Chapter 367: Qiao Rong, Elder Qiao

The gambling den was boisterous; everyone here was a Cultivator, with cultivation levels ranging from the Body Tempering Realm to the Xuandan Realm.

Their wagers were all Spirit Stones. The gambling tools here were specially crafted, making it impossible for them to be interfered with or examined by magic, so cheating was impossible.

Qiao Rong brought Xiao Fan up to the second floor and walked into a Secret Room.

This Secret Room was also specially constructed, preventing outsiders from detecting what was happening inside.

Upon entering the Secret Room, Xiao Fan was stunned, because he saw a White-haired Elder inside.

"Elder Qiao?" Xiao Fan was stunned. He hadn't expected to see the Treasure Pavilion North Pavilion Master Qiao Yuanzhou here.

Qiao Yuanzhou smiled, his face full of kindness. "You've come."

Hearing the familiar voice, Xiao Fan confirmed the other party's identity and immediately bowed respectfully.

Back in Jingchuan, when Xiao Fan was at his lowest, the other party had protected him many times. Xiao Fan always remembered this kindness.

"Sit down, don't be so formal." Qiao Yuanzhou chuckled and gestured for Xiao Fan to sit opposite him.

Xiao Fan nodded and walked over, his face full of confusion. This time, he was truly bewildered.

Qiao Rong had asked him to come, but he had ended up meeting Qiao Yuanzhou here.

Both of them had the surname Qiao; could they be family? Xiao Fan quickly calculated their relationship in his mind.

"Senior Brother Xiao, why do you have that expression?" Qiao Rong looked at Xiao Fan with a smile, her eyes narrowing into slits.

Xiao Fan: "…Why do I have this expression? Don't you know why?"

He couldn't help but complain internally; it was obvious that Qiao Rong knew everything.

Qiao Yuanzhou smiled, looking to be in a very good mood.

Qiao Rong covered her mouth and giggled, then sat down beside Xiao Fan.

"Alright, Rong'er, you explain it to Xiao Fan." Qiao Yuanzhou laughed.

Xiao Fan didn't make a sound, intending to listen to what they had to say.

"Uh… actually, I didn't intend to hide anything from you." Qiao Rong stuck out her tongue, then pointed at Qiao Yuanzhou. "This is my grandfather. I assume you've already figured that out."

"You have no respect for your elders." Elder Qiao gave a wry smile.

Xiao Fan nodded, still remaining silent.

"I originally joined the Jixian Sect to carry out a mission—plainly speaking, to be a spy. However, I held no malice toward the Jixian Sect. After they found out, they didn't punish me; they just kicked me out. It was done quietly. At the time, I wanted to contact you, but everything happened too suddenly…"

Qiao Rong sighed helplessly and continued, "Also, in the Secret Realm… I had originally planned to keep a low profile and barely gather enough victory points to enter the Inner Sect. But I had relied on a certain Cui Lang before, and that person was scared off by you…"

"Then I met you. Furthermore, I had heard my grandfather mention you before, saying you were a very interesting person, so I thought it would be good to follow you… and the rest is history."

Qiao Rong spilled the whole story in one go.

Xiao Fan recalled the events carefully; it seemed that their meeting was exactly as she had described.

Indeed, he had accidentally run into that man named Cui Lang on the road, along with Qiao Rong.

Then he had taken action, leaving Qiao Rong stunned on the spot. She had directly betrayed the location of Yi Liangping's group and insisted on following Xiao Fan.

With this, Xiao Fan finally understood the whole situation.

However, he still had a question.

"When did you join the Outer Sect of the Jixian Sect? Why didn't they punish you?" Xiao Fan asked.

In fact, his question was somewhat sensitive. First, he wanted to know when Qiao Rong had joined the Jixian Sect.

Second, he wanted to know what kind of power was really behind Qiao Rong.

Elder Qiao represented the Treasure Pavilion, and the Treasure Pavilion was suspected to be backed by the Wuhuang Dynasty.

"I joined the Jixian Sect a little over two years ago. I stayed there the whole time, only occasionally leaving to carry out tasks, and that was when I would contact the outside world." Qiao Rong smiled, looking at Xiao Fan with a grin:

"As for the power behind me, I think you've already guessed some of it."

Xiao Fan: "…Just say it directly."

Although he hadn't known Qiao Rong for long, their relationship was quite familiar.

"The Treasure Pavilion goes without saying; you already know that. What you want to ask is whether the Treasure Pavilion is indeed a subordinate of the Wuhuang Dynasty, right?" Qiao Rong said. "Then I can tell you now: the rumors outside are correct, and your thoughts are also correct. The Treasure Pavilion is indeed under the Wuhuang Dynasty."

Qiao Rong didn't hide anything and admitted it frankly.

Xiao Fan let out a breath; it was consistent with his guesses.

The Treasure Pavilion was indeed a subordinate power of the Wuhuang Dynasty.

And both Qiao Yuanzhou and Qiao Rong belonged to the Wuhuang Dynasty.

With this, he had figured everything out.

The Jixian Sect had discovered Qiao Rong's identity, but because she was a person from the Wuhuang Dynasty and hadn't done anything to harm the Jixian Sect, they had simply expelled her without further punishment.

Furthermore, it was likely related to Qiao Rong's status; after all, Qiao Rong was still the granddaughter of Qiao Yuanzhou.

If they had really killed Qiao Rong, there would undoubtedly have been further trouble.

At this moment, Xiao Fan even wondered if the Wuhuang Dynasty had considered this, which was why they had sent Qiao Rong there.

At the same time, he sighed at how complex and intertwined these major powers were.

"Alright, there's nothing else I called you here for; I mainly just wanted to see you." Qiao Rong smiled. "If you hadn't fought those people from the Thunder Fire Sect yesterday, I wouldn't have even known you had come."