After Pu Zhen’s departure, the invisible force blanketing Guest Welcome Mountain dissolved. The ancient trees enveloping Whirlwind Ship also vanished.

The area was returned to its original state.

The vast majority of the passengers on the ship had no idea about the incredibly dangerous and ground-breaking battles that had just played out.

It was also impossible for them to know that they would have been turned to dust in the void if a certain farmer hadn’t used his power to protect the ship!

Other than that, they still got to know a great deal of what had happened, for there were plenty of other passengers staying on Guest Welcome Mountain.

They had all seen Lin Xun kill Wu Yunlian of Heavenly Sound Pavilion, subdue Jintian Qi of the Imperial Jintian Clan, and deal with other powerful experts.

He had even forced Earth Treasury Realm’s Wuming and the pride of the Jintian Clan, Jintian Xuanyue, to take action…

Only for both of them to suffer a crushing defeat at his hands!

Many people had even seen Sword Emperor Brave Gale appear after their battle!

They had even pitied Lin Xun at the time, thinking that he would surely die, and that the Ancient Nebula Road would forever lose a stunning supreme Saint-King.

As for what had happened after that, no one had been able to see it.

Now that peace had been restored to Whirlwind Ship, everyone on Guest Welcome Mountain breathed a sigh of relief and immediately shifted their focus on the outcome of the battle.

And what they saw struck them with disbelief—Yu Xuan…was still alive!

“How is this even possible?!” Many tore their hair out.

How is he not dead?!

This was unexpected, to say the least.

In the following time, they noticed quite a number of odd details. For example, the Earth Treasury Realm experts who had resided at the courtyard at the foot of the mountain had all vanished.

It was as if they had evaporated into the atmosphere.

“Whirlwind Ship is still anchored in the void. Unless those Earth Treasury Realm disciples have an Emperor to lead the way for them, they would never dare to leave the ship with their cultivation!”

“Then doesn’t it mean that they…have likely fallen?”

At this point, many cultivators were inwardly horrified.

If that speculation is true, then who killed them?

Another detail was that the Imperial Jintian Clan was behaving very strangely. Both Sword Emperor Brave Gale and Jintian Xuanyue had secluded themselves and never mentioned a word about what had happened.

This raised another wave of shock and confusion.

Yu Xuan beat up Jintian Qi’s group and defeated Jintian Xuanyue, and Sword Emperor Brave Gale is just going to endure this?

But he is an Emperor! How can he possibly just leave it at that?!

Doubt after doubt sprang up in the minds of these cultivators. In the end, they all had the same questions.

What exactly happened after Sword Emperor Brave Gale showed up?

Why is Yu Xuan still alive?

Why are the Earth Treasury Realm disciples nowhere to be seen?

And why are the Jintians keeping their mouths shut about this?

All this quickly spread around Whirlwind Ship, sparking much confusion and uproar.

Yu Xuan!

This expert of the Imperial Yu Clan, all of a sudden, had taken all of the spotlight.

People were shocked by the heaven-defying battle prowess he had demonstrated, but they likewise were tearing their hair out wondering what he had relied on to survive the perilous storm.

“Just wait for Heavenly Sound Pavilion’s reaction to this. Yu Xuan not only killed Wu Yunlian, but also Yu Jun and a host of their other experts. If they also choose to swallow this loss, then we can be certain that something abnormal is going on!”

Many people came up with such an inference and began to pay attention to any movement from Heavenly Sound Pavilion.

They didn’t dare to inquire the Jintians to their face, nor did they have the guts to ask Lin Xun. Therefore, the reaction of Heavenly Sound Pavilion would be the only thing that could lead them to an answer.

……

Inside a spacious hall.

A large number of big names had gathered. Xiao Yunkong and Ouyang Pei, who had previously accompanied Zhuang Yunzhi, were also among them.

Even Zhuang Yunzhi was present.

No matter who it was, their expressions were equally gloomy.

Grand Elder Liang Chuan was in the main seat. With a numb face and a hoarse voice, he said, “These days, many things have happened on our Whirlwind Ship, which in turn has caused a lot of turmoil.”

That single sentence evoked everyone’s memories.

At first, the entire Primordial Dao Court group had been killed, causing turbulence.

Immediately following that, Grand Elder Hua Dian had chosen to pursue the murderer, and in the process he had fallen to his knees before that old woman, sending the mountain into an uproar.

Then, just today, Jintian Qi’s group had been beaten, and Yu Jun and Wu Yunlian had been killed. This was like a bolt out of the blue that threw Heavenly Sound Pavilion into disarray.

These blows were too much and too heavy!

And it was apparent to everyone that they had all come from one person—Yu Xuan!

He was a character from the Imperial Yu Clan who had been almost invisible before.

Now, just at the very thought of this name, everyone present gnashed their teeth in hatred and lost their grip on their sanity.

Only Zhuang Yunzhi wore a complicated look.

When Whirlwind Ship had passed through Great Yu World, she was the one who had personally welcomed Yu Xuan on board and then arranged for him to be Liu Qingyan’s bodyguard.

At the time, she had only wanted to use his identity as a member of the Imperial Yu Clan to deter people from harming Liu Qingyan.

Who would have thought that…Yu Xuan’s identity hadn’t been of any use at all?! On the contrary, it had even led to her, who was Liu Qingyan’s teacher, being grounded!

After that, Zhuang Yunzhi had been utterly disheartened.

