Meanwhile, the person in question, Zhang Xuan, was unaware that the top experts of the sect were on a stakeout for him. He was rushing all the way up to the sparring field on the mountain peak.
A huge crowd had already gathered around the area. All ten thousand or so inner disciples had halted their cultivation and rushed over as soon as they received the news!
Following the crowd, Zhang Xuan found a corner and hid himself. There were many people around the area, so no one would really notice an ordinary person like him.
“I believe that most of you should have guessed why I have gathered all of you here!”
There was an old man at the very center of the crowd. His voice echoed loudly in everyone’s ears.
He was the second-in-charge of the Inner Disciples Section, Elder Huang You!
Upon hearing the elder’s words, all the inner disciples lowered their heads in embarrassment.
Just a moment before being gathered, they had been defeated by an individual in the Ethereal Hall. Even the slowest of minds could easily understand what was going on.
“This is the first time that something like this has happened in the long history of the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion! I don’t know which of you is I Am Low Profile, but the fact that he was able to triumph over five thousand people alone is huge for the sect. He’s worthy of praise! As for the rest of you, despite five thousand of you ganging up on a single person, you couldn’t even kill him? Let me ask you this… what have you been learning in the sect over the years? Have you just been idling your time away?”
Elder Huang You’s face was completely nonchalant, which made it hard to read whether he was angry or excited. The crowd was not too sure what they should expect from him.
However, his words caused all of them to lower their heads in embarrassment.
It was indeed a humiliation that they were unable to defeat a single person. There was no way that they could argue their way out of this matter.
Just that…
If we recall correctly, Elder Huang You, you also snuck there and ended up being killed. Is it really fine for you to lecture us like this?
Of course, none of the inner disciples dared say those words out loud.
“It’s true that we are not a match for ‘I Am Low Profile’, but… given how formidable he is, is there a chance that he’s a core disciple in disguise?” one of the inner disciples asked.
As soon as this question was asked, it immediately sparked a lot of nods of agreement from the crowd.
As fellow inner disciples, they knew each other’s standards. If someone who was slightly stronger than that appeared, it would still be believable to them. But I Am Low Profile had far, far, far exceeded that level! As such, this got them thinking.
Knowing that the inner disciples would pose such a question, Huang You calmly waved his hand. “Elder Mu and the rest of us paid a visit to the Sword Gazebo to check on the matter, and his strength is indeed only at Dimension Shatterer realm consummation. This is the result of our investigation…”
Weng!
A recording surfaced in the air. It showed the sight of the ten elders heading toward a wall to check on I Am Low Profile’s strength. Very soon, the wall reflected a result corroborating what Elder Mu had said.
“He really is a Dimension Shatterer realm consummation cultivator… An inner disciple, just like us!”
“Is it really possible for inner disciples to be this powerful?”
“I can’t believe that skills can make one so much more powerful than others!”
…
This sight vanquished any doubts that I Am Low Profile might not be an inner disciple.
“What else do you have to say for yourselves?” After playing the recording, Elder Huang You looked at the inner disciples around him coldly. “As soon as you think that you are unable to defeat him, you think that he’s a core disciple. Have you tried searching within you for the reason behind your defeat?”
Before the crowd could even answer, his aura grew even sharper and more imposing, leaving the crowd feeling a little suffocated. “Why do you think that I Am Low Profile was able to become so much more powerful than the rest of you? That’s because, just like his nickname, he has humbly trained harder than any of you without fussing over transient things like fame and honor. He has never wasted his time flaunting his skills in public or engaging in useless politics. All that was in his heart was cultivation, cultivation, and cultivation! It’s by shedding more blood, sweat, and tears than any single one of you here that he managed to reach his current level. What about the rest of you?”
Elder Huang You’s voice gradually got louder with every word he spoke. “You are obsessed with honor and glory. Fighting can improve your skills, but you content yourselves with picking weaker opponents and staying within what you are used to so that you can win your duels. You view loss to be something more frightening than remaining stagnant. With such mindsets, how can you possibly cultivate the best swordsmanship in the world? How can you become real experts?”
