"The four major clans of Liao and five from the capital have all gathered by these ruins," Chu Feng informed Fang Yi and the others. "And if I'm not mistaken, the clans from nearby Qing are on their way too. Not only that, government officials in charge of discovered ruins are also going to arrive soon. You understand what sort of situation you're in, don't you?"

Fang Yi and the others' eyes widened.

No, they didn't. They didn't realize that the night excursion that Zhang Lie had led them on would have such repercussions—the four clans of Liao, the five of the capital, those from Qing, the federal government...

Fang Yi refocused on Chu Feng. "Young Master Chu, you're not  lying to us, are you?"

Before Chu Feng could speak, Yun Bing jumped in. "Lying to you? Is there such a need? When you uncovered the ruins, a beam of light emerged from the portal, so bright it turned night to day and spooked half the citizens of Liao. Information spread immediately!

"If Zhang Lie were here, we would tell him the same thing. Regardless, one thing is certain: Zhang Lie cannot hope to claim all the spoils from these ruins for himself. The reason we chose to head in first was to inform him to keep the most valuable objects for himself, but to prepare to hand over the rest.

"Only then, only with the help of the Yun and Chu clans, can you all hope to get away from this unscathed. You have to tell us where Zhang Lie is. We need to come up with something to deal with the forces converging on this location."

Yun Bing's words clearly indicated that she would stand on Zhang Lie's side.

After experiencing all sorts of surprises from Zhang Lie within the dimensional world, she and Chu Feng had begun to trust him implicitly, and it was this trust that caused them to choose to leave the treasures with Zhang Lie himself.

Yun Bing's words caused the members of Team Zenith to look at her with gratitude, but Zhang Lie had instructed them to protect the clocktower at all costs. In other words, they couldn't allow anyone else access to the underground treasury.

As a result, despite Yun Bing's kind intentions, they refused her.

"I apologize, Miss Yun, I know you're quite close to our captain, but he instructed us not to let anyone in. We can't reveal anything to you, but I ask that you trust our captain. Since he brought us here, he could well have come up with a solution for the scenario that you're describing, so please, I beseech you to wait for him. Perhaps he'll be out very soon!" Sun Mengmeng jumped in.

With her words, the situation became a stalemate: both parties understood each other, but neither was able to convince the other to give in.

What they didn't know was that, while they were waiting for Zhang Lie, a great hubbub had descended by the entrance to the ruins. The remaining three clans from the capital, four from Qing, six from Meng, and the officials from the ministry of ruins had all arrived at the scene, and they were entering the castle in batches.

The first would be the three clans from the capital, followed by the officials, then the four from Qing, four from Liao, and finally six from Meng.

Meanwhile, Zhang Lie's trial was reaching its conclusion.

Li Feng, who had lain hidden at the top of the clocktower, again rang the bell. As the sound waves reverberated through the castle, a small teleportation array again emerged underneath the bell, but only for a short moment. Subsequently, the runic inscriptions on the bell faded away, as though nothing had ever happened.

None of the hunters below knew what exactly was going on, but their attention was all drawn to the clocktower.

Chu Feng asked, "Why are you ringing the bell? Is there any meaning to it?"

"I'm sorry, Young Master Chu, but we don't know. Our captain instructed us to ring the bell without explaining why," Fang Yi stated.

Zhang Lie had left so quickly that he hadn't given them any further instructions or information save to ring the bell every fifteen minutes.

Because of the bell's tolling, the Zhou, He, and Qian clans, which had just stepped through the portal, immediately gave up searching the perimeter and headed right toward the source of the sound.

Within a few minutes, the five great clans of the capital had gathered underneath the clocktower.

Zhou Hong, He Feng, and Qian Hong, had each brought over a dozen elites and an elder from their respective clans, a considerable force indeed.

"Yun Bing, Chu Feng, what's the current situation? Who are these people?"

As clans of the capital, the gathered parties were all quite familiar with each other, and it was evident at a glance that Fang Yi, Sun Mengmeng, and the others represented an unknown third party. Furthermore, the members of Team Zenith were standing by themselves, away from the Yun or Chu delegations.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Hong's words were more curious than combative.

Chu Feng smiled sheepishly. "Good timing. We just arrived ourselves, and upon discovering this clocktower, thought that there might be some mechanism associated with the bell, so I had them give it a good ring. Unfortunately, it caused a loud commotion, but nothing else! As for who these people are, they're professional ruin delvers that I sent for."

Everyone was shocked at his words.

The members of Team Zenith were surprised by how quickly Chu Feng had spun up his fabrication, papering over everything and shielding them with his clan's status and power.

The Chu and Yun clans were surprised that Chu Feng had made such a decision. In that case, at least for this expedition, the two clans would be inextricably linked to Zhang Lie and his Team Zenith. The two clan elders cast confused glances in his direction: after all, Chu Feng wasn't known for hoodwinking others. Why was he doing so now?

Yun Bing, Chu Xun, and Yun Meng, on the other hand, applauded his quick thinking.

Meanwhile, the Zhou, He, and Qian clans were surprised that the Yun and Chu clans had been so prepared that they would have professional ruin delvers on call.

"It looks as though you were quite... prepared... for this unusual event, Young Master Chu," Zhou Hong spoke up again, but this time his tone seemed quite a bit more suspicious.

"Haha, it was just a matter of luck! They were present when the beam of light emerged, so..."

"In that case, with a professional team with you, as well as your early entrance into the ruins, you must have reaped quite a few rewards, Young Master Chu, Miss Yun?" Beside Zhou Hong, He Feng spoke up.

They were all familiar with one another, so he didn't have any qualms about being so direct.

"We've picked up a few things here and there, but nothing particularly good. The Eclipse Sage's inheritance still hasn't been found, and I wish you all luck in the search!"

Chu Feng's words clearly relieved the other clans. If no one had found it yet, then they still had a chance!