Wang Hao Recruits All the World's Protagonist Seedlings

The prodigies below the stage looked at each other in dismay.

They suddenly realized that this dog emperor's mouth was even harder to deal with than his Martial God Battle Seal. At least you could clash head-on with the Battle Seal, but with this mouth, you couldn't even find a direction to strike.

Just as everyone was feeling depressed, Wang Hao unhurriedly raised his hand.

"Of course, I am not one to only use the stick and not the carrot."

"The Prodigy Gang is divided into four tiers—"

"Outer Members, Official Members, Core Seeds, and Demon-Suppressing Special Envoys."

"The four tiers correspond to different privileges."

Before his voice faded, Wei Zhongxian waved his hand. Two young eunuchs carried up a massive notice board and erected it in the center of the high platform with a clatter.

Everyone raised their heads to look.

Upon looking, many people instantly found themselves unable to tear their eyes away.

The notice board was densely packed with a list of benefits—Outer Members: Free accommodation, meal subsidies, capital transit passes, and reading access to basic cultivation methods.

Official Members: Secret vault point exchange, discounts on pills exclusive to sect disciples, minor injury medical treatment, and reading qualifications for the outer pavilion of the Imperial City Library.

Core Seeds: Quotas for the core area of the imperial secret vault, guidance from designated experts, dedicated nursing from imperial physicians in the hospital, weighted evaluation on the Prodigy Roll, and qualification for the Avengers Alliance reserve sequence.

Demon-Suppressing Special Envoys: Priority exploration rights in secret realms, disclosure of clues to ancient legacies, qualifications to observe the Martial God's relics, opportunities to be personally appointed by the Emperor, and having their deeds promoted in the Great Zhou Times so their good names would be sung throughout the Great Zhou.

Below the stage, the prodigies who had just been filled with righteous indignation now had shifting gazes.

This was especially true for the independent cultivators of ordinary origins who lacked resources.

In their entire lives, they had never even heard of something like reading qualifications for the Imperial City Library.

Let alone qualifications to observe the Martial God's relics.

With their backgrounds, they originally would never have been able to touch even a single hair of such things in their entire lives.

And now, all they had to do was join a gang?

Bai Zhantang sat in the spectator stands. Looking at the faces below rapidly shifting from righteous indignation to damn, this is too good to pass up, he almost burst out laughing.

"Brilliant, truly brilliant."

"This dog emperor really understands human nature."

Gu Han said indifferently, "First give them pressure, then give them candy."

"The pressure makes them afraid to retreat, and the candy makes them want to advance."

"Unable to retreat and wanting to advance, in the end, they can only deliver themselves right into his hands."

Xiao Chen looked at the stage expressionlessly.

He suddenly felt that this scene looked a bit familiar.

Thinking carefully—

Wasn't this the exact same method used to trick them into coming to the capital in the first place?

It was just that back then it was retail, and now it was wholesale.

On the high platform, seeing that the timing was about right, Wang Hao slowly delivered another blow.

"There is one more thing I almost forgot to mention."

"The Prodigy Gang will establish a contribution point system."

"Winning matches earns points; exposing evil faction spies earns points; handing in valuable secret information earns points; representing the Great Zhou in foreign wars earns points; even performing outstandingly in training and motivating comrades earns points."

"Points can be exchanged for all the resources I just mentioned."

"From now on, prodigies from humble backgrounds can stand on the same starting line as the disciples of sects and aristocratic families."

As soon as the last sentence came out, the pupils of all the humble independent cultivators in the audience quaked in unison.

The words same starting line might just be a common phrase to those prodigies born into aristocratic families and major sects.

But to those youths from humble backgrounds who had spent their whole lives suffocated by the weight of their origins—

It was simply divine music.

Some people's eyes even turned red on the spot.

A youth from the borderlands wearing worn-out martial attire clenched his fists, his knuckles trembling.

He had participated in countless martial arts tournaments, big and small, throughout his life.

Every time, he lost outside the rules.

Either his weapons were inferior, his pills were inferior, or the judges gave him a low score just by looking at him.

