Chapter 4797 Dark Clouds Gather  

“It was a group of unidentified people, and their weapons were also not normal. There were over thirty of them, all Heaven Saints...” Bai Xiaole’s mother explained in the place of Bai Shishi’s mother.

Hearing that there were over thirty Heaven Saints involved in this attack, Long Chen couldn’t help sucking in a cold gasp of air. Just which faction had that many Heaven Saints?

“Senior, if I’m not mistaken, the one to injure you should be someone from the Netherworld, right?” asked Long Chen.

“Most likely. His power was backed by the laws of the Netherworld as well as the Netherworld’s poison. It could even corrode my metal energy,” replied Bai Shishi’s mother.

Bai Xiaole’s mother solemnly continued, “But I don’t think we’ve had any disagreements with the races from the Netherworld. They shouldn’t be our enemies, so this is rather odd. Furthermore, they avoided using their core energy in the battle so that we wouldn’t recognize who they were. If Big Sister’s metal energy hadn’t trapped that Heaven Saint, he wouldn’t have been forced to go all-out, and we wouldn’t have been able to tell that he came from the Netherworld.”

“Those bastards! Sneak attacking us while I wasn’t here. If I was a bit faster, I’d make them taste what it feels like to have ten thousand ghosts devour their souls.” Bai Zhantang clenched his teeth furiously. Seeing his wife injured, he was enraged, but there was nothing he could do.

“Their sneak attack started precisely when the High Firmament Divine Sword wasn’t present. It’s a good thing that you came back in time,” said Bai Shishi’s mother.

Long Chen asked about the timing of their attack and retreat. After thinking about it, he said, “The moment they attacked was exactly when the dean appeared in front of the gate to the ninth heaven, and their departure was just before we arrived. Given their impeccable timing, they clearly have a way of spying on the dean. That’s the only possibility.”

“It’s impossible!” exclaimed Bai Zhantang and Bai Shishi’s mother at the same time.

Bai Xiaole’s mother also shook her head and said, “The High Firmament Divine Sword would sense anyone spying on it. It’s our karmic luck divine weapon. Who could possibly...” All of a sudden, her expression changed. Bai Shishi’s mother, Bai Zhantang, and the others also thought of a possibility.

“Unless...” The voice of Bai Shishi’s mother quivered. Suddenly, the void quivered, and Bai Letian reappeared, his expression incredibly grave. There was no need to ask what happened: he had failed to pursue them.

“Unless it’s an existence stronger than the High Firmament Divine Sword. That’s the only thing that could track my movements.” Bai Letian finished her sentence.

“Something even stronger?”

Long Chen was shocked. He immediately asked the Earth Cauldron, and it replied, “Something capable of spying on him would have to be a karmic luck divine weapon. Furthermore, it must be maintaining even more karmic luck than the High Firmament Divine Sword. In other words, the faction that it belongs to must be greater than the High Firmament Academy.”

“Dean....”

Long Chen wanted to ask Bai Letian who or what it was, as he felt like Bai Letian already had a guess.

“We’ll leave this matter aside for now. We’ll only lose out like this once. Long Chen, let me introduce you to the academy’s four great protectors,” said Bai Letian.

At this moment, four people walked forward. Long Chen’s eyes then brightened as he recognized one of them. It was the Divine Lightning Elder.

“Dean Long Chen, I’m glad to see you doing well!” exclaimed the Divine Lightning Elder with a smile.

“Divine Lightning Elder, you’re a Heaven Saint? It must have been hard for you to conceal that.” Long Chen couldn’t help smiling bitterly.

“I didn’t hide anything. When we met for the first time, you saw through my real cultivation base. However, I’ve stayed in that realm for tens of thousands of years, constantly cultivating as hard as I could. I have waited tens of thousands of years for this day,” explained the Divine Lightning Elder.

Hearing this, Long Chen came to a realization: all the academy’s true experts had been enduring for countless years just for this moment. By setting up the right conditions, they broke through the realms naturally. Countless years of bitter cultivation resulted in a foundation that sprung them to the heavens in one leap.

“Let me introduce you. This is the High Heaven Elder, the Earth Cover Elder, and the Wind Slashing Elder.”

The High Heaven Elder was a scholarly, middle-aged man with a mustache and beard. Clad in white robes and bearing no weapon, he seemed extremely amicable.

Next to him stood the Earth Cover Elder, who looked like a young woman. Of course, her youthful appearance was only a disguise. Her true age, well, such a thing was not to be spoken of lightly. Radiating potent earth energy fluctuations, she surpassed the likes of Li Qi and Song Mingyuan in her mastery of the element. He looked cheerful and wore an amicable smile. In contrast to the two of them, the Wind Slashing Elder was an icy-faced man who looked like he had never smiled in his life. He simply nodded slightly toward Long Chen as a greeting.

The Earth Cover Elder and High Heaven Elder were both extremely courteous to Long Chen, exchanging some pleasantries with him. Long Chen couldn't help but notice that neither of them showed any signs of injury.

Amongst all the experts here, only four of them were Heaven Saints, so they had definitely been the main force of the previous battle and had to endure immense pressure against the sneak attack of over thirty Heaven Saints.

Despite the suddenness of the sneak attack, the four of them had managed to hold their ground against so many enemies. Actually, Bai Shishi’s mother wouldn’t have suffered such a severe injury if she hadn’t tried to bind one of them when they tried to leave.

The cultivation base of Bai Shishi’s mother was only at the level of a Sage King. Yet, her ability to bind a Heaven Saint and force them to go all-out to escape indicated that her power was far beyond her actual realm.

The High Firmament Academy’s foundation was absolutely terrifying. If Bai Shishi’s mother, Bai Xiaole’s mother, and Bai Zhantang all became Heaven Saints, they would definitely be incredibly terrifying.

After chatting with the High Firmament Academy’s experts, Long Chen turned back to the experts who had come with them to the Sovereign Emperor Heaven.

“Friends, as you can see, the High Firmament Academy was just sneak attacked. However, it’s not a problem if you wish to rest here. The academy guarantees your safety during your stay. However, if you are in a rush to look at this new world, we won’t stop you. We can simply wish you good fortune.”

Those who had sought refuge under the protective umbrella of the academy started to feel a creeping sense of apprehension when they saw the state of the High Firmament Academy. Doubts gnawed at them: had they placed their trust in the wrong person?

Long Chen’s words were for those people to hear. If they were that afraid, they could leave, but they could blame nobody.

Quite a few people immediately thanked Long Chen and said that they wanted to go out adventuring on their own. Of course, everyone was clear on exactly what they were thinking.

However, some experts still chose to trust Long Chen and the High Firmament Academy, staying here after some careful deliberations. After all, they were unfamiliar with this world, and their little strength was not even close to enough to keep themselves safe.

The majority of the experts stayed and said that they were willing to fight alongside the High Firmament Academy during this time.

As for the Starry River Sect’s disciples, they naturally wouldn’t leave. Long Chen was about to ask Feng You what she wanted to do, but before he could do that, a loud voice echoed out.

“Are my mixed beast race’s disciples present?”