Elderly Martial Saint: Sixty Times the Cultivation Speed ​​at the Start

Chu Tiankuo's gaze fell in the direction of Yi Yang and paused for two breaths.

Everyone present could see Chu Tiankuo's unusual behavior, so the eyes of the seventy or eighty people in the tent turned and fell on the area where Yi Yang was.

Luo Kaishan, who was sitting with Yi Yang, froze with a smile, his hands trembling uncontrollably. Xie Yungui, who was sitting next to him, paused for a moment as he put down his teacup, and his brows furrowed.

The warriors from the Sky Patrol Division standing next to Xie Yungui exchanged bewildered glances, wondering why this law enforcement elder from the Heavenly Heart Sect was keeping an eye on them, these insignificant figures.

Yi Yang held his teacup without moving. Although the hairs on the back of his head stood on end, he maintained a composed expression and did not reveal any flaws.

He could sense Chu Tiankuo's aura probing towards him; the opponent's powerful perception made his concealment impossible to hide.

Although Yi Yang used the "Concealing Breath Without Form Technique" to suppress most of his cultivation, Chu Tiankuo was at the Tongxuan Perfection stage, two major realms higher than Han Ji.

It's more than enough to fool someone at the True Qi Realm, and even someone at the early stage of the Profound Realm wouldn't be a problem, but to fool someone at the peak of the Profound Realm on the Hidden Dragon Ranking—

Yi Yang knew in his heart that it would be extremely difficult.

Chu Tiankuo frowned. He didn't speak, but he was thinking to himself. He had just habitually scanned the cultivation levels of everyone below.

Late stage of True Qi, Perfect True Qi, Late stage of True Qi... their strength is mostly not a problem, and they all conform to their level.

But while surveying the direction where Yi Yang was, he noticed something amiss: among the group of ordinary True Qi Realm warriors, there was a deliberately suppressed fluctuation.

Among those people, one of them appeared to be at the late stage of True Qi Realm, seemingly without any flaws to outsiders. However, Chu Tiankuo had cultivated martial arts for over 180 years, and his perception and divine sense told him that one of the people's displayed strength was not right.

The cultivation technique that person practiced was quite good. If it were a martial artist in the first three stages of the Profound Realm, they might not have noticed that someone was hiding such strength without paying special attention.

But he is Chu Tiankuo.

The elder of the Enforcement Hall of the Heavenly Heart Sect had cultivated in the Profound Realm for nearly a hundred years. He was responsible for examining the cultivation and background of both internal and external disciples in the sect. He had seen all kinds of methods of concealing one's breath.

Although that aura far surpassing others was deliberately concealed, the essence of strength cannot be faked.

The first realm of profound understanding: Enlightenment.

A martial artist at the Tongxuan Realm mingled among a group of True Gang Realm warriors, displayed a ranking on the Heroes List, and even entered the military tent.

Thinking of this, Chu Tiankuo's brows furrowed even more.

"What is he thinking? What is he doing mingling in the crowd? Is he hiding from someone, or waiting for an opportunity?"

Or perhaps—

Was Han's death related to him?

When this thought first crossed Chu Tiankuo's mind, he himself felt it was rather improbable. Han Ji died in the abandoned city south, his internal energy in disarray burning his body, and his Dharma Body shattered. Anyone capable of such a feat would have to be at least at the Dharma Body Realm.

A first-level Profound Realm cultivator, a Killing Dharma Body Realm cultivator?

Not too possible.

There are two whole major realms between the first stage of the Profound Realm, Qixuan, and the third stage, Dharma Body. This gap cannot be easily crossed by means of skill or talent.

But Chu Tiankuo has lived for over 180 years and has seen too many cases where "impossible" eventually became "real".

That's definitely impossible.

But Chu Tiankuo had seen too many impossible things.

"What if?" The thought involuntarily popped into his mind.

Just as Chu Tiankuo was considering whether to take action and apprehend the man for questioning, a secret telepathic message entered his ear.

The voice belonged to Jiang Zhongtian.

"Brother Chu, stop looking."

Jiang Zhongtian's telepathic transmission wasn't fast, but it still resolved some of Chu Tiankuo's doubts.

"That's a disciple of a good friend of mine, and there's nothing wrong with him. You don't suspect he has any connection with your Elder Han Ji, do you? He's one of our Sky Patrol Division members; how could he do such a thing?"

Chu Tiankuo looked away and glanced at Jiang Zhongtian sitting next to him.

