Everyone inside the hall turned their eyes towards Wei Tai's right arm, and noticed that his hand from the wrist and below was now missing.
''Daddy!!''
A scream suddenly filled the main hall of the palace, but surprisingly, it didn't come from Wei Tai, but from the red-dressed young woman next to Dong Lingyuan, Wei Yi.
Wei Tai himself was still staring at his own hand, with a look of disbelief in his eyes.
It seemed like the pain hadn't registered just yet, since it took him 3 breaths of time to finally react and scream in pain, while he tightly held his bleeding right hand.
Zhu Zan and the other middle-aged man next to Wei Tai, wanted to slowly back away from Shun Long, with fear obvious in their eyes, but Shun Long's terrifying aura of a middle-stage Spirit realm expert, was like a boulder that was heavily pressuring their hearts, filling them with boundless terror.
Wei Tai's screams were suddenly cut short, as under everyone's terrified gazes, Shun Long lifted the Heaven grade expert up from his neck and stared at his eyes that were filled with fear.
Cracking sounds resounded in the palace's main hall, as Shun Long slowly pressured the old man's neck.
Crack
Hearing the cracking sounds, the young woman in the red dress, Wei Yi hurriedly turned her gaze towards Zhu Zan and the middle-aged Heaven grade expert next to him and shouted anxiously
''Uncle Zhu Zan, uncle Zhu Heng, you have to help father!''
Zhu Zan and Zhu Heng both took a look at the young woman who had shouted in fear, before they turned their heads to look at each other.
Although their relationship with Wei Tai wasn't too good, they knew that if the old man died in Shun Long's hands, it was very likely that they would follow right after.
And yet, the terrifying aura coming from Shun Long's body made it obvious that he was far stronger than the 2 of them together.
The 2 Heaven grade experts knew, that even if they joined hands with Wei Tai, it was unlikely that they would be able to injure the young man in front of them before they died by his hands.
Nodding his head, Zhu Zan looked around the main hall, before his eyes landed on the window next to him.
Suddenly, both he and Zhu Heng exploded with their auras at the same time, as they turned to fly towards the window on the wall of the palace hall, in an attempt to leave the palace.
Since they couldn't win, it was pointless for them to risk their lives for Wei Tai!
The best thing they could do was to turn and flee as far away as possible.
And yet, the moment that they tried to escape, Shun Long merely turned his eyes to glance towards them, before the 2 peak rank 1 Heaven grade cultivators felt like a terrifying mountain had suddenly fallen on their backs, slamming them both into the palace floor at the same time.
The aura of a Spirit realm expert wasn't something that peak rank 1 Heaven grade cultivators could fight against. Even Shun Long would be completely unable to fight against a Spirit realm cultivator when he was still at the peak rank 1 of the Heaven grade, let alone Zhu Zan and Zhu Heng.
Shun Long snorted before his golden eyes were once again focused on the old man in front of him.
Seeing that Wei Tai had no intention to speak, Shun Long was about to completely crush his neck and kill him before he turned to ask the others inside the hall, when suddenly, a woman's voice sounded in his ears as she said
''Wait! I know where your parents are!''
Shun Long, Liu Mei, as well as everyone else in the hall, including the king, Dong Weifeng, and Wei Tai, turned their heads to look at the woman in the yellow dress who seemed to be in her early 40s.
It was Dong Lingyuan's mother, as well as Dong Weifeng's second concubine, Zeng Cui.
Before Zeng Fen could speak however, Dong Lingyuan's berating voice sounded in the hall, as he looked at her and said fearfully
''Mother, stop!''
Zeng Cui shook her head, and without looking at her son she said
''Your parents are locked in the dungeon of the palace. Everything that happened to them was my choice! If you have to kill someone, kill me, but let Yuan'er go!'' (Author's note: This is an endearing tone to call Dong Lingyuan)
Shun Long had a cold look on his face as he looked at the woman in the yellow dress who didn't seem to have any special facial features, aside from her spirited eyes.
Shaking his head, he then released his grip from Wei Tai and allowed him to slump on the floor gasping for breath violently, before he grabbed Zeng Cui's neck.
Shun Long wasn't surprised that Zeng Cui was the first one to come out and 'reveal' what had happened to his parents. After all, he was certain, that either Dong Weifeng or someone else would eventually reveal the truth once their life was threatened.
Instead, he was relieved inwardly when he heard that his parents were held in the dungeon.
This meant that Shun Fang and Shun An should most likely still be alive.
Judging from the solemn expression of everyone inside the palace hall however, things didn't seem to be that simple.
Looking at the woman in front of him, Shun Long shook his head before he spoke in a voice that seemed to have come from the deepest depths of hell
''You are not in a position to negotiate with me. Lead the way or die!''
Zeng Cui felt as if she had suddenly led herself into a trap.
Originally, she wanted to blackmail Shun Long, by revealing his parents' location in exchange for her son's safety, but it was only now that she seemed to have realized, that the young man in front of her seemed to be a cold-hearted devil.
She clearly felt that if she didn't lead the way, it was very likely that Shun Long would kill her before he forced Dong Lingyuan to personally lead him in the dungeon instead.
Once Shun Long saw his parents then... wouldn't her son die?
Nodding her head, Zeng Cui threw a meaningful glance at Dong Lingyuan, before she looked at Shun Long and said
''Then let's go to the dungeon together! Unless you want to wait for me to bring your parents here, hehe...''
Zeng Cui had already prepared herself to die, but when she saw the cold look in Shun Long's eyes, she felt her soul freezing in fear.
Holding the yellow-dressed woman from her neck, Shun Long first looked at Liu Mei and said seriously
''Mei'er, don't let any one of them escape. If anyone tries to leave, kill them without mercy!''
As soon as she heard Shun Long's words, Liu Mei nodded her head, before a black ball appeared between her hands before it fell on the ground. More than a dozen jade-white skeletons with green flames glowing in their eyes appeared in the palace hall, under Zeng Cui's and everyone else's terrified eyes.
Skeletons! Moving skeletons!
This was the first thought that flashed through everyone's mind, as they stared at the gorgeous young woman in white robes who stood at the entrance of the main hall.
Without paying any attention to anyone's reaction, Shun Long looked at Zeng Cui before he said in a commanding tone
''Lead the way!''
Zeng Cui's eyes were filled with fear, but remembering the strength of Wei Tai, Zhu Zan and Zhu Heng, she was confident that they would be able to escape as long as the devil-like young man was drawn away from the palace hall.
Without any more hesitation, the woman in the yellow dress led the way, as she and Shun Long headed towards the palace dungeons.
At the same time, inside the 'Stone of Time', Little Black's eyes constricted as he once again spread out his soul sense and covered the entire palace.
Before they had arrived at the imperial city, Little Black had already told Shun Long that there were only 3 Heaven grade cultivators inside the palace.
And all 3 of them seemed to have been gathered in the palace hall.
The look in Little Black's bright blue eyes turned cold as he stared at the woman in front of Shun Long who slowly led the way.
After walking through a few complicated corridors, Shun Long arrived in front of 2 guards who were stunned when they saw the king's second concubine being held hostage.
Before they could move, Shun Long immobilized them with the 'Monarch's Domain', before he finally entered the palace dungeons.