When he was a few inches from Zhen Ta, he stopped and brought his cane down with a resounding crash that shook the land before asking in a grave tone that sent chills up the spine of every person present.

“Come again?”

****

Zhen Ta was both outwardly scared and secretly elated by the Grand Preceptor’s reaction.

In truth, he wanted to kill Long Di to avenge his grandsons and reestablish their prestige as one of the ten grand families.

But they were no closer to this goal when the life tablet of Zhen Yong shattered, startling him. He was quite clear on Zhen Yong’s strength and knew that only someone of great strength could have possibly killed him.

As a result, he rushed over in the direction of the greatest power levels he could sense and ended up here. Since it wasn’t that far for him, he was able to arrive here relatively fast.

Instant despair befell him when he found out that it was the Grand Preceptor that killed Zhen Yong, as this was not an existence he could afford to offend, so he couldn’t pursue Zhen Yong’s death any longer.

This was a great blow to the Zhen bloodline as his withered blood qi and depleted vitality rendered having any more children a pipedream for him. This left the burden of the Zhen family’s future on Zhen Paohui, who wasn’t the best choice in any capacity.

This incident greatly weakened leaving their family at a disadvantage. He was angry, but there was nothing he could do.

However, when he saw Long Di, he instantly remembered him from that village that housed the rumoured Abyss Ghost. After all, it was the rumour of the Abyss Ghost that led to him taking even a modicum of interest in that run-down village. This was why he bothered to manipulate Zhen Paohui to go there regularly.

Taking all of that into account, It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Zhen Yong’s death was in some way tied to him.

Unfortunately, The Grand Preceptor himself barred him from making any moves. This was why he threw caution to the wind and brought up the Abyss Ghost. He knew the moment this was revealed, whether it was true or not would no doubt bring trouble their way.

There was nothing beyond his plan at this point, but he would play it by ear and react the best way possible.

This was a major matter, as even Long Zhe’s expression changed when this particular name was revealed.

Immediately, all of Long Di’s companions were scanned until one person, in particular, was focused on.

Even though Shen Ling was blind at the moment, she instantly felt the gaze of countless experts focus on her.

Her blood ran cold as an uncomfortable pall descended on the area.

Normally, her presence was masked, and this was doubly so when she was wearing her veil, which she sported at the moment. However, these were existences several major realms above her and they made it their objective to ‘look’ for her. Any anomaly would immediately garner their attention and the almost invisible presence of Shen Ling immediately stood out instead of masking her.

Yaomu Shou immediately stood in front of her with her sword at the ready. Her expression was serious, and she turned her gaze to Long Di who was still immersed in his cultivation.

“I will implore everyone to relax and not overreact to the words of a multi-armed jackass,” warned Yaomu Shou.

When Zhen Ta heard how Yaomu Shou referred to him, his expression darkened. But he didn’t say anything at this time, since this was now a very sensitive situation.

The Grand Preceptor took a step forward, “Shou’er, you-”

“Don’t! Esteemed Preceptor!” Yaomu Shou raised her sword in defence of Shen Ling. “She’s not an Abyss Ghost!”

The Grand Preceptor felt a pang in his heart when he heard how coldly she referred to him.

“Prove it then!”

“You!” Yaomu Shou glared at Zhen Ta who was adding fuel to the fire.

How the hell was she to prove that Shen Ling wasn’t an Abyss Ghost!?

“Does anyone even remember what an Abyss Ghost looks like!?” she yelled, addressing all the present powerhouses.

“Long Di said she’s not an Abyss Ghost, so she’s not an Abyss Ghost!” said Yaomu Shou.

“This is the truth,” Mina declared as well. “The boy may be many things, but a serious liar is not one of them.”

“Who are you to speak on such matters!?” A family leader spoke up.

Though they held no prejudice against Mina, this was a serious matter that went beyond race or things of that ilk.

“Your mother!” Mina bit back.

“Brat!” That family leader was immediately incensed by her remark. Unfortunately, this was not a situation where anyone could move as they pleased or he would have attacked her.

“Have her remove her veil,” the Grand Preceptor finally requested. He could tell that this veil was a very powerful spiritual artefact. Not even his eyes were strong enough to peer through its shielding.

He was a bit startled by this, as it meant that, were Shen Ling any stronger, even if she were still weaker than him, he might not have noticed her. Through virtue of this spiritual artefact alone, she could have remained undetected whilst being in their presence.

“E-Esteemed Pre-”

The Grand Preceptor waved his hand to quiet any contention on her part.

“You are right, there are very few records that exist about an Abyss Ghost, for it is an old and taboo subject to touch upon. However, to squash any chance of a resurgence there are methods left behind to prove this. If none of these is used, then we need only see her facial features and cross-reference them with what surviving descriptions of the Abyss Ghost race are left. With that being said, child, don’t let me ask again. Remove your veil.” The Grand Preceptor’s words were said with such authority that it was immediately clear to all that he would brook no argument on this.

Yaomu Shou’s expression was one of distress. They cleared an objective that was nigh impossible for Long Di to leave the Demon Region only for this roadblock to blindside them out of nowhere.

This was all that Zhen Ta’s fault!

“I’ll do it,” a gentle voice came from behind Yaomu Shou.

Hearing this, she quickly turned around in a slight panic.

“Are you sure?” She was aware that, based on Yaomu Shou’s otherworldly appearance, and the ability she had used that time that she was in some way related to an Abyss Ghost which was enough to warrant her death should it be true,

As a matter of fact, she would be convinced that Shen Ling was an Abyss Ghost in some way, shape or form were it not for Long Di stating otherwise.

“We don’t have a choice.” Shen Ling stated. After saying this, she removed the Blossoming Abyss veil, revealing her true appearance.

“Heavens!” Though her eyes were bandaged, everyone, even the powerhouses present were blown away by her beauty.

It was almost as if she didn’t belong in this world. Her mist-like undulating hair and the pale jade-like complexion of her skin, which would be out-of-place anywhere else, matched her perfectly.

In addition, her moist supple lips from which came her gentle voice would drive any person to madness.

How could there be such a beautiful person in this world?

Even Yaomu Shou was a bit startled by this. It was at this point she knew that Shen Ling was undergoing some changes, as it wasn’t this intense when last she saw her.

“The mist that reflects the mysteries of the void,” the Grand Preceptor stated.

His words shook Shen Ling’s heart for some reason. Though she reacted quickly, the Grand Preceptor saw this and reacted quickly.

Ta…

His cane tapped the void, and a powerful force instantly bound Shen Ling. She couldn’t move.

“Your bloodline is incomparably pure,” the Grand Preceptor stated. “I would guess it’s at least forty percent pure.”

“What!?”

This revelation sent shockwaves through the experts present. Even Zhen Ta inwardly cursed when he heard this.

This girl had at least a forty percent purity bloodline of the Abyss Ghost race!?

Though this didn’t seem like a lot, an Abyss Ghost was one of the oldest races that were relegated to the demon race after losing their own status as a race. A mass genocide had taken place long ago that wiped out all the pure-blooded Abyss Ghosts.

Because of this, only those that had a certain percentage of their bloodline being that of the Abyss Ghost race remained. Nevertheless, for a forty percent bloodline to be walking around as she did was unprecedented.

They could only imagine the number of divine abilities she had at her disposal. Learning of this, instilled a slight sense of regret in Zhen Ta.

Even though Abyss Ghosts were to be killed on sight. There were many that yearned to make use of their legendary divine abilities for themselves. If they could capture an Abyss Ghost with none the wiser, there was no shortage of sects and powers that would do so.

Of course, that was impossible under the current circumstances. The Grand Preceptor would surely carry out justice.

There was no race or power that was allowed to harbour, shelter or raise an Abyss Ghost. Doing so would incur swift retribution from all powers regardless of status. That was how serious this was. They were tolerated far less than Mofang Daos who had a universal kill-on-sight order levied on them.

“I don’t care what you say, Esteemed Preceptor. Just you saying some obscure line is enough to condemn her to death!? Then what if I say, the bark of a tree is that of your wrinkles! Does that mean you should die now!?” Yaomu Shou didn’t accept this.

Everyone else wanted to speak up as well, but apart from Yaomu Shou none of them had the status necessary to converse and argue with the Grand Preceptor.

The Grand Preceptor shook his head. “There are some secrets you don’t know child.”

“And there are secrets you don’t know either old man,” a lazy voice dripping with indifference echoed out.

Old man!?

Who was so brazen to call the Grand Preceptor old man? Were they tired of living!?

The Grand Preceptor followed the voice to see Long Di staring at him indifferently.

“Long Di!” Yaomu Shou was glad to see Long Di finally out of his meditative state.

“If you intend to defend the Abyss Ghost, your family and clan will be wiped out!” The Grand Preceptor declared.

Long Zhe’s claws slightly tightened around Long Di, prompting him to look at the dragon.

“Child I have a modicum of respect for you due to your disdain of the Heavens. Therefore, let me tell you this, not even we dragons swim in the muddled waters that is the Abyss Ghost. In our ancient murals, our attitude against them is the same as everyone else’s, death to them and all those who dare to harbour them. Simply renounce your dealings with this Abyss Ghost and all ties to her and you can leave this unharmed.”

Long Zhe was actually telling Long Di this for his own good. He wanted to see how far Long Di would go on his path and didn’t wish for him to be killed due to his naïveté.

Pebbles observed everything taking place without saying a word.

Hong!

Without warning, Long Di activated his profound myriad heavenseize physique and a heavenly pressure descended that caused a heart-palpitating feeling to arise in the depths of everyone present.

“I Long Di, swear on my dao that she is NOT an Abyss Ghost! Now release her!”