Tale of an Ordinary Cultivator

“That’s not it, Senior Martial Brother Deng. I truly don’t have any qualms about the changes. Senior Martial Brother Liang must have been mistaken,” Lu Zhiying replied with a smile.

She had instantly understood the situation, and realised that there was no longer a need for her to confront Liang Wenshao.

Both of Deng Wei’s eyebrows raised a little upon seeing Lu Zhiying’s smile. “That’s fine as well. If there is anything you don’t understand in the future, don’t hesitate to ask your seniors. If they aren’t available, you can always come to me as well.”

“Thank you for your kind words, Senior Martial Brother Deng. I will keep it in mind,” Lu Zhiying nodded.

“We are all fellow disciples of the same sect. No need to stand on ceremony with me,” Deng Wei’s gaze lingered on Lu Zhiying for a few more moments before turning back to Liang Wenshao. “Get moving.”

“Of course, Senior Martial Brother Deng!” Liang Wenshao answered immediately. “All right, everyone. You have seen the changes to be made so let’s get back to work! If there is anything you don’t understand, don’t hesitate to ask!”

Liang Wenshao deliberately repeated Deng Wei’s words while glaring at Lu Zhiying, obviously unhappy that she was getting away scot-free.

At the same time, since Deng Wei had already spoken, Liang Wenshao could no longer pursue the matter anymore or it would seem as though he was not respecting Deng Wei’s decision.

Or at least, he could not pursue the matter anymore while Deng Wei was still here...

“Understood, Senior Martial Brother Liang!” Zhao Yunxiao answered before hurriedly dragging Lu Zhiying away.

As observant as he was, Zhao Yunxiao naturally noticed Liang Wenshao’s unfriendly gaze that had lingered on Lu Zhiying, and did not want to give either of them the opportunity to exacerbate the situation.

Deng Wei’s intervention might have help defuse the tense situation, but the combination of Liang Wenshao and Lu Zhiying was still a ticking time bomb that could explode at any time if left together for too long!

Deng Wei watched everyone return to their work, then lightly patted Liang Wenshao on his shoulder. “I still have another appointment, so I have to get going first. Let’s not make things too difficult for the juniors while I am gone. Do you understand me?”

“I understand, Senior Martial Brother Deng,” Liang Wenshao answered respectfully.

He understood that Deng Wei had seen through his displeasure about Lu Zhiying, and this was a light warning from him.

“Good.”

With that, Deng Wei left as quickly as he came, drawing sighs of relief from everyone in the hall.

True to his words, Liang Wenshao did not bother Lu Zhiying throughout the rest of the preparations, and Lu Zhiying similarly stayed quiet as well.

Just like that, the preparations were completed smoothly by the early afternoon. This was slightly earlier than what they had expected, especially considering Deng Wei’s interference.

However, Lu Zhiying actually revealed a look of obvious disappointment after they were done.

“What is it?” Zhao Yunxiao asked after noticing. “Disappointed that there’s no more work to be done?”

“Who will be disappointed about that?” Lu Zhiying forced a smile.

“Then what are you concerned about?” Zhao Yunxiao continued asking.

“You know... is this the completed version?” Lu Zhiying gestured towards the completed furnishings.

“That’s right,” Zhao Yunxiao smiled as he finally realised what was going on. “Are you thinking that it looks to be quite lacking, considering that this is a lecture hall for cultivators?”

Lu Zhiying nodded, not intending to hide her thoughts.

“This looks just like a lecture hall that can be found in any ordinary school, albeit one that is of a rather large scale,” Lu Zhiying elaborated. “I can understand the normal lectures being held here even for cultivators, but we are preparing for an elder’s lecture! Shouldn’t it be held in the skies, with the clouds as the floor and divine wood as the walls?”

“You have been deeply poisoned by the ordinary folks’ embellished tales of cultivators,” Zhao Yunxiao laughed. “Though if you think that this lecture hall is ordinary, then I can assure you that it is anything but that.”

“In what way?” Lu Zhiying questioned.

No matter how she looked at it, there did not seem to be anything special about the furnished lecture hall.

“Didn’t you see the blueprint? Don’t you find it weird that we have to control so many seemingly unnecessary and minute factors when doing up the furnishing?” Zhao Yunxiao replied.

