"His highness and those mysterious figures have returned from their conquest…" The Guard panted severely;

"Okay?"

"But they're all severely injured, and of all the Royal Guards that left with them, only about ten returned, and they are also grievously injured…"

All the Elders gasped in shock when they heard what the guard had just said albeit for different reasons;

"To think they have also taken down his highness…" The seven overthinking Elders continued;

"But if they were all here when this happened, does that mean they have outside help?" One asked…

"That is most likely the case…" Another answered;

The Elder in front of the Guard looked over to his other two partners and saw them nod back at him;

"Alright, you may leave…"

"But the next time you do not properly announce your presence before barging into the house of even an Elder, that same day would be the last you will ever witness, am I clear?" The Elder asked;

"Crystal, venerable Elder…"

The Royal Guard responded before bolting out of the residence with wobbly feet which had lost their strength from sheer trepidation…

The Elder walked back to his partners;

"Could the invaders Left was talking about be the mysterious figures?" He asked as he returned to his seat;

"Most definitely… There are no one else within the Royal Court that we do not know about and that leaves only those three…"

"Yeah… Though, we might know them in person, we don't really know their origins or their motives, and if they were the one who slaughtered the Left Grand Elder, then that definitely makes them invaders…" The other two partners chipped in with their thoughts;

"Moreover, the fact that they are currently injured, and the Left Grand Elder also stated it means that he most likely caused them to suffer significant damages before they could kill him…"

"Sure… I believe he is trying to tell us to kill them all before they recover…"

"Perhaps, we might not be any match for them when they have fully recovered…"

"But what is it with the formation though?"

"Perhaps, we will find out when we get there…"

"Yeah, they would most likely be laying low within the King's Chambers, biding their time till they fully recover…"

"Alright, then… I guess we should go check things out…" The three Elders discussed amongst themselves before the Elder who met with the Guard earlier cleared his throat to get their attentions;

"Everyone, please can I have your attention…" He said as all the Elders finally looked towards him as he began to explain everything they understood about the message from the Left Grand Elder…

Furthermore, the more he explained, the clearer the situation became, but for the Elders who had already overthought everything; though, they considered his explanations, but didn't fully believe it as they still held the belief that the three Elders were working in tandem towards a certain purpose which to them seems shady…

"So, that is the conclusion we arrived at after comparing and contrasting the message from the Grand Elder with the news the Royal Guard just brought to us…"

"But just to be sure, Elder Bai, Elder Du and I would head over first to confirm our suspicions, and if it happens to be false and the King accuses us, then you can bear witness for us and help us out of our predicament…"

"But if it happens to be as we have suspected, then I will create a massive explosion to notify you all, so that you can come provide support for us…"

The Elder finished his explanation as the rest of the Elders nodded their heads in compliance, whilst the seven overthinking Elders discussed amongst themselves, before Elder Tao spoke for the group;

"Alright Elder Dong, but I and Elder Fei follow you in whilst the rest wait outside the King's chambers and not any farther off…" He added as Elder Dong nodded his head;

'Hmph… You want to go in alone so you can finish up everything before we know right?'

'Like we will allow you to do that, Hmph!'

Elder Tao thought to himself whilst the Elder Dong trio stepped out of the Left Grand Elder's residence, armed themselves with their swords and finally marched towards the King's mansion…

On getting there, they met some guards who tried to stop them, but the Elders who have been chosen to stand outside the chambers simply moved ahead and pinned the guards down whilst Elder Dong and the remaining four Elders entered the mansion, and arrived at the Throne Hall…

"Can you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"There's nothing here…"

"That's exactly my point… No guards inside, no healers, no servants hurrying around…"

"So that begs the question-"

"Where did all of them go and what are they doing?" Elder Tao was the one who completed Elder Dong's sentence;

"Alright… Elder Bai and Elder Fei, check the rest of the residence…"

"Elder Tao, Elder Du, follow me to the King's courtyard behind the residence…" Elder Dong spoke as they split up and headed in different directions…

In less than a minute, the Elder Dong trio were already at the courtyard, and as fate would have it, there were just in time to see a mysterious figure they had never seen before activating a massive, mysterious formation within the pergola in the courtyard;

"Is that the formation we were told to destroy?" Elder Tao looked to Elder Dong and Elder Du who just heard the voice of King Tian from a corner iin the courtyard;

"Scribe, why is it taking too long?" King Tian asked lethargically;

He was lying on the ground with his head propped up with a small stone as his bloodied robes stuck to his body, and the gaping hole in his chest still trickling out blood as the Dark Qi Dara infused into the arrow prevented the blood from clothing, the wound from healing, and the King from recovering…

"It is done, your highness… We have used a total of fifteen Qi Sea stage Qi Stones…"

The old man replied as wind began to whip around the area and the runes on the mysterious formation began to light up one after the other;