A sharp voice suddenly broke the silence.
"Everyone, stop."
The words were not shouted, yet they carried across the clearing with undeniable authority.
The mont the voice sounded, the oppressive pressure that had been lingering in the air intensified.
"Do not move."
The command ca from one of the imperial figures floating above the clearing.
The man slowly descended from the sky.
His robes bore the insignia of the empire, and the aura surrounding him was so heavy that the nearby cultivators instinctively stepped back.
The imperial cultivator's cold gaze swept across the gathered factions.
"Remain where you are."
Several groups that had already begun quietly withdrawing imdiately froze.
The clearing fell silent once again.
The imperial cultivator's eyes moved slowly across the returned participants. Then his gaze lifted briefly toward the empty sky where the portal had once existed.
When he spoke again, his voice was calm, but the killing intent hidden within it was unmistakable.
"Until this matter is clarified, no one leaves."
A faint ripple spread through the crowd.
So of the elders frowned.
Others exchanged uneasy looks.
However, before the imperial cultivator could continue, several figures suddenly shot upward from different tents around the clearing.
They rose into the sky one after another, powerful auras flaring as they confronted the imperial side.
And they were not few.
In fact, their numbers clearly exceeded those of the empire's group.
At the front of them stood a young woman in elegant robes, her presence calm yet imposing.
Princess Priscilla.
Her appearance imdiately drew the attention of everyone below. She did not waste ti.
Her clear voice rang across the clearing.
"May I ask why great beings such as yourselves are using your power to bully juniors?"
Her tone was polite, but the aning behind it was unmistakably sharp.
The imperial cultivator's expression twitched slightly.
The oppressive pressure that had filled the clearing paused for a brief
mont.
Just as he was a great being, so was Princess Priscilla.
And she was not alone.
Behind her stood several other powerful figures from various factions, their auras stable and unyielding as they quietly supported her position.
The imperial cultivator quickly regained his composure.
However, the edge in his expression had already softened.
He suddenly rembered sothing important.
This was not the empire. He was far from imperial territory.
Here, the empire's authority was not absolute.
Even so, the orders he had received were direct.
He could not simply step back.
"My lady," he said calmly, "it would be best if you did not involve yourself in this matter."
His voice was respectful, as one would speak to an equal, just as
Princess Priscilla had done.
"This concerns the empire."
His gaze swept across the gathered factions below.
"The imperial expedition has not returned, and among them was a
royal prince."
The words hung heavily in the air.
The imperial cultivator's voice lowered slightly.
"Until we determine what happened inside that realm, no one present
here can be allowed to leave."
His eyes returned to Princess Priscilla.
"I believe my lady understands the seriousness of this situation."
For a brief mont, Princess Priscilla said nothing.
Her brows furrowed slightly.
For a mont it seed as though she had nothing more to say.
Then her gaze shifted.
Instead of looking at the imperial cultivator again, she suddenly
turned her attention downward toward the participants gathered on
the ground.
Her voice carried clearly across the clearing.
"Did any of you witness what happened to the imperial group inside
the realm?"
The sudden question startled many of the returned youths.
For a brief second, the clearing fell into awkward silence.
Then several voices hurriedly answered.
"We didn't see anything!"
"I don't know what happened to them!"
"We never crossed paths with the imperial team!"
The responses ca one after another, almost hurriedly, as though the participants feared being dragged into sothing dangerous. None of them wanted to be connected to the disappearance of the
empire's strongest group.
Princess Priscilla observed their reactions quietly.
Most of them looked genuinely confused.
Others appeared frightened.
Behind the crowd, Michael and Arianne stood silently among the
returned participants.
Neither of them spoke.
Arianne's posture remained composed, her expression calm and
dignified.
As the daughter of Duke Evermoon, she had long been accustod to maintaining her image. More importantly, she knew she was innocent. With Princess Priscilla present and several other great beings standing beside her, the empire would not be able to act recklessly
against the younger generation.
So she remained quiet.
Michael stood nearby.
His expression looked just as calm. Almost indifferent.
But that calmness existed only on the surface. Behind his steady gaze, his mind was already moving rapidly.
The situation had beco far more complicated than he had
expected.
Above the clearing, Princess Priscilla continued observing the youths
below.
The answers she had just received told her sothing important.
None of them even knew where the imperial prince had been.
Of course, they could be lying, but the empire was not exactly a
friend of hers that she would go out of her way to help.
After a mont of thought, she spoke again. "What if the prince was trapped inside the realm?"
Her words caused many people below to look up. "The ruin clearly experienced an abnormal situation that caused it to
withdraw back into the void itself," she continued calmly. "If the prince could not co out due to sothing related to that anomaly, it is entirely possible that he is trapped inside."
The imperial cultivator's lips twitched slightly.
He understood imdiately what she was doing.
She was offering a reasonable possibility.
A way for the situation to calm down without escalating into conflict
between factions.
Unfortunately, the empire already knew sothing the others did
not.
The prince was dead.
They had confird it.
The mont the prince died, the empire had already sensed it.
But the imperial cultivator could not say that openly. Announcing the confird death of a royal prince in front of so many factions would only make the situation far more explosive.
At the sa ti, if the prince had truly been trapped inside a realm
that was now beyond reach, and no one knew if it would ever return again or even what year it might reappear, the result would not be very different from death.
The two outcos were not far apart.
Princess Priscilla looked at him steadily.
"I understand your concerns, but why should innocent juniors be
treated as suspects?"
"These youths barely survived the collapse of that ruin. So of them nearly lost their lives inside."
Her eyes remained on the imperial cultivator.
"So tell ."
"Why should they be punished for sothing they know nothing
about?"
For a mont, the imperial cultivator did not answer.
His face remained calm, but inside his mind a quiet voice suddenly
sounded.
'Perhaps we should withdraw!
One of the other imperial figures had spoken to him through spiritual
transmission.
The man's brows tightened slightly.
'Withdraw?' he replied silently. 'Are you suggesting we disobey the Emperor's orders?'
The other imperial cultivator responded imdiately.
"That is not what I an.
There was a brief pause before the voice continued.
'But look at the situation.
'We are far from the empire. The factions gathered here are many.
Even if we insist on pressing this matter now, what exactly can we
do?'
'Are we prepared to fight everyone here?'
The imperial cultivator's expression did not change, but his thoughts grew heavier.
The voice continued calmly.
'The prince's death cannot be hidden forever!
'But right now we do not know the truth. We have no evidence. No
witnesses.
'If we force the matter here, it will only create enemies!
The words hung in his mind.
'For now, the voice finished quietly, 'it would be wiser to withdraw!
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