Uncle Tian Lu stared daggers at the impassive Long Di.
His expressionless demeanour and sheer shamelessness in requesting the exact opposite of what Uncle Tian Lu just asked of him caused the old man to heave in anger.
'This young lad must be mentally crippled by having such a high cultivation at his young age!' Uncle Tian Lu couldn't comprehend Long Di's thought process.
If he wasn't apprehensive of the energy lurking within Long Di's body, he would have long thrown him out without a thought!
"How simple can I put it!? You are too dangerous for this small place! We are not able to accommodate whatever the hell you are! So grab your expressionless face, grab your crap, and go home! Also, make sure you…"
Long Di apathetically stared at the ranting man as he went on and on about him going home. Not like he was able to at the moment, anyway.
Suddenly, Long Di said something that caught Uncle Tian Lu off guard, "Okay."
"Eh?"
Uncle Tian Lu stared wide-eyed at Long Di. Did this blank-faced fool just agree with him?
"Y-You're going to go away?" Uncle Tian Lu asked, just to be sure.
"Yep, I will go. I just need some time to heal, as I'm sure you can understand," Long Di stated.
"Of course, of course, of course!" Uncle Tian Lu was ecstatic. He was glad that this boy was going to leave. It may not be now, but his imminent departure was good news!
"I checked your condition and based on what I'm seeing the only reason for the slow recovery at the moment is because of the remnant lightning energy in your body. Lightning tribulation is the stuff of legends, after all. The mere fact that you are only suffering heavy internal injuries is nothing short of a miracle."
Long Di nodded, "Got it. So let the Destiny Scale refine the rest of it and in no time, I'll be good and all set to go."
Seeing Long Di understand his meaning, Uncle Tian Lu beamed an ugly smile. It wasn't his fault, of course. A single tooth will do that to a lot of people.
"You can stay here for now. You can't move, so I will be sure to get you all that you need as far as food and water goes. Then I won't disturb you any longer."
Though this was obviously where Uncle Tian Lu lived, he got up and left, leaving Long Di alone on the cot in the house.
As soon as he left, Long Di started talking about the previous interaction. "Alright, so I think that was a good first meeting between master and disciple. I just need to get him to acknowledge me. But with an abyss ghost here, and based on what she said, I should be all set. By the way, where is that goddess? So much for accompanying me on my journey."
…
"You're not under any pressure here. No matter what you say, I will not act out on it or use it against you. Just tell me, what did you mean by that human could help us?"
In a room situated in one of the less decimated ruins sat the first elder and Shen Ling.
There was a reason the first elder placed so much stock in a girl as young as Shen Ling. It was all due to her talents as an abyss ghost.
The abyss ghosts, even though counted as a part of the Demon Race, were a much more ancient race than the demons themselves.
The abyss ghosts back in time immemorial, stood as one of the strongest of the major races.
Their power was uncontested and granted them hegemony over everyone else.
The nature of their powers made sure that this position could never be shaken.
However, it was said that this race committed an unforgivable crime that resulted in a calamity that nearly caused the genocide of their entire race. No one knew what had happened, or what they did that caused this disaster since it happened so long ago.
Only a sparse few managed to survive, but not even these few survivors had peaceful days.
After all, it was not long after this happened that a message was passed down by the ancestors of all the races, which regarded the abyss ghost race as a near-universal enemy of all races.
Even the demon race that their race was later delegated to be a part of was not accepting of them.
Of course, there were people that, in secret, tried to locate members of this race, as their abilities, of the few that were known, were highly coveted.
It was these very same abilities that Shen Ling was using to help the elders that took her in. One of the abyss ghosts' abilities was the auspice gaze. This was the ability to see or predict future probabilities to an extent.
The first elder would rather she not use her abilities so wantonly as he didn't want her to be in any danger. However, he was at his wit's end. Even though he told her not to do it, he didn't necessarily enforce it himself.
If he was being honest, he was only comforting himself by telling her not to. He needed any help to bring their sect back into the world.
Of course, Shen Ling was still too weak to use her abilities efficiently. The sole one she was able to use wasn't even fully awakened. So the most she could do at the moment was to feel either the negative or positive energy around situations and people and then predict vaguely what could happen based on that.
This proved useful in the past, and as a result, the elders put more stock in her words than even some of the elders themselves.
"W—Well, recently I've been feeling really bad, like a shadow hanging over the village. It also gets stronger when Zhen Paohui visits."
The elder's expression darkened when he heard this; he didn't necessarily like Zhen Paohui. But the latter was from a prominent sect and a powerful family, so he couldn't act too out of the way.
