Embrace Of The Abyss— 9

Soon the servant returned with a box. Inside the box was a glowing jade stone. After handing the stone to Tang Xianrou the servant left.

The jade had a radiant glow and luminous purity.

Its colour was brilliant, radiant white, reminiscent of the purest sunlight, emitting warm and comforting energy.

The surface of the Pure Yang Jade was smooth and flawless, polished to perfection to accentuate its natural beauty.

At the same time, the system prompt came.

[Thousand-Year-Old Jade: Legends speak of the Pure Yang Jade as a symbol of purity, enlightenment, and divine protection.]

[It is said to possess powerful spiritual properties, bringing clarity of mind, purifying negative energies, and instilling a sense of harmony and balance to its bearer.]

[Throughout history, Pure Yang Jade has been treasured by emperors, scholars, and spiritual practitioners alike, revered not only for its stunning beauty but also for its mystical properties and profound symbolism.]

[But due to the age of technology the Pure Yang Jade had lost its mysticism. Now all of its history was regarded as mythical and its value plummeted.]

Of course, it still strained the pockets of the Tang Family to buy it.

Ye Bei's eyes shone with brilliance as he went to pick the stone but to his surprise, before he could touch it a fair white finger appeared and took the stone.

A cold chill spread across everyone in the room.

Tang Xianrou, Tang Yan and Ye Bei felt the hairs on their body rise as they noticed the fourth person in the room for the first time.

Dressed in pure white clothes, wearing a blank white mask.

There weren't even holes in the eyes! 

While Tang Xianrou and Tang Yan were unable to move, Ye Bei felt frightened. For the first time ever the Emergency Crisis signal of his System was blaring in his mind.

[???: ???]

[Solution: ???]

The system failed to identify him!

It was as if the System itself was fearful of whoever this person was.

Ye Bai wanted to flee. As soon as possible!

"Heaven's Blessed?"

But to Ye Bei's horror, the blank masked individual turned to him and his indifferent voice echoed in the room.

"Did they sacrifice the Divination Celestial? How determined."

"Seems like they anticipated my arrival... yet making such a blunder?"

Ye Bro felt all the Blood Qi in his body freeze.

[Alert!]

[Alert!]

[Alert!]

[Host Escap—]

All of a sudden everything went silent.

All the noise from the system disappeared and Ye Bei felt his body relax.

He suddenly realised.

There was no hope to escape.

Was this the source of unease in his heart?

The Blank Masked Individual raised his palm and grasped Ye Bei's head. Yet to Ye Bei's surprise, he wasn't killed, instead scorching pain travelled throughout his body.

His eyes turned red and his body fidgeted. Under his astonished and pained gaze, the Unknown Being raised his palm and curled his fingers, as if grasping something.

Very slowly he raised his hand and a bright golden energy was extracted from Ye Bei's head.

[Es...ca...]

Ye Bei felt the usual cold and robotic voice was full of desperation.

[Disa...st...er]

[In...itiate... S...oul... Trans...fer...?]

"Do not worry," the voice was gentle and comforting.

Just as Ye Bei was about to agree the gentle voice interrupted his thoughts, plunging his soul into a warm hot spring.

The Unknown Being was finished.

He stood in front of Ye Bei, lowering his head as if inspecting the golden energy floating in his palm.

Ye Bei suddenly realised what this Unknown Being was.

Immortal!

His eyes narrowed to pin-sized needles and his heart started racing as if wanting to tear out of his own chest.

"The Heavens disrupt my will." Xia Feng muttered before destroying the golden energy.

Just as he did so the world dimmed slightly yet unnoticeably.

Once cancer infiltrates the body, it triggers a desperate struggle as the body fiercely attempts to fend off and eject the invading cells.

Under the horrified and surprised gaze of three individuals, Xia Feng's figure flickered before disappearing.

All three individuals collectively gasped for breath and Ye Bei's condition was the worst.

He fell to the ground, convulsing in place.

"Sir!" Tang Xianrou immediately rushed to him but Tang Yan remained frozen in place.

"Immortal..." A maddened look appeared in his eyes, "Grandpa was right... They... They truly exist."

"Tang Yan!" His sister's howl immediately attracted his attention and he rushed to Ye Bei as well.

Thankfully Ye Bei recovered immediately and with the help of Tang Xianrou, he got up. Leaning against the wall he desperately called for the system.

'Status!'

No response.

'System!' 

Another bout of silence.

After hurriedly checking his condition and memories he realised that his strength was still there. The knowledge of his skills was also present.

What was gone was just the System.

Just like that, his golden finger was destroyed.

But Ye Bei felt no hatred or anger. From the depths of his heart, he was grateful.

Grateful for the Immortal's indifference.

An ant like him, how dare he contemplate revenge?

The very fact he was no different than dust in the Immortal's eyes allowed him and everyone in the room to keep their life.

Ye Bei fell to his knees and panted. Still feel fear from the sudden encounter.

"Sir Ye..." Tang Xianrou called out.

What happened in her and Tang Yan's eyes was different.

All they saw was the Immortal take the Pure Yang Jade and do something to Ye Bei before disappearing.

"Sir, are you okay?" Tang Xianrou asked with concern. She was extremely confused by what just happened. 

She wasn't some ignorant girl. She knew well about the Martial Structure present in the World.

Weren't Grandmasters the ceiling of strength?

Since when was a Grandmaster so helpless against another Grandmaster?

She was also sure Ye Bei wasn't some kind of fake Grandmaster. She had personally seen him defeat a Pseudo-Grandmaster with ease.

Was there some realm above Grandmaster?

She knew the commonly known realms were the Warrior, Innate, Master and Grandmaster Realm.

She herself was a Warrior.

Was there something unknown and beyond?

"I'm fine," Ye Bei forced himself to stand up and walked to the Old Master of the Tang Family.

"Try to see if you can get another Pure Yang Jade. I'll stabilise his condition till then." He took out a set of golden needles and immediately started operating.

His fingers were lighting fast and to Tang Yan and Tang Xianrou's astonishment the pale-faced Old Master regained some colour to his face and his finger started twitching.

But that was all, he showed no signs of waking up.

Tang Yan's eyes flickered.

He had noticed the look of realisation in Ye Bei's eyes when the Immortal left. Besides the pain that Ye Bei felt Tang Yan wasn't sure whether the Immortal was helping or harming Ye Bei.

Did he receive a gift or a curse?

It was unknown.