Despite Bao Hui's stingy display of confidence, the disciples were still obliged to clasp their fists, bow, and thank him, saying they wouldn't fail his trust—leaving the bastard smiling happily before saying goodbye and walking off.
Once he left, Elder Zhao remained behind to answer any questions the disciples might have, and soon found himself surrounded by them.
Meanwhile, standing away from the crowd that surrounded the elder were Aotian and Rihai, who had remained in the same spot since the start of the meeting.
He looked at her and saw that she didn't want to ask anything—or at least, if she did, she knew she could ask him instead of joining the crowd.
"Shall we go?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Yeah, I think so," Rihai pondered, but seeing no reason to stay, nodded and took his hand, getting ready to leave.
But they hadn't even taken a single step when they heard a sweet, childlike voice call out:
"Big brother, big sister, wait a moment!"
Aotian and Rihai, sensing that the call was meant for them, looked back and saw a cheerful, adorable little girl—the same one who had been asking Elder Zhao questions earlier—now walking quickly toward them, pulling along a beautiful blue-haired cultivator with a helpless expression.
Rihai and Aotian waited, slightly confused about the girls' intentions.
It didn't take long before they reached them, and Lin Xiaoxue, the little girl, let go of Xiao Ling's hand and stood in front of Aotian and Rihai, smiling.
"Hello, junior brother, junior sister! My name is Lin Xiaoxue. I hadn't seen you in the sect before, so I wanted to meet you. This here is sister Xiao Ling." She smiled brightly at them as she introduced herself and her sister Ling.
Xiao Ling, beside her, just nodded gently and looked helplessly at the little girl.
"Hello, junior sister Lin, senior sister Xiao. I'm Long Aotian, and this is my companion, Liu Rihai." Aotian smiled and greeted them politely, clasping his fists toward the two.
"Junior sister, senior sister." Rihai also clasped her fists and greeted them softly, with a calm expression.
But their words wiped the smile off the little girl's face, and Lin Xiaoxue's cheeks puffed up as she was addressed as junior sister, clearly displeased.
In truth, the main reason she had come up to them was simply to be called senior sister by the new disciples. As the youngest in her current group, no one ever called her that. After all, everyone had more or less the same cultivation, so seniority was mostly determined by age—and she was one of the youngest in the sect at just 11 years old.
Xiao Ling had some idea of her intentions, which made her feel even more helpless about being dragged along like that.
Unfortunately for Xiaoxue, both Rihai—who had once been a Foundation Establishment cultivator—and Aotian—who currently was one—weren't inclined to call a cute little girl in Qi Refinement "senior sister." Not out of arrogance, but simply due to how strange it felt.
But as Lin Xiaoxue pouted, her mind seemed to click, processing Aotian's name.
"Pfff!" She quickly covered her mouth with both hands, her face turning red as she struggled to hold in her laughter.
Seeing this, Aotian couldn't help but glance helplessly at Rihai beside him, who also covered her mouth to laugh, her beautiful blue eyes sparkling in amusement as they looked at him.
What made them laugh was that the little girl's reaction was almost exactly the same as Rihai's when they first met.
Xiao Ling, beside them, also showed a slight look of puzzlement as she stared at Aotian and his… peculiar name.
Aotian couldn't help but feel a little powerless about the name he had chosen. Using it to scare Cang Song had been fun, but now, having a little girl laugh at it only left him helpless.
"Sister Xiaoxue," Xiao Ling called out helplessly, since the little girl was still giggling behind her hands at Aotian's extremely arrogant name—which really wasn't appropriate behavior toward fellow disciples, especially over something involuntary like a name, which a person doesn't choose for themselves.
Though if Aotian knew what Xiao Ling was thinking, he'd probably feel even more helpless—after all, he had chosen his own name.
After being scolded by her senior sister, the little girl's shoulders trembled a bit more, but she finally managed to control herself and removed her hands from her mouth, her cheeks still red from laughing so much, lips tightly pressed as she tried to hold in the rest.
"Junior sister, is my name that funny?" Aotian couldn't help but ask, curious after seeing how amused she was.
She quickly shook her head in denial, her cute braids whipping from side to side.
"No, brother, it's not—Pff!" She tried to speak, but another giggle slipped out, and she covered her mouth again quickly.
Aotian shook his head, amused. He found her very cute and didn't mind her laughter anymore. It was just innocent childlike humor, delighting in small things.
He looked at Rihai and saw that she was also smiling, charmed by the little girl's spontaneity.
Aotian then took her hand again, smiling softly. Seeing Rihai smile made him feel content, and he thought it was worth having a little girl laugh at his name if it meant seeing her that happy.
As she calmed down and recomposed herself, Xiaoxue saw the two holding hands, and her eyes sparkled.
"Junior brother, junior sister, you two look so beautiful together!" she exclaimed, looking at them with admiration—still calling them "junior" apparently refusing to give up her claim to be the senior one.
"Thank you, junior sister." Rihai smiled at her, happy with the little girl's sincere compliment.
She then began chatting with Xiaoxue in a kind and attentive manner.
Aotian, meanwhile, looked at Xiao Ling, who remained silently observing, and decided to strike up a conversation so she wouldn't feel awkward.
"Senior sister Xiao, have you already decided which pavilion you'll join?" he asked, calmly looking at her, catching her attention.