But now—

This dog emperor was actually telling him that as long as he was willing to fight, as long as he was willing to work hard, he could rely on points to exchange for things that disciples of aristocratic families had to spend mountains of gold and seas of silver to obtain.

How could it not go to his head?

Wang Hao swept his gaze across the high platform, taking in all of their expressions, his heart as calm as an ancient well.

Of course, he knew how ruthless this move was.

He wasn't giving the humble classes an opportunity.

He was using the humble classes as a blade to chip through the monopoly wall of the aristocratic families and major sects, inch by inch.

Once the prodigies from humble backgrounds tasted the sweetness of crossing social classes, there would be no going back.

And the vast majority of these people would, in an imperceptible way, become the cornerstones of the Great Zhou in the future.

"Alright."

Wang Hao waved his hand.

"Anyone who wishes to join the Prodigy Gang, starting today, proceed to the side door of the side hall to register in order. Wei Zhongxian will preside over the swearing-in ceremony."

"As for those who do not wish to join—"

His smile remained amiable.

"The south gate of the capital is open. Leave the city, I won't see you off."

A commotion broke out among the thousands of people below the stage.

However, very few actually lifted their feet to leave.

On the contrary, the registration area formed a line longer than the one for the initial auditions.

The white-clothed disciple who had been the first to voice his opposition stood in place, conflicted for a long time.

He turned to look at his fellow sect member, who gave a dry laugh. "Senior Brother, we really have to join. How will I explain it to Master when we go back if we don't?"

He looked ahead again—

The words guidance from designated experts in the Core Seed section sparkled in the sun.

What their Eastern Ridge Qingxu Sect lacked the most was guidance from experts.

He gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and silently turned to join the line.

While waiting in line, he consoled himself in his heart: I am not joining a gang, I am just... accepting a temporary academic exchange.

There was no shortage of people with similar mindsets in the line.

Everyone was using various reasons to comfort themselves that this was not seeking refuge, not submitting, and certainly not selling themselves out.

This was merely—

Joining a temporary, voluntary youth alliance centered around academic exchange and martial arts sparring.

Bai Zhantang smiled so widely his eyes nearly narrowed into slits. "The most deceptive words in this world have always been the most high-sounding ones."

By the side hall, the swearing-in ceremony had already begun.

Wei Zhongxian, wearing a special ceremonial robe, stood before a newly set up sandalwood incense altar, his voice high-pitched and solemn.

"Everyone, raise your right hands."

"Repeat after me—"

"I, state your name, am willing to join the Prodigy Gang, to make friends through martial arts, to take the Dao as my heart, and under the great cause of suppressing demons, to be comrades in arms, helping and supporting one another."

"Should I go against my heart, I am willing to—"

"Be removed from the Prodigy Roll, banned from entering the capital, and never be able to turn my life around for a hundred years."

After the prodigies below the stage finished repeating it, they only felt a thin layer of sweat on their backs.

The flavor of this ceremony was feeling increasingly off.

But ironically, every single one of them obediently finished reciting it.

Because—

The moment they finished reciting it, they officially received that small bronze plaque engraved with four characters:

Prodigy Gang Membership.

With this plaque, they were official tournament candidates with complete admission tickets, prodigies recognized by the imperial court, and legal entities within this entire system.

Without this plaque, they were nothing.

Ye Guyun stood at the end of the line, his expression ugly.

He hated gangs more than anything in his life.

Having cultivated his sword on Solitary Cloud Mountain for ten years, what his sword intent sought was never to blend in with the crowd, but to walk alone.

Not only did he become a temporary worker for the Great Zhou, but now he had also become a gang member. He was sinking deeper and deeper into the underworld. A temporary worker was at least part of the system, but now he had practically joined the mafia.

I, Ye Guyun—

He read a few words, stopped, gritted his teeth, and read again.

Am willing to join the Heaven's Pride Gang...

The moment he finished reciting, he felt as if his sword was crying.

However, when Wei Zhongxian handed him the Core Seed Reserve Member token, accompanied by a single sentence—

Young Master Ye, the points you have accumulated are enough to observe the original piece of that broken blade which has been lost for a hundred years.

Ye Guyun's hand holding the token trembled slightly.

He fell silent for a breath.

