Xiao Ling, still wrapped in her cloak, watched the rest of the evaluations with curiosity and caution.

By late afternoon, no one else stepped forward, and the recruitment was officially closed.

In total, nine people were recruited. Eight of them possessed high-level roots, while the first candidate, Xiao Ling, was the only one with a perfect root.

Of the remaining eight, five had five-element roots, while the other three had mixed roots—two with three elements and the last with two elements.

As expected, some people tried their luck despite knowing they didn’t meet the criteria, at least in the second part of the evaluation.

None of the unqualified participants were foolish enough to lie about something as obvious as the quality of their spiritual veins in front of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

However, there were those who, despite knowing their own dubious character, shamelessly tried to lie about being good people.

It didn’t take long for them to learn the hard way. One crippled and one dead were enough to make it clear that lying was not a wise choice.

Xiao Ling still remembered the last one to be executed, but she didn’t feel much pity.

The man had looked directly at the elder and declared loudly:

“I have never forced myself on anyone, nor have I ever harmed a single child!”

The moment he finished speaking, Lie Zheng’s fierce eyes turned icy.

Only one word left his mouth before his blade flashed in a clean, precise movement.

“Liar.”

The man’s head rolled to the ground.

Some time after the initial commotion and fear among the crowd, a few people recognized the dead man’s identity. Before being beheaded, his face had been hidden by his hood, but when his severed head was revealed, they recognized him as a notorious bandit of the region, with numerous crimes to his name.

The revelation only deepened the mystery surrounding the unknown elder and the enigmatic sect that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

“The gathering is over! A new recruitment call will occur in the near future. Be prepared.” Elder Lie announced, indifferent to the turmoil his actions had caused among the crowd.

Without offering further explanation, he turned to the newly recruited disciples.

“Let’s go. Our sect is temporarily established at the peak of this mountain.”

And without waiting for anyone, he started walking toward the mountaintop.

The newly recruited disciples exchanged glances.

Doubt and hesitation were evident in their eyes.

Everything seemed easy… perhaps too easy. But at the same time, there was a threatening weight in every detail.

A Golden Core sect appearing out of nowhere.

Accepting rogue cultivators.

Even accepting mixed roots.

And above all, none of them knew the sect’s name, nor the name of the Elder who had recruited them.

Xiao Ling, the first to be chosen and the most talented among them, hesitated for a moment.

But in the end, she decided to take a leap of faith.

With each passing day, her hopes had been dwindling, and this was her only chance. She had to take the gamble.

Seeing her move forward, the others found a pillar in their hearts and gathered some courage. One by one, they hesitantly followed, until soon, all of them were walking toward the mountaintop.

…

Perhaps it was this decision—this simple act of moving forward and accepting to become a disciple of the sect—that finally allowed them to be recognized by the system.

Aotian, in his main body, observed the floating screen that appeared before him and broke into a wide smile.

‘Apparently, those with unique roots have long since left to try their luck in other sects. Finding a girl with a perfect single-element root was truly a stroke of luck. But either way, my target has always been the despised mixed roots, so I’m not disappointed.’

He pondered, resting his hand on his chin.

At that moment, his main body was seated in the center of his room.

The bed was no longer there. Now, only the stone slab for meditation remained.

Since he became a cultivator, sleep was no longer a necessity.

Now, meditation completely replaced rest, making the bed obsolete.

Moreover, the bed’s softness and fragility made it susceptible to damage if energy leaks occurred during cultivation. Therefore, it no longer served any purpose.

Aotian’s eyes sparkled with excitement as he turned toward the panel that appeared in front of him.

Ding!

[Congratulations, Host! The Qi Refining-level mission has been completed!]

[The sect has been successfully established.]

[The sect can now be named.]

“Finally!” Aotian couldn’t help but smile.

The sect’s name, of course, had been decided long ago.

‘System, name the sect: Infinite Dao Sect (Wújí Dào Zōng)!’

This choice reflected his hope of mastering all Daos through his avatars.

The Dao, which means “path,” is the essence of all things. It reflects the existence of heaven and earth, tracing the paths for every creature and phenomenon. There are countless Daos, such as the Dao of the Sword, the Dao of the Five Elements, and many others. Anything could be understood as a Dao, as long as it was a path that could be followed.

Even cooking or other trivial activities could be considered a Dao, as they have a beginning and an end. Someone who walked the Dao of Cooking could, with dedication, become a great spiritual chef.

It is also said that there are three thousand Daos, but this number should not be taken literally. In reality, “three thousand” is a symbolic value, representing something vast and limitless. Similarly, expressions like “three thousand worlds” and “three thousand Daos” do not refer to an exact number. It’s not about a quantity, but about meaning.

‘System, show me my panel.’ Aotian ordered, eager to see the changes.

Ding!

[Host: Long Aotian

Cultivation: 2nd Level of Qi Refinement

Physique: Mortal

Qualifications: Low-Level Five-Element Spiritual Root (Low Qualification)]

[Infinite Dao Sect (Meaning: Wújí Dào)

Rank: 9 – Qi Refinement]

[Conditions to Become a Foundation Establishment Sect:

1 – Sect Leader at the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment

2 – Five Internal Elders at Qi Refinement Perfection

3 – Two Disciples with High Qualifications

4 – Five Disciples with Good Qualifications

5 – Train Two Disciples to the Mid-Stage of Qi Refinement

6 – Train Five Disciples to the 1st Level of Qi Refinement]

[You have avatars available for summoning. Would you like to summon them now?]

