Innate Immortal Seed

Chapter 311: Chapter 309: Layered Screening

At Ten Thousand Immortals Creek, the first round of screening had successfully whittled down the nearly ten thousand registered Loose Cultivators to about two thousand.

Those who had been eliminated didn’t leave, instead lingering nearby to watch the spectacle.

They were curious about the new power that had come to Hejian County, and they also wanted to see who would ultimately win the Foundation Establishment Pill promised at this recruitment ceremony.

The rejected Loose Cultivators were either in their seventies or eighties with only Qi Refining Third or Fourth Layer cultivation, knowing only a few basic Five Elements Magic.

Or they had a sordid past, with deeds comparable to those of Demon Cultivators, and had been reported and exposed.

The entire process was swift; a single glance was usually enough to determine if someone could advance to the next round.

Originally, this place had been home to eighteen thousand-year-old Ghost Willows that summoned and attracted souls. At night, it was filled with wails of grief and despair, and countless ghostly figures would drift about.

After the Qingfeng Sect took over, they set up three Tier Two Arrays to purify the Yin Souls and cleanse the Ghost Qi.

After a few years, the ferocious, evil faces on the Ghost Willow trees vanished, and their bark gradually changed from deep black to brown.

Sitting in the shade of the trees no longer sent a chill down one’s spine or gave one a gloomy, ghostly feeling.

Beneath the largest willow tree, a high platform had been erected, upon which five Foundation Establishment Elders were seated.

”This is the first time we’ve held a recruitment drive in Hejian County, and everything is so well-organized, with an enthusiastic response... I didn’t realize Junior Brother Lii was also skilled in administrative matters. It’s a waste of your talent that you haven’t been assigned an official position yet. Why not come serve in my Law Enforcement Hall?”

Longx Longx sat at the head of the platform, her skin as white as snow. In recent years, since taking the position of High Merit Elder in the Law Enforcement Hall, her expression had grown increasingly cold.

Her moniker, the ”Ice Mountain Fairy,” had spread like wildfire. All the disciples knew that Elder Longx of the Law Enforcement Hall was the very definition of impartial, strictly adhering to the sect’s rules.

If you fell into her hands, you could only curse your luck; don’t even think she would show leniency and let you off easy.

Even when a relative from her own Longx Family committed an offense, she strictly followed the sect’s system of rewards and punishments, sentencing them to five years of hard labor in the ore veins.

In previous years, the large-scale sect recruitment was overseen by a single elder.

Only recently, as the number of recruits and the workload increased, had the system changed to have two elders jointly in charge.

The situation in Hejian County was a special case. It was the first time recruiting disciples in a newly acquired territory, so it naturally warranted much more attention.

Lii Guizhen and two other elders were responsible for overall coordination. At the final stage, Longx Longx, the second-in-command of the Law Enforcement Hall, and an elder from the Transmission Hall had personally come to Ten Thousand Immortals Creek to ensure the event concluded successfully.

”It’s all thanks to the help of my senior brothers and the reputation of my Master. I’m merely doing what little I can... The Law Enforcement Hall oversees all regulations, punishing any unlawful acts by Sect Disciples internally and prohibiting transgressive behavior from cultivators in the two counties externally. Its responsibilities are far too great for me to handle.”

Lii Guizhen replied humbly, paying no mind to the olive branch Longx Longx had extended.

”Besides, I haven’t been under Master’s tutelage for long, and there is still much I need to learn from him. It would be inconvenient for me to be far away.”

”To be able to frequently listen to Ancestor Bai’s teachings is an enviable opportunity, Junior Brother Lii... The casework at the Law Enforcement Hall is indeed heavy and not suited for an Ascetic like yourself.”

Longx Longx’s expression remained unchanged as she spoke in the same cool tone.

”After the recruitment ceremony, I must ask Junior Brother Lii to pass on a message for me. I wish to request an audience with Ancestor Bai.”

A High Merit Elder of the Law Enforcement Hall held a rank equivalent to a vice-hall master, second only to the Hall Master.

Everyone in the sect knew that Longx Longx was a candidate for the next Hall Master of the Law enforcement Hall.

Her cultivation had long since reached the Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment. After the sect seized the Ghost Spirit Sect’s treasury, it had acquired a large number of Realm-Breaking Elixirs, and she had already made plans to push for the Late-Stage Foundation Establishment.

