In the courtyard located at the peak of the inner disciples’ mountain, Wang Jiandong slowly opened his eyes. Feeling a little giddy, he clutched his head for a moment.
Wang Jiandong meditated for a moment to recover from his abnormal condition before murmuring with a bitter smile, “It doesn’t feel too good to have my head lopped off.”
He would usually be the one killing others in that dueling ring, and it was his first time experiencing his head being sliced off. While physical harm incurred in the Ethereal Hall would not be transferred into the real world, the mental pressure in that moment still left his heart thumping wildly.
“Even though I lost an Ethereal Token, I hope that I have allowed Senior Lujie to see through that fellow’s swordsmanship. It would be good if he’s able to achieve victory,” Wang Jiandong muttered.
To be honest, he was full of awe toward Liu Lujie.
Over the years, no matter how many formidable moves he had learned or what kind of maneuvers he executed, it was all futile in the face of Liu Lujie’s absolute strength. It was as if he was a kid trying to fool around with an adult.
To him, Liu Lujie’s strength was as unfathomable as an abyss.
It was just like how in a school exam, even if you scored ninety-nine marks whereas a genius scored one hundred, the difference between you and the genius would not just lie in that single mark. It was just that the paper only had a hundred marks for the genius to score.
As long as Liu Lujie could see through the other party’s moves, he should be able to win with ease!
Dong dong dong!
While Wang Jiandong was still in deep thought, he suddenly heard knocking outside.
“Who would visit at such an hour?” Wang Jiandong murmured as he stood up and walked to the entrance of the residence.
Usually, as this was Liu Lujie’s residence, it would be inappropriate for him to receive the door the other party’s place. However, as Liu Lujie was currently dealing with I Am Low Profile in the Ethereal Hall, he could only receive the guest in his place.
Jiya!
Opening the door, Wang Jiandong saw a few inner disciples looking at him with their heads lowered fearfully. One of them anxiously said, “Senior Liu, we beg your pardon for visiting at such an ungodly…”
But before they could finish their words, they realized that the person before them was not Liu Lujie. With an awkward chuckle, they quickly corrected their words. “Our apologies, Senior Wang. May we know if Senior Liu is inside?”
“What’s wrong?” Wang Jiandong asked with a frown.
He recognized these fellows, but they had never interacted with one another before. They were not even in the top thousand among the inner disciples. Why were they looking for Senior Liu?
“Senior Liu is the number one expert of the inner disciples, and he boasts great influence here. There’s a matter that we would like to trouble him with,” the inner disciple said with a reddened face.
“He’s not free!” Seeing that they were here to ask for a request, Wang Jiandong replied impatiently and prepared to close the door.
It was true that Liu Lujie possessed great influence among the inner disciples due to his position, but how busy would he be if he helped anyone who came knocking?
A precedent could not be set, or else it would cause a great deal of trouble in the future.
“Not free? What haughty words! Are all inner disciples nowadays so arrogant?”
As soon as Wang Jiandong finished his words, a cold feminine voice sounded behind the inner disciples. Raising his gaze, he saw a demure-looking young lady walking over with a displeased expression on her face.
Upon taking a close look at the other party’s appearance, Wang Jiandong’s eyebrows shot up in horror. He quickly clasped his fist and greeted, “Senior Bai!”
The person who had appeared was none other than the renowned tyrant of the core disciples, Bai Ruanqing!
She was neither the strongest nor the most talented among the core disciples, but she had a formidable grandfather, who happened to be one of the Three Grand Elders, Elder Bai Ye!
Even though Elder Bai Ye had been injured recently, no one would dare take their chances.
As such, even though Bai Ruanqing had beaten up a lot of core disciples, no one dared do anything to her. Instead, all of them kept their distance from her and tried their best not to cross her path.
She had never involved herself in the affairs of the inner disciples before, so why would she suddenly pay Senior Liu a visit?
Seeing through Wang Jiandong’s doubts, Bai Ruanqing explained, “I am here to engage Liu Lujie’s help in finding an inner disciple. He should be able to do it, right?”
