Admirable

The atmosphere in the lecture hall reached a new low.

Most people present had to consciously suppress their gasps, none of them expecting Lu Zhiying to speak without concern like how she just did.

Now, all attention fell upon Mo Tianfeng as they waited to see his reaction.

But not all of them were watching just for the sake of watching.

Some in the group were carefully observing Mo Tianfeng, assessing his every movement.

After all, this was a rare opportunity to understand a little more about Mo Tianfeng's personality. Such information was extremely valuable as it made it easier to either butter up to him in the future, or to at least avoid triggering him for the wrong reasons.

And under everyone's curious gazes, Mo Tianfeng let out a light chuckle that instantly eased the tense atmosphere pervading the lecture hall.

"Haha, the young girl is right," Mo Tianfeng said in obvious amusement. "The two of you can rest easy and rise. Don't worry, I am not angered."

"Thank you, Elder Mo! Elder Mo is benevolent!"

Zhao Yunxiao and Gu Qiansi shouted together before getting to their feet.

Huu-!

Zhao Yunxiao silently let out a deep breath in relief.

He had lived to see another day.

"See? I knew Elder Mo is not that kind of person," Lu Zhiying gave him a thumbs up from the side.

Zhao Yunxiao: "..."

He was truly speechless at this point.

"I was just joking earlier, but my offer still stands," Mo Tianfeng said slowly. "If you are afraid of taking up my time, I can still afford the time to answer one or two questions. Since I have already asked you to do so, go ahead and share your thoughts. Even if you have already figured things out, feel free to let everyone know what you have comprehended. And don't worry too much. Sometimes things that seem simple can be unexpectedly beneficial to everyone as well."

"This..." Lu Zhiying turned towards Zhao Yunxiao, and he felt the corner of his lips twitch.

Elder Mo is talking to you!

Why are you turning to me for verification?!

"Since things have come down to this, just go ahead and ask your questions..." Zhao Yunxiao whispered while trying to keep his lips as still as possible.

Lu Zhiying's gaze lingered on Zhao Yunxiao for another moment before turning back towards Mo Tianfeng.

"In that case, I do have a question that I am unsure if it is appropriate. May I ask it without worrying about the consequences?" Lu Zhiying said with a timid smile.

With looks like hers, such an expression was especially enchanting and would easily invoke a man's protective instinct.

However, Mo Tianfeng remained unfazed.

"Go ahead," Mo Tianfeng answered in the same amiable tone.

"So, I was just wondering why the lecture can't be held in a bigger place so that all outer disciples can benefit equally?"

Those words, while simple, actually caused Mo Tianfeng's expression to change for the first time since entering the lecture hall.

This chance to ask a question was a rare opportunity that he was giving the young disciple out of pure generosity.

And yet she was actually going to waste it on something as trivial as this instead of clarifying any of her doubts regarding cultivation?

Mo Tianfeng could see that Lu Zhiying had yet to enter Foundation Building realm.

But even for a new cultivator like her, there were more useful questions to be asked. One good example would be asking for tips during the formation of her spiritual meridian root – an event looming right before her which would greatly affect her future potential.

So why this?

"Is that really what you want to ask?" Mo Tianfeng tried to confirm.

"That's right. Perhaps I have a bad brain, but limiting the number of seats for disciples to attend the lecture in person seems a little strange to me," Lu Zhiying continued. "I can understand the concept of having us disciples compete for resources to simulate the harsh reality outside. However, pardon me if I am wrong, isn't this merely a contest on who wakes up earlier? That seems to have nothing to do with one's skills or abilities whatsoever, so how is it beneficial? If anything, it just seems to be counterproductive, creating needless anxiety among us disciples and depriving us of a good night's rest before what would be a precious session that we should ideally be in top condition for."

Lu Zhiying went on and on without stopping until she finished her point.

By that point, the lecture was drop dead silent.

Gu Qiansi nervously swallowed a mouthful of saliva and looked over at Zhao Yunxiao, but did not get to match his gaze like she had expected.

Instead, she saw that Zhao Yunxiao was just standing there with a blank look on his face. It was as if his spirit had already left his body.

After a few moments of complete silence, Lu Zhiying seemed to have realised that something was amiss.

