Chu Lingyuan’s feigned composure shattered, his expression changing drastically. What had he just heard?
Qin Yun had attacked Su Chen?
Su Chen had taken a direct hit from Qin Yun and survived?
A touch of shock surfaced on Li Qingyi’s beautiful and elegant face. Seeking confirmation, she asked, "Su Chen blocked a strike from Qin Yun?"
"He didn’t just block Qin Yun’s strike; he even counterattacked. However, he didn’t make another move after that. But Qin Yun was severely injured at the time."
The crowd exchanged bewildered glances. No matter how weak or severely injured Qin Yun was, Qin Yun was still a Morning Star.
How could Su Chen possibly withstand that?
The news sounded like pure fantasy. For a moment, no one could believe it, yet this was a direct intel source from the Royal Court. No matter how absurd it seemed, it couldn’t be entirely wrong.
The Prison King’s face was gloomy. Su Chen... He had previously heard from the Peng King about this person’s exploits, but he hadn’t truly felt the impact until now. It was truly an eye-opener.
What exactly happened couldn’t be clarified in a few words, but Chu Lingyuan had already reacted. Adjusting his collar, he turned and asked, "Qin Yun has been slain. Does the Prison King have anything else to say?"
The Prison King squeezed a few words out from his throat. "Good... good... very good..."
Such an excellent situation had somehow turned into this mess, and the Profound Turtle King had even fallen. How could the Royal Court ever save face? It was an absolute disgrace.
Right at this moment, even more hurried footsteps echoed from the corridor. Someone came scrambling and stumbling into the room.
The crowd recognized him as the Prison King’s adjutant. His rank was not low, yet he was now pale and stricken with panic. Catching a glimpse of the several Morning Stars present, he hurriedly shut his mouth, merely looking at the Prison King while trembling uncontrollably.
The Prison King cast a cold, sharp glare at him. Suppressing his turbulent thoughts, he said coldly, "You all may leave now. What follows is the internal affairs of my Royal Court."
"Internal affairs..." Li Qingyi’s eyes flickered slightly as a streak of pink light flashed through her pupils.
"Don’t you dare!" The Prison King’s expression changed drastically. Before he could make a move, the others turned their gazes toward him in unison. Evidently, they all wanted to know exactly what these "internal affairs" were.
The Prison King cursed inwardly with a muffled grunt. One against four. With his currently weakened body, he stood absolutely no chance of stopping them.
Meanwhile, the adjutant’s expression had already turned sluggish. "The royal capital was attacked and suffered heavy casualties. The Moonlight Spirit has been corrupted by the Fog Ashes."
The sheer volume of information contained in that single sentence was staggering. For a split second, everyone was stunned.
No matter what it was, once entangled with the Fog Ashes, corruption was almost the only outcome. Wait, that wasn’t right... The Bronze Sect’s Flame Fire seemed capable of resolving the Fog Ashes, and Su Chen...
Pairs of eyes turned toward the Prison King. This was far more than just losing their bait along with the fish.
The Prison King’s originally ruthless and cold expression vanished instantly. His face was drained of blood, left only with a deathly pallor mixed with a hint of panic.
"Rebuild the Star Gate! Rebuild the Star Gate!"
Three days later in the Dust Star Sea.
The Royal Court dispatching personnel to detain Qin Yun had already caused quite a stir. Factions of all sizes knew exactly what the Royal Court was plotting. They all wanted to see if the Bronze Sect, which was in an unprecedentedly weak state, could withstand the might of the Royal Court.
There were even underground betting pools on whether the Bronze Sect could hold out, and for how many days they would last. Not a few factions were outright gloating over their misfortune.
However, to everyone’s surprise, the outcome arrived incredibly fast.
"The Bronze Flame has reignited, the Royal Court has returned in defeat, and the Profound Turtle King has fallen."
For a time, the numerous major factions of the Dust Star Sea that received the news were deeply shaken. They couldn’t help but sigh in realization—the Bronze Sect was still the Bronze Sect, after all.
But soon, another piece of news practically ignited the entire Dust Star Sea.
"The Royal Court secretly colluded with Qin Yun to stage an inside job. After the failure, Qin Yun attempted to strike against the Sect’s Star Seed, Su Chen, but Su Chen took the hit head-on, and Qin Yun was subsequently slain."
What did it mean that Su Chen took a strike from Qin Yun head-on? Qin Yun was a Morning Star Venerable.
Many people had only just heard Su Chen’s name for the first time recently, when he became the youngest Star Leader in the Dust Star Sea. How did he suddenly withstand a Morning Star’s attack?
Many people refused to believe it and started digging for reliable sources.
The Prophet Council immediately released a photograph they had spent a heavy price to obtain. It was an image that had undergone multiple enhancements to become quite clear. In the photo, Su Chen’s entire body glowed with a blood-gold hue. His arms were raised in a defensive guard, and standing right in front of him was a brutal Vajra.
The surroundings were filled with blazing light. Had it not been taken from an excellent angle, it would have been incredibly difficult to capture this scene.
Like a storm, this image swept through the Dust Star Sea, spreading in all directions.
Later that evening, Wei Zhenghong’s Floating Island was brightly lit. A large crowd had gathered here, every one of them flushed with excitement. Voices boiled over as glasses clinked continuously. Su Chen was also among them, ceaselessly toasting with others.
It had been less than a day since the incident concluded, yet Wei Zhenghong had already thrown a banquet. He had not evacuated, nor had Chu Ran. However, some people had evacuated. For instance, Shen Yi’an and the major families within the Sect had all relocated a batch of their people and assets.
"Come, Old Su, I toast to you! That was insane! Taking a direct hit from Qin Yun head-on! Are you even human?!" Chu Ran stumbled over to Su Chen, completely drunk.
Su Chen didn’t know how much alcohol he had been force-fed, and his cheeks were flushed. Hearing this, he couldn’t help but say helplessly, "I’ve emphasized this so many times already! Qin Yun was completely drained and severely injured at the time. That’s the only reason I barely managed to withstand it..."
"Withstanding it is withstanding it! Why add so many qualifiers? Cheers!" Chu Ran clinked glasses with him and downed his drink in one gulp. His steps were unsteady as he was squeezed to the side by the crowd.
Su Chen was secretly speechless. That was just how news spread. Between "taking a Morning Star’s strike head-on" and "taking a weak and severely injured Morning Star’s strike head-on," the former was undoubtedly far more shocking. Whether it was to grab a friend’s attention or to sell news, everyone would use the former as the headline, not the latter.