“You are here, Elder He!” Sect Leader Dan Juexing stepped forward with open arms. “Welcome to the Origin Lake Sect!”
“Greetings, Sect Leader Dan,” He Luoxuan clasped his fists respectfully. “Thank you for the great welcome as always, but you really shouldn’t have troubled yourselves!”
“What are you saying? This is nothing at all!” Dan Juexing shook his head. “It has been a while. How have you been?”
“Sect Leader, why don’t we continue the conversation back in the main hall?” one of the elders stepped up beside him and suggested. “Elder He must be tired from the journey. Let’s not keep him standing here.”
Zhao Yunxiao easily identified the elder, both through his looks and his actions.
Ming Leishang – an elder of the Origin Lake Sect whom Jun Chuan described as being adept at social settings.
“Hahaha! That’s true, that’s true! Elder Ming is still more meticulous than I am!” Dan Juexing laughed. “How about it, Elder He? Shall we proceed?”
“I shall leave the decision to Sect Leader Dan,” He Luoxuan nodded before waving lightly with his hand.
As though taking that as its cue, the ten storey high Crazy Winter Heavenly Palace behind them suddenly started shrinking rapidly, reaching the size of a fingernail in the blink of an eye.
It then flew into He Luoxuan’s sleeves, thereby completely disappearing from everyone’s sight.
Zhao Yunxiao tried to control his expression as he watched this.
No matter how amazed he was at seeing this, he wanted to maintain a proud and stoic impression in front of the members of the Origin Lake Sect.
After all, the Origin Lake Sect was still a subordinate sect of theirs.
Even though he was only an outer disciple, Zhao Yunxiao could not help but feel a little proud of his background right now!
Unlike Zhao Yunxiao, Dan Juexing was a person who had seen the world, and thus did not seem too astounded by what He Luoxuan did.
“Since Elder He has agreed, then let’s enter first!” Dan Juexing stepped aside and gestured forward. “Come, this way please!”
“Please,” Elder He returned the gesture, allowing Dan Juexing to lead the way instead.
In the end, Dan Juexing and Elder He walked shoulder to shoulder at the very front, followed by the elders of the Origin Lake Sect and the two inner disciples, and finally the three outer disciples.
In such a manner, the group started departing under the loud cheers coming from the hundreds of Origin Lake Sect disciples present.
There was only one way in and out of the Origin Lake Sect, which was through the Kilometre Stone Bridge.
It was a crude and simple name for a site this important.
However, the name had been given by the progenitor of the sect itself, so nobody had ever thought about changing it.
In any case, one could not deny that it described the bridge perfectly. From end to end, the stone bridge was indeed about a kilometre long, with a huge stone arch towering overhead at the very beginning of the bridge.
With the bridge spanning more than fifty metres in width, the sheer size of the stone arch coupled with the numerous intricate carvings on it gave off a natural sense of archaic grandeur.
The exquisite statue of a sea serpent rested atop the arch, constructed with such fine attention to details that one could easily mistake it for a live spirit beast.
With it coiled up atop the arch and its eyes wide open like that, Zhao Yunxiao felt an inexplicable pressure bearing down upon him, almost as though it was a real spirit beast overflowing with malice as it watched all of them approach.
Wait a minute, did that sea serpent just blink?
It’s not a statue!
Zhao Yunxiao tried his best to compose himself despite the goosebumps that started appearing all over his body.
Keeping his cool in front of all the big shots like Sect Leader Dan and the various elders of the Origin Lake Sect was not too difficult, but the sea serpent was a different story altogether!
After all, all people had a certain degree of self-control, but the same could not be said about spirit beasts!
Of course, Zhao Yunxiao understood that for the sea serpent to be resting here like that, it must have already been tamed by the Origin Lake Sect.
But in the end, the sea serpent was still a spirit beast, not a person.
Who knew when it would suddenly go crazy and start attacking people?
Just the fact that it was emanating such heavy pressure on everyone was a sign of its hostile intentions!
