Chapter 216: Seeking Help
The massive audience within the grand hall remained frozen, the weight of the information Song Yanyan had just dropped left them staring at the northern dais in absolute silence.
Before the murmurs could rise again, the Matriarch of the Song Clan adjusted her midnight-dark silk sleeves, her sharp gaze sweeping across the rows of distinguished international guests.
"Throughout the long history of the North, the Heaven Opening Chasm has been an integral pillar of our lands," Song Yanyan continued, her clear voice carrying an absolute, unyielding authority that filled the entire space. "It has never belonged exclusively to a single lineage. It has systematically provided opportunity and resources to both the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions alike. Which is precisely why I have invited every major power to stand within these ancestral walls today."
She paused, her fingers resting lightly against the carved dragon armrest of her ironwood throne.
"The impending opening of this cycle is special. For reasons that currently remain unknown to our core diviners, the spatial fractures are widening abnormally. I want the entire world to keep an eye on it. I want your hidden spies, your merchant lords, and your foreign envoys to monitor the perimeter."
She leaned slightly forward, her cold sovereign mask tightening as her voice dropped into a lower, chilling cadence.
"Before the banquet lanterns were lit, I personally consulted my father. He explicitly told me that the Chasm this time will be exceptionally dangerous. The spatial distortions are bleeding, and if something completely unexplainable happens within those fracturing depths, the North might actually require the collective assistance of the empire."
A collective ripple of quiet shock ran through the assembly. Hearing the Matriarch of the Song Clan, a legendary Ruler Realm powerhouse who governed a domain that stood alone like a lone wolf, openly admit to needing help was a chilling realization.
"Still, the laws of the empire remain absolute," Song Yanyan spoke, her tone turning firm as she reclaimed her unyielding posture. "The Imperial decree clearly dictates that the martial factions belonging to one region cannot forcefully enter or pillage the secret realms belonging to another territory. I expect every Great Clan and hidden sect sitting before me to strictly follow those laws. Do not interfere. Do not cross our borders with your core armies. Simply watch from the outer thoroughfares... until I give you a direct signal."
She lifted her head, her gaze sweeping across the imperial delegation.
"This is not a sign of weakness from our northern forces. This is an absolute worry for the safety of the entire empire. To be completely honest with you all, I do not fully understand the scale of this threat myself. But since the warning came directly from my father... I believe it without a single shred of doubt."
Everyone present within the giant hall nodded in silent agreement, none daring to voice a single syllable of protest.
In the Xuanwu world, Saints were much closer to the fabric of reality than anyone else. They existed on a plane where their soul anchors could perceive the subtle, shifting changes of the world's laws, occasionally gaining a brief glimpse into the fragmented future itself. A decree from a Saint Realm powerhouse was considered an absolute truth.
Furthermore, the very fact that the proud Northern Hegemony was actively allowing outsiders to watch their borders told them the true severity of the situation. Historically, the northmen had always handled their internal crises behind the Black Wind Wildlands with blunt, brutal independence, refusing to explain their methods to the central courts. Breaking that ancient isolation was unprecedented.
Because of this, even the other clans and local sects of the North sitting near the northern dais were thoroughly surprised, their eyes wide as they exchanged tense glances.
Song Yanyan saw their confusion, a cold, humorless light flashing within her dark eyes.
"If any of you sitting at these tables require definitive proof of my words, you are perfectly free to dispatch your high-speed scouts to check the current status of the Heaven Opening Fort," she revealed, her words dropping like a heavy iron weight onto the floor. "The outpost has already been turned into an absolute slaughterhouse."
The silence in the grand hall grew impossibly heavy, the air freezing instantly.
"Every single cultivator stationed there is dead," Song Yanyan stated flatly. "Not a single survivor remains. The elite guards, the array masters, the local sentries... all slaughtered overnight. Currently, only the ancient external barrier array is helping to keep the entities of the Chasm contained inside the valley."
This specific piece of intelligence shocked the international dignitaries the most.
The forces permanently stationed at the Heaven Opening Chasm were recognized across the empire as true elites, even if they didn't represent the absolute highest assets of the main lineages.
They were seasoned battle-hardened veterans with reinforced cultivation bases, explicitly trained to fight the Chasm Abominations. For an entire fortress of that caliber to be completely annihilated without a single distress signal being successfully transmitted was a catastrophe that had literally never occurred in recorded history.
Not far from them, Ye Jun and Song Liangxue were genuinely surprised hearing that.
Ye Jun's eyes narrowed into tiny slits. 'Every single soul is dead?' he thought, his fingers unconsciously tracing his robes. They had been standing directly inside that very fort just a few days ago, absorbing attributes and monitoring the passive seals. How quickly and violently things changed in this martial world.
