“Yes.” Zhou Yan smiled and nodded at the two children, saying, “The place you are in is the Third Peak among the Six Peaks of the Purple Cloud Sect's Outer Sect. From now on, you will eat, sleep, Cultivate, and perform Sect tasks on this mountain.”
“Now, let’s assign your residences.”
“Wang Li, Room 23.”
“Chen Qingquan, Room 24.”
… …
“Wang Pan, Room 88.”
… …
After Zhou Yan finished assigning rooms to the Disciples, he then took them to see the cafeteria, restrooms, Mission Hall, and Miscellaneous Hall.
The Mission Hall is where tasks are received, assigned, and managed, while the Miscellaneous Hall is where supplies are collected and distributed.
Seeing the cafeteria and restrooms was nothing special. But when they arrived at the Mission Hall, a small old man with a half-white beard smiled and cupped his hands towards Zhou Yan:
“Senior Brother Zhou, it’s been a few years, and your cultivation has become even more refined.”
He looked much older than Zhou Yan, yet he still called him Senior Brother, which Wang Pan found curious.
“Daoist Wugu?” Zhou Yan returned the bow and asked, “Why aren’t you staying at your Wugu Temple, and instead running to our Purple Cloud Sect?”
Daoist Wugu smiled broadly and said, “I came to see if there were any tasks I could do. I heard that the Purple Cloud Sect is widely recruiting Disciples, so I also came to see if there were any that the Purple Cloud Sect didn’t want, so I could take them back and train them.”
Zhou Yan suddenly understood and then said, “Daoist, this year is different from before. Grandmaster has instructed that this time, all Disciples who are found to have a Spiritual Root will be accepted by the Purple Cloud Sect, no exceptions.”
“No exceptions?” Daoist Wugu was startled and said, “It wasn’t like this before.”
Zhou Yan said, “Daoist, Red Moon Demonic Infusion just passed a few years ago. This time, our Purple Cloud Sect was the main force in the battle against the Demonic Path’s invasion. The Disciples fought bravely and did not fear sacrifice. You should understand what I mean, right?”
“Red Moon Demonic Infusion, main force…” Daoist Wugu murmured for a few seconds, then sighed and said, “I understand. It seems I will return empty-handed this time.”
Zhou Yan said, “No need to see you out.”
Daoist Wugu originally wanted to exchange a few more pleasantries, but seeing Zhou Yan rushing him, he could only smile awkwardly and leave the Mission Hall.
Outside the hall, there was also a young Daoist dressed like Daoist Wugu standing and waiting. As soon as Daoist Wugu came out, the young Daoist asked, “Master, did you not recruit any Disciples?”
Daoist Wugu shook his head and said, “Let’s talk on the way.”
The two set off on their Flying Swords, and after leaving the Purple Cloud Sect’s School Resident range, Daoist Wugu finally spoke:
“It seems that the Purple Cloud Sect suffered heavy losses in resisting the Demonic Path’s invasion during the Red Moon Demonic Infusion three years ago.”
The young Daoist asked, “Master, what is the Red Moon Demonic Infusion you mentioned?”
Daoist Wugu said, “In this world, there is the Righteous Path, the Demonic Path, the Ghost Path, and the Demonic Path. Among them, the Righteous Path and the Demonic Path are the most incompatible.”
“And Red Moon Demonic Infusion is a celestial phenomenon that occurs once every hundred years. During Red Moon Demonic Infusion, the Demonic Path greatly strengthens, and all Demonic Path Cultivators will experience a significant increase in strength.”
“They will also take this opportunity to launch a large-scale invasion of the Righteous Path.”
“The Righteous Path naturally has to resist. Led by the Six Main Sects of the Righteous Path, they formed the Righteous Alliance to fight against the Demonic Path.”
“Although the Purple Cloud Sect is not one of the Six Main Sects of the Righteous Path, it is one of the largest Schools under the Six Main Sects. During the last Red Moon Demonic Infusion, it was assigned as the main force for frontal resistance.”
“The frontal resistance battles are the most tragic, and naturally, more Disciples are sacrificed.”
“I had already sensed this before; the Purple Cloud Sect’s Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators are probably less than one in ten now.”
“With so many Disciples dead, they naturally want to replenish their numbers. They never searched for Disciples with Spiritual Roots on such a large scale before, even searching through small villages.”
“In previous years, for the Disciples with Spiritual Roots that were found, our small Schools and Loose Cultivators could pick up some of the miscellaneous Spiritual Root Disciples they didn’t want. This time, they aren’t giving away a single one, which shows how many Disciples they lost.”
“Alas, what’s so good about being a Disciple of a large Sect? Although there are many resources and a powerful backing, the responsibility for the Righteous Path is also great.”
“In the next hundred years, they will probably be another batch of cannon fodder.”
“And our small Schools and Loose Cultivators can hide.”
The young Daoist listened and nodded repeatedly, beginning to feel fortunate that he had chosen a small School like Wugu Temple.
