"Look! Our esteemed guest is here!" Dan Juexing stood up and greeted.
The rest of the elders stood up respectfully as well.
"Sect Leader Dan is too polite," He Luoxuan clasped his fists towards Dan Juexing and the elders in response. "I have shown an embarrassing side of myself earlier. I hope everyone can kindly give your guidance if there were any mistakes with what I have said."
"Hahaha, Elder He is as humble as always," Dan Juexing laughed. "Come, take a seat!"
Ming Leishang did not have to be told twice, personally leading He Luoxuan to his seat before going back to his own.
From the moment they entered the main hall until everyone took their seats, no one seemed to have taken a second look at the altar of offerings.
Zhao Yunxiao: "..."
He had tried to act all natural as he followed He Luoxuan to his seat, but he simply could not shake the feeling that a particular sea serpent had been staring at him all this time.
"Why do you look so nervous? Relax, these kids are not as scary as they look," Cha laughed.
Zhao Yunxiao felt the corner of his lips twitch.
I am not afraid of Sect Leader Dan and the other elders!
It is you I am afraid of!
You!
Of course, with everyone else present here, there was no way for him to reply to Cha even if he wanted to.
At the same time, Zhao Yunxiao confirmed one thing.
He did not know if Dan Juexing and the elders of the Origin Lake Sect could see Cha, but He Luoxuan and the two inner disciples definitely could not.
Otherwise, there was no way that He Luoxuan would simply disregard the presence of the guardian spirit of the Origin Lake Sect, only greeting Dan Juexing and the various elders.
After all, the guardian spirit of a sect had a status higher than that of the elders. In some factions, it even exceeded that of the sect leader!
"Please wait a while for our undeserving disciples to arrive, Elder He," Ming Leishang said. "After listening to your lecture earlier, they probably got carried away with discussions among themselves."
"Don't worry about it, it is normal for youngsters to be a little unruly," He Luoxuan shook his head with a smile. "The weather is starting to turn warm, how is the Origin Lake Sect preparing for the New Year this time around?"
"It is the same as past years. We will only be holding a simple celebration here, not comparable to that of the Black Tortoise Sect," Ming Leishang answered.
"Sigh, how boring. Can't they change things up and do something interesting for once?" Cha complained.
Of course, Zhao Yunxiao pretended not to hear it.
Just like that, He Luoxuan and the elders started to make small talk as they waited.
As they continued to chat, several people started entering the main hall.
Seeing that the elders were having their conversation, they merely gave a polite bow before silently taking their seats behind the various elders.
These were all familiar faces to Zhao Yunxiao. All of them had been present in the lecture hall earlier.
In fact, even if that was not the case, Zhao Yunxiao would have recognised them from their descriptions.
After all, they were all core disciples of the Origin Lake Sect.
Among them were Zhou Qin and Cui Junhe whom Zhao Yunxiao had met at the Jade Force Cliff yesterday.
The two of them were not surprised to see Zhao Yunxiao either, exchanging slight nods to greet each other before they took their seats.
Next to enter was Qian Luming, the same person who had tried to pick on Zhao Yunxiao at the Twilight Wall.
Zhao Yunxiao immediately focused his attention on this person.
Damn it, he really was just looking at Senior Martial Sister Song!
At this moment, Zhao Yunxiao became almost fully certain of his earlier conjecture.
This crazy Qian Luming actually targeted him over some completely wrongly placed jealousy!
How unlucky!
It was then that Qian Luming suddenly noticed Zhao Yunxiao's presence.
He turned his gaze towards Zhao Yunxiao, saw how he did not even have his own seat, and immediately let out a smirk.
"Hahaha, how cute," Cha laughed. "That Qian kid always does this when he thinks he has won. After so many years, he still doesn't change!"
Zhao Yunxiao let out a bitter smile.
It definitely did not look cute when he was the one on the receiving end!
Just like the rest, Qian Luming quietly went to his seat behind his master – Ming Leishang. But even after that, his gaze continued to remain mostly on Song Xiaoqiao.
In contrast, Song Xiaoqiao merely greeted him with a smile before turning away.
