Chapter 1990: Battle Details (Part 1)

“Peak Elder, he… how strong is he?” Unable to bear the silence in the room any longer, Bai Ruanqing looked over.

It had been over ten minutes since they left the Divine Hall. As soon as his consciousness returned, Peak Elder closed his eyes, lost in thought, and no one dared to speak.

“Wonderful! Simply wonderful!” Peak Elder slowly opened his eyes, which glowed with light.

“Wonderful?” Everyone’s mouths twitched. Could it be that… he was scared out of his mind? Not only was he not angry about being beheaded, but he was also exclaiming “wonderful”? Did he think having his head cut off was wonderful? Liu Lujie and Wang Jiandong exchanged glances and instinctively touched their necks. Although they knew it wasn't real, being beheaded four times in a row still made their hearts pound. They were too busy being scared; what was so wonderful about it?

“I’ve practiced the Flowing Snow Sword Art for over a hundred years, and the more I practice, the more I admire it. Not only is it incredibly fast, but more importantly, it conceals the true qi within the sword, allowing for effortless and precise control, with not a trace leaking out! Once unleashed, the sword energy pierces the heavens, its power like a rainbow, unpredictable and divine!”

With a distant look in his eyes, Bai Feng’s voice was filled with admiration and reverence: “All this time, I believed this move was flawless and infinitely powerful. I never expected the opponent to break it with a single strike! That sword of his… truly wonderful! Ineffably marvelous!” Although he was killed by a single sword, he could discern the opponent's truly exquisite swordsmanship and sincerely admired it.

“This…” Everyone blinked, and Bai Ruanqing’s face flushed as she looked over. “Peak Elder… Aren’t you angry? To be killed instantly by someone who hasn’t even reached the Pseudo-Immortal stage—don’t you, a grand master, feel disgraced, humiliated, and angry?”

“When faced with such formidable swordsmanship, I barely have time to feel grateful, so why would I be angry?” Bai Feng paused, then, seeing their expressions, seemed to understand their thoughts and smiled gently. “As cultivators, one must always be humble, not conceited! The path of the sword is vast and boundless, with no end in sight. You and I, even in our entire lives, cannot fully explore its depths. Why allow a little non-existent pride to affect our emotions? Do not be swayed by fame or fortune. If I had sought reputation, I would at least be a core elder by now!”

“Yes!” Everyone’s faces turned red. Based on his strength, Bai Feng could easily have been a core elder, yet he continued to serve Elder Bai Ye, always fulfilling his duty as a servant without overstepping. This mindset truly commanded respect.

“Peak Elder, this ‘I Am Low-Key’ person’s understanding of swordsmanship… is it very profound? Could it be… even better than yours?” Bai Ruanqing asked curiously.

“Me?” Bai Feng shook his head. “I am not qualified to be mentioned in the same breath as him! Well, this competition has been quite fruitful. I’ll be heading back now… Ruanqing, you continue searching for that friend who sells medicine!” With that, he stood up, leaped lightly, and flew off, disappearing from the spot in the blink of an eye.

Unexpectedly, Peak Elder left without the slightest hesitation. Bai Ruanqing was momentarily stunned, then looked at Liu Lujie. “This ‘I Am Low-Key’ person—since you all can’t defeat him anyway, just forget about him for now. Go help me find out who this person is!” She took out the portrait again.

“Currently, all the disciples are competing against ‘I Am Low-Key,’ so it might not be easy to make inquiries… Once the competition is over, I’ll immediately find someone to ask!” Liu Lujie stood up.

Bai Ruanqing frowned. “I just checked, and there are at least three thousand more people, with many inner disciples continuously entering. It will take a long time for the competition to fully conclude, won’t it?”

“No matter how long it takes, all of us inner disciples will definitely persevere and never surrender! This is our pride and our resolve!” Liu Lujie’s gaze was firm. “I believe that as long as we persist, no matter how powerful this ‘I Am Low-Key’ is, his strength will be exhausted, and he will be killed, and the ultimate victory will belong to us…”

As he was making his impassioned guarantee, he saw Wang Jiandong, who was in front of him, flip his wrist to reveal a jade token in his palm. After a glance, Wang Jiandong’s face twisted continuously, as if he had something to say but couldn't bring himself to speak.

“What’s wrong?” Liu Lujie asked, frowning.

“Ahem, Senior Brother Liu, the competition is over… ‘I Am Low-Key’ killed the remaining three thousand people with a single sword strike… They’re currently determining the outcome…” Wang Jiandong couldn’t help but say.

“Killed with one sword, one sword strike? Three thousand people?” Liu Lujie swayed, nearly falling, his eyes wide as if they might pop out. “Are you sure?”

Not only him, but Bai Ruanqing, standing to one side, was also stunned. Killing one, two, or even ten people with one sword was acceptable… but three thousand of the same level? Was this a joke?

“The news has been confirmed. All those who were killed have returned to the Divine Hall, awaiting judgment…” Wang Jiandong stated. As the third-ranked inner disciple, he had loyal subordinates, and his sources of information were accurate and reliable.