He secretly decided in his heart that he would follow his Master to Cultivate from now on and not go to any large Schools.
Meanwhile, at the Purple Cloud Sect, Zhou Yan had already led a group of Outer Sect Disciples to the Miscellaneous Hall, where they each received a set of white clothes with purple patterns and their identity tokens.
Having changed into clean white clothes, looking the same as everyone else, Wang Pan couldn't have been happier.
There was also a small pouch called a Storage Pouch and a basic Qi Refining manual.
Although they still couldn't open the Storage Pouch, Zhou Yan had already told them that inside the Storage Pouch were a Zixia Flying Sword and five Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
As long as they could Cultivate a trace of magical power, they would be able to open the Storage Pouch and obtain the items inside.
This was a form of motivation for them.
Next, they were to go to the peak of the Third Peak to receive the Legacy.
This Legacy is taught through the power of Divine Sense directly, which is much faster than learning characters in a private School.
About five or six times of teaching can enable a person to learn most of the common Human Race characters and common knowledge, as well as general Cultivation knowledge.
However, this kind of teaching also consumes a treasure called a Divine Sense Crystal, and even a large School like the Purple Cloud Sect dare not consume too much.
Inner Sect Disciples can receive six free teachings, while Outer Sect Disciples only have one free opportunity. If they want more, they will have to earn it by doing tasks later.
Now, Zhou Yan was taking these Outer Sect Disciples for their one and only teaching session.
They only needed to stand on a Formation that glowed, place a diamond-shaped knowledge crystal on the Disciple’s forehead, and they could transmit this knowledge within half an hour.
The knowledge content was vast, and teaching it only once certainly wouldn't allow them to remember everything.
Wang Pan was naturally also taught. After the teaching was completed, he only felt dizzy, as if a large amount of knowledge had been crammed into his head.
He tried hard to recall these things, wanting to remember all the knowledge.
Afterward, they were taken back to the Disciple dormitory and dismissed. The Outer Sect Disciples’ introductory course was considered complete.
Wang Pan returned to his dormitory, still recalling the content of the knowledge transmission. He craved knowledge and wanted to remember all the characters and information.
He held a small wooden stick and kept drawing on the ground, trying to deepen his impression through writing.
Noisy sounds came from outside, interrupting Wang Pan’s thoughts. Wang Pan walked to the door and pressed his ear against the doorframe to listen.
“Hand over your Storage Pouch!”
“Why are you robbing me? No!”
Clanging and hitting sounds came through.
That person’s Storage Pouch was still snatched away.
“Hand over your Storage Pouch!” That person started robbing others again.
“I’ll give it, I’ll give it, don’t hit me.”
“Hand over your Storage Pouch…”
They robbed one after another, and soon it would be Wang Pan’s room.
Wang Pan’s eyes darted around, and he took out the Storage Pouch from his waist.
His door was quickly kicked open, and three tall children stood at the doorway.
By their appearance, they looked to be fifteen or sixteen years old, which was quite large for younger children.
“Big Brother, here’s my Storage Pouch.” Before the three could speak, Wang Pan offered his Storage Pouch with a flattering smile, holding it with both hands.
“Hmm, you’re quite sensible.” The leader nodded in satisfaction and said, “My name is Zhao Quan, what’s yours?”
“My name is Wang Pan.”
“Good, Wang Pan, I’ll cover for you from now on.” Zhao Quan patted Wang Pan’s shoulder and turned to leave.
Wang Pan watched them leave and breathed a sigh of relief.
A wise man submits to circumstances. He figured he definitely couldn't beat these three people, and his Storage Pouch would still be snatched in the end, so he might as well hand it over himself and avoid a beating.
This was a habit he had developed long ago from being bullied by his Uncle and Wang Shitou's Aunt in the village.
As for hiding in that cave, he didn’t want to expose it yet.
A wise man knows when to retreat; it’s important to admit defeat first and ensure his survival.
When he had a chance later, he would resist or scheme against them.
He ran to the room of the person who was first beaten, looked at the beaten child, and asked with concern, “Are you alright?”
“I hurt.” The child looked to be only eight or nine years old, with a bruise on his face from the beating, blood at the corner of his eye, and tears in his eyes.
“Come, I’ll wipe it for you.” Wang Pan took out a piece of rags, carefully wiped the child, and said, “This won’t do, you need medicine.”
“I’ll take you to Senior Brother Lu and let him apply medicine for you.”
“Okay.” The child sobbed and nodded.
Wang Pan helped the child out of the room. Seeing that Zhao Quan and the other two were gone, he helped the child downstairs and walked towards Senior Brother Lu’s room.
Lu Sancai, who was in charge of the dormitory area where Wang Pan was located, was an Qi Refinement Stage Outer Sect Disciple who had been there for over ten years. All these newly admitted children had to call him Senior Brother.
Wang Pan helped the child and knocked on Lu Sancai’s door:
“Senior Brother Lu.”
“Come in.”