The next morning, Wan Lei left early, heading straight for the main peak's summit, to… class.
He couldn't rush to inquire about these matters; his intentions would be too obvious. In the beginning, he had to act like any other new disciple.
The Thunder Hall's classroom was vast and divided into several sections. Wan Lei went to the one exclusively for new disciples, where they taught the history of the Five Elements Hall and the main points of cultivating in the Tai Xu Realm.
His arrival caused a considerable stir. Fellow disciples kept looking at him, and he returned their gazes with friendly smiles.
Classes were boring. When Wan Lei almost fell asleep, he understood why there weren't many people in the classroom.
These were people accustomed to wielding blades and striking foes. How could you expect them to sit here and listen to a brainwashing lecture?
Wan Lei forced himself to stay alert and continued to ponder the matter of rescuing his wife.
He realized something: breaking Fang Xiaoyu out of prison wasn't the only way to save her.
There was also a legal and legitimate method that could clear her name, prevent the Five Elements Hall from hunting him, and even allow him to continue cultivating within the Five Elements Hall.
It was even possible for Fang Xiaoyu to be assessed and join the Five Elements Hall for cultivation.
The reason Fang Xiaoyu was imprisoned in the Five Elements Hall was her cultivation of the Wind Blade Escape Technique.
Therefore, as long as he could find one of the immortal beings who had left the six great secret realms in the Thunder Wind Realm, even just one of them, it would suffice.
If that immortal could prove that the Wind Blade Escape Technique Fang Xiaoyu cultivated was left by them in the Thunder Wind Realm, and that she obtained it by completing a perilous mission with Wan Lei through the secret realms, then she could be exonerated.
Wan Lei felt a sense of relief. When he arrived at the Five Elements Hall, he had caused quite a commotion. The immortal beings suspected of being Saints within the Five Elements Hall likely knew he had arrived and that Fang Xiaoyu had been captured.
However, they hadn't approached him today. Wan Lei guessed it might be because they were unwilling to come forward and testify. By leaving the Five Elements Hall's exclusive divine abilities outside, thus leaking them, stepping forward to testify would likely implicate them and lead to punishment.
But they were Saints, so what were they afraid of? Who could punish them? Furthermore, they had lived for so long; when they gave him the Wind Blade Escape Technique, didn't they consider this beforehand?
If you give me divine abilities, you should at least arrange for the subsequent risks.
The way you are acting truly resembles a scumbag who leaves after enjoying themselves, zips up their pants, and walks away.
Shaking his head, Wan Lei refocused his thoughts.
Currently, he had two tasks to accomplish. Since breaking her out of prison within the year was impossible, he couldn't force his way in. He wasn't so arrogant as to confront the Five Elements Hall head-on. Breaking her out had to be done through strategy, and only through strategy.
These two tasks were: first, to smooth things over with the prison authorities, offering money and gifts where necessary, to inquire about Fang Xiaoyu's condition, and to ensure those people took better care of her.
Second, to find those immortal beings suspected of being Saints of the Five Elements Hall and persuade them not to be irresponsible scumbags and to come forward as witnesses.
If the second task was completed, the first would become unnecessary.
He thought and pondered, trying to determine which Saint was the most suitable.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Wan Lei's mind.
Those six immortal beings represented the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, plus a ghost immortal. The ghost immortal mentioned being in the ghost realm and was temporarily out of consideration. This meant that within the Five Elements Hall, there were now five individuals who fit this description.
They were the Hall Masters of the Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth Halls!
Upon realizing this, Wan Lei, disregarding that he was in class, immediately picked up a spiritual tablet and searched for information on the Five Hall Masters.
He soon found it.
The results filled him with overwhelming joy.
Although their names were not specified in the information of these five Hall Masters (Wan Lei, of course, did not know the names of those five immortal beings), the information clearly stated that before the Five Elements Hall was established, these five were already Golden Immortal realm powerhouses. They had known each other since childhood, were extremely close, inseparable, had formed a team called the "Dream Team," and were disciples of Patriarch Bodhi.
As Wan Lei read about these five individuals, his entire body trembled with excitement.
The five elemental attributes, their close relationship, their inseparability, their Golden Immortal cultivation before the establishment of the Five Elements Hall, and their status as founding elders of the Five Elements Hall, among the earliest group to establish it.
It all matched up, every detail.
Wan Lei continued scrolling, reading the life stories of these five Hall Masters. Their records detailed their travels between various planes under Patriarch Bodhi's arrangement during their mortal realm experience, honing their skills through missions.
This implied that they indeed possessed the ability and experience to traverse planes.
Now, Wan Lei was almost eighty percent certain that the individuals who had left the secret realms were these five Hall Masters.
With this thought, a smile curved Wan Lei's lips.
No matter how covertly you operate, I've still found your traces.
Wan Lei calmed himself, wanting to understand the personalities of these Hall Masters to see whose approach would be easier to break through. However, publicly available information would certainly not detail the information of Saints in sufficient depth, not even their personality profiles.
It's fine, he could inquire from others.
Wan Lei advised himself not to be impatient. He would wait a few days and then discreetly ask around. Otherwise, his intentions would be too easily exposed.
After class, a group of disciples invited Wan Lei for drinks. However, Wan Lei was determined to maintain a low profile. He did not want to become too entangled with these people, lest their relationships become too close, making it difficult to act later.
The disciples were not at all surprised. After all, although this person had only been here for a day, his glorious achievements were already legendary.
Killing dozens of Fire Hall disciples in the Lava Dead Domain, having Origin-level aptitude, breaking records during his assessment, and a single punch that incapacitated the incredibly defensive Yao An – all these were sufficient proof that he had the right to be arrogant.
Thus, Wan Lei's reputation as a cold and aloof figure quickly spread.
Emerging from class, the aloof heartthrob planned to visit the mission hall. Although he couldn't accept any missions, it would be good to familiarize himself with them. However, considering he had only asked Lei Xin about missions yesterday, going to the mission hall today would be too revealing of his purpose, so he held back.
Although he didn't go to the mission hall, Wan Lei visited the market, explored the city, and visited various places. He even went to the battle arena to watch a match, acting like a curious newcomer.
Feeling he had acted enough, Wan Lei returned to his cave in the evening.
For the next few days, Wan Lei followed the same routine: attending classes in the morning, wandering in the afternoon, and cultivating at night. People could see this aloof heartthrob everywhere.
Until half a month later, Wan Lei, utterly tired of acting, stopped going out.
However, by evening, Xiao Jin called him.
"Hello, Brother Wan, are you free? Let's grab a drink. I've invited a few good friends."
Wan Lei refused without a second thought; he had to maintain his persona as the aloof heartthrob.