'Is that guy a True Inner Disciple?' Zhu Ning wondered as she recovered from the shock brought by Ji-Yoon's immense burst of speed, 'That speed is something almost no Golden Core cultivator can unleash...'
"Sister Zhu, what should we do?" the woman beside her, who was also running with all her might into the dark deep of the cave, asked. Even while running, her cane sword never left her hand, but her beautiful eyebrows and sharp eyes exuded the hidden sharp intent within.
"Su Ru, don't worry too much," Zhu Ning said calmly and stopped running as hurriedly as before, "Even if he arrives at the underground river before us, this is no guarantee he will find a Flood Dragon first."
Su Ru nodded thoughtfully and steadied her pace with Zhu Qing's.
"However, Su Ru, didn't you find something strange about him?"
"Hmm? Did you?"
"Yes... When I probed him with my ethereal mind... I couldn't sense his cultivation base existence at all," Zhu Ning said with a confused expression, "I never heard of a technique capable of hiding one's aura completely like that, he had no Qi or Aura fluctuations or even a Mind Rhyme... It was as if he was a really mortal without even martial arts foundation."
"That's strange..." Su Ru frowned slightly, "Normally, it would only be possible, for us cultivators, to hide our current cultivation base, but not the fact that we are cultivators. Unless... Could he be someone several Realms higher than us?"
The more they thought about it, the more it seemed dangerous.
"Could he be a powerful intruder pretending to be a disciple?" Zhu Ning wondered with beads of sweat on her forehead. Things seemed to be beyond their abilities.
"Sister Zhu, should we hurry back to the sect and report it?" Su Ru asked with an uncertain expression.
"But it's even stranger if he is really an intruder... Why would he make such a mistake while disguising himself?" Zhu Ning muttered while already feeling a bit upset with the uncertainty of the situation.
"And why is he heading to the underground river if he is an intruder?"
While they tried to catch up with Ji-Yoon, he was casually running and discerning the bleak and dark surroundings, not daring to low his guard.
'It's possible that other disciples were already at the river... I shouldn't lose time,' he thought and started to do simulations in his mind.
Half of his consciousness was focused on his body and surroundings, and the other half was focused on comprehending the techniques he got.
With his abnormally high comprehension and perception, along his flow 'potential' resonance, which allowed him to "go along the flow" and sense the meaning behind things easily, he quickly climbed the levels of the techniques.
After dozens of minutes, he finally sensed the river with his ethereal mind and immediately headed towards it. Although there was no light source, he could still see everything clearly.
The underground river was extremely large and deep and even had a powerful current as if it was heading towards the most dreadful abyss.
Ji-Yoon could sense that the mystical energy in the surrounding was much denser than outside, but it was unbalanced because of the excess of three elements' presence: Earth, Gold, and Water. To some mystical beings, it could be a paradise, but for others, it could be a torturing place to be.
Ji-Yoon simply didn't dare to absorb that mystical energy, since it could cause a lot of problems later on.
But after thinking for a moment, he decided to try and be in resonance with that ambient too.
The seemingly omnipresent flow was obviously there too, so he took advantage of it and began to adjust his being to be in perfect harmony with that place's flow and therefore nature.
After just a few seconds, he began to absorb the mystical energy again. Even though it was extremely unbalanced, it entered his being system and integrated into it as if nothing was wrong. The three elements' excess was simply and mysteriously not absorbed though, being exhaled with his breath as if it was completely natural.
"I was right, I should have more confidence in my path..." Ji-Yoon muttered and looked at the river's surging waves which collided with the cave's high walls, causing strong shock waves.
He chose to run in the direction of the river's current, hoping to find a flood dragon close enough to him to be sensed by his ethereal mind.
At the same time, he tried his best to hide his presence's signatures, fearing stronger beasts.
"Huh? Another disciple?" Ji-Yoon muttered as he sensed a disciple several kilometers ahead of him, "Is he fighting something?"
"Damn! Die!" Kun Jiang shouted as he slashed with his heavy sword towards the Crystal Lizard, a creature with power equivalent to the peak of the Golden Core Realm.
Lucky for him, although the Crystal Lizard had an extremely sturdy body, his heavy sword was just the adequate killing weapon for this kind of beast.
The Crystal Lizzard roared with all of its might, creating a protective shock wave that stopped the heavy sword. It was full of bloody wounds and was already trying to escape.
Although it had a very big figure, more than seven meters in length and three meters in height, it was extremely agile and quickly ran towards the river, it was best to combat habitat, where it could have an advantageous position.
However, just before it could finally enter the river, it was beheaded by a bolt of sharp crimson light, falling on the shore with a confused expression engraved on its stiff face.
"Who is it? Show yourself!" Kun Jiang shouted warily, he could not sense Ji-Yoon's presence and so he thought it could be a powerful enemy with stealth skills. A blindfold impeded others to see his expression completely.
"Fear not, Fellow Daoist," Ji-Yoon said as he approached, revealing his presence through the sound of his footsteps and voice, "Greetings, I'm Ji-Yoon, Inner Disciple."
"Oh!" Kun Jiang was momentarily surprised before he greeted him back, "I'm Kun Jiang, Core Disciple."
