Chapter 1964 We’re All In This Together
In terms of appearance and gestures, Bai Ruanqing could not think of any core disciples who were similar to I Am Low Profile. Then again, the other party would have surely disguised himself well before entering this Ethereal Hall, so it was meaningless to make deductions based on that. The best way to figure out his ident.i.ty was to force him into revealing his true capabilities!
I Am Low Profile had been fighting for quite some time, but the moves that he had used so far were practically no different from the action of swatting flies. With each swing, he would reap the life of an opponent or two. There was nothing that one could discern from such a simple action. Even with her deep understanding of the core disciples, there was no way she could recognize the other party from a simple slas.h.!.+
“He’s simply too powerful. We aren’t able to cause him any stress at all,” Liu Lujie remarked bitterly.
They had thought that w.a.n.g Jiandong would be able to force him into showing his hand, but he had been decapitated in a single slash. When Liu Lujie went up, he had been sliced in two. They were the first and third of the inner disciples! If even they did not stand a chance, what could the others hope to do?
Furthermore, the other party had killed two hundred inner disciples so far, but he did not even look tired. With the other party’s skills, it felt like it would not make a difference no matter how many people they piled into the dueling ring!
“Don’t worry. Let me give it a try!” A glimmer of excitement surfaced in Bai Ruanqing’s eyes.
As a core disciple and the granddaughter of one of the Three Grand Elders, she had a deep understanding of swordsmans.h.i.+p despite her young age. If it was in the real world, she would be able to pull off what I am Low Profile was doing, killing an opponent with a single slash each. However, with the pathetic body that was allocated by this Ethereal Hall, she would not have the stamina or zhenqi to kill so many people and still be standing at the end of it!
In other words, there was a good chance that the person in the dueling ring was even stronger than her. Before such an expert, as a battle maniac and a female dinosaur, it was only natural that she would want to test the other party herself!
“Senior Bai…” Liu Lujie and w.a.n.g Jiandong looked at one another awkwardly. “You are a core disciple. If you are caught interfering in a conflict among inner disciples…”
It was true that they had some lingering doubts about I Am Low Profile being a core disciple, but there was also a chance that he might really be an inner disciple who had cultivated hard over the years. In the first place, it was already disadvantageous for him to have to face so many opponents at once. If they brought a core disciple in as well, their reputation would really be torn to shreds!
Just the sheer embarra.s.sment would be enough to kill them!
“I’m using your Ethereal Token at the moment. As long as neither of you say a word, no one will know a thing!” Bai Ruanqing said with a grand wave of her hand. “There’s no need to say anything more. I’m just going to test that fellow and verify his ident.i.ty. As soon as I confirm that he isn’t a core disciple, I’ll immediately admit defeat. You can rest a.s.sured that I have no plans of interfering with this matter. Of course, if he’s a core disciple, I’ll get rid of him for you in view of the sect rules!”
“This…” Liu Lujie hesitated for a moment before bowing deeply. “We’ll be troubling you, Senior Bai!”
What the other party said made sense. If she was just going into the dueling ring to test I Am Low Profile’s skills, it would not contravene the rules of the sect.
“Senior Bai, be careful. That fellow’s sword is extremely fast,” w.a.n.g Jiandong advised softly.
“Fast? Hah, that’s one thing that I’m not afraid of! From the age of five, Grandpa Bai Feng would take me to the northernmost winterlands to practice the Heavysnow Swordsmans.h.i.+p every year. It has been fifteen years since then, and I have already mastered the technique to Major Accomplishment. With such swordsmans.h.i.+p, do you think that I would fear the speed of his sword?” Bai Ruanqing replied proudly.
The other party might be skilled in swift maneuvers, but that was even more so for her!
It was through the swiftness of her movements that she was able to strike the vitals of the other core disciples before they could even react.
“Heavysnow Swordsmans.h.i.+p?”
Liu Lujie and w.a.n.g Jiandong had heard that Bai Ruanqing was a formidable sword pract.i.tioner, but they had not been aware of the swordsmans.h.i.+p that she practiced. So, when they heard the name of the sword art, their eyes lit up in excitement.
