"Who are you?" it was an old man with a long white beard and set fiery clothing similar to that of Wang Ling's, albeit slight difference in terms of the overall aesthetics and the lower half was kind of similar to pants.

The old man looked like a dignified bandit in the eyes of Wang Ling, but the strength he exhibits was nothing like a bandit's. It was a suffocating kind of power and the heat coming from his body was strong enough to even affect Wang Ling.

Inside Wang Ling was the Gray Figure assessing the situation calmly, "What are the odds, after talking about avoiding strong opponents they come crawling to our doorsteps? This is kind of ironic, so, what are we going to do? I can tell that this man is already at the pinnacle of the twelfth meridian, we can't kill him even if we ignite your bloodline."

All hope was lost for Wang Ling, or so it would seem. Wang Ling who was on his knees resolved himself and answered with both respect and dignity, "Wang Ling is my name, respected elder. I came from the afar western region of the Thousand Sword Sage Province, I am a wandering rogue sword cultivator seeking to join the Heavenly Dragon Selection to gain honor and fame."

"Hoh, the Thousand Sword Sage Province huh, that's quite a long way. That must have been why I do not know of you, and for a wandering sword cultivator to reach such a level, you must have been in seclusion for many years honing your skills, correct?"

Wang Ling answered with a nod. In the Lower Heaven, there are three main powers, the Heavenly Dragon Empire, the Thousand Sword Sage Province, and the Black Dragon's Immortal Battlefield.

Other than the Black Dragon's Final Battlefield that acts as the training grounds of favored talents, the other two are the major forces that split the Lower Heaven. The Thousand Sword Province is a haven for sword cultivators — although rare, there are prodigies that exist to challenge the heavens they are called — Divine Swords.

How did Wang Ling know of this? He asked the chief of the elves about this world with thoroughness and even if the Dark Elves chief didn't know the specifics of the world, such common knowledge is still within the range of his limited knowledge.

In the explanation of Wang Ling, the old man could already see how he managed to reach such a level and dropped the idea of him being a spy for some power. But the old man still doubted Wang Ling because such a talented youngster would have been treated like a treasure in the Thousand Sword Sage Province. So that being said, he was rather doubtful about what he is doing here.

"Boy, are you trying to trick me? With your talent why would you need to come to the Heavenly Dragon Empire to seek and honor and fame for? If you wish to join any sect in the Thousand Sword Sage Province, they would treat you like a fragile treasure and polish you well."

"This is a bit awkward for me to say, but…my Master, he is too proud to have me join any sect, saying they are too below the level of our legacy, and if I challenge them it would be bullying the weak saying it is natural for them to fall before the 'Strongest Sword Skill' of his."

"So…you have a Master?"

"That is right."

Wang Ling finally smiled inwardly as the face of the old man twisted and the pressure boring down on his body lessened. The old man was rattled by his words. And sure enough, Wang Ling was released from the pressure of the old man.

Having his body released from the pressure, Wang Ling slowly got up from his knees and he stood. Standing before the old man, Wang Ling was confident just like before, but he showed awkwardness behind this confidence. Despite this, the old man cannot discern if his attitude has any flaw. Wang Ling's actions were too natural for it to fake.

Also, even though he was confident he possessed no trace of arrogance. He had a serene heart, showing that he was still a master at such a young age. Such an attitude made the old man's face sunk even deeper from displeasure; after all, such an attitude can only be cultivated by people who know they are above everyone in their bones. Whoever this boy's master, he must be someone great.

"Hmm, it seems I was wrong from moving against you. I thought a rat from the God Sealing Faction had come to hurt the disciples of my sect. I should have known you were the disciple of a formidable Master when I saw you cleaving the tribulation in half, truly, only the strongest of sword skills can do such a thing. Can this junior tell this senior what is the name of your sword technique?"

Wang Ling showed an awkward laugh as he scratched the back of his head, "I apologize, senior for my impudence by I was told not to speak the name of my sword technique. But from what he said to me it was once a sword technique that rocked the Lower Heaven hundreds of thousands of years ago."

"…Is that so — truly such a shame — in the behest of my sect I apologize, junior brother Ling, you said that you are heading for the Heavenly Dragon Selection correct? As an apology why don't you head there with us? We can provide you protection, the juniors of our sect will be heading to join there as well."

Wang Ling once more showed an awkward smile and from there alone the old man already knew that something is wrong, "What is the problem, Junior Brother?"

"I apologize for this senior, but according to my master, I cannot travel with anyone. To be honest, I was not supposed to leave my seclusion this early, but I pleaded my master otherwise. He was angered and as a means to somehow continue my seclusion, he said that I must travel alone for at least five more years, I am still at the third year, I have to continue my travel all alone for two more years."

The old man was obviously disgruntled by his words, but in the end, had no way to convince Wang Ling otherwise. With a sour look on his face, he had to let it go but one last time, he asked Wang Ling, "I understand, but can I at least how old this brother of mine? In my sect we have a Divine Sword as well I only wish to see how he fares against a genius such as yourself."

