"Grand Elder, what brings you here?"
Li Xinge spoke first.
The Grand Elder glanced at everyone in the hall.
His tone was grave. "Patriarch, please dismiss your attendants."
"Dismiss my attendants?"
Li Xinge frowned slightly.
He waved a hand.
"All of you, withdraw."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Relieved of their burden, everyone bowed and backed out of the great hall.
Soon.
Only Li Xinge, the Grand Elder, and Elder Jiang remained in the hall.
"Grand Elder, there are no outsiders here now. Can you speak?"
Li Xinge spoke again.
At Li Xinge's words, Elder Jiang's eyes shone with excitement. He looked so thrilled that he was only a wagging tail away from being a dog fawning over Li Xinge.
No outsiders?
Doesn't that mean I'm one of his own?
I, Old Jiang, have served the Lord with trembling care for twenty years.
Today, I've finally become one of his own.
It wasn't easy!!! Elder Jiang screamed inwardly.
The Grand Elder nodded.
He drew a deep breath and delivered everything in one go. "Patriarch, the vanguard army captured a man in the Southern Wasteland. This man is highly unusual. Though he possesses Innate Realm strength, the core within him is not an Innate Golden Core formed from spiritual energy, but a blood core formed purely from Qi and Blood power!"
"After interrogation by the Night Owl Hall, he claimed to be an ascender from a lower realm called the Heavenly Martial Continent."
With that, he produced the jade slip.
"A lower realm?!"
Elder Jiang cried out involuntarily, drawing a sharp breath.
Li Xinge's gaze sharpened.
A rare solemnity settled over his face.
He raised a hand and drew the jade slip to him.
His Spiritual Sense sank into it.
A few breaths later.
Li Xinge withdrew his Spiritual Sense from the jade