C122

"Fellow cultivator Yin Xian, I wonder where little friend Tian Ci is right now. Can you come out to meet him?"

In the plaza in front of the great hall, there was a sea of people. The sect had been established for eight thousand years, and the disciple recruitment ceremony was held every five years.

Wasn't it just taking in a few disciples and adding some fresh blood? What was there to watch?

If it was just a viewing, then it wasn't worth participating in. The one with the highest probability of being Shentu Shun's gift was also here to attend the viewing, then things would be different.

The meaning behind being drunk was not to drink. People who came to attend the ceremony were most likely not here for real, but for a gift from the heavens.

Everyone in the world knew that the Hollow Jade Sect was a guest under the heavens. Now, the plaza was filled with a sea of people, yet no one could see him.

This time, in order to obtain Shentu Shun, the Yan Sect had spent a lot of resources. Three tribulation stage cultivators and a high-level cultivator had come, but they hadn't found any trace of a heaven-sent figure. Cao Ba, the vice sect master of the Yan Sect, couldn't suppress the desire in his heart and replaced the cultivators to inquire about the whereabouts of a heaven-gifted cultivator.

"Haha, friend Cao, there is no need to be impatient!"

If he was not anxious, it was not Cao Ba's character.

"Haha, fellow cultivator Yin Xian, you should know why we're here!"

Wasn't it just for the two Shentu brothers, how could Yin Xian not know about it? Even though Cao Ba was anxious to see Tian Ci, he would not agree. After all, the disciple recruitment ceremony was the main event.

"Brother Cao, during our sect's disciple recruitment ceremony, you were invited to come to the ceremony, did you forget?"

His sect had also accepted disciples every five years, so Cao Ba was not interested in visiting. This time, the only thing that interested him was whether or not he would be bestowed with the status of Shentu Shun.

"Haha, of course I won't forget. However, we are quite curious about your identity and would like to see you first."

This was the five-year great ceremony for the sect's disciple recruitment. He had to put it at the top of the list, as long as it didn't affect the life and death of the sect, it would be placed after the ceremony.

"Little friend Tianwu is currently visiting the sect. After the grand ceremony is over, I'll definitely come out to meet all of you. I hope everyone will wait patiently!"

There was more to it than just Cao Ba. There was a high chance that he was in a rush to see the gift. Hearing Cao Ba mention the gift, too many cultivators became impatient and could not help themselves.

If Cao Ba was the only one who could not wait, Yin Xian might have even said a few words. With so many people like this, in order to not anger the masses, Nang could only calm down a bit. As for asking the heavens to give it out in advance, he would definitely not agree to everyone's request.

After all, everyone had come for the gift. Once the gift appeared, in order to prove the identity of the gift, the disciple recruitment ceremony would immediately stop.

If the result showed that the Divine Gift was not Shentu Shun, but a farce, then the recruitment ceremony would not be affected and would continue. If the result showed that the Divine Gift was Shentu Shun, then the recruitment ceremony would not be suspended but would have to be terminated.

The disciple recruitment ceremony would not only become a farce, but also a joke. As the substitute leader, Yin Xian did not want to see this happen.

"For the sake of everyone seeing Heaven's Gift earlier, let's not waste any more time. Let the grand ceremony begin!"

Yin Xian was determined not to let everyone see the Blessing ahead of time, so everyone was helpless.

No one had thought of not letting themselves see the Divine Gift. Taking advantage of the Hollow Jade Temple's disciple recruitment ceremony, they secretly left the plaza to search for the Divine Gift. However, those who had such thoughts could only imagine that no one would dare to do so.

After all, there were too many unpredictable factors. No one could be sure if they could obtain the Heavenly Gift without alerting the upper echelons of the Hollow Jade Sect.

First, the Hollow Jade Temple had 72 peaks, each peak had a barrier set up by a cultivator during his tribulation. If heaven's blessing was on the 72 peaks, no one would know which peak it was on.

Moreover, once they attacked the peak enchantments, it would definitely attract the attention of the higher echelons of the Hollow Jade Sect.

Secondly, although Tian Ci was a mortal, not only did he have a demon beast with an unknown cultivation base, he also had a high level cultivator that was suspected to be Shentu Changsheng protecting him. If he wanted to obtain Tian Ci, he must first take care of this man and beast.

Third, the Hollow Jade Sect had a history of 8000 years. The tribulation stage cultivators were definitely not limited to Yin Xian, Su Liang, and Wen Shu, as well as the sect head, who had been in seclusion for a long time.

The Hollow Jade Sect's tribulation stage cultivator and Elder Zhang were known to everyone. Now that Elder Zhang had not appeared in the plaza, he was definitely protecting the heaven's gift in secret.

Fourth, the disciple recruitment ceremony of the Hollow Jade Sect was held in the plaza. If Yin Xian were to temporarily arrange for Tian Ci to enter the main hall of the sect to search for Tian Ci, he would definitely get nothing out of it.

Fifth, this year, the guests that came to watch the ceremony were either tribulation cultivators or high-level cultivators, and there were almost no low-level cultivators.

All the guests had arrived at the square. No matter who moved, they couldn't hide it from everyone. If anyone left quietly, they would be followed and someone would kill them on the spot.

