This kind of aura, Chu Xuan had only seen similar to it on one person, and that was Ji Mingyu.
However, even Ji Mingyu couldn't give him this feeling. Ming Yu's Unity of Heaven and Man felt more like a harmonious integration with the heavens and nature. She blended into her surroundings, and the surroundings into her, the two as if one.
Chu Xuan couldn't discern which of these two states was superior, nor who was stronger between the two, but without a doubt, this person must be an exceptionally powerful cultivator!
Thus, he immediately took off in pursuit, "Senior! Would you consider taking me as your disciple?"
Chu Xuan was now clutching at straws, encountering an extraordinary presence and immediately hoping to become a disciple and train, completely ignoring the fact that he himself was already crippled.
The person didn't walk fast, so Chu Xuan quickly caught up.
To his shock, his hand passed right through the figure, as if it was an illusion, without physical form.
Chu Xuan rubbed his eyes and confirmed that this person should actually exist; it wasn't a hysteria from the series of severe blows he'd suffered.
So he chased up again, attempting to communicate with the other person.
But the mysterious man paid no attention, merely walking with his hands behind his back, lost in thought, apparently contemplating some supreme truth of heaven and earth.
His feet never paused, traversing forward in a perfectly straight line.
Trying various approaches to question him, Chu Xuan received no response and finally gave up on communication.
However, he hadn't lost hope but followed closely, curious to see where this person might be heading.
According to Chu Xuan, the Yunshan region housed only one large sect, the Cyan Lotus Daoist Palace. Given the man's high and mysterious cultivation, he might well be someone from the Daoist Palace.
If he were on his way back to the palace, just following him would lead Chu Xuan to the Cyan Lotus Daoist Palace, wouldn't it?
Even if not, appearing nearby might mean he's headed to the Dao Palace as a guest, whatever the case, following him makes sense.
Thinking this, Chu Xuan rekindled his hope.
At that moment, the mysterious man had reached a small river, and something astounding happened: as he stepped onto the water, it froze accordingly.
And it only formed the shape of a footprint, not a fraction more or less.
This baffled Chu Xuan; he thought that since the other person had no physical form, he should have simply walked over without leaving any trace.
Thinking this, Chu Xuan looked back and saw footprints on the path the mysterious man had taken.
He was momentarily stunned but followed into the river; luckily, the water was shallow, only reaching his knees.
Now, Chu Xuan constantly focused on the person's footprints, noticing that icy marks formed on the water's surface, and as the man took a few more steps, the ice behind gradually melted away.
Once the mysterious man reached the shore, Chu Xuan had a whimsical thought and stepped onto the footprints he left behind, one by one.
The man gave no reaction.
Simultaneously, a proverb "Learning the Walk at Handan" popped into Chu Xuan's mind.
He smiled wryly at himself but continued to follow step by step. With nothing else to do, he didn't want to remain idle, knowing idleness would spiral him back into painful memories; it was better to focus on learning to walk.
Not long after, Chu Xuan entered that state of "dedicated focus" once more.
Only the footprints on the ground filled his eyes, thoughts and senses dissolved; he walked step by step, forgetting time, hunger, and pain.
The sun rose and set repeatedly.
Several days later, the mysterious man ascended an active volcano. Though it hadn't erupted in recent years, hot magma still coursed beneath.
Unperturbed, the man showed no signs of detouring, walking straight up the mountain and down the crater, his body at a perfect ninety-degree angle to the ground.
Unbelievably, though Chu Xuan lacked Magical Power, as he mimicked the mysterious man, he too walked vertically down the volcanic wall.
If Chu Xuan were to suddenly snap out of his trance, he would surely fall into the searing magma below, incinerated without trace.
But the marvel lay in the fact he remained entranced, enveloped in that unique state.
Soon, the mysterious man traversed over the flowing, scorching golden magma, each step cooling it into igneous rock forming a black footprint.
As the man left, these magma traces melted away step by step.
Chu Xuan precisely managed to step on those traces just before they disappeared, preventing him from falling.
Strangely, despite the high temperatures at the volcano's base, his clothes and hair exhibited no signs of catching fire, as if in this unconscious mimicry, he too entered a state akin to that of the mysterious man.
In sum, until he left the active volcano, Chu Xuan was unaware of his brush with death.
...
He walked on not knowing how long, until his forehead abruptly collided with something, clearing his mind instantly.
Chu Xuan instinctively furrowed his brow, clutching his forehead, looking bewilderedly around.
He found himself in the depths of a vast mountain range, before him lay flat ground; logically, he shouldn't have bumped into anything.
Wait! Where is he? Where did that mysterious man go?
Chu Xuan's face changed dramatically, he hurriedly rushed forward, only to bump again into something invisible.
Full of doubt, he reached out and felt an intangible barrier in the air ahead. This familiar feeling is... an Array?
...
A while earlier, a young disciple keeping watch at Cyan Lotus Daoist Palace's mountain gate yawned out of boredom, lazily posing in an unstandard manner with five hearts facing the sky.
If seen by outsiders, surely they'd question how such a "crooked gourd split date" could be a disciple of the Daoist Palace?
Guard duty is monotonous work, nowhere to wander off to, leaving the young disciple drowsy, until he noticed someone triggering the Illusion Array on the Mountain Protection Array's perimeter.
The disciple quickly focused his mind onto the Illusion Array, assuming the trespasser, intentional or otherwise, would be misled and unintentionally drift away.
But to his utter surprise, the young man intruding, eyes unfocused, walked head bowed and slow, yet with relentless steps, towards the mountain gate.
This immediately filled the disciple with tension. Who is this person?
He personally manipulated the Illusion Array, no longer letting it operate autonomously.
However, astonishingly to the disciple, no matter what illusions he summoned, be they flood dragons, giant eagles, or formidable creatures, the young man turned a blind eye.
He simply continued, head bowed, until finally colliding directly into their Mountain Protection Array.
"Not good, this is a tough situation!" The young disciple hurriedly scrambled off to report to those above.