The situation of the war in the Jia Ma Empire underwent earth-shaking changes within a few days.
With the defeat of the main forces of the Luo Yan Empire and the Mu Lan Empire, the enemy armies began to retreat to the rear.
The Jia Ma Empire finally got a chance to catch its breath.
In the western city, Hai Bodong resisted the Dou Ancestor powerhouse of the Chu Yun Empire single-handedly, and the name of the Ice Emperor resounded in the surrounding countries.
Actually, logically speaking, there was no need for Hai Bodong to defend the Jia Ma Empire like this. After all, the Miter family was just a commercial force and had been targeted by the imperial family repeatedly.
However, Hai Bodong had his own standards of measurement in his heart. Personal grudges were put aside first; the great cause of the country and family could not be lost.
He was a principled person. Under the premise of not violating principles, he would use all his strength to protect those who should be protected.
Fortunately, his persistence was not in vain. The Jia Ma Empire successfully survived this disaster and ushered in a new dawn.
...
Black-Corner Region.
Feng City City Lord's Mansion.
A burly man walked into the main hall and reported to the person sitting at the head.
"Alliance Leader, the army has been assembled and can set off at any time."
Han Lie, the Chief Commander of Feng City at the time, said.
The countries around the Black-Corner Region were forming a new alliance, preparing to confront the Black Alliance, attempting to scatter the unified Black-Corner Region in one fell swoop.
Their actions were not smaller than those of the Chu Yun, Mu Lan, and Luo Yan Empires at all.
After all, the reputation of the Black-Corner Region still existed, unlike the Jia Ma Empire, which could be easily provoked.
Han Feng looked at this subordinate who had recognized him as master for decades and nodded slightly.
"Go, let the outside world see the strength of the Black-Corner Region."
"Yes!"
Han Lie bowed respectfully, a flash of excitement in his eyes.
The current Black-Corner Region could really be said to be much stronger than back then, especially Feng City, which had completely become the capital of the Black-Corner Region.
Han Lie's talent was not that outstanding, unlike Lin Xian'er, Ye Qingyun, and others who could break through to Dou Ancestor whenever they wanted.
He belonged to the type who didn't care about the quality of breakthrough, thanking heaven and earth as long as he could advance smoothly.
Last time, after finding the third remnant map of the Purifying Lotus Demon Fire for Han Feng, Han Feng bestowed a heavy treasure, allowing him to successfully reach the peak of Nine-Star Dou Emperor.
This cultivation level could already rank very well in the Black-Corner Region.
Unfortunately, Han Lie was still a bit short of breaking through to Dou Ancestor and needed to settle for a while.
Watching Han Lie leave, Han Feng continued to think about confronting the Hall of Souls.
He already had a clue about the person manipulating behind the scenes mentioned by his Junior Brother before.
The culprit manipulating the rise of this war was the Hall of Souls!
Although wars between empires for profit were normal.
But dragging more than half of the Northwest Continent into the war at once was a bit abnormal.
When Han Feng learned this news, he actually thought of the Hall of Souls immediately.
But not to blame them too casually, Han Feng still sent people to investigate clues.
Finally confirmed, it was indeed the Hall of Souls playing tricks.
"Should I let the Soul Execution Division start hunting in the Northwest Continent?"
Han Feng was now thinking about this question.
Although he had already planned to carry out a second large-scale suppression of the Hall of Souls, where to start was a question worth discussing.
If the hunting started in the Northwest Continent, then afterward, the Northwest Continent would become the focus of the Hall of Souls' attention.
At that time, many secrets would be revealed.
But if not starting from the Northwest Continent, where else could he start?
Killing was definitely necessary; this was beyond doubt, just a matter of time.
Han Feng thought.
"Got it!"
Han Feng's eyes flashed.
Just go to the Northern Region and kill an important figure of the Hall of Souls first, wouldn't that solve it?