The Heavysnow Swordsmans.h.i.+p was renowned within the sect. It had been created by an expert a thousand years ago during a snowy day. If one cultivated it to the peak, one would be able to deal six slashes in the time that a snowflake took to descend to shave off its six tips!
Without its sides to cus.h.i.+on its fall, a snowflake would become no different from a s...o...b..ll, resulting in the acceleration of its fall. This was also the inspiration behind the name of the technique, Heavysnow Swordsmans.h.i.+p.
Snowflakes were known for their lightness, such that even the slightest gust of wind could blow them away. As such, the sword pract.i.tioner had to control their strength to the finest degree, and the speed of their movement needed to be incredible.
As someone who had achieved the level of Major Accomplishment in a technique like that, Bai Ruanqing’s speed and control had long reached a level far beyond their comprehension!
“If that’s the case, I Am Low Profile will surely be no match for Senior Bai!” Liu Lujie remarked with a nod. He lowered his back once more and earnestly said, “Senior Bai, pardon me for saying this, but I beseech you to halt after testing his ident.i.ty. Please allow the inner disciples to deal with him instead!”
Regardless of whether I Am Low Profile was a core disciple or not, it was still a fact that he had challenged and insulted all the inner disciples. If they had to rely on an outsider to deal with him, it would reflect badly on them.
“I didn’t know that you were so noisy. Fine, fine, I’ll leave him to you!” Bai Ruanqing waved her hand impatiently as she walked up to the dueling ring.
“Everyone, stop! I’m going to have a solo fight with I Am Low Profile!” Bai Ruanqing commanded.
As a core disciple, her comprehension of swordsmans.h.i.+p far surpa.s.sed that of everyone on the scene. Even without making a move, she was able to exert an indescribable pressure on those around her.
“I don’t really know who she is, but she seems to be very powerful. I feel like my Sword Intent has been suppressed to the extent that I can’t even drive it properly anymore!”
“It’s the same for me. I’ve never felt such powerful Sword Intent from the other inner disciples before, so she could very well be a sword ascetic. In terms of swordsmans.h.i.+p, it’s very likely that she’s on par with Senior Liu!”
“Let’s just step back and watch the situation for the time being. She might just be able to get rid of that fellow and exact vengeance on our behalf!”
In deference to the powerful Sword Intent that Bai Ruanqing was emanating, those who were intending to climb into the dueling ring chose to heed her words and back down.
True sword ascetics were rare, but they would still show up from time to time among the inner disciples, so most of the cultivators there knew of their existence. Despite their lack of fame, their true strength could easily rival the top ten sword pract.i.tioners among the inner disciples!
It was highly likely that both the senior who had just stepped onto the stage and I Am Low Profile were sword ascetics.
Seeing yet another self-a.s.suming sword pract.i.tioner coming onto stage, Zhang Xuan shook his head and sighed impatiently. “Hurry up if you wish to make a move. You can also see that there are many people queuing behind you, waiting to be killed too!”
This kind of opponent was particularly troublesome. It was as if they were born with a natural inclination for fanfare and sticking out like a sore thumb. Otherwise, why would they have to specially demand a one-to-one battle and waste everyone’s time?
“It’s been long since I’ve met someone as brazen as you!” Bai Ruanqing scoffed as she swiftly drew her sword and released a powerful slash toward Zhang Xuan.
Heavysnow Swordsmans.h.i.+p!
Right from the very start of the battle, she had already utilized her trump card. Sword qi burst forth and formed a violent snowstorm in the dueling ring. White snowflakes descended from the sky, blurring one’s sight.
“How is it? Am I fast?”
Bai Ruanqing did not rush into continuing with her offense after executing her swordsmans.h.i.+p. Instead, she looked at Zhang Xuan with a confident smile on her lips.
Even though she had boasted to Liu Lujie and the others that she had reached Major Accomplishment in the Heavysnow Swordsmans.h.i.+p, the truth was that her mastery was still a little lacking. She was unable to bring out such prowess every single time.
This time, she knew that she was facing a powerful opponent, so she pushed herself to the very limits. Under this pressure, she actually managed to bring forth a might beyond what she was usually capable of. Even out of ten executions, it was unlikely that even one would be as powerful as this.