In everyone’s eyes, Longx Longx was one of the most outstanding figures among the middle generation of elders, mentioned in the same breath as Su Li as the elders most likely to take over as Hall Master. ℴ

But only she knew in her heart, ’The junior brother who once carried out sect missions alongside me has now grown into a dazzling figure so far above me that I can’t even see him when I look up.’

’Even his disciple might soon catch up, equal, or even surpass my own cultivation.’

When people discussed him, they would subconsciously ignore Bai Zichen’s age.

They forgot that the high and mighty Ancestor Bai was actually one of the younger ones among the middle generation of elders.

After Longx Longx had advanced to the Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment, she was originally supposed to be granted the position of Supervisor Elder.

But when she thought about how Ancestor Bai had once held that position, she felt completely unworthy of accepting it.

Instead, she took another step forward, acting as if the position of Supervisor Elder didn’t even exist, and directly became a High Merit Elder.

”Reporting to the Elders, there is a Loose Cultivator in the second round with a special situation. Our opinions are deeply divided, and none of us can make a final decision...”

A capable-looking Steward stepped forward from below the high platform to report, his face flushed, clearly having just been in a heated argument with his peers.

Jian Yonglu of Bai Xi Gully, sixty-seven years old, Fifth-Layer Qi Refining Cultivation, a Tier One Peak Clothing Master.

”So it’s about him. What is the point of contention?”

Lii Guizhen read the Loose Cultivator’s profile and passed it to Longx Longx.

”The other Stewards believe that granting Jian Yonglu the status of a servant disciple is sufficient. I, your disciple, feel he should be made an Outer Sect Disciple. Otherwise, it would go against the very purpose of our recruitment drive and fail to attract more Hejian Cultivators.”

The Steward’s voice was loud and clear as he boldly expressed his opinion before the Elders.

”Sixty-seven years old, a Tier One Peak Clothing Master... Senior Sister Longx, what are your thoughts?”

Lii Guizhen’s first instinct was to call it absurd. ’A sixty-seven-year-old Mid-Stage Qi Refining Loose Cultivator is lucky to be admitted to the sect at all,’ he thought. ’Isn’t dreaming of becoming an Outer Sect Disciple just wishful thinking?’

But on second thought, he realized it wasn’t so simple, and the decision was indeed difficult.

Possessing a Tier One Peak Skill... If it were in a field like Alchemy or Artifact Refining, he wouldn’t just be an Outer Sect Disciple; if he were a few years younger, an exception might even be made for him to become an Inner Sect Disciple.

For a Loose Cultivator to reach this level through self-study was remarkable. With systematic training and guidance, reaching Tier Two would be a certainty.

The value of a Tier Two Alchemist to the sect was no less than that of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

In the entire Pill Hall, there were only six Tier Two Alchemists, and they were responsible for refining over ninety percent of the Qingfeng Sect’s elixirs.

The problem was, this Elder Jian’s skill was in the extremely niche field of a Clothing Master.

So niche that the Qingfeng Sect had no legacy of this skill, so niche that Lii Guizhen didn’t even recognize it as one of the Hundred Skills of Cultivation at first.

A Clothing Master, as the name suggests, was someone who crafted Magical Robes and Daoist Robes.

Besides making them look better, they could imbue the robes with all sorts of wondrous properties. Being immune to water and fire and repelling dust were just the basic requirements.

High-Tier Magical Robes and Daoist Robes could even come with an attached Forbidden Secret Technique that would activate automatically under specific conditions without needing to be triggered.

However, the awkward part about this skill was that ordinary cultivators didn’t have the Spirit Stones to spend on magical robes, while High-Tier Cultivators who needed them preferred to refine their own.

For one, it allowed for a more personalized and convenient fit.

For another, the Forbidden Secret Technique attached to a High-Tier Robe was often a final, life-saving trump card.

Its most crucial feature was the element of surprise; no one else should know of its existence.

Therefore, it was even more unlikely for someone to entrust its refining to another person, which was why Clothing Masters had one of the lowest profiles among all the Hundred Skills of Cultivation.

”I’ve heard that disciples of Nascent Soul Major Sects all have uniform magical robes, unlike our sect where we simply embroider a maple leaf on the corner of an ordinary Daoist robe. Having a Clothing Master to improve our sect’s robes wouldn’t be a bad thing.”

