There were 16 cities targeted by the Infinite Dao Sect for recruitment.
Among them, Black Rock Mountain was one of the smallest. However, considering the cultivator population base and the surrounding cities — combined with the fact that cultivators with high-quality but mixed-element roots rarely left the region — the result was a high recruitment turnout.
The second city to be visited by the sect would be the Gu Family City, which took about six days of travel with the excellent flying ship, piloted by Lie Zheng.
This time, the trip would be slower, since Lie Zheng's cultivation wasn't as high as Tian Zhu's had been before. Still, since the ship was of better quality and helped a bit with speed, the expedition was expected to take just over double the time of the previous journey — approximately four months of travel, with two days of recruitment in each city, totaling around five months overall.
And the floating ship they used this time wasn't just an ordinary one. It had been created to meet the cultivation needs of the disciples and elders aboard during the long journey. Formations powered by elemental stones were installed to simulate the environment of a spiritual root within the ship, which deeply impressed all the disciples — especially the new ones, who looked on with wide eyes as they got a small glimpse of just how powerful their sect could be.
Later, when they received their cultivation techniques and began using them, their hearts nearly stopped. It was at that moment they were certain the rumors circulating couldn't have been more wrong.
The Infinite Dao Sect didn't use demonic methods to make their disciples grow quickly.
No. They used perverted methods… in a good way.
Thus, the journey continued as the new disciples received their basic equipment — which Aotian had prepared during his free time in the past few months — along with the cultivation techniques, and began cultivating.
After five days of travel, with the new disciples slowly adjusting to their new lives and incredible prospects, a call was issued for everyone to gather in the central area of the ship by one of the elders.
Gathered in the center of the massive ship, the disciples waited before Elder Lie Zheng, the elder of the Punishment Pavilion, who stood at the center, leading the other elders.
Once all the disciples had arrived, including Rihai and Aotian, Lie Zheng finally said something that caught everyone by surprise.
"Everyone. As you may know, I am Lie Zheng, inner elder of the Punishment Pavilion and leader of this expedition. Today, we have gathered you here to witness the start of the inner disciple promotion ceremony."
Lie Zheng spoke calmly, but his words caused an uproar of excitement and anxiety among the disciples.
Especially among the senior disciples, who already knew the rules — they just hadn't expected the promotion ceremony to occur during the recruitment phase, rather than at the end.
"The one responsible for recruitment, directly delegated by the sect leader, is the outer elder of my pavilion, Zheng Tao. He will be the one to preside over this ceremony and explain the details."
He finished and took a step back.
Zheng Tao stepped forward. First, he cupped his fists respectfully to Elder Lie Zheng, and after receiving a nod, he turned to the disciples.
"As you've guessed, I am Elder Zheng Tao. Before beginning the ceremony, I believe it's important to inform the new disciples about the rules."
He spoke with calm and serenity, though his face remained serious. His words received grateful nods or focused, solemn looks from the crowd.
"Firstly, with each new recruitment the sect carries out, a new round of competition for promotion to inner disciple begins. The number of available slots, the format, and the exact date of each round will not be disclosed until the day it takes place, so stay alert for future announcements. In these competitions, all outer disciples may participate..."
The new disciples immediately perked up at the idea of being able to take part — only to have cold water thrown on their heads a second later.
"... as long as they were not recruited in the current round of recruitment."
He ended with a small, amused smile at their disappointment, before returning to a serious tone.
"The sect also has other forms of promotion, such as recommendations made by elders for talented disciples. However, it is strictly forbidden to use underhanded methods to earn a recommendation. If you try, do not doubt that the elder will report you, and appropriate measures will be taken — including, but not limited to, punishment, confinement, expulsion, and in extreme cases, crippling and death. Therefore, be prudent. The sect is full of opportunities, there is no need to resort to such means. Trying shortcuts will only bring trouble to yourselves."
He spoke with solemnity and warning, making the atmosphere aboard the ship much heavier.
Aotian could swear he heard the sound of people swallowing nervously all across the crowd. Any crooked ideas they might have had were crushed right then — at least for now.
"With that said, let's go straight to the format of this promotion session. This time, the qualified participants are the 118 outer disciples recruited previously. In total, this session will have two types of competition."
Everyone's attention sharpened. Even if most of them weren't participating yet, all wanted to be prepared for the upcoming contests.
"The first will once again be a combat trial — a competition with 25 slots for inner disciples."
"As for the second, we'll leave it as a surprise. It too will offer 25 slots. In total, 50 disciples will be promoted to inner disciples at the end of this competition. Any questions?"
He explained seriously, then looked out across the disciples.
The first to raise a hand was, surprisingly, the toothless old man Hui Lang, who wore a serious expression on his wrinkled face.
"Elder Zheng, can we participate in both competitions, or do we need to choose one?"
He asked with resolve in his eyes. He seemed determined to become an inner disciple.
"Everyone may participate in both competitions — except for those approved in the first, who will not be allowed to enter the second."
