The grandeur of Huaxu truly made Zhang Xiaohua sigh. From afar, he had seen lightning flashing beneath the dark clouds and had already imagined crimson clouds blanketing the skies above some desolate overseas island. Yet not only had the endless black clouds pressing down upon the horizon exceeded his expectations, even the enormous ruins of Huaxu before him left him dumbfounded. He truly had not expected that the "xu" in Huaxu really was the "xu" of ruins!
As he pondered this, several disciples came racing over from not far away with lightness skills, shouting from a great distance, "What disciples are you? How dare you come to the cult's forbidden grounds?"
Zhang Xiaohua's expression did not change. Once the four drew near, he took his waist token from his robes and handed it over, saying warmly, "I am a Protector disciple of Mocu Palace. Here is my token."
"Mocu Palace?"
"A Protector disciple?"
Everyone was startled. They looked at one another in genuine astonishment. Mocu Palace was entirely made up of female disciples, and they were all their senior sisters. They had never heard of Protector disciples there.
One man cautiously accepted Zhang Xiaohua's token and inspected it closely. It was indeed identical to the tokens of Mocu Palace. Then he looked at Zhang Xiaohua's clothing, which also resembled that of Ruijin Hall. Ren Wufeng could not be certain, so he passed the token to the others for inspection before cupping his hands and saying, "Senior Brother, I am Ren Wufeng of Ruijin Hall. May I ask your honored name?"
Zhang Xiaohua smiled. "Since you ask, my surname is also Ren. My given name is Xiaoyao."
"Ren Xiaoyao?" Ren Wufeng frowned slightly. The name was unfamiliar; he had never heard it before. Somewhat awkwardly, he asked, "Senior Brother Ren, forgive