Those words struck a chord in everyone’s heart. Realizing how much time they had wasted on pursuing honor and glory among themselves, they lowered their heads in shame.
On the other hand, Zhang Xuan was rendered speechless by the high praise being heaped on him.
The reason he had never appeared in public or engaged in useless politics was because this was only his first day at the sect. He could not have done it even if he wanted to!
That being said, the thing about him shedding a lot more blood, sweat, and tears in order to reach his current level was indeed true.
“Don’t be content with what you already have. Don’t restrict yourself to what you already know. Don’t blame others when you find yourself outmatched. Don’t lament that you aren’t talented when you aren’t even close to being as hardworking as he is!” Elder Huang You’s voice reverberated across the crowd. “From this day forth, I hope that you can throw away all the needless baggage weighing you down and make the Inner Disciples Sector stronger than ever! Are you able to do it? Do you have the confidence to do it?”
“Yes, Elder Huang!”
“We have the confidence to do it!”
With fists that were tightly clenched, the crowd roared in agreement.
Seeing the high morale among the crowd, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.
He had thought that the elders were going to investigate his identity, so he had come running over out of fright, but in the end, they were just using him as an antagonist in order to spark everyone’s motivation.
“That’s all I’m going to say today. I have heard your response, and I’m looking forward to what you can achieve!” Elder Huang You replied. “One last thing. Whoever I Am Low Profile is, I hope that you can take the initiative to look for me!
“Alright, you are all dismissed!”
Seeing that his identity had not been compromised yet, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief. He left his hiding spot, and just as he was going to make his way over to the Valley of Falling Rain, an anxious voice suddenly sounded behind him.
“It’s him! It’s him!”
This voice was extremely abrupt and urgent, such that it caught everyone’s attention.
Zhang Xuan also turned his head over, only to feel cold sweat raining down his body. He nearly fainted in that instant.
The person who had shouted out loud was currently pointing agitatedly at him, and everyone’s eyes were centered on him.
“The heck?” Zhang Xuan felt goosebumps rising all over his body.
Surely, he would not be recognized just like that, right?
If that was the case, how was he going to continue being low profile?
More importantly, once his identity was confirmed, it was likely that he would not have time to cultivate anymore. Challengers would come buzzing to him like incessant flies, hoping to fight him again and again. If it was possible for anyone to die out of annoyance, that would probably be the way.
After all, who would not want to make a name for themselves? If they could defeat him, who was reputed to have defeated five thousand cultivators, would that not immediately place them higher than him?
“No, it’s not me. Your eyes are bad, and you have the wrong person,” Zhang Xuan replied as he turned around and bolted off.
While everyone was still in a daze over what was going on, Zhang Xuan was already sprinting off like an unbridled horse, nearly disappearing in an instant.
“Don’t run!”
The inner disciple who had shouted earlier was stunned by how fast Zhang Xuan’s response was.
He was just about to pursue the other party when he suddenly felt immense pressure crushing down on him. At some point in time, Elder Huang had already arrived by his side and asked, “You mentioned that it’s him. Who is he?”
“He’s a fake medicine peddler… eh, no, I mean real medicine peddler!” the inner disciple quickly replied with a bow.
“…” Elder Huang You’s eyelids twitched.
If he could, he would have slapped this fellow into the bottom of the ocean.
It was just a moment ago that he was talking about I Am Low Profile when this fellow shouted, “It’s him!” His spirits were raised as he thought that he had finally found that powerful sword practitioner, but it turned out to be just a medicine peddler.
Do you really have to get so agitated upon finding a medicine peddler?