In any case, he could see how she flinched when she said his name, and his heart bled at the sight of it.
"He won't hurt you, Shen Ling. As long as you don't wish it, this marriage proposal of his, you needn't worry about it."
"Thank you first elder!"
She beamed a smile that brightened the room upon hearing his words. Apart from his own disciple, Feng Yu, the first elder also doted on Shen Ling.
He truly admired the young abyss ghost. She was diligent in her cultivation, and the only thing about her that he found needed work was her confidence.
However, he quickly continued this very serious subject. If there were a way for their sect to come back, he wouldn't mind taking a chance.
"So, you're saying that the young man can help our sect to rise?" He asked.
She nodded, answering his question, "There was an extremely powerful positive energy around him when I saw him the first time. Moreover, when we brought him to the village onwards to the sect grounds, the negative energy lessened by quite a bit. But it's still here. I think he should be awake, and I also think we should ask him for his help."
Di Yi Lingdao, the first elder, contemplated this in silence about what he should do. Shen Ling's information left quite the impression.
He had already sent her away when she said all that she needed to.
Taking the human in wasn't as simple as it seemed. The demons and humans never saw eye to eye.
They even had small-scale wars with each other quite often. It was even more complicated with the presence of Zhen Paohui.
Zhen Paohui was the son of a wealthy family with connections to the Nine Hells Sect. Nine Hells Sect was one of the larger and more open types of sect for demon cultivators.
Zhen Paohui, using his family's connections, was able to become a disciple without too much trouble.
He knew that Zhen Paohui had eyes for Shen Ling because he suspected her, and everything was made worse since Feng Yu almost blurted it out, confirming it herself.
He also knew that even though Zhen Paohui wanted to deal with this quietly, if necessary, he would take even more drastic measures to elevate his own position in his family.
"Darn it!" The first elder cursed. "How can we rise if we don't take risks!"
Making up his mind, the first elder strolled out of his room to take care of certain things, and to prepare for the upcoming storm his decision would bring.
…
In a darkened room lit up by only a few green-coloured flames ensconced in torches, sat a few figures.
Their features were shrouded in shadows, and they spoke in hushed tones. Looking closely, one could see that the space continuously twisted around them, signifying their great power and cultivation.
"Have we found any news regarding that call of that heavenly execution?" one of the figures asked.
These mysterious figures were talking about the phenomenon that rocked the continent recently. It was something that anyone who was a cultivator felt a deep-seated fear for.
"We've learned that it was summoned from a small backwater place called Thunder Cloud City. Hmph! How apt," another commented.
"What of the person who caused it?" one figure probed.
"The person was a child called Long Di of the Long family. We've only heard that he seemingly died. However, something described in our report is… troubling."
"What is it?" The one at the head of the table asked with a raised brow.
"They described an ancient stele called a Destiny Scale!"
"What!?" The shadow-cloaked figure nearly exploded in shock!
"Were those the exact words used!? The report truly said Destiny Scale!?!"
His thunderous voice caused the room to tremble. When the other figures felt his pressure and aura, their expression turned to one of fear!
'This old undying—he advanced in his cultivation!'
These were the thoughts in everybody else's heads. They were shocked that he actually succeeded in his last closed-door cultivation.
When this figure saw the shock in everyone's eyes, he quickly calmed down and collected himself.
Ignoring their thoughts, he asked once more. "The appearance of the Destiny Scale has caused this to be a bit more complicated than I expected. Have your men managed to collect it?"
"No," the figure who had the report answered gravely. Obviously, he knew the implications of this as well.
The other figures trembled when they heard this.
"Don't tell me…"
"That's right," the reporting figure nodded. "It disappeared along with him. Suffice it to say, I don't think he's dead, and with the help of the Destiny Scale, we need to take action now."
"What of his family?" Another figure among them asked.
"Gone," the reporting figure said. "The entire Long family has seemingly disappeared without a trace. Not even their City Lord knows where they've gone. However, we found traces of the Dragon Race's energy lingering there."
"The Dragon Race!?" The head figure was understandably shocked. As powerful as they were, they couldn't underestimate the Dragon Race in the slightest.
"Sighs…"
The beings here could feel a headache coming on.
"Keep an eye out for this Long Di. If there are any traces of him, we must be swift and decisive. Don't allow the news to spread, but at the same time, we must be thorough. It probably won't be easy to find him. Being the kind of genius he is, he will most likely keep a low profile, so don't leave any reported anomaly unchecked."
As he said this, the green flames flickered, lending the room a momentary mantle of darkness. When the flame steadied once more, all the figures disappeared, leaving the room in a ghostly silence.