The Grand elders looked at Markan and didn't know how to react. After all, Markan was supposed to be the current leader of the organization. He should be having the status and power that the other young man is so daringly flaunting and everything Markan has obtained has been obtained with truthful methods following all the rules and traditions of the organization.

They thought he died and just gave the power to someone else. When they looked at Markan's face which is completely unfamiliar with them, they felt a bit less burdened by this as they were not completely at fault.

Granted they should have investigated more and looked into the incident on why it happened all of a sudden and why Markan disappeared without a trace, they just gave the position to the next best candidate since they felt that digging into the old matters is not worth it anymore. There is no one to question it anyway.

But now that the person in question himself appeared in front of him, they couldn't help but feel ashamed of their own actions.

Markan didn't care whether they are ashamed or not, he just stood straight as he waited for them to ask the questions.

"Markan, you disappeared a long time ago. We thought you were dead." One of the Grand Elders spoke to break the ice.

"I was indeed attacked and I almost died, but I managed to escape with the help of my crew."

"Your crew?" The one who asked is not any of the Grand Elders, it is the current leader of the Black Ghosts. There is a clear expression of shock on his face and no one in the room missed it. The Grand Elders clearly understood what that meant, but they didn't call him out on that.

"Yes, my crew. They managed to fake their deaths and escaped, but they were unable to save me. They were recuperating all this while. Meanwhile, I almost died and when I finally recovered and woke up, I was in the middle of nowhere, with my face changed. Not just that, I found a seal on my spiritual core and a parasite in my blood. They suppressed my cultivation growth and the parasite even made me unable to use my six el