That voice, like a Brahma Sound, vanished in an instant. Before Shen Haoran could respond, a piercing pain jolted him back to reality. "Hiss..." The excruciating pain from his leg made him gasp.

Shen Haoran opened his eyes and looked down at his leg. He hadn’t thought much of the pain, but one look almost made him want to cry out of sheer frustration!

Beside his bed, a boy with short, wavy hair dressed in crimson cultivation robes was relentlessly poking his leg with a branch. While poking, he muttered to himself, "Why isn’t he waking up? Don’t tell me he’s dead! Oh, that would be perfect. If you die, that pretty sister will be all mine, hehehe!" Listening to the boy and watching his exaggerated expressions, Shen Haoran’s own face darkened with irritation.

"Ahem..." Finally, unable to listen any longer, Shen Haoran let out a dry cough or two to let the boy know he was awake.

"Ah! You’re awake!" Shen Haoran’s sudden cough startled the boy, and—whether intentionally or not—the branch in his hand jabbed hard into Shen Haoran’s bandages.

"Hiss..." Shen Haoran gasped again, glaring daggers at the clueless-looking boy. ’That little punk,’ he thought, ’he’s absolutely doing this on purpose, I can feel it!’

"My... leg!" Shen Haoran said, his face contorted in pain and his voice trembling.

"Oh... oh, oh... I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to." The boy quickly got up and backed away in a panic. But as he retreated, his foot seemed to trip on something, and his body pitched forward, unfortunately landing right on Shen Haoran’s leg again!

"AAAAHHH...!" A scream like a pig being slaughtered echoed from Shen Haoran’s room.

"What’s wrong? What happened?" Ji Lingxuan had just reached the courtyard gate when she heard the blood-curdling scream from inside the room and immediately dashed in.

"Uh... Pretty Sister, you’re here! I was just about to tell you he’d woken up!" Seeing Ji Lingxuan, the boy scrambled off of Shen Haoran—not without "caringly" jostling his broken leg in the process, of course. He then ran up to Ji Lingxuan, speaking as if he were looking for credit.

Shen Haoran had been tormented by the boy to the point of utter exasperation. Staring at his deceptively innocent face, Shen Haoran felt like he could just die.

Fortunately, Ji Lingxuan was as caring as ever. She simply patted the boy’s head before hurrying to Shen Haoran’s side and asking anxiously, "Brother Haoran, how are you? Does anything hurt?"

Feeling Ji Lingxuan’s concern, Shen Haoran finally felt a bit better. He gave her small hand a squeeze to signal that he was alright, then jutted his chin toward the boy and asked, "Ling Xuan, who’s that little imp?"

However, before Ji Lingxuan could answer, the short-haired boy charged forward, pointed a finger at Shen Haoran’s nose, and declared, "Who are you calling a little imp? I’m your senior brother! Here in the Red Flame Hall, I’m your boss! Also, don’t get so close to the pretty sister. Did you get my permission?" With that, the boy stepped forward, pried Shen Haoran’s "wandering hand" off of Ji Lingxuan’s, and tossed it aside. The sight left Shen Haoran so stunned he was speechless.

"Alright, Little Zhen, stop messing around. Go tell Elder Huo and your brother that Brother Haoran is awake," Ji Lingxuan said with a helpless shake of her head, a smile on her face.

"Fine!" the boy replied reluctantly. He shot another fierce glare at Shen Haoran. "Don’t you dare get handsy with the pretty sister again, or I won’t let you off easy!" After tossing out a few more warnings, the boy turned and walked out, leaving Shen Haoran utterly bewildered.

"Ling Xuan, what in the world was that about?" Shen Haoran asked, completely baffled. Waking up to an encounter with such an oddball was jarring. ’If I didn’t sense a complete lack of killing intent from him, I’d have thought I’d woken up in a wolf’s den.’

Seeing Shen Haoran’s baffled expression, Ji Lingxuan recounted everything that had happened since he had fallen unconscious. It was only then that Shen Haoran learned he had been out for seven whole days!

As it turned out, when Shen Haoran stepped onto the eighty-first step, the Chaos Celestial Ladder had vanished before everyone’s eyes. Afterward, Shen Haoran was brought to the Red Flame Hall to heal. During the times Ji Lingxuan wasn’t around, that boy had been the one taking care of him. And that boy was indeed a disciple of the Red Flame Hall, which would make him Shen Haoran’s senior brother.

’To be recruited into the Red Flame Hall at such a young age, his Talent must be impressive,’ Shen Haoran thought with a nod. He knew that the Red Flame Hall’s recruitment standards were incredibly strict. For that boy to have been accepted, he had to be a dragon among men.

"Little Zhen, is that rascal really awake?" Elder Huo’s voice drifted in from outside while Shen Haoran was lost in thought.

"Of course! Why would I lie to you?"

A few moments later, Elder Huo burst through the door. Seeing Shen Haoran sitting up in bed chatting and laughing with Ji Lingxuan, he felt a small jolt of surprise.

’I checked his injuries myself,’ he thought. ’With wounds that severe, I didn’t expect him to wake up for at least twenty days. But how long has it been? Seven days! He’s awake in just seven days! This kid’s a monster!’

"Elder Huo, you’re here!" Shen Haoran quickly greeted him when he saw Elder Huo enter.

But Elder Huo was having none of it. He launched into a tirade without a second thought. "You brat! So you do remember I’m your Elder? Getting a bit too big for your britches, are we? Too good to listen to me now? Huh?! Do you have any idea you almost died? You..." Elder Huo’s lecture went on for a full hour, leaving Shen Haoran to do nothing but nod and apologize repeatedly.

An hour later, Elder Huo finally stopped. Shen Haoran quickly signaled for Ji Lingxuan to pour him a cup of water. After taking the cup, Elder Huo’s anger had mostly subsided. Shen Haoran quickly changed the subject, pointing at the two similar-looking boys behind Elder Huo and asking, "Elder Huo, these two are...?"

"Introduce yourselves. Get to know each other," Elder Huo said, perhaps too tired from the scolding to say much more.

"Didn’t I already tell you? I’m your senior brother, Long Zhen!" the short-haired boy from before said impatiently.

"Long Mo." After the short-haired boy finished his introduction, the slightly older-looking youth beside him said with a nod to Shen Haoran.

"Shen Haoran," Shen Haoran replied with a nod.

"Good. These two brothers are the only disciples our Red Flame Hall has. Now, with you, that makes three. You three must help each other from now on and make a name for our Red Flame Hall!" Elder Huo said after the introductions, aiming to bring Shen Haoran and the two brothers closer.

"You all chat for a bit. I need to pay a visit to the Cyan Wood Hall. That old coot Mu Feng has been dragging this out for days; it’s high time he handed over those Cultivation Materials!" With that said, Elder Huo stormed out of the room with the same fiery haste he had entered with.

"That’s just Elder Huo’s way of doing things. You’ll get used to it. Welcome to the Red Flame Hall!" Long Mo said, stepping forward and extending a hand to Shen Haoran.

"I’ve got a lot to learn."