Recruitment Ceremony

Crimson Snow Sect's disciple recruitment ceremony was being held on a vast expanse of unnaturally flat land. It was entirely covered in a layer of ankle-high, soft grass, clearly the result of attentive nurturing.

Rows of tents had been erected in this area for the families of test takers, especially those who had arrived from afar. Servants of the sect could be seen running from tent to tent with food and other necessities.

When the envoys from the Green Curtain City walked out of the Spirit Flower Valley, the first thing they faced was a surprised look from everyone in this area.

"So late?"

"Are you all here to take part in the recruitment tests?"

"Go! Go! Go! Don't just stand there! Hurry!"

"Today's the final date. They'll close down the procedures by the evening. Almost all slots have been filled!"

Facing the urging of the servants and the snide comments of the early birds, their group fell into utter chaos.

Old man Ming Zi grabbed Han Xuhan by the collar and kicked him out of the carriage.

"Why are you taking so long to get ready? You're not headed to war! Go participate in the closest testing area, dammit!"

Watching the young lad trudge behind his rushing peers, Ming Zi shook his head despondently.

"What a load of trouble! Good thing he's off my hands! He isn't my responsibility anymore. Heaven knows these three weeks haven't been easy!"

The coachman of his carriage leaned down from his seat and said, "He was never your responsibility to begin with, old master. You chose to keep him and invited... let me count for a second... right, invited 32 counts of disasters and misfortune on us."

"What the hell was I supposed to do?" Ming Zi growled.

"No matter how injured I am, I still have to abide by my basic responsibilities as a cultivator. That boy was a walking magnet to the natural calamities of heaven and earth. Letting him walk around unsupervised could've resulted in thousands of deaths!"

The coachman didn't seem to approve of the rationale. He retorted insistently, "Wouldn't he have died himself by the second or third calamity? If the source of the disasters is eradicated, no one would be harmed."

Ming Zi scratched his beard thoughtfully.

"Shen Hai, you have never met a man shrouded by the aura of heavenly calamities, have you? Either they die the hour they're conceived, or they survive long enough to fracture the order of heaven and earth. This boy looks about seventeen local years. Do you think he'd die that easily?"

The coachman's face stiffened. "Then haven't you gifted this sect a big disaster by sponsoring his recruitment? Your nephew won't be pleased to learn that you're backstabbing him so openly."

"Who? What nephew?" Ming Zi asked in confusion.

"...Your nephew Xuan Zi, the sect master of the Crimson Snow Sect, the person you've come here to meet," Shen Hai said, seemingly unable to believe that the question had been raised.

Ming Zi didn't look remotely embarrassed. "Hahaha! I forgot that this brat is my nephew; I have over a hundred of them!

"Anyway, you don't need to worry about me betraying little Zi in secret. I've already done that openly more times than he can count! He won't care!"

"...." Speechless, Shen Hai glanced back at the distant silhouette of the young man in the field.

"I should've killed him the moment I realized what he is. That would've saved everyone some trouble."

There was no malice in his eyes or tone. Was killing for the greater good not a noble deed? He'd do it even if it wasn't.

Who knows how many people are going to be in deadly trouble because of that one boy?

...

...

Far away, deep in the array of tall tents, the target of Shen Hai's displeasure was mired in a dilemma of his own.

Han Xuhan felt a little aggrieved. He was inspecting the full version of his cheat, which had just completed its initiation process.

Things like this couldn't be done in a hurry!

Who would be interested in participating in some test in a moment like this?

But since the recruitment procedures were about to end soon, he could only put the inspection on hold and chase after the rest of his fellow test takers, feeling impatient.

The faster he could be done with this, the better.

To everyone's dismay, it turned out that only one testing spot was still in operation due to the limited number of disciple slots remaining.

This testing spot was inside a massive tent, with a plaque hung on top. With great difficulty and some guesswork, he read its contents.

"To participate in the test, form a line, and keep your sponsorship letters in hand. Line breakers shall be punished severely. Unsponsored participants shall be subjected to extra tests."

The line in front of this testing spot contained more than three hundred eager youths.

He was never going to make it in time if he stood at the back of the line like a rule-abiding model examinee. He understood this; his fellow group members also understood this.

But everyone up ahead was staring back at them with a murderous look.

'Try us,' their eyes said. 'Try us, and you'll understand why this line is so long, yet so disciplined.'

Watching the newcomers fall into their place at the back of three hundred-something examinees, Han Xuhan shook his head in dismay.

In a way, wasn't this better? He didn't want to join a random sect just because Ming Zi had told him to. He knew nothing about this world.

It would be wiser to take his time to develop his knowledge base and choose a safe sect that aligned with his interests.

Here, he could just wait here and continue the inspection of his golden finger. He could manifest it in his vision actively with just a thought now.

The full version of the system was indeed very intriguing. The main panel was full of mysteries.

[ Survival System ]

[ Host Body: Unique ]

[ Survival Points: 0 ]

[ Survival Tokens: 0 ]

Han Xuhan had absolutely no clue what any of these stats meant. They didn't seem to have anything to do with cultivation; not that he'd be able to deduce any clues if that were the case.

There were two more panels in the system frame, each containing one book. The first book, glowing with bright golden light, was titled: The Main Storyline. The latter one was shrouded in silver mist, titled: Secondary Storylines.

Both books contained numerous pages, but a layer of mosaic prevented him from reading a single word from any of them. What he could discern clearly was an evaluation module on top of each page.

[ Quest Name: ]

[ Quest Description: ]

[ Quest Difficulty: ]

[ Quest Reward: ]

It was evident that just like the trial quest earlier, completing new quests would unlock whatever secret these 'storylines' contained.

But speaking of the trial quest, why did he get only one of the two rewards for completing it?

The full version of the system had been initiated smoothly as promised. But what about the 'Memory Awakening' reward?

Even after searching for a long time, he failed to find the task bar for that reward. The last time he had seen it, it hadn't even moved past 0%, while the other reward's task bar had reached 99%.

It was highly improbable that it had finished manifesting while his attention was elsewhere.

After all, if he awakened any new memories, he'd feel it in his head, wouldn't he? He'd learn something new, recall crucial information about the situation he was in, just as the system had promised.

Puzzled, Han Xuhan continued to probe the two books in the system panel, trying to figure out more about them. He even asked the system for help in navigating through its features.

But the system gave zero responses. It seemed to be of the non-sentient type among the well-known templates. It only responded when certain conditions were met. Everything else was up to the host.

Eventually getting bored with it, his focus returned to the real world. By now the line had shrunk by just ten percent. The sun was already leaning past its noontime position. The test wouldn't continue for long.

More than an hour went by this way, and about 25% of the line went through the tent. Evening was almost here. The remaining 75% of test takers in the line were getting visibly, audibly anxious.

Who knew how many slots were left to compete for now? If the sect was determined to fill them up by the evening, the number was probably in single digits by now.

Throughout this period, Han Xuhan tried and failed several times to hold a meaningful conversation with those in front of him. It wasn't just because they were too anxious; they spoke in accents that veered so far off ideal pronunciations that he couldn't understand most of it.

Just as he was gearing up for another attempt, an incredibly loud burst of cheers sounded from the distant testing spot.

Everyone raised their head to discern what was going on, which proved to be unnecessary.

A red-robed old man walked out of the tent and made a loud announcement.

"We have found the last qualifier of the batch. There are no more slots left. Everyone else is free to leave."