"But isn't it tiring to take on too many jobs?" Lu Zhiying asked curiously.
"If you ask me, I'd say the rewards are definitely worth the effort!" Zhao Yunxiao replied between mouthfuls of food. "But your lazy Senior Martial Sister Gu will probably find it too tiring indeed."
"You are just crazy for taking on so many jobs, who else does this other than you?"" Gu Qiansi rebutted before turning to Lu Zhiying. "See what I mean when I said that your Senior Martial Brother Zhao is the best example of how talent is important? Sometimes it really doesn't matter how hard you work."
Zhao Yunxiao shot her a glare, which Gu Qiansi pretended not to notice.
"You guys are really close!" Lu Zhiying smiled as her gaze darted between the two of them. "In that case, Senior Martial Brother Zhao, is it possible for me to follow you on your jobs to take a look at what they are actually like?"
"Hmm, that's not a bad idea," Zhao Yunxiao rubbed his chin in contemplation. "In that case, how about you follow me to the Forge after we are done with dinner?"
"Sure!" Lu Zhiying promptly agreed, but someone else was against it.
"Stop right there!" Gu Qiansi interjected immediately. "Zhao Yunxiao, don't think I don't know what you are thinking. You'd better not get any funny ideas about bringing our beautiful Junior Martial Sister Lu out to some secluded place like the Forge at night!"
"...Are you serious?" the corner of Zhao Yunxiao's lips twitched.
"Is Senior Martial Brother Zhao that kind of person?" Lu Zhiying turned towards Gu Qiansi.
"Of course not!" Zhao Yunxiao answered for her immediately.
"Listen to me, Junior Martial Sister Lu," Gu Qiansi sighed helplessly as she put a hand on Lu Zhiying's shoulder. "Men are all wolves. The only difference is how much they are willing to reveal in front of others, so it is always better to be safe than sorry."
"Wolves..." Lu Zhiying glanced cautiously towards Zhao Yunxiao.
"All right, let's just forget about this thing altogether. You can go figure out which sect job you want yourselves," Zhao Yunxiao decided to give up on defending himself and just focus on his food instead.
"Stop trying to guilt trip our innocent Junior Martial Sister Lu into doing your bidding," Gu Qiansi chided. "Why don't you just bring her along with you tomorrow? You will be going to the Yellowshell Mine, won't you?"
"Yeah, that works too I guess," Zhao Yunxiao simply ignored Gu Qiansi's first statement. "Let's go after breakfast tomorrow then."
"Got it, Senior Martial Brother Zhao!" Lu Zhiying nodded. "But I guess this means we aren't going to the Forge later anymore? Such a shame, I was still quite curious about what Senior Martial Brother Zhao would try to do once we get there..."
Zhao Yunxiao: "..."
Gu Qiansi: "..."
The two senior martial brother and sister exchanged glances, but neither of them uttered a word.
No, it was more accurate to say that they had no idea what to say to that.
In the end, Zhao Yunxiao left by himself after dinner.
After returning to his residence to clean up and pack his bag, Zhao Yunxiao left for the Forge where he was rostered to be on shift for the night.
As the name suggested, the Forge was where the furnaces were, a place where disciples could go to forge their own equipment.
But unlike pills which disciples would need a constant supply of, equipment was not something that disciples would need to keep making. That, on top of the fact that it was difficult to create a high quality equipment, made it such that the Forge was usually much quieter as compared to the Alchemy Chamber.
That was also the reason why Gu Qiansi had described it as secluded.
Not only that, but even those who visited the Forge seldom chose to go at night, meaning that it was even quieter during night shifts.
Just as Zhao Yunxiao had expected, the appointment list was completely empty.
While he had been recalled for Alchemy Chamber duties earlier in the day, his night shift at the Forge was a rostered shift. This meant that he could not leave just because there were no appointments, and had to stand by for walk-ins.
It might sound boring, but Zhao Yunxiao did not mind that one bit.
After the usual cleanup of the furnace room that he had been assigned to, Zhao Yunxiao lit an incense before taking out a Winterwarmth Pill from his backpack and popping it into his mouth.
However, he chose to take an inferior quality Winterwarmth Pill instead of the common quality one that Leng Huiqi had given him earlier – the precious common quality pill had to be saved for when he was sure that he would not be disturbed.
It ended up being an uneventful night with no visitors, and Zhao Yunxiao spent it meditating to absorb the full efficacy of the Winterwarmth Pill.
When cultivators first embark on the cultivation path, they would begin by preparing their bodies for the gathering of world origin energy. The process began with the forming of the spiritual meridian root, followed by the spiritual meridians that spread through one's body, reaching completion once all spiritual meridians were fully formed.
This was also known as the Foundation Building realm. Upon entering this realm, cultivators would become capable of tapping on world origin energy in their surroundings, allowing them to execute simple combat techniques.
Next came the Essence Gathering realm which Zhao Yunxiao was currently at.
After their spiritual meridians were fully formed, cultivators could break through to the next stage by opening the dantian.
Opening of the dantian allowed cultivators to refine world origin energy and store it in their dantian as essence energy, thereby reducing their reliance on world origin energy in the surroundings.
Essence energy that had been refined personally by cultivators would also be more compatible with them, allowing cultivators to explode with strength that was simply impossible at the Foundation Building realm.
Another benefit that came along with entering the Essence Gathering realm was it allowed cultivators to substitute sleep with meditation, though not for prolonged periods of time – an Essence Gathering realm cultivator who did not sleep for a full year would still feel extremely exhausted.
Huu-!
As morning arrived, Zhao Yunxiao let out a long deep breath and slowly opened his eyes.
It had been an uneventful night, which also translated to a satisfying uninterrupted session of meditation for him.
