“My apologies young one. I’m going to need this one to not die at the moment.” A lanky humanoid figure with elongated limbs appeared beside Gang Heng.

Long Di’s impact with the ground wasn’t soft but he quickly got himself up not wanting to reveal too much of an opening to this new arrival.

When he looked back to what it was that stopped him, one brow rose in astonishment while the other remained asleep, “Has anyone ever told you that you’re ugly beyond all logic and reason?”

****

Long Di’s comment immediately caused the figure’s eye to twitch in mild annoyance but it quickly regained its composure.

“It would seem that there is also an equally formidable power hidden in your tongue. Nevertheless, I will be taking this esteemed elder away for reasons currently beyond your ken.”

Its voice was extraordinarily smooth, and it wore a smile that would put strange uncles everywhere to shame. Its pitch black skin glistened unnaturally, as if there was some sort of oil-like substance stuck to it.

“Your intentions go against mine, Mister… uh…” Long Di came to realise that he didn’t know what to call this being or creature.

“Oh, my kind is one that is quite… ancient. You can refer to us as the Di Ming,” it actually answered Long Di’s question and Long Di could see that it looked at him with a complex expression though it wore a perpetual smile.

Long Di quickly gripped the sabre once more as he eyed the fear-stricken Gang Heng, “I need to-”

Shu!

Before Long Di could make any further actions, he could already feel a long claw-like nail pressed against his neck. It was cold like steel and accompanied by a monstrous killing intent.

“There is a smell upon you that I find truly… vexing.”

This was the first time that Long Di experienced something this intense. Even his breath quickened as a result.

He could feel that this Di Ming creature was going to kill him should he make any action that went against its wishes.

It was not the notion of death that affected Long Di like this, instead; it was the intention itself of wanting him dead, the hatred of his living breath that caught him off guard. He had never felt it so thick and palpable than at this moment.

“Calm down, young one.” Its voice was smooth like before, but it was chilling somehow. “Adjust your mental state and live through today.”

Long Di’s expression remained unchanged, but his grip on the sabre slackened before it fell from his hand with a loud clang.

He stared into the milky white eyes of this thing. This was the only thing on its pitch black body that was of a different shade.

After a moment of silence, the Di Ming’s smile widened before it took a few steps back. It then hoisted the blackened Gang Heng onto its scrawny shoulders, ignoring the latter’s screams of pain.

Before it left, it turned to look at Long Di for a while before its figure, along with Gang Heng, slowly vanished.

“Don’t be swallowed by the abyss. I hope you don’t disappoint me… young one, hehehe…”

Its voice echoed in the void from all around before it completely disappeared.

Gasp!

Long Di didn’t know when, but it appeared as if he had stopped breathing at some point. He gulped down a huge breath of air and found the previous short experience more taxing than the fight he had where his body was literally breaking down.

This experience drove home the notion that this wasn’t any of the many novels he had read before, but a world that he now lived in. Death didn’t frighten Long Di for obvious reasons, but the fate and experiences for things that were worse still scarred him in more ways than one.

He looked down and didn’t quite know how to process his feelings.

Before long, the Peach Blossom Sage’s remnant-will drifted beside him with a serious expression before saying in a low voice, “If that was truly a Di Ming, blood will flood this generation.”

“You know what that… thing is?” Long Di asked when he heard the will’s comment.

The remnant-will nodded, filled with uneasiness, “They are a peculiar race that only appears on the continent once every hundreds of thousands or even millions of years,” he paused for a moment, trying to choose his words.

“Their presence is a type of omen. Sparse as it may be, destruction, death and calamity have paved their walks through history. Very little is known about them. The last they are known to have appeared is during the emergence of the-”

Rumble…

The Peach Blossom Sage’s remnant will expression changed in an instant before it stopped itself when it felt the energy of the world twisting around it.

“What?” Long Di asked, wondering why he just stopped in the middle.

“I’m sorry. I can’t say anything more. There seems to be an incalculable amount of karma encircling you. You need to grow stronger. This is the only way you’ll be qualified to uncover the secrets about this world.” The will’s tone was grave as it spoke.

Long Di nodded when he heard this. He couldn’t tell the last time he was this serious about anything, but it felt like he was part of a huge game. One where there was a giant blade suspended above his head, separated by the thinnest of threads.

“I need to return to the village and/or sect. What are you-”

Before Long Di could go any further, footsteps could be heard, as all the spectators that had distanced themselves from the battle before came closer to the site where everything had taken place.