“So what are all those things meant for?” Lu Zhiying asked.

In fact, she had been thinking about it for a while.

It was one thing to require every item to be positioned perfectly, but to dictate even the order in which the furniture and decorations were put up?

The setting up of the lecture hall could have been so much simpler had it not been all these unnecessary requirements!

“Those additional requirements were in order to form a grand array with just the decorations and furnishing of the lecture hall,” Zhao Yunxiao explained. “You might not believe me right now, but you will eventually come to realise just how amazing this ordinary looking lecture hall actually is. In fact, you should be able to see the effect of what you just did tomorrow when you return here for the lecture!”

“Really?” Lu Zhiying’s eyes lit up once again.

She was indeed curious to see something like a cultivator’s array in action!

“Really,” Zhao Yunxiao nodded with a smile.

At this point, Liang Wenshao had completed the final inspection of the lecture hall.

“Looks like everything is in place,” Liang Wenshao raised his voice to make sure everyone could hear him. “Since everyone has put in the effort, I naturally will not mistreat you as well. In fact, I have specially asked Senior Se beforehand, and have obtained permission to release everyone for the day. Go ahead enjoy the rest of your day!”

His words immediately lifted everyone’s mood.

“Thank you, Senior Martial Brother Liang!”

The disciples present cheered in unison, including Zhao Yunxiao.

They were all expecting to have to go back to their daily duties now that they were done, so getting the day off was definitely a much welcomed surprise!

Liang Wenshao grinned in satisfaction upon seeing this.

He liked to feel important, but this was not only limited to making things difficult for others.

On the contrary, having the power to reward those who worked under him gave him even greater satisfaction!

Just like that, everyone happily left the lecture hall.

As they were leaving, Zhao Yunxiao and Lu Zhiying could almost feel Liang Wenshao’s sharp gaze piercing into their skin.

In such a situation, the duo acted with unplanned chemistry, picking up their pace as they hurried out of the lecture hall in silence, making sure not to make any eye contact with Liang Wenshao on their way out.

“That was close!” Zhao Yunxiao could finally breathe easier after leaving the Sect Library. “But Junior Martial Sister Lu, you really need to be careful of what you say next time!”

“Hahaha sorry, I really didn’t think that he would hear me there!” Lu Zhiying laughed. “But that ended up being quite the exciting situation! I almost got into real trouble there!”

Zhao Yunxiao: “...”

This junior martial sister of his really needed to get her head fixed.

How could she laugh after such an ordeal?

Even a bystander like him was having cold sweat out of nervousness!

“Okay, okay, I will be careful next time!” Lu Zhiying quickly added after seeing Zhao Yunxiao’s speechless face.

“You’d better!” Zhao Yunxiao chided, not having much confidence that she would keep her words. “So how do you think of the job of a sect librarian?”

“Hmm,” Lu Zhiying pondered for a moment before answering. “If the monthly cultivation lecture is as important as you say, then the benefit of being able to attend it twice is definitely a huge plus. The work does not sound too tiring as well, so energy can be conserved and used elsewhere. But how should I say this... it seems a little too boring?”

Zhao Yunxiao nodded in agreement.

It was as she said.

With Lu Zhiying’s personality, she was indeed not suited to be a sect librarian. On top of that, she had even offended Liang Wenshao who had a relatively high status here.

Even if Lu Zhiying was interested to join as a sect librarian, Zhao Yunxiao would have advised her against it. So it was a good thing that Lu Zhiying did not want to do so in the first place.

“Let’s drop by Gu Qiansi’s garden plot to see if that woman is doing okay,” Zhao Yunxiao said.

“Heh, how can Senior Martial Sister Gu not be okay after what you did last night?” Lu Zhiying asked with a smirk. “You just want to see the fruits of your efforts!”

“You take this too lightly,” Zhao Yunxiao shook his head. “We might have gotten rid of the nightspirit rats, but a lot of damage has already been done. It is not that easy to revive the garden plot and restore it to its original state.”

“Oh...” Lu Zhiying exclaimed in realisation. “If that’s the case, then let’s hurry and go see if there is anything we can help with!”

***

Due to it being located near the borders of the Outer Grounds, the walk to Gu Qiansi’s garden plot was as long as ever.

When they arrived, Zhao Yunxiao and Lu Zhiying could see that the condition of the garden plot had improved even further since the night before.