The Northern Region of the Central Plains was the current base camp of the Hall of Souls, gathering a group of Hall of Souls experts.
Just go there for a stroll, see which lucky guy he could meet, and then take action to kill.
While taking action, let the Soul Execution Division act against the Hall of Souls in the Northwest Continent from behind.
In this way, when searching for traces of killing enemies afterward, the Soul Execution Division would have started from the Northern Region of the Central Plains.
Perfect!
After pondering the plan, Han Feng immediately prepared to leave.
Finally, finally could use the identity of the leader of the Soul Execution Division again to execute people of the Hall of Souls.
Han Feng began to look forward to it in his heart after a long time.
No matter how perfect the plan was, it was just a plan.
Only by taking real action could it be implemented.
Han Feng went to the bamboo forest to check on the two girls who were cultivating, left some instructions, put on the mysterious mask, and embarked on the journey to the Northern Region of the Central Plains.
...
Northern Region of the Central Plains.
Heaven North City.
Han Feng stepped out of the spatial channel and descended into this large city.
Heaven North City was a city in the Northern Region relatively close to the Northwest Continent.
The main forces in the city could be roughly divided into two major family camps.
Han Family, Hong Family.
Among them, the Hong Family had some relationship with the Wind Lightning Pavilion. Among the direct descendants of the Hong Family, there was a person named Hong Chen who had cultivated in the Wind Lightning North Pavilion for many years and had just entered the inner sect recently. His strength and aptitude were quite extraordinary.
The reason Han Feng knew this was that there was a female general in Feng City who was the eldest miss of the Han Family in Heaven North City, named Han Yue.
After graduating from Canaan College, Han Yue joined Feng City, started as a Feng Lin Guard, and grew step by step. Now she was a young genius at the Nine-Star Dou King realm, entrusted with heavy responsibilities by Han Feng, arranged to a city close to the Northern Region of the Central Plains, managing the city affairs alone.
Besides holding an important position in the Black-Corner Region, she was also secretly opening up a channel of contact with the Central Plains for the Black-Corner Region.
Many geniuses graduating from Canaan College had connections with the Central Plains; these people were the future pillars of the Black-Corner Region.
They didn't choose to return to their families but stayed in the Black-Corner Region because they valued the future development potential of the Black-Corner Region. Of course, the most important thing was Han Feng's personal charm.
In just a few years, he unified the entire Black-Corner Region known for chaos and became the overlord here.
Students of Canaan College heard the legendary stories of Elder Han Feng while studying.
Besides the attraction of personal charm, serving in the Black-Corner Region, the cultivation resources obtained monthly were even more generous than in the families of the Central Plains.
The key was that the pills available in the Black-Corner Region were priceless but had no market; placed elsewhere, one might not be able to buy them even at double the price.
Just the qualification to purchase was enough to make these geniuses join the Black-Corner Region camp.
After joining, those outstanding children with connections to the Central Plains, after possessing the power to manage cities, began to use their resources to invest in the construction of the Black-Corner Region.
Although the Black-Corner Region was located in the Northwest Continent, it had actually maintained secret transactions with families all over the Central Plains long ago.
And the people facilitating these transactions were the young masters and misses of the families, safe and reliable; the family elders in the Central Plains had nothing to say.
Of course, the Black-Corner Region didn't use the resources of these families for free. If these families encountered danger or difficulties, the Black-Corner Region would also send manpower to help.
Like in the current Heaven North City, because someone from the Hong Family entered the inner sect of the Wind Lightning North Pavilion and became a personal disciple, their power and prestige gradually surpassed the Han Family, causing the Han Family to fall into a disadvantage in the family struggle. Then Han Yue could make a request to Feng City to help the Han Family win the struggle.
The way the Black-Corner Region responded to these requests was mostly to send a specialist to the local area to investigate the situation first and sort out a reasonable plan.
After the plan was approved, Feng City would send a Dou Ancestor puppet to complete it.
