Chapter 723 Crisis, Fog Ashes Came Alive?

He quickly walked to the main building and pulled up the records. Sure enough, the scenario event he had set up had been triggered. The one who triggered it was none other than…

“Old Qing…”

Su Chen stared at the screen. He had worried before that in the event of an emergency, higher-ups might come looking for him, only to find him missing and suspect he had been kidnapped by intruders.

This could cause a massive uproar, making it extremely troublesome to explain once he got out. That was why he had left this “scenario event” behind as an explanation.

“If it wasn’t an emergency, Old Qing probably wouldn’t have forced his way in.” Su Chen frowned slightly. He took out his Wristband, and the moment it connected to Copper Heart’s internal network, a massive amount of messages popped up.

Wei Zhenghong, Chu Ran, Jiang Mufeng, and other acquaintances had all sent him numerous messages.

He briefly scrolled through them, found Qing Cang’s contact, and sent a message over.

Almost the instant he put down the Wristband, the howling of the wind echoed outside.

When he looked up again, a fierce gale rushed at his face, causing his breath to catch. CRASH! The sound of shattering glass rang out as Qing Cang appeared right in front of him. His expression was stern, and his eyes held a mix of anger and concern.

“Where did you go?” Qing Cang asked coldly.

“Uh…” Su Chen froze for a moment. Seeing Old Qing like this, he didn’t dare tease him like he usually would, and hurriedly explained, “I went to the Nether Realm.”

“The Nether Realm?” Qing Cang’s gaze was filled with scrutiny. “How could your physical body disappear if you went to the Nether Realm?”

“It’s a bit complicated to explain.”

Seeing the anger welling up in Old Qing’s eyes, Su Chen quickly pivoted and added, “But to put it simply, for some reason, I have already achieved the Unity of Spirit and Body. Because of this, going to the Nether Realm brings my physical body along with me.”

“You achieved the Unity of Spirit and Body a long time ago?”

The astonishment in Qing Cang’s eyes flashed and disappeared. He reached out a finger, pointing it at the center of Su Chen’s brow, and said solemnly, “Don’t resist.”

Before Su Chen could even react, Qing Cang pulled his finger back, his gaze filled with wonder. “You really don’t have a Spirit Core. Unity of Spirit and Body…”

Suddenly, he asked urgently, “Could this have something to do with the disappearance of the Great Venerable Red Flame Thunder Resonator’s Spiritual essence?”

“You found out?” Su Chen couldn’t help but feel surprised.

Qing Cang hesitated to speak, his expression shifting constantly. He looked like he wanted to curse, but ultimately said in a muffled voice, “I only found out recently.”

He had visited the Ancient King Hall not long ago, only to discover that the Spiritual essence of the Great Venerable Red Flame Thunder Resonator had vanished.

It had scared him out of his wits at the time, leaving him in a cold sweat. The Ancient King hadn’t been gone for long, yet the Spiritual essence of a Morning Star had been stolen. How was he supposed to face their master?

But now he finally learned that Su Chen was the source of it all.

Combined with the fact that the other party had inexplicably vanished, causing him to worry for days, Qing Cang even felt the urge to string Su Chen up and whip him.

Seeing Qing Cang’s expression grow increasingly hostile, Su Chen hurriedly said, “Our teacher knows about this too.”

Then, he quickly changed the subject and asked, “Senior Brother, did something happen?”

Qing Cang slowly exhaled. Confirming that Su Chen was safe and hadn’t encountered any accidents was enough. As for everything else, it could be set aside for now.

His expression turned grave. “That’s right. Qin Yun…”

When he said that name, he gritted his teeth, revealing a hint of helplessness.

“He personally killed those Morning Stars in the Flame Space. The Prison King has seized upon this leverage to launch an attack against our Bronze Sect. The three Morning Stars—Rebel God, Profound Turtle, and Peng King—are already on their way.

“I have already closed the Star Gate, but they probably set out a long time ago and could arrive at any moment.”

“So it’s because of that incident…” Su Chen was surprised. He hadn’t expected the outside world to be turned completely upside down when he had only been gone for a little over half a month.

The awakening of the Prison King had brought unexpected complications. Su Chen frowned and said, “With such a massive lineup and three Morning Stars mobilized, aren’t they afraid their home base will be ambushed?”

Hearing this, Qing Cang’s worried expression suddenly paused. Over the past few days, he had been so anxious about how to handle this crisis that he had subconsciously overlooked this point.

He said hesitantly, “No one would dare attack the Royal Court’s home base, right?”

The majesty of the Royal Court had loomed over the Dust Star Sea for countless years and was deeply ingrained in everyone’s minds. Even he hadn’t considered the fact that the Royal Court might be vulnerable right now, or that they could use this opportunity to pull something off.

Su Chen didn’t delve deeper into the matter either; he had merely asked in passing. He shifted the conversation, “They’re coming for Qin Yun. Are we still going to defend him to the death?”

“If they were really just coming for Qin Yun, it would be simple,” Qing Cang sighed, staring straight at Su Chen.

“Not coming for Qin Yun… Then who…” Su Chen was confused, but seeing the profound look in Qing Cang’s eyes, his heart skipped a beat, and a wave of guilt washed over him. “They aren’t trying to use this chance to come after me, are they?”

“You guessed it. The Royal Court has coveted you for a long time,” Qing Cang sighed. He then gave Su Chen a brief rundown of how Qin Yun had been incited to defect by the Royal Court.

“Qin Yun was incited to rebel, but instead of agreeing, he actually gave us time to prepare in advance?” Upon hearing this, Su Chen found the situation downright bizarre.

If anyone else had witnessed Qin Yun’s performance, they might have been suspicious. But Su Chen knew about the Residual Spirit. If Qin Yun had truly experienced a change of heart, the first thing he would have done was tell Qing Cang about the Residual Spirit.

And since Qing Cang clearly didn’t know about it, it meant Qin Yun was entirely faking it.

He wondered what Qin Yun was trying to achieve using this opportunity.

Su Chen pondered for a moment before warning, “We must be on guard against Qin Yun’s sudden change of character.”

“Naturally. He is currently in custody.”

Su Chen nodded inwardly. Old Qing wasn’t that easy to fool. Then, he heard Qing Cang say:

“It’s a good thing you came back early. Get ready to evacuate in advance with Wei Zhenghong and the others.”

“Evacuate?” Su Chen’s heart skipped a beat, and he asked in astonishment, “Is the situation already this dire?”

Qing Cang flicked his sleeve and said helplessly, “What Qin Yun did truly enraged everyone. I’m afraid there aren’t many people who actually believe that our Bronze Sect had absolutely no knowledge of the matter.”