Even if Yang Qing wasn't radiating a fearsome aura like the one Su Liwei had been releasing mere moments ago, his presence still made both Prince Wenyan and Captain Bu Zhe take inadvertent gulps as beads of sweat formed on their hands and palms.

For some reason, they felt Yang Qing was there at the same time he wasn't, like he existed in a different space and all they saw was an afterimage of him.

However, just as prince Wenyan was debating whether to approach Yang Qing, a white fog suddenly appeared and surrounded both Yang Qing and the slowly decaying Su Liwei.

It was only when the fog started forming, did they notice a small white raven flying above Yang Qing.

The fog they saw surrounding Yang Qing came from its mouth. It blew out the fog as it flew clockwise around Yang Qing and the crater he had created.

Within a few seconds, Yang Qing and Su Liwei had disappeared from their view.

Both Prince Wenyan and Captain Bu Zhe stared at each other with dumbfounded, fearful expressions. The fog didn't just obstruct their view but also restricted their spiritual senses. It even started affecting their souls as they felt their entire senses get sluggish the longer they stared at the fog.

The past few seconds had put them through a rollercoaster of emotions and they still didn't even know what just happened in those few seconds.

Who was the attacker? And why did he target Yang Qing? And would their kingdom be in danger since Yang Qing got attacked under their eyes?

There was a lot to consider but they dared not move, they even refrained from speaking to each other for fear of triggering something else. The only form of communication they had was trading looks of fear.

...

"How is the building still standing?"

It was in the brief reprieve and silence that Prince Wenyan noticed something off.While the building hall they were in was packed with all sorts of defensive arrays, it was still not to the level that it would handle the clash of palace realm cultivators.

The only place in the whole kingdom that was fortified to that extent was the core region of the palace, and even then, it could just barely survive a few hits from an early palace realm cultivator.

As for the building hall, the best it could do was defend against those in the late stages of the core formation realm, more specifically those who had reached the tenth realm. Anything above that and the energy from the clash would leak outside as the building slowly but surely, collapsed.

The building was wholly intact, with no cracks, save for the location in the middle of the hall that had a massive hole in it. The rest of the building was seemingly okay.

As Prince Wenyan was lost in his thoughts, he saw a sudden flash of translucent membrane-like light, like the ones seen on an insect's wings or refracted water, appear on the walls and then disappear just as fast.

Prince Wenyan managed to spot a few complex white runes appearing within that flash.

It was then that he saw Captain Bu Zhe fearfully skip back as he stared at the door like it was some extremely poisonous creature.

It didn't take him long to figure out that the refractive flashing light was as a result of Captain Bu Zhe's attempt to go outside.

"What happened?" Prince Wenyan used a voiceless transmission technique to communicate with Captain Bu Zhe.

"I don't know. I tried to open the door but it suddenly repelled me back," Captain Bu Zhe fearfully answered.

Prince Wenyan paused for a bit before a look of realization hit him.

"So that's why.....

It must be Master Yang Qing's doing. It seems like he has isolated the place with some sort of barrier." Prince Wenyan thought as his gaze scanned all around the building.

"Don't touch anything else, let's just wait for him to finish his matters. Let's wait on his instructions first rather than acting autonomously. We may end up spoiling his matters or triggering something if we act carelessly," he added.

Captain Bu Zhe nodded in response. He even moved a few steps away from the door and the wall for good measure.

When the repelling reaction of the door struck him, that brief hit made him feel like his entire being was encapsulated in ice. His Qi movement even felt sluggish till now and he felt a very real shivering coldness in his entire being down to his very soul.

That interaction had made him extremely wary as he couldn't even react to the attack. As the man in charge of the protection of the king, he exercised honing his perception and spiritual sense, so he could react swiftly to any situation. Not many people within the kingdom could best him in that regard, but the attack from the door had shattered whatever pride he had in those skills.

There was nothing scarier than not knowing how you were even attacked.

....

Inside the fog

"You came with quite the interesting artifacts. Even with your entire organization destroyed, it seems you still have some reserves left.

A lean camel is still bigger than a horse. Your foundation as a former rank 1 organization isn't for nothing.

Some even touted your Dark Helminth ghosts sect as the second Crimson wave but alas it wasn't meant to be," Yang Qing said as he crouched next to the hole as he eyed the disintegrating Su Liwei, playfully.

Su Liwei already had his eyes shut welcoming death but hearing Yang Qing's words that were laced with mockery, he opened them and glared at Yang Qing's way.

"So scary," Yang Qing said as he raised his hands in a look of feigned fear.

"Seeing that they only sent someone at the fifth stage of the core formation realm to attack someone from the Order, must mean you're a disposable pawn.

Torturing you for information will be useless since you more than likely know nothing and what you do know is either trivial inconsequential stuff or information planted in you for misdirection …. whichever the case Su Liwei, I'm afraid I will have to deny you the honor of playing the part of an unbending zealot for your organization.

So please put away that ' I won't spill anything' look you are throwing my way," Yang Qing said as he sat down in a lotus position.

"But there is something you can help me with, otherwise you wouldn't be alive right now."

Yang Qing's look turned cold as he removed a few things from his storage.

Su Liwei was still sluggish in his reactions but his pupils shrunk when he heard Yang Qing's words.

Yang Qing was particularly easygoing with a lot of matters even with enemies, however, there was a particular kind that he abhorred with his entire being. The Dark helminth ghost sect was one of them.