Bai Chen was a fifth-stage Palace Realm expert, cultivating a blue-grade art from an ancient, former holy land. His disciple wasn't lacking either, as he was a quasi-Palace stage cultivator in possession of a monarch-grade artifact at the time. And that was without even factoring in the ferry itself, which was protected by a low-tier blue-grade array.
Despite all that strength and protection, Bai Chen, his disciple, and the entire ferry had vanished without a trace.
How had the three clans supposedly pulled that off?
Even if they had ganged up on Jiang Hao first, then used him as a bargaining chip to force Bai Chen's cooperation, there should have been some trace left behind of their clash with Jiang Hao.