domain. It has only risen to power in the last five years, carving its path entirely through bloodshed. In these few years on the extraterritorial battlefield, they’ve annihilated hundreds of formidable external organizations!"

Wan Tianxue, gritting his teeth, continued, "Grand Elder, Second Elder, please forgive my boldness, but I must express my thoughts. The Temple of the Gods, or rather its leader, I believe they are friendly towards Great Xia. Moreover, the cause of this incident stems from within our borders, where some individuals have gone too far. The fault doesn't lie with the Temple of the Gods but with us..."

As Wan Tianxue spoke, he projected a photo onto the wall. It was the scene from last night, showing Xiao Tiance standing in a pigsty, holding his unconscious daughter.

Looking at the photo, Wan Tianxue, gritting his teeth, said, "He has done so much for Great Xia on the extraterritorial battlefield, yet his wife was driven to such a desperate state within our borders! And his biological daughter, only about four or five years old, was locked in a pigsty, forced to eat slop! Elders, let me be blunt—if this had happened to me, I might have reacted even more harshly than the leader of the Temple of the Gods!"

"What! How could something so insane happen within our Great Xia! How dare they! How dare they! Punish them severely! Punish them severely! Punish them severely!" The Grand Elder slammed the table, standing up abruptly upon seeing Xiao Tiance holding his unconscious daughter in the pigsty.

The Second Elder, equally furious, glared at Wan Tianxue and scolded, "Wan Tianxue, how have you been managing things?"

Wan Tianxue quickly bowed his head, "I apologize, Second Elder. It's my failure in management that allowed such a thing to happen..."

At this moment, the Third Elder, who had been silent all along, finally spoke. Dressed in a black Zhongshan suit, with graying hair and a kind expression, he said, "Enough, don't blame Tianxue. Great Xia is vast, and its rapid development in recent years has caused some things to lag behind. Tianxue is already overwhelmed with overseeing the nine regions of Great Xia. He just mentioned my thoughts, so let me continue..."

The Third Elder's next words left everyone in the room stunned. He smiled and said, "Don't be so anxious, and don't think of this situation as so serious, because I know this person..."

"What? Old Third, you know this Xiao Tiance?" The Grand Elder looked at the Third Elder in utter shock.

With a trace of reminiscence in his eyes, the Third Elder smiled and nodded, "Yes, I know him. Do you remember last year when I was trapped on the Western Battlefield? It was he who rescued me, along with over 800 other Great Xia citizens. He's a very fine young man..."

The Third Elder paused, glanced at the others in the room, and said, "Moreover, this young man has some connection to all of you..."

The Second Elder furrowed his brows slightly and asked in confusion, "He has some connection to us?"

Taking a deep breath, the Third Elder nodded, "Indeed, this young man is a descendant of General Jiang Chen! He is the grandson of Xiao Zhantian!"

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"Impossible!" The Fourth Elder, Zhan Guo, immediately stood up in shock, utterly disbelieving. "Old Third, don't joke with me. I've been brothers with Zhantian for many years. He only has two grandsons, and although I can't recall their names, neither of them is named Xiao Tiance!"

After the Fourth Elder spoke, the Grand Elder, Second Elder, and even Wan Tianxue, who was standing, all nodded in agreement. It was no joke—they all knew General Xiao Zhantian, a founding general. Even though Xiao Zhantian was now old, he remained one of the top ten figures in Great Xia's War Department, still guarding the Western Battlefield for Great Xia.

After seeing their reactions, the Third Elder's expression gradually turned cold as he nodded and said, "I'm not lying to you. It's true. And what's in a name? A name can be changed. Have you all forgotten about the incident in the Xiao family six years ago? Zhantian was stuck on the Western Battlefield, and Old Fourth, didn't you step in and visit the Xiao family then?" After speaking, the Third Elder looked at the Fourth Elder, Zhan Guo.

Upon hearing this, the Fourth Elder's expression changed drastically. He stared at the Third Elder and suddenly had a shocking realization. He quickly blurted out, "It was him? Han Ye! Yes, Xiao Zhantian has two grandsons. The elder one is Xiao Hanye. Six years ago, after the Xiao family incident, Xiao Hanye's stepmother expelled him from the family, and he disappeared without a trace... It was that child! It was that child! What on earth did he go through over these six years to grow to this level?"

