Official Start

At another table nearby, a woman wearing a veiled hat glanced at the bustling scene outside and reached up to pull the brim of her hat even lower.

She took a sip of tea and muttered softly,

“Hmph. I’m coming. Just you wait…”

Today was destined to become a day that many people in Clear Water Village would never forget.

As the morning sun began to shine brightly, Liu Yunan, Sun Yigao, Qin Jianghe, and the others appeared before the Heart-Questioning Road and announced to everyone that Lingxian Sect’s recruitment drive had officially begun!

The people gathered at the foot of North Mountain rubbed their fists and eagerly awaited their turn. As long as they could successfully pass along the breathtaking Peach Blossom Mountain Road behind the group—a road surrounded by beautiful scenery and steeped in legend—they would truly be able to join Lingxian Sect, become disciples under an immortal’s tutelage, and set foot upon a path they had never even known existed!

“Because there are so many people here today, please do not push or crowd one another. Rest assured, we guarantee that everyone will be able to enter the Heart-Questioning Road and undergo the assessment smoothly. All right, enough with the formalities. Lingxian Sect’s entrance examination officially begins now!”

“We’ll be waiting for you at the end of the Heart-Questioning Road.”

Liu Yunan’s voice carried throughout every corner of Clear Water Village.

At his words, the crowd, which had still been somewhat disorderly moments before, immediately settled down.

After Liu Yunan and the others left, the seal on the Heart-Questioning Road was officially lifted, and those determined to join Lingxian Sect proceeded inside in an orderly fashion.

Once they returned to the sect, Liu Yunan and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief. They relaxed beneath the Ten-Mile Peach Blossom Trees.

“Whew, we’ve finally made it this far!” Liu Yunan tilted his head back slightly and let out a long breath as he gazed at the clear sky.

Qin Jianghe smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

“We’ve really worked Hall Master Liu to the bone lately. You’ve done well.”

Sun Yigao nodded with a smile.

“Indeed. You’ve worked hard. Over the next few days, get some proper rest. We’ll keep an eye on things along the Heart-Questioning Road.”

“That’s right. Leave the next few days to us. Go take a break,” Qin Jianghe said.

“Ah, I’ve been waiting for you two to say that!” With that, Liu Yunan sprang to his feet.

“I’ll leave everything here to you! I’m off!”

“Go on, go on.”

However, Liu Yunan had not gone far when the identity token at his waist lit up.

He slowed down and picked it up. Seeing that something was happening in the Main Control Room, he frowned.

“Strange. Aren’t Brother Xiao and I the only ones with permission to enter the Main Control Room? Could Brother Xiao have come out of seclusion?”

He muttered to himself as he continued walking. His original destination had been the Affairs Hall, but he immediately changed direction and headed toward the Yaoguang Floating Island.

Before entering seclusion, Lin Xiao had made preparations in case he failed to emerge before the recruitment drive and some problem arose that could not be dealt with in time. He had transferred part of the system’s main control authority to the newly built Main Control Room on Yaoguang Floating Island. He had also granted Liu Yunan independent operating privileges, giving the person chiefly responsible for recruitment the authority to act decisively when necessary.

When Liu Yunan arrived outside the Main Control Room, he saw that the doors were tightly shut. It did not look as though anyone was inside.

Puzzled, he used his identity token to open the door and walked in.

The moment he stepped inside, rows of text appeared on the white jade control console.

[Detection: Three-quarters of the Heart-Questioning Road’s current capacity has been occupied, and the remaining capacity is continuing to decrease. The Heart-Questioning Road is about to reach its usage limit. Would you like to upgrade the Heart-Questioning Road? Reminder: Each level gained by the Heart-Questioning Road will increase its capacity by one thousand people. The upgrade will not affect entry or exit.]

Below it were two options: [Yes] and [No].

Because the system had detected that its host, Lin Xiao, was currently in seclusion, it had sent the upgrade notification directly to the Main Control Room he had designated.

Looking at the message on the control console, Liu Yunan thought of the densely packed crowds at the foot of the mountain in Clear Water Village. He also remembered Brother Xiao telling him to make all decisions himself, act boldly, and not hesitate or worry too much.

Without a second thought, he selected [Yes].

[This upgrade will consume one thousand ordinary spirit stones from the sect’s spirit-stone mine. Confirm upgrade?]

Seeing the number of spirit stones required, Liu Yunan let out a breath of relief.

A thousand spirit stones. That was still manageable. Even if something went wrong, his salary should be enough to cover it.

He continued and selected [Yes].

In the blink of an eye, the text on the control console changed to:

[Heart-Questioning Road upgrade complete.]

After that, the control console fell silent.

Seeing this, Liu Yunan prepared to return to the Affairs Hall to deal with the remaining work.

However, just as he had left the Main Control Room and stepped into the entrance of the Affairs Hall, his identity token lit up again.

It was the Main Control Room once more.

With no choice, he turned around and went back.

Once again, he saw the same message appear on the control console—one he had only just seen moments before.

[Detection: Three-quarters of the Heart-Questioning Road’s current capacity has been occupied, and the remaining capacity is continuing to decrease. The Heart-Questioning Road is about to reach its usage limit. Would you like to upgrade the Heart-Questioning Road?]

…

A thousand people had filled the capacity that quickly? So many people wanted to join their sect that it was almost enough to make him feel proud.

Naturally, Liu Yunan selected [Yes] again.

[This upgrade will consume one thousand five hundred ordinary spirit stones from the sect’s spirit-stone mine. Confirm upgrade?]

He noticed that the number of spirit stones required was no longer one thousand, but one thousand five hundred.

After thinking it over, he decided that an extra five hundred was still acceptable. His savings could cover it, so he continued with the upgrade.

[Heart-Questioning Road upgrade complete.]

This time, Liu Yunan did not leave. Instead, he waited beside the console.

Sure enough, it was not long before another upgrade notification appeared.

He selected [Yes] again.

As expected, the spirit-stone cost for this upgrade had increased by another five hundred, reaching two thousand.

As his hand touched [Yes], he thought to himself: It’s fine. Jianghe’s savings should be enough to help cover the shortfall. After all, aside from cultivation, they had nowhere else to spend their spirit stones.

And so, he repeatedly selected [Yes], losing track of how many times he had done so. In his mind, he had already begun adding the salaries and savings of Lin Xiao, Jiang Youfu, Sun Yigao, and all their other brothers to a hypothetical fund for “covering the shortfall if something goes wrong.”

At last, the control console stopped displaying new notifications for a long, long time.

Only then did he let out a sigh of relief.

It was finally over. If it had continued any longer, the salaries they had saved over the years would not have been enough.

The cost of each upgrade increased by another five hundred spirit stones based on the previous amount. Even though they had earned quite a lot over the past few years because they worked often, they still could not withstand that kind of snowballing expense.

Fortunately, the recruitment drive would last only a single day. No matter what, there was a limit to how many people could arrive to take part today.

Once he was certain it was safe to leave, Liu Yunan departed the Main Control Room and returned to the Affairs Hall to finish his remaining work.