[[Yes] [No]]

Before Aotian could confirm, new messages appeared.

Ding!

[Congratulations, Host! The Foundation Establishment-level mission has been completed!]

‘Damn! I recruited several disciples with high qualifications who already had cultivation levels. That’s why the mission was completed instantly!’ Aotian was ecstatic.

‘System, open the sect panel,’ he ordered eagerly.

Ding!

[Infinite Dao Sect (Meaning: Wújí Dào)

Rank: 8 – Foundation Establishment]

[Conditions to Become a Golden Core Sect:

1 – Sect Leader at the Early Stage of Golden Core

2 – Five Internal Elders at the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment

3 – Ten External Elders at the Peak of Qi Refinement

4 – Five Internal Disciples with High Qualifications

5 – Twenty External Disciples with Good Qualifications

6 – Train Five Internal Disciples to the Peak of Qi Refinement

7 – Train Twenty External Disciples to the Mid-Stage of Qi Refinement]

[You have avatars available for summoning. Would you like to summon them now?]

[[Yes] [No]]

‘Damn! How many avatars are coming at once?!’

Aotian couldn’t stay still. His excitement was so great that he jumped to his feet.

‘System, summon the avatars!’ he ordered in his thoughts.

He had already manipulated the sect leader, the only one who could define this, to set the summoning point in a private room at the peak of Black Rock Mountain. That way, the avatars wouldn’t be summoned randomly across the world.

Ding!

[Summoning initiated!]

Suddenly, multiple new perspectives and thought processes emerged simultaneously in Aotian’s mind.

Thirteen in total.

Three new internal elders.

Ten new external elders.

The system summoned exactly the number of elders needed to complete the next stage of the sect’s mission.

Now, Aotian had a sect leader, five internal elders, and ten external elders.

Ding!

[Host, you now have ten external elders. External elders receive different position bonuses based on the internal elder to whom they are assigned.]

Aotian was surprised by the notification.

‘Looks like I get to decide the roles of the external elders… Let me check the statuses of the internal elders before making any decisions.’

Using the vision of his avatars, Aotian observed the newly summoned ones.

They were all men with distinct appearances, but their clothes were of poor quality—worn-out burlap robes, making them look more like refugees than powerful elders.

‘The system is so stingy! How can it provide such terrible clothing?!’

Feeling helpless, Aotian controlled Bao Hui to prepare proper robes for the new elders.

He then analyzed the new Foundation Establishment avatars.

[Name: Dān Hóng (Meaning: Crimson Pill)

Position: Elder of the Alchemy Pavilion

Cultivation: 2nd Level of Foundation Establishment (1 major realm above the Host)

Position Skill: Alchemical Derivation

Position Bonus: Pill Master (Pill quality increased by 2.5x)]

———————————–

[Name: Xuán Zhēn (Meaning: Profound Formation)

Position: Elder of the Formation Pavilion

Cultivation: 2nd Level of Foundation Establishment (1 major realm above the Host)

Position Skill: Formation Derivation

Position Bonus: Formation Master (Formations quality increased by 2.5x)]

———————————–

[Name: Tíng Zào (Meaning: The Master Who Creates)

Position: Elder of the Refining Pavilion

Cultivation: 2nd Level of Foundation Establishment (1 major realm above the Host)

Position Skill: Forging Design Derivation

Position Bonus: Master of Refining (Quality of forged items increased by 2.5x)]

Aotian was surprised, but not just because of the new elders and their positions. What truly caught his attention was the increase in the bonuses.

Curious, he checked the statuses of his older avatars.

[Name: Tiān Zhǔ (Meaning: Celestial Leader)

Position: Sect Leader

Cultivation: 2nd Level of Golden Core (2 major realms above the Host)

Position Skill: Exercise Derivation

Position Bonus: Combat Beyond the Frontier (Power increased from 2x → 3x)]

———————————–

[Name: Liè Zhèng (Meaning: Fierce and Just)

Position: Elder of the Punishment Pavilion

Cultivation: 2nd Level of Foundation Establishment (1 major realm above the Host)

Position Skill: Lie Detector

Position Bonus: Combat Beyond the Frontier (Power increased from 1.5x → 2.5x)]

———————————–

[Name: Bǎo Huì (Meaning: Treasure and Cunning)

Position: Elder of the Treasure Pavilion

Cultivation: 2nd Level of Foundation Establishment (1 major realm above the Host)

Position Skill: Treasure Identification

Position Bonus: Deceptive Voice (Persuasion power increased from 1.5x → 2.5x)]

‘So that’s how it works… every time the sect levels up, the bonus values increase by 0.5x. Since I leveled up twice in a row, the total increase was 1.0x.’

He nodded, satisfied.

‘Well, in any case, it’s not bad at all. And these three new elders have excellent positions. They will be a huge help!’

With that settled, Aotian took a deep breath and turned his attention to the next step.

‘Now, let’s decide the functions of the external elders and see what bonuses they will receive.’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep