The Sect Elder from the Golden Lion Academy quickly led the group of influential individuals to the living quarters of his Patriarch.
"The Sect Master should still be inside—"
Before he could even finish speaking, the Patriarch from the Holy Sword Sect unsheathes the sword by his side and in a single strike, sliced the door into countless pieces.
"Old Gold! Get your ass out here right now! How dare you act like this when you are a Patriarch! Have you forgotten your responsibility as a Sect Master?!" he yelled in anger, clearly irritated by his cowardly behavior.
The people watched in awe as the Patriarch from the Holy Sword Academy speaks to the Patriarch of the Golden Lion Academy in such a face-slapping way. In this whole world, only he and the old lady from the Four Seasons Academy would dare to speak to him in such a way.
However, even after waiting many moments, there was not a single reply from the Golden Lion Academy's Patriarch.
"Don't think I can't sense your presence just because you concealed it!"
After another moment of silence, the Patriarch from the Holy Sword Sect had enough waiting around and went directly into the house, and the others followed behind, afraid that they might get attacked if they walked inside first.
Inside the house was completely dark and grimy, almost like the place was haunted.
At the end of the room, they were able to notice a faint golden glow that outlined a human figure, and it was trembling in the corner.
"Old Gold, you…"
Not just the Patriarch of the Holy Sword Academy but everybody there were shocked speechless by what they were witnessing.
The Patriarch of the Golden Lion Academy, one of the proudest and most arrogant individuals to walk on this earth, was actually cowering in fear in the corner of this dark room.
His usually vigorous aura was nowhere to be seen, replaced by sheer fear and a feeling of being powerless.
The spirit in his faint eyes was also completely gone, turning his expression soulless.
The once domineering Sovereign Spirit Realm expert was nowhere to be seen and has been reduced to such a pitiful sight.
What on earth did he experience that could break a man of his caliber to such a state?
The anger on the Holy Sword Academy's face disappeared the moment he saw Patriarch Gold, who screamed in horror when he noticed the newcomers.
"P-P-Please! I am sorry for attacking you! D-D-Don't hurt me!" Patriarch Gold cried in a begging voice, causing the atmosphere to turn even more awkward.
"Relax, Old Gold. It's me, Wu Jian Yi!"
The Patriarch of the Holy Sword Academy spoke in a voice that he would usually use around frightened children.
"W-W-Wu J-J-Jian Y-Yi?"
"That's right. Everybody is here, so you don't have to worry about the threat anymore."
"R-Really?"
"Really."
"Senior Gold, we are all here to help you."
"That's right. There's nothing to be fearful of anymore now that we are all gathered here."
"N-No! You don't understand!" Patriarch Gold suddenly exclaimed, his voice still trembling in fear. "That thing — that monster — there's nothing we can do against it!"
Everybody there frowned simultaneously after hearing those words. Perhaps they are still underestimating the true terror this entity could bring?
"Old Gold, why don't you start by explaining the situation so we can have a better grasp of what we are dealing with?" The Matriarch of the Four Seasons Academy said. "But first, why don't we give you a few minutes to organize your mind first? We will wait for you outside."
Everybody there approved of the idea and left the living quarters, leaving Patriarch Gold by himself.
Once they were outside, they all released a deep sigh.
"I can finally breathe… Seeing Senior Gold in such a state shocked me more than seeing the destruction here! Shit!"
"Just what the hell are we dealing with? To reduce someone like Senior Gold into something like that… I cannot imagine."
"We should all put aside our pride and rivalry for now, perhaps even making an alliance, at least until all of this is solved," someone within the crowd suggested. "I don't think this is something we can deal with by ourselves."
Everybody there quickly agreed.
After many minutes of waiting, Patriarch Gold could finally be seen leaving his house.
Although he looked much better than before, his complexion was still as white as sheets, looking like a ghoul.
Sometime later, dozens of high standing individuals occupied the meeting room within the Golden Lion Academy, and Patriarch Gold began explaining the situation to everybody there.
Apparently, during the night of the attack, he had caught some unidentified child snooping around the Sect like she was taking a stroll in the park, and he confronted her.
"A female child?"
The people there wanted to doubt his words but there was no reason for him to make such lies in this grave situation.
"That's right. She looked like your ordinary teenager at first, but once I confronted her, perhaps by surprise, her disguise collapsed."
"So it was a disguise! So what did she really look like?"
"She still retained the figure of a child, but her appearance…" Patriarch Gold forcefully swallowed his saliva up to this point.
He didn't want to explain how she was so beautiful that he'd lost control of his reasoning and attempted to assault her… After all, such an explanation would only backfire on him, and they will without a doubt label him as a pervert and a danger to children.
"She had wavy silver hair and silver eyes, resembling Immortal Fairy Su Yue to the teeth…"
"What?! Immortal Fairy Su Yue?! Impossible! It couldn't have been her!" The Matriarch of the Four Seasons Academy immediately refuted such claims.
The people could not believe that someone like Immortal Fairy Su Yue would be behind all of this destruction.
"I did not say she did it! Although she had similarities to Immortal Fairy Su Yue, her aura and demeanor were entirely different!"
"..."
The place immediately turned silent.
"Perhaps this child came from Immortal Fairy Su Yue's hometown? After all, we know nothing of her background beside the name of her 'husband'." Someone said out loud.
The people there took this explanation to be quite logical and believable to a certain degree.
"Maybe only Immortal Fairy Su Yue can solve this crisis…"
"But we haven't seen even her shadow for some time now! Who knows where she could've gone in this vast world."
"Right… With her incomprehensible Cultivation base, there's nowhere in this world where she cannot go."
Suddenly, someone said, "We may not know where Immortal Fairy Su Yue is right now, but have you heard the rumors of her son appearing at the Nine Spring Hall?"
"What? Her son? Who would believe such rumors?"
"Are you sure it's not so they can get more customers?"
"That's right. We haven't even seen her husband and her son appears out of nowhere?"
The people there quickly rejected such a rumor.
"Huh? The Nine Spring Halls…?"
The eyes of the Four Seasons Academy Matriarch widened with suspicion, and the image of her recent guest appeared in her mind.
"Impossible… he couldn't be…" she thought to herself.
Although she didn't want to believe it, his mysterious background and that young lady with an unfathomable Cultivation base almost confirm it, not to mention the recipe for the Soul Divination Pill.
"Now that I think about it… I didn't ask for his name!" she nearly facepalmed after realizing such a mistake.