The Zhengming Hall was the deliberation hall of the Water Talisman Sect, where all major matters were gathered to be discussed. Having obtained the final roster of the initiation trial, Liao Qingshan arrived at the Zhengming Hall.
"Greetings, Sect Master, Deputy Sect Masters," Liao Qingshan saluted.
The Water Talisman Sect currently had one sect master and four deputy sect masters, all of whom were Golden Core stage cultivators. The sect master, Song Qian, had a cultivation base that reached the Golden Core stage late stage. Next was Deputy Sect Master Zhao Xiaosheng, who had reached the Golden Core mid stage, while the remaining three were all in the early stage.
"Qishang, how is the recruitment going this batch?" Song Qian went straight to the point.
"Reporting to the Sect Master, the plan was to recruit one hundred disciples, and the actual number who passed the trial is ninety. Overall, their aptitudes are quite good. Five disciples have reached the 4th Layer of Qi Condensation stage in their cultivation base, ten possess Heavenly Spiritual Roots, eight possess Variant Spiritual Roots, and as many as sixteen disciples contain Water Spiritual Roots," Liao Qingshan reported.
"Not bad," Deputy Sect Master Zhao Xiaosheng looked like a woman, and spoke like one too.
"Mhm! It's passable!" Deputy Sect Master Qian Youqiao was unfathomable and rarely smiled.
"A disciple's value lies in quality, not quantity," Song Qian remarked.
"Since the sect is expanding by so many people all at once for the first time, the outer sect is going to get lively," Deputy Sect Master Lin Tianyan, who was naturally lively by temperament, chimed in.
"Nurturing disciples requires vast resources. Next time, I suggest we hold recruitment after five or ten years," suggested Deputy Sect Master Zhang Jie, who was in charge of sect provisions.
"Make it ten years. With ten years of time, this batch of newcomers will be able to mature and accomplish something," Zhao Xiaosheng said.
"I agree with this suggestion!" Lin Tianyan immediately expressed his stance.
"Qingshan, do you have anything else to report?" Song Qian looked toward Liao Qingshan, in no particular rush to declare his position.
"This disciple has one more matter to report. Among these ninety people, there is one person who has yet to condense Qi and currently has no cultivation base at all," Liao Qingshan reported truthfully, without any bias.
"What!"
"Really?"
Upon hearing this news, both the sect master and the deputy sect masters were extremely shocked.
If a mortal could break into the gates of an immortal mountain, wouldn't that mean the protective barriers had become completely useless, allowing anyone to ascend the mountain?
"Did someone help him secretly, or did he conceal his cultivation base?" Zhao Xiaosheng questioned the truth of the matter.
"This disciple asked repeatedly and used divine sense to probe him, confirming there is no error," Liao Qingshan replied.
"That's strange, then. Exactly how did he endure the pressure of the spirit array?" Lin Tianyan asked, frowning.
"Spiritual Qi pressure varies from person to person; the higher the cultivation base, the heavier the pressure one bears. Since he has no Spiritual Power, perhaps he took advantage of that," Qian Youqiao said.
"How can that be considered taking advantage of anything? Without a cultivation base, at such a high cloud-piercing peak, an ordinary person would have their legs turn to jelly from sheer terror," Zhao Xiaosheng retorted.
"Aside from luck, he must possess a fair amount of perseverance and daring; that much cannot be denied," Zhang Jie said.
"Qingshan, does he possess a spiritual root?" Song Qian asked amidst the clamor of discussion.
"Although he has not yet condensed Qi, he faintly stirs the earth spiritual root; if I am not mistaken, he should have an Earth Spiritual Root," Liao Qingshan responded.
"Fellow deputy sect masters and elders, do you think this person should be kept or driven away?" Song Qian was unwilling to waste time.
"Since he hasn't condensed Qi yet, keeping a good-for-nothing in the immortal sect for three to five years is truly a waste of resources. If he has the drive, he can come back and take part in the trial ten years later," Zhao Xiaosheng said thus.
"If word gets out, won't people laugh at our sect for having no standards in recruitment and mock us?" Qian Youqiao also disagreed.
"That may be so, but he walked this far entirely on his own strength; he is naturally someone with a predestined affinity for immortality. Someone with such perseverance and grit might well turn the tables later on. We didn't set rules in advance prohibiting mortals from being recruited, and now driving someone away amounts to going back on our word and breaking trust. It's just a single outer sect disciple quota—if we give it to him, we give it to him." Lin Tianyan liked to go against Qian Youqiao, and abruptly came up with this opinion.
