“I don’t have any on hand at the moment…” Bai Ruanqing shook her head. “Grandpa Feng, you wish to head in to take a look, too?”
“The Heavysnow Swordsmanship is profound and powerful. I find it hard to believe that someone was able to overcome it that easily,” Bai Feng replied. “I reckon that he might have resorted to some kind of underhanded means. I would like to challenge him and see it for myself!”
As diligent as Bai Ruanqing was, she was still limited by her age. Despite having reached Major Accomplishment in the sword art, the truth was that she had only barely scraped the surface of its true essence.
Bai Feng felt that if he used the sword art personally, he should be able to defeat the person whom Bai Ruanqing was talking about. Through this, he would be able to restore Bai Ruanqing’s faith in the sword art.
“He’s only an inner disciple… Grandpa Feng, even though you aren’t an elder, your strength is even above that of most of the elders. I don’t think it would be appropriate for you to make a move on him!” Bai Ruanqing said awkwardly.
It was already beneath her to make a move in the inner disciples’ Ethereal Hall. If Bai Feng made a move too, regardless of whether he won or lost, it would reflect badly on him.
“I’m just heading in to take a look at that fellow’s swordsmanship. Depending on the situation, I might not necessarily make a move,” Bai Feng replied with a smile. “Besides, I am just an old servant. Nothing’s inappropriate for me!”
No matter how powerful Bai Feng was, he was just a servant of Elder Bai Ye.
He was not restricted by the rules and regulations of the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion.
“This…” Seeing that Bai Feng’s mind was made up, Bai Ruanqing knew that it would be hard to talk him out of the matter. She nodded and said, “Alright then, I’ll make preparations.”
Thus, together with Bai Feng, she made her way back to Liu Lujie’s residence.
When Liu Lujie saw the female dinosaur appearing before him moments after he had seen Elder Mu and the others off, he suddenly felt a lump in his throat. It had been so, so long since he felt like crying.
Why are you all walking in and out of my residence so freely?
I am an inner disciple, not the owner of a bed and breakfast!
Of course, there was no way that Liu Lujie would respond with a ‘no’ to Bai Ruanqing’s request, so he could only obediently get his men to prepare an Ethereal Token.
Soon, the entire group was back in the Ethereal Hall.
To be honest, he did not want to return to that wretched place anymore, but under Bai Ruanqing’s watchful glare, he felt like he would be pushed to the ground and violated if he did not enter.
Thus, with a helpless sigh, he entered the Ethereal Hall once more together with Wang Jiandong, and they led Bai Ruanqing and Bai Feng to the dueling ring.
Around ten minutes had passed, and it seemed like yet another thousand inner disciples had been eliminated.
This time around, the encirclement had clearly grown much smaller.
No matter how furious and indignant the inner disciples were, with two thousand of them getting eliminated, it was inevitable that some of them would start cowering away.
In their eyes, I Am Low Profile probably seemed no different from a perpetual motion machine who knew not of exhaustion. It felt like he could continue slaughtering for days on end without resting at all.
“This swordsmanship…”
After examining I Am Low Profile’s movements for a moment, Bai Feng frowned.
There was only one word that he could use to describe the swordsmanship before him—basic! He could see through it with a single glance. There was no technique or skill involved at all, almost as if the other party was a child who knew no swordsmanship brandishing a blade.
But for some inexplicable reason, he was able to bring forth astonishing might with such simple movements. Those who stood in his path could only end up dying helplessly.
This was the first time that Bai Feng had felt so conflicted upon seeing a swordsmanship. He had no idea whether it was powerful or not.
More precisely, the difference in the strength between I Am Low Profile and his opponents was simply too great, such that it was impossible to truly put that swordsmanship to the test.
It was just like how, no matter how powerful the martial art one used against a three-year-old was, it would still be impossible to assess if one was truly powerful or not.
“Grandpa Feng…” Bai Ruanqing looked at Bai Feng.
“His swordsmanship is indeed formidable, but if we want to know the true extent of his abilities, I will need to test him personally!” Bai Feng replied.
