"That is not what I meant..." Geng Guoye's tone immediately mellowed down as he realised the gravity of the situation.
"Then what exactly is it that you meant?" Chen Pingxi questioned.
"I apologise for my careless words earlier," Geng Guoye said reluctantly. "The Origin Lake Sect has always been a close friend of the Black Tortoise Sect, so how can it ever be unorthodox in nature? It would appear that my ignorance regarding the archaic runes has resulted in an embarrassing moment. For that, I sincerely seek your forgiveness."
Under the watchful gazes of everyone present, it was humiliating to have to backpedal on his words. However, he had no choice but to do so.
He could easily get away with throwing random accusations at outer disciples, but it was an entirely different story now that the Origin Lake Sect had been implicated.
If handled improperly, his words could even be interpreted as a nefarious attempt to divide the two factions – something that could result in punishments comparable to those for treason!
"Please calm down, Fairy Chen," Qie Xing hurriedly interjected. "I can vouch for Brother Geng's admiration for the Origin Lake Sect. I am sure this is a misunderstanding."
The other inner disciples quickly chimed in as well.
"That's right, please calm down, Fairy Chen. I'm sure Brother Geng doesn't mean it that way."
"He might be stupid, but he is not malicious. Why don't you just ignore him and enjoy this beautiful night with me?"
"The outer disciples are watching. How about continuing this discussion at a more private location instead?"
"Brother Geng has already admitted his fault, so please be appeased."
At the same time, Geng Guoye clasped his fists towards Chen Pingxi and bowed his head slightly in apology, nervously awaiting the latter's response.
Thankfully, this response ended up being a positive one.
Chen Pingxi glared at Geng Guoye for a few moments before finally retracting her aura. The spiritual pressure on everyone rescinded in an instant, causing the outer disciples to let out a sigh of relief.
"If I hear comments that besmirch the good name of my Origin Lake Sect again, I will bring the matter straight to the elders of the Black Tortoise Sect!" Chen Pingxi cautioned.
"Fairy Chen can rest assured. This will not happen again in the future," Geng Guoye agreed without hesitation. "If I were to hear such words from anyone, I promise to be the first to act against it!"
"That'd better be the case!" Chen Pingxi said before walking over to Zhao Yunxiao. "Are you all right, Brother Zhao?"
"Y-Yes, thank you for the concern, Sister Chen..." Zhao Yunxiao said rather uncomfortably.
While he definitely appreciated Chen Pingxi's help, he could also sense everyone's eyes focusing on him right now.
He did not know what everyone's thoughts were, but he could only hope that they would not be too exaggerated!
In a way, perhaps it was a good thing that Chen Pingxi had confronted Geng Guoye in such a fierce manner earlier as well. That would definitely become everyone's focus when discussing what happened here today.
The less others talked about him, the better.
He definitely did not want to attract too much attention and end up getting on Geng Guoye's bad side!
"That's good to hear," Chen Pingxi sighed. "I apologise for the inconvenience today, and will take my leave before I end up creating more trouble for you."
"Please don't say that, Sister Chen is definitely not at fault here. We are the ones who should apologise for not having hosted you well instead," Zhao Yunxiao shook his head. "That said, I'm sure that this is all a huge misunderstanding, and that Senior Martial Brother Geng truly did not mean to show any disrespect to the Origin Lake Sect."
"I'm glad that Junior Martial Brother Zhao understands my intentions," Geng Guoye quickly chimed in. "I apologise for having lost control of my strength earlier. I will definitely make it up to you in the future."
He had still been rather worried that Zhao Yunxiao might not be able to read the room and would end up speaking the wrong words purely out of grudge. Thankfully, Zhao Yunxiao was smarter than that.
Since that was the case, there was nothing too difficult about doing a thing or two for Zhao Yunxiao in the future to reward him for his cooperation.
"In that case, I won't hesitate to take Senior Martial Brother Geng up on your offer next time," Zhao Yunxiao replied with an excited smile, though it looked rather forced due to his pale lips.
Chen Pingxi looked at Zhao Yunxiao and let out a helpless sigh.
To still be able to chat with Geng Guoye in such a casual manner, it was clear that Zhao Yunxiao did not actually care about what the former had done to him earlier. It was almost as though such matters were too trivial to be even worth thinking about for him!
That said, while she might not have gotten the opportunity to spend time with Zhao Yunxiao, she had at least managed to achieve her objective of knowing him better, even if just by a little.
Now then, even though Zhao Yunxiao had said that he did not blame her, she knew better than to continue imposing on him here.
"I should still take my leave, Brother Zhao," Chen Pingxi clasped her fists towards Zhao Yunxiao. "I hope that there will be an opportunity for us to chat again soon."
"The road ahead is long. I'm sure there will be opportunities along the way," Zhao Yunxiao returned the greeting.
"In that case, let's take our leave as well," Qie Xing suggested.
Without Chen Pingxi, there was no longer any reason for him to remain here.
"Indeed, let's not bother the outer disciples any longer," Geng Guoye quickly agreed. "Let's leave."
It was not just them, either. The moment Chen Pingxi expressed her intention to leave, the other inner disciples immediately lost all interest in staying at the Clear Thoughts Pavilion.
Within a matter of minutes, the outer disciples were once again the only ones left at the pavilion.