"My apologies if I have said something that I shouldn't have, Elder Mo," Lu Zhiying quickly clasped her fists towards Mo Tianfeng. "There is no need to answer my earlier question. I was just thinking out loud, that's all."

Lu Zhiying's words seemed to have broken Zhao Yunxiao out of his daze.

He promptly added, "It is our fault for not having taught Junior Martial Sister Lu about how things go in the sect. Please pardon her for her impudence."

Gu Qiansi was about to add on as well, but Mo Tianfeng slowly raised his hand to signal for them to stop.

"There is nothing to pardon," Mo Tianfeng said. "My apologies, I was simply thinking about what you just said there. About that, I think you have a good point."

Lu Zhiying blinked in confusion.

She was fully expecting to receive a good explanation, and certainly did not think that Mo Tianfeng would simply agree with her.

But judging from his response, Lu Zhiying thought that unlike what the disciples' reactions seemed to suggest, Mo Tianfeng was rather open minded after all?

"Times have changed, and perhaps we make the necessary adjustments to keep up with the times. I will take note of your feedback and pass it on to the planning team," Mo Tianfeng continued with a smile. "We'll see what comes out of it, but don't blame me if nothing gets changed in the end."

"I certainly won't. Thank you for taking the words of this lowly disciple into consideration," Lu Zhiying answered.

"I don't see anyone who is lowly here, but I do see that you have continued to think for your peers even though you managed to enter the lecture hall, to the point of raising the issue even though you were afraid that it might offend me," Mo Tianfeng continued. "That is an admirable trait to have, so keep it up."

Zhao Yunxiao: "???"

Did he just say admirable?

It was not just Zhao Yunxiao either. Everyone in the lecture hall perked up upon hearing that.

Judging from each other's reactions, they did not mishear.

Mo Tianfeng just complimented Lu Zhiying in front of all the outer disciples!

"Thank you for your kind words, Elder Mo, but I am speaking on my own behalf as well," Lu Zhiying said jokingly. "After all, anything that benefits the outer disciples benefits me too, right?"

Zhao Yunxiao felt his heart skip a bit.

That's an elder of the sect!

Will it hurt you to speak with a little more respect and reverence?

"Hahaha, I guess you are right about that too," Mo Tianfeng laughed lightly before turning his gaze away from Lu Zhiying. "I shall take my leave now. As I said earlier, see you all during the New Year's celebration."

"Thank you for the lecture, Elder Mo!"

Everyone shouted in unison once again.

All of them remained in the same position as Mo Tianfeng left the lecture hall, walking out in the same slow manner in which he came.

This was a normal occurrence as they showed their respect to the departing elder.

What was not normal was that even after the departing elder had left, nobody made a move to leave the lecture hall.

Instead, people started breaking out in heated discussions among small groups.

After all, what just happened was some extremely newsworthy stuff!

Just a few moments ago, everyone thought that they would be witnessing a newly joined fellow outer disciple perform a live show on how to offend an elder of the sect.

At that point in time, who would have expected that the situation would then make a complete turnaround in an instant, even ending with Mo Tianfeng praising Lu Zhiying as admirable?

Lu Zhiying might not understand just how big of a deal this was, but everyone else definitely did.

Words of an elder could not be taken lightly.

That was the reason why Zhao Yunxiao was so afraid of offending Mo Tianfeng earlier.

Even if the elder only expressed the slightest hint of displeasure towards someone, others might jump on this opportunity to crush this person, all in a bid to simply earn a chance of buttering up to Mo Tianfeng.

On the other hand, compliments from an elder could have the opposite effect, drawing others to help out the person as they saw the person as a potential link to the elder.

In the past, it might have been rare for a sect elder to compliment a specific outer disciple in a public setting like this, but it was not unheard of either.

As for those disciples who received praises from elders, almost all of them went on to accomplish feats far beyond what others had originally expected of them.

The main reason for this was that the elders generally had good foresight and were thus able to accurately assess someone's potential to a certain extent. This meant that those whom they complimented truly had the capabilities to warrant such praise.

However, many knew that a big part of it was still attributed to the fact that others would eventually move in to help lift up these disciples.

After all, it was only normal for an elder to pay slightly more attention to individuals whom they thought highly of, and this included those whom they had praised in the past.

In that case, wouldn't an elder be pleased to see others follow up on their words without having to be told to do so?

