As the strongest cultivator among the inner disciples, Liu Lujie"s comprehension of swordsmans.h.i.+p had already reached an astounding level. The battle between I Am Low Profile with Zhu Yanzhi did not last too long, but Liu Lujie was still able to tell that the other party"s swordsmans.h.i.+p was not beneath his!To see through the openings of the Sword of Forlorn Sentiments with just a glance... this was something that even he would have difficulty doing!
Of course, he could not deny the possibility that the other party might have had some understanding of the sword art beforehand. After all, as long as one was an inner disciple and had sufficient Sword Pavilion Coins, one could freely access the book and jot down its contents.
But even if I Am Low Profile had managed to decipher the Sword of Forlorn Sentiments, he could not have done the same for Berserk Gale Swift Sword and the ten subsequent sword arts too!
Over the past several millenniums of development, the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion had gathered at least a hundred thousand sword arts that inner disciples could access. In order to stand out from others, most disciples would choose a unique sword art that was different from the rest.
Even if I Am Low Profile had coincidentally studied the Sword of Forlorn Sentiments and Berserk Gale Swift Sword before, he could not possibly have done the same for the remaining ten sword arts. Just what were the odds of him having learned the exact same sword arts as Zhu Yanzhi!
Putting everything aside, he would not even have had sufficient time to do so!
From that alone, it could be deduced that I Am Low Profile did not overcome those moves based on his familiarity with the sword arts. Instead, his comprehension of swordsmans.h.i.+p had reached an extremely high level that allowed him to see through the swordsmans.h.i.+p of others.
After that was the battle between I Am Low Profile and Wei Suifeng. This battle was even shorter. In a split second, a sword was already pressed against Wei Suifeng"s neck.
"This person"s fighting prowess is nowhere beneath mine!" Liu Lujie remarked with narrowed eyes as he tossed the Record Crystal back to Zhu Yanzhi.
"Indeed. I also thought that this person is quite remarkable, so I came to find you right after watching the video," w.a.n.g Jiandong said. "How is it? Are you interested in having a duel with him?"
"Of course!" Liu Lujie said as an intense fighting will ignited in his eyes. "My mastery of swordsmans.h.i.+p has already reached a bottleneck. I need to fight with someone of similar strength to me in order to trigger my potential and achieve a breakthrough. I believe that he"ll be the best opponent for me!"
The reason he had suppressed his cultivation all this while was to sharpen his Sword Intent and further his comprehension of swordsmans.h.i.+p.
However, it was a pity that there was no one among the inner disciples who was a match for him anymore. When he was fighting against other inner disciples, he would have to intentionally hold himself back a little. Thus, he could not help but tremble in agitation upon seeing a fitting opponent before him.
He instinctively knew that this was a person who was worthy of having him fight at full strength!
"Who is this person though? If he has such a deep understanding of swordsmans.h.i.+p, it"s weird that we have never met him before. Could he be a core disciple in disguise?" w.a.n.g Jiandong asked curiously.
"Unlikely," Liu Lujie replied with a shake of his head. "Core disciples hold their positions in high regard. None of them would be so bored as to come to the inner disciples" Ethereal Hall to flaunt their skills!"
"But... if there was really such a formidable figure among us, we surely would have met him by now given how long we have been in the sect," w.a.n.g Jiandong said in incomprehension.
Liu Lujie shared the same opinion.
Core disciples stood at the very peak of the sect, so they would not be so bored as to head to a lower Ethereal Hall just to tease a couple of inner disciples while lowering their standing at the same time.
"The Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion has been around for several thousand years now, and there are many inner disciples who are devoted to just cultivating their Sword Intent. They are nonchalant toward fame and fortune, and they are unwilling to bring attention to themselves. It might seem like I"m the number one expert of the inner disciples, but in truth, there are plenty of other disciples who don"t pale in comparison to me when they exert their true strength," Liu Lujie said.
He was famed for being the number one expert of the inner disciples, but he did not allow that to get to his head.
