Chapter 260 - 221: Angel Investor

Chapter 260: Chapter 221: Angel Investor

Outside a recruitment hall of the Qingcang Sect, the plaza was a sea of people, too many to count.

Many "people" who had traveled far and wide had come to participate in the Qingcang Sect’s disciple selection.

There were all sorts of races present: a human-like race similar in appearance to Zhang Ji, burly men of the Barbarian Race standing over three meters tall, the four-armed Mili Race, the slender Raccoon Dog Race with scales and claws, and the Lanyou Race with fins and gills. This world was not home to just one sentient species. While no one had a total count, the Southern Realm alone had at least several hundred, and humans were just a small fraction of them.

The Qingcang Sect was one of the four top sects in the Southern Realm, and its recruitment standards were very high.

Just being able to reach this recruitment hall was enough to screen out a large number of people.

Without some strength or backing, one could only rely on luck to cross the mountains and rivers to get here.

After arriving, there were more screenings. Ascending the high mountain to reach the plaza outside the recruitment hall was the second test.

The entire mountain had a no-fly restriction and was extremely steep, so one could only climb.

Yet even so, the plaza was still packed with people, numbering at least ten thousand.

This world had twenty-four months in a year, and the Qingcang Sect recruited new disciples every single month at many different recruitment points. New disciples arrived virtually every day, but the attrition rate was also high. The bottom-tier disciples were like automatically respawning mobs, replaced every so often.

Despite such a high rate of loss, this was still an excellent path for upward mobility in this world. After all, the result of being exploited in other factions was the same, and it might not even be as good as it was here.

After a long wait outside the hall, several figures emerged, followed closely by a group of people wearing the deep blue uniforms of Qingcang Sect disciples.

The one in the lead was an elderly man who looked rather old, with a few scales on his cheeks.

He seemed to be of a mixed-blood race, but no one could guess which two races he was a mix of, or if it was multiple races.

"I am Gao Lin, a recruitment officer for the Qingcang Sect, and I am in charge of today’s recruitment. The test consists of four trials: Root and Bone, Disposition, Comprehension, and Fortune. Each is graded on four levels: [Peak], [Superior], [Intermediate], and [Inferior]. Anyone who achieves a [Peak] grade in one trial may directly join the Sect as an ordinary disciple. Two [Peak] grades will make you a Liangxiu Disciple. Three makes you a Core Disciple, and four makes you a Shangdao Disciple. If you do not achieve any [Peak] grades, you will be selected based on a total score of eight, ten, or twelve. Anyone with a score below eight, please leave on your own..."

After explaining the rules, the disciples beside Gao Lin sprang into action, setting up the area and organizing the crowd into orderly lines for the assessment.

The Root and Bone and Comprehension assessments were the simplest. They just shone a mirror on you, and it was done.

It didn’t take much time per person.

The Disposition and Fortune assessments were a bit more complex. For Disposition, the candidates had to answer some simple multiple-choice questions, and for Fortune, they drew lots directly.

It seemed crude, but in reality, the latter two were very low-cost and had an accuracy of at least ninety-five percent.

Zhang Ji hid himself within the line, moving slowly forward with the others, not drawing any attention to himself.

At this moment, he had restrained his aura to the absolute limit, making it difficult for anyone to easily see that he was an expert.

If he weren’t worried about messing up, he would have stored all the combat crystals on his body into his [Limit], and then he would have truly been like an ordinary person.

But that would leave him feeling too vulnerable. In a place like this, Zhang Ji didn’t dare to take such a risk.

The crowd moved quickly, and soon it was Zhang Ji’s turn. A disciple had him stand still, then shone a jade-inlaid mirror at him.

A profound light flashed across its surface, revealing the result.

The disciple let out a soft "Huh?" and said to Zhang Ji, "Name."

"Li Long," Zhang Ji said.

The disciple picked up the registration book, wrote down Li Long’s name, and then had him make a thumbprint on it. The information was recorded and shared to the internal database.

"Root and Bone: [Peak]. Comprehension: [Peak]. Alright, go over there for the Disposition and Fortune tests!"

Although he was a little surprised by Zhang Ji’s talent, the disciple remained relatively calm. Clearly, it wasn’t unheard of for people to achieve such results in the Qingcang Sect.

In fact, the [Peak] rating here was defined by the limits of what ordinary geniuses could achieve. For truly Extraordinary beings who had reached high realms and undergone constant transformation, their comprehension and root and bone had long surpassed the mundane. They were not on a level ordinary people could even compare to.

Even with a [Peak] rating, it only meant that your early journey would be smoother and you had a higher probability of breaking through to higher realms. It didn’t mean this talent alone could carry you all the way to the top.

Next was the Disposition test. He was given a form with a lot of jumbled questions. None of them had a standard answer; it didn’t matter what you wrote. The real test was the emotional fluctuations left behind during the process of filling out the form. Hesitation, conflict, distress—all these emotions would be imprinted on the paper and affect the final score.

’To get a high score, all I have to do is read each question carefully and then make a rational and precise judgment.’

Zhang Ji finished filling it out quickly. Unsurprisingly, he also got a [Peak].

That was three [Peak]s, making him a Core Disciple right from the start. One more, and he would be a Shangdao Disciple.

Core Disciples in the Sect were cultivated to be ordinary managers and high-level warriors, whereas Shangdao Disciples were groomed to be pillars of the sect, its very foundation.

The difference in resources was far more than a simple tenfold gap.

