Seeing Zong En's insistence and that everyone was staring at them, Zhang Deming nodded and said, "Alright, let's not go back and forth here. Look, everyone's watching us. We've become the main event.
This is supposed to be the exchange session, so let's give the floor back to everyone."
As Zhang Deming spoke, the area below grew lively again.
The forty or fifty people began to whisper amongst themselves, creating a lively atmosphere.
But Zhang Deming could clearly feel that he had truly become a hot commodity; people kept stealing glances at him.
"What's wrong? What's with that look?"
Zhang Deming left the platform. After coming down, he looked at Zong En and asked his question.
Zong En was gawking at Zhang Deming. "I'm just trying to see if you're still the Brother Ming I know," he said.
Hearing this, Zhang Deming rolled his eyes. "Well, carry on then."
"Come on, that's not cool at all.
Mastering a Dual Technique in a single month... fine, I'll let that slide. That kind of thing depends on lucky encounters, after all.
But to go and break through without even telling me? I'm the one who announced over a month ago that I was about to!
Now, I'm the one who's supposedly about to break through, and I've been talking about it for a month and a half with nothing to show for it. But you? You just went and did it without a peep.
How am I supposed to show my face now?"
Zong En said, looking at Zhang Deming, completely exasperated.
Zhang Deming glanced at him. "Who told you to show off so much? Serves you right. And hey, I don't want to crush your spirit, but I'm reporting for my promotion tomorrow. As soon as the rice is harvested, I'm gone.
As for you... you can just keep slogging away here. Have fun being the 'soon-to-be Outer Sect senior brother.'"
Zong En: "..."
'My friend isn't so great anymore. What do you do when your own teammate sabotages you?'
Zhang Deming completely ignored Zong En's miserable expression. 'Heh, you little punk. That's what you get for showing off in front of me for a whole six months. You had it coming.
What goes around comes around, kid!'
Today's Technique exchange was exceptionally lively because of Zhang Deming's lecture and breakthrough.
Even the dozen or so servants who were herb farmers thought the exchange session was great and said they wanted to come every day from now on.
They were all servants from the Little Qing Mountain Servant Institute and everyone was pretty familiar with each other, so of course, no one refused.
In a moment, the rice farmers' exchange session had expanded into the Little Qing Mountain Servant Institute exchange session.
Zhang Deming shot the breeze with the people around him until it was mealtime, at which point they all stopped and went their separate ways to eat.
...
Bright and early the next day, Zhang Deming was up.
Morning roll call, breakfast, Casting—he completed his daily routine.
Today, Zhang Deming didn't exhaust the Spiritual Power in his body; he just performed one standard Casting.
After he was done, Zhang Deming didn't ask anyone to go with him. Alone, he once again left Little Qing Mountain and headed for the Outer Sect.
'To be honest,' Zhang Deming thought, 'the Celestial Spirit Sect is absurdly impractical.
They obviously have Array technology that's practically sci-fi in many places, but the entire Sect doesn't even have a single public horse carriage.
The damn Outer Sect, servants, and even most of the Inner Sect have to get around on their own two feet.
The entire Sect only has high-end "private jets" in the form of Immortal Cranes and mid-range "public buses" like the Spirit Deer. As for low-end options, there are absolutely none!
But the high-end stuff... forget about a servant like him, even the Outer Sect senior brothers have no hope of using them.
And what's even more infuriating is that the territory is so damn huge, and it's all mountains—entire mountain ranges. Every time he thought about this, Zhang Deming had a bellyful of 'what the fucks'.
This was also one of the main reasons he had rarely left Little Qing Mountain over the past ten years.
'The servants' area is still manageable, but starting from the Outer Sect, the altitude steadily increases. The Main Peaks of the Inner Sect are ridiculously high. Without a Speed Magical Technique, you can't even get to the Inner Sect.
Luckily, the Outer Sect's gate isn't built on a cloud-wreathed summit like the Inner Sect's. Otherwise, he'd have a hard time even just reporting for his promotion.'
An hour later, after a grueling journey on his own two feet, Zhang Deming finally arrived at the Outer Sect Headquarters.
The entire Outer Sect Headquarters was actually divided into two parts.
The Mortal affairs section was mostly handled at the foot of the mountain slope.
The Sect matters section was handled up on the Outer Sect's small mountain slope.
However, the Outer Sect Headquarters didn't really restrict people's movements. Since it was also the main administrative center for both the Outer Sect and the Miscellaneous Affairs Courtyard, the place was always this lively.
Entering the Outer Sect Headquarters, Zhang Deming made his way to the registration office.
The registration office for servants promoting to the Outer Sect was in the same place as the Sect identity registration office, and it was right next to the Mission Hall.
As a result, the flow of people was immense.
Moreover, there were numerous Array Light Curtains all around, displaying various missions.
'It's as if fully virtual projection technology has invaded ancient times.'
The mix of extremely disparate elements felt novel and fascinating to Zhang Deming.
Zhang Deming arrived at the registration office. Since it wasn't the recruitment season for new disciples, the entire place was exceptionally quiet.
It formed a stark contrast with the bustling Mission Hall next door.
After entering, the quiet hall felt particularly spacious.
Zhang Deming walked up to the counter, where a senior sister was currently napping, her face down on the surface. Her chubby little mouth was puckered up.
A glistening thread of drool trickled from the corner of her mouth, all the way down to the tabletop.
By now, a small puddle had already formed on the desk. It looked like she'd been asleep for quite a while.
"Ahem..."
Zhang Deming cleared his throat, making a sound.
"Ah! I wasn't—I wasn't napping! I was deep in thought!"
Fanx Ya shot her head up and sat bolt upright. Her eyes were hazy, but the words tumbled out of her mouth clearly, not at all like someone who had just woken up.
If Zhang Deming hadn't met her hazy gaze, he might have actually believed her.
"You are?"
The two stared at each other for a moment before Fanx Ya finally snapped out of her daze and asked the question.
"Hello, Senior Sister. I'm here to register for promotion to the Outer Sect," Zhang Deming said with a slight smile.
Fanx Ya finally realized what was happening. "Promotion registration? Was that you who coughed just now?!"
Zhang Deming nodded. "Who else, Senior Sister? Who did you think it was?"
Fanx Ya's expression changed in an instant. She said indignantly, "Why'd you have to cough? Couldn't you have just spoken? You scared me! You interrupted my deep thoughts!"
Zhang Deming: "..."
'Is it really okay to spout such nonsense with a straight face?'
"Um, Senior Sister... you want to wipe that?" Zhang Deming asked, taking out a handkerchief and pointing at her desk.
Fanx Ya looked down, and her face flushed red. "..."
Silently, she took out her own handkerchief, wiped the drool off the desk, and instantly decided to change the subject.
She said with a smile, "Weren't you saying something about registering, Junior Brother?"
Zhang Deming smiled back. "Oh, that's right. I got so caught up talking with such a pretty Senior Sister that I almost forgot what I came here for."
Fanx Ya's face reddened slightly. "You're quite the sweet-talker, Little Junior Brother."
Zhang Deming put on a serious expression. "Senior Sister, you shouldn't say that. I'm merely stating a serious fact."
"Pfft..." Fanx Ya giggled for a moment before saying, "Name."
Seeing that she had switched into work mode, Zhang Deming also became serious and replied, "Zhang Deming."