Jiang Zhongtian's hand was on the silver spear shaft at some point, but his gaze was fixed on the leather map in front of him, not on Jiang Zhongtian.

This is a statement.

"A disciple of a good friend of mine"—this is the background information.

"There's nothing wrong with the person" is an endorsement.

"How could I possibly do such a thing?" This was a way of telling him to stop probing.

In other words, Jiang Zhongtian wasn't explaining to him, but warning him.

Chu Tiankuo rested his right hand on his knee and tapped it slowly. He wasn't afraid of Jiang Zhongtian. The two were both on the Hidden Dragon Ranking. Although Jiang Zhongtian had performed better than him recently and might even have cultivated a second divine ability, he was still not afraid.

In Chu Tiankuo's view, it was pointless to break ties with Jiang Zhongtian over a nobody at the first level of the Profound Realm. Moreover, it was practically impossible for someone who had just crossed the threshold of the Profound Realm to kill Han Ji, who had unleashed his Dharma Body. He himself couldn't do it when he was young.

With Jiang Zhongtian's intervention, Chu Tiankuo abandoned the idea of ​​directly questioning him, but he was still not entirely comfortable with the light warning he received.

As a high-ranking law enforcement elder of the Tianxin Sect, he also has certain administrative authority over Hengyue Town, and inspecting the martial artists in the tent is within his jurisdiction.

Jiang Zhongtian intervened and issued a warning via telepathy. This was tantamount to doing so in front of everyone, and although others couldn't see it, it still made people uncomfortable.

"OK."

Chu Tiankuo snorted inwardly without any politeness.

"I'll put Han's matter aside for now, but I want to see just who this person you, Jiang Zhongtian, are protecting really is."

"If you won't let me touch him, then I'll make him step forward himself."

Chu Tiankuo stopped staring at Yi Yang, his expression returning to calm, even a smile appearing on his face as he said:

"I never expected that the Sky Patrol Division would be hiding such a prodigy."

His voice wasn't loud, but everyone inside the tent could hear it clearly. His gaze was fixed on Yi Yang's direction, and his tone carried a hint of approval, but more so a condescending scrutiny.

"Ranked on the list of heroes, yet possessing the cultivation of the Profound Realm. With such strength, how can you be relegated to the bottom? Come forward."

Upon hearing this, the entire tent seemed to be put on pause.

The sect disciples in the front row turned around, and the Sky Patrol Warriors in the back row craned their necks. Everyone's eyes were scanning—scanning—the five or six people sitting in Yi Yang's area.

The Profound Realm?

Has anyone on the Heroes Ranking broken through to the Profound Realm?

Who?

Luo Kaishan's mouth was half-open, his beard was sticking up, and his head was turning left and right like a rattle drum. He looked at Yi Yang, then at Xie Yungui, and then at the others next to him, his face saying, "Who is it? Who is it?"

Xie Yungui did not turn his head, but his gaze shifted from the teacup to Yi Yang's profile.

He recalled the gatherings at Wangyue Tower, and the inexplicable intuition he felt every time he met this person.

Xie Yungui's lips twitched, as if he wanted to say "as expected," but he didn't utter a sound. His vague intuition from before was confirmed at this moment.

Yi Yang sat in his seat, his hand holding the teacup still, but his mind was racing:

"That old bastard," Yi Yang cursed inwardly.

Chu Tiankuo played this move brilliantly.

On the surface, it's praising him, but in reality, it's putting him in a very difficult position—you've been hiding your cultivation level, haven't you? Fine, I'll reveal it for you, so everyone here knows you've been concealing your cultivation level.

From this day forward, everyone in Hengyue Town will remember the name Yi Yang.

Various forces will inquire about his background, ponder his purpose in concealing his cultivation level, and analyze who is standing behind him.

The days that could have been spent quietly cultivating in the shadows were shattered by this one sentence.

As an elder of the Enforcement Hall of the Heavenly Heart Sect, Chu Tiankuo wouldn't act without discretion. Although he publicly exposed the fact that Chu Tiankuo had concealed his cultivation level, it should have dispelled any doubts Chu Tiankuo might have had about him.

There's no point in arguing with someone like that. He's a monster on the Hidden Dragon Ranking, a perfected Transcendent Realm cultivator, and backed by the Heavenly Heart Sect.

Without hesitating for long, Yi Yang stood up from his seat under everyone's gaze.

Upon seeing that the Transcendent Realm expert Chu Tiankuo had mentioned was none other than Yi Yang, who was standing right beside him, Luo Kaishan's mouth dropped open in astonishment.

