"My name is Yanrou, surnamed Bing. I've brought over my fellow junior martial sisters to greet everyone, as well as to express my gratitude for the sharing earlier," the disciple in the front introduced.
This was how most of the groups started off their greetings.
In a way, the sharing by the core disciples earlier made for the perfect conversation starter.
"My name is Fengluo, surnamed Cai."
"My name is Xi, surnamed Ning."
"My name is Wei, surnamed Xia."
One by one, the four of them introduced themselves.
"My name is Nan, surnamed Hu. It is good to hear that you do not think badly of our humble sharings," Hu Nan answered. "However, it is still your Senior Martial Sister Chen's sharing that is the most impressive. I have learnt a lot from her as well."
Zhao Yunxiao had lost count of how many times Hu Nan had given the same response, albeit paraphrased slightly each time.
"Brother Hu sure likes to jest," Chen Pingxi laughed before turning back to the four young ladies. "Are you enjoying yourselves tonight?"
"We are definitely enjoying ourselves, Senior Martial Sister Chen," Bing Yanrou nodded. "In fact, another reason for me being here is because I have prepared a gift for our guests from the Black Tortoise Sect. I am hoping that it will not be too inappropriate."
"You are too kind, Sister Bing," Hu Nan answered. "We are all fellow cultivators of equal standing, there is no need for formalities like that."
"This..." Bing Yanrou seemed to be caught by surprise by Hu Nan's rejection, not knowing how to react.
"Before anything else, why don't you bring it out for everyone to take a look for now?" Qian Luming stepped in at this point. "If it is not too extravagant, perhaps it wouldn't be too much of a burden for our guests to accept it then."
"R-Right!" Bing Yanrou lit up upon hearing Qian Luming's words. "Hurry, Junior Martial Sister Xia! Don't just stand there and listen!"
Zhao Yunxiao frowned.
"Yes, Senior Martial Sister Bing!" Xia Wei hurriedly stepped forward and passed a small wooden box to Bing Yanrou.
Bing Yanrou shot an irritated glare at Xia Wei as she took over the wooden box, before turning back towards Hu Nan with a face that was once again full of smiles.
"Please have a look, Brother Hu," Bing Yanrou respectfully handed over the wooden box with both hands.
"Since Sister Bing insists, I shall have a look then," Hu Nan said while receiving the box.
The wooden box was small but exquisite, only the size of a palm but decorated with beautiful paintings on its cover.
When Hu Nan opened the box, he could not help but raise his eyebrows in surprise.
Within it were five identically sized pearls, each with a completely smooth black surface lined with enchanting silver veins.
These silver veins were not fixed in place either, moving freely across the pearls' surface like flowing water.
With just that, it became apparent that these were no ordinary pearls.
"These are Dark Spirit Pearls that I managed to obtain in a fortuitous encounter a while back. I heard that they have the ability to confuse weak-minded beasts, but perhaps because of my low comprehension ability, I have yet to figure out how to use them," Bing Yanrou said. "Since such treasures are just wasting away in my incapable hands, I thought that it might be better if I let them go to those who are more capable instead."
Chen Pingxi nodded in satisfaction.
With how Bing Yanrou introduced the Dark Spirit Pearls, she had cleverly incorporated an explanation as to why they were useless in her hands, eliminating the reason for Hu Nan to continue rejecting the gift.
"Since Junior Martial Sister Bing is so sincere, why don't you just accept the gift?" Qian Luming urged.
"There are also exactly five pearls, a perfect fit for the five esteemed guests today," Bing Yanrou continued. "I'd like to think that it is some sort of fate."
"Fate, eh?" Hu Nan looked over at Song Xiaoqiao. "What do you think?"
"Mm, it is pretty," Song Xiaoqiao nodded.
Qian Luming rubbed his chin in contemplation as he fell into deep thought upon hearing that.
"In that case, we'll thank you for the gift, Sister Bing," Hu Nan accepted the box with a smile. "Is there anything that we can do for you in return?"
He understood that there was no such thing as a free meal.
Since he was accepting the other party's gift, he should also try to offer something on his end.
