Chapter 357: Chapter 197: Testing the Disciples_3
Translator: 549690339
“This is the Chi Yang Divine Skill I have cultivated, a top-notch martial art. What the bottle contains is the Divine Blood Elixir, a miraculous medicine for martial training that can help one break through a single meridian.
There are five pills in the bottle, which are precisely enough for you to break through the top rank.
Take these martial skills and return home. Once you transfer your cultivation to this skill, take the elixir. When you have broken through to the top rank, come find me.
At that time, I will personally accept you into the inner circle as a true disciple.”
According to the rules previously set by Lu Yuan, his disciples must possess strength beyond the top rank to be listed as true disciples.
Otherwise, no matter how close the relationship, they are merely nominal disciples.
Although Zhuang Hua is someone he plans to nurture, he can only be a nominal disciple until breaking through the top rank. He cannot be accepted as a true disciple.
However, with his cultivation skills, it will only take half a year to transfer his cultivation to the new skill. After taking the elixir, he will be able to break through the top rank with ease.
Including him, along with Chu Wei and the four others, and Zhou Qing, Lu Yuan will have six true disciples.
Of course.
While Zhuang Hua and the others are indeed true disciples, their standing has only nominally and officially improved. Naturally, they can’t be compared to Zhou Qing.
Amongst everyone, the only people Lu Yuan truly trusts are Sun Siwen and Zhou Qing, the two friends and disciples who have accompanied him all the way.
All the others are merely tools.
“Disciple thanks Master for bestowing the cultivation method and elixir.”
When Zhuang Hua heard what Lu Yuan had bestowed upon him, he immediately knelt down to express his gratitude.
“You don’t need to be so formal.” Lu Yuan laughed and said. Then he thought of something else and continued, “However, since you are my disciple, you naturally cannot stay in the region. After you return, turn over public affairs to Prefect Cui, and then come serve in the camp.
We’ve recruited many new soldiers here, and we’re short on military officers. You can start by holding this position.
Then get familiar with military affairs in the camp. Once you’ve done something noteworthy, I’ll promote you.”
For those true disciples, Lu Yuan’s arrangement is to command armies, conduct campaigns, or defend a region.
Only with a large army can a top-rank expert’s strength be most effectively utilized.
However, Zhuang Hua, who had been arresting bandits at a regional level, lacks experience in commanding troops and can’t take on significant responsibilities yet.
Before he is sure that Zhuang Hua has enough experience commanding troops, Lu Yuan won’t easily hand over tens of thousands of troops to him.
That’s a large army of ten thousand soldiers, after all.
To train them requires an investment of millions of silver tales. If they were led by a mediocre person and resulted in heavy losses, it would be a bitter outcome.
“Disciple obeys.”
Zhuang Hua could naturally offer no dissent towards the commands of his newly acknowledged Master.
Besides, he was extremely pleased to be able to join the core group in the army, and there was no way he could refuse.
“Alright, I don’t have anything else for you now. You can leave.”
After finishing the discussion, Lu Yuan, who still had other things to do, waved his hand to dismiss him.
Zhuang Hua quickly retreated.
After spending nearly ten days on assessing all the disciples and even accepting a new one as a potential true disciple, Lu Yuan finally took a breather from his busy days.
Then, things returned to normal.
He went back to practicing his skills and reading scriptures every day, inspecting military affairs when he had time, and his days became quiet again.
By early December, after nearly half a month of transportation, the ten million silver tales promised by True Person of Anqiu had finally arrived at Shaoyang Prefecture.
Part of the two million stones of military food had also been delivered to Luyang Prefecture. The rest will be delivered to his various prefectures within this month.
In the meantime, after Lu Yuan spread his elixir to his disciples, there have been many good news from those who received the elixir.
The first to report were Chu Wei and his group. They were given the Chi Yang Divine Skill early on and had Zhou Qing as their mentor. Their progress was naturally swift.
In just half a month, they have all broken into the ranks of top-tier experts.
Among the other fifteen disciples who were awarded one elixir, seven were close to breaking into the second-tier. After receiving the elixir, they successfully broke through and stepped into the second tier.
As a result, Lu Yuan now has five top-tier experts and ten second-tier experts under his leadership.
Although this number is still far from those of the Innate Sects, it, at least, carries the demeanor of an Innate Grandmaster.
It’s no longer like before, where there was no difference between him and a lone Innate cultivator.
His disciples were continually bringing good news.
In another area, more good news had also arrived.
In the middle of the twelfth month, Su Xuange, whom Yan Wangqiu had previously sent someone to invite, finally arrived at Shaoyang Prefecture after nearly a month.
And Lu Yuan finally met his ally.
The three of them met at Lu Yuan’s mansion in the city.
The venue for the meeting was a small garden in the backyard.
Su Xuange was dressed in white, dashing and handsome. Although he was over eighty, he still looked as youthful as a forty-year-old man.
Perhaps it was due to him being a master of the sword, on Lu Yuan’s first sight, he could feel an air of defiance about him. He seemed restless.
But then again, if he were an obedient type, he wouldn’t have agreed to his invitation to stand against the Court.
With this thought in mind, Lu Yuan greeted Su Xuange with a bright smile. “Sect Master Su, I have long heard of your eminent name.”
Su Xuange, who was also looking at Lu Yuan, hid his approval and chuckled, “General Lu, I have also long heard of your name.”
Seeing that they had exchanged greetings, Yan Wangqiu, who had introduced them earlier, chimed in with a smile, “General Lu, Sect Master Su, since all three of us are gathered here, let’s take this opportunity to discuss forming our alliance.”
Bringing Su Xuange here wasn’t just about having him help them control the Poison Sect.
More importantly, the leaders of the three forces needed to meet up and discuss their strategies in dealing with the Court, who would exert how much effort, and who would be responsible for what area.
They also needed to outline their own interests to use as negotiating terms with the Court.
All of these are things that need to be sorted out and confirmed before confronting the Court.
And for these major matters, it wouldn’t work unless the leaders of the three forces met and discussed everything clearly.
This is the main reason why Su Xuange traveled a great distance from Jianan Prefecture.
The Poison Sect is, after all, only incidental.