He slapped his thigh with a loud thud, staring at Yi Yang in disbelief. His bright little eyes were wide open, and his beard was trembling.

He tried to speak, but after opening his mouth twice, not a single word came out.

The expressions of the other Sky Patrol warriors sitting at the same table became even more grim, their expressions changing several times. They had just suspected that the other party was afraid of going to the battlefield, but they did not expect that there was a great figure of the Profound Realm beside them.

Yi Yang didn't look at them. He walked slowly from the back row to the front. When he passed by the top twenty geniuses on the list of heroes in the front row, his eyes were straight ahead, without looking left or right.

Han Linyuan's fingers tightened on the sword hilt. Fu Yunshen's smile faded slightly.

Gu Qiusheng tilted his head slightly and looked Yi Yang up and down.

Yi Yang walked to Jiang Zhongtian's side and stood there, cupping his hands in a respectful gesture towards Chu Tiankuo, saying with a hint of shame:

"Senior Chu, I'm sorry. I only recently broke through to a higher level by sheer luck. I'm really nothing compared to you, and I didn't mean to hide it."

He spoke politely, adopted a humble attitude, and showed no sign of dissatisfaction on his face.

Chu Tiankuo stared at him for a couple of moments and thought to himself, "This kid is not simple. He is neither humble nor arrogant. He knows when to admit defeat and when to bow his head."

Chu Tiankuo didn't make things difficult; he had already achieved the effect he wanted.

"It's a good thing that young people are capable. Come up and sit in the front."

After saying this, he shifted his gaze from Yi Yang to Jiang Zhongtian and continued with the main topic.

Now that he has achieved his goal, the person Jiang Zhongtian was protecting has been brought to the forefront. From today onwards, it won't be so easy for this guy named Yi Yang to hide anything anymore.

As for Han Ji's death...

Chu Tiankuo temporarily set the matter aside. It wasn't that he was giving up, but rather that it wasn't worth alerting the enemy before there was evidence.

Afterwards, Jiang Zhongtian and Chu Tiankuo began to arrange the specific matters of this expedition, while Lu Zui sat aside without saying a word, closing his eyes to rest.

As Chu Tiankuo stood up and led everyone present to leave the tent and head to the Qingzhou army camp outside the city, a gaze fell on Yi Yang.

Lu Qinglan walked behind her grandfather. When she passed Yi Yang, she slowed down a beat. She turned her head and looked at Yi Yang with undisguised curiosity.

She hadn't expected that there were people in this group who had broken through to the Profound Realm earlier than her—and she hadn't even seen through their disguise when she had scanned the tent before.

This made her more interested in Yi Yang.

Lu Qinglan raised an eyebrow slightly, her gaze sliding from Yi Yang's face to the long sword wrapped in cloth behind him, and then back to his ordinary face, which was in his early forties.

Yi Yang felt that gaze, but he didn't turn around or respond. He kept his eyes straight ahead and followed the flow of people out.

In his mind, curiosity, once indulged, becomes a nuisance.

What he needs least right now is trouble.

The crowd filed out and headed towards the Qingzhou army camp outside the city.

After everyone had left the tent, Yi Yang let out a long sigh of relief.

He had thought that Chu Tiankuo had discovered more—such as Han Ji's death, the spoils of war on his body, and the broken spiritual weapon Hanxiao lying in his storage ring.

He had even prepared for two scenarios: one was to ask Jiang Zhongtian for help, and the other was to fight to the death.

It turned out that the other party had only seen through his hidden cultivation level.

It was a false alarm, but the consequences were significant.

From this day forward, he will no longer be an insignificant figure on the list of heroes, ranked fifty-eighth, in the important town of Hengyue.

"The 'Hidden Breath Formless Technique' isn't enough," Yi Yang thought to himself.

When this technique is mastered to perfection, it can deceive those in the Inner Qi Realm and True Qi Realm, but it is completely ineffective against experts at the Perfected Profound Realm.

The Thousand Illusions Mask can change one's appearance, but it cannot conceal fluctuations in cultivation level. The Concealed Breath Formless Technique can hide one's cultivation level, but its upper limit is too low.

He needs something that can conceal his true nature from those who have reached the pinnacle of understanding or even higher levels.

Otherwise, when you encounter a master-level figure in the future, all your trump cards will be seen through at a glance.

Yi Yang prioritized this matter in his cultivation plan.

Just as I was thinking about these things, a voice came from behind me.

It's not big, just big enough for two people to hear.

"You're not really involved in Han Ji's death, are you?"

Yi Yang paused for a moment.