Of course, this was purely a show of goodwill. If the other party ever decided to ask for something over the top, he had no obligation to abide either.
"This... if it is not too much, I do have a painting that is almost complete, simply lacking a few words as accompaniment," Bing Yanrou carefully brought up the subject.
"And you want us to suggest what should make up these accompanying words?" Hu Nan understood immediately. "That shouldn't be a problem. Why don't you let everyone have a look?"
"Thank you, Brother Hu!" Bing Yanrou quickly turned to the back. "Junior Martial Sister Xia! Stop dreaming and pass me the painting already!"
"Y-Yes, Senior Martial Sister Bing!" Xia Wei hurriedly stepped forward and handed over a rolled-up scroll.
Bing Yanrou snatched over the scroll without care, showing an obvious disregard for Xia Wei.
This naturally fell into the eyes of everyone present, but no one said a thing.
After all, it was natural for hierarchy to exist everywhere.
It was not exactly their place to step in and interfere, especially for the Black Tortoise Sect disciples.
"Please don't make fun of my lacking talent," Bing Yanrou shyly passed the scroll over to Hu Nan.
Hu Nan smiled in response before opening up the scroll in one swift motion, revealing the contents for all to see.
It was a painting of a majestic dragon challenging the heavens, roaring in fury as it went against the lightning storm pouring down from the skies.
Every detail was well covered, and the expression of the dragon was extremely life-like.
Just by looking at the painting, one could almost feel the rage exploding out from the dragon's heart as well as the intimidating pressure bearing down from the heavens.
"Great painting!" Hu Nan could not help but praise. "Did you paint this yourself, Sister Bing?"
"With guidance from my master, yes," Bing Yanrou answered confidently. "But I can't seem to think of what to write in accompaniment, so I'd love to seek your help on that."
"I'd hate to ruin such a great painting with any careless words," Hu Nan shook his head. "Would Sister Chen be willing to help me out on this?"
"Since Junior Martial Sister Bing is asking you for help on this, I shall not interfere," Chen Pingxi rejected politely. "But if Brother Hu wants some ideas, why don't Brother Zhao help out a little, if possible?"
"Junior Martial Brother Zhao?" Hu Nan was taken aback by the suggestion.
The core disciples of the Origin Lake Sect might be oblivious to the truth, but Hu Nan clearly understood that there was absolutely nothing special about Zhao Yunxiao whatsoever!
To put it simply, he was just an outer disciple who was a little more hardworking than others.
No, he might be even worse than that, considering how he was weak enough to get possessed in front of everyone.
If even Hu Nan could not think of a fitting accompaniment, how would Zhao Yunxiao ever be able to do so?
"I'm sure Brother Zhao will be able to come up with something suitable," Zhou Qin nodded in agreement.
"Why don't you widen our horizons with your thoughts, Brother Zhao?" Cui Junhe added.
"Bing Yanrou humbly seeks your guidance, Brother Zhao," Bing Yanrou similarly turned towards Zhao Yunxiao with a shy look on her face.
Huu-!
"Would you like to give it a try then, Junior Martial Brother Zhao?" Hu Nan reluctantly asked after letting out a helpless sigh.
Zhao Yunxiao looked at Hu Nan, who was secretly gesturing for him to just say something simple and be done with it.
In any other situation, he would probably have found an excuse to turn this down.
But not this time.
"In that case..." Zhao Yunxiao put up a confident front as he stood up from his seat.
But contrary to everyone's expectations, he did not walk over to take a closer look at the painting that was in Hu Nan's hands.
Instead, he walked over towards Bing Yanrou.
"B-Brother Zhao...?" Bing Yanrou blinked nervously as she looked at the approaching Zhao Yunxiao.
However, the expectant smile on her face froze the moment she saw him walk right past her.
Even the others were confused.
Everyone's gaze silently followed Zhao Yunxiao as he walked on, finally stopping when he arrived before Xia Wei.
"Sister Xia, what comes to your mind when you see this painting?" Zhao Yunxiao asked.
"M-Me?" Xia Wei was obviously flustered as she noticed everyone's attention falling upon her. "You are asking what comes to my mind?"
