Miao didn't weep; he was so grievously wounded he lacked the strength. Only his attainment of the Grandmaster realm and the fierce True Essence guarding his heart saved him from immediate death. Even so, his bones were shattered, his meridians severed—he was not far from dying.

In his final moments, fear was absent from his eyes; the prior astonishment had faded. What was there left to fear for a dying man?

His gaze was filled only with confusion: How, in merely a few months, had Ye Jingyu not only reached this level of power but also gathered so many formidable experts around him?

Who were these people, and why were they so willing to serve Ye Jingyu?

He did not understand, could not grasp it, and certainly could not comprehend it.

Miao could not comprehend, and the two remaining Innate Martial Masters standing there were equally lost. They simply stood frozen, their swords instinctively dropping to the ground, unable and unwilling to resist.

To challenge a Great Grandmaster while merely at the Innate realm—that wasn't the heroism of a martyr; it was the foolishness of the utterly incompetent.

Toward the existence known as a Great Grandmaster, their hearts were filled with nothing but awe.

Witnessing the scene, Ye Jingyu felt a surge of satisfaction. A Great Grandmaster enforcer, a Great Grandmaster bodyguard—how many in the entire Shu Yun Kingdom could claim such strength?

Perhaps only the one within the Royal Palace commanded several Great Grandmasters near him. Beyond that sovereign, who else possessed such ability?

A few months ago, he was hunted by Miao in utter disarray. Now, a few months later, he had defeated him with ease. Truly, the ways of the world were unpredictable.

But as Ye Jingyu’s gaze fell upon the bodies injured by stones ahead, his pride vanished without a trace.

Though they were all Innate Martial Masters, considered experts, they could not withstand the massive boulders raining down from the mountaintop. They could only rely on their speed to dodge, but how could anyone evade such a barrage?

Many were struck in the head, their skulls crushed instantly. Others were hit in the thigh, losing balance and tumbling to the ground, only to be pulverized by subsequent stones. Some managed to avoid the falling rocks, yet were pierced through the body by arrows shot from the mountain, losing their lives.

Now they lay scattered in the valley ahead, haphazardly arranged. Rarely did one find a complete corpse; each was brutally mangled, a truly gruesome sight.

The area settled into a strange quiet, a dense scent of gore permeating the air. Even the gentle breeze that blew through could not dispel the odor.

Ye Jingyu fell silent. Faintly, he could still hear the sounds of fighting echoing from the summit. He knew that Ying Xiaoxiao and the others were still locked in battle up there, and he wondered how many of them would remain when it was over.

Silently, he thought of the twenty-plus Chi Yi clan warriors who had died in the gorge, and a wave of solemnity washed over him.

These were his closest confidants, all dead because of him, and the cause of all this bloodshed was Qin Yan.

"Xue Hengzhi, go to the summit and help them. Make it quick," Ye Jingyu frowned. He could not afford to lose this entire elite force here.

Xue Hengzhi knit his brows. For him, a dignified Great Grandmaster, to engage these youngsters was one thing, but now he was being sent against mere soldiers? Where was his honor?

However, upon meeting Ye Jingyu’s icy stare, Xue Hengzhi’s heart trembled. He offered no argument, and his figure shot rapidly toward the mountaintop.

With the addition of a Great Grandmaster to the fray, Ye Jingyu felt a slight easing of his tension and turned his attention back to Miao, who lay defeated on the ground.

"Do you have anything left to say?" Ye Jingyu’s words were an executioner’s pronouncement, signaling Miao’s imminent death.

Looking at Ye Jingyu’s handsome face, at the chilling killing intent dwelling between his brows, Miao shook his head. At this moment, he finally understood why Ye Jingyu had dispatched all his personal guards—the ambush had been calculated from the start.

This battle against an ambush, without a hint of suspense, meant he did not die unjustly. To have fought against a Great Grandmaster before his death—it was not a loss to regret. Yet, deep in his heart, resentment lingered—resentment that he was about to step into the threshold of the Great Grandmaster realm, only to face death instead.

But what use was resentment? As an assassin, he had long accepted the certainty of death. Since he failed to kill the target, his own demise was inevitable.

With this thought, Miao sighed, and the sliver of True Essence protecting his heart suddenly surged inward, bombarding his own core.

Pfft... A mouthful of blood sprayed out. Miao had chosen suicide.

He was a Grandmaster; even in death, he demanded his dignity.

After witnessing Miao’s suicide, the remaining two Innate Martial Masters exchanged a glance, simultaneously raising the swords in their hands and slashing across their own throats. Two streams of blood jetted outward, and their bodies slowly collapsed.

These lofty Innate experts had not even possessed the will to fight back in the face of such overwhelming, crushing might. This was the Aura of a Great Grandmaster. Only now did Ye Jingyu deeply understand what it meant to represent that level.

Not long after, the sounds of conflict on the summit gradually subsided. Ye Jingyu knew that with Xue Hengzhi’s involvement, the enemy could not hold out much longer.

