Be Wary of Association with Evil

After a few minutes, Mo Tianfeng finally raised his head and placed the incense sticks in an incense holder on the altar.

"It is time for everyone to pay your individual respects at the Xuanwu Temple," Mo Tianfeng said. "Sect Leader Zhi and the various elders, shall we?"

The main ceremony was over.

Now, it was time for everyone to enter the Xuanwu Temple to pay their respects and receive their fortune for the year.

Unsurprisingly, there were far too many members of the Black Tortoise Sect for everyone to fit in the Xuanwu Temple at the same time.

Therefore, they were to enter the temple in order of seniority, with the sect leader and elders taking the lead.

That was followed by the protectors and deacons, the core disciples, the inner disciples, and finally the outer disciples.

While waiting for their turn, Zhao Yunxiao nudged Lu Zhiying lightly and gestured to the ones climbing the stairs to the temple.

"The one in the lead is Sect Leader Zhi, followed by Elder Wei, Elder Ying, Elder He, Elder Mo, and finally Elder Feng," Zhao Yunxiao introduced. "Remember their faces well. They are the higher authority of the sect."

"Mm," Lu Zhiying nodded while committing their faces to memory.

Since entering the sect, this was the first time that she was seeing most of them.

Zhao Yunxiao knew that as well, so he wanted to make use of this opportunity to let Lu Zhiying familiarise herself with the most important people of the sect.

"Next are the core disciples," Zhao Yunxiao continued, his eyes slightly sparkling as he spoke. 

The elders certainly commanded the greatest respect, but they were still considered members of the older generation after all.

In contrast, the core disciples held a different type of position in everyone's hearts.

They were the elites among the disciples, the crème of the crop.

Inner disciples dreamed of reaching their level one day, while outer disciples were thrilled just to be able to admire them from afar.

Zhao Yunxiao was just like one of those outer disciples, getting excited just from talking about the core disciples.

"Unfortunately, many of the core disciples are not present today. The three people you see are Senior Martial Brother Kang, Senior Martial Brother Wei, and Senior Martial Sister Zhang," Zhao Yunxiao introduced.

As core disciples of the sect, it was not surprising that they were extremely busy people.

In fact, considering the fact that they were still trying to establish their respective cultivation paths, they were probably far busier than the elders of the sect!

Therefore, it was not uncommon that not all of them were able to attend a particular event at the same time.

From afar, Lu Zhiying could see three individuals slowly making their way up the stairs.

The only young lady among them was already beautiful at first glance, but the amiable smile on her face gave off a friendly vibe that made her feel more approachable. She donned a beautiful ceremonial gown and wore long black hair that had been held into a top bun with a golden hairpin – an appearance that only served to give her an extra touch of elegance.

"That's Senior Martial Sister Zhang Xi, widely known by her alias Frost Empress," Zhao Yunxiao introduced. "But don't feel threatened by her alias. She is probably the most amiable of the core disciples, and is someone who treats even us outer disciples with courtesy and respect. Be it personality, talent, and looks, she is the full package, making her the goddess in the eyes of most Black Tortoise Sect disciples!"

"Oh..." Lu Zhiying exclaimed in surprise.

By now, she had already learnt of how even inner disciples could treat outer disciples with utter disrespect, so she could not help but have a good impression of Zhang Xi upon hearing that.

Trailing behind her was a handsome young man dressed in white from head to toe, from his ceremonial robes to his shoes, and even including the belt around his waist. Coupled with his expressionless look, he seemed slightly unapproachable as though he was an entity leagues above everyone else, a huge contrast when compared to Zhang Xi.

"That's Senior Martial Brother Wei Yuandi, widely known by his alias Death Blade," Zhao Yunxiao checked his surroundings before continuing. "Among the core disciples, he is notorious for being scheming and ruthless. There are even some rumours that he directly plotted the death of his own brother just to steal his position as a core disciple."

"Is that true?" Lu Zhiying looked at Zhao Yunxiao in shock.

"Who knows? But as the saying goes, there is no smoke without fire," Zhao Yunxiao shrugged. "What I am sure of is that his brother did die while out on a mission with him. As for the rest of the story, it is not something that will be privy to outer disciples like us."

"I see..." Lu Zhiying nodded in understanding. "Is that last person Senior Martial Brother Kang then? Why is he dressed so poorly?"

Among the three core disciples present, there was one who looked extremely out of place.

While the first two were dressed to the nines in their ceremonial robes and gown, the young man trailing behind them was dressed in plain clothes no different from that of a peasant's.

It was not nearly to the extent where he could be considered dirty and untidy, but the contrast was simply too striking when compared to the other two.

