Chapter Five: Mo Dafu

  After a while, Han Li felt his waist tighten and his body lighten, and he suddenly automatically rose up.

  Han Li turned his head to look, but it was the senior brother who had been closely following him, one hand holding himself, and the other hand and both legs agilely climbing upwards. At the same time, Han Li also noticed that the sun was hanging high in the sky, right in the middle.

  Han Li felt a pang of sadness in his heart, he had worked so hard, but why was he still unable to surpass others?

  Before he knew it, they had arrived at the top of the mountain. In front of him were six little children sitting on one side resting, while Yuè Yán was talking to a fifty-year-old rich old man wearing a deep blue robe with his hands behind his back. Yue Tángzhǔ and Wáng Hùfǎ stood beside him, and several people stood beside them, waiting for the young masters to send the slower children up the mountain one by one.

  After a while, all the children were brought up, and at this time, Yue Tuan walked forward one step, solemnly facing the crowd of children.

  "This time there are seven qualified candidates, six of whom will enter the Ben Tang Bai Duan Hall and officially become inner disciples of our sect." he said slowly.

  "Another one, Wu Yan, the first to reach the cliff, performed exceptionally and was directly sent to Qi Jing Tang to learn the ultimate skills of this sect." The master of Yue Tang turned his head and glanced at the old man in a worn-out robe, who stroked his beard and nodded in satisfaction.

  "As for the others..." Yuedang glanced at the remaining children, stroking his chin with his right hand, and after a brief moment of contemplation, he said:

  "Zhang Tie, Han Li, although you two did not arrive at the summit on time, your performance was outstanding. It seems that you can endure the hardships of martial arts training. You two will first lay a foundation with several instructors in our school, and after half a year, we will assess you again. If you pass, you will officially become inner disciples; if not, you will be sent to the outer school to be dealt with as outer disciples."

  Han Li glanced at another child who stood out at the same time, called Zhang Tie, who was closely following behind him and hanging on the rope, just a little bit away from climbing to the top of the cliff.

  "Wang Hu Fa, give each of the remaining people some silver and send them all back home." Yuedong Zhu looked coldly at the last remaining child.

  "Roger!"

  The guardian deity stepped out, bowed his body and accepted the order, leading the untested children down the mountain cliff.

  "Zhang Jun, Wu Mingrui, you two take these people who have passed the test to the main hall and hand them over separately to Vice President Gu and Instructor Li."

  Two more young men took orders and walked out, dividing Han Li and the others into two groups, heading down the mountain cliff. One of them was that cold and icy senior brother. As they were about to go down the mountain cliff, Han Li couldn't help but take a glance at Wu Yan, finding him still talking to the blue-robed old man without any intention of leaving.

  "He and you are different, he was sent to the core disciple of Qi Jue Tang, once he learned it, at least he would be a protector. Another thin-faced senior brother seemed to have seen Han Li's doubts in his heart, took the initiative to dispel them, but in his words, there seemed to be a hint of inexplicable envy and jealousy."

  "He's relying on having a sister-in-law who is the deputy master, if not for her marrying Master Ma as his second wife, he wouldn't have made it. His age already exceeds the requirement for entering the sect, yet he can still enter the Seventh Absolute Hall?" The cold words of Shixiong sent chills down everyone's spine, as if a cold breeze was rising from behind them.

  "Zhang Jun, are you out of your mind? Are we also allowed to casually discuss the deputy master? If others from our sect hear about it, both of us will not be able to escape punishment and will have to face the wall in repentance!" The thin-faced senior brother was shocked by Cold Brother's words, hastily looked around, and only relaxed when he saw that there were no outsiders except for these few young disciples.

  The cold and stern senior brother let out a cold snort, seemingly also having some reservations, and stopped speaking. It was only then that Han Li learned that this cold and stern senior brother's name was Zhang Jun. As for what they said, Han Li's heart was half-understanding and half-not, but vaguely knew that Wu Yan had not entered the Seven Absolutes Hall through genuine talent or real learning, but because there was a relative of the deputy hall master within the sect who served as his backing, allowing him to enter effortlessly.

  As they walked on the mountain path, both of these two senior brothers thought of some depressing things inside the sect and no longer had the mood to speak, silently leading them forward. Han Li and others dared not to talk privately, perhaps their hearts had already vaguely realized that the Seven Mysteries Sect was different from other places in the house.

  As they passed through a dense forest, an old man emerged from the woods. He was over sixty years old, tall and thin, with a dark yellow complexion, but he had a head of white hair that reached his shoulders. The old man walked while constantly bowing his body and coughing, and judging by the effort he put into coughing, it seemed as if he might fall down at any moment, causing great concern.

  Zhang Jun and his wife saw this person, but they didn't show any worried look. Instead, they hurriedly walked forward and respectfully bowed to the old man.

  "Master Mo, sir, is everything all right? Is there anything you'd like to instruct me to do?" Zhang Jun's usual cold demeanor was replaced by a respectful expression, his face filled with reverence. To him, this old man was more worthy of respect than even the sect leader or vice sect leader.

  "Ah, is this a new disciple who just came up the mountain?" The old man finally stopped coughing and asked in a hoarse voice.

  "Yes. Among them, six are formal disciples and two are nominal ones." Zhang Jun replied carefully.

  "I'm currently short-handed, still lacking a Dan-making apprentice and a herb-gathering disciple. You two come with me." The ink doctor pointed casually, coincidentally pointing at Han Li and the other two registered disciples, his tone full of an air that did not allow for any questioning.

  "Yes, sir! These two are my registered disciples. It's their good fortune to be favored by you, Master Mo. They should come and pay their respects to you immediately. If they can learn one or two medical skills from you, it will be a blessing for them for the rest of their lives!" The two senior brothers did not show any sign of objection, and Wu Mingrui, with his thin face, even began to flatter the old man excessively.

  Han Li and Zhang Tie saw that their two senior brothers had no objection, so they naturally didn't have the right to oppose it either. They followed the old man into the forest.

  The old man led the two of them, slowly and steadily along the small path in the forest, turning east and west, when suddenly a lush green valley full of vitality appeared before their eyes.

  On the left side of the valley is a large piece of land emitting a strong medicinal fragrance, with many kinds of herbs that Han Li couldn't name. On the right side are over a dozen houses of varying sizes connected together in a row. Looking around, apart from the entrance they came in through, it seemed like there were no other exits leading to the outside.

  "This is Shen Shou Valley, except for the disciples inside the valley, outsiders usually don't come here unless they are sick or injured. You two will be living here from now on, go rest first and come to the main hall tonight, I have something to tell you." The old man stood in front of several connected houses, pointing to a smaller one among them.

  "You can call me Mo Lao from now on." The old man said, pausing for a moment before continuing:

  "You can call me Dr. Mo."

  After finishing speaking, Mo Daifu ignored the two of them and walked into another more luxurious room with a series of coughs.

  Han Li was already exhausted and didn't care about another child named Zhang Tie, he himself fell onto a wooden bed in the house and fell asleep, for him, no matter what, he could already be considered half a disciple of the Seven Xuanmen.