A little later, the noises from the peak vanished entirely. Then, Ying Xiaoxiao, Ye Longyi, Chi Yi Xiu, and the remaining brothers descended from the summit, all covered in blood, their faces etched with exhaustion.

As for the Yun Guard Centurion, Jiang Ming, whether from fearing retribution or from sheer valor, he had died heroically while fighting fiercely.

Ye Jingyu said little. He engraved the day's events firmly in his memory—he committed this hatred to heart, and one day, he would personally demand recompense from Qin Yan.

Chi Yi Xiu violently blasted open the road blocked ahead. Under Ye Jingyu’s command, the surviving brothers cremated the bodies of their comrades and set off toward Yun Jing, carrying their ashes.

Along the way, they encountered no further ambushes. The group returned to Yun Jing smoothly.

Although this journey was carried out under an imperial edict, it was a secret one. Upon reaching Yun Jing, there was no grand welcoming procession like those for other imperial envoys. They entered the city quietly and modestly.

Naturally, the hundred-plus remaining soldiers returned directly to the Iron Army barracks.

Ye Jingyu's entourage was reduced to only Xue Hengzhi and a few others, along with a few dozen personal guards led by Chi Yi Xiu.

However, at the gates of Yun Jing, the party was stopped by the guards. Ye Jingyu was forced to show his waist token to gain entry. Once inside the city, however, he immediately perceived that the Yun Jing of today was vastly different from the one he had left.

The usual bustling activity and prosperity were gone, replaced instead by an atmosphere of tension and menace. Patrol soldiers marched constantly through the streets. The hooligans who once swaggered arrogantly through Yun Jing were nowhere to be seen, as if wiped from existence.

The entire city seemed to be under some form of heightened alert. What was happening?

Although Ye Jingyu entered Yun Jing quietly, the news of his return spread instantly.

At the White Cloud Marquis’s Estate, Qin Yan sat silently in the main seat of the hall, listening to his subordinate's report. His face remained expressionless, but his son, Qin Yunxiao, sitting beside him, looked utterly incredulous.

He simply could not believe that Ye Jingyu had escaped the perilous confines of the Hundred Burial Valley intact, let alone evaded the ambush personally set by Miao. How was this possible?

Setting aside the fact that Miao was a powerhouse on the verge of becoming a Great Grandmaster, the hundreds of skilled fighters were the elite troops Qin Yan had stationed in Ninglang Commandery. They possessed enough strength to fight a thousand-man army. Yet now, they could not even hold Ye Jingyu’s small party? It was unbelievable.

"Father..." Qin Yunxiao was about to speak when Qin Yan raised a hand to stop him.

"You don't need to say anything; I understand everything. However, from this moment on, no one in this residence is permitted to make a move against him privately, nor are you permitted to leave the estate without permission. Especially you, Yunxiao. You are not to step foot outside the Marquis’s Estate a single inch without my express command." Qin Yan seemed to sense something, issuing this harsh, non-negotiable order to ensure his son’s safety.

Qin Yunxiao parted his lips, wanting to argue, but seeing the resolute look in his father’s eyes, he could only nod lightly.

If the White Cloud Marquis’s Estate knew of Ye Jingyu’s return, the Royal Palace naturally knew as well, and Ye Jingyu’s own residence, the Town Guard General’s Estate, was also aware of its master’s arrival in Yun Jing.

Lin Xiaoyi rushed out of the Town Guard Estate immediately and intercepted Ye Jingyu on the road.

"What exactly happened in Yun Jing?" Ye Jingyu asked directly, looking at the young man standing before him, who was close to his own age.

"Young Master, Yun Jing is fine. It’s the Tian Yuan Empire that is in turmoil! The Emperor was assassinated, and the entire Tianzhou is in chaos. The Commandery Kings of Yunzhou, Qingzhou, Yanzhou, Lanzhou, and other regions have raised armies, marching directly toward Tianzhou. His Majesty the Sovereign has ordered a nationwide lockdown and commanded the Second Young Master to personally lead troops to the northern border," Lin Xiaoyi reported nervously, detailing the greatest events that had shaken the realm over the past month.

Ye Jingyu was stunned. The Emperor of the Tian Yuan Empire assassinated? How was this possible? Everyone knew the Xuanyuan family possessed supreme combat strength, and the current Emperor was a Martial Saint—a top-tier master. How could he have been stabbed to death?

Wait—the Commandery Kings of Yunzhou, Qingzhou, Yanzhou, and Lanzhou raising armies to march on Tianzhou?

Tianzhou was the heart of the Tian Yuan Empire; the capital city lay there. The other eight major prefectures were garrisoned by members of the Xuanyuan family. For these four prefectures to mobilize simultaneously—were they seeking justice for the fallen Emperor of the Xuanyuan Empire?

Who, other than insiders, could manage to kill a Martial Saint, especially one who held the world’s ultimate power?

A shadow of gloom flashed across Ye Jingyu’s mind. Could it be that the world was truly about to descend into anarchy?