Wen Yue Jun

With this in mind, Sun Yigao spoke up to Lin Xiao:

“By the way, Brother Xiao, I’m thinking of recruiting some new teachers for the academy recently.”

At the start of this year, even more people had come to the academy inquiring about enrollment than the year before, and this time, many of the prospective students’ elders were different from those of last year’s students—they had no issue at all with the academy having boys and girls study together. Or rather, any slight reservation they might have had was rendered completely insignificant against the backdrop of the Lingxian Sect.

And those families that were already well-off and would normally hire private tutors for their daughters, upon learning that the academy opened by Immortal Sun at the foot of Lingxian Mountain actually accepted female disciples as well, had come looking one after another, hoping their daughters could study there.

Moreover, it wasn’t just outside students. Living conditions for every household in Xioushui Village had improved considerably, so seeing those village kids happily carrying their little book satchels to school every day while their own children of the same age were either helping with chores at home or out causing mischief, many parents felt a stir of longing.

They flocked to the village head’s door, asking him to help inquire whether the academy would be taking in more students.

Faced with so many aspiring learners, Sun Yigao knew his own capabilities were limited—he couldn’t possibly handle such a large number of students alone. But he also genuinely hoped that the village children, as well as more children who ordinarily couldn’t receive a proper education, could study well. And so the idea of recruiting more teachers and expanding the academy took root in his mind.

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiao naturally approved wholeheartedly.

“That’s great. If you’re worried it’s hard to tell a teacher’s character just by looking, you can simply have them take a walk on the Heart-Questioning Path.”

Although the purpose of their sect’s Heart-Questioning Path was to test and filter the character of its disciples, there was no reason it couldn’t be used to select teachers for the academy as well.

That way, with Sun Yigao overseeing academic merit and the Heart-Questioning Path screening for character, what was there to worry about in finding good teachers?

As it turned out, there was still plenty to worry about.

The next day, the moment word spread that the Lingxian Sect’s academy needed to recruit teachers, Xioushui Village experienced yet another surge of incoming crowds.

Although the salary the academy offered was roughly the same as that of city academies—one teacher’s monthly wages being ten taels of silver—

the sheer popularity of the Lingxian Sect in Hufang Province was too magnetic to resist.

If Liu Yunan hadn’t set up a temporary recruitment station in advance midway between North Mountain and the village passage, the academy’s very doorstep would likely have been trampled under the crowd.

Fortunately, the village head had held a meeting with the villagers some time ago, urging everyone to repeatedly caution tourists not to get too close and disturb the immortals.

Now, faced with this fresh surge of people, the villagers voluntarily went out to advise the tourists and prospective teachers alike, telling them to stay calm and not disturb the immortals’ cultivation.

Word spread from mouth to mouth, and thanks to the villagers’ and some veteran tourists’ efforts, the newcomers were kept from getting too rowdy and excited.

Those who came to apply waited in orderly lines for their interviews one by one, while onlookers tried their best to keep quiet as they watched from the sidelines.

But even with such a massive number of applicants, finding a few who could pass the deliberately heightened difficulty of the Heart-Questioning Path was no easy feat.

The main reason was that most of those who came were disappointed imperial examination candidates hoping to latch onto the immortals’ coattails.

They barely had any real learning in their bellies—many of them couldn’t even pass the cultural interview.

And those who did manage to pass the cultural interview mostly hit a wall at the Heart-Questioning Path.

Forget staying inside for several days—many were ejected within less than half an hour of entering.

Speaking of which, one had to mention how considerate the Heart-Questioning Path was.

It seemed to tailor its trials differently for each person.

For ordinary mortals, whether they passed or failed, they would almost always come out within two to three days at the most.

Cultivators, on the other hand, would have a longer time limit depending on their cultivation level.

This prevented the unfortunate scenario of mortals being trapped inside for too long and starving to death.

By midday, the academy had only managed to recruit one qualified teacher.

This teacher was a juren (provincial graduate) who had recently moved to Xioushui Village to settle down. Surnamed Pei, he was over fifty years old and had originally planned to retire there in peaceful old age. When he learned of the academy’s recruitment news, his heart stirred and he came to apply.

Master Pei’s family was quite wealthy, and he was deeply read in the classics, well-known within the literary circles of Hufang Province. He fully deserved the title of “erudite.” His holding only the rank of juren was not because he wasn’t capable of advancing further, but because he had simply chosen not to continue taking the exams.

He hadn’t applied for the salary—he came because he genuinely admired Sun Yigao, this fine young man.

He had interacted with some of the academy’s students, and the feeling they gave him was quite different from the students churned out by most other academies outside. This made him deeply curious about Sun Yigao as a teacher.

It wasn’t until the afternoon that the Lingxian Sect’s recruitment station finally welcomed a second candidate who might stand a chance of passing the Heart-Questioning Path.

This man was named Wen Yuejun.

He was the youngest son of Wen Keming, the county magistrate of Anqun County.

Last year, when the Heart-Questioning Path had first been established, he was among the first batch of mortals who accidentally wandered in.

He was also one of the few among those accidental mortals who managed to walk out on his own, rather than being expelled by the path.

Since that incredibly realistic dream-like experience, Wen Yuejun had felt deep reverence for the Lingxian Sect, and a profound longing as well.

He had been following the Lingxian Sect’s developments closely, and he often came to stroll around Xioushui Village. This morning, the moment he learned of the recruitment notice, he immediately bathed and changed into fresh clothes, and even took some time to review the lessons he had been quietly studying all along. Only then, nervous and full of anticipation, did he head over to the interview.

Wen Yuejun was now seventeen, and had passed the county-level examination in the same year as Sun Yigao, earning the title of xiucai. However, his ancestral home wasn’t in Hufang Province, so he had taken the exam there in his hometown.

After last year’s examination, when he learned that his son had passed the xiucai test but with only an average ranking, Wen Keming wasn’t satisfied. He told Wen Yuejun to pack his things and come over so that he could personally educate him.

At the time, Wen Yuejun had been very reluctant to go, because he didn’t have a very good relationship with his father—or rather, he was the one who unilaterally disliked his father.

This had come about because, as he grew up, he realized that his father was overly calculating and quite obsessed with officialdom.

To climb the ranks, his father would lavish gifts on others and flatter them without any hesitation. Wen Yuejun inwardly looked down on such behavior.

But unfortunately, this was his father.

At home, he had argued with his father about this many times and thrown many fits, but every time, his father simply dismissed him as a child who knew nothing and ignored him.

That was why he had been so unwilling to come in the first place.

Yet unexpectedly, he had encountered the Lingxian Sect and accidentally stumbled into the Heart-Questioning Path.

The first time he entered the path, he saw many things and learned many things.

Though he still couldn’t completely accept his father’s ways, he gained a bit more understanding of him, and came to appreciate that everyone in this world is different in their own way.

Afterwards, he wrote a letter to his old tutor back in his hometown, sharing his thoughts about his father. Later, at the tutor’s invitation, he returned home and had a long talk with him.