Leader of the Outer Disciples
The group knew exactly where to go after entering the Sect Library. But even if they did not, it would have been easy to find their way there just by following the crowds.
It did not take long before they arrived at the same lecture hall that Zhao Yunxiao and Lu Zhiying had helped to furnish.
At this moment, the seats in the lecture hall were only about a third filled, but this also meant that there were already hundreds of people seated.
One would think that for an event as important as this, everyone would try to sit as close to the front as possible in a bid to better absorb whatever was being taught.
However, the disciples present were scattered all around the lecture hall.
Most of them were seated near the middle area, but there were also some who chose to sit right at the very end of the lecture hall despite the distance from the stage.
Almost everyone was gathered in groups, with the biggest group clustering at the very front of the lecture hall.
In fact, they were the only ones seated at the front rows.
"Oh?" Lu Zhiying exclaimed in surprise when she saw the person seated in the centre of the group in front. "Isn't that Senior Martial Brother Hua Shui? Why is he here as well?"
Back then during Zhao Yunxiao's interview for Elder He's trip, Lu Zhiying had waited for him outside the Myriad Fields Pagoda.
That was when she met Hua Shui whom she had sat with at the same table.
Lu Zhiying had an exceptionally deep impression of the guy because of how nervous Zhao Yunxiao had been around him.
But if she recalled correctly, didn't Zhao Yunxiao mention that Hua Shui is an inner disciple?
Why is he here at a cultivation lecture for outer disciples?
"Oh? You've already met Senior Martial Brother Hua Shui?" Gu Qiansi was surprised to hear that. "You are almost right, but that's not Senior Martial Brother Hua Shui. It's his younger twin brother, Senior Martial Brother Hua Sheng."
"Younger twin brother? They look just like each other!"
"That's right, but there is a simple way to differentiate the two," Zhao Yunxiao explained. "Senior Martial Brother Hua Sheng likes the colour green, so he is always in green clothes."
Lu Zhiying took another look at the person seated in front.
Indeed, he was dressed in green robes.
"I see, but what happens when Senior Martial Brother Hua Shui decides to wear green as well?" Lu Zhiying asked.
"Then nobody knows who each one is," Zhao Yunxiao shrugged.
Lu Zhiying: "..."
Isn't that a problem?
"All right, enough talking. Let's go greet Senior Martial Brother Hua Sheng," Zhao Yunxiao said.
"Greet him? Why especially him?" Lu Zhiying asked again.
Now that she paid closer attention, there appeared to be a large group in front mostly because everyone entering the lecture hall had gone up to Hua Sheng to greet him.
These people standing around to greet him made it look as though his group was especially big, but most of these people actually proceeded to sit elsewhere after greeting him.
Disregarding them, those seated around Hua Sheng was only a relatively small group.
"Junior Martial Sister Lu, you need to remember that in the Black Tortoise Sect, Senior Martial Brother Hua Sheng has the biggest say among the outer disciples," Gu Qiansi answered Lu Zhiying. "You can think of him as the unofficial leader of the outer disciples. So, no matter what you do, don't offend him in any way."
"Why are there are so many people to be careful about?" Lu Zhiying complained. "There's Senior Martial Brother Zhao, Senior Martial Brother Hua Shui, Senior Martial Brother Deng, Senior Martial Brother Liang, and now Senior Martial Brother Hua Sheng too. Such a chore!"
"Wait, who is the first person you mentioned?" Zhao Yunxiao felt like there was something wrong with what he just heard.
"Senior Martial Brother Zhao," Lu Zhiying answered without hesitation.
"And by Senior Martial Brother Zhao, are you referring to me?"
"That's right."
"...Why do you need to be careful about me?" Zhao Yunxiao felt the corner of his lips twitch.
"Don't you remember? When we first met, Senior Martial Sister Gu told me to act carefully around you in the future, just in case you start including me in your thoughts when doing sleazy stuff next time," Lu Zhiying replied matter-of-factly.
Zhao Yunxiao: "..."
He was dumbfounded.
On the other hand, Gu Qiansi had to stop herself from breaking out in laughter.
"I totally forgot about that!" Gu Qiansi barely managed to say while suppressing her laughter.
"This is what happens when you run your mouth for no reason," Zhao Yunxiao sighed in resignation. "Forget it, let's just sit separately during the lecture. I will go greet Senior Martial Brother Hua Sheng myself."
"Haha I'm just kidding, Senior Martial Brother Zhao!" Lu Zhiying hurriedly tugged on his long sleeves. "Let's go together!"
Huu-!
Zhao Yunxiao let out another sigh.
"All right, but now that you know exactly who he is, be careful with what you say later," Zhao Yunxiao cautioned. "Although Senior Martial Brother Hua Sheng is not as talented as his elder brother who entered the inner sect to become one of the more influential inner disciples, they still maintain a good relationship. Because of that, few inner disciples dare to show him any disrespect either, so try not to joke around in front of him too."
"Yes, sir!" Lu Zhiying clasped her fists towards him.
Zhao Yunxiao sighed again, not knowing if Lu Zhiying truly understood.
