Tale of an Ordinary Cultivator

“Do I really dance that badly?” Zhao Yunxiao could not help but ask.

As far as he recalled, while he might not be the best dancer, his level was surely not bad to the extent of deserving such harsh criticisms either!

However, the reactions that he was getting now caused him to question his past memories.

“Are you really asking that?” Bo Fei raised an eyebrow.

“No, on second thought, don’t answer that,” Zhao Yunxiao raised his hand to stop them. “In any case, what I am saying is that I can introduce Junior Martial Sister Lu to someone who can teach her in the way of the dance...”

“Oh.”

The trio immediately realised their mistake.

“Hahaha, why didn’t you say so earlier?” Bo Fei laughed awkwardly. “We wouldn’t have to say all that if you made yourself clear!”

“Phew…” Huang An let out a sigh of relief.

“You should be fine as long as he isn’t the one personally teaching you. After all, he does know quite a lot of people in the sect, so he should be able to find you a suitable teacher,” Gu Qiansi told Lu Zhiying.

“Is that so?” Lu Zhiying looked towards Zhao Yunxiao.

“That’s because I’m unlike someone who keeps to herself all day and refuse to go out and make new friends,” Zhao Yunxiao shrugged.

“It is a matter of necessity,” Gu Qiansi clarified her stance. “But it’s not like I don’t have friends!”

“There are many people who initiate conversations and try to befriend Senior Martial Sister Gu too,” Huang An added.

“Well, she does have a figure that will attract most guys...” Bo Fei rubbed his chin in contemplation.

“Maybe you will start attracting girls too if you stop being creepy like that, Senior Martial Brother Bo,” Gu Qiansi chided before turning back to Zhao Yunxiao. “Who are you thinking of asking though?”

“Who knows? On top of the relevant skills, I’d have to consider their compatibility as well,” Zhao Yunxiao looked towards Lu Zhiying.

This junior martial sister of his could be a ticking time bomb at times.

If not for that, it would be much easier for him to decide on the person to ask.

“I’ll have to thank you for the help then, Senior Martial Brother Zhao! In the meantime, I will try to find some related information in the Sect Library to learn some basics,” Lu Zhiying decided.

She was not the kind who would just wait for something to fall on her lap.

Since she had already made up her mind to learn the basics of dance, Lu Zhiying would naturally take the initiative and learn from whatever she could get her hands on.

That way, even if Zhao Yunxiao was ultimately unable to find a teacher for her, she would not be left completely helpless either.

Bo Fei clapped his hands together to get everyone’s attention. “That’s decided then. Let’s continue practising before the sky turns any darker!”

Just like that, the group ended up staying till dusk.

Bo Fei and Huang An had other plans after, and thus bade farewell to the rest who dragged their tired bodies to the canteen for dinner.

Or rather, it was only Zhao Yunxiao and Gu Qiansi who were exhausted while Lu Zhiying remained full of energy.

On the way to the canteen, she continued humming the melody of the songs that she had just heard, obviously captivated by the music.

Seeing her like that, Zhao Yunxiao and Gu Qiansi could not help but let out a smile as well.

When they entered the canteen, however, the group immediately felt that something was amiss.

“Is it my imagination or is everyone stealing glances at us?” Gu Qiansi muttered softly while collecting her food.

“Really?” Lu Zhiying looked around. “I don’t think there is any difference from usual though.”

“That’s probably because you have already gotten used to receiving stares from others,” Zhao Yunxiao explained with a sigh. “And it is not your imagination. People are sneaking peeks at us.”

“Really? Why?” Lu Zhiying asked.

“Why else? Of course it is because of you,” Zhao Yunxiao answered. “After what you did this morning, probably every outer disciple in the sect wants to find out more about you right now.”

“Sounds bothersome,” Lu Zhiying was not impressed.

“If you also find it bothersome, then stop doing things that will draw attention to yourself in the future!” Zhao Yunxiao chided.

“Fine…” Lu Zhiying said with a pout.

“All right, let’s just eat up and retire for the night. We’ve all had a long day.”

Gu Qiansi ushered the duo to a corner of the canteen where they promptly settled down for their meal.

“So what are we doing tomorrow, Senior Martial Brother Zhao?” Lu Zhiying asked between mouthfuls of food.

“I will be checking up on my garden plot tomorrow, so there’s that if you want to come along,” Zhao Yunxiao answered.

