“Little Brother Zhao?” Ming Leishang repeated in confusion.

“That’s right,” Ying Qingmu confirmed. “Elder Ming seems to hold this person in high regard, so I can’t help but get curious.”

“Ahem! The disciples of our Black Tortoise Sect are all exceptional, so it is only natural for them to be held in high regard. There’s truly nothing interesting about this matter in particular, so you don’t have to be too concerned, Elder Ying,” He Luoxuan hurriedly cut off the conversation. “On a side note, come with me, Elder Ming. Let me show you around the backyard before the rest arrive.”

He had to stop Ming Leishang from speaking anymore.

Otherwise, it might end up exposing the fact that he was not actually the one who provided the guidance to the Origin Lake Sect members!

It was not as though He Luoxuan coveted the appreciation and admiration that came with it, but it would be rather awkward if the Origin Lake Sect realised the truth, as well as the fact that he had simply played along without clarifying things at that point in time.

“S-Sure...” Ming Leishang answered hesitantly. “Excuse me then, Elder Ying.”

He subtly observed the expressions on both He Luoxuan and Ying Qingmu while following the former away, with the rest of the Origin Lake Sect entourage right behind.

“I shall not stand between you and your tour,” Ying Qingmu maintained the amiable smile on his face as he sent the group away with his gaze.

After they left, however, Ying Qingmu’s smile instantly vanished as he narrowed his eyes in contemplation.

***

The Sect Library was home to an almost limitless wealth of knowledge. Unfortunately, Zhao Yunxiao did not have the luxury of time to go through them all.

After spending half a day at the Sect Library, the now slightly more knowledgeable Zhao Yunxiao finally parted ways with the scrolls and left for his third destination of the day – the Alchemy Chamber.

This time, he was not there for work.

No, instead of being there to earn sect points, it was the complete opposite.

He was there as a customer, to spend his sect points in exchange for the use of one of the cauldron rooms.

Now that he had gathered some information on monkey demons, it was time to put that information to good use!

After paying the corresponding sect points, Zhao Yunxiao chose a cauldron room without a disciple on duty.

There were two reasons for doing so.

The first reason was that, as a duty disciple himself, Zhao Yunxiao knew perfectly well that not all duty disciples took pride in their work. Some were only there to do the bare minimum, all just so they could justify collecting the monthly sect points.

Thus, rather than having someone help with the preparation work and then end up having to check everything all over again to make sure that nothing was wrong, it would be easier to simply prepare everything himself from the start!

Of course, he could also have chosen the more responsible duty disciples since he mostly knew their characters.

That brought him to the second reason – something a lot more straightforward.

It was because getting a cauldron room with a duty disciple to assist him was more expensive!

It already hurt his wallet just by having to reserve a cauldron room, so how could Zhao Yunxiao possibly bear the pain of getting a duty disciple to assist him on top of that?

Absolutely no way.

Since Zhao Yunxiao was not asking to be assisted by a duty disciple, he did not have to wait either, and was assigned an empty cauldron room upon arrival.

Zhao Yunxiao could not be familiar with the cauldron rooms.

The moment he entered, he did not hesitate to fire up the cauldron and slowly heat it up.

It would take some time for the cauldron to reach the optimal temperature, so Zhao Yunxiao started preparing the different ingredients in the meantime.

These ingredients included parts from what remained of the carcasses of the nightspirit rat that he took care of at Gu Qiansi’s garden plot, as well as those of the silver spotted grand deer and salamander monster that were the trophies from his latest hunting trip.

With these ingredients in hand, Zhao Yunxiao was intending to create both elixirs for himself and poisons for the target.

There were also some other concoctions that could prove useful during the trip.

Of course, it would be best if he ended up not having to use them at all.

But in the unlikely event that the situation spiralled out of control, he would at least be more prepared to deal with it then!

This was not the first time he made his own concoctions.

With his past first-hand experience, coupled with the knowledge gained from observing many disciples whom he had assisted as a duty disciple, Zhao Yunxiao confidently but carefully began the refining process for each item he had in mind.

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***

The day passed by in a flash, and dusk promptly arrived.

In the residence assigned to the Origin Lake Sect, Chen Pingxi sat alone at a table in the open courtyard, silently sipping on some wine.

Her eyes were glazed over in a daze, hinting that while her body might be there, her mind had probably already wandered off long ago.

“Is something on your mind?” Ming Leishang asked as he walked up to sit down beside her.

“No, it’s nothing...” Chen Pingxi shook her head, at the same time also shaking herself out of her daze.

“I know you better than that. Don’t worry, just speak your mind,” Ming Leishang replied with a gentle smile.

He had literally watched Chen Pingxi grow up in the sect, so how could he not know when she was feeling troubled?

“Since you say so, can I ask you something, Elder Ming?” Chen Pingxi asked.

“There are only the two of us here. Forget about the formalities and ask away,” Ming Leishang replied.

“Elder Ming is right. I am indeed confused about something,” Chen Pingxi finally admitted. “Do you remember when we first arrived and greeted the various elders of the Black Tortoise Sect?”

“Mm,” Ming Leishang nodded. By now, he already had a fairly good idea as to what Chen Pingxi was concerned about.