Song Liangxue's jaw tightened slightly beside him, her cool princess persona remaining steady on the surface, but her innate ice physique subtly rippled, causing the moisture near her silk sleeves to turn into fine frost crystals.
Down on the dais, Song Yanyan crossed her arms, her voice echoing clearly over the stunned silence of the crowd.
"Historically, the main line of the Song Clan has never entered the Heaven Opening Chasm during previous cycles," she explained, her tone carrying the blunt honesty the North was famous for. "We chose to remain administrative gatekeepers because we wanted the other regional powers, the smaller sects, and the branch families to have a fair opportunity to harvest resources. We had absolutely no desire to monopolize the natural wealth of our domain."
Her gaze sharpened, locking onto the Great Clans.
"But this time, the situation is completely different. The scale of the anomaly requires our absolute strength to contain the bleeding. Consequently, the Song Clan will officially enter and participate in the Chasm's depths alongside the rest of the generation."
As the various patriarchs and merchant lords silently processed the massive geopolitical shift of having a Great Clan enter the competitive field, the Matriarch delivered her final warning.
"I have personally checked the core fractures of the Heaven Opening Chasm myself before returning to the capital. The spatial alignment indicates it will fully open to the younger generation in approximately six months."
She stood up from her ironwood throne, her dark robes rustling gracefully as she looked out over the sea of young geniuses.
"I advise every master, every elder, and every sect leader sitting in this room to systematically prepare your core disciples with everything your treasuries can field. Arm them to the teeth. Give them your finest artifacts and your highest recovery elixirs... because if things do not turn out well inside that valley, this journey might very well be their last."
The weight of her words hung heavily in the cold morning air beneath the invisible glass roof.
Prince Zhao of the Imperial Family slowly leaned forward from the southern central table, his imperial-yellow robes catching the blue-white aura of the hall. His face was entirely serious as he looked toward the dais.
"Does the North require immediate logistical or military reinforcement from the Imperial Clan, Matriarch?" Prince Zhao asked, his deep voice carrying a natural, royal resonance. "The other regional clans are strictly bound by the geographic restriction laws, but the Imperial Throne is different. We would be happy to dispatch an elite vanguard fleet to assist the Song Clan in times of need like these."
Song Yanyan looked down at the middle-aged prince, a tiny smile playing on her lips.
It was a strange, complicated expression, filled with a depth of history that very few living souls in the room could ever parse. Decades ago, long before she had inherited the title of Northern Sovereign and before he had taken up the mantle of imperial advisor, the two of them had been bound by a political marriage loop.
The arrangement had eventually dissolved under the weight of clan politics and cultivation choices, a forgotten story hidden behind the vastness of history. To the rest of the hall, it looked like a standard exchange between two rulers, but the underlying vector was entirely different.
"The Imperial Court's hospitality is well noted, Prince Zhao," Song Yanyan replied smoothly, her voice entirely calm. "But the Northern Hegemony still possesses more than enough strength to manage our backyard for now."
She lifted her chin, her eyes flashing with a proud, unyielding light.
"It will take a lot more than a few fractured seals to make the North truly helpless."
Sensing that the intense, grim atmosphere regarding the cosmic crisis was beginning to push the banquet into a state of oppressive brooding, Song Yanyan suddenly let out a bright, melodious laugh. The cold, regal majesty vanished from her mature features in an instant, replaced by her usual, sweet warmth.
"Alright, alright! That is enough heavy doom-talking for a single morning!" she chided brightly, waving her hand casually to disperse the lingering tension. "Today is meant to be an occasion for celebration, not a common mourning council! We have a highly joyful event to share with the world."
Turning her gaze back toward the sweeping ironstone staircase, she raised her hand, gesturing for the two figures to step forward into the light.
"Liangxue, Ye Jun, come down here to my side."
Ye Jun and Song Liangxue moved in perfect unison, stepping down from the royal landing and walking gracefully across the polished central walkway toward the main dais. The thousands of eyes in the hall tracked their progress, the raw contrast of his tall, heavily built frame in deep-indigo and her elegant ice-blue gown commanding the complete attention of the room.
Song Yanyan smiled proudly as they stopped beside her throne. She reached out, lightly patting Ye Jun's broad shoulder before looking out over the international dignitaries.
"Honored guests, tonight I formally introduce to you the newest core pillar of our lineage, Ye Jun," the Matriarch announced, her voice filled with absolute, ringing clarity. "He is the variable who conquered the heavenly lightning, and he is the man who holds the absolute backing of our ancestral blood line."
She took her daughter's hand, placing it firmly into Ye Jun's palm before delivering the definitive decree to the entire Xuanwu continent.
"And tonight, the Song Clan proudly announces their official marriage alliance to the world. Ye Jun is the legal husband of our princess, and the undisputed Lord Son-in-law of the North!"
The final words echoed loudly beneath the invisible glass dome, setting the stage for the true storm to begin.