Seeing the crowd erupt into noisy debates, Aotian’s avatars remained calm.

Aotian had already received word of these rumors through the contacts he’d begun establishing—such as black markets and information pavilions—but there wasn’t much he could do to prove anything besides showing the disciples alive and well.

That’s why he brought everyone along on this journey: as proof and also as a means of attracting more disciples.

He had even considered going directly to mortal cities in search of talent among them, but at the moment, he had few avatars and couldn’t afford to spare that much manpower.

Another alternative he considered was outsourcing the task and paying some power to locate talented mortals on his behalf. However, he feared how ruthless those powers might be toward mortals in pursuit of talents, all for potential benefits the sect could offer. On top of that, they might keep the best talents for themselves. So, to avoid confusion, bloodshed among mortals, and being swindled, he decided not to pursue that path.

Besides, it didn’t make sense to take such action right now. The sect was still in a growth phase, and there was a limit to how many disciples it could accept without causing chaos and internal management issues.

But as the sect grew, those recruitment missions among mortals could be delegated to the disciples themselves, allowing the sect to grow steadily without needing Aotian’s direct involvement.

Back to the present, Aotian allowed the debates to go on a bit longer to strengthen the sect’s credibility and weaken the malicious rumors. Then, just as things were on the verge of getting out of hand, he used Lie Zheng to release a powerful, terrifying aura, instantly silencing the entire crowd and drawing their startled gazes toward the center of the plaza.

Lie Zheng took a step forward, hands behind his back, and his aura gradually faded until the only threatening aspects about him were his fierce scar, narrow eyes, stern expression, and the lingering memory of his majestic presence in the minds of the crowd.

“I am Lie Zheng, Inner Elder of the Infinite Dao Sect. Before we begin the recruitment, I want to speak about the malicious rumors that have begun to spread throughout this region. Let it be known — my sect walks the righteous path, and we hold no quarter for evil. We do not force anyone to join our sect, but an opportunity beyond your imagination is standing right in front of you. If you can’t even accept it—being either too cowardly to take the risk or too foolish to stop believing baseless rumors—you’d best give up cultivation altogether.”

Lie Zheng spoke slowly, projecting an invisible and terrible pressure over the crowd, using only his words.

His speech, although harsh, was oddly fitting for the crowd of cultivators, who, upon hearing the word ‘opportunity,’ became like moths drawn to a flame.

“The recruitment rules are the same as last time, and the recruitment will last for two days. Any high-quality root or better is eligible. Good character is required, so you must answer a question before joining.”

“Lastly, just like last time, if you lack good character, you will simply be rejected. Those with terrible sins on their hands—and who are content with themselves—will be killed without hesitation. I recommend everyone weigh your talents and character so you don’t waste our time. Otherwise, punitive measures will be taken.”

Lie Zheng finished plainly.

But to the people in the crowd, his words were anything but plain.

The entire plaza fell into a deadly silence, and even a needle falling to the ground could have been heard.

As his narrow eyes swept through the crowd—who flinched wherever his gaze landed—and seeing no further doubts, he gave the command:

“Begin.”

…

At the same time, among the crowd, listening to everything, was Shen He — while his master remained hidden within the necklace.

Shen He, seeing how fierce and majestic that elder was, couldn’t help but speak to his master with some caution.

‘Master… is that the Soul Formation cultivator you mentioned? He seems so scary… are you sure you could defeat him?’ he asked mentally, looking worried.

Aside from his master, he had never felt such a powerful and terrifying aura before. From his master, he had only ever sensed a majestic presence, not spiritual pressure like the one Lie Zheng used to silence the crowd. That’s why he was uncertain.

“Idiot!” the master in the necklace snapped, a bit annoyed.

“You’re comparing your master to a mere Golden Core cultivator! The Soul Formation cultivator I mentioned isn’t him—it’s one currently hiding in the sky,” he scolded, irritated, but quickly pushed that aside and looked seriously toward the cultivator camouflaged in the air. But with his high cultivation level, such a simple concealment method wouldn’t fool him.

In the sky, Bao Wuji was looking directly at Shen He, not even bothering to hide much. His eyes scanned the boy’s body in search of the artifact.

He had already determined that Shen He was just a young man, probably under twenty. He also sensed that his cultivation was only at the 2nd level of Qi Refinement. So, the fatal danger didn’t come from him, but solely from the artifact.

Looking over his body, he saw a storage pouch at his waist, common robes, and a plain-looking necklace peeking from his collar.

‘The storage pouch seems low-quality and probably can’t hold such a powerful treasure. There’s no storage ring on his finger. His robes and necklace look ordinary… so unless he’s hiding a ring or treasure somewhere else, it’s got to be the robes or the necklace… hmm… I’m not sure, but maybe it’s the necklace?’

Aotian pondered seriously as Bao Wuji’s gaze locked onto the necklace.

He wasn’t trying to be discreet, because, first, the mission said the recruitment would be safe; second, he didn’t know there was an old monster inside the necklace watching him back.

