As Chen Changming sped all the way toward the Clear Mist Sect, dark undercurrents had already begun to surge within Azure Billow Royal City.
A black-robed elder flew out of the Elder Council in a panic, arriving outside Elder Ice Spirit's Elder Palace at the speed of teleportation.
His face was white as paper, fine beads of sweat covered his forehead, and his hands trembled faintly from nervousness. The moment he reached the palace gates, he began pounding hard on the heavy doors.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The black-robed elder shouted at the same time, "B-Bad news, Elder Ice Spirit! I have an urgent matter to report!"
From within the Elder Palace came a woman's icy voice, like ten-thousand-year ice colliding, devoid of the slightest warmth:
"Elder Zhou, come in and speak!"
The heavy palace doors then opened soundlessly, revealing the deep, shadowy hall beyond, permeated by a biting chill.
With a flash, Elder Zhou flew inside. Before the ice lotus beneath Ice Spirit Fairy, he dropped to his knees with a thud, his voice filled with grief and terror. "Reporting to Elder Ice Spirit, this subordinate just discovered that Elder Spirit Charm's soul lamp in the Elder Council... has gone out!"
By the end, Elder Zhou's voice had begun to tremble slightly. It was a sorrow and unease that came from the depths of his heart.
Although Elder Spirit Charm hailed from the demonic path and had never enjoyed a good reputation, appearing both righteous and wicked in the eyes of orthodox cultivators and behaving in an eccentric manner, there was no denying that she was one of the Human Realm's foremost peak experts on the Azure Wave Continent—a pillar holding up the heavens, indispensable in resisting the Demon Race.
If Elder Spirit Charm had truly fallen, it would be