“Audacious! Do you know who you are standing before?”
Seeing how this fellow dared to step forward and utter such arrogant words, the face of the old man standing beside Elder Bai Ye immediately darkened.
Elder Bai Ye was Bai Ruanqing’s grandfather, so he had the right to speak on behalf of Bai Ruanqing… It was just that it was inconvenient for him to reveal his identity due to his standing in the sect.
Who do you think you are to interfere in the affairs of their family?
“I’m talking to him. An outsider like you should just scram aside!” Zhang Xuan scoffed as he swung his sword toward him.
The old man didn’t expect Zhang Xuan would dare make a move toward him, and he couldn’t help but roar in furious laughter, “What audacity you have! Come then, let me see just what you are capable of then! I’ll acknowledge you if you can just withstand three blows…”
Putong!
But before the old man could finish his words, his head had already slid to the ground.
He had already drawn his sword to deflect the young man’s offense, but clearly… the young man somehow still managed to slip through his defense!
“What a load of nonsense!” Zhang Xuan scoffed after decapitating the old man with a single strike. “That fellow is just spouting rubbish, so there’s no need to pay him any heed. Owe money pay money, there’s nothing more natural than that in the world. If even esteemed disciples of our sect were to shirk from their debts, what would become of our credibility?”
“This young man over here, we don’t disagree with what you are saying, but I don’t think that you have the right to speak on Bai Ruanqing’s behalf. We want to hear her direct opinion!” a core disciple harrumphed.
There was no way they would willingly part with the money they had earned so painstakingly. When someone stood up and said that it was all a jest, they felt like they had finally seen a ray of hope. But before they could even start celebrating, that fellow suddenly stood forward to refute those words. Naturally, they wouldn’t feel any goodwill toward the fellow standing before them.
Furthermore, none of them was conscious of just how powerful the young man before them actually was.
The young man had killed the old man standing with Elder Bai Ye with a single strike, but as the old man was disguised as a young lad in the Ethereal Hall as well, everyone simply thought that he was an unimportant cannon fodder that was not worthy of a mention. He was killed too easily that it highlighted his weakness instead of the young man’s strength.
No one could have possibly imagined that the old man was actually one of their elders.
“Oh? Judging from what you are saying, it seems like you are quite reluctant to pay up?” Zhang Xuan asked lividly.
He never thought that he would witness such shamelessness from the core disciples!
They had agreed to the bet earlier, but they refused to admit it just because Bai Ruanqing had been killed and hadn’t returned yet…
Really, some people can become so shameless when money is involved!
“It’s not that we want to shirk on our debts, but you don’t have the final say in this matter. Instead, I think the words of that friend over there makes more sense. As the granddaughter of the Third Elder, Bai Ruanqing is not someone who lacks money. Surely the only reason why she would be prompted to make such a bet is to heap pressure on us?” The core disciple who had spoken earlier turned to Elder Bai Ye and asked, “Isn’t that right, that friend over there?”
“Yes, that’s indeed the case…” Elder Bai Ye said, “The only reason why Ruanqing did what she did was to place more pressure on you all in hopes that it would be a fairer battle. There’s no reason for her to take anyone’s money…”
But before Elder Bai Ye could finish his words, the glint of a sword suddenly flashed over.
“What?”
Hurriedly turning his head over, Elder Bai Ye saw I Am Very Handsome slashing his sword toward him.
His eyebrows shot up in displeasure as he reached out to grab his sword in order to deflect the blow. But before his hand could even reach, he suddenly felt a chilling sensation at his wrist.
When he finally lowered his head, he realized that his wrist had already been severed. Dang lang! The sword in his hand clanged on the ground.
“This…” Elder Bai Ye narrowed his eyes in horror.
As one of the Three Grand Elders of the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion, his cultivation had long reached High Immortal realm, making him one of the strongest experts on the Forsaken Continent.
This was especially so for his swordsmanship. In the field of swordsmanship, there were simply not many who were a match for him…
But right now, before he could even make a move, his hand had already been severed at the wrist!
It was true that the other party had assaulted him abruptly, but with his mastery of swordsmanship, he should have been able to deal with it easily! It seemed like the other party was much stronger than he had thought…
It was no wonder why his old friend would be killed in a single slash. He thought that the latter did not retaliate out of fear of exposing his identity, but from the looks of it now, it seemed more likely that he was unable to retaliate at all!
