10 Low Profile (2/2)

'Such domineering aura. He is so young too. Even though he is at initial steps of middle stage Core Formation, his aura is nearly at half-step into Nascent Soul.'

Emperor Ming felt a tinge of regret. His intuition as a cultivator was warning him. He felt that it somehow didn't come from Han De, but still came from Han De's direction. It was faint but it was there. Emperor Ming had lived more than a thousand years, he knew better than to ignore this feeling.

'That son of mine just couldn't stop himself from playing his games.'

Han De's aura caused nearly all of the Foundation Establishment and below cultivators to kneel. Not only they couldn't withstand the pressure, but they were also afraid of the consequences if they didn't bend their knees. Concept inside the aura created an unprecedented fear inside them. Despite the distance and the defensive spiritual artifacts on them, no one could resist it.

Core Formation experts were also in a predicament. The concept caused them to be alert. All of them subconsciously entered defensive stances. Many of them had unsightly expressions. Getting forced into a stance due to someone's aura pressure was akin to admitting they were inferior.

While Han De's aura didn't cause much pressure to Nascent Souls and was downright cute for those of even higher realms, what made them furrow their brows was the potential. Everyone knew of the Han De's name, his character, his self created martial arts. But no one expected to see him advance it to such a degree. This was a major slip up of their information networks. They had to reevaluate some of their approaches.

Han De retracted his aura. He had released it for 10 seconds. He appeared to be calm, but his eyes were truly livid. This was his masterpiece, the calm looking storm. It took him many days to master this look.

* * *

Han De tried to practice fighting during last week. However, he quickly found out that although he had the cultivation pervert's memories of all his fights and practice sessions, AND his muscle memory for different moves, to him they weren't particularly useful.

For one, memories of his fights felt more like watching movies. In a fight every situation was different. Trying to learn to fight through those memories alone felt like watching DIY youtube videos to build a modern house.

Muscle memory was good, but even a layman could tell they were too rigid. Unless he was facing those that were an entire realm lower it wouldn't be useful.

Han De lacked the fighting intuition that was forged from lifelong experiences. It wasn't something that could be filled by watching someone's memories or copying their moves. In fighting games' terms, he knew how to execute moves, but had no idea how to combo. Worse, his opponents are pro-players, and the consolation prize is death.

He thought about learning this by practicing with Ning Bi. He could fake it by acting like he was deliberately lowering his fighting intuition to her level, but the troubling thing was, Ning Bi was an MC. Her fighting intuition was most likely already off the charts considering how she defended herself against devil-chickens with nothing but a stick. Practicing with her was just asking to tear down his Profound Teacher facade. It was only a matter of when.

Therefore, Han De decided to focus on the power of bullshit. If he couldn't fight, he had to play to his strengths. He had the backing of both the biggest sect and the most domineering family in the area. He also had a reputation for being an arrogant young master.

'You look at me in a funny way? Have fun living a crippled life! You don't want to give me face? Good luck with your next life! I don't like your looks, leave the women then scram, don't let me see your face again!'

Han De entirely focused on bluffing. Used cultivation maniac's memories to construct behavior patterns. When to bluff, when to back off, when to call father, when to fight as a last resort, when to call mother for the nuclear option and so on.

* * *

A calm voice swept through the pavilion.

”I didn't expect some of our guests to be so bold. Courting death so unrestrained, so freely.”

Han De didn't look at the youngsters that were talking not a minute ago, but looked directly at their seniors. Han De especially made eye contact with Emperor Ming. He didn't know who that guy was, he was just the closest one to his line of sight. One of the most important aspects of his Arrogant Young Master act was to limit horizontal head movement. Any horizontal movement had to be compensated with a vertical one.

”Elder Han De, do you not think that you are going a bit too far with this? Let younger generations solve their problems on their own. We as the older generation should not meddle.”

The person who spoke was the leader of Heavenly Gate Sect. Its power couldn't rival that of Starfall Mountain Sect, but it had many backers within other regions. They were being used as a buffer against the south-east region, but because they were getting advantages, they didn't go against this flow.

