Chapter 2004: Bone Age Measurement
Lie Qianhong's intention was instantly laid bare.
In the God Realm, the life aura emitted by a living being could roughly determine its age range. But the Abyss was entirely different. Abyss dust would greatly limit or even distort perception, and more importantly, Abyss dust would devour life and muddy life aura. People who grew up in different Abyss dust environments, even if they were exactly the same age, would emit vastly different life auras.
A person who grew up in a Divine Kingdom for a hundred Jiazi, and a person who grew up in a Godless Kingdom for ten Jiazi... the life aura of the latter might even be heavier than that of the former.
Thus, in the Abyss, judging age through emitted aura could only yield results so vague that they were barely even worth referencing.
Lie Qianhong's move, though somewhat like a beast at bay, was by no means unreasonable or unfounded. On the contrary, it suddenly reminded many people. In previous Lin Shen Meetings, before the battle began, there had never been an age test for the participating disciples. Firstly, since they were all from the same Linyuan Realm, people generally knew about the genius disciples of each faction in this era. Secondly... and most importantly, the Lin Divine Realm was a gift from Yuan Huang. Who would dare to fabricate lies regarding a matter involving Yuan Huang's favor?
Especially since Abyss Knights were always present to supervise and bear witness.
If anyone dared to falsely report their age in order to enter the Lin Divine Realm, that would undoubtedly be an act of contempt for the sacred majesty of Yuan Huang. The consequences would be severe... disqualification and implicating the entire sect would be far from the end of it.
The risk and reward were as different as heaven and earth, so even if you gave the three sects and one dynasty ten more guts, they would never dare to do such a thing. Thus, before the Lin Shen Meeting, there had never been a need for age testing... This barely counted as the only tacit understanding among the three sects and one dynasty all along.
Now, this "tacit understanding" had become Lie Sha Sect's last chance.
If either Yun Che or Long Jiang turned out to be over ten Jiazi in age, then the Helian Imperial Clan or the Worship Qilin Sect would inevitably lose their qualification to enter the Lin Divine Realm this time... No, for a crime of this magnitude, it was entirely possible they would lose that qualification forever.
Lie Sha Sect could then step up and regain the qualification to enter the Lin Divine Realm.
When the crowd's gazes turned to where the Helian Imperial Clan was, they also noticed Helian Lingzhu's distinctly abnormal expression.
Immediately, various whispers arose.
The longer a Xuan adept remained at a single realm, the more profound and formidable their Xuan energy undoubtedly was. And Yun Che, with his Divine Sovereign Realm cultivation, had utterly crushed a group of lower-ranked Divine Lords. To the Xuan adepts of Linyuan Realm, this completely transcended the boundaries of their understanding. And with their cognition confined to Linyuan Realm... if anyone could actually do such a thing, they would have to be a monstrous old freak who had remained at the Divine Sovereign Realm for too many years.
Below ten Jiazi... whether at first thought or upon deeper reflection, it was utterly impossible. And Long Jiang... the cultivation speed of dragons was more than twice as slow as that of humans with the same level of Xuan talent. An eighth-rank Divine Lord Chi Dragon below ten Jiazi... even if it was a dragon race second only to Pure Land and the six great Divine Kingdoms in terms of realm, resources, and heritage, it was still far too incredible to believe.
Mo Cangying furrowed his brows slightly, but inwardly, he wasn't too flustered.
When he first encountered Yun Che, Yun Che was severely injured and unconscious, completely defenseless. The life aura he emitted could be described as "far too young."
It was precisely because of such a young Divine Sovereign's aura that Helian Lingzhu had insisted on saving him.
He himself was now eight and a half Jiazi old, and Yun Che had always called him "Brother Mo"... he should be younger, right?
Ximen Boyun, on the other hand, appeared quite calm: "What does Sect Master Lie mean?"
"Lie requests that the bone ages of those two be measured!"
Aura was hard to discern, but bone age could not be faked!
Lie Qianhong's voice carried Xuan might, causing everyone present's eardrums to buzz.
Ximen Borong's expression remained unchanged; instead, he gave a light, noncommittal smile.
