The initial strategies for the Outer Pavilion had already been dispatched and implemented. For the time being, there was not much to do, and they only needed to handle daily affairs through their Deacon Jade Tablets.
After spending three months learning the Two-Person Array, the five of them came to a quick agreement and headed straight to Array Peak to study the Three-Person Array under Mu Chenze's master.
With the foundation of the Two-Person Array, even though the Three-Person Array was more difficult, learning it was not too exhausting.
In fact, it was much easier to pick up than when they had started learning the Two-Person Array from scratch with absolutely no prior knowledge.
It took them only two months to be able to pair up in any combination of three, successfully activating both the array and the square seals.
Not long after they mastered the Three-Person Array and were preparing to learn the Four-Person Array, their identity jade tokens began to vibrate, flashing with blue light.
This indicated that an official sect notification had been issued.
At this point, a year had passed since they took over the Outer Pavilion, and there were only four months left before the recruitment of new disciples.
Even before checking their identity jade tokens, Gu Ningyun and Mu Chenze locked eyes, both guessing what the notification might be about.
By then, Jiang Yao had already finished reading the notification. “Three days from now, there will be a meeting in the discussion hall of the New Disciple Training Department on Governing Peak.”
...
Three days later, in the discussion hall of the New Disciple Training Department on Governing Peak.
After a year, the disciples of Class 11,680 gathered once again.
Ye Tingran, the Head of the New Disciple Training Department, sat cross-legged on the high platform, looking down at the 693 junior brothers and sisters in the hall.
Ten years ago, they were still little ones who had just entered the sect, blinking their watery eyes and looking with utter curiosity at this world of flying and earth-tunneling.
A year ago, they had just grown into teenagers, the baby fat on their cheeks yet to fade, their eyes reflecting the pure, unblemished clarity of youth untouched by the world.
Today, a year later, the youngest among them was fifteen and a half, while the oldest was nineteen. Even their heights had shot up significantly.
Holding a position of responsibility was the ultimate test of character.
After a year of training, their childishness had gradually faded, replaced by the stability of those who held authority and a down-to-earth composure.
Ye Tingran's eyes were filled with gratification. She felt a profound sense of pride seeing these youths finally growing up, standing tall, and ready to shoulder the responsibilities of the world.
Once everyone had arrived, she swept her divine sense across the room.
Including those who had made breakthroughs over the past year, there were currently 330 disciples in this class who had reached the Foundation Establishment stage, 221 at Qi Refining level twelve, 119 at Qi Refining level eleven, and 23 at Qi Refining level ten.
Even though the New Disciple Training Department had already compiled these statistics, seeing them in person still shocked Ye Tingran.
She silently glanced toward the middle of the third row.
Was this the impact brought by the Dao Insight?
The previous class had recruited a total of 689 formal disciples, only four fewer than this class.
Yet in this class, the number of disciples who had broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage within ten years was a whopping sixty-six more than the previous class.
Even within their New Disciple Training Department, there were several more disciples who had achieved core formation.
The reach of the Dao Insight was so vast that it covered every living being in this world.
It was foreseeable that they would definitely recruit even more promising talents during this upcoming intake.
How sharp were the five senses of cultivators.
The moment Ye Tingran's gaze landed on her, Gu Ningyun sensed it and looked up.
Seeing Senior Sister Ye staring blankly at her, Gu Ningyun smoothed her hair, utterly bewildered.
Could it be that she hadn't tidied her appearance properly after sword practice today, causing her to lose her manners in front of her senior sister?
Noticing her movement, Wen Xuan glanced around, her high ponytail whipping Gu Ningyun a few times.
She finally leaned close to Gu Ningyun. “What's wrong? Did you realize that half-tying your hair in the back is inconvenient, and you want to switch to a high ponytail?”
“...The hairband is a mysterious-rank magic tool that secures my hair perfectly, so I don't find it inconvenient.”
With Wen Xuan interrupting like this, Senior Sister Ye had already withdrawn her gaze. Clearing her throat, she began to address the main business.
Just as expected, they had been summoned here precisely for the recruitment of new disciples in four months.
In the current cultivation world, cultivators and mortals were numerous. Every year, a new batch of young children reached six years of age, the age where they could undergo spirit root testing.
A cultivator's path emphasized following one's heart and fate.
Therefore, no matter whose sphere of influence a child was born into, they could freely choose the sect they wished to join, without being bound by their family's territory.
Sects also did not restrict their recruitment of new disciples to their own established territories.
However, this inevitably created a problem.
A force like Xiaoyao, which sat firmly as the number one sect in the cultivation world, would be exceptionally popular.
“You might have always wondered why Xiaoyao only recruits disciples once every ten years, and only accepts children between the ages of six and ten.
“Wouldn't this cause us to miss out on many outstanding talents?
“In truth, Xiaoyao's recruitment of new disciples relies heavily on fate.
“Our Patriarch decreed that we recruit only once every ten years, first because of the training system within the sect.
“It takes ten years to initially train a batch of new disciples, and there are only a few hundred Pavilion Master positions on the outer peaks.
“If we recruit too frequently, we wouldn't be able to rotate them.
“And second, it is to emphasize going with the flow of fate.
“If a child happens to be between six and ten years old when Xiaoyao is recruiting, it shows they have an initial fate with Xiaoyao, and they can participate in the recruitment assessment.”
Senior Sister Ye smiled at this point.
“Of course, you might say that Xiaoyao is so vast, if we really wanted to find another few hundred similar positions for new disciples to gain experience, it wouldn't be impossible.
“However, we must also consider a third reason, which is the harmony of the cultivation world and the path of natural balance.
“If Xiaoyao recruited more frequently, say once every five years, the sect could manage to train them at that rate.
“But as everyone knows, our Xiaoyao is extremely popular in the world.
“If we recruited like that, wouldn't we sweep up almost all the moral talents under heaven?
“At first glance, this seems to bring only benefits, but a little thought reveals the issues.
“First of all, what about the other sects? If we do this, how are they supposed to recruit new disciples?
“New disciples are the foundation of a force's heritage.
“Severing the foundation of their heritage would undoubtedly make us a target of public criticism, a thorn in the side of other forces, and they would rise up to attack us.
“Even if they don't attack us immediately, they would first form a united boycott, starting by banning us from recruiting within their territories.
“When that time comes, if we want to expand further, it will be very troublesome.
“Being antagonized by all the forces in the cultivation world is something even our Xiaoyao might not be able to withstand.
“Furthermore, since we can coexist peacefully, why force others to a dead end and make them our enemies?
“Moreover, we cultivators emphasize that extreme prosperity leads to decline, and the path of natural balance.
“Rather than gathering all the talents under heaven and making this world a monopoly for Xiaoyao's cultivators, Xiaoyao prefers to keep a low profile, allowing the forces in this world to maintain a balance.
“Finally, there is the diversity of heritage.
“The later stages of cultivation place a higher emphasis on the comprehension of the Dao.
“Discussing the Dao with cultivators from different sects and heritages allows us to validate each other's insights and better comprehend the Dao of heaven and earth.
“If all cultivators in the world belonged to Xiaoyao, and the major heritages were reduced to only Xiaoyao's lineage, at that time, who would Xiaoyao's disciples find to discuss the Dao with?”
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