Yu Xuan’s identity had been useless, yes, but not in her wildest dreams could she have expected the destructiveness of his strength.

He had killed the experts of Primordial Dao Court.

He had dominated Jintian Qi’s group.

Even Yu Jun and Wu Yunlian had been unceremoniously exterminated by him.

The string of events had made Zhuang Yunzhi feel like she was in a dream, so shocking that it seemed unreal.

However, no matter what, she simply couldn’t bring herself to loathe Yu Xuan because she knew full well that he could have chosen not to lift a finger.

Yet, he had done it, all for her disciple Liu Qingyan!

“Senior Uncle Liang Chuan, you were clearly there, but why did you spare Yu Xuan? They are all saying that he is still alive!”

Ouyang Pei looked livid as he voiced his question with indignation. His disciple, Zhan Bing had been killed just like Wu Yunlian, and it had been like a knife stabbing into his heart.

“Yes, why?! Yu Xuan is the source of all this trouble. How can you let such a heinous criminal live?!”

The others also expressed their resentment through gritted teeth.

Liang Chuan was bitter inside as his expression flickered.

Kill Yu Xuan?

Old Monk Dukong of Earth Treasury Realm lost his life for attempting that, while Sword Emperor Brave Gale was forced to bow his head. Who dares to kill him now?

Unfortunately, Liang Chuan didn’t dare to say this out loud. In fact, it was physically impossible for him to say it, so he could only let the truth rot in his stomach.

Liang Chuan sighed, “If you look at the whole picture, then you’ll see that Yu Xuan was only doing all that for Qingyan’s sake. We are only facing these woes because you all just had to target Qingyan at every turn.

“The reason why I called for this meeting is only to inform everyone that from now on, no one is allowed to see Yu Xuan as an enemy anymore. If anyone dares to deal with him in private, then I will ensure that they are executed at the first opportunity!”

Toward the end of his announcement, there was a glaring, murderous look on his face.

The hall was dead silent as everyone froze on the spot, struggling to believe their ears.

Yu Xuan is the culprit! Why…why is Grand Elder Liang Chuan determined to protect him?!

“Liang Chuan, you bastard!” resounded a furious roar suddenly.

Everyone looked over and saw an enraged Hua Dian teleporting toward them.

His expression was horrifyingly hideous, his eyes bulging with rage. “After everything that has happened, not only do you refuse to avenge them, but instead you’re also defending that mongrel surnamed Yu? You…you’re simply muddled and heartless!”

His roar rumbled like thunder around the hall. The murderous intent in it caused many people to choke on their breath.

How terrifying was a quasi-Emperor when he went berserk?

Liang Chuan took a deep breath and solemnly said, “Senior Brother Hua Dian, you were in seclusion the whole time, so you have no idea what happened at all. If you still trust me, then please follow my advice in order to avoid further mistakes.”

He knew Hua Dian was furious because Wu Yunlian, who had died at Yu Xuan’s hands, was his granddaughter.

“How dare you still try to persuade me?” Hua Dian trembled from head to toe in rage, his beard and hair flaring. “You useless coward! Since you refuse to kill that scumbag, I’ll go!”

Liang Chuan’s heart tightened, and his face lost color. “Senior Brother, you must not do anything stupid. If you go and do that, you will implicate the whole Heavenly Sound Pavilion!”

Hua Dian was already too blinded by anger to listen. “I’ll settle it with you after I come back.”

After coldly spitting out that statement, he turned to leave.

However, as soon as he turned around, there was a flash, and he saw a figure blocking him.

It was a cloth-robed old man whose emaciated face carried only indescribable indifference.

Liang Chuan’s heart thumped and his legs went weak, knowing that his worst fear had come true.

“Who dares stop me? Get lost!” The seething Hua Dian attacked without thinking.

His palm strike caused the air to explode. The next moment, however, a hand clutched his neck and lifted him off the ground!

Hua Dian was jolted awake from his rage.

At the same time, the cloth-robed old man said emotionlessly, “When did your Heavenly Sound Pavilion produce such an idiot? How about I do you a favor and get rid of him?”

“No…” Liang Chuan tried to stop the old man when he heard a boom.

Hua Dian, a quasi-Emperor expert, exploded to bits, and then turned into a rain of ashes.

Liang Chuan’s vision went black, and his soul flew off.

Everyone else in the hall was paralyzed with fear. The utter horror quickly drained all the blood from their faces.

Killing a quasi-Emperor in the snap of a finger!

They instantly guessed the identity of the cloth-robed old man.

They just could not understand why Sword Emperor Brave Gale would appear here to stop Elder Hua Dian from finding Yu Xuan to kill him.

This was just inconceivable.

After all, Yu Xuan had offended quite a few people from the Imperial Jintian Clan!

“From today onward, whoever on this Whirlwind Ship that dares to cross my little friend Yu Xuan will be regarded as an enemy of my Imperial Jintian Clan.”

The cloth-robed old man likewise did not explain his actions. After leaving that bombshell of a proclamation, he vanished from the hall, leaving behind only a deathly silence.

The crowd was on the verge of losing their mind. Elder Liang Chuan’s abnormal attitude of trying to defend Yu Xuan was already unacceptable to them.

Now, even Sword Emperor Brave Gale had shown up and, loud and clear, announced that he was on Yu Xuan’s side!

Only Liang Chuan knew that the old man…had no other choice.

On this day, Sword Emperor Brave Gale’s announcement spread like a storm throughout Whirlwind Ship and got to the ears of every cultivator.