Realizing that Elder Huang You’s face was getting more and more livid by the second, the inner disciple quickly clarified, “This is a request from Senior Bai Ruanqing. I’ve been unable to find him, so I couldn’t contain my excitement when I finally saw him once more…”
Even though this inner disciple had not been located closest to Zhang Xuan at the inner disciples’ market back then, he had still managed to catch a good look at the latter’s appearance during his encounter with Bai Ruanqing.
It was just that Zhang Xuan had not really been paying much attention to those present in the market then, so he did not recognize this inner disciple.
“Bai Ruanqing is looking for him?” Elder Huang You frowned.
Even as an elder, he had also heard many things about Bai Ruanqing. Why would Elder Bai Ye’s granddaughter look for a mere inner disciple?
“It seems like the medicine that she bought from him was still rather effective, so she wanted to buy a bit more,” the inner disciple replied.
“I see. Go on and find him then. Don’t get on Bai Ruanqing’s bad side.” Elder Huang You waved his hand helplessly.
Since the other party was not I Am Low Profile, he also lost his interest in pursuing this matter any further.
“Un!”
Knowing that there was no time to inform Liu Lujie and the others, the inner disciple immediately dashed down the mountain to pursue Zhang Xuan.
…
“That was a close one.”
After running for some time, Zhang Xuan glanced backward and saw that no one was on his tail anymore before finally coming to a halt. With a deep sigh, he rubbed his forehead in distress.
He just wanted to be an ordinary man living an ordinary life. Why was it so difficult?
It’s not as if I asked to be born so outstanding!
Anyway, if someone was able to recognize me, that means that my current identity has already been compromised.
He did not know how he had been revealed, but as long as he refused to admit it and did not display his true strength, the other party should not be able to prove that he was indeed I Am Low Profile.
I have to destroy the Ethereal Token.
If he did not destroy it, someone might just match his Ethereal Token to the records, and that would be concrete evidence of his identity. By then, there would be nothing that he could say that would salvage the situation.
It’s fortunate that the Sword Pavilion Coins that I’ve earned are stored inside the untraceable Ethereal Card, so I don’t need to rely on the Ethereal Token to withdraw my wealth, Zhang Xuan thought as he took out his ‘I Am Low Profile’ Ethereal Token and crushed it.
It was not uncommon for cultivators to be killed in the Ethereal Hall, so it was common sense to place one’s wealth in an Ethereal Card instead. This way, they would at least be able to retrieve their wealth even after their Ethereal Token had been deactivated.
After all that was done, Zhang Xuan was finally able to relax a little. It was at this moment that the person who had pointed him out caught up with him.
Zhang Xuan looked behind that person, but strangely enough, there was no one following him. This was both relieving and bewildering at the same time.
Since this fellow had already pointed him out as I Am Low Profile, it would have made sense for Elder Huang You and the others to pursue him too, right?
Why did this fellow come alone then?
Were they afraid of scaring him or something?
Well, no matter what plans they had in store, he just had to deny everything! He had already crushed the Ethereal Token anyway. There was no way they could identify him!
“Brother, you sure run fast…”
Upon catching up with Zhang Xuan, the inner disciple lowered his body and panted loudly from exhaustion.
While Zhang Xuan had intentionally slowed himself down a lot to prevent anyone from noticing any anomalies with him, it was still not a speed that anyone could easily catch up with.
“It’s fortunate that I was the first one to recognize and catch you. Hahaha, I have really struck gold this time…” Despite his exhaustion, the inner disciple looked at Zhang Xuan with eyes reminiscent of a treasure hunter staring at a treasure.
“Recognize me? Don’t spout nonsense! There’s no way I could be that incomparably handsome and hopelessly valiant I Am Low Profile! He’s like a brilliant sun in the sky whereas. I am nothing more than an ordinary inner disciple, not even worth a mention at all. So, don’t start spouting nonsense. Someone will die because of that!” Zhang Xuan immediately waved his hand defensively.
“I Am Low Profile? What the heck are you talking about?” The inner disciple was stunned by Zhang Xuan’s words.
