The whole venue went silent as the Head of the Dongfang Family delivered his speech. His voice contained an aura that attracted the audience.

If a stare could kill, the Head of the Dongfang Family would have died many times already. Ouyang Biya never looked away from the Head of the Dongfang Family.

"It's fortunate that your spirit couldn't really exert your aura, or you would have found out already," Tang Shaoyang commented at the side.

The only way for a spirit to exert aura was to convert their energy into aura. That was why Ouyang Biya looked like an ordinary person from the outside or spirit for most of the time.

Tang Shaoyang shrugged when he didn't hear a response from her. He checked on the last eight participants.

The last four for both categories went as predicted. They came from the big faction within the Murim Alliance. The famed 2 Palaces, 4 Empires, 7 Great Sects, and 7 Great Families.

Those were the pillars of the Murim Alliances to this day. In the history of the Murim Alliance, those pillars barely changed, proving this big faction's strong foundation.

The recent change happened in the 7 Great Families, where the Dongfang Family replaced the Ouyang Family. The mysterious disaster has not been resolved to this day.

The Phoenix Clash's last four were from Ice Palace, the Imperial Academy of the White Dragon Academy, Mount Hua Sect, and the Murong Family.

The Dragon Clash's last four were from the Imperial Academy of the Eternal River Empire, the Imperial Academy of the Celestial Jade Empire, the Wudang Sect, and the Nangong Family.

Nangong Wulian, who got high praise from Ouyang Biya, got into the final four. He didn't really pay attention to the tournament and didn't know how this Wulian fared in the main event.

He used Detection to check on their cultivation. Nangong Wulian was not the one with the highest cultivation.

The young man with a dragon robe and the girl with the light blue robe had a higher cultivation. Both were at 2nd-Stage Nascent Soul. Meanwhile, Nangong Wulian and the young man from the Wudang Sect were 1st-Stage Nascent Souls.

Tang Shaoyang didn't really know much about the cultivation yet. He wondered if a one-stage gap would be enough to give a big advantage. This kind of thing might be useful information for him.

However, he would not find out about it now. Before the Head of the Dongfang Family could finish his speech, an energy that intertwined with each other, forming a dome that covered the sky of the Golden Crane City. Not just the sky, but the venue and the city.

Dongfang Jinhai stopped his speech as he saw the net. Everyone quickly noticed as it covered the whole sky. While everyone was distracted by the net, the venue was swarmed by people in black robes. They wore all black, covering their faces with black clothes.

"Stay close to Avyn and Zara!"

Tang Shaoyang quickly instructed his wives and the Demi-God Rank. Staying close to them was the safest place, and Zara could teleport them back to the Yang Clan's estate if necessary.

These black-clothed figures barged in and were killing people indiscriminately. They didn't just target the cultivator from the Murim Alliance. They killed the spectators, whether they were ordinary people or cultivators. It was a slaughter.

"We should help them!" Kate raised her voice when she saw what happened, which gained approval from the others.

Kate and the others didn't really know Tang Shaoyang's actual purpose for coming here. They came with learning about cultivation and alchemy in mind. So when this kind of thing happened, their first thought was to save them.

Gianni raised his hand, stopping them to help, "Stay still. This war has nothing to do with us."

"But…" Kate was about to say something, but the words stuck in her throat.

She turned toward Liang Suyin, Ashley, and Aleesa. They shook their heads, then she looked at the Emperor. The Emperor remained on his seat, unfazed by what happened around them. He was still looking in the direction of the stage.

Then she turned toward her husband, expecting support from him. She wished he would speak up because his voice had more weight than hers. However, her husband also shook his head with a helpless expression.

Gianni's decision was Tang Shaoyang's order, meaning it was an Emperor's order. It was wrong just to watch the ordinary people being murdered before their eyes.

"This is the reality outside the Tang Empire. It's not our obligation to save these people…" Zara was about to continue, but then she noticed the distress on Kate's face.

"Should I send you back to the Yang Clan's estate instead? I don't think you can cope with this new reality."

"Yes. Please send us back to the Yang Clan's estate!" Zhao Zhong answered for his wife.

Zara sent them back to the Yang Clan's estate, then she asked the others if they wanted to return as well. Everyone shook their heads. This was cruel, but they were aware of this kind of reality.

Meanwhile, the security from the Dongfang Family also started to make their moves in response to the attack. However, those securities ignored the ordinary people. They prioritized the people from the big factions even though those people were cultivators who could protect themselves.

The slaughter came to an end as the black clothed figures bathed the venue with the innocent's blood. The cultivators from the 2 Palaces, 4 Empires, 7 Sects, and 7 families who accompanied their young talents were still alive and kicking. The Heaven Founder left those people for last.

"WHO DARES TO ATTACK THE MURIM ALLIANCE!?" Dongfang Jinhai's voice echoed through the venue.

His anger could not be contained anymore. His second son became an idiot from being a useless son. And now someone dared to plot against the Dongfang Family.

Dongfang Jinhai thought the Dongfang Family was the target of the attack, not the Murim Alliance. As the newest pillar of the Murim Alliance, their foundation was still shaky compared to the others.

The mastermind behind this attack purposely targeted the Dongfang Family to replace them in the Murim Alliance. Then his eyes widened as he thought of other possibilities.

His idiot second son mentioned that the hidden expert who attacked his second son would come again. This might be related to what happened to his second son. The hidden expert moved this force just because his son tried to flirt with the hidden expert's woman.

It angered him further that his useless and idiotic second son was the one who brought this disaster to the Dongfang Family.

The Dragon and Phoenix Tournament was supposed to be an event that would consolidate the Dongfang Family's position in the Murim Alliance. However, it was a mess right now, and this might ruin the Dongfang Family's reputation.

'Unless…'

Unless the Dongfang Family could turn this around. He could use this disaster to showcase the prowess of the Dongfang Family. That would tell the Sacred Realm that the Dongfang Family was not to be trifled with.

"What a stupid question."

A voice echoed through the venue as five figures in fancy robes appeared above the venue. They didn't cover their faces; in fact, they looked smug and proud of what happened in this city.

"Do you think you are untouchable just because you have Murim Alliance on your back?" A man who looked in his mid-thirties chuckled.

"You should not worry about the Murim Alliance in the first place. You should be concerned about your own family instead. We have surrounded the Golden Crane City, and no one could break the formation we have prepared."

Dongfang Jinhai looked at the net in the sky. He figured it out was a powerful formation. If it were not powerful, his people should have broken it by now.

"Who are you guys?"

The man beamed with a smile when Dongfang Jinhai asked.

"I am glad you asked. I thought you were not going to ask," His tone was playful, confident that they had control over this war.

"We are the Heaven Founder, and we will replace the Murim Alliance for the sake of the Sacred Realm! The Murim Alliance was the reason for the Sacred Realm in the current state."

"The Sacred Realm's growth stopped a long time ago. In fact, we have grown weaker after our loss against the God Realm. The Murim Alliance failed to see that, and you people, the pillar of the Murim Alliance and the Sacred Realm, are satisfied with our current situation?"

The man laughed. His laughter filled with mockery and disdain, "You are satisfied being confined in this Sacred Realm? This is laughable. There's a bigger world outside the Sacred Realm. That bigger world would help us to advance further, and you are satisfied with what you have right now, being stuck in this place?"

"This is a joke! We united to fight the whole bigger world back then. Our ancestors fought bravely for the sake of the Sacred Realm, and you people wasted their sacrifice by holding them in this prison? The mighty Murim Alliance is afraid of the God Realm?"

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