“I want to! I’ve been wanting to see the difference between your plot sections!” Lu Zhiying’s eyes shone brightly in anticipation.

Lu Zhiying had witnessed how dedicated Gu Qiansi was to her herb garden plot, so she had always wondered why Zhao Yunxiao did not seem to bother about his.

“Sure, you will see tomorrow,” Zhao Yunxiao nodded. “But before that, we will be going somewhere else in the morning. Your Senior Martial Sister Gu will be coming along as well.”

“Is it somewhere new?” Lu Zhiying asked.

“That’s right,” Zhao Yunxiao replied. “All I will say is that the place is called the Hundred Puppets Array. As for what it is like exactly, you will find out tomorrow.”

“What! Why don’t you just tell me now?” Lu Zhiying complained.

“Haha, don’t worry too much about it,” Gu Qiansi laughed. “You will just be tagging along with us tomorrow, so there’s nothing much to prepare for. Just don’t be late.”

“That’s easy, I’m never late!” Lu Zhiying answered confidently. “All right then, I shall look forward to the surprise tomorrow!”

Due the frequent stares from others making it slightly uncomfortable for them, the group had a quick meal before returning to their respective residences.

But as usual, Zhao Yunxiao did not go straight to bed upon his return.

Zhao Yunxiao started opening the various chests in his residence and proceeded to do a detailed stock take, noting down what he had and what he was lacking.

The day after tomorrow would be Zhao Yunxiao’s only free day of the week, and he was thinking of going on a hunting trip outside of the protected sect grounds.

Throwing daggers.

Array flags.

Elixirs.

These were just some of the many items on his list.

In order to make sure that everything went well, he needed to ensure that he was not missing anything important.

If he was lacking in any supplies, he could at least get them tomorrow while he still had time.

Otherwise, not only would the hunting trip not be the most effective, he might even end up endangering himself in the process!

After making a list of everything that he had to stock up on, Zhao Yunxiao kept away his chests in satisfaction and began stretching his limbs.

Just two days ago, he had sustained some injuries while directly confronting a nightspirit rat.

While those injuries did not seem to be exceptionally severe, Zhao Yunxiao did not enjoy taking chances.

If there were still lingering issues even after two full days of rest, he might have to get it checked.

The last thing he wanted was to sustain a chronic injury with lasting effects that could further impede his already unsatisfactory rate of growth.

Thankfully, there was nothing of the sort.

Now that he was done with everything he needed to do, Zhao Yunxiao finally washed up and lit an incense, popping an inferior Winterwarmth Pill before ending his day in meditation once more.

Early the next morning, Zhao Yunxiao met Gu Qiansi and Lu Zhiying at the canteen as agreed upon yesterday.

The number of people at the canteen was far less than the previous day, back to what it was usually like.

This spared the group from uncomfortable stares, but they still did not linger in the canteen for long.

After all, they had a timing to adhere to.

“Reservation time?” Lu Zhiying asked curiously as she followed her two seniors on the road to their destination. “Just what is this Hundred Puppets Array that makes it so popular? To think that we still need to reserve a slot before going.”

“That’s only natural. Do you know how many people there are in the sect? What do you think will happen if everyone decides to go at the same time?” Zhao Yunxiao asked in return. “Think about the cultivation lecture yesterday for example.”

Lu Zhiying recalled the scene from the day before and nodded in understanding.

Far too many disciples were left stranded outside of the Sect Library, unable to listen to Elder Mo’s cultivation lecture in person.

“It is not just the Hundred Puppets Array either,” Gu Qiansi explained further. “Most facilities in the sect allow us to make an appointment before going. This makes things easier for us as well, preventing the problem of going all the way just to find out that there is a long queue ahead of us. Of course, some people still do visit places unannounced at times, but mostly only because of something unexpected and cannot be planned for.”

“Is it easy to make these reservations though?” Lu Zhiying asked.

Considering the sheer number of people in the sect, she could imagine the difficulty of having to compete against everyone else for time slots.

“It is not as difficult as you think,” Gu Qiansi said with a smile, seemingly having seen through her thoughts. “There might be a lot of us, but there are even more things to do. With everyone pursuing their own cultivation paths, it is rare to come across cases where someone can’t get slots for what they want to do within a matter of days.”

“You will understand once you become more familiar with the sect,” Zhao Yunxiao added. “For now, let’s enter.”

While they were engaged in conversation, the group had arrived at their destination.

Hundred Puppets Array.

As its name suggested, it was not a building or anything of the like.