Longx Longx pondered for a moment before offering her opinion.

”However, the rank of Outer Sect Disciple is intended for disciples to strive forward on the Great Dao and climb to greater heights... At his age, even as an Outer Sect Disciple, he’d never be able to pass the sect’s competitions. It would be better to grant him a special exception: after serving as a servant disciple for just two years, he can immediately be transferred to the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall as a Steward. That would be making the best use of his talents.”

The standard-issue Daoist Robes of a sect like the Holy Lotus Sect were fundamentally different from the various robes currently distributed by the Qingfeng Sect.

The term ”standard-issue” didn’t just mean a uniform style, material, pattern, and insignia.

Taking the Holy Lotus Sect’s Daoist Robes as an example, even the ones for Qi Refining Disciples could fire off a warning signal in a crisis, automatically activate a Thick Earth Shield if the wearer was attacked while unconscious, trigger a Water Avoidance Technique upon falling into water, a Fire Avoidance Technique when encountering fire, and so on.

The cost of producing such a Daoist Robe was no lower than that of refining a Top-Grade Magical Artifact.

Only a Nascent Soul Major Sect like the Holy Lotus Sect, the co-ruler of the Liang Country’s Cultivation Realm, had the capital to provide tens of thousands of Qi Refining Disciples with Tier-Entry standard-issue Daoist Robes.

The other elders’ opinions were similar to Longx Longx’s. They could shorten his probation period as a servant disciple, but he could not be directly made an Outer Sect Disciple.

Lii Guizhen remained silent. He couldn’t possibly bother his Master over such a trivial matter.

He wondered to himself, ’If Master were in this situation, what decision would he make?’

Several thoughts swirled in his mind until he recalled what Bai Zichen had told him a month ago: that for this recruitment drive, even a Five Spiritual Roots Immortal Seedling should be accepted without refusal.

”A Tier One Peak Skill is no small feat to achieve, and he can fill a void in our sect’s production of Magical Robes and Daoist Robes... Grant him the position of Outer Sect Disciple, with all the same benefits as a normal one.”

As the person in charge of the recruitment ceremony, once Lii Guizhen made a decision, the others had to abide by it.

Even though Longx Longx’s status in the sect was much higher than his, she could not overrule his decision at this moment.

Besides, Longx Longx was just sitting there quietly, holding her teacup, showing no strong feelings about the differing opinions on how to handle a single Loose Cultivator.

After this small interlude, the group quickly finished selecting the servant disciples and Outer Sect Disciples from the nearly one thousand Loose Cultivators who had made it to the third round.

Only the ten spots for Inner Sect Disciples remained blank.

”Inner Sect Disciples have always been personally appointed by a Core Formation Ancestor or the Sect Leader... An exception was made to open ten spots this time specifically for Hejian County.”

Longx Longx’s gaze swept over the temporary list of one hundred and ten Outer Sect Disciples. ’This batch of disciples from Hejian County is truly lucky,’ she mused.

Without this preferential policy, only the top three in the annual sect competition could become Inner Sect Disciples.

It was already difficult for disciples from the Ten Thousand Immortals Creek Branch to compete with those from the main sect; they probably wouldn’t even produce ten Inner Sect Disciples in a decade.

”Why don’t we present the list of Outer Sect Disciples to Ancestor Bai and let him make the final judgment?”

”No, we must at least narrow down the candidates. Otherwise, are you suggesting we have Master go through all one hundred-plus Outer Sect Disciples?”

Lii Guizhen was firmly against it. He first copied the name of Mi Wandeng, who was at the top of the provisional Outer Sect Disciple list, onto the roster for Inner Sect Disciples.

This was the name the Mi Family had ultimately submitted, approved by Ancestor Bai himself as a reward for their contribution of the Sword Refining Secret Technique.

”Senior Brothers, why don’t we each offer our opinions and select the twenty most outstanding Outer Sect Disciples for Master to judge?”

”Junior Brother Lii speaks with maturity and prudence. Let’s proceed as you suggest.”

”That’s right. We mustn’t trouble Ancestor Bai with more trivial matters.”

None of the elders had any objections. The matter of Inner Sect Disciple positions was too sensitive.

If a Core Formation Ancestor hadn’t been personally supervising this time, they would have certainly remained silent and simply sent the list back to the main sect for the Sect Leader to issue a command.