“They have been gathered for an urgent meeting?” Zhang Xuan asked doubtfully.
“It seems like some fool challenged all the inner disciples at once, and that has left the elders extremely infuriated. They are pushing the inner disciples to investigate the matter and catch the culprit,” Cao Chengli replied.
While he was battling with three hundred jin, a subordinate had reported this matter to her through the door. As such, he still knew a thing or two about this matter.
“Fool?” Zhang Xuan’s eyebrows shot up.
You are the one who is a fool! Your entire family are fools!
It’s just a bet… Do you really need to go so far as to hold an urgent meeting just to apprehend me?
It’s fortunate that I had the foresight to change my name in advance. Otherwise, if they got me, I’d be in deep trouble.
With his comprehension of swordsmanship, it was no exaggeration to say that he was invincible among those of the same cultivation realm. However, it was unfortunate that his cultivation was still too weak.
Previously, when he heard from one of the inner disciples that it was possible to earn money so easily, greed had gotten the better of him for a moment, and he had ended up getting too engrossed in the fight. If they uncovered his identity, it might lead to a great deal of trouble and danger.
Currently, he was not completely confident in protecting himself against True Immortals or even High Immortals, so he could not allow his true identity to be revealed.
“What have you heard so far? Is there any news on where the person who challenged the inner disciples lives or who he is?” Zhang Xuan asked with a nonchalant look on his face.
“So far, the only thing I got is that the person is called I Am Low Profile. Seriously, what an eccentric name that is. He calls himself low profile when there’s no one as boastful as him in the world. As for who he is and where he is, there’s still no updates on that at the moment!” Cao Chengli replied with a shake of his head.
Seeing that his true identity had not been compromised so far, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief in his mind. He lowered his head contemplatively for a moment before asking Cao Chengli, “Do you know where the urgent meeting is held?”
“It’s held at the sparring field located at the top of the mountain!” Cao Chengli replied.
“Got it…” Zhang Xuan nodded as he slowly walked over to Cao Chengli.
Pah!
Clutching the back of his head, Cao Chengli was shocked. “Young Master, why did you hit me?”
That strike was so powerful that he felt his teeth loosening from his gums.
I answered what you asked me without hiding anything at all, and my news was timely this time as well! What did I do wrong to warrant this beating?
“You stepped into the residence with your left foot instead of your right. I don’t like it.” Zhang Xuan threw those words at Cao Chengli before walking away coldly.
“He struck me just because I entered the residence with my left foot?” Cao Chengli’s eyes widened in bewilderment. What kind of nonsensical rule was this?
Was the Young Master experiencing his andropause early? Otherwise, why would he make up such a ridiculous rule?
“Jot it down, jot it down… I must make sure to remember it!” Cao Chengli murmured to himself as he patted his heart to console his wounded soul.
…
After leaving the residence, Zhang Xuan did not head to the Valley of Falling Rain but the mountain peak where the sparring field was located.
He had to find out how the elders intended to find him and how much they had found out so that he could prepare countermeasures. Otherwise, it would be extremely dangerous if he did not even know when the other party was already onto him.
“Being low profile is the most important thing in the world. I must make sure to never act as I did earlier in the future…” Zhang Xuan sighed deeply in regret.
It was indeed exhilarating for him to defeat so many people at once, but the implications sure were troublesome! If they traced the matter back to him, he would be a goner!
After acting so prudently all his life, why did he give in to recklessness this time?
Argh!
…
Seated at the very center of the Elder Council was First Elder He Tian, and the other elders who sat by his side carried imposing presences that weighed down on those before them.
At the bottommost of the council was Elder Mu, who managed the inner disciples.
Elder Mu was no weakling, but he paled in comparison to the elders who sat the topmost region. Even from a distance away, he could feel immense pressure crushing down on him, causing cold sweat to form all around his forehead.
At this moment, another elder walked into the hall and took his seat. After which, he asked, “Elder He, may I know the reason you have gathered us so urgently?”
“It looks like everyone is here. Elder Mu, I’ll be troubling you to relay what you said earlier to the council once more!” Elder He Tian looked at Elder Mu and nodded.
