The meeting hall was silent.
Elders lay slumped in their chairs, some drenched in sweat, others unconscious. Only Sect Master Liang Xuanyu still sat upright, his chest heaving, star-like pupils trembling as they fixed on the smiling man before him.
That smile… so casual, so harmless. Yet behind it lurked something that had pressed an entire continent to its knees.
John stretched lazily, then snapped his fingers.
The air shimmered faintly, like ripples across a still pond. Across the Northern Continent, time seemed to stutter—beasts froze mid-roar, cultivators hung in the middle of their strikes, mortals paused with their feet mid-step.
And then, just like that—
They forgot.
Forgot the silence.
Forgot the kneeling.
Forgot the terror.
Their lives resumed as though nothing had ever happened.
But those inside the meeting hall did not forget. Blood seeped from the nose of one elder, another whimpered in his unconscious state. Even Xuanyu, master of the Starveil Sword Sect, felt the weight of that moment clawing at his soul, as if the memory itself might crush him if he held onto it too long.
John tilted his head, grin widening.
"So now… can I join your sect?"
Xuanyu swallowed. For the first time in centuries, his lips formed a word he hadn't spoken since youth.
"…Yes."
The conscious elders stirred in disbelief, but none dared speak.
Xuanyu straightened his back, forcing his voice to remain steady, though his mind whirled.
'If I resist, we perish. If I embrace him… perhaps we soar. Or perhaps he drags us into ruin.'
"But not as an ordinary elder," he said at last. "A being like you… must stand apart. From this day forward, you are granted the title Free Immortal, with your own mountain peak in Starveil."
A ripple of shock coursed through the hall. To grant a personal peak was an honor reserved only for the greatest of Nascent Souls and here it was being handed to a stranger.
John blinked, then shrugged.
"Free Immortal, huh? Has a nice ring to it. Do I get free food with the peak, too?"
Xuanyu nearly choked but quickly added, "And as Free Immortal, you may take disciples of your own. Tomorrow, I will gather the new recruits — you may choose from among them."
John smirked, lounging in the sect master's throne as if it were his own.
"Now that's more like it."
By dawn, the central plaza of the Starveil Sword Sect was filled. Hundreds of fresh disciples stood in neat rows, their new robes crisp, their faces tense with nerves.
Murmurs rippled through the crowd:
"Who is that man beside the sect master?"
"Why does he look like… a mortal?"
"Then why are even the great elders silent before him?"
Near the center of the formation, two figures stiffened.
Lin Feng's eyes widened, his jaw nearly dropping. "W-Wen… that's—!"
Qiao Wen swallowed hard, his voice a whisper. "…Uncle John?"
At the front of the plaza, a single chair had been placed. John sat cross-legged on it, lazily munching on an apple, scanning the disciples like he was browsing for vegetables in a market. Xuanyu stood beside him, hands folded, silent as stone.
When John spotted the two boys staring at him, he grinned, raising the apple in a casual wave.
Their hearts thudded violently in their chests. 'Of all places… how could he be here?'
John clapped his hands once.
"Alright, let's make this quick. I'll pick a few of you. No need for bows, tests, or all that boring stuff."
The disciples looked at one another in confusion. No tests? No trials?
John pointed.
"You. The one with fire in your eyes. Step forward."
Lin Feng's heart thundered. He stumbled forward, hardly believing it.
John smirked.
"Yeah, you've got guts. I'll take you."
Feng clenched his fists, barely containing his excitement.
Next, John's gaze slid lazily over the crowd then stopped.
"And you. The stiff one trying not to laugh. Come on."
Qiao Wen blinked, then pointed at himself. "M-me?"
"Yeah, you. You'll make things fun."
Wen stumbled forward, looking half-shocked, half-delighted.
The elders watching exchanged looks. Lin Feng and Wen were talented, yes, but hardly the top geniuses of this batch. Why would the Free Immortal choose them?
But John wasn't finished.
"You. The girl muttering to herself about… formations?"
A petite disciple with ink-stained fingers jumped, cheeks flushing. "Eh? M-me?"
"Yeah. You look weird. I like it. Step forward."
She hurried forward, clutching her sleeves, whispering under her breath about array nodes even now.
"And you. The kid who looks like he's about to faint. Yeah, the coward. Come on."
A trembling boy shuffled forward, eyes wide with fear, muttering, "I-I'm going to die…"
"And… hmm…" John's eyes narrowed, then fixed on a plain, silent youth at the back.
"You. The one nobody notices. Step forward."
Gasps broke out. That boy had no presence, no talent. He was barely accepted into the sect. Yet the Free Immortal had chosen him.
At last, John stretched, tossing his apple core aside.
"Alright, that's enough. You weird bunch are mine now. Welcome to Free Peak."
The plaza exploded in whispers. And the disciples John had chosen — Lin Feng, Qiao Wen, the strange girl, the coward, and the invisible youth — stood in a daze, their dreams twisted into reality in the strangest, most impossible way.
John yawned, already standing to leave.
"Alright, sect master. Show me my peak. Then I'll start whipping these kids into shape."
Xuanyu nodded quickly, though his heart still thudded with a fear he hadn't felt in centuries.
The Peak Reveal
He led John and the five chosen disciples through winding paths, past the glittering peaks where great swordsmen meditated, past waterfalls that shone with spiritual qi. At last, they stopped before a desolate mountain.
Its cliffs were jagged and lifeless, its trees withered, its spiritual veins long since dried up. Whispers said no disciple could cultivate here without going mad. For a century, it had been abandoned.
Xuanyu bowed slightly.
"This is the peak the sect offers you. Once called Hollow Sky Peak. Now… it is yours."
The disciples exchanged worried looks. Lin Feng's face darkened. "This… this place doesn't even have qi."
But John only smirked.
"Perfect. If a mountain's empty, I'll just fill it myself."
He stepped forward, placing his hand on the cliffside. A faint hum spread outward, the barren stone trembling as if awakening from a long sleep.
The disciples' jaws dropped. Even Xuanyu's pupils shrank.
John turned, flashing his grin.
"From today onward—this is Free Peak.