It didn't take long for Tian Xue to catch up to him and soon she was standing there just as shocked as he was.

She didn't understand what had happened here either, but she could tell that this place wasn't normal.

Looking carefully, she found that the clearing had a very distinct shape and the trees on the ground all looked like they had been flattened. Almost as if something had come from the sky to flatten this place.

As this thought came into her mind, she pointed up and said, "Let's look at it from above."

Lin Fan was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard this, but he gave a nod in response.

With their strong physiques, it wasn't a problem for them to jump several hundred meters into the air to look at this clearing from above. However, when they reached their peak height, the scene beneath them shocked them once again.

A handprint.

It was a giant handprint with the creature lying right in the center.

Whoever had done this had used only a single move to crush this creature under their hand..

Just what level of cultivation was that person at?

It was no wonder they only agreed to make a single move..

With their level of cultivation, there must be restrictions on them and if they were to arbitrarily get involved in the human world, there would be many consequences. So just this single move could be considered the limit.

But after thinking about it, the more likely explanation was that they were above these mortal affairs and they only made a move because that was all they were indebted to do.

Since the creature had been taken care of, that meant that there was nothing left for them to do.

As this thought passed through their minds, Lin Fan and Tian Xue couldn't help letting out a sigh of relief.

But that relief only lasted for a minute as they remembered that there was still the Yong Family back in Brilliant Light City that were responsible for this matter. As long as the Yong Family were still there, this matter wouldn't be over yet.

They still had to think of a way to take care of the Yong Family.

However, there was something that they weren't aware of happening in Brilliant Light City.

..

Inside of the City Lord's Manor.

Duke Yong slammed the table as he roared out, "You're saying that the He and Yin Families are working together to attack us?! Why haven't you taken care of them yet!?"

They were the Yong Family, one of the five ducal families of this Mu Empire!

The power that they held was not what these lower tier noble families could even compare to!

So what gave them the courage to actually dare attack their Yong Family?

The guard captain that he had been yelling at couldn't help lowering his head as he just stood there trembling. He didn't follow Duke Yong's order to head out and organize the defense because there were circumstances that prevented him from doing so.

Namely..the fact that they had sent half their forces to watch over the experiment today.

The only ones that were still left in Brilliant Light City were two Foundation Realm Cultivators, but they were being pinned down by the Foundation Realm Cultivators that the He and Yin Families had brought.

They didn't know how the He and Yin Families knew about their weakened defenses, but even a fool would have been able to understand that the He and Yin Families had chosen this time to attack because of it.

The guard captain didn't want to say it, but he had no choice since it was the only choice that they had, "Your highness, perhaps it's time to consider leaving this place? If you go to the capital and request aid, I'm sure the royal family will lend you help to reclaim Brilliant Light City for the many years of loyal service the Yong Family has provided."

Duke Yong immediately glared at this guard captain when he heard this, but he knew that this guard captain was right.

In this situation, it was impossible for them to defend Brilliant Light City with their remaining forces.

Duke Yong had just roared at the guard captain, but he was also a smart man and he knew that the situation was exactly as the guard captain had suggested.

Even if he had been planning on betraying the royal family, it wasn't as if the royal family knew that yet. So as long as he was able to reach the capital, the royal family would still provide him with resistance in taking back Brilliant Light City.

That was all on the basis of him reaching the capital, so he didn't have much time to spare.

After a moment of silence, Duke Yong asked, "What happened to our forces at the site of the experiment, are we still not able to contact them?"

The guard captain revealed a dark look as he said, "We have tried multiple times to contact them, but we haven't been able to establish contact. It's almost as if.."

He didn't finish his words, but the meaning behind them was clear.

Losing these two Foundation Realm Cultivators was a fatal blow for the Yong Family.

Without these pillars supporting them, even if they were to reclaim Brilliant Light City with the help of the royal family, they would find it hard to control without these experts. Also, in the general political sphere of the Mu Empire, it was impossible for the Yong Family to ever have influence again in this generation without these experts.