As such, she was extremely excited to see how well things were turning out this time.
If it was just a moment ago, she would not have dared claim that she would be able to defeat I Am Low Profile with utmost confidence. However, with the current momentum that she had built up, victory would be a piece of cake for her!
“Fast?” Zhang Xuan sighed in exasperation. “Yes, you are very fast. Are you done executing your technique already? I am pressed for time!”
After which, he raised his blade and slashed it horizontally.
Puhe!
As soon as Zhang Xuan raised his blade, Bai Ruanqing immediately got into a defensive position to protect herself. But before she knew it, there was a sharp pain on her throat, and the next moment, she was already staring right at her toes.
Putong!
A corpse collapsed to the ground.
Bai Ruanqing had been killed as if she was nothing more than an insignificant ant being squashed.
Seeing how the crowd was building up faster than the rate at which he was eliminating his opponents, he shook his head in frustration at how inefficient the current system was. He pondered for a moment before making up his mind.
“Forget it, this is really too slow. All of you should come up at once! Or is the dueling ring a little too small to hold everyone? Shall I come down to fight all of you?”
Then, without any hesitation, he leaped right into the midst of the crowd.
The dueling ring was simply too small, such that it could only fit ten or so people at once. Anything more than that would be far too tight. At this rate, it would take too long for him to get rid of the thousands that had gathered around the dueling ring.
Not to mention, there would be some hero wannabes coming up from time to time demanding a solo duel.
What a pain in the a.s.s! He might as well just dash right into the crowd and fight everyone all at once!
“W-what? You’re asking for it!”
“Everyone, let’s make a move together! I don’t believe that his two hands will be able to deal with thousands of us all at once!”
The crowd could hardly believe that the seemingly powerful senior would be unable to last even a breath before I Am Low Profile. And before they could even process this shock, the latter suddenly leaped down of the stage and began ma.s.sacring everyone.
In an instant, the entire situation descended into chaos.
In truth, the small size of the dueling ring worked to I Am Low Profile’s advantage. It would prevent anyone from easily getting behind him and a.s.saulting him. Yet, that fellow had actually abandoned that advantage and dashed right into the crowd.
This meant that he would have to defend against attacks from every direction!
Was that even possible?
No matter how fast I Am Low Profile was, there was no way he could keep up with twenty swords, fifty swords, or even a hundred swords at once!
Huala!
In an instant, all kinds of sword qi came raining down on I Am Low Profile from all directions. It was as if the entire world was denying his existence!
“Senior Bai…”
Liu Lujie and w.a.n.g Jiandong were utterly frenzied to see that even the Heavysnow Swordsmans.h.i.+p executed by this female tyrant of a core disciple would fail to stop I Am Low Profile.
They were still afraid that Senior Bai would go too far and end the opponent… but from the looks of it, it felt like it made no difference to I Am Low Profile at all. Whether the latter was slaughtering them or Senior Bai, there was simply no pressure to him at all!
They would never have thought that the day would come when they would see core disciples, Pseudo Immortals or possibly True Immortal experts, actually get slain so easily.
w.a.n.g Jiandong shook his head and said, “Well, I have to admit that I Am Low Profile is indeed formidable, but he’s simply too arrogant. His arrogance will only eventually lead to his downfall. There’s no way he’ll be able to cope against the encirclement of so many inner disciples at once!”
No matter how powerful one was, there would eventually be a limit to one’s strength, right?
They were all Ancient Sage 1-dan cultivators in the Ethereal Hall. In terms of strength, they were to equal to one another. No matter how skilled a person, there was no way he could fight against an army of thousands who boasted the same strength as him!
Even a powerful martial artist would be overwhelmed by an army of a thousand grannies!
“He’s probably done for…” Liu Lujie shared w.a.n.g Jiandong’s view as well.
He did not think highly of I Am Low Profile’s actions.
“Senior Liu, there are a lot of people here. Should we make use of this opportunity to sneak in an attack against him?” w.a.n.g Jiandong asked as he pulled his thumb over his throat to make a gesture of killing.