Dragon Taming, Confession, Treason and Betrayal; Sect Master's Debt Collection, Autumn Killing

"Since you have come to our Sword Hut seeking instruction, how could we resort to bullying the few with the many?"

Xie Qingmian stood upon the stone steps, his plain azure robe fluttering gently in the mountain wind. His unrestrained figure carried an air of serene detachment from worldly affairs.

He raised his eyes toward Zhao Cheng in midair. His sparse, distant gaze paused briefly on the other man, yet a trace of barely perceptible confusion flickered through his eyes.

Judging from their exchange just now, this man was clearly only at the Golden Core realm. Even if his True Essence was purer and more substantial than Senior Brother Green Bamboo Sword Urn's, he should still have been within the range of Xie Qingmian's perception.

Yet when he now probed with his divine sense, it was as if he had plunged into a bottomless fog. The man's cultivation, the pathways of his True Essence, even the foundations of his inheritance—he could not see through any of it.

While Xie Qingmian pondered in silence, the Golden Core within Zhao Cheng's body quietly began to turn.

Upon the Golden Core's surface, the Star Aperture representing "Concealment" shone brilliantly. Like an invisible barrier, it firmly kept Xie Qingmian's penetrating gaze outside.

Waves also surged within Zhao Cheng's heart.

The other man's gaze seemed sparse and dim, yet it concealed a keenness capable of piercing straight through the heart. In that instant just now, Zhao Cheng had actually felt as though his entire body had become transparent, with nowhere to hide.

Had the Concealment divine ability not activated in time, his true circumstances might truly have been exposed.

This man's cultivation is unfathomable.

Zhao Cheng remained secretly vigilant. He made no rash move, merely hovering quietly in midair and watching for changes.

Upon hearing