“Test him personally?” Liu Lujie’s eyebrows shot up. “Elder Feng, there’s no need for that. I fear that…”
“What do you fear? Rest assured, I won’t kill him and put you in a tough spot!” Bai Feng replied with a frown.
“No, that’s not it. I’m not afraid that you will kill him but that… he will kill you! That will make the situation even more awkward,” Liu Lujie said with a bitter smile.
“Audacious! Do you know how powerful Grandpa Feng is? How could he possibly be killed? How dare you even insinuate this possibility!” Bai Ruanqing flew into a rage.
Bai Feng might not be an elder of the sect, but his strength was far greater than that of an average elder!
Such a possibility was so preposterous that it should not even be spoken of! Liu Lujie seemed to be itching for a beating!
“I… I apologize for my disrespect. Please, feel free to go ahead…” Liu Lujie shook his head and sighed.
Elder Mu and the others had come by earlier, but they had ended up being slaughtered. Elder Feng might be a formidable individual, but it did not seem too likely that he would be able to defeat ten inner elders of the same cultivation realm simultaneously!
However, since it did not seem like his words were going to go through, he did not want to waste his breath. After all, he could not reveal the fact that Elder Mu and the others had come by earlier.
Bai Feng could not help but burst into laughter upon hearing those words. “If you are worried that I will be killed, I must say that your worries are groundless. Other than the Old Master and a few other elders in the sect, I have never feared anyone!”
While he was not well-known in the sect due to his humble personality, that did not mean that he was a weakling!
He had been personally taught by Elder Bai Ye, and he had cultivated for over a hundred years. His understanding in the Way of the Sword had already reached an astounding level. There was hardly anyone in the world who could scare him!
Releasing his Sword Intent, Bai Feng began walking toward the center of the crowd with widened strides.
There had never been any need for him to prove himself to others. The only reason he had gone there was to see how the other party managed to overcome the Heavysnow Swordsmanship.
On the other hand, as Bai Feng walked toward the center of the crowd, Liu Lujie and Wang Jiandong’s lips twitched a little, and they hurriedly backed away and hid behind a wall.
“What are you two up to?” Bai Ruanqing frowned upon seeing the peculiar actions of those two.
“It’s nothing much… Senior Bai, why don’t you come over as well? We are able to see everything clearly with our eye of discernment anyway, so there’s no need for us to stay so close to the battlefield,” Liu Lujie advised nervously.
He might not have suffered any physical harm, but the pain from having one’s head decapitated was not something that one could ever get used to. He had no intention of letting it happen a fourth time!
“Cowards! To think that the you are the top rankers among the inner disciples, how embarrassing!” Seeing through the thoughts of the two, Bai Ruanqing shook her head in disdain as she continue spectating the commotion from where she was.
It was hard to tell what Bai Feng had done, but the crowd that was gathered around I Am Low Profile quickly opened up a route for him to walk through.
Hula!
Before reaching I Am Low Profile, Bai Feng raised his sword and gathered his sword qi at the tip of his sword. With a slash of his sword, he stirred up a powerful snowstorm in the surroundings.
On the receiving end of the technique, I Am Low Profile visibly narrowed his eyes a little. After which, he took a step forward and slashed his sword horizontally.
Puhe!
Bai Feng’s head fell to the ground.
“…”
Bai Ruanqing was flabbergasted.
Even when executing his strongest technique, Grandpa Feng was not able to withstand that I Am Low Profile’s offense.
She rubbed her eyes to check if she was seeing things, but the next instant, a sharp pain sliced through her neck.
Her head fell to the ground as well.
Even in her death, she could not believe what had just happened. She had been positioned thirty meters away from the culprit, but she had still lost her life just like that.
It was no wonder Liu Lujie and Wang Jiandong had chosen to hide behind the wall. It seemed like they had already guessed that such a thing would happen.
As her head fell to the ground, she glanced backward and saw another two surges of sword qi flying past her.
Puhe! Puhe!
With resentful eyes, the heads of those two plopped to the ground as well.
It seemed like hiding behind the walls did not work either.
…
“How shameless!” Zhang Xuan cursed beneath his breath.
To be honest, he was already getting tired of eliminating those fellows.
