125: Chapter 125 I Hate Cthulhu

When Xie Feng was lowered down from mid-air by Sect Master Shen Du, his feet still felt a bit light as they stepped onto the bluestone pavement of the Martial Arts Arena.

The sense of resistance in his mind—"I don't want to speak in front of hundreds of people"—hadn't fully digested yet.

It was fine if Xie Feng messed around with his close friends on his own, but giving a speech in front of so many people was a bit difficult for him.

Xie Feng was currently trying hard to recall his memories of doing annual reports at the company in his past life.

The Martial Arts Arena was neatly filled with this year's newly entered Disciples, their cyan-white outer Sect daily robes forming a patch of extremely refreshing plain colors under the afternoon sunlight.

In the front row were Outer Sect Disciples, in the back row were Inner Sect Disciples, and on both sides stood several newly promoted deacons from the Artifact Hall and Penal Hall.

Wen Yushu did not know when he had already stood on the steps on the eastern side of the Martial Arts Arena, holding that fan in his hand, squinting his eyes to glance towards Xie Feng's side, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned.

He slowly opened his mouth and said a string of words, but there was no sound.

Relying on the Night Demon's three eyes, Xie Feng slowly read it out.

"I know you don't want to speak, but I will definitely not bail you out."

This dog!

Sect Master Shen Du took the lead to step forward and give a few opening remarks, the general meaning of which was welcoming new Disciples to enter the Sect, encouraging everyone to diligently Cultivate, and that Qingyun Sect had won quite a lot of resources for the Sect at this year's Qingzhou Sect Grand Assembly, and so on.

Then an Elder from the Penal Hall went up to say a few words about the rules and discipline of the Sect, the tone being business-as-usual as always.

Then came Elder Qin from the Artifact Hall. It was rare for the old man to change into a clean robe today, and his speech was extremely brief. The gist of it was that the Artifact Hall recruited a few good saplings this year, one of whom "has a poor mouth but his craftsmanship is indeed not bad." Xie Feng didn't need to listen further to know who he was talking about.

When it was time for the Inner Sect Disciple representative to speak, Sect Master Shen Du turned his head to glance at Xie Feng.

Xie Feng took a deep breath, leaned on the cold crystal blind staff, and walked to the edge of the high platform in the exact center of the Martial Arts Arena.

In front of the new Disciples appeared this rumored Qingzhou Prodigy.

On the high platform of the Martial Arts Arena, Xie Feng stood still quietly.

A dark black cloak hung straight from his shoulders to his ankles, the fabric not quite new, and a cyan belt was loosely tied around his waist, which was the standard issue for Qingyun Sect Inner Sect Disciples, engraved with extremely simple cloud patterns on the buckle.

Hanging from one side of the belt was a jade plaque, branded with the imperial Phoenix crest on the front and engraved with the character "Qian" on the back. The proof of a third-rank honorary title was thus casually hung near the corner of his robe, gently tapping against the blind staff as he walked, making an extremely crisp and subtle sound.

In his right hand, he leaned on the cold crystal blind staff. The staff body was entirely grayish-blue, emitting an extremely faint and cold fluorescent glow under the afternoon sunlight, and the end of the staff was fitted with a somewhat aged cold iron staff tip.

Half of his face was covered by a rune veil, revealing only the lower half of his bridge of nose and his neither thick nor thin lips.

Above them, three petals of flickering red light were flashing on and off intermittently.

Xie Feng pushed the veil slightly upward, and the three-petaled pupils of his left eye slowly swept across the audience below, where hundreds of young faces uniformly raised their heads to look at him.

In the very front row, there were a few bold Outer Sect Disciples, the adoration in their eyes almost overflowing.

Suddenly, someone in the audience took the lead in applauding, and the applause quickly spread from the first row to the back row, crackling and popping, not entirely neat but extremely enthusiastic.

An Outer Sect Disciple was clapping with special vigor, his palms patted red yet he was still clapping hard.

Another new Disciple beside him lowered his voice to whisper into his companion's ear.

"This is Xie Feng. The imperial proclamation says that he held back an entire group of eerie entities by himself in Ranhuo City. He's too strong."

Another replied: "Nonsense, I came to Qingyun Sect precisely for Senior Brother Xie."

Xie Feng shifted the blind staff to his left hand and raised his right hand to signal everyone to quiet down.

He silently gave a thumbs-up to Emperor Zhou Weixi in his heart; the imperial proclamation of this Mortal emperor truly had massive influence, and before coming here, he didn't know he had such high prestige among the new Disciples.

After finally adjusting his expression, he opened his mouth to speak.

Then he saw Tu Ziguan standing in the very front row of the Artifact Hall Disciple queue, wearing a brand-new Artifact Hall ordinary uniform, with a carving knife holster at his waist that only a Personal Disciple of Elder Qin was qualified to wear.

This brat had officially been taken in by Elder Qin.