That was what many of these people were banking on, to get into the elders' sights with this indirect method.

All things considered, now that Lu Zhiying had received words of compliments from Mo Tianfeng, everyone was curious about this young lady whose future might no longer be limited to just staying in the outer sect!

Many of them were now looking in her direction, imprinting her looks in their mind.

They did not take a good look just now due to the tense atmosphere, but this reckless young lady actually looked rather amazing?

To have both looks and a potentially bright future, the heavens are really favouring her!

At this moment, Hua Sheng turned around to face everyone, causing all eyes to fall upon him instead.

"I hope everyone understands that exceptions do not determine the norm. Apart from that, there's nothing more to see here. Get going."

His words were like a command, sparking off a chain reaction in the lecture hall as everyone no longer dallied in the lecture hall and started to leave.

"Let's go as well, we have an appointment to meet," Gu Qiansi said and pulled Lu Zhiying along by the hand.

"We do? Who are we meeting?" Lu Zhiying asked while allowing herself to get pulled along without resistance.

Of course, it was not that she would have the strength to resist Gu Qiansi even if she tried.

"You will see when we get there," Gu Qiansi said with a smile. "Stop daydreaming there, Zhao Yunxiao. Let's not make them wait every time."

"Shut up, Gu Qiansi. Just wait a little more," Zhao Yunxiao rebutted before moving in a separate direction.

"Where are you going?" Gu Qiansi asked irritably, but Zhao Yunxiao simply ignored her. The helpless Gu Qiansi could only pull Lu Zhiying along to follow behind Zhao Yunxiao.

They walked over to the front row, where Liang Wenshao was standing near Hua Sheng.

"What's the matter, Junior Martial Brother Zhao?" Liang Wenshao asked as Zhao Yunxiao approached.

"Thank you for helping us earlier, Senior Martial Brother Liang," Zhao Yunxiao said. "I'm sorry that you got reprimanded by Senior Martial Brother Hua because of us."

"It was not a reprimand, but a reminder. But Senior Martial Brother Hua is right, what I did was indeed unnecessary," Liang Wenshao let out a helpless sigh before looking at Lu Zhiying. "After all, what I did could have ended up preventing this crazy junior martial sister of ours from gaining Elder Mo's recognition."

"No matter what, we still have to thank you for standing up for us," Zhao Yunxiao clasped his fists towards Liang Wenshao.

"Thank you, Senior Martial Brother Liang," Gu Qiansi and Lu Zhiying added from behind him.

"But I'm not crazy..." Lu Zhiying added in a hushed whisper, but did not continue further after feeling a nudge from Gu Qiansi.

Liang Wenshao rolled his eyes. "Get going already."

"Yes, Senior Martial Brother Liang!" Zhao Yunxiao said cheerfully before sneaking a peek at Hua Sheng who was standing not too far away from them, only to see that the latter was looking straight back at him.

Their gazes matched just like that.

Zhao Yunxiao hurriedly bowed in an apologetic manner, while Hua Sheng merely responded with an indifferent nod of his own before turning around to leave.

There was no way to tell what Hua Sheng was thinking right now.

"All right, let's go already!" Gu Qiansi urged and led the way out of the Sect Library.

Zhao Yunxiao naturally followed along, but at the same time, he could not help but feel some uneasiness in his heart.

Logically speaking, he should be happy for Lu Zhiying right now after Mo Tianfeng praised her in front of all the outer disciples.

And by association, actually all three of them were now in the limelight.

However, things were not as simple as that.

Mo Tianfeng might have approved of Lu Zhiying's actions this time, but that was not the end of the story.

Not even close, in fact.

After all, getting on other people's radar was not all sunshine and rainbows.

With this incident as the precedence, any other incidents in the future, serious or not, could easily lead others to lead them as the defiant bunch.

If word of that got out, it could cause Mo Tianfeng to think that he made the wrong evaluation – something that would never happen should an original evaluation not have existed to begin with!

And if the elder were to suddenly change his evaluation of them for the worse, who knew how huge the backlash could be?

Zhao Yunxiao knew his limits.

He was nowhere near competent enough to become a famed character of the sect through his own talents. But even so, the last thing he wanted was to be famous for the wrong reasons.

With that in mind, they would have to be extremely careful with their actions moving forward or, at the very least, in the near future that was to come!