Although he indeed did not know Long Jiang's true age, he was confident that she would not exceed ten Jiazi.
But that Yun Che... that was a different story.
Thus, far from being angered by Lie Qianhong's actions, he could not help but want to applaud.
If Yun Che's age had indeed exceeded ten Jiazi, then Ximen Boyun could punish him on the spot... no matter his status.
In this Abyss, no matter what status you had, you couldn't be greater than Yuan Huang.
The Helian Imperial Clan could then be kicked straight into the Abyss of Sin, and after that, his Worship Qilin Sect would establish a state and change the dynasty, saving a great deal of effort and mind.
Helian Lingzhu's state of mind was relatively fragile after all; she could not completely suppress the panic in her heart. She hastily stood up, but Mo Cangying immediately grabbed her and said in a low voice: "We have no right to refuse. On the contrary, forcefully speaking out will only make us seem guilty."
"Besides," Mo Cangying glanced at Yun Che, who was not flustered at all and even seemed somewhat amused, "Brother Yun places great importance on loyalty. He is eager to repay your kindness. How could he sabotage you in such a matter?"
These words greatly reduced Helian Lingzhu's anxiety. She secretly peeked at Yun Che and nodded.
Ximen Boyun spoke: "The grace of Yuan Huang — who would dare to harbor deceit! However, the limit of ten Jiazi was personally set by Yuan Huang back then. Before the Lin Shen Meeting, no measurement was taken because of mutual trust. If any party has doubts, it should be carried out."
Soon, a tall bone-age stele used for measuring bone age was placed at the center of the battlefield.
Ximen Borong spoke first: "Our Worship Qilin Sect may be shallow in heritage and desperately yearn for such a holy gift as the Lin Divine Realm. But even if we had a hundred thousand times the courage, we would never dare to defile Yuan Huang's sacred grace in the slightest."
"Let our Worship Qilin Sect be the first to undergo measurement."
He turned his gaze and said to Long Jiang: "May I trouble the young Venerable Long to step forward, so as to prove the innocence of our Worship Qilin Sect?"
The situation had reached this point, with the name "Yuan Huang" pressing down from above. No one could refuse.
Without making Ximen Borong wait too long, Long Jiang appeared, her aura still deathly still.
Clearly, she was very unwilling. But... she had to enter the Lin Divine Realm.
She stood before the bone-age stele, and her palm, wrapped in a wide robe, touched the stele.
A Xuan formation appeared on the stele, and a line of withered light rose, extending upward.
But just after passing the age of one Jiazi, its speed abruptly decreased, and then gradually came to a halt.
Where the Xuan light stopped... it was less than one and a half Jiazi!
Long Jiang withdrew her arm, turned coldly, and soon disappeared from everyone's sight once more.
Only the chaotic, overlapping gasps remained.
"One and a half... Jiazi?!"
"This... how is this possible?!"
"Is this stele broken? An eighth-rank Divine Lord... one and a half Jiazi?! Legend has it that the Divine Kingdoms have a special 'inheritance' that can directly reach the Divine Lord Realm. But I've never heard of the Dragon Race having such an 'inheritance'—this, this..."
...
Every wisp of air in the Qilin Divine Region was filled with shock.
This was a star realm where becoming a Divine Lord within ten Jiazi was considered a top genius.
And now, they were witnessing with their own eyes an eighth-rank Divine Lord whose bone age measured only one and a half Jiazi.
What an immense impact this was on their minds and understanding.
Lie Qianhong, who had been full of anticipation, was directly dumbfounded... Not far away, Ximen Borong's eyes were also wide open, frozen in place.
Ximen Boyun slowly stood up, his continuously constricting pupils revealing the deep shock within his heart.
Long Jiang had come to the Worship Qilin Sect on her own, offering to help them enter the Lin Divine Realm.
And her conditions were only two: first, to enter the Lin Divine Realm with the Worship Qilin Sect; second, not to probe any information about her identity.
To the Worship Qilin Sect, this was essentially a helper that required no cost, yet would allow them to suppress one dynasty and three sects and obtain the highest qualification to enter the Lin Divine Realm.