They wanted to come over much earlier, but the emergence of the Di Ming had severed this intention.

Long Di didn’t realise nor was he able to sense it, but the Di Ming’s strength was at a level that he couldn’t even imagine.

The figures present at the moment were mostly existences with a higher cultivation base than Long Di. This allowed them to be able to sense the smallest bit of its power, and it scared them senseless.

They didn’t know what it was, most of them assumed it to be one of the more obscure minor races that were small in population, not large or established enough to be one of the five major races.

The various powers here started to survey the area with a look of interest and awe.

‘I need to leave,’ Long Di thought to himself.

“Halt!”

As he turned to leave, a shout came from one of the many elders and protectors present here.

“I cannot be the only one annoyed by this,” Long Di whispered under his breath.

He turned around and found everyone’s attention focused on him. He discovered that the shout of protest to his exit came from the elder or, to be more accurate, the teacher from the Silver River School, Weiyuan Yaochuan.

“Did I do something to offend you, sir?” Long Di stared back at the old man with narrowed eyes. Normally, Long Di would come up with a quip already having an idea of what was happening, but he was simply not in the mood.

“Not at all. I just wanted to say that was an impressive battle. You are so young, yet you are already at the Core Flame Evocation realm.”

It was at this point that the many protectors and elders present here finally took note of Long Di’s strength, which caused them to suck in a breath of cold air. Even the demons stared at Long Di as if they were looking at a freak of nature.

Long Di’s overall strength wasn’t what caused the shock. As a matter of fact, many of the current elders were at this realm. Yet this was what gave this revelation so much weight.

They were esteemed elders at their sects, yet this young, no-name youth was already within their realm of strength. Though they were much stronger than him by having more Star Cores in their cauldrons, it didn’t take away from the magnificence of such a feat.

“May, I ask if sir has any pointers for me?” Long Di feigned ignorance and kept up an innocent act.

“Actually,” Weiyuan Yaochuan said with a devious smile, “It hurts me to see geniuses like yourself destroy your future. I can see that the attack you launched earlier did a number on you. If you pass over the technique to us, we will try to make sure to get rid of its self-destructive properties to make sure it is something that anyone can use.”

“In addition, you caused the death of so many disciples who were out for experiential training. Yet, not only will I not pursue the fact that you most likely took the inheritance for yourself, but I am even willing to help you in your future path simply based on your talents.”

This Weiyuan Yaochuan was sly in the way he phrased this. By saying to pass the technique over to us, this made it that Long Di, a youth, needed to give something that would hurt him to his seniors so that they could ‘help’ him.

At the same time, this made it that the seniors were all against him should he refuse, as he would be a rebellious and ungrateful junior.

By also bringing up the issue of the inheritance and the treasures that came with it, this left him to the dogs after all was said and done. After all, even though he himself might not pursue it, it didn’t mean others wouldn’t. This was leaving him with no way out.

Long Di looked to Shen Dai, the elder from the Soaring Cloud Immortal Sect who sought his help before, only to see the latter turn his head away, not willing to look Long Di in the eyes.

At this point, Long Di knew he wasn’t going to get any help from this unreliable elder.

Even he was tempted by the power of the attack that Long Di unleashed.

The fluctuations from the attack alone made it known that the grade of that technique was well above their stations.

Long Di thought fast and looked to the remnant will of the Peach Blossom Sage before an idea came to mind.

He shouted at the will, saying, “You told me that my body was powerful enough to handle this technique, but it almost killed me!” His inexpressive face didn’t do well to sell his attempt at feeling indignant.

“Eh?” The weakened remnant will of the Peach Blossom Sage was confused for a moment before he looked in the distance and realised what Long Di was doing.

“O-Oh! Oh my, y-you truly are an unworthy successor of this technique CREATED by ME! Oh, woe is me! Woe is ME for giving you this technique TEMPORARILY!”

Long Di looked at the remnant will with a look of disbelief, “Sweet mercy he sucks at being dead AND acting? Welp, looks like I’m gonna die.”

“This was not your technique?” One of the many elders said.

Long Di’s brain nearly short-circuited when he heard this. He looked at the numerous elders and protectors looking at him and pitied them.

This level of stupidity had to be unhealthy on some levels, shouldn’t it!?

However, who was Long Di to look a gift horse in the mouth? He just rolled with it.

“Woe is you indeed! For I will NOT have this technique anymore!”