There was no doubt that the ambitions of the Yong Family were over and there was even the possibility that their research would all be for nothing. After all, they had lost contact with their partner Ming Ze.

So it was hard for Duke Yong not to feel sad and frustrated at this moment.

Everything that he had planned and worked hard for had turned into nothing.

With a sigh, Duke Yong said, "Gather my family and have your men lead the way to the secret exit."

The guard captain let out a sigh of relief when he heard this. He quickly said, "Your family has already been gathered, your highness. They are just waiting for you at the secret exit."

Duke Yong was too burnt out to refute him for gathering his family without his permission. After all, this was a sign that he didn't have any faith in their forces and had already gathered them to evacuate.

He just faced the gravity of the situation and accepted it.

With another sigh, Duke Yong said, "Lead the way."

The guard captain nodded before quickly opening the door and waving his hand. The guards outside had been waiting for a long time and seeing that their captain was out, they quickly went into formation around Duke Yong.

They made their ways through the halls of the City Lord's Manor, but they didn't head to a specific room.

Instead, they came to a lamp on the wall in the middle of the hallway and pulled on that lamp. When that lamp came down, there was a clicking sound before the scraping sound of stone against stone rang out.

Beside them, the wall suddenly opened up to reveal a hidden passage that led down.

Without any hesitation, as soon as the hidden passage opened, the guards led Duke Yong down.

After five minutes, they reached the bottom of this passage where there was a hidden room that was dimly lit waiting there.

Inside of this room, there was another group of guards that were currently surrounding some people waiting there.

When they saw Duke Yong enter, a beautiful woman in the center ran over to Duke Yong and entered his arms. Duke Yong held her firmly and patted her on the back to comfort her.

This beautiful woman was naturally his wife.

There were two more beautiful women that followed up behind her and looked at Duke Yong with worried eyes.

These two were Duke Yong's first and second concubines.historical

At his level of power and influence, it was natural for him to have multiple wives. There were also some mistresses that he didn't tell anyone about..

To the side, there were also children that were waiting there, but they didn't run forward like the women did.

These were Duke Yong's children, but he was a strict parent and taught them with an iron fist, so they knew better than to run around rashly. If they were to run over to him, it was very likely that they would be beaten by him.

Duke Yong's wife looked at him with an anxious look and asked, "Your highness, do we really have to run away? Is there really nothing you can do?"

Duke Yong looked at her in silence for a few seconds before shaking his head and giving a sigh. After a long period of silence, he said, "The only path forward is to go to the capital city."

Hearing that they were heading to the capital, everyone revealed relieved looks.

Duke Yong's wife had only said that because she knew about Duke Yong's pride and ambition. If she were to show her doubts about his power, he would naturally be unhappy, so she had to put on this false show of support.

But hearing that they were heading to the capital, they were all relieved.

The capital was the safest place in the entire empire and with the influence that the Yong Family had, there was no chance that there wouldn't be a place for them in the capital.

They were even looking forward to seeing the attractions of the capital like this was a leisurely trip instead of them running for their lives.

How could Duke Yong miss all of this?

He saw their reactions, but he didn't say a thing because there was nothing that he could say.

After his plans had been ruined and everything had been destroyed, he was now a broken shell of the man that he once was.

Right now, all he cared about was getting to the capital city as soon as possible and getting aid from the royal family. Once he reclaimed Brilliant Light City, he planned on retiring in peace and leaving the city to one of his children instead.

So after taking a moment to gather his thoughts, he nodded to the guard captain and said, "Let's go."

The guard captain gave a nod back before waving his hand at his subordinates.

The guards formed an arrow formation and started moving through the secret passage just in case there were enemies, but that was very unlikely because this secret passage was the deepest hidden secret in the Yong Family.

Before this, even the guards didn't know about this.

Only Duke Yong, his family members, and the guard captain had known about this passage.

It didn't take them long before they reached the end of the passage and they were able to see the light coming in front outside.

But before they could exit the passage, there were human figures that were standing in their way at the end of the passage.

The leader of this group saw Duke Yong's group approach and said with a wicked smile, "Well look who it is."