‘But how can he wield the power of such an artifact with such a low cultivation level? Could it be something like a bomb, that activates and explodes with internal energy, which is why the danger level is fatal? Or maybe high-level artifacts aren’t so dependent on the user’s cultivation to activate their power? That would make sense… or maybe not?’

The more he thought, the more theories formed.

‘An artifact that summons a demonic god from another dimension? A transponder that communicates with the central continent? A scroll to summon an ancestor? A reincarnated immortal with their artifact? A grandfather in the ring? But he doesn’t have a ring…’ More and more theories poured into Aotian’s mind, but he had no idea what it could be.

For now, what he thought most prudent was simply to complete the recruitment and leave that boy behind. When he was more powerful, he could search him out and uncover the truth… when the mission’s danger level was no longer fatal, at least.

Meanwhile, inside the necklace, the old man saw the man in the sky looking directly at the necklace where he was hidden.

‘He saw me?! How is that possible?! Even I couldn’t see through this mysterious necklace! What’s wrong with this sect?!’

The old man began to grow a bit anxious, unable to understand how a Soul Formation cultivator could find him.

‘Master, did you find anything out?’

Shen He’s voice sounded in his mind.

“Stay alert, they’ve found us. Don’t be afraid, I still have enough strength to get us out of here if anything happens.”

The old man reassured the youth and remained focused on Bao Wuji, who still hadn’t looked away from Shen He’s body for a single second.

Shen He began to sweat coldly upon hearing his master’s words, but still struggled to stay calm and not show any outward signs of his fear.

‘Master, you said the opponent’s cultivation is in the Soul Formation realm and that you can handle his power, but what about the other cultivators they brought?’

The youth asked, a bit anxious and preparing for a potential battle.

“The cultivation of the others?”

Shen He’s question pulled the old man out of his focus, and he quickly investigated, releasing his intent again from within the necklace, since he had been found out anyway.

What he didn’t know was that, in truth, he hadn’t been found at all, and even as he sent out his energy, he remained anonymous—because his energy was of a superior level, and not even Bao Wuji could sense it unless it was explicitly revealed.

“This… is strange.”

The old man looked somewhat surprised after probing.

‘What is it, master?’ the boy asked anxiously.

“The cultivation of 10 of them, including the leader, the boy who introduced himself as Lie Zheng, appears to be at the 3rd level of the Golden Core realm. And the man in Soul Formation is also at the 3rd level. As for the 25 men in red robes, who must be the outer elders, their cultivation is more normal and varies a lot, but the aura of some of them seems a bit unstable.”

The more the old man analyzed, the stranger everything seemed.

‘What does that mean, master? Are their auras weak because they’re using demonic techniques?’

Shen He asked, somewhat convinced that something was wrong with that sect.

“I don’t know… but it doesn’t look like that. The auras of the disciples and the supposed inner elders in purple robes seem solid and stable. It’s only the cultivators in red—presumably the outer elders—whose auras seem off. But that’s not the strangest part. The oddest thing is the uniformity of the auras in the 3rd level among the purple-robed cultivators and the Soul Formation cultivator. It could be some kind of unknown taboo technique that masks their real cultivation as the 3rd level, even from me, or they’ve somehow locked their realms at the 3rd level and haven’t cultivated further.”

The old man narrowed his eyes, trying to find an explanation for the phenomenon.

‘How strange!’

Shen He finally understood why his master had said it was odd.

‘But… what is a taboo technique?’

…

While the old man explained things to Shen He, Aotian was observing the crowd.

Over the past month, Aotian had come up with an incredible idea.

He figured that, since his avatars had their cultivation bases synced with his—and on top of that, their foundations and realm perfection were also synced—he came to a conclusion:

“Why not force the realm of my outer elders using pills and push their cultivation up by force, since when I reach their level, the base will correct itself anyway? That way, I can have stronger elders, gain more experience in different cultivation paths, and learn to use pills… Besides, I can let half of the elders cultivate normally, which is more than enough to help me perfect my path. With the rest, I can experiment.”

And with that idea, he didn’t hesitate to divide his avatars into two paths.

Twenty-five of them continued cultivating normally, trying to step ahead of him and blaze a trail forward, while the other twenty-five used pills along with the synthesized Foundation Establishment technique to maximize their cultivation.

In this way, within a short month, he created elders with extremely unstable foundations but with advanced cultivation realms.

It was so effective that some even reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment solely with pills, rapidly digested through the synthesized technique.

Their foundations were considered weak, but in truth, they weren’t entirely lacking—supported by high-grade pills and synthesized techniques, they had managed to stabilize their base. With the synthesized spells in hand, they were anything but powerless—in fact, they were remarkably strong.

And these 25 were the ones who came on the expedition, while those who were cultivating normally stayed in the sect in seclusion.

By pure chance, this ended up adding another layer of confusion for the old man in the necklace, who could perceive the cultivation bases of the avatars but couldn’t understand the instability.

While Aotian was lost in thought, the people in the crowd began slowly approaching the elders.

The recruitment had officially begun.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep