You Hid Your Cultivation? So Did I

"Boss, our inside man has successfully poisoned them! The Ji Kingdom's great general and the Rogue Cultivators have been poisoned and are shitting themselves breathless. They're resting in Ominous Valley. This is the perfect chance for us to launch a surprise attack!"

"Once we've wiped out the Ji Kingdom's two hundred thousand troops, why don't you lead us brothers to the imperial city and snatch the emperor's damn throne for yourself? With your cultivation at the Golden Core Realm Sixth Layer, you could have some fun being emperor."

"Hahaha! I don't want to be some damn emperor. Being a roaming bandit is much more satisfying!"

Sima Kuang led the Eight Hundred Bandits on a rapid march to raid Ominous Valley.

The eight hundred bandits detected no killing intent along the way and entered Ominous Valley without incident.

Inside Ominous Valley, the camp of the Ji Kingdom's two hundred thousand troops was deathly silent.

"Boss, something doesn't feel right."

"Damn it, we've walked into a trap!"

Sima Kuang had roamed the jianghu for many years. Fierce and cunning, he immediately realized he had been tricked.

"Sima Kuang, you and your eight hundred bandits have committed every kind of evil. It's time you faced justice!"

In the forests on both sides of Ominous Valley, hundreds of Rogue Cultivators and two hundred thousand mortal soldiers charged out from a formation. They formed a vast, dark mass as they surrounded the eight hundred bandits.

Five Mount Shu disciples mingled among the hundreds of Rogue Cultivators, blocking every direction to keep Sima Kuang from escaping.

"Damn it! You used a formation to conceal your presence!"

Sima Kuang's face gradually darkened.

"That's right. You eight hundred bandits have burned, killed, and plundered, with no fewer than a hundred thousand lives on your hands. Your crimes tower to the heavens, and you deserve to die!"

Chen Yao made a gesture with her right hand, and the Heavenly Azure Sword on her back shone with a deep blue light.

Mount Shu disciples performed chivalrous deeds and upheld justice. Encountering a monster as vicious as Sima Kuang filled them with righteous indignation.

"I've roamed the jianghu for eighty years. I started as an ordinary mountain bandit, struggled and stumbled my way forward, and faced death time and again to reach my current cultivation. You think you can kill me?"

Sima Kuang drew a Blood Saber, a ruthless look in his eyes. Though surrounded by countless troops and Rogue Cultivators, he remained arrogant.

All eight hundred bandits had blood on their hands and dared not surrender, so every one of them fought desperately.

All eight hundred bandits were Rogue Cultivators or martial artists with cultivation, which was why the Ji Kingdom had mobilized two hundred thousand troops to wipe them out.

"Sima Kuang, good and evil are rewarded in the end. This Ominous Valley will be your burial ground!"

Chu Yu, the Ji Kingdom's great general, brandished a long spear and joined the Mount Shu disciples and the other Rogue Cultivators in attacking Sima Kuang and the Golden Core Realm Rogue Cultivators and martial artists among the eight hundred bandits.

The two hundred thousand mortal soldiers loosed a volley of ten thousand arrows, their sabers and swords flashing as they suppressed the Foundation Establishment Realm and Qi Condensation Realm bandits.

The Golden Core Realm Ninth Layer disciple leading the group sent a voice transmission to the five Mount Shu disciples, including Lin Qingzhi and Lian: "For this sect training mission, I'll only intervene in a crisis. Do your best to complete the mission yourselves."

"Yes!"

Lin Qingzhi and Lian, two Golden Core Realm Mount Shu disciples, joined forces with Chu Yu, who was at the Fifth Layer of the Golden Core Realm, to attack Sima Kuang, who was at the Golden Core Realm Sixth Layer. In theory, they held the advantage.

The veteran Mount Shu disciple leading the group was tasked with protecting the new disciples undergoing training when they faced danger and recording everyone's performance during the assessment. Unless absolutely necessary, the newly admitted disciples had to solve problems themselves.

"Ah!!!"

A first-level Golden Core Realm Rogue Cultivator was cut in half at the waist by Sima Kuang's Blood Saber during the battle. Blood sprayed across the sky as he let out a piercing scream.

The Mount Shu disciples undergoing training turned deathly pale.

Unlike sparring, where one stopped before causing harm, training in the jianghu could mean a sudden death at any moment when facing a ruthless Rogue Cultivator like Sima Kuang.

"Slash!"

Chen Yao guided her sword with two fingers, sending the Heavenly Azure Sword slashing toward Sima Kuang in a blaze of brilliant blue sword light!

"Blood Demon Saber Technique!"

Sima Kuang did not dodge. His Blood Saber, wrapped in a heaven-sweeping torrent of Blood Qi, met Chen Yao's attack head-on!

