As Ziholong listened to his words, his anxiety grew. These were all results, after all.
He made no mention of whether Poxiao knew about his affairs.
After a moment of silence, Ziholong hesitantly took a step forward and said, "Since Cihong and Balis have stated they are not enemies with us, why didn't you take this opportunity to absorb Tianwang into our ranks?"
Although Hongmo had warned him not to continue being an enemy of Poxiao, Ziholong's desire for power was too strong.
He was unwilling to simply hand over power.
Therefore, he pointed it out in front of Xingyuan now, his intention being to diminish Poxiao's capabilities.
"You don't seem to have heard what I just said."
"Tianwang's strength has plummeted, and it wouldn't be difficult to recruit them, but it would be very difficult to make them useful. They would need to form combat power first!"
"And this would require a lot of resources and a lot of time, so recruiting them is not cost-effective!"
Ye Cangtian glanced at Ziholong and said indifferently.
He originally thought that Ziholong, having received Hongmo's instructions, would not dare to oppose him anymore. But now, the other party was still causing trouble, truly persistent.
On the other side, after hearing Poxiao's words, Ziholong immediately sneered and said, "Does Tianwang have no combat power? They have at least two gods of death, which is a considerable fighting force!"
"Can two gods of death move?"
Ye Cangtian looked at Ziholong disdainfully and continued, "They are currently the pillars of Tianwang. If they leave or something happens to them, Tianwang will fall apart and become fragmented."
"At that time, there will be no guarantee whether they will attack the Dark Association!"
"Alright, this matter ends here. Poxiao did nothing wrong!"
Just as Ziholong was about to say something else, Xingyuan suddenly spoke up, directly interrupting Ziholong.
Although Tianwang currently had two gods of death, to the Dark Association, they were less useful than chicken ribs.
With Xueye's recent death, those loyal to Xueye would likely not let this matter rest easily, and someone needed to keep them in check at this time.
Otherwise, Tianwang might cause considerable trouble.
In comparison, even if these two gods of death defected to the Dark Association, they would not be of much use, as they had only just reached the Earthly realm and their combat power was still limited.
Listening to Xingyuan's words, Ziholong gnashed his teeth and finally fell silent.
However, at this moment, Ye Cangtian, standing beside him, let out a cold sneer, then looked at Xingyuan and said, "Lord Xingyuan, there is one more thing I need to report."
"..."
This statement made Ziholong's heart leap into his throat.
Everything related to the mission had basically been reported, and now he still wanted to continue, it was highly likely he was going to talk about him...
But the agonizing part was that he had no way to stop it, and could only react as the situation unfolded.
Xingyuan's gaze fell on Poxiao, and he said, "Speak."
"The first day I arrived at Tianwang, the people of Tianwang had already received news about me."
"Later, Xueye also explained this, stating that Ziholong had sold information about my actions to Tianwang!"
"Therefore, I hope Lord Xingyuan can do justice for me and give me fairness!"
Listening to Ye Cangtian's voice, cold sweat began to trickle down Ziholong's forehead.
He quickly stepped forward to defend himself, saying, "Lord Xingyuan, this must all be fabricated by Poxiao. He has been unhappy with me for a long time! I assure you, I have never done such a thing!"
In Ziholong's opinion, since Xueye was already dead, whatever Poxiao said now had no corroborating evidence.
Moreover, Xingyuan should have some awareness of the conflict between him and Poxiao, so his statement could be considered plausible!
"I fabricated it? Heh heh!"
Ye Cangtian sneered and slowly said, "Ziholong, you probably never expected this, but I have a recording from Xueye on my phone!"
This statement stunned Ziholong, but he reacted quickly and said, "Great, since you have a recording, play it for us to hear!"
Ziholong sneered. This was inside the Dark Ruins, where all modern technological products would fail, including mobile phones.
It could be said that even if Poxiao possessed the evidence, he could not present it.
Besides, in his opinion, Poxiao was just bluffing.
After all, Xueye and Poxiao were enemies. How could someone cooperate with their enemy by recording something right before being killed?
Heh heh.
Listening to Ziholong's words, Ye Cangtian was not flustered at all.
He looked at Xingyuan and said, "My Lord, the recording is on my phone. You can send anyone to verify it. I have one more thing to say."
After a pause, Ye Cangtian continued, "The intelligence personnel of the Guangming Hall had many of their members eliminated by the Huaxia Dragon Group during their operations, making them extremely cautious.
"And Ziholong was able to almost wipe them out in such a short period of time. Aren't you surprised?"
Upon hearing this, the sweat on Ziholong's face began to flow faster.
It was all due to his guilty conscience. The reason he could find those intelligence stations was essentially a deal with Xueye.
And what Poxiao pointed out was precisely the key issue.
The Guangming Hall's actions had caused too much stir recently, and the Dragon Group was still investigating them.
Even the Dragon Group hadn't found those people, so how could he have found them so quickly?
After all, Kyoto was the territory of the Huaxia forces...
Anyone with a bit of brains, upon careful consideration of this matter, would be able to find the problem.
"Ziholong, I think you should provide an explanation for this matter!"
"It would be best to explain how you discovered the locations of the Guangming Hall's intelligence departments, and who provided the information..."
On the other side, listening to Poxiao's question, Xingyuan's eyes instantly shot out a cold gaze, landing on Ziholong.
It was clear that he had also discovered the problem.
"This..."
Ziholong's heart tightened instantly, and he braced himself and quickly said, "Lord Xingyuan, the intelligence stations of the Dark Association and the Guangming Hall have been lurking in Kyoto for many years, so it should be reasonable to know some of their information, right?"
After a pause, Ziholong added, "Moreover, we had cooperated with the Guangming Hall before, so we have some understanding of their operational style, and it wouldn't be too difficult to find them."
"Hmm."
Listening to Ziholong's defense, Xingyuan nodded understandingly. If explained this way, it was somewhat plausible.
After pondering for a moment, Xingyuan slowly said, "Ziholong, although you have tried your best to defend yourself, I still believe that there is no smoke without fire, and Poxiao would not joke about such matters!"
After a pause, Xingyuan directly stated, "Therefore, I have decided that in the future, when Poxiao is out in the world, his authority and status will be equivalent to yours. He will not need to report to you for anything and can report directly to me!"
"Lord Xingyuan..."
Upon hearing this decision, Ziholong immediately wanted to say something.
If Poxiao were truly on equal footing with him, he would undoubtedly establish his own network and contend with him.
If Poxiao gained more influence, how could he possibly be a match?
Therefore, he hoped that Xingyuan would retract his decision and reconsider the matter. However, as soon as he opened his mouth, he heard Xingyuan's cold snort.
"Hmph!"