Northern Bright King sat quietly in an empty stone chamber.
His hair was still combed with meticulous care and braided into a handsome plait, but his face remained excessively pale. A rough hemp blanket still covered him, and violent bouts of coughing shook him from time to time.
The sky had already darkened.
Great East Mountain was still beneath the setting sun, while Zhaoyao Mountain had already entered the night.
No lamps had been lit in this empty stone chamber, nor were there any luminous pearls or similar objects used by many sects for nighttime illumination. Yet Northern Bright King seemed accustomed to such darkness. He merely looked quietly at the person before him.
The person before him knelt on the ground: a burly man clad in a long black hemp robe. He looked to be in his prime, with a full beard and muscles bulging high beneath his robe. Yet his exposed arms were covered in unusually thick yellow fur, and a dense aura unlike that of ordinary cultivators emanated from him... demon aura.
This bearded strongman had an exceedingly honest-looking face, but his eyes were emerald green. Within the pitch-black, empty stone chamber, they resembled two points of ghostly green fire, making him seem deeply eerie.
Yet Northern Bright King's gaze upon him was exceptionally calm. His weathered eyes, so mismatched with his appearance, even held the kindness and affection one showed toward a junior.
"King, I am sorry."
The burly man in black hemp robes heavily kowtowed to Northern Bright King again. Several sharp fangs, utterly unlike those of ordinary people, showed in his mouth. Yet before Northern Bright King, the white gleam flashing from those fangs did not seem savage in the least. Instead, it seemed to carry a bleak, mournful sorrow.
"Langya, since you have