“Yes!” Elder Mu quickly rose to his feet and said, “Greetings, fellow members of the council, I am Elder Mu Xuan of the Inner Disciples Section. During the previous Elder Council, Elder He instructed all of us to search for the genius who comprehended the Gods’ Sword Intent. Shortly after the announcement, a formidable sword practitioner appeared among the inner disciples. We suspect that the person might be the genius Elder He talked about!”
“Oh? On what basis are you presuming that?” an elder in the council asked with a frown.
The Gods’ Sword Intent was viewed to be the very zenith of swordsmanship across the entire Forsaken Continent. Even if anyone comprehended it, they should be from the core disciples at the very minimum. It did not seem too likely for it to be an inner disciple.
“In the inner disciples’ Ethereal Hall, he issued a challenge to all of the inner disciples, and he slew five thousand of them within half an hour…” Elder Mu swiftly recounted the matter that had just happened.
After hearing that the person had slain three thousand inner disciples with a single move and eventually achieved victory, intense discussion immediately broke out among the Elder Council.
Not long ago, Elder He had said that someone had comprehended the Gods’ Sword Intent, and then such a figure appeared and caused such a huge uproar. Could they be the same person?
If that was really the case, that incident would not be a mockery to the inner disciples. On the contrary, they might even be viewed in reverence for such a powerful figure appearing from their ranks!
Losing to a person who had comprehended the same divine swordsmanship as the founder was not an embarrassment but an honor!
“He eliminated five thousand fellow inner disciples in the Ethereal Hall within half an hour? Are you certain?”
Some of the elders stood up as they questioned the authenticity of Elder Mu’s statement.
This matter was simply too inconceivable!
It was a fixed rule that all of those who entered the Ethereal Hall would be of the same cultivation realm. Putting aside whether it was possible to slay five thousand people alone or not, the fact that he was able to pull it off within half an hour was already an absurd notion!
Was it possible for someone to be so much more powerful than his peers on the basis of his skills alone?
“I have the video of the fight here,” Elder Mu said as he presented a Record Crystal to the Elder Council.
The Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion’s Ethereal Hall also had a video recording function, similar to the Ethereal Halls outside too. Cultivators could purchase the video recordings at a set price.
Knowing that this matter was of grave importance, Elder Mu had made sure to purchase the recording of the battle between I Am Low Profile and the inner disciples beforehand.
With a tap of his finger, the crystal immediately reflected the details of the earlier battle. Due to time constraints, he skipped the earlier segments of the battle to show the final move, where countless strands of sword qi each morphed into a sword art, decapitating the heads of three thousand cultivators in a flash.
This sight caused everyone’s eyebrows to shoot up in astonishment.
Even they would be unable to pull off a move of such imposing might once they suppressed their cultivation to Ancient Sage 1-dan!
Yet, that fellow was able to pull it off so easily. Just how deep was his comprehension of swordsmanship?
“That swordsmanship isn’t our founder’s Gods’ Sword Intent though. Nevertheless, the fact that he’s able to cultivate his swordsmanship to such a level likely means that he’s the man we are searching for!” the elder who spoke earlier remarked.
Even though he found it bizarre that someone who had achieved such a formidable level of swordsmanship was still only an inner disciple, all of the evidence pointed in the same direction.
“That’s what I thought as well…” Elder He nodded in agreement. “Thus, I would like to confirm I Am Low Profile’s identity and trace his location!”
“But such actions are strictly prohibited by the sect rules. It would undermine the significance of the Ethereal Hall!” the elder earlier replied with a frown.
The Ethereal Hall was incapable of identifying a person directly. Even for the battle details that were reflected previously, that was achieved through cross referencing the blood droplet used to activate the Ethereal Token together with the inner disciples’ identity token.
An exception was made earlier because the people presumed to be involved in the duel had expressly consented to having their identities revealed, but this was not the case for I Am Low Profile. As such, this matter had to be viewed separately.
“I understand this as well. Thus, I gathered all of you here to discuss this matter!” Elder He said. “This is an extenuating circumstance. If the experts of the Hall of Gods find him earlier than we do, it might lead to unnecessary complications!
“As someone who has comprehended the Gods’ Sword Intent, if he’s allowed to grow, he will eventually obtain the strength to challenge the authority of the gods. The experts of the Hall of Gods won’t allow for that. It’s likely that they will make a move on him in advance!”
