2: Chapter 2 When you're traveling, you have to give yourself your own identity.

The man in black's body hung in mid-air.

It wasn't held up by anything; rather, the pressure was so solid that even the air had turned into an iron curtain, sandwiching him in the middle, unable to move.

The Flying Sword shattered into powder, rustling down through the gaps between his fingers.

The man in black's lips were trembling. It wasn't from the cold, but from fear. He had cultivated for thirty-seven years and killed countless people, yet he had never seen cultivation at this level.

Void Refinement Stage.

In the entire Piaomiao Holy Land, from top to bottom, how many could there be?

"Senior..." the man in black squeezed out a sound, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, "this one was blind—"

The Phantom didn't look at him.

A large hand pinched the man in black's neck out of thin air, like picking up a chick, and casually pressed him into the ground.

"Thud."

A human-shaped pit collapsed into the ground. Blood overflowed from the man's nose and mouth as he fainted on the spot.

Gu Sheng stood where he was. The small bloodstain on his neck was still seeping blood, but his attention was no longer on the wound.

He was looking at the System panel.

[Void Refinement Stage Expert (Phantom State)]

[Remaining Duration: 28 minutes 47 seconds]

[Note: In the Phantom state, the strength is at the Void Refinement Stage Peak. Domain-type Divine Abilities cannot be used, and it cannot leave the host's hundred-zhang range.]

Twenty-eight minutes.

Gu Sheng's brain worked rapidly.

This wasn't a life-saving talisman; it was a time-limited card. After twenty-eight minutes, the Phantom would disappear, and he would still be that trash Peak Master at the Qi Refinement Stage.

So he couldn't just survive. He had to let everyone know—Tianxuan Peak wasn't something anyone could touch.

Although this Phantom was a product of the System, Gu Sheng discovered it had a certain degree of independent consciousness—or rather, it would act and respond according to Gu Sheng's subconscious.

Just like that sentence earlier, "You dare harm my Young Master," Gu Sheng had not given any instructions.

Interesting.

"Deal with the other three first," Gu Sheng said.

The Phantom's figure flickered and disappeared from the spot.

Three seconds later, a muffled thud came from the eastern mountain path.

Five seconds later, a scream came from the north, cutting off abruptly.

Eight seconds later, the Phantom reappeared behind Gu Sheng. He was carrying three people in his hands, like three dead dogs, casually throwing them onto the ground.

The three people were piled haphazardly together, all fainted. Including the man in black from before, that made four.

Clean and efficient.

But Gu Sheng's brow did not relax.

Because he sensed it—several extremely fast auras were approaching from a distance.

Very strong.

Each one far exceeded the four people from just now.

"They're here," Gu Sheng whispered.

The pressure of the Nirvana Realm erupted, and it could be sensed within a hundred-mile radius. There was no reason for the Peak Masters of the nine Peaks of the Piaomiao Holy Land not to notice.

Gu Sheng didn't panic.

He quickly went over his wording in his head, then took a deep breath and sat down against the rock wall.

The first to arrive was a green sword light.

The sword light landed, transforming into a middle-aged Daoist. Green robes, hair tied up, with a lean face.

Biluo Peak's Peak Master, Su Yanzhi.

The moment he landed, his gaze swept over the four people lying on the ground, then over Gu Sheng sitting against the wall, and finally fixed on the Phantom.

His pupils constricted.

"This... Fellow Daoist?" Su Yanzhi cupped his hands, his tone cautious.

He couldn't see through the Phantom's cultivation. Not being able to see through it meant the opponent's Realm was at least two major Realms higher than his.

Immediately after, three more streaks of light landed one after another.

Xuanyang Peak's Peak Master Zhao Yuan, dressed all in black, in his fifties, expressionless.

Qingyun Peak's Peak Master Lu Weilan, a female cultivator with the appearance of someone in her thirties, her gaze gentle but profound.

And then there was Yaoling Peak's Peak Master Bai Jingxing, a chubby old man, still panting when he landed, clearly having flown too fast.

