As Qin Fengming's words fell, Hai Ao immediately turned toward him, his eyes filled with astonishment and bewilderment.
Hai Ao did not know Qin Fengming's exact origins, but he knew that Qin Fengming had never met Lie Yan and could not possibly know what ailment afflicted him.
Not only could Qin Fengming not have known beforehand, even Hai Ao himself was hearing of it for the first time.
Yet now, Qin Fengming had blurted out something utterly startling.
Besides Hai Ao, the other Sea Clan cultivators present also looked astonished. Lie Yan's chronic affliction was not common knowledge among the Sea Clan. Only a handful of Sea Clan great experts knew anything about it, and even they did not know the details.
However, the late Profound Tier and peak Profound Tier cultivators willing to join the Sea Clan Elder Council of the Black Lake Sea Region generally suffered from some hidden ailment or had no hope of advancing further.
No one had deliberately investigated whether Lie Yan suffered from an illness.
The Sea Clan great experts on the Elder Council were not the strongest beings in the Sea Clan, but they devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the entire clan and handled its daily affairs throughout the Black Lake Sea Region.
The Black Lake Sea Region had two hidden domains: the Yuan Ling Space and a forbidden secret realm. Each time either realm was opened, several cultivators had to expend some of their vital essence to succeed. Ordinary cultivators were simply unwilling to do such a thing.
The elders, however, willingly paid that price to open the secret realms.
Thus, the cultivators of the Black Lake Sea Clan's Elder Council commanded the respect of the entire clan. Every decision made by the Elder Council was carried out by the Sea Clan cultivators,