After greeting the administrative deacon, Zhao Yunxiao once again left for the canteen to meet up with Gu Qiansi and Lu Zhiying.
As promised yesterday, he would be meeting them for breakfast at the canteen before bringing Lu Zhiying along to the Yellowshell Mine. However, Zhao Yunxiao quickly realised that there was something amiss when he arrived at the canteen.
"Where's Gu Qiansi?" Zhao Yunxiao asked after seeing Lu Zhiying waiting alone at a table.
"Good morning, Senior Martial Brother Zhao!" Lu Zhiying looked up upon hearing his voice. "Someone came over earlier to tell her that something happened to her plot at the Herb Gardens. Senior Martial Sister Gu seemed to be in a hurry to go there after that, so she told us to go ahead. Doesn't sound like a good thing actually."
"Is that so?" Zhao Yunxiao frowned. "Well, since she told us to go ahead, I'm sure she will be able to handle it somehow. I'll ask her about it later, so let's just go ahead for now."
"Mm," Lu Zhiying nodded.
Just like that, the duo had their free breakfast at the canteen before leaving as planned.
"Where are we going today?" Lu Zhiying asked as they left the canteen.
"Yellowshell Mine," Zhao Yunxiao answered. "There are several ore mines within the sect territory, with each mine boasting a different terrain and producing different types of ore. If you choose to work at the ore mines, you will be able to choose which of them you want to work at, depending on your preference."
"Why did Senior Martial Brother Zhao choose to work at the Yellowshell Mine then?" Lu Zhiying continued asking.
Zhao Yunxiao was about to answer when he caught someone hurrying towards them from the corner of his eyes.
"Junior Martial Brother Zhao! What a surprise to see you here!" Bo Fei put on a suave smile as he waved while approaching, though Zhao Yunxiao could tell that Bo Fei's eyes were fixated on Lu Zhiying instead of himself.
Bo Fei was one of the other two disciples who were recalled along with him for Alchemy Chamber duties the day before.
"Good morning, Senior Martial Brother Bo," Zhao Yunxiao waved back before turning towards Lu Zhiying. "This is Junior Martial Sister Lu."
"From afar, I was still wondering who this beautiful fairy walking beside Junior Martial Brother Zhao is. So it is Junior Martial Sister Lu," Bo Fei maintained the smile on his face. "I am Bo Fei. If there is anything you need, feel free to approach me anytime."
"Thank you, Senior Martial Brother Bo," Lu Zhiying nodded. "Senior Martial Brother Zhao and Senior Martial Sister Gu told me that they will show me around, so I don't think there is a need for now. But I appreciate your offer."
"Senior Martial Sister Gu? You mean Gu Qiansi?" Bo Fei turned towards Zhao Yunxiao, who nodded in response. "It's nice that they promised to show you around, but your Senior Martial Brother Zhao is busy with all his jobs while your Senior Martial Sister Gu is obsessed with her plants, so I'm sure there will be times when they aren't free to accompany you. When that happens, you can look for me instead! I will be more than happy to put aside my commitments to prioritise a beauty like you!"
Zhao Yunxiao could not help but roll his eyes at the side.
He had always known that Bo Fei liked to talk to pretty ladies, but could he be more obvious?
The way he's doing it... does it even work?
"Ah, so this is it!" Lu Zhiying exclaimed suddenly.
"Yes? Junior Martial Sister Lu?" Bo Fei's smile widened, thinking that he had gotten Lu Zhiying's interest with his proposition.
"Wolf!" Lu Zhiying exclaimed while pointing towards Bo Fei.
Zhao Yunxiao: "..."
"Wolf?" Bo Fei raised an eyebrow. "What is Junior Martial Sister Lu talking about something that I am not aware of?"
"This is what Senior Martial Sister Gu was talking about last night," Lu Zhiying turned towards Zhao Yunxiao. "Am I right, Senior Martial Brother Zhao?"
Zhao Yunxiao felt the corner of his lips twitch.
Do you really have to ask me for confirmation about such a thing? And right in front of the other person to boot?
"This..." Bo Fei hesitated before continuing. "Is this what I think it is?"
Huu-!
Zhao Yunxiao let out a helpless sigh before speaking. "That's right, Gu Qiansi told her to be wary of men like you who are actually wolves in disguise."
"Damn this Gu Qiansi! Something's wrong with her brains!" Bo Fei cursed. "Looks like I'd have to teach her a lesson next time!"
"Well then, if you'd excuse us, Senior Martial Brother Wolf, we will get going now," Zhao Yunxiao clasped his fists towards Bo Fei.
"You are the wolf!" Bo Fei cursed. "Where are you even taking our lovely Junior Martial Sister Lu?"
"Yellowshell Mine. It is my shift today so I am bringing her along to take a look."
"Yellowshell Mine?! Did I hear you wrongly?" Bo Fei exclaimed in disbelief. "I might be called a wolf, but you are surely far worse than that for bringing a beautiful fairy like Junior Martial Sister Lu to suffer at Yellowshell Mine!"
"Oh? What's wrong with the Yellowshell Mine? Is it very dangerous?" Lu Zhiying chimed in from the side.
Zhao Yunxiao turned towards Lu Zhiying, all ready to explain that it was not as bad as Bo Fei sounded.
However, what he saw made him reconsider what he was about to say.
Instead of the fear and anxiety that he was expecting to see on Lu Zhiying's face, what he saw was actually an expression filled with anticipation!
Zhao Yunxiao felt the corner of his lips twitch as he suddenly recalled Lu Zhiying's words from the night before while they were at the canteen.
'I guess this means we aren't going to the Forge later anymore? Such a shame, I was still quite curious about what Senior Martial Brother Zhao would try to do once we get there...'
This Lu Zhiying... there is definitely something different about the way her head is wired...