Tale of an Ordinary Cultivator

After hearing from the patients with lighter injuries, the administrative deacon Jin Shang managed to gather more information about the demon responsible for this incident. From there, Jin Shang formed a rough conjecture on the nature of the demon and personally went around reminding everyone on the things to take note of when treating the injured.

Lu Zhiying could not help but think to herself that this was the first time she saw an administrative deacon actually helping out the disciples.

It took quite a while, but with the combined efforts of everyone from the Medicine Pavilion, the situation was eventually brought under control.

Those with severe injuries were stabilised, while those with lighter injuries managed to get their treatment too.

“Hahaha! How amazing! You actually managed to save all of them!” Lu Zhiying laughed.

It might sound like an insensitive thing to say in front of the patients, but she was not the only one in a jovial mood right now.

Overcome with relief after realising that the worst had passed, everyone in the Medicine Pavilion broke into cheers, including many of the patients themselves!

“Damn, what a day!” Zhao Yunxiao wiped the sweat off of his forehead.

Even though he and the other outer disciples had only been in charge of treating the less severe cases initially, they were quickly summoned to help out the inner disciples after they were done.

With that, the stress levels shot up in an instant.

The inner disciples were extremely efficient with their treatment, so being their assistants meant rushing here and there just to keep up with the pace.

Right now, Zhao Yunxiao was feeling relieved not only for the injured, but also for himself!

“Good job, everyone,” Jin Shang clapped in admiration. “You did well. Now start packing things up in preparation for the next shift.”

“Yes, Senior Jin!” everyone answered in unison.

After going through such an exhausting ordeal, the duty disciples could not wait to get off their shift.

Nevertheless, under the watchful eyes of Huang An, even the inner disciples dared not slack off when putting things back in order before they leave.

Under normal circumstances, no inner disciple would care much about the opinion of an outer disciple like Huang An.

However, her reputation, at least in the Medicine Pavilion, was simply too extraordinary.

Not only was she treated similarly to the inner disciples, but her skills were even regarded to be superior to most inner disciples, making her one of the best physicians here!

Because of this, she was extremely favoured by the administrative deacon Jin Shang, and even the inner disciples here showed her quite a high level of respect, treating her more like a peer than anything else.

Seeing the way that the inner disciples interacted with her, Lu Zhiying could not help but feel even more admiration for the usually meek young lady.

“Stop watching and let’s go. Junior Martial Sister Huang comes early and leaves late, so there’s no need to wait for her,” Zhao Yunxiao nudged Lu Zhiying. “We, on the other hand, will be leaving now that our shift is over.”

“You sound really proud about that, Senior Martial Brother Zhao,” Lu Zhiying could not help but give him the side eye.

“I don’t want to take anything away from her, but that’s extra work that she’s doing. I’m just being normal here!” Zhao Yunxiao shrugged while leaving the Medicine Pavilion. “You can stay and keep watching if you want to.”

Lu Zhiying took one last glance at the busy Huang An before hurrying after Zhao Yunxiao. “Where are we going next?”

“Gu Qiansi introduced you to a few people yesterday, didn’t she?” Zhao Yunxiao replied. “Today I will bring you to see someone as well.”

“Someone? Who?” Lu Zhiying asked curiously.

“You will see soon enough,” Zhao Yunxiao answered with a smile.

Since Zhao Yunxiao did not want to say it, Lu Zhiying did not press further and simply followed along silently.

In any case, she had been following Zhao Yunxiao around for the past week, and things had been interesting most of the time!

Just like that, the duo quickly arrived at a rest area.

Lightwind Pavilion was a rest area as well, but it was simply incomparable to the one that Zhao Yunxiao had brought Lu Zhiying to.

In fact, just the location alone was already far superior.

While Lightwind Pavilion was located in a remote corner of the sect ground, this rest area was strategically placed along one of the busier roads in the Outer Grounds.

At this rest area was a pavilion just like Lightwind, though it did not give off the same exquisite and cozy feeling that one would get when at the former.

However, that was only because this pavilion was almost ten times bigger!

Clear Thoughts Pavilion – this was easily the largest and most accessible rest area located in the Outer Grounds.

Because of its strategic location, no outer disciple did not know of its existence and would pass by almost on a daily basis.

Therefore, it also doubled as a common gathering point for outer disciples.

It was to the extent that even Lu Zhiying, who had only joined the sect for a week, was already familiar with this place by now.

Clear Thoughts Pavilion was already seldom empty on normal days, but today, it was even more crowded than usual.

Packed in the pavilion was almost a hundred disciples, all of them squeezing forward as they tried to get closer to the end of the pavilion.

Zhao Yunxiao pulled Lu Zhiying along to advance from the side, finally pushing forward until they found a point where they could peek through the crowds to see what everyone was looking at.

At the end of the pavilion where everyone was clamouring over, a confident young man was seated comfortably beside a huge wooden chest.

Laid out before him was a large straw mat where various items had been put out on display.

These were mainly accessories and apparel of varying designs, though there were some armaments mixed in as well.

