17 Sucking Up is a Survival Skill

"Who is that guy?" Lu Zhiying asked with a frown.

Zhao Yunxiao might be the one doing most of the work all morning, but she had not just been standing by the side and watching either.

Although she was unable to help out with the complicated details, Lu Zhiying still performed simple chores such as the carrying of items, similar to how she had helped Zhao Yunxiao with the traps the night before.

But now after they had worked their ass off all morning to set things up, this random guy just walks in and tells everyone to redo it all?

Her first impression of this man could hardly be worse!

"Senior Martial Brother Deng Wei. He is an inner disciple under Elder Mo," Zhao Yunxiao said with a sigh. "It is never a good thing when he comes to inspect the hall before the lecture."

At this moment, Liang Wenshao who was in charge of the hall's setup walked up to Deng Wei.

Seeing this, Lu Zhiying could not help but let out a smirk.

As someone who likes to feel important, it was unlikely that Liang Wenshao would be able to hold in his temper when faced with someone as arrogant as Deng Wei.

That being the case, there was bound to be a show to see here!

"Senior Martial Brother Deng, are you here to inspect the hall?" Liang Wenshao greeted Deng Wei with clasped fists.

"Enough with the pleasantries, did you not hear what I just said?" Deng Wei answered in a domineering tone. "Take it all down and do it over again! I want to see something fresh! Or do you really intend to bore my master by showing him an almost identical layout every month?"

Lu Zhiying immediately turned her attention towards Liang Wenshao, all ready to witness the strong rebuttal that was to come.

Unfortunately, she was doomed to be disappointed.

"Ah, look at me neglecting such a simple matter! Senior Martial Brother Deng, you are still the meticulous one!" Liang Wenshao was all smiles as he walked up to Deng Wei. "Come, come, do enlighten us with your insights on how the furnishing can be improved!"

"At least you realised that," Deng Wei smirked. "Walk me through what you have and I will let you know where can be improved."

"That will be our honour! Please come this way, I will show you the blueprint we have!" Liang Wenshao humbly led Deng Wei over to a nearby table where he laid out the scroll in his hands.

Just like that, Deng Wei sat down at the table and listened to Liang Wenshao slowly explain everything to him.

"...I thought you said this Senior Martial Brother Liang likes to feel important?" Lu Zhiying felt the corner of her lips twitch.

"Even if that is the case, it also depends on who he is dealing with," Zhao Yunxiao let out a bitter smile. "No matter what, Senior Martial Brother Liang is still an outer disciple like us. When faced with an inner disciple like Senior Martial Brother Deng, how can he still act all imperious? Won't that be asking to be slapped in the face?"

"So what if he is an inner disciple? Are we really going to redo everything just because he says so?" Lu Zhiying still felt indignant.

"Well, if he says so, then yes we have to," Zhao Yunxiao shrugged. "As an inner disciple, he does have a greater say. Not to mention that he is also sent here by Elder Mo to oversee things. However, do remember that you need to be careful of this Deng Wei if you ever come across him in the future. He likes to abuse authority and nitpick on small matters."

"Why do you sound like you have already accepted this? Aren't you mad about your efforts being wasted?" Lu Zhiying asked.

"What good will getting mad do?" Zhao Yunxiao laughed. "But don't worry, there is a reason why Senior Martial Brother Liang is chosen to lead the preparations. He might be taking a weaker stance now, but he knows how to deal with Senior Martial Brother Deng to a certain degree."

"He does? How?" Lu Zhiying was doubtful, but still turned her attention back to Deng Wei and Liang Wenshao.

At this moment, Liang Wenshao was still consulting Deng Wei on ways to improve on the blueprint.

"...Because of that, we are thinking of positioning the array node in this manner. Even though it might look similar to the previous month, at least it will be in accordance to Elder Mo's preference. Will that be all right?" Liang Wenshao asked with a smile.

"Hmm, sounds reasonable enough," Deng Wei rubbed his chin in contemplation. "We can keep this part then."

"I'm relieved now that Senior Martial Brother Deng agrees with this decision. I was still a little worried that I might have made the wrong choice, but I'm sure it is fine now!" Liang Wenshao maintained the smile on his face. "About this part..."

"Sounds okay, keep this as well then."

"Ah, thank goodness you are here to help us decide! Then about this part..."

