Within the Temple of Heavenly Shadow!
The Temple of Heavenly Shadow was the highest palace of the Shadow Clan. Aside from the ancestral tablets of the Shadow Clan in the lower province, there were also statues of the ancestors of the Shadow Clan in the middle province. It was used to communicate with the Shadow Clan in the middle province. Therefore, the Temple of Heavenly Shadow wouldn't be opened except during the ancestral worship ceremony at the end of the year.
But today, because of Ying Qing's matter, the Temple of Sky Shadow was opened, which was a rare occurrence. All the higher-ups of the Shadow Clan were present, and they all sat at the very top. They looked at Ying Qing, who was at the center of the hall, with incomparably cold expressions.
At the same time, all the young prodigies of the Shadow Clan and many middle-level members of the Shadow Clan stood around the hall. Over 10,000 pairs of eyes looked coldly at Ying Qing. No one said a word, causing the spacious Temple of Heavenly Shadow to be deathly silent.
"Ying Qing, do you know your crime?"
The white-robed old man at the very top had an aura as vast as the sea. The light around him was like flames. No one dared to look at him directly. His voice was like a great bell that reverberated through the hall, causing everyone's eardrums to hurt.
The grand elder of the Shadow Clan, Ying Ruhui!
He was the person with the highest authority in the Shadow Clan in the lower province!
Originally, the person with the highest authority in the Shadow Clan was the patriarch. However, three years ago, Ying Qing's father, who was the patriarch of the lower province, had passed away. The Shadow Clan in the lower province had fallen into a power struggle.
No one was willing to give up. In the end, it caused the Shadow Clan in the lower province to be without a patriarch for three whole years.
As the second most powerful person in the Shadow Clan, the grand elder naturally became the person with the highest authority in the Shadow Clan. He was in charge of all the practical matters in the Shadow Clan.
In addition, after Ying Qing left the Shadow Clan, the Sky Reflection Peak became Ying Ruhui's god-grandfather and became a member of the grand elder's line. That was why the Sky Reflection Peak could continue to obtain all kinds of cultivation resources after Ying Qing left for ten years. Then, his strength continued to soar. In the end, he became one of the nine most outstanding people in the younger generation of the Shadow Clan and became the noble seven young masters.
After Ying Qing returned, the Sky Reflection Peak became the vanguard against Ying Qing. There was no lack of people who expressed their loyalty to Ying Ruhui and the others.
"Grand Elder, may I ask, according to the rules of the Shadow Clan, which rules have I violated? What crime is there? " Ying Qing stood ramrod straight when faced with Ying Ruhui's strict questioning. After that, she raised her head and looked at Ying Ruhui and the other higher-ups of the Shadow Clan. Although her face was slightly pale, her expression was neither servile nor overbearing.
"Hmm?" As soon as Ying Qing spoke, Ying Ruhui and the other upper echelons of the Shadow Clan immediately raised their eyebrows. Their expressions froze slightly, and no one was able to respond.
This was because what Ying Qing said was correct. The matter of Ying Qing acknowledging Xiao Fan as her lord didn't violate any of the Shadow Clan's rules. From the perspective of the Shadow Clan's rules, Ying Qing didn't commit any crime.
However!
"Yingqing, although the rules of my Shadow Clan don't have any specific rules that can convict you of a crime, your actions of acknowledging a human as your lord are an insult to the reputation of my Shadow Clan!" Ying Ruhui said with an indifferent voice, "And there's a clear regulation in the clan's rules that you can refer to. If a member of my Shadow Clan does something that insults the reputation of my Shadow Clan, then they'll be severely punished without pardon!"
"Why would acknowledging a human as my lord cause my Shadow Clan's reputation to be insulted?" Ying Qing said seriously, "Grand Elder, please dispel my doubts. Otherwise, I won't accept it!"
"You won't accept it?"
Ying Ruhui didn't answer Ying Qing right away when he heard what Ying Qing said. Instead, he narrowed his eyes slightly first. Strands of frightening bright light shot out from his turbid eyes, and then he spoke word by word.
"Yes!"
Ying Qing gazed at the Shadow Clan's Grand Elder, Ying Ruhui, at the top of the hall, and an indescribable feeling of coldness and fear instantly arose from within him. After that, it instantly covered his entire body, causing him to feel as if he'd fallen into an ice cellar. However, he still gritted his teeth and spoke with difficulty.
The Shadow Clan's Grand Elder, Ying Ruhui, was already 1,800 years old now. When Ying Qing's father, who was the patriarch of the Shadow Clan, was still alive, he'd frequently pressured Ying Qing's father to the point that the latter had no choice but to take a step back.
Although his strength was rarely revealed in the Shadow Clan, it was absolutely incomparably shocking. This could be seen from how Ying Qing's father had continuously taken a step back when facing Ying Ruhui.
Now that Ying Qing's father had already passed away, it could be said that there was no one in the Shadow Clan who could compete with Ying Ruhui. Ying Ruhui's current aura was even more oppressive. He hadn't even truly used his own pressure, yet Ying Qing's body was already glowing and trembling in fear.
"Hmph!"
Ying Ruhui didn't say anything, but he let out a heavy, cold snort. His cold snort was like a thunderclap that suddenly resounded in the hall. It directly caused many of the Shadow Clan's youths to sway endlessly. Their faces were as pale as paper, and not a trace of blood could be seen on their faces.
Ying Qing was even more so because Ying Ruhui's cold snort was aimed at him, and the majority of the pressure contained within it descended upon him.
