parentshiftbook Chapter 248: Disciple Recruitment Ceremony
Chapter 248: Disciple Recruitment Ceremony
"There's one more thing. The sect's disciple recruitment meeting is scheduled for half a month from now." Wu Tianyu bowed again and spoke in a deep voice.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Ping lightly tapped the stone table with his fingertips and pondered for a moment.
This Hundred Sects Disciple Recruitment Conference is a grand ceremony for hundreds of sects within a radius of thousands of miles to recruit disciples. All the sects gather in one place to open their gates simultaneously, creating an extremely impressive spectacle. Every year at this time, not only do countless wandering cultivators come seeking enlightenment and apprenticeship, but also large and small cultivation families from the surrounding areas send their unable-to-support disciples, hoping to join a sect and find a path in cultivation.
His newly established Yin-Yang Sword Sect naturally had to attend the gathering according to the rules. As for Wu Tianyu and the other two, they had already been accepted as his personal disciples, so they were not included in this round of disciple recruitment.
"Yes, just bring your sect's plaque with you then." Zhang Ping raised his eyes and asked casually, "Have you memorized all the rules for recruiting disciples?"
Wu Tianyu's expression instantly turned somewhat strange. His lowered eyelashes subtly lifted, and he quickly glanced at Zhang Ping in the pavilion. His voice trailed off:
"Remember this clearly. We only accept female disciples. Spiritual talent is secondary; the most important thing is a beautiful and dignified appearance, and an outstanding figure is also acceptable. Also... if you have sisters of marriageable age at home, you will be given priority..."
With each rule she mentioned, the strangeness on her face grew stronger. Even Dongfang Shuyi, who was drawing a portrait of Lu Rou, suddenly stopped, ink smearing on the rice paper, and an indescribable awkward expression appeared on his face.
When the three of them entered the sect, they had no idea that the Yin Yang Sword Sect had such outrageous rules for accepting disciples. At the time, they only knew that Zhang Ping had the cultivation of the Divine Harmony Realm and was proficient in various auxiliary arts such as alchemy, talismans, arrays, and painting. They thought they had hit the jackpot and had finally found a guarantor for their future cultivation path.
Once they entered the sect, seeing one absurd rule after another being implemented and one strange palace after another being built, the two couldn't help but have their doubts and start thinking in the wrong direction. Only the pure-hearted Lu Rou didn't understand anything wrong with these rules and continued to happily play with that Bobo bird every day.
Fortunately, Zhang Ping treated them well throughout this period, never making any inappropriate requests or doing anything out of line, which helped the two women suppress their unease.
The evening breeze, blowing through the forest, rustled the bamboo leaves.
Zhang Ping looked up and met the gazes of his eldest and second disciples. Their eyes clearly held a strange glint, along with a hint of barely concealed disdain and wariness. His lips twitched involuntarily, and he quickly cleared his throat, speaking in a serious tone:
"The core techniques of my Yin-Yang Sword Sect are extremely Yin and gentle, making them most suitable for women's physiques. Men face many constraints in cultivation and are prone to qi deviation. Just follow the rules. Also, in the future, you may address me as Master."
After saying that, he simply turned his head away, turning his face to the depths of the bamboo forest, preferring not to see it.
Inwardly, however, he was screaming in despair: "This is utterly unjust! I was used to being straightforward in my past life, and in this life, I finally managed to establish a proper sect and do something worthwhile, so why am I being treated like a lecherous scoundrel with ulterior motives?! I, Zhang Ping, swear to the heavens that the Yin Yang Sword Sect was established purely to cultivate power, unlock inheritances, and improve cultivation; I have not had a single selfish motive whatsoever!"
Wu Tianyu and his companion naturally couldn't hear these heartfelt words. But upon hearing the words "Call me Master," they felt inexplicably at ease. After all, a proper master-disciple relationship within a sect was always more secure than one without any formal title. The two exchanged a glance, bowed in farewell, and turned to prepare for the acceptance of the disciple.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye, and the Hundred Sects Disciple Recruitment Conference arrived as scheduled.