"Seems okay as well."

"It's so nice that you are here to enlighten us!"

Lu Zhiying watched silently, though she could not help but feel that something was amiss.

Even though Liang Wenshao was taking a lower position between the two, it seemed like he was actually the one in control of the conversation, perfectly steering it in the direction that he wanted.

Deng Wei had wanted everything to be changed earlier.

But after a few words by Liang Wenshao, he was starting to accept that most things should remain as they were.

To him, he was the one who decided that.

But in everyone else's eyes, it was Liang Wenshao who led him to accept that.

Of course, there were still a few tweaks that he insisted on, but those changes were definitely much easier to accomplish in comparison to redoing the entire morning's work!

"Thank you for helping us decide on so many matters, Senior Martial Brother Deng. If not for you, we would still be confused as to whether we are doing things correctly," Liang Wenshao wrapped up the conversation with a show of gratitude. "On another note, I heard that Senior Martial Brother Deng had a bountiful harvest during your hunt two days ago? And I even heard that you went with Senior Martial Sister Leng!"

"Hahaha! News sure travel fast, to think that even you have heard of it!" Deng Wei burst out in laughter. "That's right, I went on a hunt with Junior Martial Sister Leng two days ago. It has been a while since my last hunt, so I decided to put my hunting prowess out on full display. Because of that, I ended up taking down an Origin Core realm green-eyed iron ape!"

"Wow! Congratulations, Senior Martial Brother Deng! I'm sure Senior Martial Sister Leng was impressed as well!"

"Hahaha! What's important is still the process, not the result," Deng Wei replied. "As long as I can spend some quality time with Junior Martial Sister Leng, the result is just a bonus! Thankfully, things did turn out pretty well this time as well!"

"Hahaha! I wasn't trying to impress her," Deng Wei replied. "I was merely trying to spend some quality time with Junior Martial Sister Leng. I can only say that the green-eyed iron ape was unlucky enough to stumble into my path!"

"Senior Martial Brother Deng is right. With you around, all these beasts should have scrammed as far as they can if they knew what is best for them!" Liang Wenshao quickly responded.

The duo did not try to lower their voices, so all the disciples in the hall could hear their conversation.

Upon hearing this, everyone felt genuine admiration and envy towards Deng Wei.

After all, this was an Origin Core realm beast he was talking about!

Even if they worked hard all their lives, most of them would never step into the Origin Core realm. To be able to hunt a beast like that, Deng Wei truly deserved his title as an inner disciple!

Zhao Yunxiao was similarly impressed. But at the same time, this conversation also made him recall his interaction with Leng Huiqi two days ago.

Back then in the Alchemy Chamber's cauldron room, Leng Huiqi told him that she would be going with Deng Wei for a hunt.

At that time, she was saying that Deng Wei had been begging her for many weeks, and that she decided to just go with him once out of pure sympathy.

To think that a hunt like that actually ended with such a great harvest!

If an opportunity came about, he should ask Leng Huiqi about it just to probe if there had been any material changes to her feelings since then.

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"Senior Martial Brother Zhao?" Lu Zhiying's voice broke Zhao Yunxiao out of his daze.

"Ahem!" Zhao Yunxiao coughed awkwardly after realising that he had been caught zoning out. "In any case, others might be worth sucking up to, but there is little merit in doing so when it comes to Senior Martial Brother Deng. After all, he is too obsessed with courting Senior Martial Sister Leng. Every benefit he obtains will be invested into courting Senior Martial Sister Leng, leaving little to nothing for his followers."

"I see. But why would anyone think of sucking up to him in the first place?" Lu Zhiying asked in response. "Isn't he just a disciple like us?"

Zhao Yunxiao: "..."

In his attempt to quickly change the topic, he had momentarily forgotten to consider who he was talking to.

This naive young lady would one day realise that life is not as simple as she thinks, and that sucking up to others is an important survival skill!

Just that perhaps that day had yet to come.

"All right, everyone! Gather up!" Liang Wenshao called out to the entire hall. "Thanks to Senior Martial Brother Deng's advice, we realised that there are some areas that need to be improved, so we will be making some changes to the layout!"

Zhao Yunxiao did not dare dally, bringing Lu Zhiying with him as they quickly joined the rest in gathering at the front of the hall.