As a result, his body immediately trembled endlessly, and his eyes were completely bloodshot. He almost knelt on the ground and crawled down.
Fortunately, Ying Qing wasn't an ordinary person in the end. His willpower was firm, and he was barely able to hold on and didn't collapse.
"There's no basis for this matter in the clan's rules, so you can't forcefully punish me, Head Elder!" Ying Qing forced himself to calm down when he saw that Ying Ruhui intended to ignore the Shadow Clan's rules and force his way in. After that, he clenched his teeth and said, "Moreover, the Shadow Clan's most honorable and rarest Blue Fire Blood flows in my body. Don't forget this point, Head Elder!"
"Blue Fire Blood!"
Ying Qing's words immediately caused Ying Ruhui to deeply furrow his brows. It also caused all the Shadow Clan members in the hall to feel suffocated. They looked at each other in dismay, unable to say anything.
Blue Fire Blood was an extremely special and rare type of person in the Shadow Clan.
It wasn't known exactly how rare it was. The Shadow Clan members who possessed Blue Fire Blood were born randomly without any pattern. Moreover, it couldn't be inherited. On average, only one Shadow Clan member with Blue Fire Blood would appear in every hundred thousand Shadow Clan members.
In the lower province's Shadow Clan, Ying Qing was the only one in the last hundred years.
However, he didn't know what was so special about the Blue Fire Blood. The only thing he knew was that the Shadow Clan of the Central Region had told all the Shadow Clansmen in the Eastern Spirit Lower Region that the Shadow Clansmen who possessed the Blue Fire Blood were the core members of the Shadow Clan. They had a lot of privileges and a very high status in the clan.
If a Shadow Clan member with Blue Fire Blood was born in the lower province, then the Ying Clan members in the lower province had to immediately report it to the Shadow Clan in the middle province. After that, the Shadow Clan in the middle province would send people to descend and bring the Shadow Clan member with Blue Fire Blood back to the middle province.
Previously, in the Shadow Clan of the Eastern Spirit Lower Province, there were also clansmen who possessed the Blue Fire Blood. After their birth, they all reported it to the Central Province. Soon after, people from the Central Province's Shadow Clan arrived and took them away.
However, something unexpected happened when it was Ying Qing's turn!
When Ying Qing was born, an indescribable unforeseen event occurred in the middle province's Shadow Clan. They were unable to send people over, so Ying Qing had been forced to stay in the lower province and hadn't been brought to the middle province until now.
Now that more than twenty years had passed, the Shadow Clan in the middle province still hadn't sent anyone over, so the possibility of Ying Qing entering the middle province was becoming increasingly remote.
Moreover, Ying Qing had been away from the clan for ten years, so the matter of Ying Qing being a Blood Shadow Clan member with Blue Fire Blood was already very faint in the lower province's Shadow Clan.
Many Shadow Clan members had even almost forgotten about Ying Qing's special identity. At this moment, if Ying Qing hadn't brought it up, some people in the hall would have been completely unaware.
"So what if she possesses Blue Fire Blood?" In response to Ying Qing's warning, another elder in the hall said coldly, "The clan's rules don't state that Shadow Clan members with Blue Fire Blood can be pardoned if they commit a crime!"
The second elder of the Shadow Clan, Ying Feng, and the current eldest young master of the Shadow Clan, Ying Long, was his eldest grandson!
"Yes, the rules of my Shadow Clan indeed don't state that Shadow Clan members like me can be pardoned if they commit a crime!" Ying Qing looked at Ying Feng and spoke in an extremely low voice, "But don't forget, second elder, the clan's rules clearly state that even if I commit a crime, only the clansmen of the middle province's Shadow Clan can personally descend to the Dark Domain and convict me!
"There's no one in the lower province's Shadow Clan that can convict me!
"Today, all of you have gathered here to jointly judge me, but in reality, let alone convicting me, all of you have already violated the clan's rules!"
As soon as Ying Qing finished speaking, the air in the enormous hall froze and became deathly silent!
Practically all the higher-ups of the Shadow Clan at the top of the hall revealed furious expressions, and then they looked at Ying Qing with increasingly icy expressions.
Because to the Shadow Clan of the East Spirit Lower Province, their relationship with the Shadow Clan of the middle province wasn't extremely close, and it was actually rather subtle.
The Shadow Clan of the East Spirit Lower Province relied on the Shadow Clan of the middle province to deter the entire Dark Domain, but the Shadow Clan of the East Spirit Lower Province didn't want the Shadow Clan of the middle province to interfere too much in their own affairs. Because they clearly held the highest authority, and no one wanted to be controlled by others and follow the lead of others.
So, the thing that the higher-ups of the Shadow Clan of the East Spirit Lower Province detested the most was using the Shadow Clan of the middle province to suppress others.
At this moment, Ying Qing's words had touched the sensitive spot of practically all the higher-ups of the Shadow Clan, and it immediately caused rage to erupt in their hearts.
However, even though they were furious, they were truly speechless because Ying Qing's words made sense, and they couldn't refute it.
Moreover, the Shadow Clan of the East Spirit Lower Province was under the rule of the middle province's Shadow Clan in the end. Unless the Shadow Clan of the East Spirit Lower Province didn't want to live anymore and were courting death, they still had to maintain respect towards the middle province's Shadow Clan and couldn't speak impudently in the slightest.
But!
"Ying Qing, kneel!" At the top of the hall, an old woman spoke, and she looked at Ying Qing with an extremely ghastly expression as she shouted.
The third elder of the Shadow Clan, Ying Hui!
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