Chương 372: Leaving seclusion

Long Feng quickly made his way to the shop, where he spent most of his heaven runes to buy several powerful healing pills and herbs. Most of the ones he bought were made specifically for deity realm masters. He also noticed that his appearance didn't cause any change in the outer peak, as few seemed to recognize him. Even if they did, all they talked about was his feat of killing Bai Lixi.

As for the events that occurred in the mystic realm as well as the Dao Heaven Hall, Long Feng didn't hear a single word about them. It would appear that the wardens suppressed the news to avoid causing too much shock in the peak. As for Long Feng himself, the wardens acted as though he didn't exist. No word was said about his feats, nor his supposed punishment. It was as if everything had been buried silently. Long Feng naturally knew better than to believe that though.

Whenever he thought of the wardens, his mind would stray to the vast killing intent and crimson eyes of the head warden. Putting those thoughts aside, he casually inquired about the upcoming inner peak test and learned that only two weeks were left. In other words, he had been unconscious for fourteen whole days and was now left with less than that to heal as much as possible. After knowing that, he rushed back to his pavilion.

By the time he returned, the sun had already set and darkness was quickly taking over the world. Without wasting time, he rushed into the training room and prepared a little before going into a short seclusion to heal himself as much as possible in two weeks.

The entire outer peak got more and more excited as the day of the inner peak test drew closer. In truth, the disciples didn't know what the test was. Only the wardens usually did. The participating disciples would be taken to the inner peak for a while, and the wardens would return later. If there was a disciple who failed to pass the test, he would also be brought back to the peak. Their excitement was largely due to the fact that the unbearable weight of the top ten geniuses would soon stop pressing down on them.

Many disciples, especially the top hundred on the Mortal rankings couldn't wait for that to happen. Only then would they be able to truly shine in the sect without being overwhelmed by the brilliance of the deities. A dozen days passed in the blink of an eye and there were only two days left to the day of the test. In these two days, the outer peak seemed to have gotten heavier due to the aura of the top deities emerging from their secluded training.

They all had reserved auras with very heavy pressures that could unnerve anyone in the peak. Without doubt, they had all improved even slightly due to the competitive spirit amongst them and the pressure of the unknown test. With all nine deities out of seclusion, the atmosphere reached it's peak. Among these nine, it was unlikely that any of them would fail to pass the test. While it happened quite frequently, there was no doubting the strength of these nine.

Within a pavilion near the peak of the mountain, two figures sat facing each other with a table between them as they drank tea. The two figures were Yang Qian and Zhou Zheng, who's aura had returned to near it's peak. Nothing seemed different about him if it wasn't for the empty sleeve where his left arm should have been. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

They sipped their tea in silence for several minutes before Yang Qian lightly placed his cup on the table.

"So, what brings you to my humble residence? Surely, it couldn't have been only to drink tea right?" He questioned. Zhou Zheng also out down his cup and stared at Yang Qian.

"That's right. I've been wanting to ask you something." Yang Qian smiled faintly.

"Let me guess. You wish to know why I didn't join you all against Long Feng in the mystic realm right?"

"That's right. You are a swordmaster, and as much as I know, you will never back out of anything due to fear, otherwise you'd risk leaving a flaw in your heart." Yang Qian nodded.

"That's right." Zhou Zheng instantly narrowed his eyes.

"Then tell me why you ran away? If that wasn't cowardice, what was?" Yang Qian's calm smile deepened.

"Cowardice? Well then, where exactly did your bravery get you? Certainly, you don't enjoy the missing arm right?" Zhou Zheng's eyes reddened as his sore spot was poked and he slammed his clenched fist upon the table, shattering it.

"Don't mock me! At least, I didn't run away like a coward!" He snorted.

"Even when he took the Dao heart from right under our noses, you still didn't dare to even make a squeak! What a disappointment to our names!" He roared, feeling unspeakably bitter. Yang Qian gently shook his head.

"I never ran away. There's a clear line between cowardice and caution."

"Caution? Hmph!" Zhou Zheng snickered.

"To think I once thought highly of you as a rival! You were cautious of a mere Imperial realm brat?" His words were in a way, correct. After all, before Long Feng revealed his insane combat power, he was only an Imperial by all means. Yang Qian's smile faded as he rose to his feet and walked towards a wall, staring at the portrait of a sword on it.

"Do you know about the intuition of a swordsman?" He asked suddenly after a minute of silence.

"Huh?"