One by one, the seats were quickly getting filled up.
However, there was one that remained empty even after much time had passed. And perhaps to make things worse, it was the one just below that of the main seat.
This meant that it was likely Sect Leader Dan's direct disciple who was late!
By now, even Dan Juexing and the elders were starting to show signs of impatience after waiting for such a long time.
"Luming, do you know where is Pingxi?" Dan Juexing finally asked.
"Reporting to Sect Leader Dan, I saw Senior Martial Sister Chen hurrying out of the lecture hall before most others," Qian Luming answered. "Since she is not here yet, she probably has something important to attend to."
"Ridiculous! What can be more important than greeting Elder He?" Dan Juexing frowned.
"Luming, why don't you go look for Pingxi and tell her that we are waiting for her at the main hall?" Ming Leishang said. "Wait, never mind that."
As they were speaking, a young lady showed up at the door.
With her long black hair reaching down to her waist, that beautiful countenance of hers was enough to turn heads wherever she went. Her ceremonial dress looked elegant yet not too flamboyant, a perfect fit for her slender figure.
But at the same time, her lips were slightly pale, almost as though she had just overexerted herself in a fight or something that required huge effort.
Zhao Yunxiao recognised her immediately as well.
Chen Pingxi – prime disciple of the Origin Lake Sect as well as the direct disciple of Sect Leader Dan Juexing.
"Where have you been, Pingxi?" Dan Juexing was the first to speak. "Didn't I tell you to head over immediately after the lecture?"
"Disciple Pingxi apologises for being late!" Chen Pingxi immediately bowed.
"What's the point of apologising to me?" Dan Juexing did not let her off just like that. "Do you not realise that you have kept our esteemed guest waiting?"
"Junior Chen Pingxi apologises to Elder He for being late!" Chen Pingxi clasped her fists towards He Luoxuan.
"Don't worry about it," He Luoxuan smiled.
"You are lucky that Elder He is magnanimous enough not to pursue this!" Dan Juexing chided. "I don't want to see this happening again, do you understand?"
"Disciple Pingxi understands," Chen Pingxi obediently nodded.
Zhao Yunxiao could not help but feel bad for Chen Pingxi.
As the prime disciple of a sect, she was essentially the leader of all the disciples.
Considering that, to be reprimanded in front of everyone in such a manner could be a huge blow to her pride!
It was very likely that Dan Juexing was being especially harsh on her right now because it was his own disciple in question, and he did not want to be accused of being partial.
"That poor girl... having to forcibly suppress a backlash in her cultivation only to come here and get scolded," Cha shook its head with a sigh. "Go on and tell her this – the essence of cultivation lies in the heart, not the mind. Sometimes, one has to let go of what they already have in order to gain what they truly need. If ice wants to gain the fluidity of water, it naturally cannot remain frozen."
Zhao Yunxiao: "..."
You want me to tell her this out of nowhere?
Won't she treat me like some kind of weirdo then?
"What are you waiting for? Don't you feel bad for her? Go tell her that already," Cha's voice sounded a little more impatient this time.
Zhao Yunxiao ignored its words and remained where he was.
He did not know what this sea serpent was smoking.
Not to mention whether he should even tell her that in the first place; but even if he wanted to do so, this was definitely not the time and place for him to just go up and speak to her, especially with the atmosphere being as cold as it was right now!
"What? Are you feeling shy or something? How are you supposed to get girls in the future if you are afraid of this much?" Cha asked again. "Let me teach you how to do it then. Bring a cup of hot tea to her, then tell her that she looks pale and that she should freshen up with a cup of tea. Then say what I just told you to say. Easy, isn't it?"
Zhao Yunxiao continued to ignore it.
"Are you ignoring me right now?"
Zhao Yunxiao remained silent.
"You stupid brat, do you believe that I can strip you down to nothing right here and now if you continue ignoring me?" Cha finally seemed to have lost its patience.
Zhao Yunxiao took a deep breath to compose himself.
Surely the sea serpent would not do anything crazy in front of everyone present?
Tear-!
Zhao Yunxiao felt the end of his robe sleeve splitting slightly.
