Chapter 598: The Academy Falls

Liu Chen raged, "You overlooked me? With your cultivation as a Tier Eight Martial Emperor, how could you possibly make such a mistake?"

A Tier Eight Martial Emperor was an existence of incredible power. How could one simply be overlooked? In Liu Chen’s eyes, Su Xiuyi had intentionally refused to save them.

"What? Are you trying to lecture me?" Su Xiuyi suddenly shot him a cold glare.

A terrifying aura radiated outward, causing the hairs on Liu Chen’s body to stand on end. A cold sweat immediately beaded on his forehead.

"No, I’m not." Liu Chen took a deep breath and quickly reined in his anger. However, the venom in his cold, resentful gaze proved his malice had not dissipated.

"Everyone, after all that has happened, I must report back to the empire at once. I’ll be taking my leave." Without another word, Liu Chen waved his hand and shot away in a streak of light.

Watching Liu Chen’s retreating figure, Ge Puzi snorted coldly. "That ungrateful whelp. If not for us, would he even be alive right now?"

The members of the other factions watched Liu Chen depart, speechless. ’That man is a complete idiot. Back when we were rescuing Xuan Ye, the Sky Empire was the only faction that didn’t offer any Spirit Medicine. Su Xiuyi from Gale Light Academy is clearly retaliating. Can he really not see that?’

’And he just had to walk right into it. Besides, Vice Director Ge was right. The only reason Liu Chen survived this catastrophe was because of Gale Light Academy’s help.’

The thought of the devastating casualties filled everyone with rage.

The elder from the Sword Sect wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "Damn the Profound Mystery Sect, the Nine Yang Sect, and the Bright Moon Empire! The Sword Sect will remember the events of this day. When I return and report to the Sect Master, we will surely settle this blood debt."

"The Divine Sea Sect will not let this rest, either."

"Profound Sound Valley stands with you all."

Everyone spoke with cold fury, their expressions livid.

Ge Puzi addressed the crowd. "Everyone, the Profound Mystery Sect is viciously ambitious. I fear the battle at Ancient Yang City was only one part of their plan. The situation is urgent. Please, return to your sects at once and deliver this news. Vice Sect Master Jia Xu, Li Zongluo and the others from the Qingfeng Empire have all fallen in this battle. Since the Qingfeng Empire is closest to you, I must ask the Divine Sea Sect to relay the message. As for Gale Light Academy, we have other urgent matters to attend to, so we will depart first."

"No problem," Vice Sect Master Jia Xu of the Divine Sea Sect replied with a cupped-fist salute.

Having suffered such a terrible disaster, no one wished to linger.

After coming to an agreement, the large group dispersed, each person departing for their own sect.

"Let’s go."

With a wave of his hand, Vice Director Ge summoned an Alchemy Flying Ship. Once everyone had boarded...

WHOOSH!

The Alchemy Flying Ship instantly became a streak of light and vanished over the horizon.

Aboard the Flying Ship, anxious expressions were etched on everyone’s faces.

Ye Xuan and the others had just learned from Elder Tianyi that in addition to setting a trap in Ancient Yang City, the Profound Mystery Sect had also dispatched a separate force to Gale Light Academy.

No one knew the current situation at the academy, leaving them all deeply unsettled.

But Ancient Yang City was a great distance from Gale Light Academy. Even at full speed, the Alchemy Flying Ship would take several days to arrive. By the time they got there, they feared the academy would have already met a grim fate.

At this moment, time was life. Though anxious, all they could do was pray in silence.

After the Flying Ship had been in the air for a short while, Su Xiuyi spoke up in a heavy tone. "This is too slow. The Alchemy Flying Ship’s speed is too low. I’ll go on ahead. If the Profound Mystery Sect’s forces haven’t struck yet, there might still be a glimmer of hope."

The Alchemy Flying Ship’s speed was equivalent to a Tier Seven Peak Martial King, which was indeed much slower than Su Xiuyi, a Tier Eight Martial Emperor.

At his level, Su Xiuyi could reach Gale Light Academy in half the time it would take the ship.

The others exchanged glances, but before they could speak, Ge Puzi’s expression suddenly changed. He took out a palm-sized jade stone.

The stone was covered in a dense network of lines, which were now glowing faintly like fireflies.

Ge Puzi quickly infused it with his Profound Sense. After a brief scan, a look of shock appeared on his face. A moment later, he looked up at Su Xiuyi with a bitter smile. "Su Xiuyi, there’s no need for you to go ahead. I just received a message... the academy has already fallen."

"What?!" Everyone shot to their feet in shock.

Elder Dong was aghast. "Vice Director Ge, how is that possible? The academy is protected by the Great Array the Director personally established, not to mention countless other defenses! How could it have fallen?"

Elder Yao and the others also looked on in disbelief.

Ge Puzi gave a bitter smile. "The message I just received came from Jiuchen via a communication array. He said the Profound Mystery Sect had several Tier Eight Martial Emperor experts. One of them was terrifyingly skilled in Arrays, so they were unable to hold out."

"What? Several Tier Eight Martial Emperors? Since when did the Profound Mystery Sect have so many experts of that level?"

Everyone’s face fell in shock.

Elder Yao gasped, "Then what about Jiuchen and the others...?"

A hint of relief crossed Ge Puzi’s face. "Don’t worry, Jiuchen and the others are safe. At the critical moment, Jiuchen activated the Teleportation Array left behind by the Director and escaped with the survivors. It just means... we need to change our destination."

