The Phoenix Clan's throne hall trembled beneath Xie Zhenting's rage.
Purple light crackled around him like a storm about to split the heavens, his robes whipping violently. Beneath the towering black-gold throne, his eyes burned bright with fury, the veins at his temples throbbing.
The entire court knelt in suffocating silence.
"How," Xie Zhenting's voice cut through the hall, "did none of you notice him leaving?"
His gaze swept over them, murderous.
"You all know what he means to us. You all know what is at stake." His voice dropped, colder now. "And yet he vanishes from under your watch... and none of you know where?"
A palace guard trembled as he stepped forward, forehead pressed against the icy floor.
"Yo-Young master Zhang Wangji came earlier. He met with His Greatness before... before we discovered he was gone."
The moment the words left his mouth, boom.
A violent burst of spiritual force tore through the air.