"Don't be deceived by how humbly he is dressed," Zhao Yunxiao answered with a proud smile. "That's Senior Martial Brother Kang Fuping, widely known by his alias Smiling Swordsman. He is actually the most amazing one of all. After all, he is the prime disciple of our Black Tortoise Sect!"

"He is our prime disciple?" Lu Zhiying repeated with a renewed shock on her face.

The prime disciple of a sect was supposed to be the leader of all disciples, the number one in the generation.

Therefore, she would never have expected that the prime disciple of the influential Black Tortoise Sect was actually someone who looked this ordinary!

But Lu Zhiying quickly shook off her initial shock, quickly replacing it with a look of determination.

"Don't get any strange ideas," Zhao Yunxiao warned after seeing her expression change. "Be patient and slowly work your way up."

"I know that already!" Lu Zhiying rebutted.

"You'd better," Zhao Yunxiao replied.

After the three core disciples, he slowly introduced the other important members of the sect as they took turns climbing the stairs to the Xuanwu Temple.

It took a while to clear everyone before them, but it was eventually their turn to enter the Xuanwu Temple.

The main hall of the Xuanwu Temple had a rather simplistic design.

A huge statue of the divine Xuanwu was erected at the end of the hall, towering over everyone at a height of around thirty metres.

There was an open space in front of the statue, where more than a hundred cushion seats had been laid out at regular intervals.

Zhao Yunxiao's group entered along with other outer disciples, and kneeled on a cushion seat each.

"Bow!"

Hearing the instruction from the deacon in charge, everyone took a deep bow to pay their respects to the divine Xuanwu, to the extent where their foreheads were touching the floor.

"Rise!"

As everyone raised their heads, the deacon in charge started going around with a thick stack of fortune sticks, letting the disciples each draw a random fortune stick before leaving the temple.

This was a simple event, but it was still something that the disciples looked forward to every year – it was the ceremony of getting their fortune told for the year.

Some treated it as pure fun, while the more superstitious ones placed great emphasis on the outcome.

Regardless of their beliefs, the results of this fortune telling ceremony would surely become a great talking point for the disciples, at least for weeks to come.

"It will be an eventful year, but be careful as benefits are usually accompanied by dangers," Gu Qiansi read the words written on her fortune stick as they left the temple.

She could not help but sigh upon seeing the contents.

Rather than an eventful year filled with benefits and dangers, she would much rather have a peaceful and smooth sailing year!

At this point, Gu Qiansi could not help but notice Zhao Yunxiao shooting a suspicious glare at her.

"What's your problem this time?" Gu Qiansi questioned.

"What's my problem? Why don't you see for yourself?" Zhao Yunxiao showed her his fortune stick.

"Be wary of association with evil?" Gu Qiansi read before frowning. "Wait a minute, who are you trying to say is evil?"

"Why are you so offended? Feeling guilty?" Zhao Yunxiao narrowed his eyes.

"Do you want to die?" Gu Qiansi snapped.

"See? Already threatening to kill on the very first day of the new year. That says a lot," Zhao Yunxiao shrugged.

"Zhao Yunxiao, is your skin really itching today?" Gu Qiansi felt the corner of her lips twitch.

"Look at my fortune, Senior Martial Sister Gu!" Lu Zhiying suddenly held Gu Qiansi's arm from behind and raised her fortune stick in front of Gu Qiansi.

"Cherish the close ties you have, as they will bring you great fortune this year..." Gu Qiansi read the words before letting out a smile. "You are such a nice girl, Junior Martial Sister Lu, completely different from a certain person whom I could name."

"I didn't mention any names just now," Zhao Yunxiao insisted.

"Who said I was referring to you?" Gu Qiansi retorted.

"Well, I wasn't replying to you either," Zhao Yunxiao looked away.

"Tch, are you really a man?" Gu Qiansi clicked her tongue in irritation.

"Hehehe, the two of you have such a good relationship!" Lu Zhiying giggled.

"Who has a good relationship with him?" Gu Qiansi rolled her eyes while Zhao Yunxiao merely scoffed in response.

"What did you get, Senior Martial Brother Nie?" Zhao Yunxiao turned to Nie Hanchang who was following behind them.

"Nothing much, just the usual generic stuff," Nie Hanchang shook his head with a faint smile.

"Ah, that's the most boring kind," Zhao Yunxiao replied nonchalantly.

"Isn't that right?" Nie Hanchang chuckled bitterly.

But after Zhao Yunxiao turned back around, Nie Hanchang's gaze hardened as he tightened his grip around the fortune stick in his hands.

The words on his fortune stick surfaced in his head once again.

Your current path would be long and arduous. It might be wise to consider looking for an alternative path that would make things easier.

Those were the words that he hated hearing the most.

If not because it would draw too much attention, he would have crushed the fortune stick there and then!