“Of course, Senior Liu and I would never turn down a request from you, Senior Bai.” Wang Jiandong nodded.
How could he possibly turn this female dinosaur down?
If he angered the other party, he would risk having his eggs of life crushed by a kick! No matter how frustrated he was, he could only bear with it.
Even core disciples did not dare turn down a request from Bai Ruanqing lightly, let alone inner disciples like them!
“Senior Bai, please come in!” Wang Jiandong quickly invited her into the residence to have a seat.
After settling down in the main hall, Wang Jiandong leaned forward a little and asked, “May I know which foolish inner disciple has offended you, Senior Bai? Feel free to name him, and I’ll have my men investigate the matter right away!”
“He didn’t offend me, but I have some business with him,” Bai Ruanqing said with a frown, but she did not bother to waste her time explaining the matter. With a flick of her wrist, she took out a painting and said, “This is a painting of his appearance.”
Bai Ruanqing was not just a skilled sword practitioner; she was also an expert in ink painting. Her drawing of Zhang Xuan was accurate to the finest detail, making it seem extremely lifelike.
“His painting?” Wang Jiandong took the painting and examined it carefully. A moment later, he shook his head and said, “My apologies, but I have never met this person before!”
He had been an inner disciple for many years, and he practically knew all the inner disciples in Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion. However, he was certain that he had never seen this person before.
“You’ve never seen him before? What about Liu Lujie? Where is he? Bring him here to check the painting,” Bai Ruanqing said.
“Senior Liu is currently sparring with someone in the Ethereal Hall!” Wang Jiandong quickly replied.
“Sparring?” Bai Ruanqing frowned. “Isn’t he the number one expert of the inner disciples? Is there anyone who is a match for him in the Ethereal Hall?”
As the number one expert of the inner disciples, would Liu Lujie not simply defeat all of his opponents with ease? Was there any point to sparring with others there then?
“Not too long ago, an arrogant sword practitioner named I Am Low Profile appeared in the Ethereal Hall. However, it shouldn’t be an issue anymore. With Senior Liu making a move, he should be able to defeat the other party swiftly…” Wang Jiandong said with a smile.
Halfway through his words though, the sound of a stool falling to the ground echoed from the courtyard. Looking over, he saw Liu Lujie walking over with a ghastly pale face.
“Senior Liu…”
Wang Jiandong and the other inner disciples quickly rose to their feet and greeted him.
Still seated calmly in her chair, Bai Ruanqing glanced at the young man who had just entered the main hall and asked, “Are you Liu Lujie?”
Noticing the esteemed guest in the room, Liu Lujie quickly clasped his fist and greeted her. “Paying respects to Senior Bai!”
“Senior, how did it go? Did you manage to get him?” Wang Jiandong asked anxiously.
However, Liu Lujie shook his head and gloomily replied, “I was defeated by him.”
“Y-you were defeated?” Wang Jiandong recoiled in shock. “Senior Liu… did you manage to force him into showing his true sword art?”
“Well…” Liu Lujie shook his head bitterly once more. “I charged at him as swiftly as I could, but he ended up piercing my head with his sword… Just like that, I died.”
“He pierced your head with his sword?” Wang Jiandong was stunned.
He was willing to admit his defeat, but this was Senior Liu they were talking about. He was the number one expert of the inner disciples!
Yet, he had been defeated in a single move.
Just who in the world was that fellow?
From which hole did he pop out of?
Noticing the slight change in the atmosphere, Bai Ruanqing asked, “What happened?”
“Senior Bai, it’s like this…” Liu Lujie quickly recounted the entire matter to Bai Ruanqing.
“Someone haughtily challenged all of the inner disciples at once in the Ethereal Hall?” Bai Ruanqing was stunned by the explosive news. “There’s actually another person who is even more arrogant than me in the sect?”
All in all, there were over ten thousand inner disciples in the sect… and he had actually challenged all of them at once.
That was insane!
She had thought that she was already the cockiest person in the sect due to her grandfather covering her, but to think that there was actually someone who could top her act!
More importantly, despite being so pompous, he still sarcastically used the nickname I Am Low Profile, as if mocking everyone else…
Vicious!