Such a gift from heaven—how could they refuse?
She had guaranteed with the dignity of the Dragon Race that her age was definitely below ten Jiazi.
But Ximen Borong and Ximen Boyun had never dreamed in their wildest imagination that her "below ten Jiazi" meant merely one and a half Jiazi.
After stepping into Pure Land and becoming an Abyss Knight, Ximen Boyun's cognition was no longer confined to the small Linyuan Realm. He began to understand Divine Kingdoms, began to touch the highest-level cognition of the Abyss, and his understanding of the Dragon Race far surpassed before.
An upper-ranked Divine Lord under a hundred years old—Divine Kingdoms could achieve that through special "inheritance." But the Dragon Race had no "inheritance"; they could only rely on cultivation.
Moreover, dragons grew extremely slowly—this was basic knowledge known to everyone.
The bone age measured by Long Jiang before his eyes... his first reaction was disbelief; his second was that the stele was faulty.
Or perhaps... humans and dragons were of different races, and dragon bones and human bones naturally could not be equated. The bone-age steles in Linyuan Realm were all made for measuring human bones and had never measured dragon bones. So a significant error should be considered reasonable, right?
This was the most reasonable... and also the most necessary explanation he could think of.
On the other side, Yun Che's heart was also shaken violently.
He understood the Dragon Race quite well. After all, the strongest dragon clans in the God Realm—the Dragon God Clan, the Chi Dragon Clan, and the Viper Dragon Clan—had basically been slaughtered by him, leaving only the Azure Dragon Clan as the new dragon overlords.
Dragons grew slowly, and their strength, to put it bluntly, was built upon their powerful bodies and long lifespans.
In the God Realm, even a Divine Emperor had at most fifty thousand years of lifespan. But Long Bai was three hundred and fifty thousand years old and still in his prime. Azure Dragon Emperor was a hundred thousand years old... in Long Bai's eyes, she was probably still a young dragon girl.
A one-and-a-half-Jiazi eighth-rank Divine Lord Chi Dragon... Not to mention the West Divine Region's Chi Dragon Emperor, if Long Bai saw it, he would probably be so shocked he'd kneel on the spot.
Is this... the Dragon Race of the Abyss?
No... looking at Ximen Boyun's expression, which looked like he had just seen a ghost, this was definitely not normal even in the Abyss.
This made Yun Che even more curious—what exactly was the purpose of such a figure wanting to enter the Lin Divine Realm?
"There are always greater men beyond men, and greater heavens beyond heavens." Mo Cangying murmured... He had always been a top genius looked up to by all his peers, but for the first time, he felt how insignificant he truly was.
Ximen Boyun's voice rang out: "This stele was made based on human bones. There will certainly be deviations when measuring the bone age of dragon bones, but it shouldn't differ by more than ten Jiazi."
These words from the Abyss Knight instantly diluted the shock in everyone's hearts, making them suddenly realize... Oh, right! Long Jiang was a Chi Dragon, a dragon bone! How could it be equated with human bones?
No wonder.
When living beings face things that transcend their cognition and are unacceptable, a sufficiently "reasonable" explanation is extremely easy to accept... including Ximen Boyun, who proposed the "explanation" himself.
After all, who would easily question what lies within their own cognitive scope?
High in the distance, Hua Caili asked curiously: "Is there really a big deviation between measuring the bone age of human bones and dragon bones?"
"...So it's her." Hua Qingying's answer was off-topic.
"Her?"
"Regardless of race, there is no difference in bone age measurement. Just a bunch of ignorant people comforting themselves." Hua Qingying finally responded to Hua Caili's question.
Hua Caili did not press further about the identity of this dragon clan girl, but instead softly asked: "Then... what would my bone age be counted as?"
"Nineteen years old." Hua Qingying answered without hesitation.
"That's good, hehehe." The girl laughed happily, revealing a beautiful smile.
Indeed, no matter which realm, women would more or less care about their age.
[Precaution: Do not develop any feelings for anyone from the Helian Imperial Clan, whether male or female, remember!] [Another chapter in ten minutes.]