"I changed the rules. Lowered the criteria. Made it easy for new disciples to join us. But some objected and doubted my decisions."
"To them, I replied that they are too short-sighted and close-minded."
"They were too short-sighted to see the real problem and too close-minded to judge the real value of the new Inner Court disciples."
"Thus, I made a few more chances, and those reforms focused on cultivating the new members of the World League."
"This is why, even after decreasing the criteria and increasing flux of new members, the quality of disciples didn't drop, but in fact, it increased. And thus, the World League reached even greater heights."
"So today, I shall invite you to participate in the League Recruitment and become part of the league which puts its members before itself."
"However, there are, of course, benefits for the top disciples. I will personally invite some disciples, and the World League will be appalled to have you guys on board on our mission to make the sect the Greatest Sect in the Lower Heavens!"
The disciples became excited after hearing his long speech, and this was the effect Jiang Yun wanted to have.
However, few disciples were still not impressed.
Like Ye Tian Yun.
And when he heard Jiang Yun saying that their mission was to lead the sect to become a peak power in the Lower Heavens, Ye Tian Yun could hardly suppress his urge to roll back his eyes.
'Which sect is this guy talking about because it's definitely not Gracious Sword Sect.'
On the other hand, disciples like Hou Xing, the previous top disciple who Xiao Ming defeated, had their blood boiled in excitement to become a part of the World League.
When someone grows under the shadow of another genius's brilliance, it tends to have only two outcomes.
Either they hate that genius, or they worship him.
And this is what had happened in Hou Xing's case, who had grown in the shadow of Jiang Yun's rise.
Hou Xing didn't idolize Jiang Yun for no reason. When he joined the sect, Jiang Yun had just become an Inner Court disciple; however, from then, his rise was unstoppable.
To his peers, Jiang Yun changed from a fellow disciple to a rival and then an untouchable existence.
Hou Xing, who had once determined himself to one day surpass Jiang Yun, now idolized him.
n n n n
…
On the Platform.
Jiang Yun kept himself silent for some moments to let the disciples calm down, and then he said, "The disciples whom I wish to grant direct entry to the World League are the top-ranked disciples of the Inner Court Entrance Hunt. However, I want all of you to know that if you aren't invited, the only reason there could be is that you haven't unleashed all of your potentials."
"Prove your worth in the Recruitment tests, and I shall invite you with all formality."
"Now, the disciples who I want to recruit first, who in my opinion are the disciples who would help me in my quest to raise the Sect from ashes and become a peak power, include Xiao Ming from the Ninth Peak."
"He astounded the whole sect with his outstanding performance in the Inner Court Entrance Hunt. It would be unfair if I don't invite him before anyone else."
Xiao Ming, sitting near the platform, stood up with a surprised expression. He wasn't expecting an invitation.
Meanwhile, seeing him stand, Jiang nodded and continued, "Nest, I will invite Hou Xing, who had the most terrific performance from the get-go. And now he's finally an Inner Court disciple with one of the most potentials of standing side by side with me, overlooking everyone else as one of the best Core disciples of the sect."
Hou Xing, who had been silent all this time, was surprised by this sudden invitation. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself and stood up.
Jiang Yun nodded his head at him in acknowledgment. Then, once again turning towards the new Inner Court disciples, he said, "I now want to invite Junior Sister Bai Qing'er from the Third and Fourth Peak, Mu Xing from the Fifth Peak, Zheng Xiang from the Seventh Peak, and Fang Chen from the Seventh Peak."
As these names rang throughout the hall, it created a bit of a commotion because now the best disciples among the newly promoted Inner Court disciples were invited by Jiang Yun to be a part of his World League.
And for the disciples in question, everyone was feeling different emotions.
The calmest of them was Bai Qing'er since she already knew what Jiang Yun would say as soon as his thoughts turned towards her after he had invited Hou Xing.
Beside her, Mu Xing had conflicted emotions. On the one hand, somewhere in his heart, he didn't wish to be a part of the Heavenly League, and now that Jiang Yun had personally invited him, he should jump the ship; on the other hand, he felt like there would only be more trouble for him if he joined the World League and his intuition told him that if he accepted the invitation, it would be no different from going from one prison to another.
Being a sword cultivator, he wished to be free, unrestrained, and only focused on his cultivation. He didn't care about anything else in the world unless it was a hindrance in his cultivation.
On the other side of Bai Qing'er was Zheng Xiang. Anyone could easily see his emotions through his expression.
He was shocked and stumped by the unexpected invitation. However, he somehow didn't wish to join the World league.
He suddenly had a bugging thought that following his new friend, Fang Chen, would give him more benefits than anything else.
And as he glanced at Ye Tian Yun to get an idea about his reply regarding the invitation. h h h
...
A/n: If you find any errors/typos, please comment so I can correct them.