Instead, the Hundred Puppets Array referred to an open clearing located in the Outer Grounds.

Or perhaps more specifically, it referred to the special array that had been set up within the clearing.

There was a simple fence that clearly marked out the borders of the array, with spirit stones placed at regular intervals along the fence.

Inside of the fences were a hundred puppets that came in all shapes and sizes.

Some of them resembled humans, while some were in the shape of wolves, serpents, bears, or other beasts.

There were even those that looked like monsters of different origins, most of which completely foreign to Lu Zhiying.

These puppets that seemed to be made of wood were completely motionless at the moment, but one could already imagine what this array was capable of.

Lu Zhiying’s eyes lit up in excitement upon seeing this. “Are you going to be fighting the puppets?”

“Close enough,” Gu Qiansi answered with a smile. “The Hundred Puppets Array is a training ground where we disciples can train our combat senses by either parrying or dodging the shifting puppets. I guess you can consider it as more of defensive or evasive training.”

When they got closer, Lu Zhiying finally noticed that there was a hut situated right beside the only entrance into the fence.

Within the hut, a young boy was waving to them in excitement after having noticed their arrival.

He looked to be no more than twelve years old, much younger than even Lu Zhiying.

“Good morning, Senior Martial Brother Zhao, Senior Martial Sister Gu!” the boy called out as they approached.

“Junior Martial Brother Tian, you are taking the early morning shift again?” Zhao Yunxiao waved back. “Are the rest bullying you into always taking this shift?”

“That’s not it at all! The senior martial brothers and sisters are very nice to me!” Tian Luoyang shook his head profusely before noticing Lu Zhiying. “Ah, the admirable one is here too!”

Zhao Yunxiao: “…”

Gu Qiansi: “…”

Is this what the others are calling her now?

“Did I recognise the wrong person?” Tian Luoyang hesitated after not getting a response from them.

“Hahaha, I guess I am the admirable one indeed!” Lu Zhiying laughed in amusement. “Nice to meet you, Senior Martial Brother Tian!”

“No, no, please don’t call me that,” Tian Luoyang hurriedly waved his hands. “I am younger than you, so you can refer to me as junior martial brother.”

Seniority in a sect was often determined by either cultivation level or the order in which one joined the sect.

No matter which of these measures they looked at, Tian Luoyang would be considered Lu Zhiying’s senior.

However, there were also some who preferred to go by their actual age when addressing their peers.

As young as he was, Tian Luoyang was still not quite used to hearing those older than him refer to him as a senior, and definitely preferred the latter form of address.

It was the same as how Zhao Yunxiao and Gu Qiansi had chosen to refer to Bo Fei as their senior disciple despite them being at the same cultivation level and having joined the sect before him, simply because Bo Fei was slightly older than them in terms of actual age.

“Okay then, Junior Martial Brother Tian,” Lu Zhiying was not hung up on forms of address either.

“Why don’t we continue the chat next time?” Zhao Yunxiao interjected. “We have a limited amount of time, so let’s get started.”

“Got it. May I know who will be going first?” Tian Luoyang asked.

“Me,” Zhao Yunxiao stepped forward before turning to look at Lu Zhiying. “Peel your eyes open and watch without blinking. This senior martial brother of yours will show you how it’s done!”

Lu Zhiying nodded excitedly.

“Don’t screw up,” Gu Qiansi chuckled.

“Trust me, I’ve got this.”

With those words, Zhao Yunxiao slowly made his way past the numerous wooden puppets, eventually arriving at the centre of the array.

“Are you ready, Senior Martial Brother Zhao?” Tian Luoyang asked from within the hut.

“Ready,” Zhao Yunxiao nodded. “Let’s begin.”

“I’m activating the array!” Tian Luoyang announced.

Tian Luoyang might be young, but he could be considered rather talented.

Despite his young age, Tian Luoyang had already managed to surpass the Foundation Building realm, attaining his current cultivation level of Primary Essence Gathering realm.

So, if anyone were to think that he was some clueless little kid, they could not be more wrong.

From inside the hut, he started channelling his essence energy, sending it into the controls with a skilfulness that had come about after countless practice.

In response to his actions, the numerous spirit stones lining the perimeter of the array immediately started glowing in unison, lighting up the arena that was the Hundred Puppets Array.

Of course, the spirit stones were not just there to serve as mere illumination.

Weng-!

With a low buzz, an emblem of light started to appear on the ground as the array sprang into action.