The body given to him by the Ethereal Hall was simply too weak. He had been trying to conserve as much energy as possible, but after facing so many opponents, he had still ended up depleting a half of his zhenqi. At the same time, his mind was starting to feel a little fatigued.
Since he was the one who had issued the challenge, he planned to fully complete it. But there were some shameless inner disciples who had switched to another Ethereal Token after being killed to join the fray once more.
That was ridiculous! If everyone did that, he would have to eliminate everyone at least five times.
How was that fair?
This was especially so for those two shameless fools who kept lurking around the perimeter. He had already killed them three times, but they kept going back to find an opportunity to assassinate him! Did they think that he would not notice that it was them just because they had changed their appearance?
He was a swordmaster for god’s sake! It was the bare minimum to be able to discern cultivators by their Sword Intent!
And that girl that was with them too! He was certain that he had eliminated her once already!
Those shameless, cheating, lying lumps of dung!
“Forget it!” Taking several deep breaths, Zhang Xuan calmed himself down.
They might be shameless, but he was a gentleman. He was a principled person, and he would not stoop down to their level. At the very most, he would just kill them every single time they appeared. There was no need to lose his temper over this.
Just that… he did not have enough zhenqi to play around. It would not be defeating inner disciples any longer but destroying all their Ethereal Tokens!
“It seems like I’ll have to end this all at once!” Zhang Xuan finally came to a decision.
If he eliminated them one by one, they would just return with new Ethereal Tokens in hand. As long as there were Ethereal Tokens lying around, this would never come to an end.
Since that was the case, there was only one way that he could win this duel—he had to end all of them at once!
If he could just eliminate everyone present in a single minute, he should be able to end the duel!
“There are still roughly three thousand people around. How can I end them all in a minute?”
It had taken him nearly half an hour to eliminate two thousand inner disciples, and his energy had already dropped by half. If he went on as he had been, it would ultimately end in his loss.
“It seems like I can only use that move then…” Zhang Xuan gritted his teeth determinedly.
He did have a move that was particularly effective at AOE mob clearing, but this move was very demanding on his zhenqi. Once he executed it, there was a good chance that his zhenqi would be completely depleted. As there were enemies constantly joining the battle, he had not dared to use the move so far.
But since he had been forced into a corner, he had no other choice.
Otherwise, there would be no end to the duel!
“I’ll be going all out!” Zhang Xuan quickly calculated the timing a little, then without any hesitation, he threw his sword.
Seeing that I Am Low Profile had suddenly released his grip on his sword, all of those around him were stunned. For a moment, they even forgot to press on with their attacks.
Zhang Xuan quickly drove his zhenqi before tapping his finger lightly in the air.
Hu!
An incredibly concentrated surge of sword qi shot forth from the tip of his finger and rose into the air. Following which, it abruptly split into several thousand smaller strands of sword qi that floated quietly in the air, like floating guillotines.
This move was not from the Sword Intent that he had just comprehended but the fusion of the Sea Severing Sword, Ocean Cataclysm Sword, and Heaven Desecration Sword that he had comprehended back at the Sword Lagoon of the Master Teacher Continent.
Previously, he had only been able to use one of them at once, but after comprehending the Gods’ Sword Intent, he was able to combine the three of them together and bring forth destructive prowess that was many times greater than before!
Back then, he had manipulated 108 swords simultaneously with each of them executing a different sword art to overwhelm his opponent. However, the move that he was currently executing was even stronger than that.
But that being said, it was already the very limits of his current body to control three thousand surges of sword qi simultaneously. If it was any more than that, he could very well dissipate on the spot.
Seeing the massive formation above them, the closest inner disciple felt goosebumps rising all over his body. He could not help but cry out desperately, breaking the silence in the air.
“He’s up to something. We can’t let him succeed! Quick, get…”
But before he could finish his piece, I Am Low Profile issued an imposing command to the thousands of sword qi in the air. “Destroy them!”
Hu!
The thousands of strands of sword qi immediately plummeted from the sky.
Puhe! Puhe! Puhe! Puhe!
Three thousand cultivators and three thousand heads fell to the ground simultaneously before dissipating into light fragments. The vast Ethereal Hall became emptier than it had ever been.