There were too many uncertainties and too high of a risk, so no one dared to act rashly. In order to see the divine gift as soon as possible, the earlier the disciple recruitment ceremony began, the better it would be.

"… …"

The sect's disciple recruitment was divided into two parts. One part was the recruitment of inner court disciples, and the other part was the recruitment of outer court disciples.

Why were there differences in the sect's inner and outer disciples?

Actually, in the ancient times, the sects and schools didn't have any distinction between inner or outer disciples at all.

Until one day, a child without spiritual roots was born within the Shentu Tribe. This child without spiritual roots was Shentu Jun.

Because he did not have spiritual roots, Shentu Jun was abandoned by his family.

Later on, after he left the family, through his own hard work, he barely survived. With a cultivation that surpassed the ancient times, he became the biggest contributor to the great war between the two races.

From then on, cultivators no longer dared to look down on mortals.

Because of Shentu Jun's appearance, the various sects began to recruit mortals into their sects for cultivation. Although the sects were recruiting disciples, the cultivation speed of mortals was extremely slow and couldn't be compared to cultivators with spiritual roots. In order to save resources for the long-term development of the sects, the sects established the inner and outer sects.

After establishing the inner and outer sect, the inner sect only accepted disciples with spiritual roots, while the outer sect only accepted mortal disciples.

Inner disciples only had one requirement: they must have cultivation spiritual roots.

There were so many mortals in the mortal world, but there weren't many that could enter into various sects and schools. Why were there so few?

In the end, it was all because the sects had extremely high requirements for their disciples.

The highest age for a mortal entering the sect was 15 years old. Not only must his body be extremely sturdy, but he must also be smart and also have a skill.

Not only that, the disciples that entered the sect had to pass a test. If they didn't pass, even if they were sent back to the sect, they would still be dismissed.

The sect's recruitment method was not for mortals to bring their children to the Hollow Jade Sect, but for disciples to bring their children back to the sect.

Every year before the disciple recruitment ceremony, the sect would send disciples to the mundane world to recruit children.

If the disciple recruitment ceremony had just begun, then the sect disciples would go down the mountain to train and find out about the children with spiritual roots. They would also bring them back to the sect to train, and only after the next disciple recruitment ceremony, would they officially accept them as their disciples.

Almost all of the children that the disciples had brought back from training had spiritual roots. As for those without, the sect would only send disciples to the mortal world to recruit them a year before the disciple recruitment ceremony.

Before the disciple recruitment ceremony was held, all the disciples, regardless of whether they were from the inner or outer sect, would receive the same treatment as the inner or outer sect disciples.

Once the disciple recruitment ceremony was held, the sect would assign the disciples to enter the inner sect or outer sect according to the disciples' aptitude.

After the disciple recruitment ceremony ended, the inner and outer disciples were like people from two different worlds.

Once a disciple enters the inner sect, they will have their own master. Cultivating medicinal pills and spirit stones will be much more than before, and their cultivation techniques will be hundreds of times stronger than before. They will also have magic tools (spirit artifacts) and Immortal's cave.

If a disciple had heaven-defying talent, then they would be taken in as a direct disciple by the Sovereign, or even by a generation of Elders.

As a result, he would have the best cultivation pills, cultivation methods, spiritual tools, and Immortal's cave, and he would also have the best amount of spirit stones.

If one's talent was not bad, then they would be taken in as a direct disciple by the Sect Leader (Leader) and become a direct disciple of the Sect Leader (Leader). Although their talent was not as good as a direct disciple of the Sect Leader (Leader), the resources needed for cultivation would not be much different.

If their latent talent was ordinary, they would have their own master. However, the treatment they received was far from satisfactory. In fact, they would even have to contribute to the Sect in order to acquire cultivation resources.

No matter what, being able to become an inner disciple should make him feel lucky to have spiritual roots.

Compared to inner court disciples, outer court disciples were much inferior in treatment.

Outer sect disciples also had their own masters. The so-called master was simply here to pass on some of the sect's most basic techniques. That was all.

Cultivating medicinal pills, spirit stones, and spirit weapons required one to rely on their own contributions to the sect for exchange. Not only that, outer court disciples could only cultivate in the sect for five years.

Once five years had passed, no matter what level of cultivation they were at, they would be assigned to the large cities under the sect's jurisdiction to manage their sect's various businesses.

Although the treatment of outer sect disciples was not as good as inner sect disciples, it was still much better than mortals who could not enter the sect to cultivate.

This disciple recruitment ceremony was just like the previous ones. It was a disciple test and a disciple test.

The disciple test was divided into the inner and outer disciple test.

The disciple recruitment ceremony was held for a total of two days. The first day was the inner disciple test and the disciple test, and the second day was the outer disciple test.

The inner disciple test was very simple. One only needed to test the age and spiritual roots. It could have been completed in the sect's main hall, but with so many people, it could only be conducted in the plaza outside the main hall.

The outer sect disciples' test was quite complicated. Not only did they have to test their age, but they also had to test their physical strength. Every year, the test would be conducted at the foot of the mountain.

Outer sect disciples had to rush to the gate from the foot of Mount Yusheng within a day. No matter what method was used, only disciples who completed the mission on time would be qualified to enter the sect.

In the past disciple recruitment ceremonies, only this year was different. Due to the large number of people that came to watch the ceremony, the outer court disciple test could only be arranged for five days later.

​