— Vermilion Bird Capital City - Murong Clan —

At the large square in the center of the vast territory of the Murong Clan manor, a massive screen floated above the clan grounds, displaying all the ongoing events at the Martial Exchange Grand Stage.

Murong Xuanji, the patriarch of the Murong Clan and the father of Murong Wen, watched the scene with a grim expression. His face darkened as anger rose within him, an anger so fierce that it would not be calmed even if he killed Hua Zuixian.

The moment he saw Hua Zuixian strike his son, he marked Hua Zuixian as a dead man upon whom he would exact vengeance. That hatred also extended to Wei Chen, the man who had humiliated his son. No, it extended to everyone who had witnessed the scene and had neither helped his son nor died alongside him.

He was determined to burn the Martial Exchange Grand Stage to the ground and slaughter everyone there, forcing them to accompany his son into the underworld.

"Elder Jin!" Murong Xuanji called out coldly as he stared at the screen.

"Yes, Patriarch!" the elder responded with a cupped fist.

"Gather our warriors and all the experts under our clan. We will wash the Martial Exchange Grand Stage with their blood," Murong Xuanji commanded.

"At once, Patriarch!" the elder replied before quickly leaving to carry out the order.

Murong Xuanji continued to stare at Hua Zuixian, Wei Chen, and even Dream Butterfly on the screen. Others might survive, but he was determined to send these three to accompany his son down the road to the underworld.

— Martial Exchange Grand Stage —

At the Martial Exchange Grand Stage, the battle between Hua Zuixian and the warriors who had arrived with Murong Wen still raged on.

Wei Chen watched the battle with a deep frown. From a rough count, the warriors rushing out of the Murong Clan's flying ark numbered more than three to four hundred, possibly even more. This large flying ark of the Murong Clan had carried enough warriors to easily subvert a medium or small sect within the Azure River Province.

The weakest among the warriors were at the Core Formation Realm, while the strongest were at the Soul Transformation Realm. Only a select few had reached Soul Transformation, while most were between the Nascent Soul and Core Formation realms.

This lineup was enough to dominate most forces within the Azure River Province.

Unfortunately, they had encountered Hua Zuixian first, an eccentric cultivator who feared neither their numbers nor their influence.

Wei Chen remembered the warning Ximen Hao had given him. The Murong Clan, along with the Azure Sky Conglomerate and Sacred Flame Valley, were in cahoots. They seemed to be planning an attack on the Thousand Treasure Pavilion.

If the Murong Clan alone had brought this many people, then what about the other two forces? And what about other forces that were still unknown to him? How many of them were there in total?

The battle quickly came to an end. Hua Zuixian hurled the Murong Clan's flying ark out of the stadium, its wreckage still smoldering with flames and ash. The entire battle had taken only half an hour, yet the Martial Exchange Grand Stage was now silent. Everyone at the venue was stunned by what Hua Zuixian had just done.

The venue manager watched the scene with a pale face as cold sweat ran down his back. This was a disaster. He knew full well how large clans behaved, especially those from the Vermilion Bird Province, who prided themselves on being stronger than the people of the other two provinces.

The dominance of those people was unbearable and unreasonable.

"Sir, what should we do?" one of the referees, who also served as the venue owner's assistant, asked in trepidation.

The venue owner clutched his head in dismay. He could not afford to offend either side, neither the Murong Clan nor that blasted Drunken Immortal, Hua Zuixian.

At first, he had thought that Hua Zuixian would at most beat Murong Wen. Who could have imagined that this madman would actually kill him? At the same time, he could not offend Hua Zuixian either. This eccentric cultivator would do whatever he pleased.

The fact that he had killed the young master of the Murong Clan was proof enough. If the venue owner dared to interfere, he might be the next to die.

The venue owner looked at his assistant.

"Announce an emergency cancellation of the match. Tell every guest here to leave immediately. We must escape as fast as possible. Murong Clan warships possess powerful traveling arrays that can greatly reduce travel distance. They will arrive much faster than normal flying arks," the venue owner said in trepidation.

"Yes, sir. I will announce it right away," the assistant replied before hurrying off.

The venue owner quickly gathered all valuables and the confidants who remained with him and evacuated at once. He did not even wait for the announcement to be made. He was the first to flee.

He needed to save himself first.

Outside the stadium, the sound of the emergency announcement blared.

"Attention, this is an emergency. The provincial Martial Exchange has been canceled, effective immediately. All rewards from the venue are canceled along with all prior promises. This is an emergency. Please evacuate the venue immediately. The young master of the Murong Clan has died at the venue. For your safety, please evacuate immediately. Repeat…"

The announcement continued to repeat the same message.

The moment the announcement blared, chaos erupted throughout the entire stadium. All of the guests rushed to evacuate, quickly moving toward their respective flying arks. Those who did not have flying arks fled using their flying swords.

The large sects evacuated in an orderly manner, and none of them remained in the stadium. The Heavenly Sword Sect, the Ethereal Frost Palace, and the City Lord Manor of the Azure River capital all withdrew without disorder.

As for rogue cultivators, people without factions to support them, and those who could not fly, all of them ran away on foot.

Wei Chen's broadcasting orb continued to transmit the scene, and news of this incident spread to the masses.

Many people panicked, while those who were not at the venue sighed in relief.

Whispers and conversations spread throughout the province as people who had witnessed the broadcast discussed what they saw.

…

In one of the towns within the Azure River Province, a cultivator sat on a chair beside a roadside food cart. Many people had gathered around the square to watch the broadcast, and he spoke proudly.

"It's a good thing that I didn't go there. My friend invited me, but I was in the middle of cultivation, so I refused. Now it turned out to be a blessing in disguise," the cultivator boasted to the people gathered in the square.

"Yes, you are lucky. I pity those who were at the venue. These big clans are all domineering. They will surely try to kill everyone who witnessed their young master's death," another cultivator chimed in.

"Heh, it sucks to be them," another cultivator agreed.

At this moment, the food cart owner, the chef who was serving bread and noodles, spoke up.

"Sir cultivators, you said that the big clans are domineering and that they would kill anyone who witnessed their young master's death. Wouldn't that include us as well?" the noodle cart owner asked curiously.

The question suddenly brought the cultivators to a halt.

"Shit… you're right, owner!" one of the cultivators exclaimed as he came to the realization.

The square descended into chaos. All of the cultivators did their best to find places that could protect them, such as large sects, or they began gathering together to form resistance.

As for the mortals, their eyes darkened with the loss of hope. They were only mortals and not cultivators. Traveling itself could be fatal to them. They could not go anywhere else and could only wait for death.

But at least, they could choose to die with their loved ones.

The noodle stall owner let out a long sigh and began packing up his cart.

"Thank you, many cultivator sirs, for your patronage. Let this humble one return first. This humble one at least wants to stay with his family one last time," the stall owner said politely. Most of the cultivators were too busy worrying about their own survival to respond.

Only a select few noticed the stall owner's farewell. They nodded, some patting his shoulder and offering their blessings.

They did not know if they would ever meet this humble stall owner again, but that was all they could do.

This chaotic scene played out in many places, especially within the Azure River Province where the venue was located.

Many small sects, including Sword Manor, pooled their resources and opened their emergency secret realms within their sects, allowing some of their disciples and elders to hide there and hope to survive this calamity.

No one underestimated this crisis. They knew how powerful the Vermilion Bird Dynasty was, and that clans second only in military power, such as the Murong Clan, were threats that could not be ignored. All of them felt hopeless.

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