Hua Yutian remained standing the entire time. From the moment he stepped into the palace, his cold, deep eyes were fixed on Hua Tingyuan without ever relaxing.
He had just witnessed the devastation of the secluded mansion in Returning Light Heavenly City and personally examined all the traces of the battlefield. He had confirmed that his old friend of decades Hua Jingyun, had been completely Annihilation without Wuhen, and even the disciple who had taken care of Hua Jingyun for many years had been murdered.
Filled with grief and rage, he burned all the way from Returning Light Heavenly City to the Hua Lineage home. Now, facing the only remaining person in the world who knew Hua Jingyun's secret place of seclusion, he had no more will to maneuver, and all his forbearance crumbled.
"Hua Tingyuan!" Hua Yutian suddenly strode forward. Bang! The heavy footsteps shook the stone ground slightly. "Jingyun has been completely annihilated—"
His gaze was sharp as a blade, almost piercing through flesh and bone, striking at the very core of the other's Fate Soul. "Was it you who sabotaged this in secret?!"
Hua Tingyuan was taken aback at first, but the surprise vanished in an instant, his face flushed crimson, and his anger exploded. "What did you say?!" Hua Yutian stood firm, his voice growing colder and angrier.
"I ask you! Very few people knew of Jingyun's secluded residence, and now it has been tragically wiped out by thieves who traced its origins and Annihilation completely. Is this matter related to you at all?"
As soon as the words were spoken, a surge of rage welled up in Hua Tingyuan's eyes, his emotions reaching their Ultimate. He and Hua Jingyun had been friends for many years and shared a deep bond; upon hearing the devastating news, he was already deeply shaken and overwhelmed with grief.
At this moment, Hua Yutian's unwarranted intrusion, his suspicious words, and his baseless accusations caused a surge of shock, grief, and anger that overwhelmed him. His chest heaved violently, his breathing became disordered, and even his words became slurred and hesitant due to the Ultimate agitation.
"You... you... you..." Hua Tingyuan raised his finger to point at Hua Yutian, his fingertip trembling slightly, revealing the intensity of his emotions. "Don't you dare make false accusations!" Boom--!
The supreme Daoist aura of the Eternal Silence Realm · Supreme suddenly spread in all directions, causing the crystal lamps in the hall to sway violently, their light and shadows swirling erratically. "I suspect you're the one crying wolf!" Hua Tingyuan's eyes were bloodshot as he roared angrily, "It was you who secretly attacked and killed Jingyun!"
"You're talking nonsense!" This suspicious remark completely ignited the anger that had been building up in Hua Yutian all along.
His face was as black as iron, and the veins on his forehead were bulging. The grief and anger that he had been forcibly suppressing all along completely broke out of control. The equally magnificent aura of the Eternal Silence Realm · Supreme suddenly erupted, and the two Supreme Daoist energies collided violently in the center of the hall.
Boom!!! The air inside the hall vibrated violently, and ripples exploded outwards. Fortunately, the isolation barriers around the hall were operating at full capacity, which tightly sealed the clash between the two top experts inside the hall, preventing any of the power from leaking out.
Hua Yutian strode closer, his oppressive aura like a collapsing mountain. "Hua Tingyuan, listen to me clearly! There are only five people in the entire world who know the location of Jingyun's seclusion!"
His words, heavy with rage, reverberated throughout the entire hall. "Now, even his personal disciple, who has cared for him for years, has been silenced! After committing the crime, the murderer completely erased all traces of his Fate Soul essence, Dao marks, and karma, leaving no trace whatsoever! I have searched the entire battlefield, but I cannot find even a single remnant that could be used to trace the origin of the crime!"
Hua Yutian stared intently into the other person's eyes, refusing to miss the slightest movement. "You're turning around and accusing me of harming my dear friend?" "You're hopeless!"
Hua Tingyuan was about to retort sharply, but upon hearing that the disciple who had cared for Hua Jingyun had also been murdered, the surging anger on his face suddenly froze, instantly turning to rage. "That disciple... is dead too?" "Completely Annihilation, without a trace!"
Hua Yutian responded angrily, each word ringing out. Hua Tingyuan's lips moved slightly, but the anger surging in his chest suddenly vanished, leaving him with nowhere to vent it.
He knew the disciple's identity and was even more aware of the seclusion of that hidden place. It was precisely because he knew its secrets that he was all the more aware of the danger and strangeness of this matter.
The murderer precisely targeted a secluded residence known to very few, first eliminating the disciple who accompanied him to prevent future troubles, then killing Hua Jingyun to eradicate the root of the problem, and finally clearing all traces of himself to eliminate any possibility of investigation.
Every step was meticulously planned, every layer ruthless; it was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but a long-planned, deadly scheme.
Hua Tingyuan stood rooted to the spot, his chest still heaving. The rage in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by Ultimate chaos and shock. All his thoughts were in complete disarray, the anger from the previous confrontation crumbled, and the words he wanted to use to argue or question were stuck in his throat, impossible to utter.
Inside the main hall, the tense standoff slowly subsided, replaced by a heavy, oppressive, and suffocating silence. Hua Tingyuan slowly lowered his arm that was pointing at the other party, closed his eyes, and forcibly suppressed the turmoil in his heart.
After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes, his voice low and hoarse, devoid of any remaining rage. "Enough..." "Useless argument, meaningless." He raised his hand to press his temples, forcing himself to pull himself away from his turbulent emotions and return to calm.
