The ten-storey high grand pagoda towered towards the sky, its huge shadow completely shrouding Zhao Yunxiao and Lu Zhiying from the morning sun.
Each individual rooftile was engraved with a unique emblem, their designs varying from the five elements to the myriad beasts, from the grand sceneries to the activities of ordinary man.
A single glance was enough even for a layman to understand the amount of hard work and details that had been put into its construction.
In contrast to the rooftiles, the white walls of the pagoda had been overtaken by patches of dirt and dust in many areas, testament to how even a construct of such exquisity was not spared from the passing of time.
Nevertheless, this served little to rob the pagoda of its grandeur.
Just by standing before the pagoda, one could not help but be reminded of how small an individual was in relation to the entire world. For some, simply admiring the design of the pagoda led them to appreciate the blessing of being alive!
Yet despite being faced with such exquisite architecture, Lu Zhiying simply could not bring herself to appreciate the grand structure.
Instead, her eyes lingered on a sign that was hanging above the front door.
Sect Library – those were the two simple words written on the sign, albeit in a level of calligraphy comparable to the high level of architecture.
Lu Zhiying: “...”
“Impressive, isn’t it?” Zhao Yunxiao asked without noticing the strange look on Lu Zhiying’s face.
“Senior Martial Brother Zhao, when you said this is the greatest treasure vault, I didn’t think that you were referring to a library...” Lu Zhiying said with a sulk.
“Hmm?” Zhao Yunxiao glanced over at Lu Zhiying and immediately understood her thoughts. “What? Were you hoping that I will bring you to see some exquisite weapons and armours or stuff like that?”
Lu Zhiying nodded with an involuntary pout.
“Hahaha, don’t look so disappointed!” Zhao Yunxiao laughed. “For someone like you who just joined the sect, there is nowhere more important to you than this place! Look, even if you were to get your hands on an amazing weapon or defensive treasure right now, what can you do with it? You will simply admire it for a bit and then put it aside. On the other hand, knowledge is something that you can actually use right now! Only then can you begin touching upon the various aspects of cultivation, and thereby slowly determine the path that is most suited to you.”
Huu-!
“Understood, Senior Martial Brother Zhao...” Lu Zhiying answered listlessly after letting out a deep sigh.
Zhao Yunxiao shook his head in disapproval upon seeing Lu Zhiying’s reaction, but he was also not too surprised.
He had already been in the sect for a while, and had seen his fair share of new joiners.
Just like Lu Zhiying, all of them were always overeager about seeing amazing treasures and learning impressive techniques.
But when the few lucky ones do come into contact with these things, they would come to realise that without first establishing a stable foundation, they would have no ability to use them anyway!
“In any case, we are not here as visitors but as workers, so cheer up and let’s get to work!” Zhao Yunxiao said.
“Right! Let’s work!” Lu Zhiying seemed to have switched gears immediately.
Zhao Yunxiao smiled.
At least this junior martial sister of his seemed to be someone who could separate her personal emotions from work.
***
“Disciple Zhao Yunxiao, reporting for duty!”
“Disciple Lu Zhiying, reporting for duty!”
“...Lu Zhiying?” Se Cuixiang looked up from the scroll in her hands.
Se Cuixiang – administrative deacon of the Sect Library.
Yet despite the seniority of her position, Se Cuixiang did not look a day older than someone in her mid twenties.
In fact, her milky-white skin coupled with her long luscious hair made her look even younger than many disciples in the Black Tortoise Sect.
Unfortunately, she was already married.
This caused many of her young admirers among male disciples to silently weep while trying to mend their own broken hearts.
Of course, all these happened out of the disciples’ one-sided admiration, and Se Cuixiang herself had never tried to lead anyone on in terms of such relations.
In the Black Tortoise Sect, Se Cuixiang was known as the most indifferent deacon – a deacon who simply did not seem to care about anything or anyone. It was to the extent that some wondered why she would decide to get married in the first place.
“You need to at least introduce yourself first,” Zhao Yunxiao told Lu Zhiying before turning back towards Se Cuixiang. “Reporting to Senior Se, Junior Martial Sister Lu here just joined the sect two days ago. I am currently showing her around before she decides on her sect job.”