Hearing that Jiuchen was safe, Elder Dong and the others let out a collective sigh of relief.

Elder Yao frowned. "How does the Profound Mystery Sect have so many Martial Emperors?"

"I don’t know. We’ll have to wait until we reach the academy’s safe point and meet with Jiuchen. Perhaps he can tell us the truth."

Such long-range arrays consumed massive amounts of energy for each transmission and had a limited number of uses. So, despite their burning questions, the group had no choice but to suppress their curiosity for now.

At this, Luo Min couldn’t help but ask anxiously, "Young Master Ye, Gale Light Academy has fallen... Is Cheng’Er... is he alright?"

Luo Min hadn’t participated in the battle at Ancient Yang City due to being severely injured. When Zhan Shang later broke free, Luo Min, as a Martial King, had managed to avoid the ensuing calamity and survive.

Unfortunately, Master Luo Xiang, a mere Tier Six Peak Martial Venerable, was enveloped by Zhan Shang’s black qi and died tragically in Ancient Yang City.

Now, hearing that Gale Light Academy had fallen, Luo Min, whose son Luo Cheng was a student there, was instantly gripped by anxiety.

Ye Xuan shook his head and looked toward Ge Puzi.

Ge Puzi forced a bitter smile. "We don’t know the specifics of the situation yet. But I trust that Jiuchen and the others did everything in their power to protect the students. You don’t need to worry on that front."

Everyone fell silent.

In the days that followed, Ye Xuan and the others spent their time on the Flying Ship in arduous closed-door cultivation.

The battle of Ancient Yang City had been a harsh awakening for them all: only with sufficient strength could they protect themselves and their loved ones. Everyone seized the time to heal their wounds and cultivate in silence.

In their spare time, Elder Dong and the others would occasionally converse with Su Xiuyi.

Su Xiuyi had been wandering for years, but he maintained occasional contact with Vice Director Ge.

When the crisis at Gale Light Academy began and Ge Puzi was unable to reach Director Huangfu Xiuming, he did everything he could to contact Su Xiuyi. That was how Su Xiuyi had managed to arrive at the "peace talks" in Ancient Yang City at such a critical moment.

Without Su Xiuyi’s arrival, it was likely none of them would have survived.

Furthermore, Su Xiuyi shared some of his insights on breaking through to the Martial Emperor realm with the Vice Director.

The Vice Director was shocked to discover that the insights Ye Xuan had previously shared with them were far more systematic and complete than Su Xiuyi’s. This left Ge Puzi and the others utterly astonished at the depth of Ye Xuan’s knowledge.

When Ge Puzi relayed some of Ye Xuan’s teachings, Su Xiuyi was also stunned. He looked at Ye Xuan, his heart reeling with astonishment.

And so, for the rest of the journey, Su Xiuyi began seeking Ye Xuan’s guidance from time to time. Ye Xuan held nothing back, offering him crucial pointers on several key aspects of cultivation.

Ye Xuan’s advice gave Su Xiuyi, who had been stuck at the Tier Eight First Layer Peak, a moment of sudden, profound enlightenment. He immediately immersed himself in arduous cultivation.

While everyone on the Flying Ship cultivated, news of what had transpired in Ancient Yang City swept through the Dream Realm Plain like a storm, shaking the entire region.

The leaders of the major powers publicly condemned the actions of the Profound Mystery Sect and its two allies, vowing that their deeds would not be forgiven.

Experts from every major power began to gather, and the air grew thick with the feeling of an impending storm.

Panic spread across the Dream Realm Plain; no faction felt safe.

「At that moment, in a certain region of the Dream Realm Plain.」

It was a sacred land encircled by mountains, rich with Profound Qi and teeming with Spirit Medicine. The view was breathtakingly beautiful, like a scene from an immortal realm.

This was the headquarters of the Profound Mystery Sect, one of the most powerful factions on the Dream Realm Plain.

Majestic buildings rose from the mountain range—a forest of palaces with carved balustrades and jade pillars, a truly magnificent sight.

At this moment, the many Supreme Elders left to guard the sect were gathered together in a state of anxiety.

They had already received reports from the other major powers and learned that their Ancestor’s encirclement plan at Ancient Yang City had somehow failed.

"What happened? How could the Ancestor and the others have failed?"

"I heard that the Sect Master and all the others fell. Is it true?"

"What should we do? Those mysterious experts who were here a few days ago have all gone to Gale Light Academy. Are we supposed to just sit here and wait?"

Panic gripped them all.

"Everyone, remain calm." At that moment, a commanding voice rang out. It was Chen Kang, another of the Profound Mystery Sect’s Vice Sect Masters. He said grimly, "All the news we’ve received has come from the other powers. We don’t have a definitive account of what happened to the Ancestor and the others. Do not lose your composure."

"But—"

"There are no buts." A Supreme Elder had just started to speak when Chen Kang cut him off. "With the Ancestor’s cultivation, do you really think he could fall so easily?" he said coldly. "Furthermore, you all saw the cultivation and power of the many experts who appeared in our sect a few days ago. With them on our side, even if all the other powers attack us together, the Profound Mystery Sect will remain safe and sound."

Reassured by Chen Kang’s words, the Supreme Elders departed, lost in thought.

Chen Kang and the others had no idea that at that very moment, just outside the mountain range of the Profound Mystery Sect, a large pack of Demon Kings exuding terrifying auras had mysteriously appeared.