Of the entire sect, other than the sect leader, there was only one more person who could render his old friend completely helpless and sever his wrist with such ease… The genius who had comprehended the Gods’ Sword Intent, I Am Low Profile!
I Am Very Handsome, I Am Low Profile…
As these two names revolved in Elder Bai Ye’s head, the truth swiftly came to him. “So it’s you, I Am…”
The reason why Elder Bai Ye was unable to think of it till now wasn’t because he was slow-witted, but that it was a known fact that I Am Low Profile was at Dimension Shatterer realm consummation. On the other hand, the minimum cultivation requirement to enter the core disciples’ Ethereal Hall was Lesser Pseudo Immortal realm.
Given the vast disparity between the two realms, it was hard to imagine that I Am Low Profile would actually be able to achieve a breakthrough within such a short period of time.
However, after the profound swordsmanship displayed by the other party, he would really be a fool if he was still unable to draw the links!
But before Elder Bai Ye could finish his words, he felt a sharp pain on his tongue. A sword was entered his mouth, and with a swift flick, his tongue and teeth were crushed by a surge of sword qi. Blood flowed profusely out of his mouth as he was rendered incapable of words by the excruciating pain.
“Don’t you try to mess around with me. Even I would get frightened of myself when I get nasty!” Zhang Xuan glared at Elder Bai Ye coldly.
“Wuuuu!” Elder Bai Ye cried out.
There were words that he wanted to speak, but he was unable to do so as a result of his current condition. He tried to speak to the other party via telepathic communication, the other party was completely warding him out.
Despite the illusory nature of the Ethereal Hall, the pain was extremely real. Just the severing of one’s wrist was enough to make one scream for hours at end, but his tongue and teeth had been torn apart by sword qi too… Cold sweat dripped from his forehead as his body trembled uncontrollably.
To think that he, a powerful High Immortal, as well as one of the most esteemed powerhouses on the Forsaken Continent, would have been placed in such a state by two simple slashes…
“You are seeking death!”
Everything happened within just two short breaths, and it was only around this moment did Bai Feng finally recovered from his shock. Overwhelming rage erupted from him.
Insolence! How dare this arrogant lad make a move on Elder Bai Ye? You are asking to be killed!
Hu!
Bai Feng charged forth with his sword directed toward Zhang Xuan. But before the tip of his blade could even come close, he felt a sharp pain on his neck.
Padah!
His head fell to the ground.
“You are…”
In the moment that Bai Feng found himself faced with his own feet, it finally dawned on him who the other party was too.
To think that he would be killed twice by the same people within the span of a day…
He really felt like crying.
…
After dealing with the three meddlesome fellows, Zhang Xuan looked at the crowd and uttered coldly, “Is there anyone else who thinks that Bai Ruanqing is simply joking around?”
He wanted to maintain a low profile and not get into any trouble either, but these fellows had the audacity to not pay up… They must be unaware that they were provoking a sleeping dragon!
Have you never heard of the saying ‘never touch the inverted scales of a dragon’?
He knew that his words held little power, so it was important for him to establish his authority first. Thus, he acted decisively and slew the three loudest naysayers right away. If he hadn’t done so, the others would have shrugged him away as if he was a nobody.
“That friend over there, don’t you think it’s inappropriate for you to make such a vicious move on them? May I know who you are?” a core disciple stepped forward and asked.
Upon seeing that this person had stepped forward to mediate the situation, everyone immediately fell silent.
She was no other than the third strongest core disciple, Liu Yulian!
After being killed, she quickly returned with another Ethereal Token. To ensure that the others were still able to recognize her, she chose to assume the same appearance as before.
“You don’t wish to pay up either?” Zhang Xuan looked at her and sneered.
“I believe in Bai Ruanqing’s character. There’s no way she would accept money over a…” Liu Yulian was only halfway through her words when she suddenly found herself faced with her bottom.
Padah!
Her head fell to the ground and rolled around the area.
“Done. Is there anyone else who doesn’t want to pay up? It’s fine by me if you don’t want to pay up either. Just be warned that I’ll kill you each time I see you in the Ethereal Hall until you finally pay up!” Zhang Xuan flicked his sword coldly to the side as he spoke.
You must have been thinking that you can gang up on me and pressure me into forgetting your debts… But too bad for you, what you have provoked is not an ant but the devil himself!
“You…”
The reason why they thought little of I Am Very Handsome was because they had no clear notion of how powerful he was. Elder Bai Ye, Bai Feng, and the old man were in disguise, and they were killed so easily that it appeared like they were weak instead…
They thought that no matter how powerful I Am Very Handsome was, there was no way he could have matched the top experts of the core disciples.