Se Cuixiang glanced at Lu Zhiying, who was scratching her cheek in embarrassment, then turned back towards Zhao Yunxiao. “Do you remember what you will be doing today?”
“Yes, Senior Se. I took a look at the schedule,” Zhao Yunxiao assured.
“Your disciple token,” Se Cuixiang requested monotonously. “Liang Wenshao will be your team leader today. Go report to him after I am done recording your attendance.”
“Understood, Senior Se!” Zhao Yunxiao responded energetically nevertheless.
The recording of attendance did not take long, and Zhao Yunxiao was soon leading Lu Zhiying out of the administrative deacon’s office.
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As instructed, Zhao Yunxiao brought Lu Zhiying to look for the team leader Liang Wenshao, who was an outer disciple just like them.
It was not difficult to find him either.
When asked about the Sect Library, one would usually think about the rows of shelves that housed information in the form of books and scrolls. However, there were also spaces put aside for other uses.
For example, the administrative deacon’s office was one such area in the Sect Library that was not used primarily to house information.
Apart from that, there were also various halls in the Sect Library which the disciples commonly used for reading, lectures, or discussions.
Liang Wenshao was standing near the entrance of one such empty hall, looking intently at a scroll in his hands just like Se Cuixiang had been doing before.
“You are here, Junior Martial Brother Zhao?”
Despite having his back against them, Liang Wenshao commented upon sensing their approach.
“Yes, Senior Martial Brother Liang,” Zhao Yunxiao answered respectfully. “This is Junior Martial Sister Lu, and she is here to see how work at the Sect Library is like before deciding on her sect job. I have informed Senior Se about this matter earlier as well.”
Lu Zhiying glanced at Zhao Yunxiao in surprise before turning towards Liang Wenshao.
“Lu Zhiying greets Senior Martial Brother Liang,” Lu Zhiying clasped her fists towards Liang Wenshao.
“Mm,” Liang Wenshao acknowledged before turning around to face them.
He looked to be in his early thirties and had a scholarly air about him, amplified further by the scholarly robes that he was donning.
His sharp gaze pierced straight towards Lu Zhiying, almost as though he was attempting to dominate her soul through his aura alone.
Those new to cultivation would generally be anxious around their seniors.
Coupled with their generally lower mental fortitude due to not having undergone much training, this made it such that it was easy for them to be overwhelmed by their seniors’ auras.
Therefore, Liang Wenshao was especially confused to face the pair of bright eyes that looked right back at him without the slightest hint of fear or anxiousness to be found.
“Ahem!” Liang Wenshao cleared his throat awkwardly. “I don’t know if Junior Martial Brother Zhao have already told you this, but I call the shots around here. Even though you are not a permanent worker here, you still have to adhere to my rules while you are here. Do you understand?”
“Don’t worry, I will personally make sure that Junior Martial Sister Lu listens to everything you say,” Zhao Yunxiao hurriedly replied before Lu Zhiying could utter a word in response.
“That better be the case,” Liang Wenshao nodded. “Now then, some of the others have arrived early and are already working on things. Go on and join them. Let me know if you need any help or have any questions.”
“I understand, Senior Martial Brother Liang. We will get going then!” Zhao Yunxiao said before pulling Lu Zhiying along into the hall.
The hall was enormous, and as Liang Wenshao had mentioned, there were already a few disciples busily working in the empty hall.
Hammering and sawing.
Shifting and adjusting.
Basically, they were all working on decorating and furnishing the empty hall.
Zhao Yunxiao did not have to ask anyone for further instructions, naturally proceeding to work on his section of the hall.
“So there are three key roles that a sect librarian has to perform,” Zhao Yunxiao explained while working. “Firstly, you have to make sure that the books and scrolls are in good condition and stored in the correct areas. Secondly, you have to help maintain the library records which tracks disciples’ activities. Thirdly, you have to ensure that the library is neat and tidy. Simple enough?”