There were many disciples in the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion who were true sword ascetics. Just like ascetic monks, they put themselves in the toughest environments in order to temper their state of mind and Sword Intent, all in hopes of perfecting their understanding in the Way of the Sword!
Those people often disregard the ranking system, choosing to immerse themselves completely in their training after clearing the inner disciple examination. As a result, their rankings were not very high.
But those who were foolish enough to underestimate them would be in for a shock.
Even Liu Lujie himself would not dare get carelessness upon encountering one!
"Indeed, those sword ascetics are truly fearsome." w.a.n.g Jiandong nodded in agreement.
Liu Lujie looked at Zhu Yanzhi and Wei Suifeng and instructed, "Inform me when I Am Low Profile appears in the Ethereal Hall once more. I wish to meet his sword!"
"Rest a.s.sured, Senior Liu. My men are already on the lookout. As soon as they spot him, they"ll inform me right away," Zhu Yanzhi said with a smile.
All of a sudden, he flicked his wrist and took out a Communication Jade Token. Lowering his gaze to take a look, his eyes lit up in excitement. "Senior Liu, I just received word that I Am Low Profile has entered the Ethereal Hall!"
"Jiandong, let"s head there together to take a look!"
Liu Lujie took out his Ethereal Token and swiftly connected to the Ethereal Hall. The others around him swiftly followed suit.
Hu! Hu! Hu! Hu!
The four of them appeared one after another in the Ethereal Hall, and they quickly made their way over to the dueling ring.
"Senior Liu, that person over there is I Am Low Profile," Zhu Yanzhi said as he pointed forward.
Liu Lujie looked in front of him and saw a young man standing in front the dueling ring with a bored look on his face. The young man was yawning endlessly, almost as if the battles that were happening on the stage were too dull for him.
Another disciple behind him was displeased with his disinterested att.i.tude, so he lividly berated, "Why bother hanging around here when you aren"t even interested in watching? You might as well free up this slot for someone who is more interested in the duel..."
The next moment, though, I Am Low Profile turned toward the disciple and smiled. "Do you want to make a bet with me? We don"t have to play too big. A few hundred Sword Pavilion Coins will be enough!"
"You..." The disciple clenched his fists angrily.
Arrogant!
The other party was way too arrogant!
Even illegal brokers would only make dealings in the shadows, fearing that the elders would go after them. Yet, this fellow had actually asked such a question in public.
It was as if the rules of the sect meant nothing to him at all!
"A few hundred Sword Pavilion Coins? Why don"t you just go and steal instead!" the disciple bellowed with reddened, puffed up cheeks.
I Am Profile was visibly taken aback for a moment before asking, "Ah, is that possible?"
"Of course!" the disciple sneered coldly at the young man"s haughty response. "See, there are so many of us here. If you are able to defeat all of us singlehandedly, all of their Sword Pavilion Coins will be yours!"
"Are you being serious here?" I Am Low Profile"s eyes lit up excitement. He was really moved by this thought. "Will this... be a breach of the sect rules?"
"If you robbed a single person, that might still be breaching the sect rules. However, if you are able to defeat everyone here singlehandedly, the sect will only blame all of us for our weakness!" the disciple scoffed.
While he was saying those words out of anger, his words had some truth to them.
Stealing among fellow disciples was against the rules of the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion. However, if one was able of challenging everyone simultaneously and defeating them... even the sect would not say anything if that person took everyone"s Sword Pavilion Coins!
Kill a man, and one would be a murderer. Kill a million, and one would be a hero who rose above a million.
Those who are strong were envied, but those whose strength surpa.s.sed imagination were revered.
Rules were important in the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion, but what was even more important than rules were the people. The sect had a soft spot for talented individuals.
There was such a precedent in the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion. In the past, the disciple who eventually become the Ten Li Sword G.o.d had challenged thirty inner disciples all at once. He had defeated them with ease and made his name known throughout the entire sect.