However, this was Liu Yulian they were talking about over here. She was actually decapitated just like that…
Everyone was horrified!
It was only in this instant that it dawned on them that the young man was no ordinary core disciple at all.
“This fellow is extremely weird. We should move together to kill him!”
“I think it’s very likely that he’s not one of the core disciples!”
The crowd shouted.
Even the strongest amongst the core disciples, He Jingxuan, was incapable of slaying Liu Yulian with a single slash! Yet, this fellow was able to do so. Something was surely wrong here…
“The lengths which people will go to shirk payment sure is frightening!” Zhang Xuan scoffed.
Who could have thought that this bunch of fellows would be so shameless as to come up with all kinds of excuses to kill him just so that they could avoid paying up?
I wanted to solve this amicably, but it seems like the world only talks with strength.
Since that’s the case, let me give you all a lesson that you will never forget!
This shall become the worst decision you have ever made in your life. As long as you refuse to pay up, I’ll kill all of you until none of you dares to enter the Ethereal Hall any longer!
Hu!
Zhang Xuan leaped right into the midst of the crowd.
In an instant, sword qi gushed around the area, and the ground quaked furiously.
Elder Bai Ye, who had his tongue sliced and wrist severed, looked at the sight before him with a pale face. At this rate, it felt like the entire Ethereal Hall would be destroyed!
This fellow is getting way out of hand. After causing a commotion at the inner disciples’ Ethereal Hall, he wishes to do the same over at the core disciples’ side too… Elder Bai Ye thought furiously.
Bearing with the pain, he was just about to step forward and reveal his identity when he suddenly felt a sharp pain stabbing into his neck.
Padah!
A sliver of sword qi leaked out from the heart of the battlefield and decapitated him.
“…” Elder Bai Ye.
By the time he opened his eyes once more, he had already returned back to his own residence. In front of him, Bai Feng and the old man were staring at one another face-to-face with incredulous looks on their faces. Somehow, their faces seemed to appear more wrinkled than before, as if they had aged a decade.
As High Immortals, they were top experts of the Forsaken Continent who could influence the politics of the world with every move that they made… But earlier in the core disciples’ Ethereal Hall, they were subdued in just a single move by the young man…
They were simply no match for the young man at all!
“You… You have been killed too!” the old man exclaimed when he saw Elder Bai waking up once more.
“Un…” Elder Bai Ye nodded slowly.
“How many moves?” the old man asked.
He was asking Elder Bai Ye how many moves from the other party he had survived. As he had died the earliest, he was unaware of the happenings afterward.
Elder Bai Ye stuck out three fingers.
“Three moves? That’s already a lot…”
Just recalling how he was killed within a single move left the old man feeling so stifled that he could die on the spot. He found it hard to believe that Elder Bai Ye could actually withstand three moves from the other party, so he asked, “What sword art did you use in order to survive three moves?”
While Elder Bai Ye was indeed stronger than him, he didn’t recall the gap between the both of them being so huge.
“I didn’t use any sword art at all,” Elder Bai Ye replied with a bitter smile.
“You didn’t?” the old man shook his head in disbelief. “That’s impossible. Given how fast that fellow’s sword is, it’s impossible for those of the same cultivation realm to evade it. There’s no way you would have been able to survive his attacks if you hadn’t counterattacked…”
“The first move he made, he severed my wrist, causing my sword to fall to the ground,” Elder Bai Ye said. “The second move, he stabbed into my mouth and severed my tongue, preventing me from speaking!”
Hearing those words, the old man’s goosebumps rose up and he felt feeble all over, “But those aren’t killing moves!”
“Indeed, they aren’t killing moves at all. It’s because he didn’t intend to kill me in the first place that I was able to survive the first two moves…” Elder Bai Ye closed his eyes and exhaled deeply.
“Then, you…” the old man continued asking.
“I was intending to step forward to reveal my identity and mediate in the conflict while he was killing the other core disciples, but I ended up getting killed by a random surge of sword qi that escaped from the center of the battlefield…” Elder Bai Ye said.
“You were killed by a random surge of sword qi…” the old man was stunned.
What was with this situation?
A random surge of sword qi leaking out from the center the battlefield actually killed one of the Three Grand Elders of the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion…
Was such a thing even possible at all?
“He’s the genius who comprehended the Gods’ Sword Intent?” the old man narrowed his eyes as realization struck him.