As he slowly approached the bridge along with the entire entourage, Zhao Yunxiao had to take silent deep breaths to compose himself.
“Is there something wrong, Senior Martial Brother Zhao?” Yu Hang whispered from the side. “You don’t look too well.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just didn’t expect the Origin Lake Sect to have a spirit beast as its gatekeeper,” Zhao Yunxiao replied with a wry smile.
“A spirit beast? What do you mean?” Yu Hang tilted his head in confusion.
“There on that arch. That sea serpent is not a statue; it is alive!” Zhao Yunxiao subtly gestured towards the arch.
“Sea serpent? Alive? What are you talking about, Senior Martial Brother Zhao?” Yu Hang frowned.
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“Hmm? What do you mean? I’m talking about the sea serpent on the arch!” Zhao Yunxiao repeated.
“That’s not funny, Senior Martial Brother Zhao. I don’t see anything on the arch, much less a sea serpent,” Yu Hang’s frown deepened. “Senior Martial Brother Zheng, do you see anything on the arch?”
“The arch? What about the arch?” Zheng Biru asked, not having caught the earlier part of the conversation.
“I was just telling Junior Martial Brother Yu that the sea serpent on the arch is alive,” Zhao Yunxiao explained.
“Sea serpent? On the arch?” Zheng Biru raised an eyebrow after taking a glance at the stone arch. “What nonsense are you saying? There’s nothing there.”
“See?” Yu Hang added.
“The sea serpent! That thing resting atop the stone arch, right in the middle!” Zhao Yunxiao had to refrain himself from speaking too loudly in frustration.
Were his two fellow outer disciples blind or what?!
“All right, enough. This is not the time for a prank, so stop it already,” Zheng Biru brushed him off.
“What...? Prank?!”
“Let’s try to reduce unnecessary talk among ourselves in front of others, Senior Martial Brother Zhao,” Yu Hang timidly added before turning his attention forward as well.
Zhao Yunxiao: “...”
He turned his sight back towards the top of the stone arch, and rubbed his eyes once.
Then he rubbed his eyes again.
Indeed, the sea serpent was right there.
Why were his two fellow outer disciples insisting that it was not?
Was there a rule to ignore the existence of the sea serpent? If so, why didn’t he get the memo?
Or is this just a stupid prank from the two?
At this moment, seemingly having noticed Zhao Yunxiao staring at it, the sea serpent turned its attention onto him.
Their gazes matched, and Zhao Yunxiao immediately felt a chill run down his spine.
He quickly looked away, keeping his gaze straight ahead while continuing forward as he pretended not to have noticed the sea serpent.
But still, he could not help but start breaking out in cold sweat.
Even without looking, he could sense the sea serpent locking its gaze upon him, its eyes following his every step.
And along with that, Zhao Yunxiao suddenly felt the pressure bearing down on him increase multiple fold.
It was not enough to be considered overwhelming, but it still made him feel extremely stressed and uncomfortable!
Damn it, the key must have been to pretend not to notice it in the first place!
Zhao Yunxiao cursed in his heart.
The moment they have some time alone to themselves later, he would definitely have to question Zheng Biru and Yu Hang on what other information were they not letting him in on!
And there was that Jun Chuan too... how could he have excluded something as significant as this from his notes?
Completely unreliable!
As for now...
Zhao Yunxiao quickened his pace to stick closer to the elders of the Origin Lake Sect who were walking in front of him.
If he was this close to the elders of the sect, then surely there was no way that the sea serpent would attack?
And even if it did, at least they would be close enough to react and save him!
In the end, his worries were for naught.
From the moment they stepped onto the bridge, all the way until they crossed over to the other bank of the river, the sea serpent did not move from the top of the arch.
Zhao Yunxiao could not help but let out a sigh of relief as they left the stone bridge, slowly leaving the sea serpent behind as they continued forward.
Just like that, the entourage finally stepped foot upon the Origin Lake Sect territory.