“That sounds simple indeed, but are you sure that is all? Why does it seem completely different from what you are doing right now?” Lu Zhiying asked sceptically before lowering her voice. “And that Senior Martial Brother Liang just now... who is he exactly? Why are you speaking so respectfully towards him?”
“This...” Zhao Yunxiao sneaked a glance at Liang Wenshao, who was still standing by the entrance, before turning back towards Lu Zhiying. “Senior Martial Brother Liang likes to feel important, so just play along and he won’t make things difficult for you. As for why we are doing something different today, that is because we are preparing for an event tomorrow.”
“An event? What event?”
“Has anyone informed you about the monthly lectures?” Zhao Yunxiao asked in return.
“Senior Martial Sister Gu mentioned something about that,” Lu Zhiying answered. “But she didn’t elaborate, saying that it might be too much information for me to take in all at once, so she wanted me to focus on other things first.”
“She did the right thing,” Zhao Yunxiao nodded. “But basically, there will be a cultivation lecture conducted every month by an elder in the sect – usually by Elder Mo. These lectures touch upon different topics related to cultivation and techniques and are open to all outer disciples, so you should make an effort to attend every month if you intend to go far on this path. Even if you only understand a tenth of what is taught, it will still be enlightening and resolve certain areas of doubt. The next one will be held here tomorrow, which is why us sect librarians are busy preparing for it right now.”
“So that’s why,” Lu Zhiying nodded in understanding. “But if the sect librarians have to be the ones running the lecture, won’t you be missing out on lecture content itself?”
“That’s where you are wrong,” Zhao Yunxiao answered. “Sect librarians only have to handle the administrative matters before the lecture. Once the lecture begins, the elders don’t require any more assistance so we can simply sit down and listen as well. In fact, sect librarians have an advantage in that we can attend two such lectures instead of just one – the one held for outer disciples as well as the one held for inner disciples!”
“Ah, so that’s the perk of the job!” Lu Zhiying realised.
After following Zhao Yunxiao around these two days, she realised that for every job, there was always an aspect to a job that would aid with cultivation.
“That’s right,” Zhao Yunxiao nodded in satisfaction after seeing that Lu Zhiying had finally understood that fact. “All right then, let’s get back to work. We have to get everything done on pace with the others or we will be the ones slowing down everyone.”
The furnishing required was no simple task, even for cultivators like themselves.
Much unlike ordinary furnishing and decor, the standards here were sky high.
Not only did each piece of furniture and decoration have to be placed in an exact position and angle, this also had to be done in a particular order relative to other items.
After all, this was the cultivation world – many things were not as simple as it seemed.
Even though the layout of the hall seemed ever so innocuous, every component in the hall was designed to come together and form a complex array that covered the entirety of the hall.
This array dictated not just the position and angling of the items, but also what type of items could be placed, the number of people allowed, as well as many other factors that seemed ever so insignificant yet still played a part in giving every small bit of learning advantage to those who would eventually be attending the lecture.
As long as this array was in effect, everyone’s focus would be heightened and their learning speed increased.
On top of the difficulty of forming the array, the layout of the hall also had to factor in the personal preferences of Elder Mo as he was the star of the day.
All things considered, no one apart from cultivators would be able to complete the furnishing required, or at least not with satisfactory results.
Fortunately, every disciple of the Black Tortoise Sect was a cultivator in their own right.
That, coupled with the fact that this was not the first cultivation lecture to be held, meant that everyone had a fairly good idea of how things need to be done.
Just by referring to the blueprints, everyone was able to work on their individual tasks without requiring much instructions, with Liang Wenshao being the overall coordinator to reconcile everyone’s work.
Within a couple of hours, things already looked to be about done. But it was then that everyone suddenly heard a voice that set off silent sighs of helplessness in their hearts.
“What is this? Why does everything look so similar to last month’s? Take it all down and do it all over again!”
These words did not come from Liang Wenshao.
Instead, they were from a young man who just strutted into the hall with his head held high.
In fact, this young man spoke those words even as he was entering the hall, almost as though he had planned to say this from the start regardless of what he saw!