It was a very small tear, one that was almost completely unnoticeable.
However, its sudden appearance was still more than enough to strike fear in Zhao Yunxiao's heart.
And that was especially so because no one else seemed to have noticed it happening!
If the others present in the main hall had noticed how his sleeves tore by sensing the sea serpent's actions, it will at least mean that they could protect him from it.
But not a single person here had reacted.
This meant that even if the sea serpent really did as it threatened, others might even end up thinking that it was Zhao Yunxiao who had suddenly felt like tearing his own clothes instead!
"Don't say I didn't warn you. So, are you going to do it or not?" Cha's voice sounded out in his head once again.
This time, its voice sounded a lot more threatening.
Zhao Yunxiao: "..."
This crazy perverted snake!
Zhao Yunxiao started to sweat as he slowly reached out with trembling hands, picking up the nearest teapot to pour a cup of tea.
Simply pouring tea was an action completely normal for an attendant.
However, that was no longer the case when he started walking away from his station and heading towards the door.
Hmm?
One by one, everyone started to turn their attention towards him.
His movements were stiff from sheer anxiety, but he still tried to maintain as friendly a smile as possible while approaching Chen Pingxi who was still standing at the entrance.
"This is...?" Chen Pingxi asked in an uncertain manner when Zhao Yunxiao walked up to her.
"Y-You look pale. Perhaps you should freshen up with a cup of tea...?" Zhao Yunxiao said awkwardly while offering the cup of tea in his hands.
He could feel everyone's gaze on him right now and his mind was about to go blank from nervousness. All he could do was repeat what Cha told him to say.
"This..." Chen Pingxi looked over at Dan Juexing instead.
She was still in the midst of being lectured by her master, so how could she just suddenly accept some random person's offer to have tea?
"Since this young brother is offering it to you, just accept it for now..." Dan Juexing said.
He felt the corner of his lips twitching from disbelief as well.
He knew for sure that Zhao Yunxiao was just an outer disciple of the Black Tortoise Sect brought along as an attendant. In any normal circumstances, this was no place for Zhao Yunxiao to interrupt at all.
But now that Zhao Yunxiao had already done so, how could Dan Juexing possibly reprimand him in front of everyone here?
Wouldn't that be similar to refusing to give He Luoxuan face?
If there was someone who should punish Zhao Yunxiao for his current act of disrespect, it should be He Luoxuan instead.
"T-Thank you," Chen Pingxi hesitantly received the cup of tea from Zhao Yunxiao and took a sip.
"Come back here, Yunxiao," He Luoxuan finally said.
Zhao Yunxiao felt goosebumps appearing all over his body. He could hear the stern tone in He Luoxuan's voice.
There was no doubt that he was in trouble now.
"Here's your chance. Say it now," Cha urged.
By now, cold sweat was dotting Zhao Yunxiao's forehead.
He swallowed a mouthful of saliva to sooth his throat that had turned dry from nervousness, and finally opened his mouth to speak.
"T-The essence of cultivation lies in the heart, not the mind. Sometimes, one has to let go of what they already have in order to gain what they truly need," Zhao Yunxiao repeated exactly what Cha said in a soft whisper. "If ice wants to gain the fluidity of water, it naturally cannot remain frozen."
He had tried to keep his volume as soft as possible, but the others present in the main hall were all cultivators with higher cultivation levels than him, so how would they not be able to catch it?
"Eh?" Chen Pingxi looked at him in surprise.
At the same time, everyone in the main hall revealed different expressions.
From the Black Tortoise Sect, He Luoxuan, Hu Nan and Song Xiaoqiao frowned.
From the Origin Lake Sect, Dan Juexing and most of the others present revealed looks of confusion, while Qian Luming snorted in disdain.
In contrast, Cha was the only one present who laughed in satisfaction.
"Hahaha! See that now? That isn't too hard, is it?" Cha's voice sounded in his head. "You are a strange kid as well. You seemed perfectly fine with being naked yesterday, so why are you so easily threatened by that right now? I had expected to have to do more, but you being so agreeable really saved me the trouble there!"