Mei Xiu walked to the cafeteria, rubbing her eyes.

"Good morning, Mei Xiu! Did you sleep well?"

She looked around and saw Xiuying waving to her, already sitting at a table. Liu Qiang and Han Yingyi were there too, the chubby boy already starting on his second plate.

"I guess."

In actuality, she was too excited to sleep well yesterday.

She realised something.

"Wang Wei isn't here?"

"Oh, I guess we didn't encounter him. Remember yesterday? I figured we'd all get to know each other better and make friends, but you and he were both gone." Xiuying looked slightly disappointed. "Where did you two go?"

"We went-"

"We don't need him in our group." Liu Qiang harrumphed. "He's just some stuck up noble who's so full of himself."

"I agree." Han Yingyi added.

"He's not actually..." Mei mumbled.

"Not actually that bad..." she finished, mentally, not having the confidence to finish her sentence.

She didn't really have the best impression of him because of how he was nobility, but after yesterday, she figured he might not be that bad. Maybe she was a tiny bit harsh on him. Just a tiny bit.

It was the same for the other three, and it didn't help how he lashed out at Liu Qiang for having the same level of talent previously.

"Now, now!" Xiuying smiled nervously. "Even so, he's still our sectmate."

Yingyi shook his head.

"In the first place, there's no obligation for us all to even team up." he pointed out. "We just happened to be picked together. Look around."

Around them, there were at least a hundred other outer disciples roaming around, chatting and eating. It gave off a cheerful and lively atmosphere.

"It's not like we're the only ones here." he finished.

Xiuying sighed. 

"Whatever you say."

Mei felt like Xiuying backed down a bit too easily. She should stand up for herself more!

"I'll go get food," Mei said.

"Grab another plate for me!" Liu Qiang grinned, giving her a thumbs up.

Mei was a bit annoyed, but she decided she might as well do it. It wasn't like it was a big deal. 

She headed to where many people were walking away from with trays of food and reached a long table.

The food was all placed in trays on it, with many disciples milling around and picking out the food for themselves. Almost like a buffet, she thought.

"Please do not mix the food in the trays. Thank you." read a sign on the table.

Mei was stunned by the sheer variety of the food. So many different vegetables! There were meat and eggs in some of the trays too, but the amount of vegetables outshone them.

Mei scooped out a bowlful of rice, then got a good amount of vegetables followed by some pork, fish and some weird looking fried eggs with green yolks for herself.

As for Liu Qiang's... hmm...

She scooped up two entire bowls of rice and as much meat and eggs as she could pile on it. As she took the food from the tray, she noticed they refilled themselves a few seconds later. Spatial storage was really useful, huh?

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She carefully put both plates on a tray.

"You shouldn't be taking two plates at once! Be more considerate."

She turned around and saw a tall man with a somewhat handsome face.

Well, clearly Liu Qiang didn't follow that rule. She suppressed a grin.

"Oh, I'm just taking a second plate for a friend. He has a big appetite."

"Fine then." he sighed. "But you should tell him gluttony isn't good. And the selection... distasteful..."

"Uh, yeah, thanks."

What a weird guy. What was distasteful about all the meat? Maybe he was just really health-conscious, Mei concluded as she headed back.

"Oh, you're back-" Liu Qiang saw the mountain of food and froze. "Uh... Isn't that a bit much?"

Hmm, she supposed even for him, that was a bit much. After all, he had already polished off two plates of food.

Yingyi laughed when he saw it, giving her a thumbs up.

"Good one, Mei Xiu!"

Xiuying had a weird expression on her face.

----------------------------------------

Mei and the disciples that were sent along with her headed into the same hall they had arrived in. Except for Liu Qiang, who had not arrived yet.

Around her, around a hundred outer disciples were sitting on cushions. 

Finally, Liu Qiang arrived, his face scrunched over as he clutched his stomach.

"Urgh... I really shouldn't have finished all of that." he groaned.

"Are you okay?" Xiuying looked concerned. "You shouldn't force yourself to eat if you're full."

