Yu Ming seemed to deliberately shift the topic away from Chong Ying and swiftly onto matters concerning the Sunken Ghost Realm.
"Why bring this up with me now? Why didn't you mention it when I returned two months ago?" Zhang Chen asked.
"Zhang Chen, you really are suspicious. Two months ago, the time simply wasn't right, was it? During your absence, there was quite a disturbance within the Sunken Ghost Realm. It even alerted Ghost Mound, who personally went there before. The Bodhi Patriarch was also secretly observing the situation."
Zhang Chen did not pursue the matter further and instead turned to the main topic. "Fine. What do you mean by a special life-form from the Higher Plane?"
"After the first war between the beings of Ling and the Higher Plane ended in defeat, the Higher Plane creatures loosened some rules to allow the beings of Ling to live more steadily. Yet in truth, they secretly sent a life-form from the Higher Plane into Ling, using it to eliminate humans of exceptional talent who might pose a threat to the Higher Plane."
"Strangling uncut jade in the cradle?"
"Exactly. Since Azathoth was also gravely wounded and rarely left the Chaos Realm, few people noticed this thing's traces. Thus, during the long transitional period from early Ling to prehistoric times, not a single powerhouse emerged. That changed only when an interesting fellow came to Ling and became the prey of this special Higher Plane creature."
"Devourer Hunter, right?" Zhang Chen pressed.
"Yes. Back then, Devourer Hunter was a figure at the level of Jailer Marshal, someone capable of standing on equal footing with an Emperor. This was no uncut jade, but a flawless piece of jade that had already been painstakingly carved. Guess how the battle ended?" Yu Ming winked at