Zhou Jinyun stood at a position slightly behind Chen Yan, witnessing everything that had happened.
Her entire body was almost frozen in place, stunned into a stupor.
It wasn't until a gust of cool wind blew past after the searing heat, sending several fragments of deep green daoist robes brushing across her cheek, that Zhou Jinyun finally registered what had occurred.
Grand Elder Jing was dead.
A Unity Realm great power cultivator had died, just like that, so simply.
He had been burned alive by the terrifying, blood-red flames that Senior Chen had summoned.
Zhou Jinyun hadn't even had time to clearly see the thousands of afterimages Jing Bai had unleashed before the outcome was already decided.
What happened in the following breaths, Chen Yan's incineration of Grand Elder Jing, was merely an execution.
The completely charred remains crashed onto the ground, the carbonized black surface cracking upon impact, revealing flames as red as blood deep within the wreckage.
Chen Yan had long anticipated the possibility that Jing Bai would fight to the death.
If he hadn't been prepared, there was no way he could have reacted within a thousandth of a breath.
Otherwise, Jing Bai might have succeeded in snatching Chu Fan right out of his hands.
That would have been troublesome then.
Of course, the situation wasn't entirely out of control yet.
The negotiations with Mirage Palace still needed to happen.
Thinking this, Chen Yan raised his head and looked toward the sky.
Two streaks of light were tearing through the air, initially just tiny dots on the distant horizon, but moving at incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, their outlines became visible as they raced toward their location.
The final burst of spiritual energy released when a Unity Realm cultivator fell was like a bell tolling in the dead of night, enough to alarm those above the seventh realm deep within Mirage Palace, ten thousand li away.
They already knew of Jing Bai's death.
Now, the investigators had arrived.
The two figures grew clearer. Though their pressure was restrained, it was already enough to make Zhou Jinyun feel her breath catch.
As the figures in the sky drew closer, Zhou Jinyun clearly recognized the identities of the Mirage Palace Grand Elders descending from above.
"The Supreme Martial Pacification Court's Divine Ability Realm Grand Elder, Li Xudong... and the Supreme Surveillance Court's Divine Ability Realm Grand Elder, Yang Fan."
Zhou Jinyun murmured.
Two Divine Ability Realm great powers!
This was only natural, after all. The Grand Elders of Mirage Palace had just learned of the death of Jing Bai, a Unity Realm cultivator.
Mirage Palace would naturally treat this matter with utmost seriousness, so having two Divine Ability Realm cultivators come to investigate was perfectly normal.
Chen Yan stood still, his expression unchanged, simply looking up calmly.
The two Grand Elders from Mirage Palace both hovered in the sky, their deep green daoist robes fluttering in the wind.
On the left was an elder with a dignified countenance, his aura sharp as an unsheathed ancient sword. He was Li Xudong, Grand Elder Li of the Supreme Martial Pacification Court.
On the right was an elder with a somewhat gloomy expression, his gaze calm, his bearing steady like a deep pool in a forest. He was Yang Fan, Grand Elder Yang of the Supreme Surveillance Court.
Both Divine Ability Realm great powers' gazes immediately fell upon the charred remains on the ground. Even though the remnants had been burned beyond recognition, the lingering trace of Jing Bai's original essence was unmistakably clear.
Li Xudong's eye twitched slightly as his sharp gaze swept toward Chen Yan.
They naturally ignored Chu Fan, Zhou Jinyun, and Su Hongzhen on the side, focusing all their hostility entirely on Chen Yan.
After all, these three youngsters were merely ants at the Qi Circulation and Martial Spring Realms, utterly insignificant.
And the death of Grand Elder Jing Bai certainly had nothing to do with them.
The problem was clearly the youth standing at the forefront, who looked only sixteen or seventeen, with an exceptionally calm and steady aura.
Compared to the sharp and aggressive Li Xudong, Yang Fan's reaction was more restrained and cautious.
He couldn't see through this person's cultivation level?
Could it be that this man's cultivation was above the Divine Ability Realm, perhaps even Dao Union?
If that were truly the case, things would be difficult.
They might need to have Du Shuji come over and even mobilize the two immortal artifacts of Mirage Palace.
"Sir."
It was Li Xudong who spoke first:
"Grand Elder Jing was a key member of our Mirage Palace's Supreme Martial Pacification Court. You need to give our Mirage Palace an explanation for this matter."
Although Li Xudong appeared sharp and aggressive, the fact that he could cultivate to the Divine Ability Realm and serve as a Grand Elder of Mirage Palace meant he was anything but foolish.
He naturally understood the current situation as well.
Therefore, his words were quite restrained.
"Who are you?"
Chen Yan ignored Li Xudong's question and asked instead.
The atmosphere instantly tightened to the extreme.
Though Li Xudong was restrained, his barely contained fury and oppressive pressure spilled out without disguise, sinking into a suffocating weight.
"I am Li Xudong of the Mirage Palace's Supreme Martial Pacification Court."
"I didn't ask your name."
Chen Yan shook his head:
"I asked what your position is in Mirage Palace. Are you the Supreme Martial Pacification Elder?"
"No."
Li Xudong replied.
Upon hearing this, Chen Yan seemed to lose all interest in Li Xudong. He turned his head toward Yang Fan, who was on Li Xudong's right:
"What about you? What's your position?"
Yang Fan's expression grew even more gloomy than before:
"Sir, don't you think you're being a bit too rude?"
"In that case, I don't think either of you is qualified to speak with me."
With that, Chen Yan smiled, then turned around and directed his gaze toward Zhou Jinyun, who was standing behind him:
"Which Grand Elder of Mirage Palace do you trust?"
Zhou Jinyun stood behind Chen Yan, silent for a brief moment. As the chief disciple of Mirage Palace's Weaving Dreams Tower, she naturally had a clear answer in her heart:
"Shang Ao, Imperial Law Elder Shang."
Within Mirage Palace at present, only a very small number of Grand Elders were aware of Zhou Jinyun's existence.
Because Shang Ao had used his illusion techniques to completely erase the existence of the Weaving Dreams Tower's chief disciple from the memories of Mirage Palace's disciples.
The reason Imperial Law Elder Shang did this was that Shen Chuan's death might involve many matters connected to forces outside Mirage Palace, so he sent his most prized disciple, Zhou Jinyun, away from Mirage Palace to investigate the conspiracy behind it.
Hearing Zhou Jinyun's answer, Chen Yan nodded. Then he turned again, his gaze falling on Li Xudong and Yang Fan in the sky:
"Have the Supreme Imperial Law Elder of Mirage Palace, Shang Ao, Imperial Law Elder Shang, come speak with me."