Back in the cafeteria, all of them had finished their food, but Liu Qiang was still eating. She asked him if he needed their help to finish his food, but afraid of losing face, he said he would be fine and that they could head off first.

"You did a good job finishing all of that." Yingyi nodded as if he were impressed, but he was clearly suppressing a laugh.

"I just don't like wasting food." Liu Qiang said.

Mei felt a bit bad about it. Plus, coming from a poor family, she could understand his urge to not leave even a single grain of rice on the plate.

"I'll take less food for you next time."

"No need. I think I'll get food myself next time." Liu Qiang declined hurriedly.

Wang Wei was watching with a smirk the entire time.

"Stop that!" Liu Qiang grimaced. "It's not funny."

At that moment the hall quietened. The old man had entered, walking in with a carefree gait.

All the disciples stood up, bowing to him. Mei and her acquaintances followed suit.

"Sit down, everyone," he said.

The disciples complied.

"Ahem. Good, good." he nodded. "Before the lecture, I would like to introduce some of your new sectmates. I picked them out personally yesterday! Mei Xiu, Xiuying, Wang Wei, Liu Qiang and Yingyi, stand up, please."

The disciples all stood up, making sound echo throughout the hall.

"Everyone, give them a warm welcome!"

Most of the disciples gave half-hearted clapping, though a few people clapped very enthusiastically.

"As customary, I will give a brief introduction of our sect. Our sect is a virtuous sect, following heaven's path. Our sect's name is Virtue, by the way." he said. "Yes, I am a genius at coming up with names, I know."

Wait... was that old man the sect leader or something? He came up with the sect's name? Mei felt a sense of disbelief.

"You're the sect leader?" Wang Wei blurted out. "No way!" 

The old man laughed.

"Indeed. Now, back to the introduction," he said. "In this world, there are three main categories when it comes to sect alignment. Virtuous, Neutral and Evil. I know some of you so called 'geniuses' are going to think something about morality being subjective, but this is based on heaven's guidelines."

So kidnapping is okay based on heaven's guidelines?

"Virtuous cultivators should aim to minimise misdoings, helping others if possible. Neutral cultivators don't do heinous things all the time, but they might steal or even murder if they have to. They are the most common type of cultivator in most of the worlds."

"As for evil cultivators, they often practice forbidden cultivation techniques that require taking many lives. Some of the more powerful ones might even kill millions!" 

Disgust crept into his expression.

"It's also possible that they practice normal cultivation techniques, but what type of sick person would kill so many innocents if not for the sake of power? Heaven does not take kindly to evil cultivators and will smite them with the most devastating tribulations."

"And as for us, virtuous cultivators." he paused. "Oh, if you don't wish to be one, you can just walk outside of the hall now."

Naturally, Mei and the others didn't head out. Even if they didn't want to be, could they just give up their chance to cultivate like that?

"I was kidding." he said, after realising no one laughed.

Wang Wei raised his hand.

"Yes?"

"In the first place, how do you even know you're picking good people? What if some of the disciples turn out to be evil?"

Mei thought that was a pretty reasonable question. Perhaps he could gauge people by some kind of aura? From xianxia she read, evil people tend to have a lot of 'killing intent'. Maybe there was an equivalent for people who were inherently good?

"Instinct."

Mei was speechless.

"Just like that?" Wang Wei asked. "You're not basing it on anything concrete!"

"Well, sure, we do get a few bad eggs here and there." the sect master shrugged. "But I think I've got a pretty good eye for people in general."

"As for us virtuous cultivators, the heavens will be much lighter with tribulations. If your karma is good enough, you won't even face any tribulations at all. I've heard some of the most virtuous cultivators have even received heavenly gifts after advancing to the next realm.

Mei raised her hand.

"But don't some cultivators use tribulations to temper their bodies?"

"Oh, that's just nonsense from novels mortals write. Tribulations are heaven's punishment, after all. Why would they let cultivators benefit from it?"