Tale of an Ordinary Cultivator

After speaking, Liang Wenshao proceeded to the front row where a seat had been left empty for him.

The lecture hall fell silent after that, those present keeping their conversations to nothing but hushed whispers.

“Say, what happens to those who weren’t able to get in?” Lu Zhiying asked in a whisper as well.

Even counting those standing along the sides of the lecture hall, the number of people who had entered the lecture hall still seemed to be less than the number of people who were queuing to enter the Sect Library earlier.

That said, could it be that the latecomers were not given the opportunity to listen in at all?

Considering the fact that this cultivation lecture was held only once a month, that would be too harsh of a punishment just for waking up later than their peers!

“The lecture will be projected outside of the Sect Library, so those who aren’t able to make it in will have to make do with listening in from the outside,” Gu Qiansi explained. “Of course, that is still considered quite the punishment as no one likes to listen from outside.”

“Of course no one likes to do so,” Zhao Yunxiao added. “Not only is it less comfortable, but you are also not benefitting from the direct exposure to the elder and the arrays of the lecture hall. If they want to enjoy such benefits, they just have to get up earlier!”

“But why are they being punished when most of them aren’t even late? Others are just slightly earlier,” Lu Zhiying asked.

“This is just how the world works – it is a constant competition against others for resources,” Zhao Yunxiao explained. “Sometimes going into battle after only preparing for the optimal situation will end up getting you killed should there be any unexpected situations. It is harsh, but the sect often likes to pit us against each other for resources.”

“It’s harsh indeed...” Lu Zhiying remarked.

Why did they have to compete against each other when they were all part of the same sect?

Wouldn’t that just harm the relationship between fellow disciples?

At the same time, she made a mental note to wake up early during cultivation lecture days in the future.

“So, how is Elder Mo like?” Lu Zhiying asked again.

Zhao Yunxiao rolled his eyes in response.

The previous question was still all right. But in this environment where it was so quiet that everyone could hear what they were saying, Lu Zhiying actually decided to ask something this sensitive?

Did she not learn from earlier when they chided her for commenting on the sect master in public?

“He’s arriving soon, you can see for yourself later,” Zhao Yunxiao kept his response to a minimum.

Lu Zhiying looked towards Gu Qiansi, who merely smiled back in response without saying anything.

Knowing that she would not be getting anything out of them, Lu Zhiying helplessly leaned back into her seat.

At this moment, footsteps could be heard coming from outside the door.

No one could be seen at the door yet, but slowly but surely, the footsteps were definitely getting louder, evident that the source was getting closer and closer to the lecture hall.

Most of them started sitting up straight, correcting their postures and straightening their robes, all to ensure that they would not appear too sloppy or disrespectful.

And then someone finally appeared at the door.

It was a man who looked to be in his late seventies, with long white hair that was tied up in a topknot.

But contrary to how he looked, there was a vibrant aura about him. Each step he took was slow but firm. His eyes were filled with vitality, much like those that belonged to a budding youngster.

The moment he entered the lecture hall, every disciple present stood up and clasped their fists towards him without being asked.

“Greetings, Elder Mo!”

“Be at ease. Take a seat,” the old man slowly gestured with his hand while making his way to the front of the lecture hall.

He spoke in a seemingly nonchalant way, yet his voice still reverberated across the large lecture hall, easily reaching every corner without issue.

Mo Tianfeng, also known as Elder Mo.

He was the one elder that outer disciples were the most familiar with, mostly because he was in charge of the sect’s knowledge impartation pillar. This also meant that most of the time, he would be the one conducting the monthly cultivation lecture.

With that alone, outer disciples would be exposed to him on a monthly basis, unlike the other elders whom they might only see less than five times a year.

Yet just because he was more connected with the outer disciples did not mean that Mo Tianfeng was lower in status as compared to the other elders.

In fact, among the elders of the sect, he was actually the biggest senior in terms of age.

Even the other elders would have to address him with respect!

Mo Tianfeng did not start the lecture immediately.

Instead, his gaze silently swept across the lecture hall, scanning the numerous disciples who were present today.

This gaze of his bore no enmity or malevolence, also as if it was a gaze coming from a regular old man.

However, it still caused everyone to stiffen up as it fell upon them.

It was not that they were intimidated either.

After all, they had already gotten used to his presence after seeing him almost on a monthly basis.

But just because they were familiar with seeing Mo Tianfeng, that did not mean they knew nothing about how incredible he was.

As an elder of the Black Tortoise Sect, not only did Mo Tianfeng possess one of the highest authorities in the sect, but he was also one of the strongest individuals.

For someone like that to spare the time to conduct a lecture for outer disciples like them was nothing but a great honour, one that they probably did not deserve!

After all, even inner disciples would do anything to get into his sights. Outer disciples like them should seem like nothing but ants to someone like him.

Yet, he still took the time and effort to do so.

Be it for them, for the sect, or even if it was for his own reputation, all outer disciples were appreciative of his efforts and admired him from the bottom of their hearts.

Because of that, they would hate to show Mo Tianfeng any signs of laziness, wanting him to know that his efforts were not in vain.

On top of that, some of the outer disciples present also had a faint hope that they could catch his eye somehow, perhaps being accepted as a direct disciple or even a personal attendant.

If that were to happen by any chance, their future would be set, and their path ahead would be nothing but smooth sailing!

Of course, Zhao Yunxiao was not nearly delusional enough to hope for something like that.

