"What on earth has happened? Where is Grandfather, and what about the elders?" Mu Hanyan asked anxiously.

"Come inside first, and we can talk." Mu Rui’an waved away a group of young playboys and led Mu Hanyan to the backyard.

"You came from Fang Town, didn’t you?" Mu Rui’an asked once Mu Hanyan was seated.

"Yes." Mu Hanyan nodded.

"Then you must have heard about the Exotic Beasts besieging the Capital." Mu Rui’an said.

"I heard a little." Mu Hanyan replied. Even if she hadn’t heard about it, she could still guess some of it from the desolate aftermath of the battle outside the city.

"This Beast attack on the city was even more brutal than you know. The number of Exotic Beasts participating reached tens of thousands, with countless powerful beasts equivalent to the Sword Master Realm. Even top-level Exotic Beasts like Fierce Stone Demons and Angry Dragon Beasts numbered in the thousands, many of which had undergone Bloodline Awakening, their power rivaling that of a Sword Saint." Mu Rui’an said gravely.

"What?" Mu Hanyan was slightly taken aback. Although she had already sensed the brutality of the battle, she hadn’t imagined that the Exotic Beasts besieging the Capital were so formidable.

"That’s not even the most terrifying part. The most terrifying are some unheard-of, never-before-seen Exotic Beasts mixed in among them, creatures whose power exceeds even those of the Sword Saint level creatures. If I’m not mistaken, those are Jiuyou Netherworld Beasts!" Mu Rui’an continued.

This time, Mu Hanyan was so shocked she couldn’t speak. Although she had already guessed that the beast uprising in the Longyan Mountain was related to the Jiuyou Netherworld on her way to Shangyue Country, she hadn’t expected them to be directly involved.

Thinking of the Netherworld Beast Lords she had encountered in the Long Yan Illusion Realm, their power sent chills down Mu Hanyan’s spine.

"In order to repel the beasts and defend the Capital, more than half of the City Guard and Imperial City Guard died in battle, and most of the survivors were seriously injured. In the end, it was the joint efforts of various aristocratic families and the Four Great Academies that finally repelled the beasts.

In this battle, the various aristocratic families, led by the Eight Great Families, suffered heavy casualties. Hundreds of elders and tributors were lost, and thousands of family disciples were injured or killed. The Four Great Academies lost over a hundred instructors, more than three thousand disciples were killed, and the number of injured was uncountable." Mu Rui’an said with a pained expression.

"And what about our Mu Family? What about Grandfather?" Mu Hanyan asked urgently. She hadn’t seen any elders when she came in just now; could they all have perished? She felt sorrow for the others if they died, but she could accept it. However, if Grandfather was also missing, could something have happened to him?

"The Mu Family’s Great Elder and Fifth Elder are seriously injured, the Supreme Elder is slightly injured, but your grandfather and several other elders are unharmed. Many of the tributors and house elders suffered casualties, and several hundred of the younger generation were also injured or killed." Mu Rui’an replied.

Hearing her father’s words, Mu Hanyan felt a sense of relief. War is inherently cruel, with people inevitably dying on the battlefield, but as long as her grandfather was unharmed, that was a blessing.

"What about Grandfather?" Mu Hanyan asked again.

"Your grandfather and the Supreme Elder, Third Elder, Fourth Elder, and other uninjured tributors and elders have already gone to Longyan Mountain, which is why you didn’t see any of them." Mu Rui’an replied.

"Why did they go to Longyan Mountain?" Mu Hanyan asked, puzzled.

"After defeating the Exotic Beasts, we pursued them and discovered a space rift to the Jiuyou Netherworld deep in the Longyan Mountains. Tens of thousands of Netherworld Beasts are guarding the rift, seemingly preparing to conduct some ritual to completely open the Netherworld. If they succeed, the continent will be plunged into chaos, and humans may face extinction.

So, after discussions among the various families, academies, and the Royal Family, it was decided to dispatch masters to make a desperate attempt to reseal the Jiuyou Netherworld. They are already on their way there."

"I see, I understand now." Mu Hanyan said to herself in sudden realization. She had been puzzled about why the Netherworld Beasts would forcibly erase the Exotic Beasts’ Spiritual Marks and incite them to start wars without regard for consequences. After hearing her father’s words, she now understood.

It seems those Netherworld Beasts also knew that the human cultivators, as the continent’s rulers, would never allow them to open the Netherworld and would stop them at any cost. So they erased the Exotic Beasts’ Spiritual Marks, forcing them to launch reckless attacks on human cities to buy time. As beings more powerful than Exotic Beasts, the Netherworld Beasts’ intelligence is certainly no less than that of Exotic Beasts or humans.

"While you were returning to Anyun, other countries were also overrun with Exotic Beasts, causing chaos, and the presence of Netherworld Beasts was also detected. However, since Anyun City is closest to the Longyan Mountains and the Netherworld Rift, it suffered the most intense attack. Nevertheless, after receiving the message from Anyun, masters from various countries are also heading to the depths of the Longyan Mountains, hoping to combine forces and reseal the Netherworld." Mu Rui’an added.

"What about the Holy Court?" Mu Hanyan suddenly asked. Something so significant has happened; the Holy Court surely can’t just sit by and watch. After all, they are the true rulers of the Holy Court Continent.

"It’s said that the spatial barrier between the Holy Court Continent and the Divine Continent is also compromised, and the Holy Court is fully occupied with repairs, unable to spare many people. However, they have sent some to join the masters from various countries in Longyan Mountain and others to assist in quelling the Exotic Beast uprisings in various countries." Mu Rui’an replied.

It was only then that Mu Hanyan understood why Dan Tai Xuan had reappeared in Anyun Territory; this was the reason. She had already thought it strange that those senior and junior brothers of Dan Tai Xuan seemed peculiar since their true combat power didn’t match their cultivation realms, even weaker than some noble family’s sons with the same cultivation but greater natural talent, which was unbefitting of Holy Court Members. Now she had an answer. The Holy Court must be experiencing difficulties, forcing them to enhance their power to face the current crisis, mistakenly using their increased strength to target her at first.

After all, the millions of common people are the foundation of the Holy Court Continent. They can’t focus solely on the Jiuyou Netherworld issue while ignoring the people’s lives and deaths.

"Father, what should I do?" Mu Hanyan asked. By now, she guessed that her father’s urgency to return must be related to these events he spoke of earlier.

"You must immediately lead the third-generation disciples of the Mu Family to Lu’an City in East Sun County and hold the city at all costs." Mu Rui’an said.

"Hold Lu’an City? Why?" Mu Hanyan asked, puzzled. Although she was familiar with Lu’an City, as it was only a few hundred miles from the northeast entrance of Longyan Mountain and she had passed through it many times during her previous life training, Lu’an City was still ten thousand miles from the Capital. How is it related to what her father had said before?