"I am around 40 to 45 years of age, I apologize but I do not track my age quite well. But I feel quite pressured to be compared to other people of my generation, my Master did say that I ascended to Immortality too late and I reached Divinity in such a level that he had to hide his face if I claim that he is my master. And as for my sword Divinity, he was even more furious about how long it took me."

With an embarrassed expression, Wang Ling explained his situation. The old man, on the other hand, was too rattled that his expression was too comical to behold, with his lips twitching he continuously whispered, "An Immortal before the age of 50? That is…impossible — right?"

But the old man's curiosity noticed an important thing about the 'Master' of this young boy, his standards were too high. If he was already dissatisfied by a disciple of this caliber in regards to his cultivation speed, then what of his sword divinity?

Sword Masters would look at sword mastery with even more importance than cultivation, this made the old man wonder, just what age did he reach Sword Divinity?

"I know this old man is being so nosy, but if it is not so much of a problem can this Younger Brother of mine inform me what your age is when you reached Sword Divinity?"

"Um, can I not? The Master always said that I shouldn't speak of it to other people as it would make him lose face if they know of my incompetence."

"Do not worry Younger Brother Wang Ling, you have not spoken of your Master's name so I cannot even say anything about him and his teachings. I am already at awe for him to have managed to groom a genius of an Immortal that is yet to reach 50 years of age. I will certainly not speak ill of your Master in any way."

Wang Ling was still hesitant, but he made up his mind to tell the old man. He approached the old man closer and then lowered his voice until only the two of them could hear one another, "It is rather embarrassing but I was already nearing 30 years of age when I reached Sword Divinity."

Thunder struck the old man as realization struck the old man, [At such a young age he already reached sword divinity? Yet, his master is still displeased? Whoever this master of his is, he may just be a monster of the generations-long before ours. If he's this capable of raising a disciple, just how strong is he really? Good thing I didn't attack him and thought of killing him, if I did, his Master may just come for our sect and annihilate us. I must approach this with care.]

The old man cleared his throat before speaking, "Is that so, I do not know what your master is trying to say but in the Heavenly Dragon Empire reaching Divinity at such a young age is definitely a genius."

Wang Ling smiled, "Hehe, senior shouldn't be buttering me up with such lies. Ehem, I thank you for your kind words, but it seems like I must leave now, senior, I once again apologize for staying in this place for far too long, I need not stay here any longer now that I got what I wanted."

The old man nodded his head, "I wish to speak more but I see that you must leave. Junior Brother, others may not be welcomed in this place but our sect will open its arms for you if you so wish to train here. Also, take this."

The old man threw an emblem to Wang Ling, the emblem was crimson in color and in the middle was a carving of a blazing fire, "That is my Sect Emblem, as an apology you may ask for me in the sect when you are in trouble, just say the name, Limen and show them that emblem and they will know it is me."

"Thank you, Senior Limen, I will now take my leave. May we meet again in the Heavenly Dragon Selection." Wang Ling did not hesitate in accepting the emblem, such action made the old man satisfied.

Wang Ling left the Garden soon after with the old man observing him from afar. When Wang Ling officially left the Garden, he met with other disciples of the sect and when they tried to block him Wang Ling only needed to show the emblem and mention Limen's name and they would let him through without question.

Two hours later Wang Ling exited the Garden.

Along the way, the Gray Figure who had watched Wang Ling talk his way out of the situation and even miraculously get an ally was something of a shock for the Gray Figure, "What the hell happened!? What magic did you cast!? Did you beguile him!? I did not remember you having such an ability!"

Chortling, Wang Ling found the reaction of the Gray Figure to be amusing, "Heh, that is such a simple thing to do. Well, without the fact that I asked the elves a lot of things, I wouldn't have managed to concoct a story that will fool anyone."

"I know that already, I mean why did he believe you so easily?"

"That's the case, he didn't believe me so easily. He was still on guard until he started calling me Younger Brother. His tone of voice was constantly changing along with the information I speak off. My supposed background managed to make him warry of me, and with the backing of a Master, I managed to scare him into making him letting me go. When that happened I slowly showed the attitude of a hardened disciple and an awkward secluded disciple. Such quirks I learned from having the first-hand experience. Once he learned of my 'talent' the image of my Master will become real in his mind and I'll be free of doubt, after all, someone of my caliber cannot have been a mere wandering cultivator without a master so he took the bait and in the end, he was kissing up to me to gain my favor and for me to forget his rudeness. And as for why he didn't attack me if you are wondering, that is because if he does and I have an immortal in my body, he and his sect would be endangered by this top-notch master."

The Gray Figure grew speechless for the longest time. Finally, he managed to see just how much of a schemer Wang Ling was. Such an elaborate concoction of lies managed to pull them out of such a situation with ease was simply astounding.