Well, he could only trust that she did.
The trio walked over to the front seats where Hua Sheng was seated, and the latter turned towards them in response.
"Greetings, Senior Martial Brother Hua."
All three of them, including Lu Zhiying, greeted him respectfully with clasped fists.
"Mm," Hua Sheng nodded in response. "Is this the new junior martial sister whom you have been bringing around?"
"That's right," Zhao Yunxiao answered before looking over at Lu Zhiying.
"This is our first meeting, pleased to meet you. My name is Lu Zhiying," Lu Zhiying quickly followed up.
"You have a pretty face, so you will probably have a relatively easy time here," Hua Sheng remarked. "But do remember, cultivation is about your heart and not your looks. Relying on others for help might be a tempting route, but building yourself up is the true path."
"I understand, Senior Martial Brother Hua. You might not believe it, but I've never believed in relying on others for help anyway," Lu Zhiying replied with a smile.
Zhao Yunxiao held his breath in shock.
If you want to say that you don't rely on others, then just say that.
Why do you have to add the part that he might not believe you?!
"That will be for the best. I will look forward to seeing great things from you then," Hua Sheng nodded. "All right, go on and take your seats."
"Yes, Senior Martial Brother Hua," the trio answered in unison.
It was simple greeting, one that was over in less than a minute.
That was necessary as well, considering the number of people who were waiting in line to greet Hua Sheng.
If each group took too long, the line might not even be able to clear before the start of the lecture begins!
When they got to their seats in the middle area of the lecture hall, Zhao Yunxiao could not help but let out a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, Hua Sheng was graceful enough to not take any offence to Lu Zhiying's remark.
"Why did you exaggerate, Senior Martial Brother Zhao? Senior Martial Brother Hua Sheng is not nearly half as scary as you make him out to be," Lu Zhiying complained.
Zhao Yunxiao looked at Lu Zhiying, then let out another deep sigh.
He was really struggling to get used to the fearless nature of this junior martial sister.
"Oh, Junior Martial Sister Lu..." Gu Qiansi gently stroke Lu Zhiying's hair with a wry smile.
"In any case, as long as you don't offend Senior Martial Brother Hua Sheng, he is someone who will take care of you in return," Zhao Yunxiao changed the topic. "This is one of the reasons why he is widely accepted as the unofficial leader of the outer disciples. Because he truly cares for everyone's well-being and will stand up for us if necessary."
"See? He sounds like a nice guy after all!" Lu Zhiying replied. "But has there been any occasions when someone offends Senior Martial Brother Hua Sheng? What happens then?"
Zhao Yunxiao turned to look at Lu Zhiying, and was faced with an expression that he had already seen multiple times over the past few days.
He knew fully well by now that behind this seemingly innocuous look of intrigue was a hidden desire.
A desire for adventure!
In this situation, did it mean that Lu Zhiying was considering offending Hua Sheng as a possible source of adventure?
Damn, youngsters nowadays!
"Well, nothing much will happen. It's just that Senior Martial Brother Hua Sheng will stop caring about the person and probably no longer stand up for their interests," Zhao Yunxiao shrugged. "There have been plenty of examples in the past too, so it is nothing new."
"I see..." Lu Zhiying nodded.
Zhao Yunxiao smirked.
As expected, mellowing down the story achieved its intended outcome. Lu Zhiying seemed to have lost interest immediately after that.
By the side, Gu Qiansi closely observed their interaction, but did not add anything. Through this, she was slowly coming to understand Lu Zhiying better as well.
More and more people started streaming into the lecture hall as time passed, all of them proceeding to greet Hua Sheng before taking their seats.
Some entered alone, but most entered as a group.
But either way, everyone who entered largely kept to themselves, merely exchanging quiet nods when it came to greeting other acquaintances.
Even enemies and rivals did not try to make things difficult for each other, choosing to merely ignore and disregard each other's existence.
All of them knew that with the impending cultivation lecture, the tension in the lecture hall was extremely high right now.
One wrong step and they could end up becoming public enemy number one for disrupting everyone's focus!
The lecture hall was large enough to contain over a thousand seats.
It took a while for all the seats to be filled, but people still continued streaming into the lecture hall after that.
These latecomers were not too disappointed to see that there were no more seats, as though they had already expected as much.
Instead, they started standing along the sides of the hall, content with not having seats as long as they could at least remain in the lecture hall.
Soon, even the space along the sides of the lecture hall had been filled, and that was when people finally stopped entering the lecture hall.
The last to enter were the ones manning the booth outside the Sect Library earlier, headed by Liang Wenshao who promptly walked up to the front of the hall.
"Greetings, everyone," Liang Wenshao started.
The lecture hall was rather quiet, so Liang Wenshao immediately got everyone's attention.
"I've already informed Elder Mo that everyone is ready, so he should be arriving shortly," Liang Wenshao continued. "As always, I would like to remind everyone that there should not be any talking during the lecture, and to disable any talismans or treasures that could potentially cause any disruption to others. Thank you."
What he said was nothing new. However, some of those present still fumbled around after hearing Liang Wenshao's words, seemingly having forgotten about that.