The Third Elder replied solemnly, "What did he go through? Hmph... His mother's body was not yet cold when his father elevated his stepmother to a legitimate position and expelled him from the family, stripping him of his heir status. After that, he was rejected by the Qin family and was even poisoned and hunted down by his own brothers. Do you wonder why he grew so quickly? It's simply because he's had too many burdens to bear..."

After the Third Elder finished speaking, he fell silent, and everyone in the meeting room also grew quiet. A year ago, the Third Elder of Daxia met with Xiao Tiance and secretly had someone investigate his identity. At that time, Xiao Tiance only regarded the Third Elder as an ordinary elder from Longguo and spoke without much caution, which allowed the Third Elder to uncover Xiao Tiance's true identity.

After a long period of silence, the Third Elder sighed deeply and said, "He is a good child, a fine child of Daxia. Moreover, he is Zhan Tian's biological grandson. We cannot allow Han Xin to deal with them, let alone the fact that we are currently incapable of dealing with them! Let's have a good talk with that child. He has endured in silence for six years and has developed such a large force abroad. Now that he has learned that he has a daughter within the country, he certainly won’t leave again in the short term. Let's have a proper discussion with him; he represents the future of our Daxia!"

The Fourth Elder, Zhan Guo, nodded and said, "Indeed! Hahaha, so it’s this child! Excellent! I’ve made up my mind—this young man will be my successor! I’ll head to Qianjiang later to talk to him personally! And as for the Palace Master of the Temple of Heaven, it wouldn’t be appropriate for Tianxue to handle this, so I’ll take care of it myself!"

At that moment, Wan Tianxue's phone suddenly buzzed. After reading the message, he quickly said, "Elders, the Xuntian Division in Qianjiang has sent word that the Zhou family plans to make a move against Xiao Tiance tonight..." As he delivered the news, Wan Tianxue's expression was exceptionally animated.

The Zhou family? How audacious! Do they really think they can eliminate him? How could they be so unaware of their limitations? Absolutely brazen, to the extreme—what a bunch of fools...

Zhan Guo was both amused and angered by the news. With a cold smile, he said, "The Zhou family of Qianjiang, is it? How dare they bully my grandson! They must have the courage of a bear and the heart of a leopard! Tonight, is it? Fine, I’ll wipe out their entire clan tonight!"

"Uh, since when did he become your grandson? Old Fourth, could your skin get any thicker?" someone remarked.

Zhan Guo laughed heartily and said nonchalantly, "I’m brothers with Zhan Tian; Zhan Tian’s grandson is my grandson!"

The First Elder took a deep breath and said, "Should we inform Zhan Tian? After all, this is his own grandson..."

The Third Elder thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Let’s not tell him just yet. That child has endured too much suffering over the years. He’ll surely come to the Xiao family in Yanjing to seek justice this time. Let him handle it himself..."

The First Elder nodded. The Third Elder then took off a black dragon-patterned ring from his hand and handed it to the Fourth Elder, saying, "Zhan Guo, please give this ring to that child, and convey a message to Tiance for me: when he comes to Yanjing, he should come to visit me..."

The Fourth Elder, Zhan Guo, looked at the Third Elder with some surprise and said, "Third Brother, you’ve had this ring all your life, and you’re even willing to give this away?"

The Third Elder’s eyes showed a trace of guilt as he replied, "It’s just a ring. Besides, that child has done so much for Daxia over the years. We owe him. This is just a small token of my appreciation..."

Though the Third Elder spoke casually, the Fourth Elder received the ring with great seriousness. Everyone present was well aware of the significance and power that this ring represented—many times, it was nothing less than an incredibly powerful protective talisman!

After everything was discussed, the Fourth Elder, Zhan Guo, took a deep breath and said with utmost seriousness, "Rest assured, brothers. I will head to Qianjiang immediately! I won’t let a child who has sacrificed so much for Daxia be disheartened!"

In the depths of the Fourth Elder Zhan Guo’s mind, however, he had already resolved to utterly destroy the Zhou family of Qianjiang: "You... are seeking death!"