All thanks to the disciples having worked on salvaging it for an entire day and more, the garden plot now looked much cleaner, with the wreckage from before no longer visible by any measure.

While there were still gaps in the garden plot from removing the damaged crops that could no longer be salvaged, the rest of it looked almost as good as new.

But just like what Zhao Yunxiao had expected, they were not completely done with the work just yet.

The crops might have been replanted, and the ground might have been restored, but the disciples working on the garden plot still had to ensure that the salvaged crops were back to normal.

After all, spiritual herbs were very different from ordinary plants.

They were a lot more sensitive to their surroundings, and even a slight change in the density of world origin energy could result in an inferior quality yield. In extreme cases, the herb might never reach maturity.

Just like how the value of pills changed exponentially as their quality increased, the value of herbs also varied greatly along with the quality of the matured plant.

Anyone who had cultivated spiritual herbs before would know that utmost care had to be given at every stage of the growth process, so Gu Qiansi and her fellow disciples naturally understood this as well.

The wreckage earlier had already caused a shock to the remaining crops, even for those that did not have any obvious signs of damage on the outside.

With that in mind, Gu Qiansi and her fellow disciples would have to spend more effort in trying to improve the environment that the remaining crops were in, hoping that they could make up for the previous damage that had been done.

“Senior Martial Sister Gu!” Lu Zhiying called out and ran over once she spotted Gu Qiansi.

“Junior Martial Sister Lu?” the surprised Gu Qiansi looked up from the plant that she was currently touching up on to greet Lu Zhiying. “Are you already done for the day?”

“Yeah, they released us early today after we were done with the setup,” Zhao Yunxiao walked up from behind Lu Zhiying. “How’s everything?”

“There’s still a bit to go,” Gu Qiansi sighed. “I don’t think I will be able to go to the Silver Rain Waterfall today. Maybe you can bring Junior Martial Sister Lu there instead.”

“No need for that, we can skip it this time,” Zhao Yunxiao waved it off nonchalantly. “Rather than going there, it will probably be more beneficial for Junior Martial Sister Lu to stick around and see how things are done in the herb garden.”

“What? But you never miss your practice sessions!” Gu Qiansi exclaimed in shock.

“We have been going every week, so going one time less won’t change much,” Zhao Yunxiao shrugged. “We can just go next week anyway.”

“What’s this Silver Rain Waterfall?” Lu Zhiying asked.

“It’s a training ground for disciples,” Zhao Yunxiao explained. “It’s okay, we will bring there next week so don’t be too sad about not being able to go today.”

“I’m not complaining about not going today!” Lu Zhiying replied. “I’d rather stay and help Senior Martial Sister Gu anyway!”

“Just stand aside and watch. Don’t be a burden for her,” Zhao Yunxiao cautioned.

“Hey! That’s not nice! There are things that I can help with too!” Lu Zhiying retorted.

“Don’t listen to him, Junior Martial Sister Lu. I don’t find you a burden,” Gu Qiansi assured. “That aside, I have something to ask you.”

“Me?” Zhao Yunxiao pointed at himself.

“That’s right,” Gu Qiansi turned towards Zhao Yunxiao. “What were you doing last night?”

The surprised Lu Zhiying immediately turned to look at Zhao Yunxiao, wondering what he would say next.

“Why do you want to know?” Zhao Yunxiao replied with a question of his own.

“I asked first.”

“And I’m asking for the reason for asking that before answering.”

“Zhao Yunxiao, are you avoiding the question now?”

“And why would I have to do that? Give me one good reason.”

Instead of replying, Gu Qiansi merely narrowed her eyes at Zhao Yunxiao.

“Tch! Fine, calm down. I will answer, all right? No big deal,” Zhao Yunxiao clicked his tongue unhappily. “I honestly didn’t do much. I was tired so I just went back to rest after parting from you guys yesterday. What about it?”

“Is that so?” Gu Qiansi narrowed her eyes even more. “In that case, where is that jade bangle that you have always been wearing for good fortune?”

She was naturally referring to the jade bangle that Zhao Yunxiao had traded with Lou Quping of the Beastiary.

As attentive as she was, Gu Qiansi had instantly noticed the jade bangle missing from Zhao Yunxiao’s wrist.