There was truly no one more condescending than him!
“I would like to meet that fellow!” Bai Ruanqing stood up with fighting will flaring in her eyes.
The reason she was called a female dinosaur was not just because of her explosive temper. More than that, it was because she liked fighting and was darned good at it!
With such an expert appearing among the inner disciples, how could she possibly not be moved? Her fighting will had been ignited, and it would not be quelled until she exchanged blows with the person in question!
“Senior Bai, you are a core disciple. It would be a breach of the rules if you headed over…” Liu Lujie’s face reddened.
No matter what, this was a battle among the inner disciples. It did not feel appropriate for Senior Bai to involve herself in this.
“I’ll just head in there to take a look and see if it’s a core disciple pretending to be an inner disciple to cause trouble!” Bai Ruanqing swiftly found herself an excuse. “Of course, I’ll just take a look at what kind of moves he has!”
“This…” Liu Lujie hesitated a little.
While he did say earlier that I Am Low Profile could not be a core disciple, but what if that was really the case? After his fight with the latter, such doubts had started popping up in his mind.
The excuse that Bai Ruanqing had come up with was legitimate, and it was not a huge deal for her to head in to take a look. This was a good chance for him to determine if the other party was actually a core disciple in disguise.
If that was truly the case, it would be meaningless for him to pit himself against the other party.
“I’ll be troubling you, Senior Bai!” Liu Lujie replied.
He took out two Ethereal Tokens and passed one to Bai Ruanqing. As for the other one, he was going to use it for himself.
In order to better disguise themselves, most inner disciples chose to carry a couple of tokens with them. In a sense, it was similar to how some people had multiple social media accounts for different purposes.
“It’s no trouble at all. While I take a look at who that fellow is, I’ll help you find the flaws in his moves so that you can defeat him. Then, I need you all to help me investigate who this person is,” Bai Ruanqing said as she gestured at the painting. “I don’t like owing favors to others, so let’s call it even with this!”
“Yes, Elder Bai!” Liu Lujie nodded.
Together with Wang Jiandong, the two of them quickly entered the Ethereal Hall once more.
Using another Ethereal Token, the both of them assumed different nicknames and appearances. Bai Ruanqing did not forget to conceal her appearance in order to prevent others from identifying her as well.
After their disguising work was done, the three of them quickly headed for the dueling ring.
By the time they arrived, there was already a massive crowd around the area.
While they were gone, news had been spreading like wildfire among the inner disciples, and those who were absent quickly entered the Ethereal Hall. There was a tense and fiery atmosphere in the air.
When Liu Lujie and the others first arrived on the scene, a group of twelve happened to step into the dueling ring. However, they were killed by I Am Low Profile in the blink of an eye. In the next moment, yet another wave of opponents stepped into the dueling ring. It felt never-ending like the relentless tides.
Liu Lujie swiftly grabbed a nearby disciple and asked, “How many people has he eliminated so far?”
“Probably around two hundred, I think… Those who get into the dueling ring are pretty much killed in an instant. No one has been able to last more than a single move against him. Even Senior Liu Lujie was sliced in two with a single move from him!” the inner disciple replied agitatedly.
While he felt enraged by this fellow’s arrogant challenge, there was no denying that he was extremely powerful!
Even the number one expert of the inner disciples had been killed so easily, so there was no way the others could be a match for him. They could only hope to rally more people and swarm him with sufficient numbers. Slowly, they would grind him down before dealing a killing blow!
“He has already eliminated two hundred people?” Liu Lujie’s eyebrows shot up.
How long had it been since he left? Three minutes? Five minutes?
Yet, that fellow actually eliminated 170 people within this short span of time?
The heck!
That was too much!
It was as if inner disciples were no different from ants to the other party!
Liu Lujie turned to Bai Ruanqing and asked, “Senior Bai, could that person really be a core disciple in disguise?”
“This…” After assessing the figure in the dueling ring for a moment, Bai Ruanqing shook her head and said, “None of you are able to force him into showing his hand, so I can’t say for sure!”