"Here, take a look at the revised plan. Those in charge of the respective areas, do change up accordingly."

With a wave of his hands, Liang Wenshao sent his scroll floating into the air and opening up for all to see.

"Oh no, looks like we have quite a bit of changes to make too..." Lu Zhiying whispered unhappily to Zhao Yunxiao.

Just like before, she had lowered her voice to nothing but a whisper.

However, now that they were right in front of the group, even this failed to escape the refined senses of Liang Wenshao.

"Are you complaining now?" Liang Wenshao asked with a frown.

This was the first time he met Lu Zhiying, so he naturally wanted things to start off right.

And by starting off right, it meant that he wanted to establish his dominance, letting Lu Zhiying understand that he was the one in charge and to never question him!

Lu Zhiying did not say much. But what she said, on top of how she simply said in front of him, was already sufficient to let Liang Wenshao know that this girl was not at all afraid of him!

On the other hand, the young lady could not help but feel shocked when Liang Wenshao called her out.

She had already lowered her voice to a minimum, such that only Zhao Yunxiao should have heard her.

Unfortunately, she was still too green, and had completely underestimated the senses of a cultivator.

"You are mistaken, Senior Martial Brother Liang," Zhao Yunxiao immediately stepped in. "Junior Martial Sister Lu was just reminding me of the changes because I asked her to help me keep an eye out for what I need to do. She definitely wasn't complaining."

"Stay out of this, Junior Martial Brother Zhao. I know she is new to the sect, but some lessons need to be taught early," Liang Wenshao did not relent.

"You are absolutely right, Senior Martial Brother Liang. Lessons do need to be taught early, but I can assure you that this is really a misunderstanding," Zhao Yunxiao answered with a smile. "Looks like there is a lot to do, why don't we hurry and get back to work? It will not be good if things ended up getting delayed."

"We have the entire day left, this number of changes will not need that long," Liang Wenshao said, his eyes staring straight at Lu Zhiying the whole time. "What? Are you just going to hide behind others after complaining? If you have any complaints, why don't you say it to my face?"

Lu Zhiying had not spoken a word since she realised that Zhao Yunxiao was trying to cover for her.

However, that did not mean that she was afraid.

Now that Liang Wenshao was obviously not taking Zhao Yunxiao's words into consideration, Lu Zhiying decided that there was no longer a need for her to remain silent either.

If she did so any longer, she would only be throwing the problem to Zhao Yunxiao to handle!

But just as she was about to say something, Deng Wei interjected.

"Wait."

Even Liang Wenshao stopped saying anything now that Deng Wei had spoken up.

Deng Wei stepped forward and walked towards Lu Zhiying, finally stopping only when he was standing right before her.

Deng Wei might be average looking, but he had a tall stature.

With him standing this close, he was literally towering over Lu Zhiying and staring down at her.

All eyes were on Deng Wei, wondering what he would do to this young lady who basically just complained about changes that he suggested.

"Senior Martial Brother De-" Zhao Yunxiao tried to say something, but Deng Wei stopped him by raising his palm towards him.

Zhao Yunxiao furrowed his brows, all ready to step in if the situation deteriorate any further.

Yet at this moment of tension, Deng Wei suddenly broke out into a charming smile.

"So you are Junior Martial Sister Lu? I heard you are new, so perhaps that is why we haven't had the opportunity to meet," Deng Wei maintained his smile. "I am Deng Wei, and am here to oversee the preparations of the hall. I might be the one who suggested the changes, but I have to admit that I am not always right. If you feel that some changes might not be necessary, why don't we spend some time and slowly talk things over?"

Liang Wenshao: "..."

Zhao Yunxiao: "..."

Not just them, but everyone present was dumbfounded by Deng Wei's unexpected words and actions.

That was the brightest smile Deng Wei had had since entering the hall.

But since when had the infamous Deng Wei ever cared about slowly talking things over with outer disciples who went against his opinions?

The frown on Zhao Yunxiao's face quickly disappeared, turning into a bitter smile instead.

He was wrong.

Sucking up is a survival skill?

Nah.

In the end, perhaps those with a good-looking face truly did not have to learn to suck up to others in order to survive!

Looking at this scene unfold before him, Zhao Yunxiao was once again reminded about how unfair life could be.