And to become a Shangdao Disciple, Zhang Ji only needed to score two points in Fortune.

’This part is simple.’

The true test of Fortune in the lot-drawing process wasn’t the drawing itself, but the person who gave the candidate the lot container.

The lot container itself didn’t have many anti-cheating mechanisms. It all depended on which container the disciple in charge of the assessment gave to Zhang Ji. If he was given a good container, Zhang Ji would get a high score; if he got a bad one, he would get a low score.

Therefore, one couldn’t cheat directly with the lot container. To cheat, one had to influence the disciple.

Not that Zhang Ji needed to, though.

’Although I’m the type of person who easily runs into all sorts of trouble, that trouble is often accompanied by great benefits.’

’Fortune and misfortune are intertwined.’

’The greater the disaster I encounter, the greater the benefits I obtain.’

He reached out his hand, and the disciple directly handed Zhang Ji the best lot container.

"Fortune: [Peak]."

After drawing the lot, Zhang Ji was led directly away from the area to wait behind the main hall.

Here, Gao Lin was sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion, his eyes closed in rest.

Behind him were the disciples who had passed the assessment, divided into four groups: ordinary disciples, Liangxiu Disciples, Core Disciples, and Shangdao Disciples.

The ordinary disciples were the most numerous, and the Shangdao Disciples were the fewest.

Zhang Ji was in the Shangdao Disciple section. For now, he was the only one, standing by himself.

He looked like a crane standing among chickens.

After the better part of a day, the assessment concluded. Those who failed were dismissed. Gao Lin reached out, and a bottle-like artifact appeared in his palm. He tossed it toward the sky, where it rapidly grew larger, transforming into a Sky-Breaking Shuttle that hovered in the air.

A series of stairs extended from it, reaching down to where Zhang Ji and the others stood.

"Let’s go. Follow me to register," Gao Lin said.

Immediately, all the disciples, along with Gao Lin and the others, boarded the Sky-Breaking Shuttle.

The interior space was also very large, enough to accommodate over a thousand people. Many cushions were laid out, not proper chairs.

But this recruitment had only accepted about three hundred people.

The rest were not accepted.

It seemed they had another option: to become menial disciples of the Qingcang Sect.

The work was tiring, but they could still obtain some cultivation resources.

However, that was being the most disposable of consumables.

Unless they were truly daydreaming, the plans of the remaining people were basically akin to working in a factory: earn some money and go back home to enjoy life.

For a menial disciple to seek the Dao was simply a joke.

You have no talent, no resources, and even your fortune has been tested and found to be utter trash. What else could you hope for? For some old grandpa to suddenly appear and give you a cheat?

"You, come sit here," Gao Lin said to Zhang Ji.

Zhang Ji had been planning to just find a random spot to sit, but since Gao Lin said so, he had no choice but to sit beside him.

In this assessment, only Zhang Ji had met the standard for a Shangdao Disciple.

This was normal. In a month, the entire Qingcang Sect could recruit at most a few Shangdao Disciples. Those with such talent were the best of the best, truly one in a hundred million.

"Li Long, correct? Take this communication mirror. It’s a bit better than the ones the Sect issues. If you encounter a crisis, you can activate a Protective Profound Light. It also comes with two thousand contribution points, which you can use to purchase some cultivation resources..."

Gao Lin handed Zhang Ji a mirror and taught him how to use it.

This hand-mirror, or shoujian, was a creation similar to a mobile phone on Origin Star or a Consciousness Communicator in the Celestial Essence Realm.

On the outside, it looked like a medium-sized mirror, but it had communication functions. The Sect relied on it to transmit information, issue missions, conduct trade, and so on.

Contribution points were the internal virtual currency of the Qingcang Sect.

One could earn contribution points by completing Sect missions or trading within the Sect.

’I roughly understand what Gao Lin is doing right now.’

’An angel investor.’

’Those in charge of personnel are basically all like this.’

’When they encounter a promising newcomer, they never miss an opportunity to invest a little in them.’

Zhang Ji didn’t refuse. He accepted the hand-mirror from Gao Lin, thanked him, and then said, "No matter my future achievements, I, Li Long, will remember Officer Gao’s support today."

Gao Lin said nothing, only giving a slight nod before closing his eyes to rest again.

Although he didn’t show much of an emotional reaction, Zhang Ji knew that Gao Lin was clearly very satisfied with the reply.

’I don’t care about these trivial benefits; I’m just playing the part of my current persona.’

’Besides, the one who made the promise was Li Long. What does that have to do with me, Zhang Ji?’

Although the Sky-Breaking Shuttle wasn’t excessively fast, it didn’t take long to arrive at one of the Qingcang Sect’s massive mountain peaks.

This peak soared high above the clouds. Buildings were scattered across it in an orderly fashion. Countless cultivators and exotic flying beasts zipped back and forth, and one could also see numerous flying magical artifacts coming and going.

In terms of sheer presence alone, no structure on Origin Star could compare. It was almost on par with the Floating Cities of the Celestial Essence Realm he had seen before.

And this was merely one of the Qingcang Sect’s ten main peaks, the [Divine Peak].

Besides the ten main peaks, the Qingcang Sect also had three thousand secondary peaks and fifty thousand scattered peaks. The scale of its power was so immense that even all the worlds currently occupied by Origin Star combined could not compare.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Ji couldn’t help but feel a sense of shock. Although he had seen it more than once before he transmigrated, witnessing it again with his own eyes still filled him with awe for the extraordinary scenery and civilization before him.