Of course, Han Feng came to Heaven North City this time not to resolve the dispute between the Han and Hong families.
He was purely passing by.
Although he heard that the Hall of Souls entered the Northern Region before, Han Feng hadn't really investigated the actual situation.
Coming to Heaven North City this time, he just happened to investigate the connection between the Northern Region Hall of Souls and the Northwest Continent.
Han Feng walked unhurriedly in the city, using soul power to detect the surrounding environment.
Various subtle places in Heaven North City were taken into Han Feng's eyes within an hour.
"Sure enough, the Hall of Souls has begun to infiltrate this city."
In the process of observation, Han Feng discovered several cultivators contaminated with the aura of the Hall of Souls.
Although they disguised very well so that outsiders couldn't see any clues at all, who told Han Feng to be too familiar with these people of the Hall of Souls? Even if they turned to ashes, Han Feng could recognize them.
During the observation, Han Feng locked onto the traces of these people by the way.
Just like this, waiting until nightfall, in Han Feng's perception, these people began to return to their respective branch halls.
Han Feng sat quietly cultivating in a small inn, while his soul clone left his body and arrived at a branch hall hundreds of kilometers away.
It must be said that the Hall of Souls was still very good at picking places. The locations of these branch halls were extremely hidden; if not specially investigated, it would be difficult to discover them directly.
Fortunately, Han Feng knew now. When fighting in the future, just send strong experts to destroy these bases directly.
Unfortunately, among these branch halls probed tonight, there were no targets particularly worth attacking.
Han Feng's wish this time was to find a somewhat famous Hall of Souls Heaven Venerate to vent his anger.
However, the previous wave of killing was too ruthless, resulting in Han Feng not knowing the names of the new Hall of Souls Heaven Venerates now.
After one night, Han Feng opened his eyes.
Heaven North City had been investigated; he could go to the next city.
Before leaving, Han Feng specially looked in the direction of the Hong Family Ancestral Land.
Thinking that Han Yue, that girl, had indeed done a good job these years, Han Feng flicked his hand lightly, and an invisible energy flew into the retreat place of the Hong Family Ancestor.
The energy was not fatal but could trap the Hong Family Ancestor, making him addicted to the cultivation illusion and unable to extricate himself.
For at least three years, the Han Family didn't need to worry about the Hong Family's counterattack.
As for which family would be stronger or weaker after three years, it was not a question Han Feng should consider.
Hong Chen's talent was indeed not weak, stepping into High-Level Dou Emperor at a young age. Even placed in the Falling Star Pavilion, he would be a notable figure.
Compared with him, Han Yue was more than a notch weaker.
But who told her to have the Black-Corner Region backing her?
Consequently, the Han Family also benefited.
Han Feng left Heaven North City and headed for the next city.
For the next week, Han Feng had been investigating the situation of the Hall of Souls.
Some branch halls had already been investigated by the Soul Execution Division itself, but some more hidden ones still required Han Feng to investigate personally.
"The organizations of the Hall of Souls in the Northern Region are almost all on it."
Han Feng spread out a map of the Northern Region, with some big bright red crosses on it, which were the locations of the Hall of Souls branch halls.
The investigation efficiency of a Dou Saint powerhouse was unknown times higher than back then. Han Feng no longer needed to ask others now and could complete these tasks quickly by himself.
Just in case, Han Feng also personally infiltrated and probed these branch halls to confirm that there were no Spirit Devouring Life Ending Formations below before relaxing.
Arranging a Rank 9 formation was quite difficult and couldn't be inscribed casually; otherwise, Han Feng would be busy for a while again.
"Didn't find those true high-level figures; they are all temporary joiners."
Han Feng narrowed his eyes.
The Hall of Souls was indeed cautious; they should have learned their lesson.
"Forget it, let's stop here for now."
Han Feng put away the map and decided on the first target to attack.
"The new Fifth Heaven Venerate of the Hall of Souls, Yin Yang Heaven Venerate!"