"Are you all right, Senior Martial Brother Zhao?" Lu Zhiying immediately went up to him.
"Let me take a look," Huang An offered.
"Wait, let's do this somewhere else," Zhao Yunxiao suggested.
Despite his urge to stay around and continue getting updates on the various parties, Zhao Yunxiao felt too weak to remain here. Rather than stubbornly insisting on sticking around, it was probably better to get his injuries looked at instead.
Yes, he would miss out on the more updated information this way, but that was nothing in comparison to the risk of letting any complications fester in his body.
After all, he had just received a strike from an Origin Core realm cultivator. Who knew what kind of negative effects that would have inflicted on him?
And since Huang An was offering to do it for free, he definitely would not pass up on this opportunity to undergo a good examination!
With that, the trio quickly left the Clear Thoughts Pavilion as well.
Watching their departing backs, the remaining outer disciples were filled with all sorts of varying emotions.
What happened here... was huge news!
Not only did Geng Guoye challenge Zhao Yunxiao to an unofficial spar, but he also ended up being forced into a corner, to the extent that he had no choice but to release the seal on his cultivation.
As if that was not enough, Geng Guoye also accidentally insulted the Origin Lake Sect, angering Chen Pingxi, who showed her angry side without restraint.
If not for the unfortunate intervention of the other inner disciples, they might even have been able to witness a duel between Chen Pingxi and Geng Guoye!
Losing a spar against an outer disciple, followed by offending the Origin Lake Sect and having to publicly apologise to Chen Pingxi – Geng Guoye had received quite the setback today!
As for the fact that Zhao Yunxiao had defeated Geng Guoye at a suppressed cultivation level, that was something that received mixed reactions as well.
Some did not think it was anything special due to his reliance on arrays. If the arrays had not been the main reason for his victory, why would Geng Guoye deign to mention it?
On the other hand, there were also some who thought that despite his use of arrays, it was still a huge thing to have successfully forced Geng Guoye onto his back foot.
Regardless, everyone agreed that the biggest news of the day was still the near confrontation between Chen Pingxi and Geng Guoye.
***
Zhao Yunxiao's residence.
"Thankfully, you seem to be fine," Huang An said after completing a detailed examination of Zhao Yunxiao. "There are some minor injuries, but you should be able to recover in a day or two."
"That's good to hear!" Lu Zhiying chimed in. "This won't get in the way of your upcoming trip then!"
"I am leaving tomorrow, so it might still have a small impact. However, it shouldn't be too much of an issue," Zhao Yunxiao corrected while stretching his limbs.
It hurt whenever he moved his body, but that was it. His movements were not impeded in any way, so he could still carry out the tasks expected of him.
"How envious! I want to go on a trip too!" Lu Zhiying pouted for a moment before suddenly recalling something. "Oh right, what's with that weapon of yours? Is it really an unorthodox weapon like Senior Martial Brother Geng said?"
"How can you still say that after what happened earlier? Do you want Lady Chen to beat you up?" Zhao Yunxiao smirked.
"Why the sudden formality? Please just call me Sister Chen as always," Lu Zhiying mimicked Chen Pingxi's voice.
Zhao Yunxiao: "..."
This junior martial sister of his was starting to get out of hand.
"Why haven't you used it before?" Lu Zhiying asked. "Did Sister Chen give it to you recently?"
"Of course not. I am not nearly important enough for someone like her to give me anything significant," Zhao Yunxiao let out a self-deprecating chuckle. "It's my weapon. I forged it."
"Wow, you forged it yourself?" Lu Zhiying's eyes lit up in surprise.
"That's amazing..." Huang An exclaimed.
"That's right," Zhao Yunxiao brought out the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd and lightly swung it around a little. "It might not be on par with Senior Martial Brother Nie's Grand Annihilator, but I like it!"
"Both of you are so cool... all right, I've decided! I am going to make my own weapon next time as well!" Lu Zhiying resolved.
"Haha, even if you don't want to, you would have to do so eventually," Zhao Yunxiao laughed. "After all, there will eventually come a time for you to forge your life-bound treasure."
"No, that's something too far away. I will forge something even before then!" Lu Zhiying insisted.
"If you truly think so, then perhaps you should start looking into forging techniques," Zhao Yunxiao suggested. "Don't leave things till the last minute."
Lu Zhiying bit her lower lip and nodded.
Now that they were assured that Zhao Yunxiao was fine, Huang An and Lu Zhiying did not stay much longer. That was especially since they understood that Zhao Yunxiao needed some rest to recover before his trip tomorrow.
However, Zhao Yunxiao did not just rest the night away.
After checking his inventory for the trip, Zhao Yunxiao spent the night running mental simulations of the earlier spar with Geng Guoye.
What he did right.
What he did wrong.
What he did right but resulted in a bad outcome.
What he did wrong yet yielded a good outcome.
As well as all the reasons why.
Zhao Yunxiao broke down the fight into blocks, analysing each individual move from start to end, from his perspective and then his opponent's, meticulously considering the various other choices that they could have taken at every juncture.
And then repeating this whole process again... and again.
It took a lot of time, but it was worth it.
Every fight was an important lesson on combat proficiency, and every experience an important step towards the pinnacle. Zhao Yunxiao had no intention of letting this precious opportunity for improvement slip right past his fingers.
As he was immersed in the world of battle simulations, the night silently came to an end.