"The intuition of a swordsman. It's an extremely ethereal concept. We all have something like a sixth sense, a warning in our minds. It alerts us when we're about to enter grave danger. The deeper your comprehension of the sword, the clearer and more accurate it is. Unless the danger is so overwhelming that we can't even react to it, then we'll feel it before it arrives." He explained slowly. Zhou Zheng's eyes narrowed slightly.

"What do you mean?"

"When he devoured the Dao heart, I happened to come into brief physical contact with him. The next moment, I felt the most chilling sense of impending death I ever felt in my life. At the same time, I sensed the sword intent contained within his body. A single glance let me know that it was significantly stronger than mine. These two things caused me to completely forget about the Dao heart and stay away from him."

The corners of Zhou Zheng's lips twitched as he listened to Yang Qian's words with a strangely uncomfortable bitterness in his heart.

"If that really happened, why didn't you mention anything about it?" He questioned with that bitterness reflecting in his words. Perhaps he might still have his arm if he also followed Yang Qian's choice. Perhaps… Yang Qian turned around and smiled at him.

"Would you have believed me? None of you would." He replied, leaving Zhou Zheng speechless. That was the real truth. Even if Yang Qian had spoken to them about this, they wouldn't have listened at all. In fact, they would only mock him even more as a coward and exclude him from their circle. It could be said that their arrogance was exactly what pushed things to this extent. After a few minutes of silence, Zhou Zheng sighed and rose to his feet.

"That changes nothing. You are and will always be a coward to me."

"I'm fine with that. At least, I got to keep my life and my arms intact." A chuckle escaped Yang Qian's lips as he said that. Zhou Zheng clenched his fist and glared at him before suppressing his rising rage.

"We'll meet in the inner peak." He uttered as calmly as he could before turning and walking towards the doors.

"He'll also be there." Right before he stepped out of the pavilion, Yang Qian said this casually, causing him to freeze. An unnoticeable shiver spread throughout his body as he stood there.

"What'll you do? You can't be thinking of pushing this any further. If you'll follow my advice, just bury your grudges and let it go. He's not someone you can offend, as you've already seen." Zhou Zheng's entire body shivered like electricity as he heard those words that he always knew in his heart. It took a great deal of internal struggle before he suppressed his rage and buried fear.

"It's none of your business!" He half snarled before he stepped out of the pavilion and rushed away, leaving Yang Qian standing there alone. A small frown appeared on his face as he watched Zhou Zheng leave before he sighed.

"We'll meet in the inner peak…" he waved his arm, causing a wave of air to slam the doors shut while he waited patiently for the final day to end.

On the final day, Long Feng finally pushed open the door to the training room and walked out, taking very light steps. His black hair was scattered across his shoulders, matching with his black robes and giving him and extremely subtle atmosphere. None of his aura leaked out, making it impossible to sense his cultivation at a glance. His previously pale white face was now much more rosy with only a tiny shade of paleness still left. Walking out, he stretched his arms and stared at his clenched fists with a smile.

"I would say I'm about seventy percent recovered. Those healing resources were very helpful. I would've needed twice as long to heal so much." He smiled. Only mortal grade pills made for deities would have such effects for him. If he had used the normal imperial grade healing pills, the effects would have been barely noticeable.

"As for my strength, after falling to rank five Imperial realm, I've lost about ten percent of my power. But my foundation is more stable. If I recovered fully, I'd still be on the same level as Bai Zijun was."

"As for the Dao heart… I won't be able to use the true essence for at least a month more otherwise I would die before I kill anyone." The overwhelming pressure true essence placed on his body was beyond what any Imperial should bear logically. Using it once every few months was his limit, otherwise he would be killing himself. Luckily, there shouldn't be any situation that would require the true essence to deal with anytime soon.

"All that's left is to take the inner peak test. My strength right now is slightly below that of Zhou Zheng's when I fought him, but it should be enough to pass the test." He pondered. Having thought everything through, he packed up everything he would need to carry along in his void ring, not knowing whether he would be able to return to the outer peak later on.

After that, he left the pavilion and rushed towards the Dao Heaven Hall where he submitted his identity token and signed up to partake in the test as well. The warden in the hall happened to be one of the wardens who was present in the hall when the mystic realm closed, so he recognized Long Feng. He said nothing and simply wrote down Long Feng's name before sending him off.

"Tomorrow. This will be the gathering point where we'll leave. Come over as early as possible." Long Feng nodded and left the hall, heading back to his pavilion to spend the next few hours.

"I wonder what Lord Ao would think later on… he would probably be surprised. After all, he said he expected me to become an inner disciple in about two or three years." It needn't be mentioned just how shocking it was for a disciple who had only been in the outer peak for several months to take part in the inner peak test and even succeed.