"That's right. Don't worry too much and just speak your mind," Zhao Yunxiao gave a reassuring smile.
Xia Wei – inner disciple of the Origin Lake Sect.
He had recognised her even when she was still walking up to the core disciples' table along with the other three female disciples.
After all, Zhao Yunxiao had specifically promised someone to send his regards to this lady, so he had taken care to remember how she looked, at least as much as possible from the description given to him.
Thankfully, the description seemed to be pretty much spot on.
Since he had already gotten the benefits from the other party, he naturally had to keep his end of promise.
And it appeared that he now had the perfect opportunity to do so.
"Brother Zhao, perhaps you are asking the wrong person," Bing Yanrou said after composing herself. "Junior Martial Sister Xia is but a newly promoted inner disciple. She is still lacking in both experience and mentality, so it is unlikely that she will be able to come up with anything worth considering."
"Senior Martial Sister Bing is right," Xia Wei lowered her head. "I-"
"Be confident, Sister Xia," Zhao Yunxiao stopped her from saying more. "I know for a fact that you are better than this, so don't worry about how others around us might think. Just relax and feel free to speak your mind."
The moment those words escaped his mouth, almost everyone at the table furrowed their brows.
No matter how they looked at it, the only reason why Zhao Yunxiao would say these words would be because he was already acquainted with Xia Wei!
Yet right before his very eyes, Bing Yanrou actually ordered Xia Wei around, and even described her as someone lacking?
If Zhao Yunxiao and Xia Wei somehow had a close relationship, such actions would surely be seen as extremely offensive to Zhao Yunxiao!
At this point, everyone could not help but think back to earlier when Zhao Yunxiao insinuated that there was indeed someone in the sect who had caught his eye...
"Junior Martial Sister Xia," Chen Pingxi hurriedly interjected. "Since Brother Zhao wishes to hear your thoughts, why don't you just give it a try? Don't worry, nobody here is perfect. I'm sure everyone has something that is worth hearing from, yourself included."
"This..." Xia Wei timidly looked towards Bing Yanrou.
"I'm sure Junior Martial Sister Bing has no objections to this, or do you?" Chen Pingxi naturally noticed this and asked, her tone much more solemn than before.
"N-No, of course not, Senior Martial Sister Chen!" Bing Yanrou immediately answered.
"You don't have to feel pressured, Sister Xia," Zhao Yunxiao said. "This is just a casual question of mine, so feel free to say whatever comes to mind, regardless of whether you believe it is important or relevant."
Xia Wei's gaze darted nervously between Zhao Yunxiao, Chen Pingxi, Bing Yanrou, and finally back to Zhao Yunxiao.
"Is it really okay if I just say whatever comes to mind?" Xia Wei asked. "You won't just write down whatever I say, right?"
"Haha, don't worry about all that and just speak your mind!" Qian Luming laughed. "Brother Zhao knows what to do!"
"Exactly that," Zhao Yunxiao reassured her once again.
"Then... I think this painting is depicting a dragon overcoming its heavenly tribulation...?" Xia Wei said in an uncertain manner.
"It would appear that we share the same thoughts," Zhao Yunxiao nodded. "That is exactly what I have in mind as well."
"R-Really?" Xia Wei revealed a look of surprise.
In contrast to the astounded Xia Wei, the onlookers merely let out a wry smile.
"There's no reason for me to lie," Zhao Yunxiao smiled before turning around to walk back towards Hu Nan.
Hu Nan could only watch on speechlessly as Zhao Yunxiao approached.
"This is just my humble suggestion, but how about these words as accompaniment to the painting?" Zhao Yunxiao stopped by his own seat and dipped his finger in his cup of wine.
The moment his finger touched the wine, all the core disciples immediately sat up in alert, as though conditioned to react to this particular action.
In fact, even the elders at the neighbouring table started to pay close attention as well.
Zhao Yunxiao had done this without thinking, but upon noticing such a response from everyone, he instantly regretted not choosing another method to pen things down.
Nevertheless, it was too late to undo his actions.
All he could do was act all nonchalant about it while maintaining his confident act.
And with that, he started writing away on the table.