Slightly caught off guard by the sudden question, Xiao Ling looked at him a bit confused, but nodded.
"Yes. My elemental affinity is water, so I don't think I have much compatibility with forging or alchemy. Although, with how surprising this sect is, I don't think there would be a problem even if I chose either one... but, the truth is, there's already a pavilion I want to join," she spoke calmly, and seemed to recall something. Her eyes appeared resolute.
"Oh... May I ask which pavilion it is?" he asked, curious. He didn't know the disciples all that well, even with the perspective of his avatars, so he wasn't sure what she was aiming for.
"It's no problem saying. It's the Treasure Pavilion," she said firmly, not hiding it.
Aotian blinked, surprised, not expecting that. He hadn't done anything particularly enticing in the pavilions not directly related to cultivation, like the Treasure Pavilion, so the fact that she was heading there without expecting many benefits confused him a little.
But soon, he reached the likely truth. He remembered that through Bao Hui, he had indirectly saved her when he stole the storage pouch of a young master who later tried to violate her, but was killed due to having no treasures to protect himself or fight back, since his pouch was gone.
It seemed she still felt deeply indebted and, because of that, intended to join the Treasure Pavilion and seek opportunities to repay her savior.
Aotian, understanding this, didn't try to dissuade her. After all, he wouldn't allow any disciple to have fewer opportunities in one pavilion than another—she would be just fine there.
Xiaoxue and Rihai also overheard the conversation, and the little girl didn't say anything about her sister Ling's decision.
"Junior sister, junior brother, are you going to join any of the sect's classes?" Xiaoxue asked, seizing the topic, looking at the couple.
Aotian logically already knew everything his avatars would teach, so he wouldn't attend anything unless Rihai did. So he looked at her.
Rihai, being observed, understood that Aotian didn't seem interested in the classes, perhaps having already chosen his path and knowing what would be taught—which reminded her that he already knew how to make pills before.
She then pondered what she'd like to learn more about.
"I think I'll join the swordsmanship and formation classes," she finally decided and answered.
Those were the arts she was most interested in at the moment.
"Me too." Aotian nodded and decided as well, shamelessly, making Rihai discreetly roll her eyes at him—though a small smile still involuntarily curved her lips.
She really liked Aotian's companionship. But she still intended to talk to him later to make sure he didn't waste time on things he didn't want to learn, so he could stay focused. Rihai didn't want to hinder him, even if it made her sad not to have him by her side at all times.
Xiaoxue tapped her lips with her fingers, thinking about what she wanted too.
"I think I'll study forging," she said, grabbing the two braids on the sides of her head and resting her chin on her fists, looking up thoughtfully.
Aotian, Rihai, and Xiao Ling couldn't help but look strangely at the little girl, and they couldn't stop themselves from imagining a tiny girl with massive arm muscles and a giant hammer in hand, fiercely forging a sword amidst flames.
The three quickly shook their heads to get rid of the strange image from their minds.
Xiaoxue looked strangely at her brother and sisters, who suddenly all shook their heads together.
"Brother? Sisters? Did something fall in your hair?" she asked, confused as to why they were shaking their heads like that.
The three glanced at each other helplessly and could only give her a bitter smile, which left her even more confused.
"Huh?"
...
After chatting a bit more with the two girls and getting to know them better, Aotian and Rihai said their goodbyes and headed to the Beast Pavilion.
"They're nice girls. You could be friends with them," Aotian said, holding Rihai's hand as they walked.
Rihai looked at him, raising an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?" she asked, confused as to why Aotian was saying that out of the blue.
"Well. It's not good for girls not to have any friends. I love you, Hai'er, and I want to be by your side all the time, but I know that sometimes we need other people to talk to, especially you girls. Having friends will make you happier, and seeing you happy makes me happy." Aotian smiled at her and tapped her nose with his index finger.
Rihai smiled at his affectionate words, but couldn't help finding some amusement in the way he thought.
"Tian'er, we cultivators don't really have much of a concept of needing friends. We usually spend most of our time just cross-legged, cultivating, and friendships are often more about mutual benefits than simply being happy," she explained softly to him.
Aotian couldn't help but frown upon hearing that.
"So… friendship isn't common?" he asked, feeling it didn't sound right.
"No, of course it is. Friendship is a good thing, but it's not common to have the notion of just having friends to chat with occasionally when you have nothing else to do. The common thinking is: if you have nothing to do, go cultivate—don't waste your time or other people's," she explained, shrugging.
"That's… kind of sad. Sounds lonely," Aotian said, slightly unsure and disheartened, furrowing his brows.
He might not be the most outgoing person, but even he disliked the idea of everyone being so solitary, often dying while sitting cross-legged in their caves, with their bones rotting away and no one truly missing them because they never had real relationships.
Rihai rubbed her thumb gently over his hand, looking at him helplessly.
In a soft voice, she explained, a bit of sadness in her eyes, seeming to remember a part of her past she had lost.
"It's just how it is, Tian'er. That's the world. Sometimes, we fight so hard for the future that we lose too much of the present. That reminds me of an old saying among cultivators..."
At that moment, she had no idea that the words she was about to speak would stay with Aotian for the rest of his life.
"... A mortal can live in a single breath what a cultivator fails to grasp in a thousand lifetimes — for living is not merely enduring."