"Thank you, Brother."
Looking at the young nobleman in front of him, Li Hengsheng knew this person must be a disciple of Mu Hai Peak.
He just didn’t know whether he was an outer sect disciple or an inner sect disciple of Mu Hai Peak.
But the aura Li Hengsheng sensed from him was stronger than any brother he had encountered before.
Even... compared to Elder Lin Feng from the outer sect.
So young, yet with such cultivation, this person is truly extraordinary.
The Mountain Ancient Land is incredibly vast, and apart from Wanzai Peak, Li Hengsheng had only been to the Main Peak; he had not visited the other numerous peaks.
The distance from Wanzai Peak to Mu Hai Peak is not short, so the young nobleman directly mounted a precious steed and said to Li Hengsheng, "Hop on, the journey from Wanzai Peak to Mu Hai Peak is quite a distance."
"Alright."
Li Hengsheng also got on the precious steed.
The steed was entirely purple and much larger than an ordinary horse.
Its sturdy muscles and heavy snorts were quite remarkable.
When it ran, its speed was astonishing. The muscles on its strong hind legs seemed to burst, and Li Hengsheng suspected that if this steed kicked him, it could kill him with one kick.
"This is Purple Lightning," the young nobleman said with a smile. "It was a birthday gift from my family when I was young. Back then, it was just a foal, and as my strength grew, I tamed it into my mount. The lineage of Purple Lightning is nearly that of a Spirit Beast."
"Spirit Beast..." Li Hengsheng was filled with envy.
Having a prominent family background does evoke envy; they have such nearly spirit-level steeds right from birth.
Seemingly sensing Li Hengsheng’s envious gaze, the young nobleman chuckled softly and said, "Once your cultivation becomes strong, you’ll have these things too."
"I hope so," Li Hengsheng said with a bitter smile, though he did not know how many lifetimes away that would be.
"By the way, I haven’t introduced myself," the young nobleman began. "My name is Lord Zhou, a direct disciple of Mu Hai Peak."
"Direct disciple?" Li Hengsheng was somewhat surprised.
No wonder this person is so formidable.
It turns out he is a direct disciple of Xu Muhai.
However, Peak Master Mu Hai had also mentioned accepting him as a direct disciple. If things went smoothly, this person would be his senior brother.
"Yes, I am the third disciple of our master," said Lord Zhou.
"There is also a senior brother and a second sister above me." Suddenly, Lord Zhou asked, "By the way, do you know why the master called you over? Usually, if the master needs someone, a message would suffice. But today, he actually had me ride Purple Lightning to pick you up; quite unusual."
"Well," Li Hengsheng furrowed his brows, pondering for a moment before saying, "If nothing unexpected happens, Peak Master Mu Hai would probably discuss accepting me as a disciple. Recently, he mentioned wanting to take me as a direct disciple. I assume that’s what it is."
"Oh, so he wants to take you as a direct..." At this point, Lord Zhou suddenly froze.
His expression became dazed.
Lord Zhou leapt up, standing directly on Purple Lightning’s back.
Even though Purple Lightning was running fast, Lord Zhou was incredibly steady, staring at Li Hengsheng in disbelief.
The expression was as if he had seen a ghost.
"Junior brother, you must be kidding, right?" Lord Zhou couldn’t believe it, scrutinizing Li Hengsheng once more, though he had done so several times before. At this moment, it still seemed like seeing Li Hengsheng for the first time.
He examined Li Hengsheng from inside out, nearly wanting to strip him bare to see through him.
"That’s what Peak Master Mu Hai said." Li Hengsheng felt uncomfortable under Lord Zhou’s gaze.
As if he had no secrets in front of him.
"How is that possible!"
Lord Zhou still couldn’t believe it.
If one were to say, among all the Thirty-Six Peak Masters of the Mountain Ancient Land, who has the strictest criteria for accepting disciples,
Xu Muhai might claim second place, and no one would dare claim first.
Apart from Mu Hai Peak, the other thirty-five peak masters have at least five direct disciples each.
Only Xu Muhai has just three.
It’s truly because Xu Muhai is exceptionally strict in selecting disciples, and now he wants Li Hengsheng as the fourth disciple?
No matter how Lord Zhou looked at him, up and down, he couldn’t see Li Hengsheng as being qualified to be a direct disciple of Mu Hai Peak.
In fact, even entering the outer sect might be struggling with such qualifications.
Has the master gone mad?
Could it be that the master’s tastes have changed?
"Well... if the master indeed accepts you as a direct disciple, you would be my fourth junior brother. Haha, I wouldn’t be the youngest junior brother anymore, hahaha!" Lord Zhou suddenly laughed heartily. "In the future, our senior brother and second senior sister can’t order me around anymore, hahaha!"
Lord Zhou suddenly became joyous.
The more he looked at Li Hengsheng, the more pleasing he found him.
Li Hengsheng smiled as well, seeing that. Was being ordered around by the senior brother and second senior sister so miserable? In the end, he’s a rich young master, untouched by hardships. As long as he could become a direct disciple of Mu Hai Peak, those things wouldn’t be an issue.
Anyway, on Wanzai Peak, there’s daily work to be done.
In the time it takes to drink two cups of tea, Purple Lightning carried both of them to Mu Hai Peak.
Under the enormous mountain gate of Mu Hai Peak, some outer sect disciples were patrolling.
"Brother Zhou."
Seeing Lord Zhou return, everyone quickly greeted him respectfully.
"Hmm." Lord Zhou acknowledged and led Li Hengsheng up the mountain.
On Mu Hai Peak, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was abundant, tens of times stronger than on Wanzai Peak.
As he walked along, Li Hengsheng saw that Mu Hai Peak also had many disciples, both outer and inner sect, all diligently cultivating, giving off a very good vibe overall.
The residences were exceptionally beautiful, completely different from what Li Hengsheng had imagined.
"That’s where the inner sect disciples of our Mu Hai Peak live," Lord Zhou explained to Li Hengsheng. "Our Mu Hai Peak has hundreds of inner sect disciples and over two thousand outer sect disciples. The outer sect disciples live in the caves of the back mountain, while the inner sect disciples reside here."
"Where do the direct disciples live?" Li Hengsheng was curious about this question.
"Direct?"
Lord Zhou smiled. "Direct disciples naturally have their own attached peaks. Once you become a disciple, you can come and play on my peak, and then I’ll take you to Second Senior Sister’s peak to steal chickens."
"Steal chickens?" Li Hengsheng was stunned. Is it that thrilling?
Direct disciples actually engage in petty theft?
"Second Senior Sister cultivates a lot of Spirit Grass on her peak and also raises many Spirit Chickens. They grow up eating Spirit Grass, and their meat, tsk tsk," Lord Zhou smacked his lips, almost drooling, and chuckled. "You really ought to try it."
"But don’t let Second Senior Sister find out, or we’ll be in big trouble!" Lord Zhou warned.
Seeing Lord Zhou like that, Li Hengsheng thought, "I wouldn’t go. If Second Senior Sister finds out and you escape, while I can’t outrun you, wouldn’t I end up taking the blame?"
"Let’s go see the master first." Lord Zhou urged Purple Lightning forward briskly, leading Li Hengsheng to the summit of Mu Hai Peak.