"I also believe that one more person doesn't make much difference. Surely a sect this large can afford to feed one more mouth. Furthermore, our Water Talisman Sect has strict rules; if he fails to complete his sect missions, he will still be driven away anyway. Let's just treat it as giving him a chance. Our sect should still retain a heart of mercy," Zhang Jie said.
Upon hearing the word "mercy," those who wanted to play devil's advocate instantly felt too embarrassed to voice further objections. Moreover, Deputy Sect Master Zhang Jie's suggestion was extremely objective: if he turned out to be a genius, they would genuinely have missed out; if not, and he failed to complete his tasks on time, he could be dealt with and driven away according to the rules of violation, leaving no one with any objections at that time.
"Then let's decide on this: give him a chance," Song Qian saw that no one was overturning Zhang Jie's opinion, and decided to proceed according to her suggestion.
The sect master having made his decision, the matter was thus put to rest.
...
In the resting area outside the mountain-opening gates, this group of newcomers had been discussing Zhou Cushan's intrusion for a long time. Because of Zhou Chuan and Zhong Xiu, this batch of people had been delayed in having their living quarters assigned.
Chu Le had previously exposed Zhou Chuan as a mortal back at Long River, and quite a few people recognized him. Therefore, upon seeing Zhou Chuan arrive at the mountain gates, many could not believe their eyes. Streaks of divine sense successively landed on Zhou Chuan.
"How is this possible! How is this possible!" Chu Le was the one least willing to believe the facts.
"He really is someone blessed with fortune! Helping him that day was the right choice," Lu Yao, the top-ranked participant of this trial, said silently to herself.
"That's wonderful! You're still here!" Having recovered, Zhong Xiu rushed over without hesitation to support Zhou Chuan upon seeing him.
She was the only one willing to interact with Zhou Chuan. If others knew what had happened between the two of them while climbing the mountain, they wouldn't have found it strange at all.
"Zhong Xiu! What are you running over there for? Come back quickly before you become a laughingstock!" Someone immediately urged Zhong Xiu, but she ignored them completely.
Zhou Chuan had also caught wind of the discussions, but he truly lacked the energy to care. The single pancake Zhong Xiu had given him was long fully digested, and he hadn't expected that just sitting motionless would still leave him starving to the point of panic. Moreover, having just heard what the senior martial brother said, he was very worried that his results would be invalidated.
Would an immortal sect actually recruit someone who had never cultivated? It was truly hard to say.
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Zhong Xiu had taken a pill, recovering fifty or sixty percent of her Spiritual Power. Seeing Zhou Chuan's suffering state, she placed her hand upon his chest and channeled a small amount of Spiritual Power into him. Zhou Chuan had already undergone testing just moments before; although he lacked Spiritual Power, it was discovered that he possessed an Earth Spiritual Root, which was why she dared to act so boldly.
A gentle stream of Spiritual Power merged into Zhou Chuan's chaotic spiritual sea, injecting vitality like a fresh spring and reinvigorating him, causing his hunger to ease considerably. Over these past few days, as he climbed the immortal mountain and inhaled massive amounts of Spiritual Qi, his spiritual root had thoroughly awakened, and his spiritual sea was already approaching complete integration.
"Thank you!" Zhou Chuan expressed his gratitude. Everyone else looked down upon him with disdain, but Zhong Xiu was the exception, extending a righteous helping hand.
"You're welcome. If not for you, I wouldn't have made it to the very end either," Zhong Xiu had been infected by Zhou Chuan's formidable conviction and perseverance, enabling her to complete the third trial, and she held a deep admiration for him in her heart.
At that moment, Liao Qingshan and several elders transformed into streaks of rainbow light, descending from the sky.
"Those at the 4th Layer of Qi Condensation with Variant Spiritual Roots, follow me," one white-bearded elder spoke first.
"Those with Water Spiritual Roots and Heavenly Spiritual Roots, come to my side and follow me," a middle-aged man draped in black robes appeared out of nowhere in the clearing on the right.
"The remaining female disciples, come with me," a woman whose voice sounded ancient, yet whose appearance seemed to be only around thirty years of age, stood out as she stepped upon a yellow halo of light.
"The rest of you remain where you are; I have my own arrangements," Liao Qingshan spoke last.
The ninety people lined up according to their respective circumstances. The existing immortal mountains were basically filled to capacity, and with so many newcomers this time, new mountains had to be opened up. The environments of these new mountains varied in quality, and naturally, differing aptitudes meant differing treatments.
