Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 360 So-called politeness

Chen Ye was surprised that Sheng Huai'an would make this request, and he didn't even quite understand what Sheng Huai'an meant.

How can I help someone with social anxiety? He's not a psychologist.

However, Chen Ye was always happy to help with matters concerning the Qinghe Sword Sect, so he asked, "How do you want me to help you, senior?"

Sheng Huai'an said to Chen Ye, "Teach me, that's just polite talk."

Chen Ye smiled wryly. This thing is not difficult to learn, but the problem is that you have to speak. How can someone who can't even speak properly learn to be polite to others?

But seeing Sheng Huai'an's expectant eyes, Chen Ye couldn't refuse.

After thinking carefully for a while, Chen Ye said to Sheng Huai'an, "What Sect Leader Yuji means is probably to teach you, senior, how to communicate normally with people. Although I don't know why you resist talking to people, I imagine you wouldn't be so reserved with your fellow disciples."

Sheng Huai'an nodded.

At the Qinghe Sword Sect, he could relax a lot more, and daily communication was not a problem; at most, he was just a bit quiet.

But when facing outsiders, Sheng Huai'an would feel extremely nervous, not wanting to say a word, nor daring to say a word.

This was probably an illness, but neither Zhang Qi nor his deceased master taught him how to overcome it.

Sheng Huai'an devoted himself to sword practice for hundreds of years and had almost no contact with outsiders, which made the problem more and more serious.

Chen Ye comforted him, "That's simple. Senior, you just lack practice. So-called politeness is actually about not saying what you really think and maintaining a facade of enthusiasm. Perhaps it's precisely because this kind of communication is quite insincere that you feel at a loss. You're afraid that you won't be able to distinguish the truth from falsehood in other people's words, which is why you're so nervous."

Sheng Huai'an's eyes lit up, and he quickly said, "Yes!"

Chen Ye thought to himself, "The disciples of the Qinghe Sword Sect are all such good kids."

Su Chunyi is pure and innocent, never hiding her true feelings; Sheng Huai'an, on the other hand, is the kind of naive person who would actually wait for days if someone casually said they'd treat him to dinner sometime.

Unable to distinguish between jokes and polite remarks, Sheng Huai'an easily finds himself unable to keep up with conversations with strangers, or misunderstands their meanings, leading to extremely awkward situations. If this happens repeatedly, Sheng Huai'an will naturally blame himself and become socially awkward.

Chen Ye smiled and said, "If you want me to become a sophisticated and tactful person, I may not be able to help you. But if it's just simple politeness, that's easy. Just remember two sentences."

Sheng Huai'an quickly asked, "Which two lines?"

Chen Ye said quite solemnly, "Keep smiling and remain ambiguous."

Sheng Huai'an frowned. He understood both words, but he didn't know how to act on them.

Chen Ye explained, "Maintaining a smile is simple. Just make sure it doesn't look scary. Senior, just think of it as seeing a beautiful flower or a good sword technique. Maintaining a cheerful smile is enough to make most people approachable. As for ambiguity, it's even simpler: just don't agree, don't be certain, and don't give a definite answer."

These two sentences are a versatile tactic that Chen Ye tailored for Sheng Huai'an, and they are also the most commonly used methods by leaders in the previous life.

Maintaining a smile is basic etiquette, while ambiguity leaves no room for criticism and therefore implies a lack of responsibility.

Sheng Huai'an was a disciple of the Qinghe Sword Sect. Not only was his swordsmanship superb, but his seniority was also high, far surpassing those so-called leaders. There were only a handful of sect leaders in the world who could be considered superior to him, and they could be counted on one hand.

The rest are either peers or juniors.

Therefore, Sheng Huai'an is very adept at this kind of polite approach. When others make irrelevant compliments, he only needs to smile and nod.

If someone else comes to make friends with an ulterior motive, no matter what they say, Sheng Huai'an only needs to reply with "Let me think about it," "This matter needs to be discussed with my fellow disciples," "This is a matter of great importance and should be decided by the sect leader," or "I am not in good spirits today, let's talk about it another day."

Such responses are equivalent to the most common phrase you hear in your past life: "This needs further study before a response is given." This is the common choice of countless people in power, ensuring that no major mistakes will be made.

