Chapter 309: Live (First Update)

Rumble!

The Nine Nether Tower collapsed with a thunderous roar!

Despair was written all over everyone's faces.

The Nine Nether Tower had stood in the Tianlu Academy for a thousand years, always a source of pride for them.

No one had ever imagined that it would ultimately be destroyed in such a manner!

Most importantly, there was a terrifying ferocious beast inside!

Sun Zhongyan looked toward Ye Zhiting with extreme tension.

"Martial Uncle, the Heaven-Sealing Array has been broken, and the Nine Nether Tower has completely collapsed. What do we do next?"

Ye Zhiting frowned, staring at the field of ruins.

"Something is wrong."

Sun Zhongyan was stunned. "What is wrong?"

"Since all the restrictions have been shattered, that beast should have rushed out by now. Why has there been no movement at all..."

Hearing him say this, Sun Zhongyan also immediately realized something.

"You mean—"

Ye Zhiting shook his head, then stepped forward.

"Martial Uncle!" Sun Zhongyan immediately tried to stop him. "It's dangerous!"

Ye Zhiting waved the palm-leaf fan in his hand, which was stained with messy bloodstains, and gave a chuckle.

"How can you say that? Even an old man like me is the Dean. Now that such a massive incident has occurred, how can I not go see for myself?"

Whether it was an illusion or not, he always felt as though the aura of that ferocious beast seemed to have dissipated.

He didn't notice when this feeling had arisen, but at this moment, he indeed could not sense any danger from within that pile of ruins.

Sun Zhongyan hurriedly said, "I will go with you!"

The two of them moved forward together.

Emperor Jiawen watched this scene despondently, as if all the strength had been drained from his body.

Previously, when the Nine Nether Tower was surrounded by those black flames, it was already extremely dangerous, but now, the Nine Nether Tower had completely collapsed into a heap of ruins...

Rong Xiu, he feared...

The Empress supported his arm and whispered words of comfort.

"Your Majesty... please, do not grieve too much..."

"What nonsense are you talking!"

Emperor Jiawen was violently stimulated by the words "do not grieve," and gave her a harsh push!

Caught off guard, the Empress lost her balance and fell to the ground!

"If he is alive, I want to see him; if he is dead, I want to see his corpse! Nothing is clear yet. Who gave you permission to curse him to death!?"

Emperor Jiawen's face flushed red with rage, his veins bulging as he shouted sternly.

The surroundings instantly fell silent.

Countless eyes fell upon the Empress.

The Empress felt as if needles were pricking her back, feeling utterly humiliated.

As the Empress, she had always remained high and mighty; when had she ever suffered such indignity?!

Although His Majesty did not bestow much favor upon her, he had always treated her with great respect. He had never laid a hand on her, and even his reprimands were extremely rare.

But now, in front of so many people...

Her dignity was completely lost!

"Your Ladyship!"

Eunuch Min, who was standing nearby, hurried forward.

"Your Ladyship, are you alright?"

As he spoke, he did not forget to snap at those nearby: "Are you all blind?! What are you standing there for?!"

The palace attendants, who had been stunned on the spot, finally reacted. They hurried forward, clumsily helping the Empress up.

The Empress's phoenix hairpin was askew, and her exquisite, luxurious palace attire was stained with quite a bit of dust, making her look very disheveled.

The attendants merely cast a glance before quickly lowering their heads, not daring to say anything more.

The Empress took a deep breath, pushed them all away, and managed a forced smile.

"This Palace is fine. His Majesty is concerned about the Prince of Li and is momentarily anxious..."

"Go! Search for him! Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, you must find him!"

Emperor Jiawen seemed to have no awareness of what had happened here at all. His eyes and heart were focused solely on Rong Xiu as he shouted sternly to the people below.

The Empress's throat tightened, and her face burned.

This was almost equivalent to being slapped hard across the face twice!

The surrounding gazes were like sharp blades, nearly piercing through her!

She wished she could leave immediately, but clearly, she could not.

She took a deep breath, suppressed all her emotions, straightened her phoenix hairpin, and bowed to Emperor Jiawen.

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty. It was a slip of my tongue. In truth, this servant is also very worried about His Highness the Prince of Li—"

Emperor Jiawen gave her a cold look, as if he had seen through everything.

The Empress's heart skipped a beat, and the rest of her words could not come out.

She turned her gaze away guiltily.

Emperor Jiawen sneered inwardly.

The Empress appeared dignified and magnanimous, but in reality, she was not.

Back then, she did not like that man, so naturally, she would not like her son now.

If something truly happened to Rong Xiu, she would likely be happier than anyone!

In the past, he had merely turned a blind eye, but now he was too lazy to deal with her.

On the other side, Chu Ning had already led people to rush over at the first opportunity.

He walked straight toward a certain direction, his steps hurried and his expression tense.

The compass showed that Yue'er was here, so she should be fine for now...

Chu Ning reached a certain spot and attempted to move a stone.

But he quickly discovered that the problem was more serious than imagined.

The material used to construct the Nine Nether Tower was very special; even a stone half a person high weighed almost a thousand catties!

He was a fifth-tier martial artist, considered a top-tier expert in the entire Yaochen Kingdom.

But even for him, clearing all the stones here was no easy task.

Seeing Chu Ning in this state, the Imperial Guards following behind also hurried to catch up.

"My Lord, have you discovered something?"

Chu Ning shook his head and said nothing, but his movements did not stop.

The crowd looked at each other in confusion.

They had all just heard the people from the Tianlu Academy say that Lord Chu Ning's only daughter, Chu Liuyue, was also trapped inside.

She was likely in grave danger...

"You all go over there and move those broken stones aside," Chu Ning commanded.

The subordinates dispersed.

Chu Ning dug desperately; soon, several cuts appeared on his hands, leaving them dripping with blood.

But he seemed unaffected, still stubbornly clearing the stones away.

The various expressions of the onlookers shifted as they watched this scene.

"What is Lord Chu Ning... doing? Although His Majesty ordered a search, isn't he being a bit too stubborn? Does he really intend to dig up this entire pile of ruins?"

"Shh! Don't you know Chu Liuyue is in there too?"

"Ah—so that's it! Then wouldn't she also—"

"What a pity. Lord Chu Ning's life has been very bumpy these years. Now that he has finally managed to make something of himself, such a thing happens..."

Chu Ning remained deaf to the discussions of the crowd.

Then, he sensed a few more people approaching him.

He looked up and found several familiar young faces.

"...Hong Yu?"

The ones who had come were indeed Mu Hongyu, Cen Hu, and Gu Mingfeng.

Mu Hongyu's eyes were red, but her expression was very determined.

"Uncle, we are here to help you!"

Chu Ning felt a warmth in his heart and nodded.

"Lend a hand here."

The group immediately sprang into action.

Seeing this, even Zuo Rong and the others found it difficult to watch.

"Lord Chu Ning... we know you are very worried about Liuyue, but none of us wanted this kind of thing to happen. She—"

*Lì!*

A crisp cry suddenly echoed from within the ruins!

Immediately after, several piled-up stones were violently tossed aside by a burst of cyan flame!

A cyan sparrow flew out rapidly!

Two figures appeared before everyone's eyes!

(End of Chapter)