By the time the Xuanjia cavalry extinguished the fire, the Sanqing Hall had long since become a ruin, with naturally no survivors inside. The Xuanjia cavalry immediately went in to search the corpses and count the number of people; the three who escaped were all accounted for. Although the corpses were already unrecognizable, from their clothing and build, it was still possible to distinguish that they were indeed the Empress, the Crown Prince, and the eunuch who drove the carriage.

William Brooks's face turned extremely ugly, and he suddenly ran to the side to vomit. He retched violently, his shoulders trembling as if he were sifting chaff, snot and tears streaming down his face, causing the Xuanjia cavalry to burst into loud laughter. Although William Brooks had helped them stop the Empress, they made no effort to hide their contempt for this man who betrayed his master for personal gain.

Meanwhile, Edward Carter still showed no sign of stopping; he even personally entered the scene to search, but his target was no longer people, but rather some object.

He turned the scene of the fire upside down, but Edward Carter still did not find what he was looking for. He looked gloomily at William Brooks, who had already straightened up, and said, "Did you get anything from the Empress?"

William Brooks's face was deathly pale as he slowly shook his head and said, "This humble official saw nothing, and naturally received nothing."

"That thing... is too important." Edward Carter hesitated slightly, then immediately gave an unquestionable order: "Search carefully, do not overlook any place!"

William Brooks did not object. He took a deep look at that small corpse, then silently walked out of the temple. He saw the Xuanjia cavalry already searching his attendants and luggage. The attendants looked indignant, but were stopped by William Brooks's gaze.

After a while, only William Brooks's carriage remained unsearched. Seeing Edward Carter staring at the carriage, William Brooks suddenly spoke up: "General, my wife is in the carriage, and she is gravely ill."

Edward Carter paid him no mind and said coldly, "I know a little about medicine; I can check your wife's pulse." With that, he strode toward the carriage.

There seemed to be something in William Brooks's carriage that could not see the light of day. He followed closely behind Edward Carter, a look of resolve appearing on his face.

Seeing Edward Carter's hand already on the carriage curtain, William Brooks gritted his teeth and gripped the sharp blade hidden in his sleeve. Although he knew he could not possibly harm a grandmaster of the Heaven tier, with nowhere left to run, he could only throw an egg against a rock!

Who would have thought that Edward Carter would suddenly stop, frown, and turn his head? William Brooks thought he had sensed his intent, and was so startled that his blood nearly froze! Unexpectedly, the other man's gaze passed over him and looked into the distance.

William Brooks looked over in confusion, only to see a white figure appear on the distant mountain path. That white figure moved extremely fast, even faster than a galloping horse, as if shrinking the earth beneath his feet, and in a flash, he was close by!

"Fiendish Daoist Samuel Harris, you think you can lay your hands on the manual too!" Edward Carter's eyes blazed with fighting spirit. No longer caring about checking Lady Lu's pulse, he tossed out, "Search the carriage thoroughly!" and leapt to meet the newcomer!

The Daoist called Samuel Harris wore a white robe with black trim, his features striking, long beard flowing, exuding an air of immortal grace. At these words, he laughed loudly: "Carter brat, this poor Daoist will exchange a few moves with you!"

In the blink of an eye, the two Heaven-tier grandmasters had already exchanged over a hundred moves. For a time, dust and sand flew on the mountainside, and onlookers could only see two blurry figures, unable to make out their techniques at all.

Samuel Harris seemed not to be using his full strength; even as he parried, he had the leisure to glance around. In an instant, he took in the situation at Phoenix Temple. Realizing the matter was hopeless, he fought as he retreated, gradually disappearing from sight along with Edward Carter.

Meanwhile, the Xuanjia cavalry searched the carriage as ordered, but did not find what they were looking for.

William Brooks's legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed to the ground, only then realizing his back was soaked with sweat. If not for the sudden arrival of Samuel Harris, he would never have made it through this ordeal...

When Edward Carter drove off Samuel Harris and returned, still savoring the thrill of the peak battle, he learned that nothing had been found. Edward Carter sighed regretfully, "It seems the manual really was burned..." and ordered that William Brooks and his party be allowed to leave.

On the way back, the Xuanjia cavalry finally had time to cut off the heads of the imperial guards to claim credit, but were shocked to discover that Henry Clark was missing.

Edward Carter glanced over the scene and immediately knew that his palm strike had not killed Henry Clark.

"You can run, but you can't hide." Edward Carter ordered a careful search while grinning viciously, "Since I said I'd wipe out his whole family, I will see it through!"

...

Henry Clark was indeed not dead. By rights, with his level of skill, he should have died ten times over from that blow. But the imperial armor bestowed upon him protected him from Edward Carter's fatal strike, leaving him only gravely injured and unconscious. Moreover, as the Xiahou clan's men were in a hurry to pursue the Empress, they did not carefully check the corpses, giving Henry Clark a chance to escape death.

Henry Clark crawled out from the pile of his comrades' corpses, evaded the enemy's search, and after recovering slightly in a mountain cave, forced himself to go look for the Empress and the Crown Prince.

By this time, the army surrounding Luofeng Mountain had already withdrawn, and Edward Carter had long since led the Xuanjia cavalry back to the capital, so no one discovered him along the way. When he arrived at Phoenix Temple, he learned from the Daoists cleaning up the ruins that the Empress and Crown Prince had already immolated themselves in the Sanqing Hall.

Henry Clark was overwhelmed with grief, stumbling down the mountain, only to learn of an even greater calamity—Edward Carter had indeed kept his word and executed the entire Du family!