Lin Fan was surprised to hear this since they had just been invited to a gathering not that long ago.
Wasn’t the open market that was held yesterday supposed to be the place where everyone was introduced to each other?
Why was there another gathering that was being held so soon after that?
Elder Qian could see the look on my face, so he explained, “This is a gathering for the disciples. In a sense, it’s a way for them to gauge each other before the competition starts.”
Then in a lower voice, he said, “At the same time, this is a place for disciples to gather allies if they wish. The tournament will depend on teamwork, so there’s nothing to lose from gathering allies now.”
Slowly, Lin Fan began to understand what Elder Qian meant by this.
The gathering yesterday was just the simple meet and greet that was used to introduce everyone to each other.
Today was the actual gathering where the disciples were formally introduced to each other and scouted out their competition. This was the place where people would become famous or people would fade into the background.
This was the place where all the underhanded deals would also be happening.
So there were pros and cons to going to this meeting.
There were also pros and cons to just completely avoiding this meeting.
After thinking for a bit, Lin Fan didn’t answer Elder Qian’s invitation. Instead, he turned to look at the Love Sect disciples who had gathered not far away.
He looked at Xiao Ming and asked, “Do you want to go?”
Lin Fan was leaving the decision to the disciples since they were the ones that this involved. Even if he made a decision, there would be the chance that he would be forcing them to go.
He didn’t want that since he wanted them to think for themselves since that was the best way for them to handle any situation.
As such, he didn’t want to force his thoughts onto them at all.
Xiao Ming looked at Lin Fan for a few seconds before giving a nod with a determined look and saying, “Yes, master. We wish to go and meet the disciples of the other sects.”
Lin Fan looked at the rest and saw that they all had the same looks as Xiao Ming.
Since that was the case, he wouldn’t hold them back.
So Lin Fan just said, “Alright, do what you need to do. But make sure that you are careful and don’t get into any trouble you don’t need to get into.”
The disciples all nodded in agreement before turning to look at Elder Qian, as if they were waiting for him.
Elder Qian saw this and waved his hand at the disciple who had come with him.
It was Tu Ying who had fought with Tie Yong previously.
Even now, he was looking at Tie Yong with what seemed to be a competitive look since last time, their fight had been interrupted. They still hadn’t decided who was the stronger of the two, so they had developed a sort of rivalry with each other.
After coming forward, Tu Ying said, “Please follow me, I’ll guide you to where the gathering is being held.”
Xiao Ming gave a nod before she moved towards Tu Ying.
When she did, Tu Ying looked at her with a strange look.
Previously, he and Elder Qian had mistaken Tie Yong as the strongest one of their group, but after what had happened with the Flowing Water Sect, it was impossible to continue this misunderstanding. They now understood that Tie Yong had been sent up not because he was the strongest, but because he was one of the reliable members.
It wasn’t Tie Yong alone who was powerful, there were others who were just as powerful among the Love Sect disciples.
Lin Fan and some of the elders were about to move forward to go with them, but Elder Qian stopped them in the end.
Lin Fan raised a brow to look at Elder Qian before saying, “Are we not going with them?”
Elder Qian shook his head with a smile before saying, “This is a gathering for the young people. We shouldn’t go and bother them.”
With a smile, Lin Fan teased, “I think that I’m still rather young. Shouldn’t I count among the young people?”
Elder Qian revealed a surprised look when he heard this.
Up to this point, he had never commented on Lin Fan’s age. However, that didn’t mean that he wasn’t aware of Lin Fan’s age, it was just that he chose not to address it.
But now that Lin Fan had brought it up, he had no choice but to address it.
With an awkward smile, Elder Qian said, “Sect Master Lin, it’s not like that. It’s just that this is a meeting for the disciples, so…”
His voice trailed off awkwardly at the end of this as he didn’t know how to explain this.
But luckily for him, Lin Fan didn’t keep teasing him as he said, “Alright, I know what you’re trying to say.” Then after a pause, he added, “So where are we going?”
Elder Qian let out a sigh of relief when he heard this before waving his hand for them to follow him.
Just because they wouldn’t be going with them didn’t mean that they wouldn’t be watching over them.
…
As Xiao Ming followed Tu Ying into the gathering area, she could feel many gazes directed in her direction. However, the moment that she turned in the direction of the gazes being cast at her, they all disappeared without a trace.
They were only brave enough to look at them from afar, not a single one of them was brave enough to keep staring at them once she looked back at them.
Tu Ying saw this and he said with an awkward smile, “Please don’t mind them, they’re just curious about you.”
Xiao Ming said with a nod and a smile, “Of course we don’t mind them.”
Tu Ying was surprised to hear this, but he couldn’t help feeling a bit strange when he heard this.
Although it didn’t seem like there was anything wrong with what she said, he felt like there was something off about the way that she said it.
It was almost as if…
Before he could think further about this, there was actually a group that came over to meet the Love Sect group.
“Junior Brother Tu, you should introduce us.”
Tu Ying was surprised to hear this voice as it pulled him out of his thoughts, but he quickly turned to look at the person who said it and said with a smile, “Senior Brother Tang, what are you doing here?”
The person he called Senior Brother Tang was called Tang Chen and was the second highest ranking disciple of the Martial Might Sect that was participating in this tournament. He was someone that everyone in the Martial Might Sect looked up to.
To compare it to the Love Sect, his position was like Senior Brother Ying’s position in that he took care of everyone else.
Senior Brother Tang just said with a smile, “I heard that the friends from the Love Sect were coming, so I wanted to meet them.”
Tu Ying quickly introduced everyone before saying to Senior Brother Tang, “This person is Xiao Ming, the Love Sect sect master’s disciple.”
The way that he said this, there was a special tone to his voice that made it seem like he was implying something.
As soon as he heard this, Senior Brother Tang understood what Tu Ying was implying.
He quickly gave a slight bow to Xiao Ming before saying, “Junior Sister Xiao, it’s an honour to meet you.”
“Junior Sister?” Xiao Ming repeated before saying, “I think you’re mistaking something.”
Senior Brother Tang didn’t back down when he heard this as he explained, “Our Martial Might Sect and Love Sect have been friends for generations. It could even be said that we are like brother sects, so it isn’t strange for me to call you junior sister.”
Xiao Ming narrowed her eyes when she heard his logic, but in the end, she held herself back.
Seeing this, Tu Ying couldn’t help looking at Senior Brother Tang with an amazed look.
“As expected of Senior Brother Tang, only he is capable of taming this little tigress.”
That was what the look in his eyes seemed to be saying as he looked at Senior Brother Tang.
However, there were some people that were seeing this with gazes in their eyes that seemed to be portraying the exact opposite emotions. These were eyes that seemed to be filled with envy.
Senior Brother Tang was a handsome young man after all.
Seeing that Xiao Ming didn’t say anything else, Senior Brother Tang revealed a gentleman’s smile and said, “Junior Sister Xiao, how about I introduce you to a few other people as well? I’m sure that this will help you in the tournament.”
Xiao Ming looked at him for a bit before giving a nod without saying anything.
Senior Brother Tang became even more bold as he took a step forward towards Xiao Ming and reached his hand out towards her, as if he was offering himself to escort her.
Behind Xiao Ming, both Huang Xie and Yu Huang knitted their brows seeing this.
Xiao Ming just looked at the hand offered to her without moving a single muscle.
But before Xiao Ming could react, a voice said, “No, I won’t allow it!”