The inner disciple who said those words to Zhang Xuan had thought that he would back down after hearing those words, but what happened instead was that the latter"s eyes began glowing brighter and brighter in agitation. "If that"s truly the case, it would really be for the best..."
"Best?" The inner disciple was completely stumped.
Was this fellow a fool or something?
There were plenty of hidden experts among the inner disciples! Challenging and defeating all of them at once...
You really should pull your head out from the clouds!
Even the top geniuses from the core disciples would not be able to achieve such a feat!
It was not because they were not strong, but the Ethereal Hall had limited their cultivation and zhenqi capacity. Dealing with one or two people was not an issue, subduing four to five people was still inherently possible, but to fight dozens at once... that was simply impossible!
Even if one had the skill to do so, one would not have sufficient zhenqi to last the entire battle!
Not to mention, all the inner disciples in the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion were geniuses who boasted superior swordsmans.h.i.+p! Even defeating one of them was difficult, let alone defeating everyone at once.
You are really daydreaming!
Just as the inner disciple was going to ask Zhang Xuan to wake up and not let unrealistic thoughts devour his mind, the latter suddenly burst into laughter. He turned around and declared in a resounding voice, "Right here, right now, I challenge all of you to a battle. The stakes will be all the Sword Pavilion Coins we have on us. Does any of you dare take up the challenge?"
"Am I hearing things? That fellow wants to challenge all of us?"
"And the stakes are all of the Sword Pavilion Coins we have?"
"That"s practically plundering, isn"t it?"
"He"s not just plundering; he wants to steal all of our fortunes! Who the h.e.l.l is that brazen lad who dared spout such arrogant words?"
"Not even the number one Senior Liu would dare issue such a challenge!"
"This son of a mutt is way too conceited! I can"t take it anymore... I"ll accept your challenge, you rascal!"
The challenge that Zhang Xuan had issued to all the inner disciples present immediately sparked a ma.s.sive explosion of rage.
Most of those who were there had fought at least a dozen matches and watched several hundred duels, but they had never seen anyone who was so pompous as to challenge all of them at once. Such fellows had to be beaten to the ground so that they would never act so haughtily ever again!
"What in the name of the heavens... Is that what he means by "low profile?"
Meanwhile, Liu Lujie and w.a.n.g Jiandong had just arrived on the scene, and they nearly spewed fresh blood upon seeing that.
The heck!
When they heard the other party"s nickname, they a.s.sumed that the other party would be a reserved man who did not like to bring attention to himself. After all, even they did not know of the other party"s existence.
Yet, before they knew it, the other party had already issued a challenge to everyone. Not only so, it was obvious that he intended to s.n.a.t.c.h away all their money.
Please, your actions aren"t even slightly synonymous with ”low profile1!“
You show off!
It took a long while before w.a.n.g Jiandong finally managed to close his agape mouth once more. He turned to Liu Lujie and asked, "Are we joining in?"
He was really taken aback by how audacious I Am Low Profile was.
He knew that he was already one of the strongest cultivators among the inner disciples, and very few could beat him in an actual battle. However, he would never dare issue such a public challenge.
Even if they went at him one by one, his stamina, zhenqi, and concentration would still be unable to take it!
A smirk crept onto Liu Lujie"s lips, and he chuckled a little. This was the first time that he had felt so excited in a while.
"Since we are present, don"t you think that it would be disrespectful for us to turn down such an earnest challenge? Jiandong, hand your card and my card over to the front receptionist. If he"s able to defeat me, I have no qualms about him taking away all my Sword Pavilion Coins away with him! If he"s unable to defeat us, even if we don"t make a move, the sect won"t tolerate such blind arrogance among its ranks. He will be accorded with the most severe of punishments!"
The Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion had a soft spot for talents, but that was only if one was able to pull one"s own weight. If I Am Low Profile managed to accomplish something amazing out of this, the sect would turn a blind eye to his actions... but if he suffered a tragic defeat, he would surely be severely punished.
Even the talented had to recognize their own limits and act their worth.
Otherwise, if everyone emulated his actions, the entire sect would fall into anarchy!