We can discuss the specific issues with someone we know well later; let others handle the headaches. Sheng Huai'an isn't in charge of Qinghe Sword Sect's diplomatic affairs, so that's enough.

This is the advantage of having a high social status; others generally don't dare to press for details, and upon hearing such an ambiguous answer, they know they should end the conversation.

"Just memorize a few words like 'maybe,' 'perhaps,' 'probably'... that should be enough."

Chen Ye explained in detail, and Sheng Huai'an felt that all the complicated interpersonal relationships had become simple. It turned out that there was no need to think about other people's true intentions, nor to consider what kind of tests were hidden in their words; all he had to do was to give a perfunctory answer.

"Keep smiling, be ambiguous. Keep smiling, be ambiguous..."

Sheng Huai'an repeated a few times, then smiled and said "Thank you" to Chen Ye.

Chen Ye waved his hand and said, "Senior, you're too kind. This is just a small trick, but it still requires practice. Since you have so many visitors, why don't you receive a few and try it out? You'll gradually get the hang of it. I'll take my leave now..."

Upon hearing Chen Ye's suggestion, Sheng Huai'an immediately became nervous again, grabbing Chen Ye's hand and saying, "Wait a minute, could you please provide guidance from the side?"

"what?"

Chen Ye never expected that Sheng Huai'an's company would be so fearful.

He represents the Qinghe Sword Sect, and Chen Ye, a member of the Huangquan Sect, is sitting on the side giving instructions? What kind of misunderstandings would others have? In a few days, they would probably say that Chen Ye is secretly manipulating Sheng Huai'an to seize power from the Qinghe Sword Sect.

But Sheng Huai'an genuinely hoped that Chen Ye could teach him step by step; he was truly unsure of himself if he were to teach alone.

Faced with this request, Chen Ye had no choice but to find another solution, so he said to Sheng Huai'an, "Let me go back and think about it."

Upon hearing this, Sheng Huai'an laughed and said, "You're using the ambiguity tactic on me."

This was the first time Sheng Huai'an had been able to speak so fluently with someone outside the Qinghe Sword Sect, and even crack a joke. Chen Ye was already considered an "acquaintance" in his mind.

Chen Ye smiled wryly: "Senior learns very quickly, but I'm not just trying to fool you. After all, I am the sect leader of the Yellow Springs Sect. If I point fingers at the people of the Qinghe Sword Sect, outsiders will gossip. However, there is a way. Please wait a moment, senior, I will be right back."

Sheng Huai'an finally let go of Chen Ye's hand and let him leave.

Chen Ye wasted no time and soon returned with his Ten Thousand Souls Banner. Chen Ye carefully studied the location, then placed the golden Ten Thousand Souls Banner in a corner where only Sheng Huai'an could see it. He then said to the socially awkward swordsman, "I will hide in this Ten Thousand Souls Banner. If you can't figure out how to deal with it, take a look at this Ten Thousand Souls Banner. I will display some text on it to remind you."

As Chen Ye spoke, lines of text appeared on the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, which were the "ambiguous" words he had mentioned earlier.

Sheng Huai'an immediately clapped his hands in approval, but then added, "That's a really good idea, but the Ten Thousand Souls Banner can't hide living people."

Chen Ye smiled slightly, and his body slowly began to turn transparent.

He used the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts to transform his physical body, completely transforming it into the form of a divine soul, and then with a whoosh, he burrowed into the Myriad Soul Banner.

Sheng Huai'an was dumbfounded. He had cultivated for hundreds of years and had seen others' souls leave their bodies, but this was the first time he had ever seen someone transform their physical body into a soul.

What kind of magical power is this?
People say that the Yellow Springs in Fengdu are inhabited by both humans and ghosts. Could it be that the Yellow Springs Sect's cultivation method is to cultivate oneself into a ghostly body?

Sheng Huai'an immediately thought of the benefits of this technique: breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm was almost effortless and much safer.

Given time, the Yellow Springs Sect will become the number one sect in the world.

Seeing that Sheng Huai'an seemed a little dazed, Chen Ye floated out of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner again and asked, "Senior, is there still any difficulty?"

Sheng Huai'an shook his head and said, "I was just inspired by your supernatural powers and secret techniques, and I benefited greatly from your guidance. Perhaps I can create a sword technique for you as a token of my gratitude."

(End of this chapter)