The four streaks of light had just dissipated.

Su Yanzhi had just cupped his hands, and before the polite words could leave his mouth, a substantial force smashed directly onto his shoulders.

Like a ten-thousand-catty boulder crashing down.

"Bang."

Su Yanzhi's knees buckled, and he smashed heavily onto the gravel of the mountain path.

The gravel pierced through his Daoist robes and into his flesh.

He couldn't even cry out in pain.

Three muffled thuds followed closely beside him.

Xuanyang Peak's Peak Master Zhao Yuan had the toughest temper; his spiritual power circulated frantically in his body, attempting to resist.

It was useless.

That pressure brutally cut off all the spiritual power circuits in his body.

Zhao Yuan's spine bent inch by inch.

His bones made an overburdened grinding sound.

Finally, he also fell to one knee, the veins on his forehead bulging.

Yaoling Peak's Bai Jingxing was already fat; this pressure sent him flat on the ground, gasping for breath, sweat covering his face.

Qingyun Peak's Lu Weilan's hair was disheveled as she gritted her teeth hard, maintaining a half-kneeling posture.

Four Peak Masters at the Golden Core Stage Peak, or even half-step Nascent Soul, influential figures who called the shots in the Piaomiao Holy Land.

At this moment, they couldn't even lift their heads.

"Hmph."

A cold snort came from above.

The sound waves rippled through the air, making the four people's eardrums ache.

"What right do you have to stand on equal footing with me?"

The Phantom old man looked down at them from above.

His coarse linen clothes moved without wind; there were no extra movements, just pure suppression by Realm.

Su Yanzhi's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed a mouthful of bloody saliva.

Void Refinement Stage.

It was definitely the Void Refinement Stage.

Perhaps even higher.

Even the Old Ancestor of the Piaomiao Holy Land, who was in secluded cultivation, didn't have this kind of terrifying pressure at his Peak.

"My Young Master intended to recuperate from his injuries here."

The old man spoke again.

"Because of Family matters, I only left for a few days."

"And yet, some petty people dared to take advantage of his vulnerability."

The old man's volume rose.

The surrounding trees shook violently, and the leaves shattered one after another.

"Are you tired of living?"

The last few words carried substantial killing intent.

The killing intent turned into a cold wind, scraping across Su Yanzhi's neck.

Young Master?

Recuperating?

Su Yanzhi was stunned.

He turned his neck with difficulty.

Enduring the thousand-catty pressure, he lifted his head bit by bit.

His gaze passed the hem of the old man's linen clothes.

Passed those four assassins on the ground whose fate was unknown.

And finally stopped by the rock wall.

Gu Sheng leaned against the cold stone.

The sleeve of his left arm was soaked in blood, which was dripping down.

There was a small line of blood on his neck.

His face was pale.

He looked extremely weak.

Countless thoughts flashed through Su Yanzhi's brain in an instant.

Gu Sheng?

That trash Peak Master of Tianxuan Peak at the Qi Refinement Stage?

No.

All of it was wrong.

When Perfected Cloud brought this child back to the mountain back then, he said nothing.

He only said he was an orphan picked up at the foot of the mountain.

But what orphan could make Perfected Cloud pass the position of Peak Master to him before he died?

What orphan could make a Void Refinement Stage expert willing to call himself an Old Servant?

Su Yanzhi understood everything now.

This wasn't some orphan at all.

This was the Young Master of some hidden Great Family, or the direct descendant of some super Sect.

Perfected Cloud wasn't taking a disciple back then.

He was entrusted by someone to provide cover for this Young Master.

In these eight years, Gu Sheng didn't leave Tianxuan Peak and didn't reveal his cultivation, not because his Aptitude was dull.

He was recuperating.

Or he was practicing some special secret technique.

How laughable that those blind fools in the Holy Land were still thinking about Tianxuan Peak's small properties every day.

Even Sun Yan from Lingxu Peak dared to send people to assassinate him.

They really were tired of living.