As they looked around, they noticed the fighting had started to die out. Like them, the assassins stopped fighting and started retreating.

*Whoosh!* In the sky, Martial Fighters suddenly appeared. 

“Looks like help has arrived,” Bai Jia said as she looked up. 

“Phew, we made it then,” Qian Yu sighed in relief. 

“You three, state your names and identities,” a few of the Martial Fighters dropped down. 

“Bai Jia of the Bai Family in the Central Union.”

“Zhao Xieren of the Zhao Family in the Xia Empire.”

“Inner court disciple of the Ice Arts Sect in the Xia Empire.” 

The three promptly answered. 

“Alright, come with us, nobody is allowed to leave yet,” one of them recorded their identities and stated. 

Escorted by the group of Martial Fighters, they headed back to the mansion. Its previous glamor and prestigious appearance was no more. The many pillars on the exterior had been broken alongside with the main body. The second floor had mostly crashed into the first floor with only a few areas in the back of the mansion, away from the banquet hall, left intact. 

“Look for survivors!” Tally up the numbers!”  Qian Yu heard a few shouts as they approached closer. Yet his face turned grim as he saw the large and many brown pieces of clothes on top of the blanketed snow. 

“They seemed to be split into two groups,” Qian Yu realized. Comparing the two groups, one were the assassins and the others were the guests. Looking at them, he recognized most of them to be the soul foundation cultivators that participated in the tournament with himself.

“T-the casualties are too tremendous,” Zhao Xieren covered her mouth. On the side of the assassins, there were only a few dozen bodies but on the side of the guests, there were at least a hundred and furthermore, bodies were still being discovered from the ruins of the mansion. 

*Bop!* Zhao Xieren suddenly collapsed to the floor. 

“Are you alright?!” Qian Yu got down and brought her shoulders into his embrace.

“I-I’m scared. This isn't a simple matter. Most of the guests here have a high standing and status,” Zhao Xieren sighed.

“Don’t worry about it too much, we’ll see what will happen,” Qian Yu helped her up. 

“S-sister! *sob* I’m sorry I-I wasn’t strong *sniffle* enough!” A familiar voice resounded from the ruins of the mansion. 

Qian Yu hurried over, seeing Jiang Hai on the ground with streams of tears in his face. By his side, the beautiful princess Jiang Wuying was unconscious. Her hair was completely disheveled and blood was stained everywhere. 

“Young prince, please move so one of the imperial doctors can take a look at her,” one of the nearby Martial Fighters said. 

“O-ok,” Jiang Hai struggled to say. 

As Qian Yu and the two girls turned their attention to the imperial doctors, they exchanged eye contact with someone in their group. 

“Daughter!” Miss Zhao yelled out as she ran over with tears in her eyes. 

“Mother!” Zhao Xieren gave her a big hug. 

“I was so worried for you three,” Miss Zhao hugged her daughter before looking at Qian Yu and Bai Jia.

“Fortunately, we all made it through,” Qian Yu nodded. 

“Q-Qian Yu, will my sister be alright?” Jiang Hai too had noticed them as he stumbled over. 

Qian Yu sighed as he saw Jiang Hai’s soulless eyes, “Jiang Hai… I don’t know.” 

Looking over to Jiang Wuying, he saw a large orb of water surrounding her body. 

“She won’t die. She naturally has a strong body for being a Martial Fighter so the fact that she has managed to stay alive until now means she’ll be fine. Her wounds and injuries have stabilized with the help of the imperial doctor’s martial technique but we don’t know how long it will take for her to wake up,” Miss Zhao said. 

“T-thank you,” Jiang Hai sighed in relief as he sat down, turning his gaze towards his sister. 

“What is that imperial doctor doing?” It was the first time Qian Yu had seen such a skill. 

“True healing martial techniques do exist but they are rare and are usually techniques in the last few layers. That water orb is actually a purification martial technique but it is like a healing pill right now. Healing pills speed up the processes in the body that are responsible for tissue regeneration. Likewise, the purification technique cleanses the body, which will stabilize her injuries and create a better environment for her body to heal itself,” Miss Zhao explained. 

“That makes sense,” Qian Yu nodded. Healing a person fully did seem to be absurdly strong and useful.

“Alright, I will take my leave now. I need to help the others,” Miss Zhao quickly returned to help the other injured survivors.

“Crown Prince! You’ve awoken!” A large ruckus was heard in another part of the field. 

Looking over, Qian Yu saw a dozen or so people huddling around Xia Shuren who had awoken. 

“Fuck!” The crown prince cursed as his expression turned dark upon looking around. 

“Sir, please calm down, we had to use many resources to heal you but your condition is still not well!” an extremely old imperial doctor said. 

“Fuck, I don’t care!” Xia Shuren said as he got up. 

“You! Tell me everything!” Xia Shuren pointed at one of the Martial Fighters surrounding him.

“S-sir…” the man hesitated as he looked at his companions. 

“What are you hesitating for! I’M THE CROWN PRINCE!” Xia Shuren angrily screamed. 

“Y-yes sir!” The Martial Fighter bit his lips and sighed. 

“Regarding the assassins, we have found 100 bodies so far. It is estimated that there were at least 300 assassins though. Our forces are still focusing on capturing the assassins,” he reported.

“What about the guests?” Xia Shuren asked.

“Regarding the guests… 200 are dead and another 50 are seriously wounded or unconscious. The rest only have minor injuries and are not in danger,” The man answered. 

“200 dead…”  Xia Shuren covered his face with both his hands.

“Who died and who got injured… give me names…” Xia Shuren sighed. 

“Princess Jiang Wuying from the Jiang Empire was severely injured and is currently unconscious. Crown prince Chen Cheng from the Chen Empire and 3rd prince Yuan Feng from the Yuan Empire have passed. Tan Xinyue from the Silver Pavilion has died. Geng Hai from the Three Wines Valley has died…” The report continued on for a few minutes. 

“Arghh!” Xia Shuren clutched his head as the report finished. 

*Puat!* A sudden spurt of blood shot out of his mouth as he fell backwards. 

“Crown Prince!” they yelled out as they started huddling over him.

“What do you think will happen?” Qian Yu asked Zhao Xieren.

“I don’t know. Something this big has never happened before in the last tens of thousands of years. All the previous conflicts in the continent are nothing compared to something like this. But today, important figureheads were attacked and killed. I’m afraid there might be a war,” Zhao Xieren sighed. 

“A war?” Qian Yu’s hands balled into a fist. 

“Alright, you three, you guys can leave. If we have any more questions, we will come look for you guys,” one of the Martial Fighters came up.