Hua Yutian opposite, his anger still lingering in his chest, his eyes still cold and deep, but he had temporarily restrained his overwhelming power.
Hua Tingyuan's expression grew increasingly solemn, and he spoke in a deep voice, "Jingyun has been completely Annihilation. This matter is of great importance, and cannot be resolved by the two of us simply through private suspicion, argument, and confrontation."
"The murderer dared to act in Returning Light Heavenly City, killing my Hua Lineage's former Grand Elder. The plot was meticulous, the methods ruthless, and the perpetrator's cunning terrifying. This matter must be reported to the clan leader immediately."
Hua Yutian remained silent for a long time, staring at the tightly closed palace gates. The image of that desolate courtyard and empty, Annihilation place kept replaying in his mind. The raging anger in his heart was eventually suppressed and subsided little by little.
After a long silence, he slowly exhaled a breath of stale air. "Let's go." He looked up at Hua Tingyuan, his voice heavy. "Let the clan leader decide."
Deep within the Hua Lineage, the patriarch's main hall is perpetually sealed and shrouded by layers of ancient Daoist patterns. Outside, the night is deep, and the afterglow of the Returning Light Heavenly City stretches across the vast sky, leaving only a few hazy, faint rays of light above the ancestral land. Inside the hall, ancient lamps hang eternally, their soft, pale golden light spreading across the wide, jade-like stone floor, highlighting the deep, solemn outlines of the towering, carved ancient pillars on either side.
At the far end of the main hall, Hua Nongrui sat regally on the clan leader's Venerable Rank, her magnificent robes trailing down the steps, her demeanor composed and her elegance understated. She had been reviewing the recent affairs files piled up in the clan one by one, until the heavy hall doors slowly opened and Hua Yutian and Hua Tingyuan stepped in one after the other, at which point she slowly raised her eyes and looked at the two of them.
The two walked to the center of the main hall and bowed in unison. "Greetings, Clan Chief." Hua Nongrui glanced at their faces and instantly noticed something unusual.
Hua Tingyuan's face was grim and ashen, his chest filled with unyielding resentment, and his mind was extremely unsettled; Hua Yutian's condition was even more abnormal, a hint of malice flashed in the depths of his eyes, and his hands hanging by his sides were clenched tightly, his knuckles turning bluish-white from excessive force.
"What happened?" Hua Nongrui's voice was clear, calm, and even.
The moment Hua Yutian raised his head, the image of the desolate courtyard, the bloodstains, and the Emptiness Annihilation of Returning Light Heavenly City flashed into his mind. The pent-up anger in his chest surged up again. He tried his best to suppress his emotions and refrain from losing his composure in the patriarch's hall.
"Reporting to the clan leader." His voice was unusually hoarse, filled with suppressed grief and anger. "Our clan's former Grand Elder... Hua Jingyun, has been Annihilation and perished." Hua Nongrui's fingers, which were flipping through the documents, suddenly paused, her movements frozen.
Hua Yutian continued in a deep voice, "On the eve of Jingyun's attack, he crushed the emergency communication jade tablet. After sensing the unusual activity, I immediately took Hua Qichi and Hua Luoyuan Returning Light Heavenly City to provide assistance."
"We were too late after all." Hua Yutian gritted his teeth, each word choked with difficulty. "When the three of us arrived, Jingyun had already vanished from the world, body and soul gone."
As soon as the words were spoken, the vast hall fell into a deathly silence; you could hear a pin drop.
"Before the murderer fled, he completely erased all traces of his Fate Soul essence, Source Dao, and causal relationship, leaving no trace whatsoever. Luo Yuan and I searched the entire mansion, from the physical remains to the spatial structure and the depths of his Fate Soul, but we found not a single clue to trace the source."
Hua Yutian bowed deeply, filled with remorse. "We failed in our investigation and were unable to protect the elder. We have come here to apologize to the clan leader." Hua Nongrui remained silent, her calm face revealing no emotion. At this moment, Hua Tingyuan stepped forward.
Since hearing the tragic news of Hua Jingyun's death, he had been filled with rage and had nowhere to vent it. He had even confronted Hua Yutian in the hall because of this. Now, standing in front of the clan leader, he knew that arguing would only disrupt the overall situation, so he had no choice but to suppress his resentment deep in his heart.
"Clan Chief," Hua Tingyuan bowed respectfully, his expression grave. "This person's ability to pinpoint Elder Jingyun's secret residence indicates he premeditated and meticulously planned this. His complete erasure of his tracks after the attack demonstrates his thoroughness; he cut off all escape routes beforehand."
His eyes blazed with fury, and his words were sharp and resounding. "How dare you infiltrate my Hua Lineage's main city Annihilation my clan's former Grand Elder! This is an act of contempt for the Hua Lineage's eternal dignity, an unforgivable crime! I Jingyun the Clan Chief to avenge Elder Jingyun!"
Hua Nongrui slowly put down the dossier in her hand and looked up at Hua Yutian. "When Jingyun move Returning Light Heavenly City to live in seclusion?" Hua Yutian's expression faltered slightly, knowing that this matter was a secret and could not be hidden in the end. "Clan leader, this matter was something I concealed without prior notice. I hope the clan leader will forgive me." He bowed his head and slowly revealed all the secrets of that year.