"You're awake." As Li Xuan opened his eyes atop a mountain peak, a voice reached his ears.
Li Xuan focused his gaze and saw an old man holding a roasted chicken in one hand and a wine gourd in the other. He took a large gulp from the gourd, then looked over with a smile.
"Junior Li Xuan greets Senior." After sensing for a moment, Li Xuan was shocked to find that his divine soul felt like it had plunged into an abyss, eliciting no reaction. He immediately bowed respectfully to the old man.
However, Li Xuan was also somewhat puzzled. He had clearly been in a state of comprehension on the mountainside, so why had he been swept away by a sudden force?
"Young Master, it was your master who intervened. And your master asked me to tell you that he will handle the matter of Qingluan. Your master also said that you should forge your own path from now on." At this moment, the voice of the Heavenly Dao Brush sounded in Li Xuan's mind.
Li Xuan nodded in realization and then looked at the old man with some curiosity.
"My name is Luo Kang, and I am from the Green Hall. Little one, would you be willing to become my disciple?" Luo Kang asked Li Xuan with anticipation.
Li Xuan was about to refuse, but remembering the words of the Heavenly Dao Brush, he hesitated and said, "Senior, you are such a formidable expert, why would you want to take a junior like me as a disciple? From what I know, the Green Heaven Continent is not short of prodigies at the Freedom Realm."
Luo Kang chuckled, "You are quite vigilant, little one. Truly worthy of being a destined individual. The reason I value you is actually because I divined a hexagram today and had a feeling. The omen indicated that I would have a great gain by coming to this place, and you coincidentally appeared out of nowhere."
"I know it's a bit much to ask you to accept someone you've just met as your master. However, I believe having a guide is better than fumbling around alone. Little one, you are not from our Green Heaven Continent, so it's understandable that you don't know about the Green Hall."
Li Xuan's heart stirred. If Luo Kang had any ill intentions towards him, he likely would have acted while Li Xuan was unconscious. Moreover, Luo Kang's words were somewhat persuasive. After all, with Liuli's whereabouts unknown, Li Xuan was truly in the dark on the Green Heaven Continent.
"Disciple Li Xuan, greets Master." With this thought, Li Xuan didn't hesitate and bowed to Luo Kang, calling out.
Luo Kang nodded in satisfaction, then stood up and said, "Since you're awake, let's return to the Green Hall."
As Luo Kang spoke, he waved his hand, and the wine gourd in his hand inexplicably grew larger and floated in mid-air.
Seeing this, Li Xuan moved and landed on the wine gourd. Luo Kang smiled, waved his hand, and then shot towards the distance.
Hum.
Half an hour passed. With a humming sound, Li Xuan opened his eyes.
At first glance, seven massive mountain peaks appeared before him. The peaks towered into the clouds, connected to each other. On each peak, powerful spiritual lights flickered, clearly indicating the protective formations guarding each mountain.
"Have we arrived?" Seeing that Luo Kang had also opened his eyes, Li Xuan muttered in curiosity.
"What you see now are the Seven Peaks of our Green Hall. Each peak has a Peak Master. In the Green Hall, apart from the Hall Master, the Seven Peak Masters are the most respected."
Luo Kang stood up and spoke. Li Xuan also got up, gazing at the approaching Seven Giant Peaks with shock.
"Let's go, back to the peak." After the wine gourd stopped, Luo Kang put it into his waist with a wave of his hand.
Along the way, Li Xuan saw many disciples of the Green Hall. Every disciple, upon seeing Luo Kang, stopped respectfully and bowed. It seemed that etiquette was highly valued in the Green Hall. Luo Kang merely nodded slightly, walking with ease as if in his own backyard.
However, Li Xuan noticed that from the first peak to the seventh, he didn't see a single large building. This made Li Xuan wonder if the Green Hall had not built any grand halls.
"Are you curious why you don't see the Green Hall?" Luo Kang suddenly spoke, seemingly sensing Li Xuan's confusion.
Hearing this, Li Xuan immediately responded, "Replying to Master, that is indeed the case. May I ask Master to enlighten this disciple?"
Luo Kang smiled and said, "The truly wise hide amongst the populace, the greatest wise hide amongst the mountains. Li Xuan, open your eyes and watch closely!"
As Luo Kang's words fell, he waved his hand, and a stream of spiritual light flashed from his sleeve. This spiritual light then shot directly towards the Seven Giant Peaks, mysteriously merging and disappearing into the air.
Just as Li Xuan was shocked, he saw the giant peaks ripple like water waves, quickly spreading outwards. Then, Li Xuan witnessed a transformation of everything he had seen before.
He saw palaces and halls erected on each of the mountain peaks, and countless figures, standing on spiritual light, soaring through the sky, as if it were a world unto itself.