Zhou Chuan belonged to the very last batch. He and thirteen others were assigned to cultivate on Heiwu Mountain. Heiwu Mountain was a pitch-black mountain that grew hardly any vegetation, and its Spiritual Qi was extremely meager, only slightly stronger than that of Yellow Maple Valley. These fourteen individuals possessed the worst aptitudes among this batch of newcomers, which was why the environment assigned to them was the most undesirable.
"What kind of damned place is this! No way, they're really putting us here?"
"The mountain we passed by just a moment ago was quite nice, this one is worlds apart."
Before the elders had even left, the newly initiated disciples began to grumble.
"This is merely a temporary living environment. If you find it beneath you, you have two choices: either leave the sect immediately, or raise your cultivation base as quickly as possible to enter the inner sect," Liao Qingshan couldn't help shouting reprovingly.
The disciples fell silent one after another, having no one to blame but their own weakness.
"There is one important matter to tell you all: now that you are disciples of the Water Talisman Sect, you must abide by the sect rules. As outer sect disciples, each of you must complete at least one sect mission every year."
"If you fail to complete a task for two consecutive years, it will be deemed a violation of the rules, and the Water Talisman Sect will not harbor any idlers. Correspondingly, if you manage to complete sect missions, the sect will reward you with a certain amount of contribution points."
"With contribution points, you can exchange for cultivation techniques, spell formulas, pills, Precious Tools, and the like at Baili Pavilion. Very well, cave dwellings have already been excavated for you; choose one for yourselves and get familiar with your new environment first," Liao Qingshan finished speaking, then transformed into a rainbow streak and flew away.
Subsequently, the disciples had no choice but to settle down and choose cave dwellings to inhabit.
Heiwu Mountain was extremely vast, with around forty excavated cave dwellings ready for use, spaced very far apart from one another. Since there were only fourteen of them, there was no need to scramble or fight over them.
Zhou Chuan had been suppressing his excitement all along. Being brought here meant he had already become an official disciple of the Water Talisman Sect; although he was only an outer sect disciple, the gates of longevity had finally swung open for him, proving worthy of all the suffering he had endured over the years.
While everyone else rushed off to choose their cave dwellings, Zhou Chuan walked over to a cliff to shout out loud, venting his emotions.
Half an hour later, he turned back to look for a suitable cave dwelling. Although he understood nothing, finding a living environment rich in Spiritual Power was always the right choice. Because he hadn't condensed Qi yet, he wasn't sensitive to Spiritual Qi and couldn't distinguish the quality of the cave dwellings. He decided to ask a senior martial brother for help.
"Senior Brother..." Before Zhou Chuan could finish his sentence.
"Get out!"
Bang! A blinding flash of light struck Zhou Chuan's body, sending him crashing to the ground with blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
The one who drove him away was Xiao Shengke. Xiao Shengke was a core disciple of a renowned cultivation family in the Qi State, with a cultivation base that had reached the 3rd Layer of Qi Condensation late stage and Wood Spiritual Root affinity. He was dissatisfied with this arrangement yet unable to talk back to the elder, and resentment had built up inside his heart.
By targeting Zhou Chuan, aside from venting his pent-up dissatisfaction, he also intended to establish his dominance. Right now, his cultivation base was the highest on Heiwu Mountain, so he rightfully deserved to be the boss.
"Good-for-nothing! You're nothing at all, yet you dare try to buddy up with me!" After striking the person, Xiao Shengke cursed a few more times.
Having suffered a heavy blow, Zhou Chuan struggled to his feet, wiped away the bloodstains, and departed without uttering a single word. Stubbornness was useless at a moment like this; he had encountered people far more unreasonable than Xiao Shengke, and didn't find this baffling at all.
At that moment, he saw quite a few people standing at the entrances of their cave dwellings, standing akimbo and mocking him with utter indifference. Perhaps there was a shred of sympathy for him in their hearts, but their strength fell short of Xiao Shengke's, so no one dared to stand on Zhou Chuan's side.
"Xiao Shengke is clearly using him to make an example and wants to be the boss here."
"Who told him to be the weakest one? He actually thought that because the sect took him in, he had the qualification to sit on equal footing with us and address each other as senior and junior brothers from then on."
"I've had my eyes on him as an eyesore for a while now. Serves him right to be taught a lesson; from now on, he isn't even allowed near my cave dwelling."
"Look at him—he doesn't even have a storage bag, not a single Spiritual Stone to his name. He definitely expected us to teach him how to cultivate for free. In your dreams!"
"I suspect it's because of him that we got assigned to this ghost place."
"In my view, he certainly won't be able to complete the sect missions, and he'll be kicked out within two years at most."
"Everyone back to cultivating, discussing this person any further is utterly pointless."