The venue for the conference was chosen to be Wolong Mountain, a mountain stretching for dozens of miles in the heart of the Penglai Plain. The mountain was not high, with its main peak only about 500 meters high, but along the long ridge, hundreds of sects had already marked out their territory and set up their own disciple recruitment posts.
The strength of a sect is immediately apparent from the location of its outpost. The stronger the sect, the higher its location, the better its view, and the more impressive its outpost. Even the sect plaques hanging in mid-air radiate spiritual light and can be seen from miles away. Those seeking the Dao who are not very familiar with the sects can guess their strength with a high degree of accuracy just by looking at this spectacle.
"Second Senior Sister, if we recruit disciples here, will anyone really come?"
Lu Rou clung to the stone table and spoke softly. Today, she was wearing a snow-white rabbit fur jacket with a fluffy rabbit ear hood hanging down her back, making her stand out from the surrounding cultivators who were dressed in tight-fitting clothes and exuded spiritual energy.
Nine out of ten passersby would glance at her, partly because of her unusual attire, and partly because the little girl was naturally charming and adorable, and the soft jacket made her even more endearing. Even cultivators who were used to seeing beautiful women couldn't help but take a second look. Lu Rou herself loved the clothes and had five or six sets made to wear in rotation, without feeling anything was wrong with them.
At this moment, she, Dongfang Shuyi, and Wu Tianyu looked at the newly set-up sect outpost in front of them, their faces full of undisguised embarrassment.
The surrounding sect outposts were either gleaming magical artifacts with plaques or ornately decorated temporary pavilions. Many of the established sects' stalls were already crowded with people, bustling with noise. In contrast, their Yin-Yang Sword Sect consisted of only a half-person-high silver-gray raw stone with the four large characters "Yin-Yang Sword Sect" engraved on it. Five longswords were stuck forlornly on top of the stone, making it as shabby as could be. Among the impressive sects, it looked like a beggar who had mistakenly stumbled into a banquet.
"Let's wait and see. If no one comes by noon, I'll go down the mountain to recruit people." Wu Tianyu looked at the empty stall, remained silent for a long time, and finally gritted his teeth.
She desperately wanted the Yin Yang Sword Sect to thrive. This was the first place she could call "home" after so many years of wandering, and she couldn't afford to fail at the very first step of taking on disciples.
Dongfang Shuyi circled the raw stone twice, then took out a scroll from his storage bag. With a flick of his fingertips, he unfurled the scroll. In an instant, multicolored spiritual light flowed from the scroll, swirling around the raw stone. The originally ordinary stone was instantly enveloped in the spiritual light, gaining a touch of ethereal mystery.
"Wow! Senior Sister is amazing! It looks so much better now!" Lu Rou's eyes lit up instantly, and she clapped her hands and cheered.
"It's just a small, inconspicuous magical artifact, good only for show, it has no real use." Dongfang Shuyi shook his head with a smile and withdrew the spiritual power from his fingertips.
The three of them then sat down behind the stone table, quietly waiting for the person who came to become their disciple.
This apprentice-acceptance ceremony will last for a full month, and today is the first day. They arrived early, and at this moment the sun was slowly rising from the eastern horizon. Below the mountains, which are over 500 meters high, the thick sea of clouds was dyed gold by the morning light, surging and shimmering, a truly magnificent sight.
But this grandeur was quickly drowned out by the clamor of the crowd.
The winding mountain path gradually became crowded with people. Men and women, young and old, all dressed in different styles, soughters of the Way surged up the mountain path. In less than half an incense stick's time, the grassland at the foot of the mountain was already densely packed with people.
The crowd strolled along the ridge, stopping and looking around at the various sect booths. Some inquired about sect rules and acceptance criteria at each booth, while others, with a clear goal in mind, weaved through the crowd to head straight for the major sects they had already set their sights on.
Only the Yin-Yang Sword Sect, nestled among a host of sects, remained quiet and deserted. Among hundreds of outposts, some grand and others bustling, it was as ordinary as a grain of sand.