“Is it just me, or did Elder Ying seem to be unaware of Brother Zhao’s existence?” Chen Pingxi asked. “Could we be wrong in our assumption that Brother Zhao is Elder He’s direct disciple?”

“What do you think?” Ming Leishang did not give a straight answer.

“If Brother Zhao is Elder He’s direct disciple, surely the other elders in the Black Tortoise Sect will know that as well,” Chen Pingxi tried to reason. “But at the same time...”

“At the same time, it doesn’t make sense that he is not Elder He’s direct disciple?” Ming Leishang completed her sentence for her.

“Exactly,” Chen Pingxi said. “If is not because Elder He is trying to groom Brother Zhao, it would have been rather strange to use Brother Zhao as a proxy to give guidance to everyone in our Origin Lake Sect. It is one thing to guide the disciples, but having him give tips to yourself, and even to Master, will be considered going a little overboard!”

Back then, Zhao Yunxiao had handed out tips to Sect Leader Dan Juexing after doing the same for the elders of the Origin Lake Sect.

From Chen Pingxi’s perspective, it would be rather disrespectful, even if she considered Elder He Luoxuan’s lofty status, to get a random disciple to give such guidance instead of doing it himself.

With that line of thought, it would only make sense if He Luoxuan was trying to use that opportunity to send a message – to let everyone know that Zhao Yunxiao was someone whom he valued highly!

“I don’t blame you for being confused,” Ming Leishang smiled dotingly at Chen Pingxi. “Let me ask you this – did you notice how Elder He immediately shifted the conversation away from Little Brother Zhao the moment Elder Ying came over?”

“...Are you saying that Elder He is deliberately hiding Brother Zhao’s existence from the rest of the elders?” Chen Pingxi immediately understood what Ming Leishang was getting at.

“I won’t go as far as saying that he is hiding it from the rest of the elders, but I think you can see for yourself that he is hiding it from Elder Ying, at the very least,” Ming Leishang said.

“But why?” Chen Pingxi frowned. “In the first place, is it even possible to hide the existence of a disciple from a sect elder?”

“I don’t know how he is doing it, but the fact is that he is managing to do so,” Ming Leishang shrugged. “But as one of the future leaders of the Origin Lake Sect, you need to learn that things are not always as they seem on the surface. Politics is something that is present in every faction, and it can be especially fierce in a faction as large as the Black Tortoise Sect, simply because of the sheer magnitude of resources and power that are at stake. Instead of what you are being told, always choose to believe in the truth that has been laid out before your very eyes.”

As the prime disciple, it was indeed only a matter of time before Chen Pingxi joined the upper echelons of the Origin Lake Sect.

She was no longer a child either, so it was about time to teach her the ways of the world.

“Chen Pingxi thanks Elder Ming for the guidance,” Chen Pingxi nodded in understanding.

“In any case, we can be considered fortunate in that we have been allowed to learn of the existence of Little Brother Zhao at an early stage. It could be because Elder He was using the trip as a test for Little Brother Zhao, or it could be because Elder He is considering us members of his close confidantes,” Ming Leishang added. “No matter the reason, it is now up to us to see how we can make full use of this information to play the situation to our advantage.”

“How can we do that?” Chen Pingxi asked.

“That will depend on how Elder He moves in the coming months,” Ming Leishang said. “In any case, we would need to be mentally prepared for anything that happens next. It would appear that the undercurrents in the Black Tortoise Sect are about to show themselves and burst to the surface. When that happens, we need to make sure that we are ready to ride the waves!”

Chen Pingxi nodded in understanding.

She clenched her fists tight, and started thinking about what she could do as well.

***

At this moment, Zhao Yunxiao had finally returned to his residence after having dinner at the canteen.

It was just a quick meal. Still, he could not help but appreciate how peaceful it felt without Lu Zhiying present at the same table.

Of course, that was just a passing thought. He was definitely not intending to stop having meals with Lu Zhiying for such a reason.

And even if he had wanted to do so, there was no way that Gu Qiansi would agree to it.

Upon returning to his residence, Zhao Yunxiao started opening up all his chests, exposing his full inventory of items.

He had already prepared everything on his checklist, but he still wanted to take one last look at everything to make sure that he did not forget anything useful.

It was only after he finished his final checks that Zhao Yunxiao let out a sigh of relief.

Now that he was done packing, he could finally go back to cultivation!

But unlike the past few days, his focus tonight was no longer on the Earthen Clone Technique.

Back then, Zhao Yunxiao had borrowed three different technique manuals from the Sect Library.

Among them, the Earthen Clone Technique was definitely the most difficult to master, which was also the reason why Zhao Yunxiao had chosen to start with it.

In comparison, the Earth Burrowing Technique and the Unyielding Stone Bind operated on concepts that were far more straightforward.

Before leaving for the sect mission tomorrow, Zhao Yunxiao was hoping that he could at least grasp a fundamental understanding of the two techniques.

That way, perhaps he could even practise a little while on the mission.

After all, they did not possess something like Elder He Luoxuan’s Crazy Winter Heavenly Palace, and would have to travel for two days before they could get to East Stream Village.

He was unwilling to just let all that time go to waste!

And who knew?

Perhaps even a fundamental understanding of these techniques could come in handy during the mission somehow!