Inside a grand hall of a palace at the headquarters of the Fengyun Family.
"Outrageous!
Utterly outrageous!"
A tall man dressed in a yellow robe, whose aura was as profound and deep as the sea, roared with rage.
This man in yellow robes was none other than the current Patriarch of the Fengyun Family, Fengyun Zhan!
An expert at the fifth level of the Grotto-Heaven Realm!
"It must have been done by people from Hudao Academy!
Xie Changkong and the six Guardian Elders are all severely injured, they couldn't possibly leave.
Could it have been done by Dean Shangguan or Dean Zhou Tianren?"
Fengyun Zhan calmed down and said in a low voice.
"Patriarch, I have already sent people to investigate.
According to eyewitnesses, the leader was a young man," an elder spoke up.
"A young man?
Does a young man have the capability for such a thing?
You must know that our branch strongholds that were destroyed all had, at the very least, family members at the Mystic Liquid Realm stationed there."
Fengyun Zhan was taken aback.
"Patriarch, I suspect that young man is very likely Ye Yunfei," the elder said.
"Ye Yunfei?!
He dares to leave Hudao Academy and roam outside?"
Fengyun Zhan frowned.
"From my observations, that young fellow Ye Yunfei is bold and reckless, without any restraint. It is precisely the kind of thing he would do," the elder replied.
"Hmph!
If that's the case, immediately send out powerful experts from our family to capture Ye Yunfei!
We must get our hands on the several types of techniques and martial arts he possesses!
If we can obtain those techniques, the strength of our Fengyun Family will rise to another level. When the time comes, dominating the entire Tianxuan Continent would not be impossible!"
Fengyun Zhan said slowly, his tone brimming with ambition.
"Patriarch, I will go and handle this immediately!"
That elder nodded, turned around, and walked out of the palace.
At the same time.
The higher-ups of the Xiao Clan, the Shenfeng Sect, and the Tianyan Sect had all issued similar orders.
The high-ranking members of these forces all guessed that the recent incidents were likely done by Ye Yunfei.
Ye Yunfei had left Hudao Academy!
This was a perfect opportunity to capture him!
"What?!
Several of our branch strongholds have been destroyed too!
Outrageous!"
At the headquarters of the Su Clan in the Central Continent, a white-haired old man with a ruddy complexion spoke angrily.
Standing before this old man were over ten experts of the Su Clan.
This old man was the Patriarch of the Su Clan, Su Wei!
"That is correct.
Indeed, several of our Su Clan branch strongholds have been destroyed.
However, our Su Clan members did not suffer any harm.
As for the Fengyun Family, Xiao Clan, Shenfeng Sect, and Tianyan Sect... almost everyone at their branch strongholds was captured." A tall and thin middle-aged man answered.
"Heh heh, so it seems they went easy on our Su Clan.
Has anyone found out who exactly did it?"
Su Wei asked with a cold laugh.
"It is rumored that it was most likely Ye Yunfei," the middle-aged man replied.
"Oh?
It was Ye Yunfei!
He dares to leave Hudao Academy!"
Su Wei was somewhat surprised.
"Ye Yunfei is a proud and arrogant person. It is highly possible that it was him," the middle-aged man answered.
"Patriarch, should we also send out experts to capture Ye Yunfei?
It is said that he possesses several very advanced techniques and martial arts.
Now, the Fengyun Family and the other forces have already sent experts to hunt him down."
The middle-aged man said.
"Those forces—the Fengyun Family and the rest—have already torn off all pretenses with Hudao Academy and are publicly opposing them.
However, I always felt that Hudao Academy was founded single-handedly by Tang Yang, who served as Guardian of the Way. There must be some astonishing foundations there.
It won't be as easy as one imagines to wipe them out.
Let's do this: we, the Su Clan, will also send experts, but act covertly and wait to see how things develop.
However, our Su Clan should not openly break with Hudao Academy."
Su Wei thought for a moment and said.
"I understand."
That middle-aged man nodded in agreement.
Almost at the same time.
Hudao Academy.
Inside the council hall.
Xie Changkong, the six Guardian Elders, Dean Shangguan, Dean Zhou, as well as some ordinary elders were all seated in the hall.
"Steward Zou, what you said... is it true?!"
Xie Changkong looked at a steward surnamed Zou and asked, his tone laced with disbelief.
Just now, this Steward Zou had brought back a piece of news that shocked these higher-ups.
Several top forces of the Central Continent had dozens of their branch strongholds destroyed.
Legends claimed it was done by Ye Yunfei!
"Dean Xie, that's how the entire Central Continent is talking about it now," Steward Zou replied.
"I think it must have been Vice-Dean Ye who did it.
Back in the Crystal Mine Minor World, he also went around robbing members of those forces, all of them," Dean Shangguan said with a bitter smile.
"Whether Vice-Dean Ye's actions are good or bad..."
An ordinary elder began to say.
"Of course it's good!
Hmph, since they dared to destroy our Hudao Academy's branch strongholds, Vice-Dean Ye's action is an eye for an eye, well done!
I find it extremely gratifying!"
Dean Zhou said.
"That's right.
They have already torn off all pretense and openly acted against our Hudao Academy. How could Hudao Academy possibly show weakness!
I support Vice-Dean Ye's action!"
Xie Changkong also nodded in agreement.
"Vice-Dean Ye did well..."
Now that even Xie Changkong had expressed his stance, the other higher-ups all nodded in turn.
Besides, this matter truly made them feel very gratified, a hard-earned venting of their anger.
Just as the Fengyun Family, Xiao Clan, Shenfeng Sect, and Tianyan Sect were all sending out experts to capture Ye Yunfei.
Suddenly.
The headquarters of these four forces all simultaneously received a communication jade slip sent by Ye Yunfei!
The main content of the jade slip was a demand for an exchange of prisoners of war!
The jade slip also held engraved images of clear figures.
These figures were all members of these four top forces who had been captured by Ye Yunfei.
Each of these four forces had at least several hundred people who had fallen into Ye Yunfei's hands!
Among them were quite a number of Mystic Liquid Realm experts!
Ye Yunfei's demand was for these four top forces to bring all their captive members of Hudao Academy to exchange prisoners.
The location for the prisoner exchange was set at Metal Mountains!
"Damn it!
Outrageous!
You're seeking death, you little brat Ye Yunfei!"
The higher-ups of these four forces, upon receiving the jade slip sent by Ye Yunfei, flew into a violent rage one after another, their roars shaking the heavens.
This was also equivalent to proving that the destruction of those branch strongholds of these four forces was indeed carried out by Ye Yunfei!
"Immediately dispatch forces to Metal Mountains to surround and capture Ye Yunfei!"
"That little beast is too arrogant. We absolutely cannot let him off!"
...
From the headquarters of these four forces came wave after wave of furious roars.
Immediately, squad after squad marched out from the headquarters of these four forces, murderous auras swirling around them, heading in the direction of Metal Mountains.
Soon, news spread rapidly.
Once again, the entire Central Continent was in an uproar!