Then, he tucked the token into his robes.

...There is no need to spread word of this.

Wei Zhongxian was all smiles. Rest assured, Young Master. My lips have always been sealed.

Sealed, my ass.

That very night, the anecdote about the Sword Fanatic Ye Guyun obediently joining the Heaven's Pride Gang just to observe a broken blade had already spread throughout the taverns of the capital.

At night, in the side hall of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Wang Hao leaned against the couch, flipping through the gang's membership roster while sipping ginseng soup brewed personally by Wei Zhongxian.

How many people in total?

Wei Zhongxian bowed and replied, As of midnight, the number of people who have joined the gang is two thousand, three hundred and seventy-four.

Among them, there are over eighteen hundred peripheral members, over three hundred official members, about a hundred core seeds, and the Demon Suppression Special Envoy position is temporarily vacant.

The remaining ten percent or so are either still hesitating or have already left the capital.

Wang Hao grunted in acknowledgment and closed the roster.

Not bad.

For those who left the capital, write down their names. Do not make things difficult for them, but do not give them a good attitude either.

If they ever need anything from the Great Zhou in the future, raise the price by thirty percent.

Wei Zhongxian grinned. This old servant understands.

Wang Hao gently tapped his fingers against the edge of the couch.

Over two thousand three hundred people.

For a gang, this number was already an astonishing scale.

And this was only the first batch.

Once the rankings were released later and the Martial Arts Tournament began, the people of the world would all see this stairway to heaven.

In the coming years, the scale of the Heaven's Pride Gang would only continue to grow.

So large that no one could bypass it.

So large that the entire younger generation of the Eastern Wasteland would default to the belief that—

If you had talent, you should be in the Heaven's Pride Gang.

If you were not in the Heaven's Pride Gang, either you were not qualified enough, or you were opposing the Great Zhou.

And this was what Wang Hao truly wanted.

The hall doors opened with a soft sound, and Ren Mingyue walked in.

She held a thin roll of paper in her hands.

Your Majesty, these are a few additional gang rules that your subject has drafted.

Wang Hao took it, flipped it open for a glance, and suddenly laughed.

No forming factions within the gang, no private transmission of skills, no forcefully seizing others' resources under the name of the gang...

Every single rule steps right on the greatest taboos of the sects.

Mingyue, you are taking the management experience of the great clans and major sects and moving them into the Heaven's Pride Gang one by one for me.

Ren Mingyue lowered her eyes.

If a gang is to last, it must have rules. Without rules, it will either disband or fall into chaos.

What Your Majesty wants is a blade, not a pile of firewood.

Wang Hao looked at her, his gaze deepening.

Mingyue is indeed Mingyue.

Ren Mingyue did not reply, only bowing slightly.

She herself knew very well.

From the moment she put pen to paper to write the first gang rule, she was no longer just the young miss of the Ren family.

She was now a person standing on this chessboard, moving the pieces on behalf of Wang Hao.

Wang Hao said no more, simply tucking the roll of paper into his sleeve.

Then he raised his eyes to look at the night sky outside the hall.

The moonlight was not considered bright; the trace of blood color in the direction of the Crimson Moon faintly revealed an eerie red.

He suddenly spoke.

Wei Zhongxian.

This old servant is here.

Tomorrow morning, release the rankings.

Wei Zhongxian was stunned. Your Majesty, the Martial Arts Tournament has not yet begun. To release the rankings at this time—

Wang Hao chuckled softly.

I am not releasing the official rankings.

I am releasing—

The draft rankings.

The first edition draft of the Heaven's Pride Rankings.

Let them muddy the waters for me themselves first.

Wei Zhongxian suddenly understood, and then he also started laughing.

In that smile was a kind of awe that only someone who had served Wang Hao for so long would understand.

His Majesty was about to start tormenting people again.

The next morning, in the capital.

Before the first ray of sunlight had fully climbed over the eaves of Vermilion Bird Street, a massive ranking list had already been posted on the giant vermilion wall outside the Great Zhou Martial Arena.

A densely packed crowd had already gathered in front of the wall.

Everyone was eagerly waiting.

The moment the ranking list was unfurled—

The entire capital exploded.