Han De realized this guy was on a bad angle, so he had to do a sweeping horizontal motion if he wanted to meet his eyes. Deciding against this, Han De kept his eyes on the emperor and talked.

”Don't walk near the riverside if you are afraid of drowning.”

Meaning of this was clear. She is my disciple. If you use tools to mess with me, be ready to lose your tools. Masters all around frowned. Situation was getting out of their hand and was proving to be unpredictable. They just wanted to do some probing, why this sudden escalation?!

Actually, Han De didn't really mean anything by this. He had (badly) remembered a Chinese idiom that (vaguely) fit the situation (he thought). Han De raised his head while still keeping eye contact with the emperor. After getting enough vertical clearance, he finally made the diagonal motion with his head gave a half-contemplative-boss look to Heavenly Gate Sect leader.

”This once. I will give you face. I will ignore this situation for the conference.”

Satisfied with his no-look look, Han De added with a faint smile.

”Pardon the interruption, let us continue the gathering.”

* * *

Ming Niu's face was unsightly. He was the one that made the last comment. He understood what his father and other masters were trying by staying silent. Through Zhang Cheng deductions, he was already interested in the situation. He decided to play a little game, but the board was flipped before he barely completed his first move.

All around him were the young masters gritting their teeth. Once Han De had retracted his aura, all the young masters were finally able to look up. Everyone under Core Formation was either on their knees, or if they didn't have spiritual artifacts to support them, on their fours. No one was spared, even Starfall Mountain Sect disciples were on the ground. All except Ning Bi.

Seeing Ning Bi not even spare a look to anyone infuriated Ming Niu even further. Not only he was a prince, but he was also nearly at Foundation Establishment himself. He had never suffered such humiliation. He signaled to Zhang Cheng.

* * *

Seeing Han De appear nonchalant so soon after his display made other masters feel vexed. This guy was just too unpredictable and too overprotective of his disciple. Although some of the comments were vile, it was still just the rashness of the younger generation. Him being this cautious made others suspect even more that he was hiding something.

Han Wei knew, the major powers would not stand for collectively losing face like this. Although they were gathering for their common interest, Han De's act this time was clearly out of line. However, Han Wei's invite for his son had also paid off in a sense. He was particularly interested in the Zhao faction elder's reaction. Foreign powers seemed oblivious, except for Forsaken Sword Sect's leader.

Great Elder of the Chu family was invited to the conference. He had heard about Han De chasing his granddaughter. Although Han De himself was talented he thought his character wasn't worthy of little Chen. Still, seeing Han De walk towards him and his precious little Chen, Great Elder Chu Bohai had to give face.

Standing near him, Chu Chen was displeased. She wasn't fond of Han De, to say the least. She still remembered Han De's declaration to her when they first met. After that, every time Han De saw her he made a mess to catch her attention. When she secretly visited the disciple acceptance ceremony, he had somehow heard of it and made a scene to impress her. Even today wasn't any different. She was tired of it.

”Greetings Elder Chu. Sister Chu.”

Han De made a standard greeting and engaged in some small talk. When he first saw Chu Chen he was taken aback.

'So that's what a 'jade-like skin' looks like! Her skin really does... look like… Wow it looks like someone abused the crap out of the airbrush filter in photoshop… It looks a bit creepy now that it is in front of me in real life.'

Chu Chen's disdain for Han De once again broke past its limits. She always felt uncomfortable whenever he ogled her with his eyes, but today was something else. Chu Bohai seeing Han De openly check out his granddaughter was fuming inside.

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Exchanging pleasantries, Han De decided to leave without scoffing after detecting their hostility. He was sure that the cultivation idiot never met them, or had any interactions with the Chu family before. Thinking that it must be due to his aura display from before, he departed quickly. Besides, he kept finding himself involuntarily looking at the girl's freaky skin. She was a walking talking uncanny valley in real life. It was hard for him to ignore such a sight.