(OLD/NOT CANON) Immortal Ascension Tower

Chapter 4 - Twin Stars

As the sky began to darken, Cheng Hao finally stepped outside the Teleportation Hexagram and found himself in a vast courtyard. It was a few miles wide and occupied the space in between the sixth and seventh layers of the walls.

Off in the distance were many small huts, each occupying a small area of a few meters in both width and length. An old man with white hair sat on a chair, looking down and thus making others unable to see his face.

In front of him was a desk, much like the Vacant Elder that Cheng Hao had met before when he was travelling together with Liu Biao. He was probably some sort of gatekeeper, behind him was a small cart full of black robes as well as hundreds of keys hung on its side.

As soon as he stepped out, Cheng Hao saw the old man sitting behind the desk whom also lifted his head to look back at him. Cheng Hao's eyes gleamed and he started to walk towards the stall the man owned and bowed as soon as he neared: the man purposefully hid his cultivation to others so very few people would know, but he was actually a peak Reverend Martial expert.

He could escape other people's eyes, but how could Cheng Hao possibly be fooled by such trickery? Him, who had once been a being at the peak of existence... How could a mere cultivator from such a lowly plane possibly fool his eyes!

"Junior offers his respects to his elder" He respectfully exclaimed, his voice fawning but not to the point it seemed too flattering.

The old man was baffled: very few people would be polite to him and would instead treat him as nothing more than a delivery man, urging him to hand over the sect robes and hurry away soon after.

Few would show such respect to him unless their nature was that of a polite person... or if they had seen through his cultivation and attempted to flatter him to gain favors off of him. The old man despised those kind of people the most so he hid his real power, but... Had it just got seen through by a child?

His previous nonchalant expression turned serious, he sent a strand of Reverend Will towards the young boy. A Strand of Will, a strand of spiritual energy containing one's consciousness. Being in the Reverend stage, only those on the same stage or above would be able to sense it.

Of course, a few exceptions are everywhere, but for a child so small to be able to see through the power of a man having a cultivation of the Reverend stage was just unthinkable!

Seeing the old man's actions, Cheng Hao laughed in his mind and completely ignored the Strand showing confusion at the older man's change of expression: if he had reacted to the Strand in any way, the old man would have found out that he had actually seen through his real cultivation...

It would mean he was able to see through a Reverend Martial cultivator while still not yet having stepped into the realm of cultivation... It would bring countless problems to himself as well as there being the chance of offending that same cultivator.

Seeing no reaction from the boy in front of him, the old man couldn't help but smile 'Such a polite young boy...' Being fooled by Cheng Hao's methods, in his heart he really thought of Cheng Hao as an exemplary child!

"Is Elder alright? Did Junior offend you in any way? If so I, Cheng Hao, would gladly amend and give his life!" Cheng Hao immediately kneeled, seeming worried but at the same time determinate to carry his burdens and pay off his debts.

The old man's heart warmed seeing such dedication and respect towards the older generation. He quickly helped the young man to his feet, reprimanding him "Men have gold under their knees. One shouldn't kneel lightly but only to their parents and to their master."