Seeing Xie Feng's gaze sweep over, Tu Ziguan immediately made an extremely exaggerated funny face with winks and grimaces, turning his lips outward to reveal two rows of teeth, pulling his eye corners upward with his fingers, making himself look like a catfish whose tail had been stepped on.

Xie Feng's serious expression, which he had painstakingly brewed for half a day, collapsed on the spot.

He chuckled out loud and hurriedly used the blind staff to cover his mouth.

The hundreds of new Disciples below froze for a split second, then burst into uproarious laughter.

Sect Master Shen Du buried his face in his palms at the neighboring Elders' seating area, Elder Qin's hand holding the teacup hovered mid-air, and Elder Zhao clapped his hands and laughed heartily.

Only Tu Ziguan was still grinning and continuing to make funny faces, completely lacking the self-awareness that he had been caught doing it.

Xie Feng took a deep breath and slammed the blind staff onto the ground.

Clang—!

The crisp sound echoed across the sky above the Martial Arts Arena, and the laughter below gradually subsided.

Standing on the high platform, Xie Feng's veil swayed gently in the afternoon breeze, and he decided to stop putting on airs anyway, since that laugh just now had shaken away all pretense.

"I am Xie Feng. The one making funny faces down there just now is Tu Ziguan, a new Disciple taken in by Elder Qin of the Artifact Hall this year. His craftsmanship is great, but his character is extremely rotten. When you deal with him in the future, just learn his craftsmanship, not his mouth."

There was another burst of laughter from the audience. In the Artifact Hall queue, Tu Ziguan spread his hands and made an innocent expression of "What did I do?", only to be ruthlessly poked in the waist by Mo Tang.

Gu Jian and Wen Yushu, standing to the side, both smiled unconsciously.

Tie Rong was stunned for a moment, then bared her teeth and broke into a smile.

She saw that thing fitted on the tail of Xie Feng's staff.

That seemed to be the cold iron sleeve she had forged for him before? Except the craftsmanship was very rough, looking at it, it was obviously hammered in hard.

Xie Feng paused for a moment, his tone slowly becoming steady.

He said that when he first came to Qingyun Sect, he was just like most people down in the audience, standing below the Martial Arts Arena listening to Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters speak. At that time, the people standing up here giving speeches didn't know him, and he didn't know anyone either.

Reaching the position he was in today did not rely on innate exceptional talent; his Cultivate qualifications were restored only after Elder Zhao unblocked his Meridians one by one with silver needles, and to this day he was nothing more than an ordinary Disciple.

The audience below was pin-drop silent.

That Outer Sect Disciple whose palms had been clapped red earlier clenched his fists tightly, staring unblinkingly at Xie Feng.

He said that the Sect was only a starting point; no matter what reason brought one here, the path of cultivation ahead had to be walked out step by step by oneself.

Not every time could one win, but every time one could choose not to let oneself down.

He had no secret recipe to share; if there was one, it was to choose the path one felt was right when a choice could be made and walk it.

He slammed the blind staff onto the ground once more, his tone suddenly lightening up a bit as he said that although the canteen's sesame flatbreads were hard, dipping them in vegetable soup allowed one to eat two bowls.

The dormitories were a bit cold in winter, so remember to claim an extra cotton quilt.

The Hall of Dharma Transmission held three major lectures a month; don't be like him back then and never attend a single one.

Sect Master Shen Du lowered his hand from his face at the Elders' seating area and tilted his head to glance at Elder Wen.

Elder Wen held his teacup and nodded slightly.

————

After the event dispersed, Tu Ziguan clutched his buttocks and limped on the way back to the residential quarters.

Xie Feng walked beside him, leaning on the cold crystal blind staff, his expression as usual.

Mo Tang carried her wooden box behind them, her tone flat: "Tu Wu, before you make funny faces next time, calculate how far the tail of his staff can reach first."

Tu Ziguan turned around indignantly: "Aren't you on my side?"

Mo Tang thought about it seriously: "I am on the side of reason, and reason is that you didn't run away when he hit you."

The distinct charred aroma of the canteen's sesame flatbread drifted from the direction of the quarters, blending with the applause that had not yet fully dissipated over the Martial Arts Arena, slowly blown away by the afternoon mountain breeze.

Peaceful life was so wonderful, and he hoped it would continue forever.

At this moment, a new Disciple suddenly ran over asking for Xie Feng's autograph. The spiritual power fluctuations on this person were weak, making him look like he had just entered the Sect, but his Spiritual Qi was extremely dense, showing that his foundation was laid exceptionally well.

"Senior Brother Xie, please give me your autograph!"

Xie Feng suddenly truly felt that he had integrated into this new home of Kyushu. He laughed out loud, took it over, and signed his name.

"What is your name? I'll write a message for you."

The Disciple became even more excited on his face.

"My name is Lu Mingyuan, thank you, Senior Brother!"

Peaceful life was so wonderful, hopefully it would continue forever?