“Such matters have occurred in history before. Many talented geniuses have been killed by the Hall of Gods because their sects failed to protect them!”
…
The atmosphere in the room grew a little heavy following Elder He’s speech.
Elder Mu’s body stiffened from the pressure, and he did not dare breathe loudly.
His standing was such that he was not privy to the secrets of the Forsaken Continent. However, from the discussion in the council, he was able to figure out the situation.
He immediately understood the severity of this matter and why this issue had to be kept confidential by any means. Otherwise, a disaster might really strike the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion.
An elder stood up and proposed, “I suggest that we liaise with the sect leader and have him make the decision on this matter. I think this is the safest move we can make!”
“Indeed. Such a major decision requires the judgement of the sect leader…” another person echoed in agreement.
“I have already informed the sect leader of the matter, and this was his response!” Elder He replied as he took out a Communication Jade Token and flashed it to the crowd.
There were seven words on the token—’Deal with it as you deem fit.’
“This…”
“Since the sect leader has already made such a call, let’s look into that person’s identity and location them!”
“This is so that we can offer him greater protection from the Hall of Gods. Like the First Elder said, this is a special circumstance, and we need to deal with it accordingly!”
Since the sect leader had entrusted the decision to them, the other elders quickly nodded in agreement.
“Alright, let’s head to the Sword Gazebo!”
Seeing that there was a majority agreement in the council over this issue, Elder He stood up and walked out of the room.
The crowd also rose to their feet, and they swiftly made their way over to the Sword Gazebo.
As for Elder Mu, due to his inability to fly, Elder He wrapped him within a surge of his zhenqi and pulled him along with the group.
Since that genius was likely to be among the inner disciples, it would be helpful for Elder Mu to be with them as well.
They quickly arrived at the Sword Gazebo.
Without any hesitation, the elders quickly passed their identity tokens over and placed them on the wall. After which, Elder He commanded, “Reveal I Am Low Profile’s identity and exact location!”
Weng!
There was a slight buzz as light flickered on the wall for a moment. However, nothing appeared.
“What’s going on?” Elder He frowned.
With so many elders together with them, they should have had the authority to uncover I Am Low Profile’s identity and location. Why was nothing appearing at all?
“It could be because he isn’t in the Ethereal Hall at the moment, that’s why nothing is reflected on the wall!” someone said from afar.
Everyone quickly turned their heads around, and they saw an elder descending toward them.
He was none other than the leader of the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion, Sect Leader Han!
He had finally returned!
“Paying respects to the sect leader!”
The elders quickly bowed respectfully. After which, Elder He looked over and asked, “Sect Leader Han, you mentioned earlier that the person in question is not in the Ethereal Hall. What does that mean?”
Most of them had never used the Sword Gazebo to find the identity and location of a person before, so they were unaware of the details surrounding it.
“The Ethereal Hall uses one’s consciousness to determine the location of the body. If the consciousness is not within the Ethereal Hall, how can you check the person’s whereabouts?” Sect Leader Han replied.
Elder He and the others widened their eyes in realization.
Previously, the reason Elder Mu had been able to check I Am Low Profile’s cultivation without any problem was because the latter had still been fighting with the other inner disciples. However, now that I Am Low Profile was no longer in there, it made sense for the search to fail.
Looking at the frustrated faces around him, Sect Leader Han chuckled softly before saying, “Don’t worry, we just have to wait here patiently. As long as I Am Low Profile enters the Ethereal Hall once more, we’ll easily be able to uncover his position!”
Hearing those words, the other elders quietly nodded.
Given the huge fuss that the other party had caused, as well as the humongous wealth that he had earned through the duel, it was just a matter of time before he appeared in the Ethereal Hall once more. As long as they bided their time, they would eventually be able to catch him!
“Since that’s the case, we’ll just stay here for the time being to keep a lookout. Elder Mu, since this matter concerns the inner disciples, you should remain here!” Elder He instructed.
“Yes!” Elder Mu quickly nodded.
Just like that, the strongest experts of the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion ended up waiting quietly at the Sword Gazebo, waiting for Zhang Xuan to enter the Ethereal Hall once more.
