A flash of green light rose, and the space a hundred zhang away began to warp. Then a perfectly ordinary-looking youth appeared in their line of sight.
His looks could be called utterly plain, and the green robe he wore drew no attention whatsoever. His features and brows were no different from Lin Xuan's. The only difference was his cultivation. At this moment, the person appearing before them was no longer a Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivator, but an old monster at the Lihe Realm level.
And a late-stage one at that, only a single step away from Dongxuan.
Although they had guessed as much, the gap in realm was still far too shocking. For a time, the Four Friends of Yan Mountain seemed rather constrained, and not one of them dared go up and acknowledge him.
"What, four fellow Daoists? It's only been a few days, and you no longer recognize Lin?" Lin Xuan's smiling voice entered their ears, his words still extremely warm and approachable.
"You really are Senior Lin?"
Huangting Sect's expression could be described as strange to the extreme—astonishment, bewilderment, joy, melancholy...
At this moment, even he himself probably could not make sense of his own feelings.
The other three wore much the same expressions. This was only normal. Being able to turn peril into safety was naturally a source of incomparable joy, but a good friend who had originally associated with them as an equal had suddenly become a lofty senior. That feeling was hard to describe...
How should it be put? Their hearts felt a little empty.
"Of course it's me."
Lin Xuan admitted it openly and frankly. Things had reached this point; hiding anything more would have no meaning at all. Although the Four Friends of Yan Mountain's cultivation was not worth mentioning,