Under Dan Juexing’s lead, the group strolled through the sect grounds while admiring the beautiful pavilions and grand towers, until they eventually arrived at the main hall where the Origin Lake Sect usually hosted important guests.
It did not look nearly as grand as the throne room in He Luoxuan’s Crazy Winter Heavenly Palace, but it was still impressive nevertheless.
As Dan Juexing was about to lead He Luoxuan to his seat, a well-dressed young man picked up his pace and walked up to Hu Nan.
“Brother Hu, would you like to come with me to meet the disciples of the sect while the elders have their discussion?” the young man asked while clasping his fists towards Hu Nan.
“Luming, how can you be so rude in front of Elder He? If you want to speak, you should first ask Elder He for permission,” Ming Leishang berated.
“Haha, don’t worry about it,” He Luoxuan laughed. “Since the young man is so enthusiastic, let’s not bore the kids with our chat either. Xiaoqiao and Yunxiao, you will stay with me. The rest of you can follow Hu Nan and go mingle with the Origin Lake Sect disciples.”
“Understood, Elder He,” Hu Nan nodded before turning towards the outer disciples behind. “Come on, let’s go with Brother Qian here.”
It would appear that Hu Nan was acquainted with the young man.
“Yes, Senior Martial Brother Hu!”
With that, Zheng Biru and Yu Hang followed Hu Nan as they left the main hall, led by the young man surnamed Qian.
The elders stood there with a smile while watching them leave, before continuing to proceed to their respective seats.
As the sect leader of the Origin Lake Sect, Dan Juexing still took the main seat at the far end while He Luoxuan comfortably sat level to the other elders.
There was an attendant next to each of the elders.
As for He Luoxuan, Zhao Yunxiao was naturally the attendant here.
The moment the elders took their seats, Zhao Yunxiao stepped forward to test the temperature of the teapot on He Luoxuan’s table, only proceeding to fill the tea cup after seeing that the temperature was ideal.
“My disciple Luming is slightly improper, thank you for not taking it to heart,” Ming Leishang said in slight embarrassment.
“Ambition fuels growth. It is always a good thing for young disciples to be hot-blooded and enthusiastic like that,” He Luoxuan said.
“Elder He is right, young people should be hot-blooded while they can!” Dan Juexing agreed. “It is a pity that your direct disciple Han Xing is not here. Otherwise, our disciples will definitely be able to learn a lot from him, just like always.”
“Han Xing had the fortune of receiving an epiphany recently, and is currently on the verge of a breakthrough. That is the reason why he is not able to come this time,” He Luoxuan explained with a hint of pride showing on his face.
“Hahaha! Han Xing is as talented as always, never stopping on his path of cultivation! If only the disciples of my sect can have half his calibre, that will be our great fortune!” Dan Juexing praised.
“I am sure Han Xing will be overjoyed to hear such kind words from Sect Leader Dan. I will ask him to personally thank you on the next trip,” He Luoxuan said before taking a sip of the tea. “Good tea.”
“I’ve heard that Elder He likes your tea to be a combination of Angels’ Flight and Crass Lily, so I’ve specially passed down instructions for that to be prepared for today,” Dan Juexing said with a grin. “The guys worked really hard over several weeks to find the perfect combination of tea leaves and water, so it is good to see that you are enjoying it!”
“It seems that I’ve troubled Sect Leader Dan then, how embarrassing,” He Luoxuan smiled.
At the same time, he could not help but glance over at Zhao Yunxiao who was standing silently by the side.
Even though both were combinations of Angels’ Flight and Crass Lily, He Luoxuan still slightly preferred the tea brewed by Zhao Yunxiao back in the Crazy Winter Heavenly Palace.
This was not due to the quality of the tea leaves either, but simply because the ratio of tea leaves and water was more to his liking.
It was simply the preparation of tea – a small matter – so He Luoxuan did not think much about it earlier.
But now that he looked at it again with a basis of comparison, it would appear that this one outer disciple had been even better prepared than the guys from the Origin Lake Sect!