Zheng Tao explained, nodding to him.
"And is there a difference between the approvals from the two competitions?"
He asked to be sure, though he didn't believe there would be.
To his surprise, the elder nodded.
"There is indeed. The first competition allows more flexibility in which pavilion you will enter, while the second does not. But in the end, whether you're in one pavilion or another won't make a real difference in your future prospects, as long as you're in a place where your talent can shine."
The elder explained, causing all those planning to participate to become even more serious.
Even with the elder's assurance, the disciples preferred to have the choice in their own hands and were determined to give it their all in the first competition.
They were cultivators. The innate desire to control one's own destiny burned in their hearts.
"Any more questions?"
The elder looked at the crowd, but no one spoke.
"Good, then we will begin the competition. The first part involves individual combat. Each of you will draw a number that will pair you with an opponent. After that, every victory will earn you 1 point; every loss will subtract 1 point; in the case of a draw, there are no points. In each round — except for the first, which is random — you'll be paired with someone with a similar score to yours. In total, there will be 9 rounds. This is a prolonged event, with one round of combat each day. So, in about 9 days, the competition will be concluded, excluding the days of city recruitment."
He explained clearly, but even so, a disciple raised his hand with a question.
Looking at the disciple, he nodded, allowing him to speak.
"Elder Zheng, what if I'm really unlucky and only get paired with strong people?"
He asked with some anxiety.
The elder's eye twitched at the question.
"Didn't you hear anything? If you lose, your score will drop, and you'll be paired with weaker people."
He answered directly, still patiently.
But the disciple still seemed confused.
"But… then won't the weak people just keep fighting other weak people and rise? Won't the weak end up staying at the top of the rankings?"
He asked, frowning, thinking that was unfair too.
Now appearing to have a headache, the elder massaged his forehead.
Aotian was honestly helpless facing that disciple, who didn't seem to bother thinking things through, but he still tried to remain patient.
"Haah… kid, you're confusing simple things. If someone is strong and ranked low, they'll climb by winning. So there's no way for the weak to stay ahead of them — because if a weak person rises, they'll be knocked down by the strong, whether that strong person is above or below them."
With a sigh, he explained clearly.
The disciple relaxed his furrowed brow and began to understand — but then another doubt popped into his mind.
"But—Humph! Humph!"
He started to speak again, but his mouth was immediately covered by a friend standing beside him.
Covering the confused boy's mouth, the other guy looked nervously at Elder Zheng, sweat dripping from his forehead.
"E-Elder Zheng, forgive my friend. He didn't sleep well last night, and when he was little, a brick fell on his head. For a long time, he was nicknamed Little Brick, so I hope you understand his mind isn't very fast anymore."
The boy quickly intervened on behalf of his friend, who gave him an incredulous and offended look.
The disciples in the crowd desperately held back their laughter upon hearing that, biting their lips.
Even Aotian couldn't help the small, amused smile that appeared on the face of his avatar, Zheng Tao.
As for his main body, he had his eyes closed, holding back laughter, while Rihai covered his mouth to stop him from laughing out loud — even though she herself had a smile on her face.
The issue wasn't that the boy's questions were that dumb — but that he seemed not to think deeply before standing out in the crowd and interrupting the event with incessant silly questions.
If he just took a moment to think, or talked to his friends, he could figure it out himself instead of stopping an elder mid-event to answer. This wasn't a school — it was a sect, and there were certain ways to do things.
Elder Zheng took a deep breath, recovered his composure from the funny interruption, and waved his hand calmly, no longer concerned with the silly boy.
"All eligible outer disciples, step forward."
He ordered seriously, his expression returning to its former strictness.
With that order, no one hesitated. All the veterans separated themselves from the crowd of new disciples.
After counting and seeing that all eligible disciples were present, with no newcomers mixed in, he nodded.
"Very well, everyone is here. Now, those who wish to participate in the first competition, step forward."
Zheng Tao nodded in satisfaction and gave the command.
'Shall we join the competition?'
Aotian sent a sound transmission to Rihai, his eyes bright with interest.
'No! Aotian, didn't we agree to stay low-key for our own good? I know that if you go, you won't accept losing to anyone, and that'll be the complete opposite of being discreet.'
She looked at him helplessly, a bit of a headache rising.
She just wanted them to live in peace and happiness, with minimal risk. Unfortunately, putting yourself at the center of attention in the sect went against that idea.
But to her surprise, he nodded easily and smiled, unconcerned.
'Oh, we're supposed to be discreet? Okay then, let's go with what you said.'
Rihai looked at him suspiciously, and a bad feeling formed in her chest.
She turned her face forward — and her expression froze slightly.
In front of them, everyone had stepped forward and moved ahead, leaving the two of them standing alone under the strange gazes of everyone wondering why they weren't participating.
'So, are we being discreet enough?'
He looked at her with a playful glance.
She could only give him a helpless look.
'I hate you…'