In the palace, many powerful figures of the Blissful Buddha Sect could not help but reprimand Galydun. The thought of incurring a powerful enemy for the sect because of him, with war imminent, filled everyone with anger.
First and foremost, Galydun himself had made a grave mistake by capturing Li Xiaotian's wife and daughter. Such methods were too base and tarnished the reputation of Buddhist cultivators.
But since he had acted, he should have considered the aftermath and not let the matter spread. Had he done so, the sect would still have had room for recourse.
Yet, this fool had captured the people directly outside Glazed City, as if he were afraid others wouldn't know it was him.
Now, Li Xiaotian was leading a vast army, and a great battle was on the verge of erupting. The Blissful Buddha Sect, no matter how powerful, could no longer stop it and could only brace itself.
One could imagine that after this war, countless members of the Blissful Buddha Sect would perish.
"Where are Li Xiaotian's wife and daughter? Where did you take them?"
At this moment, the Grand Elder silenced the clamor in the hall, his face ashen as he questioned Galydun.
He knew the secret of the Demon Suppressing Array, and thus understood the fury of the Desire-Free Bodhisattva. Had Galydun not already been severely injured, he would have been unable to restrain himself from punishing him.
What was needed now was to see if anything could be salvaged, to try and stop Li Xiaotian.
"Disciples sent people to imprison them in the Deep Caves."
Galydun said nervously, his heart filled with trepidation.
"The Deep Caves!!!"
As these words left his mouth, many in the hall gasped again, looking at Galydun in disbelief as if seeing him for the first time.
Within the sect, only those who committed grave offenses against the rules were imprisoned in the Deep Caves, a punishment the Blissful Buddha Sect rarely employed, avoiding it whenever possible.
But no one had expected Galydun to imprison Li Xiaotian's wife and daughter in the Deep Caves. How ruthless must one be to make such a decision? He was the sect's Buddha Son, the very pinnacle of their order. Even if he could not be universally compassionate, surely he would not act so cruelly!
Many present had complex expressions, as if they were re-acquainting themselves with Galydun. Some even showed disappointment in their eyes; such a Buddha Son was not worth keeping!
Galydun also sensed the emotional shifts of those around him, his face turning pale with fear. He admitted he had acted a bit harshly, but he was enraged at the time and hadn't thought much about it.
"Grand Elder, all Elders, this disciple was foolish. I beg you Elders to give this disciple a chance to atone."
Galydun quickly said. But as soon as he spoke, the Grand Elder above him's expression drastically changed. His aura surged violently, his expression turning into one of immense rage, his eyes filled with horror as he exclaimed:
"Damn it! They're gone!!!"
As early as Galydun mentioned imprisoning the captives in the Deep Caves, the Grand Elder had already used his divine sense to contact the guards of the Deep Caves and ordered them to bring out Li Xiaotian's wife and daughter. But who could have imagined that Ye Qingmei and her mother, who were imprisoned in the Deep Caves, had vanished!
This instantly made him unable to remain calm. If Li Xiaotian's wife and daughter met with an accident, then Li Xiaotian and the Blissful Buddha Sect would truly be locked in an irreconcilable feud.
Before those in the hall could react, they instinctively looked towards the Grand Elder.
The Grand Elder's face was deathly pale, and he stared intently at Galydun before speaking.
"Li Xiaotian's wife and daughter, they vanished from the Deep Caves!"
Without waiting for the reactions of the crowd, the Grand Elder immediately rushed out of the palace, heading towards the Deep Caves.
"What???!"
"Vanished?! When did they, when did they go in?"
The people in the palace slowly began to react, their faces all changing dramatically. They all knew what Li Xiaotian's wife and daughter disappearing meant.
"Let's go! Let's go see!"
In an instant, everyone in the palace surged out.
Galydun, however, stood frozen on the spot, his mind a blank slate. But immediately thereafter, his face turned ashen, completely devoid of color.
It seemed he had caused trouble again!
"You useless thing, come with us! If Li Xiaotian's wife and daughter suffer any misfortune, you cannot atone for your mistakes even if you die ten thousand times!"
A powerful figure grabbed Galydun and dragged him towards the Deep Caves.
Boom, boom, boom!!!
Deep within the Great Snow Mountain of the Blissful Buddha Sect, at the edge of a bottomless abyss devoid of any light, the Grand Elder and others descended.
The gaping maw of the abyss seemed endless. As the Grand Elder and his companions stood on the edge, they appeared as minuscule as ants.
Bone-chilling winds continuously surged from the abyss. Even though they were among the most elite experts of the Blissful Buddha Sect, they had to emanate Buddha light to resist.
This was the Deep Caves. Even the Blissful Buddha Sect had explored less than one percent of this place.
The terrifying demonic winds within the Deep Caves had caused the Blissful Buddha Sect to abandon their attempts to thoroughly explore it on multiple occasions.
At this moment, the Grand Elder and his party had grim expressions. They appeared before a set of prison cells. The chains on the cells were still intact, but there was no one inside.
The monk guards within the Deep Caves stood with their heads bowed at the entrance of the cells, their faces pale and filled with trepidation.
They had personally imprisoned those people earlier, but to their surprise, within moments, the people inside had vanished.
"Disappeared! No residual aura, and the cells weren't damaged. How did they vanish?"
Someone in the crowd frowned, looking puzzled. Even if they were corroded by the demonic winds of the Deep Caves, there would have been some trace left behind. But now, Ye Qingmei and the others seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving no trace.
The Grand Elder's face was ashen. He grabbed Galydun and threw him to the ground.
"Where are they?"
Galydun's face was pale, his body trembling from the erosion of the demonic winds. Yet, he forcefully endured the pain and quickly replied.
"Grand Elder, this disciple does not know. This disciple was summoned by my master earlier, so I entrusted Elder Ami and the others to imprison them in the Deep Caves. Why Li Xiaotian's wife and daughter disappeared, this disciple also does not know."
"Ami!"
The Grand Elder's brow furrowed. His divine sense instantly spread out, covering the entire sect as he searched for Ami's whereabouts. Those were the very people he had sent to Glazed City to fetch Galydun, so he knew who they were.
But the next moment, the Grand Elder's expression changed. Ami and the group of over ten people were nowhere to be found within the sect.
"Ami and the others are missing!"
The Grand Elder said in a deep voice, his expression becoming complicated. He had a very bad feeling in his heart.
More than ten Imperial-level experts had vanished so silently within the sect; such an event had never occurred before.
Upon hearing this, everyone in the hall's expressions changed dramatically. First, Li Xiaotian's wife and daughter vanished, then their sect's more than ten Imperial-level monks vanished. These developments made them no longer feel at ease.
A major event was likely about to unfold. Of course, more critically, the war was now unavoidable.
"Buzz!"
Within the Deep Caves, a figure appeared out of nowhere. He was barefoot, emanating Buddha light, causing the surrounding darkness to recede significantly.
"Greetings, Bodhisattva!"
The Grand Elder and the others saw this and clasped their hands together in salutation, bowing.
"Master, your disciple greets you, Master! Please save me!!!"
And within the crowd, Galydun's eyes flashed with a glimmer of hope. He quickly rushed forward, prostrating himself on the ground in greeting.