"Hoh? A core disciple?" Ji-Yoon was shocked for a moment before seeing his golden and white disciple's robes and token, and then asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I'm trying to hunt a Flood Dragon," Kun Jiang said as he put the heavy sword on his back, he had no wounds or even sweat even though he was fighting a beast in the same Realm of strength.
"...For Elder Yang?" Ji-Yoon asked with furrowed brows, he remembers it was against the rules for disciples in higher positions to compete with disciples in lower positions.
For example, an Inner Disciple couldn't apply for a mission that was hanging in the Outer Sect, unless he was an Inner Disciple in the trial, still to be accepted into the Inner Sect.
"Huh? Oh, no! Don't misunderstand me, I'm doing a mission hanging in the Core Sect," Kun Jiang explained hastily, "It's for a Core Elder."
"Because my cultivation is lower than most Core Disciples, I applied for this mission that no one wanted to do," Kun Jiang said with a smile that wasn't a smile, "However, I have to say they are just too proud, this mission gives such a generous reward that I can't miss."
"Hmm..." Ji-Yoon looked at the body of the dead beast and asked, "Do you want it?"
"Of course not!"
"I won't be polite, then," Ji-Yoon said as he put the beast's body in his storage ring, "Since we applied for different but same missions, what about exploring this place together?"
Kun Jiang was about to agree but he suddenly seemed to perceive something and backed off several meters as he drew his sword from his back, "Who exactly are you!?"
"Huh?" Ji-Yoon was completely out of sorts by the sudden change, "What's wrong?"
Cold sweat dropped from his forehead as Kun Jiang asked, "Why are you disguised as an Inner Disciple?"
"???" Ji-Yoon scratched the back of his head in confusion, "I guess there's a misunderstanding, I'm really an Inner Disciple, why do you think I'm not?"
"Isn't obvious?" Kun Jiang hmphed, "I can't feel your existence at all. If not because you are talking with me, I wouldn't know you were there."
"Is it that strange that you can't feel my presence?" Ji-Yoon asked in confusion, "It might just mean I'm stronger than you."
"To be able to hide your presence so completely, a technique is not sufficient..." Kun Jiang said slowly, "You would need to be at least two Realms higher than me..."
"..." Ji-Yoon was completely stunned after hearing that.
"Why are you still not attacking!?" Kun Jiang shouted as his aura rose, he seemed to be burning his own life essence, "I already contacted my master, he will surely kill you when he arrives! Surrender now or it will be too late then!"
"FUCK!" Ji-Yoon cursed out loud in panic, he just didn't expect this. He even thought that having a low presence was a good thing.
"Hey Hey, I'm really an inner disciple! I'm not using a stealth technique or am two Realms higher than you," Ji-Yoon hurriedly explained, "It's just a characteristic of my cultivation path, my whole being is simply by nature more difficult to sense. I just never thought it would be to this degree..."
'Damn! I met several elders just a while ago, but none of them noticed something radically wrong with me... or they actually did but didn't care?' Ji-Yoon racked his brains as cold sweat drenched his back, 'Elder Nie just commented about my cultivation base but didn't react much. I thought it wasn't something I need to worry about'
"If it's really a misunderstanding, wait for my master to arrive! He will personally verify it!" Kun Jiang shouted as he thought it could have been the case, but he still kept his guard high all time the, not caring about his burning life essence.
"Hey hey, stop burning your life essence!" Ji-Yoon was almost crying, "Your master will surely kill me if you continue."
"That's your problem!" Kun Jiang shouted.
'Fuck you!' Ji-Yoon cursed inwardly.
Suddenly, he felt the presence of the two women he just met and wondered if it was a good or bad thing.
After a while, Kun Jiang finally also felt their presence and secretly sent a voice transmission to them, ordering them to run away.
However, both women still came toward them.
"Sister Zhu, they seem to be on the verge of a life and death battle!" Su Ru muttered.
"No! It's definitely not a life and death battle!" Ji-Yoon shouted, "It's really just a misunderstanding."
He then proceeded to explain the situation to both women, who are as suspicious as Kun Jiang.
"If it's really as you said, just wait here for Senior Brother Kun's master!" Zhu Ning said with furrowed brows and tense body, ready for any sudden change of situation.
"What choice do I have now?" Ji-Yoon smiled bitterly, knowing he couldn't escape a troublesome matter.
After a few minutes, a powerful pressure came raining upon everyone, almost making them kneel, Ji-Yoon was no exception.
In a blink of an eye, an old man appeared just before Ji-Yoon, looking at him with scrutinizing eyes.
No one said anything and waited for the old man to open his mouth first.
"You..." the old man looked at Kun Jiang and said, "Useless disciple!"
In an instant, the old man appeared at Kun Jiang's side and slapped his head.
"M-Master?" Kun Jiang cried in confusion.
"Do you know how important was the pill I was refining?" the old man shouted as he slapped Kun Jiang's head again, "I came here hurriedly, thinking an enemy has popped out, but it was just a wrong judgment of you!
"Incompetent disciple!" the old man shouted again furiously.
Kun Jiang instantly kneeled and cried, "I'm sorry for being useless, master! I'm sorry!"
Ji-Yoon twitched his mouth at the sight of this and at the same time sighed in relief. It seemed that the powerful old man was quite discerning and understood the situation at a glance.