“This…” Liu Lujie’s eyebrows twitched, and he quickly cupped his fists. “Senior Sister Bai, since everyone was killed at the same time, it means the wager has been fulfilled. Those of us who bet against him need to enter the Divine Hall to receive judgment. Please forgive us…”

“Go,” Bai Ruanqing said, waving her hand, understanding the rules.

To be honest, even now, she couldn’t believe it was true. Single-handedly challenging the inner sect, killing three thousand with one sword… Who exactly was this “I Am Low-Key”? More importantly… this feat he accomplished had thrown the entire inner sect into turmoil… What did it have to do with “low-key”?

At Sword Pavilion, Elder Mu and the others finally recovered from their shock. The display of the opponent’s strength here confirmed that he was indeed an inner disciple. For one inner disciple to challenge the entire inner sect, killing over a thousand people consecutively without being defeated, but instead killing them all… it was utterly abnormal.

“However, no matter how powerful he is, victory is impossible. There are tens of thousands of inner disciples, and as the news spreads, more and more will come to defend their dignity. As long as he can’t kill everyone in the hall at once, he cannot succeed!” Elder Mu shook his head. “So… no matter how long he perseveres, there’s only one path: defeat!”

Everyone nodded simultaneously. One person challenging the entire inner sect… and at the same level… Success was too difficult! Even if they defied heaven.

As they were lamenting, the communication jade token vibrated. Elder Mu looked down, then froze in place. “Th-this… just like that, there’s a result? ‘I Am Low-Key’ killed three thousand people with a single sword, and the match is over… How is that possible?”

“Killed three thousand with one sword?” Silence fell, and all the elders were dumbfounded.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! In the Divine Hall, figures reappeared one after another. Almost everyone who had participated in the combat and been killed rushed back after hearing the news. They looked at the somewhat slumped young man in the very center, their eyes filled with complex emotions. When they first heard him say he would challenge everyone, they thought it was utter arrogance, sheer madness… Only after truly experiencing the battle did they realize… he genuinely had the power to wipe out the entire inner sect!

“The competition has concluded. This ‘I Am Low-Key’ person challenged everyone present at the time, with all their Sword Pavilion coins as stakes, and now the outcome has been determined…” A Divine Hall administrator, in charge of public competitions, walked out and announced, “‘I Am Low-Key’ is victorious!”

“He won just like that? The entire inner sect couldn’t defeat one person?” “This is probably the most humiliating day for the inner sect!” “Five thousand disciples, all defeated… How could this happen?” Hearing the results, many present lost their composure, some on the verge of collapse. As inner disciples of the Lingyun Sword Pavilion, they all possessed their own pride, and now that pride had been shattered by a single individual with such ease.

“I object! I rushed here as soon as I heard the news and haven’t even participated yet. I don’t believe one person can defeat five thousand! Even if he could, Senior Brother Liu Lujie and other top masters surely didn’t appear, otherwise, how could it be so easy!” Someone shouted. Many people had rushed over upon hearing about the inner disciples’ conflict, but for various reasons, more than half of the inner disciples still hadn’t appeared! Many who had just arrived heard that the battle was over and felt extremely unwilling to bear the shame of defeat when they hadn’t even participated.

“Senior Brother Liu Lujie has been the top inner disciple for seven consecutive years; I don’t believe ‘I Am Low-Key’ could win if he had fought!” Someone echoed. Previously, Liu Lujie had been killed before he could state his identity, and many only felt that the swordsmanship was similar. But did similar swordsmanship mean it was definitely him? Not necessarily! Hearing these shouts, a glimmer of hope arose: could it be that Senior Brother Liu truly hadn’t appeared? And that’s why this fellow won?

“Are you trying to deny the wager?” The person in charge of the Divine Hall raised an eyebrow.

“It’s not about denying the wager; he is indeed very powerful, but he only defeated everyone present, not our entire inner sect! Among the inner sect, if the true top masters had intervened, he might not have lasted until now!” The person who spoke earlier declared loudly. No matter how much they argued, they couldn’t hide the disastrous defeat of five thousand people. Given this, if they simply didn’t acknowledge that he had defeated the entire inner sect, they could at least save some face.

“The inner sect has over ten thousand people, and over five thousand were killed. Is that not a victory over the inner sect? What else would it be a victory over? Don’t you feel ashamed saying that?” The Divine Hall administrator’s face darkened. They were sect elders, not belonging to the inner, core, or outer sects, and handled matters impartially, without favoritism or malpractice.

“We mean that the most powerful inner disciples didn’t intervene! If they didn’t participate, then there’s no basis for claiming he defeated the entire inner sect!” The disciple who had spoken earlier gritted his teeth.

“How do you determine they didn’t intervene?” the Divine Hall administrator asked.

“I can’t determine it, so please, Divine Hall, release the details of the battle! That way, even if we lose, we’ll accept it wholeheartedly!” the person continued.

“Exactly! Please show us the battle details. We all want to know who participated and ultimately led to the loss. Those of us who didn’t get to participate don’t want to share the blame…” “Only by showing this can fairness be demonstrated!” “If the participants were only disciples who just entered the inner sect, whose strength isn’t particularly high, then losing would be normal. How can you expect us to be convinced?” Many others immediately added.