Here, have this. I'm sure its taste will suit a youngster like you;"
"Mhm;"
Old Man Wang took out a brand new bottle of wine before passing it on to Di Tanxue.
Silently gulping down one glass after another, none of them spoke for a whole incense stick worth of time.
For Di Tanxue it was his first time drinking alcohol as such he did not appear much fond of its bitter taste and yet he gladly let it all flow down his throat.
"...So, how did you figure it out?"
Having finished the bottle of wine, Di Tanxue waited for a moment and chose to break the silence first. It was of paramount importance for Di Tanxue to know the answer to this question.
A cultivator could gaze directly at the Cursed Ocean. This fact alone allowed them to notice many things based on the influence a person's existence had on the Cursed Ocean.
Discerning one's race, cultivation strength, soul signature and some unique physical attributes. These could all be done within a few moments as long as there was no obstruction.
But the Cloak of Concealment that Di Tanxue was wearing at the moment was supposed to be a protective covering meant to be used during rains to hide one's presence from the phantoms.
Because of the way this artifact functioned, it was essentially something that could isolate one's presence from the Cursed Ocean and since it was of the earthly rank, even someone above the Mortal Transcendence realm shouldn't be able to see past it.
As such it should have been impossible for Old Man Wang to realise of Di Tanxue's identity as a Pilgrim as long as there was no problem to the Cloak he wore….
"Heh, how can I not when you so generously provided me with all the clues. Hahaha… your anchor, you clearly have no idea what it signifies;"
Seemingly very amused with the current situation, once Old Man Wang started laughing he could not stop for the next few breaths of time.
"You, young man, which stage is your cultivation base at? Is it second, third or… no fourth and above is out of question;"
The old man did not wait for Di Tanxue to answer as he already had an inkling in his mind.
"Second stage…. a second stage Mortal Transcendence cultivator with a fully developed anchor, talk about a monkey with a sword;
Hehehe, those so-called geniuses of the Central Continent will surely die from jealousy if they ever hear of this.
Oh Little Tian, I can't wait to break it to you. This person you've been calling your elder so affectionately is actually a second stage just like you!
Ah, I can't waste such a fun opportunity!"
The old man mumbled with a malevolent expression and a delusional smile imagining how hilarious Young Master Xu Tian's reactions would be.
This was completely opposed to the otherworldly grace he had shown back in the carriage. If the impression he gave when meditating was akin to a banished Immortal, then right now he was nothing but a drunk lunatic raving endlessly.
To have a bodyguard like this, one could not help wondering what sins Young Master Xu Tian had committed in his past life.
"How pitiful. Young Master Xu, you have my condolences;"
Di Tanxue felt truly compassionate about Young Master Xu Tian's misfortune and decided to be a bit more considerate towards him from henceforth.
He did not waste any more time with needless thoughts and recalled the old man's words from earlier. Di Tanxue obviously did not take those words at face value but they did seem to contain some truth.
It was most likely Di Tanxue's open demonstration of his anchor that enabled Old Man Wang to guess his current physical state.
How exactly did the old man do it? Di Tanxue could not say for certain, after all he was just a little second stage cultivator of the Mortal Transcendence realm and was thus an ignorant newbie compared to the old man.
All that he could do was to inspect his anchor in great detail with the hopes of finding the smallest of clues possible.
There inside his lower dantian space. Nothing much had changed to his anchor except for the End of a Thousand Years engraving appearing to have grown slightly more animated.
And if seen intently, it was possible to notice slight cracks all around the figures in the engraving. It gave the impression as if they might jump out of the engraving at any moment.
Di Tanxue gazed intently at his anchor looking for anything that might appear suspicious, but in all honesty he was sure there was nothing to be found.
From the moment his anchor had finished its complete formation till now barely a day had passed as such it was essentially impossible for him to have a complete know-how of it.
Letting out a sigh, Di Tanxue's gaze involuntarily shifted towards the engraving of pilgrimage in the lower section of his anchor.
Those cracks, with each passing day the cracks on the lower section of his anchor would only grow more and more wide and if this were to continue, within a few months these pilgrims would truly break out of the engraving, leading to Di Tanxue dying from internal explosion.
And no, not in a figurative sense but literally. They, after all, were outsiders inside Di Tanxue's body. A myriad of souls of the dead trapped within a single vessel, a single body.
They were not a true part of Di Tanxue's anchor…. Reaching this point in his thoughts, a hint of realisation formed in his mind — these pilgrims, they might have been the ones to give away his identity.
It was common knowledge that engravings on an anchor were a personal secret one couldn't see without the owner's explicit permission as such an old man would've not noticed these engravings but…
Bang!
Di Tanxue felt a soul-numbing sensation of danger course through his body as his vision instinctively returned back to reality!