"I never imagined the Green Hall would be like this. Master, what kind of immense power is required to set up such profound formations?" Li Xuan was struck with awe as he looked at the scene before him.
After all, Li Xuan was not lacking in his understanding of formations. And he hadn't detected any of it at first.
Luo Kang smiled, a hint of admiration in his eyes, "There are a total of nine formations here. They include formations for illusion and reality, formations for guarding the peaks, formations for spatial separation, attack formations, and so on."
"And these nine formations were personally set up by the successive Hall Masters of our Green Hall. After refinement by four Hall Masters, they were finally completed. It can be said that the defense of the Green Hall is virtually impenetrable."
"Refined by four Hall Masters..." After hearing Luo Kang's words, Li Xuan couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement. Such a foundation was truly terrifying.
"Alright, let's go. I am an elder of the Seventh Peak, so from now on, you will be a disciple of the Seventh Peak. I will take you to meet your four senior brothers. It's been some time since I last saw them. I wonder how their cultivation is progressing."
Luo Kang nodded, then as if murmuring to himself, he moved and shot directly towards a palace on the left side of the Seventh Peak.
Upon landing before a palace on the Seventh Peak, Luo Kang turned to look at Li Xuan and said, "This is my residence. Your four senior brothers should be cultivating in the back mountain right now. Let's go, I'll take you to see them."
After stopping, Li Xuan looked up. Upon seeing the scene, a strange smile appeared on Li Xuan's lips.
In the vast back mountain, there were only four figures meditating in cultivation. As Luo Kang and Li Xuan appeared, these four figures simultaneously opened their eyes, then with looks of excitement, they all rose and bowed respectfully to Luo Kang, calling out, "Disciple greets Master."
After looking up, the four of them curiously looked at Li Xuan beside Luo Kang.
"This is your fifth junior brother, Li Xuan. From today onwards, he will cultivate with you. As senior brothers, you must guide him diligently. Do not forget the responsibility of bringing glory to the Seventh Peak," Luo Kang said.
"Disciple obeys Master's command!" Upon hearing this, the four figures' expressions turned serious, and they bowed again in response.
Luo Kang nodded, then looked at Li Xuan and said, "Including you, I have only taken five disciples in my life. When I take disciples, I don't look at talent or potential, only whether they fit my temperament. Therefore, my Seventh Peak is lacking in talent."
"Your four senior brothers will slowly tell you about other matters."
"Yes." Li Xuan bowed and cupped his fists in response.
Luo Kang nodded, "From now on, you will be with your four senior brothers. They will arrange accommodation for you."
With that, Luo Kang's body flashed with spiritual light, and he vanished from the spot.
Li Xuan was momentarily stunned. His master, Luo Kang, was too irresponsible, just abandoning him here.
"Haha, after waiting for so long, I'm finally not the youngest junior brother anymore. Let me introduce myself, I'm Song Wuwen, your fourth senior brother."
As Luo Kang departed, the four figures quickly shot towards Li Xuan. A man in blue robes let out a loud laugh and introduced himself to Li Xuan.
"Greetings, Fourth Senior Brother." Li Xuan bowed to Song Wuwen.
"Hehe, Fifth Junior Brother, let me introduce you. This is Eldest Senior Brother, Su Yueze. This is Second Senior Brother, Chai Jingyuan. This is Third Senior Brother, He Xidong. By the way, Junior Brother Li Xuan, how did you impress Master?"
After the introductions, Song Wuwen curiously asked Li Xuan.
"Greetings, Eldest Senior Brother, Second Senior Brother, Third Senior Brother." Li Xuan first bowed to Su Yueze, Chai Jingyuan, and He Xidong, and then recounted his experience of becoming a disciple.
Upon hearing this, Song Wuwen and the other three looked astonished and said, "I didn't expect Junior Brother to be chosen by Master like this. Haha, but it's good, our Seventh Peak can now be considered to have successors."
Li Xuan felt that there was a story behind the Seventh Peak, so he cupped his fists and asked Song Wuwen, "Fourth Senior Brother, why do I feel like there are no other disciples on our Seventh Peak besides us?"
"This..." Hearing this, Song Wuwen exchanged glances with Su Yueze and the other two. There was a clear hint of awkwardness in their eyes.
"Fifth Junior Brother, the situation on our Seventh Peak is a bit special, so we have few disciples. Well, including you, there are currently only six people on our Seventh Peak," Su Yueze said to Li Xuan, a flicker of discomfort crossing his face.
"Six people..." Li Xuan's heart skipped a beat.
This sixth person was likely Master Luo Kang.
From the looks of it, things were not as he had imagined.