Even so, he still pushed out his shoulders and gave his best look when his gaze matched with Mo Tianfeng’s, wanting to express his admiration for the latter through his actions.

“Today, I will be giving a lecture on the effective use of essence energy,” Mo Tianfeng finally started. “But in order to know that, we have to first understand what essence energy truly is. As all of you should already know, it is basically energy that a cultivator employs for techniques, most commonly refined from world origin energy and stored in the dantian...”

The lecture hall was completely silent except for his voice.

Everyone had their fullest attention on him, not wanting to miss a single word or gesture.

As he spoke, Mo Tianfeng lightly tapped the desk in front of him, and a buzzing sound could be heard.

Lu Zhiying looked up after catching a glimpse of golden light from the corner of her eyes, only to see that a grand emblem of light was slowly appearing above them.

This grand array was large enough to cover the entire lecture hall, hovering over them like a secondary roof over their heads.

When the light from this grand emblem fell upon her, Lu Zhiying suddenly felt her skin tingling in response.

However, she hardly had time to even think about it.

That was because at the same time, Lu Zhiying also felt her breath slowing down and her mind clearing up.

Her senses seemed to have improved by several levels, her hearing and her sight especially. Yet despite that, she was still able to filter out anything that she did not wish to hear, such as the light sound of breathing from the various disciples around her.

It was as though the light was a magical elixir, able to improve her level of focus with just the slightest contact.

She immediately thought back to how they had to adhere to certain requirements while furnishing the lecture hall.

Back then, she had thought that all these requirements were ridiculous and unnecessary.

After all, why would it matter if the table or the chair was adjusted first, as long as they were both positioned properly in the end?

When asked, Zhao Yunxiao had explained that these were all steps to form a grand array, and that she would be able to see the effect of the array during the lecture itself.

Now she finally understood what Zhao Yunxiao meant by that.

The seemingly ordinary lecture hall that they were in was basically a cheat in itself when it came to learning, completely beyond the means of ordinary mortals!

Lu Zhiying subconsciously turned to look at Zhao Yunxiao, only to see that just like everyone else, his gaze had not left Mo Tianfeng for a second.

It was as though he did not even notice the grand array being brought to life overhead.

Of course, it was not that Zhao Yunxiao did not notice it.

Instead, it was because he had already known that it would be activated.

This was not his first cultivation lecture at the Sect Library, as was the case for the rest of the disciples present.

Rather than wasting precious seconds on admiring the array, he would rather keep his attention on the elder, just in case he missed anything that could be beneficial to his cultivation.

On top of that, Zhao Yunxiao also understood that the activation of the array could hardly compare to what they were about to experience.

“Every individual has a different constitution. Even for twins who have been born with identical bodies and brought up in the same environment, they would have walked a different number of steps, took a different number of breaths, and had their hearts beat a different number of times. When all these minute differences add up, their constitution would naturally differ in one way or another, even if it is the slightest of differences...” Mo Tianfeng continued.

“This means when two cultivators refine world origin energy into essence energy, the resulting essence energy would always differ as well. You should always refine world origin energy into a form of essence energy that suits you the best, but how do we know what form that will be? That will depend on three things – your affinity, your goal, and your path. What you are most suited for, what you are aiming for, what you have achieved so far...”

As Mo Tianfeng’s voice filled the lecture hall, subtle changes started happening around them.

More specifically, small bubbles started appearing out of thin air around Mo Tianfeng.

These transparent bubbles were of various sizes. Some were as big as a fingernail, while some were as big as a person’s head.

Initially, these bubbles only floated around the lecturing elder. But as time went on, more and more bubbles appeared and they started to float away from Mo Tianfeng, slowly spreading across the lecture hall.

Under the shower of golden light from the array above, these bubbles seemed like little stars that were slowly spreading across the universe that was the lecture hall.

Not just that, but as they spread across the hall, these bubbles also left a faint trail of light in their wake.

These bubbles and light trails were translucent in nature and did little to hinder anyone’s sight, but Lu Zhiying could not help but pay attention to them nevertheless.

To the inexperienced Lu Zhiying, this was nothing more than a beautiful scene, albeit one that was hardly explainable.

She looked around her and found that no one else seemed to be bothered by the sudden appearance of these strange bubbles and light trails, and that made her even more confused.

Was she the only one who could see these things?

When a particular bubble finally floated close enough, Lu Zhiying curiously reached out towards it.

But contrary to her expectations, her finger failed to burst the bubble. In fact, her hand directly passed through the bubble, as though it was nothing but an illusion!

“This...” Lu Zhiying instinctively looked at her hand while wondering what just happened.

“This is what we call a law phenomenon,” Gu Qiansi held Lu Zhiying’s outstretched hand and brought it back down with a smile, one that seemed to say that she understood how Lu Zhiying was feeling. “When top tier cultivators like Elder Mo talk about the path. Their words can invoke the response of the world laws, resulting in what we call law phenomena. Actually, this level of law phenomena is already considered nothing too amazing. You will be seeing a lot more of it in the future that is to come, so don’t worry too much about it for now and focus on the lecture for now.”

Gu Qiansi took care to speak as softly as possible, not wanting to disturb the others around them.

After all, the monthly cultivation lecture held an important place in everyone’s heart.

If not because she was afraid that Lu Zhiying would end up being too distracted by the law phenomenon and end up missing the truly important thing here which was the lecture, Gu Qiansi would have been reluctant to speak a single word in such a situation!