The blood-red light swallowed the Sword Qi and surged back toward Chen Yao.

Chen Yao hurriedly dodged, but a nauseating, revolting presence permeated the blood-red light. All manner of negative emotions welled up in her heart, throwing her mind into turmoil.

"Senior Sister, watch out!"

Lin Qingzhi saw Chen Yao lose focus for an instant as Sima Kuang's Blood Saber slashed at her again. He stepped in front of her and used the Azure Nether Sword to block the blow.

Saber and sword collided with a tremendous boom like thunder raging across the sky. A vast, invisible shock wave spread rapidly outward from the two of them.

Throughout the training mission, Lin Qingzhi had kept his cultivation suppressed at the Golden Core Realm Second Layer. Unable to match Sima Kuang, he was sent flying backward against his will.

Suddenly, warmth met Lin Qingzhi's back. Chen Yao, having come to her senses, caught him and helped him steady himself.

Chen Yao possessed a special physique and was also a personal disciple of one of Mount Shu's Grand Supreme Elders. Though affected by the Blood Saber, she quickly recovered.

"How come you're not affected by my Blood Demon Saber Technique?"

Sima Kuang was utterly astonished.

His Blood Demon Saber Technique could awaken the inner demons buried deep in a person's heart, leaving his opponent in unbearable pain and unable to fight. With this move, Sima Kuang had roamed the jianghu for years and killed many powerful enemies.

However, Lin Qingzhi possessed a Childlike Heart and had no inner demons.

In other words, Sima Kuang's Blood Demon Saber Technique was far less effective against Lin Qingzhi.

"Sima Kuang, don't forget you're facing me too! Our cultivation levels are only one level apart, and I have so many fellow Daoists helping me. You're sure to die!"

Chu Yu attacked from behind, his spear thrusting out into a thousand overlapping spear shadows that enveloped Sima Kuang!

Sima Kuang spun around and swung his saber, fighting Chu Yu in a brutal clash!

The two moved with such speed that they seemed to turn into afterimages, clashing again and again.

"You think my true cultivation is only at the Golden Core Realm Sixth Layer? I've roamed the jianghu for years not just because I kill decisively, but because I know how to hold back! Today I'll show you my true cultivation!"

Sima Kuang's presence surged again and again. His cultivation actually rose by two levels, reaching the Eighth Layer of the Golden Core Realm!

"What?!"

Chu Yu's face changed drastically.

If Sima Kuang had only been at the Golden Core Realm Sixth Layer, Chu Yu, at the Fifth Layer of the Golden Core Realm, could still have fought him.

But now, three minor realms separated them!

Sima Kuang had roamed the jianghu for years and was indeed a ruthless man. He had never revealed his true cultivation lightly!

Everyone who had seen Sima Kuang's true cultivation was dead!

Sima Kuang struck again, the blow far more powerful than before. A heaven-sweeping tide of blood-red light slashed toward the Ji Kingdom's great general. Unable to withstand it, Chu Yu had his armor split by the Blood Saber, leaving a bloody gash across his chest.

The Mount Shu disciple leading the group frowned. Sima Kuang's cultivation was higher than he had expected, beyond what disciples admitted within the past ten years could handle.

Just as he was about to intervene, Lin Qingzhi, Azure Nether Sword in hand and resolve on his face, attacked Sima Kuang from behind with a move from Soaring Cloud Swordsmanship.

"Brat, don't you know my cultivation is at the Eighth Layer of the Golden Core Realm now? You're just a brat at the Golden Core Realm Second Layer. What gives you the nerve to stand against me?"

Sima Kuang sneered and ignored Lin Qingzhi's sneak attack. He still intended to kill the Ji Kingdom's great general first, whom he considered the greater threat.

Killing the Ji Kingdom's great general would also strike a blow to the morale of its two hundred thousand troops and relieve the eight hundred bandits from their predicament.

"You hid your cultivation. So did I!"

"One Sword Opens Heaven's Gate!"

Lin Qingzhi circulated the Grand Profound Art wildly. Spiritual Qi from his Dantian flooded the meridians throughout his body, and his presence soared as his cultivation reached the Seventh Layer of the Golden Core Realm in an instant!

At the Mount Shu Disciple Tournament, Lin Qingzhi's true cultivation had still been at the Golden Core Realm Sixth Layer. Before he left the mountain, Lu Changsheng had used Transmission Empowerment on him again. Lin Qingzhi had refined the Spiritual Qi, and after another three months of training, his cultivation had reached the Seventh Layer of the Golden Core Realm.

"No, impossible!"

Sima Kuang realized with a start that Lin Qingzhi's true cultivation was only one minor realm below his own. He wanted to block with all his strength, but it was already too late.