But no matter which item it was, all of them looked exquisite and beautiful. It was obvious that these were not ordinary items by any measure.

“Looking is fine, but keep your hands off of anything or it will be treated as sold!” the young man said while fanning himself, watching as those in front swept their gazes greedily over the items on display.

“Are we here to buy something too?” Lu Zhiying asked Zhao Yunxiao. “Does he sell things for cheap?”

“Stop thinking that your Senior Martial Brother Zhao is such a miser,” Zhao Yunxiao chided before continuing. “That is Senior Martial Brother Jun Chuan, nicknamed the Importer. Among the outer disciples, he is famous for being well travelled and having wide connections outside of the sect. He spends most of his time outside of the sect, but every time he returns, he will open his private shop here to sell items that he had acquired during his trips. Because of his connections, he is able to get his hands on many items made by renowned artisans – things that are usually quite difficult to get our hands on. He just returned to the sect early today, so we are just here to take a look and see if there’s anything suitable.”

“Sounds expensive...” Lu Zhiying remarked. “I guess we really are just taking a look then.”

Zhao Yunxiao: “...”

One day, he really needed to show Lu Zhiying that he could be a big spender too if the need arose!

“How much for that phoenix hairpin, Junior Martial Brother Jun?” a male disciple asked.

At this moment, Lu Zhiying suddenly realised that while everyone was trying to push forward to take a better look at the items on display, they were still steering clear of two male disciples who were standing comfortably right at the very front.

It was obvious that despite their curiosity, none of them dared to go near them.

“Who are they?” Lu Zhiying asked again.

Having learnt her lesson from the previous interaction with Liang Wenshao back at the Sect Library, this time she suppressed her voice down to the absolute minimum, such that even Zhao Yunxiao could only barely hear her.

“Senior Martial Brothers Sun Minhao and Wang Qisheng, both of them are inner disciples of the sect,” Zhao Yunxiao recognised them immediately. “Just focus on the items instead.”

They were currently surrounded by people, so it was not exactly the most convenient place to be discussing about others.

If they accidentally said something wrong and word got to the ears of the inner disciples, they could easily get themselves into trouble.

Hearing Zhao Yunxiao’s words, Lu Zhiying did not reply further and turned her attention back to the front as well.

“This?” Jun Chuan picked up a hairpin and raised it in front of the female disciple for her to take a closer look. “This phoenix hairpin is produced by the famous Dragonfly Hall. Their members are all famous for their smithing and inscription skills. Taking into account its beauty and how it is an Essence Gathering treasure, three thousand five hundred sect points will do.”

The golden hairpin had a red pearl at its end, clasped in the claws of a phoenix that seemed extremely life-like.

The features of the phoenix and the pin itself were both extremely intricate, testament to the amount of effort that the artisan had put into this work.

However, the exquisite design alone was not enough to convince Sun Minhao.

“Three thousand five hundred sect points? Isn’t that a little too expensive?” Sun Minhao said with a frown. “No matter how I look at it, this is an Essence Gathering hairpin of the uncommon quality. The Sect Market is known for selling items at a slight markup and even they are selling items like this at only three thousand sect points, so how can you be selling it at three thousand five hundred? Three thousand is the maximum that I will be willing to offer!”

“This is where you are wrong, Senior Martial Brother Sun,” Jun Chuan said with a sigh.

“Really?” Sun Minhao scoffed. “How about you tell me exactly where I am wrong then?”

“Firstly, you are right that this is an Essence Gathering hairpin of the uncommon quality,” Jun Chuan started.

“That’s only natural,” Sun Minhao smirked in triumph. “I could tell that from a single glance!”

“However, Senior Martial Brother Sun’s offer might make sense for most other items of the same quality, but not for this. After all, as I’ve said earlier, this is a hairpin produced by the famous Dragonfly Hall!” Jun Chuan continued.

“So what?” Sun Minhao was unconvinced.

“Many of us might have stayed within the sect for too long and slightly lost touch with the outside world, but items of the same rank differ in value according to what and who they are made from,” Jun Chuan added. “And among all the famous artisans outside, the Dragonfly Hall is among the top. Their prestige has been growing over the years, and is largely regarded as a group that could compete against Wushuang or the Double Flame Gate in a hundred years’ time. In fact, this hairpin will easily be worth the equivalent of four thousand sect points outside, so me offering it for three thousand and five hundred here is already considered giving a huge discount!”

Sun Minhao’s face turned ugly upon hearing that.

“Are you saying that I have lost touch with the outside world?” Sun Minhao questioned while his eyes gleamed with a murderous light.

Not only did Jun Chuan reject his offer of three thousand sect points, he did it while insinuating that he was out of touch with the outside world.

That was effectively putting him down in front of almost a hundred outer disciples, individuals whom he considered his inferior.

To be treated with such blatant disrespect, how could he, as an inner disciple, possibly take that lying down?

Hearing his words, the atmosphere in Clear Thoughts Pavilion suddenly chilled.

At the same time, Jun Chuan’s eyes could not help but quavir slightly as he realised the mistake that he had just made!