Chapter 205: Harvest

Tianji Hall, usually deserted, suddenly became extremely lively. Loose cultivators lined up in three queues to register with Hua Ci, Yi Yi, and Kong Niu. The registration included basic information such as name, origin, cultivation level, training duration, and talent.

Registration didn't guarantee admission into the Blood Sect; that would be too simple. This was merely a preliminary census. Ultimately, Lu Ye and Hua Ci would discuss and select the most promising individuals for admission.

By nightfall, the loose cultivators dispersed from Tianji Hall, and all registrations were complete.

Outside Tianji Hall, Lu Ye sat on the steps, examining a small booklet. He suddenly frowned. "Who registered this?" The handwriting was atrocious; Lu Ye had to carefully decipher many characters.

"Me!" a muffled voice replied. Lu Ye looked up to see Kong Niu, who met his gaze with a simple, honest smile. Lu Ye was speechless.

Lu Ye closed the booklet and said, "Everyone has worked hard. Hua Ci and Chen Yu, stay. The rest of you may leave." Yi Yi, Ruan Lingyu, and Kong Niu, tired from a day's work, dispersed. Yi Yi and Ruan Lingyu returned to the main sect, while Kong Niu headed to the training room. Kong Niu was exceptionally diligent; apart from meal times, he spent most of his days there. Previously, he had followed Hua Ci in Mount Ying, where there was no good cultivation environment. It was different at the Blood Sect; not only were cultivation resources abundant, but the spiritual energy in the training room was also incredibly rich. Such conditions were incomparable to Mount Ying. Kong Niu cherished the present immensely.

In front of Tianji Hall, Lu Ye, Hua Ci, and Chen Yu filtered the candidates for sect admission. Chen Yu knew more about the loose cultivators in the market; though he couldn't claim to know their personalities and characters perfectly, he certainly knew more than Lu Ye and Hua Ci. His help in screening undoubtedly ensured the quality of the new disciples.

There were 432 permanent loose cultivators in the market, and exactly 432 registered in the three booklets. In other words, all loose cultivators came to register, a level of enthusiasm that exceeded Lu Ye's expectations; he had thought half of them registering would be a good turnout.

The three worked late into the night, tentatively finalizing a list of 100 individuals for the first batch of sect admissions. Those not chosen could still pledge allegiance to the sect if they wished, but there would be no coercion. However, given the loose cultivators' enthusiasm that day, it was clear they would not refuse to pledge allegiance if given the option.

In the Spirit Creek Battlefield, many loose cultivators chose to pledge allegiance to a sect. This allowed them to use the sect's facilities, such as training rooms, build their own residences within the stronghold, and benefit from the sect's Tianji Pillar's spiritual energy amplification. In return, when the sect faced issues, these loose cultivators were expected to contribute and follow orders. For example, if a sect stronghold was declared war upon, the pledged loose cultivators would be summoned to participate, and refusing would result in their expulsion. Essentially, each sect stronghold in the Spirit Creek Battlefield comprised three types of personnel: direct disciples, cultivators from allied sects on training expeditions, and pledged loose cultivators. The main difference between the first group and the latter two was that direct disciples received monthly stipends from the sect, thus gaining more cultivation resources.

However, those not selected in the first batch didn't need to worry. Since the Blood Sect had opened its doors wide and was actively recruiting, it would certainly continue to admit disciples later. Anyone who performed well would have a chance.

Chen Yu posted the list of 100 names on the market's public notice board overnight. Those whose names appeared were naturally overjoyed, while those who didn't were disappointed. However, pledging allegiance to the Blood Sect was also a good option, and Chen Yu specifically revealed that the Blood Sect would continue to recruit disciples in the future, reassuring the loose cultivators to wait patiently.

Lu Ye returned to the main sect to report on the recruitment progress to Senior Sister Shui Yuan. He also received an allocation of spirit stones and spirit pills from her.

The next day, inside Tianji Hall at the Blood Sect stronghold, Lu Ye and Hua Ci stood at the front, facing a queue of 100 cultivators, with Chen Yu at the head. A hundred pairs of eyes looked on intently as Lu Ye declared in a clear voice, "From today onwards, you are all probationary disciples of the Blood Sect, no longer rootless loose cultivators. I hope you will advance and retreat with the sect, sharing its glory and shame. Today, we are proud of our sect; perhaps one day, the sect will be proud of us. I await that day, the Sect Master awaits that day, and I believe that as long as we work together, that day will surely come!" "Yes!" the crowd below roared in unison.

Lu Ye nodded with satisfaction. "Those whose names are called, step forward!" Hua Ci took out the list, and her pleasant voice announced, "Chen Yu!" "Here!" Chen Yu immediately stepped forward. Lu Ye took out a large seal, his Guardian Seal, and with a subtle invocation of heavenly power, pressed it onto Chen Yu's hand. He then handed him a few spirit stones and spirit pills, which were the probationary disciples' monthly stipends, allocated by Shui Yuan last night. It wasn't much, not even enough for half a month's cultivation, but it was a standard benefit in every sect. He encouraged Chen Yu, "Cultivate diligently." "Yes," Chen Yu replied, accepting them solemnly. "Zhang Hai." "Here!" "Liu Wu." One by one, names were called. Lu Ye stamped each person's hand with his Guardian Seal and distributed the monthly stipends. Everyone was beaming with joy.

Gazing at the hundred people gathered in the hall, Lu Ye was filled with mixed emotions. The basic framework for the stronghold was now in place, but true development would be a long and arduous journey. The strength of these loose cultivators wasn't particularly high; apart from Chen Yu, there were only a handful in the Sixth Layer and not many in the Fifth Layer. Moreover, the loose cultivators generally lacked high talent, making their cultivation efficiency a concern. However, what talent lacked, spiritual energy could make up for. He was still arranging the spirit-gathering patterns in the training room. Once the stronghold's spiritual energy concentration increased, the disciples' early cultivation efficiency might not lag behind others.

The admission of the 100 disciples was quickly completed. After they left, hundreds of loose cultivators who had been waiting outside surged into the hall. These loose cultivators intended to pledge allegiance to the Blood Sect stronghold. Compared to the 100 new disciples, they would not receive monthly stipends, and their treatment would be slightly less favorable; for instance, main sect disciples would have priority in using the training room.

Handing the loose cultivators over to Hua Ci, Lu Ye left the hall and went to the training room to set up the spirit-gathering patterns.

It wasn't until evening that Hua Ci sent a message, confirming that the loose cultivators had been dealt with.

Lu Ye hurried back to Tianji Hall, where Hua Ci was waiting. "Let's begin," he said.

What he needed to do now was enhance the spiritual energy concentration of the stronghold, which was the greatest gain he and Hua Ci had received from participating in the Spirit Creek Guardianship Battle. He hadn't done it immediately upon returning because he considered that an improved cultivation environment might influence the loose cultivators' choices. However, it turned out his concerns were unfounded; every loose cultivator in the entire market had either become a probationary disciple of the Blood Sect or chosen to pledge allegiance, without exception. Moreover, once news of this spread, even more loose cultivators were sure to arrive.

The baseline spiritual energy in any sect stronghold was 10% higher than in the wild. To further increase spiritual energy concentration, one had to purchase enhancements from the Tianji Pillar. Before the Spirit Creek Guardianship Battle, Lu Ye had spent 500 merit points to buy one enhancement, using it as leverage to participate in the battle. Now, the spiritual energy in their sect stronghold was 20% richer than in the wild. He had tried to purchase another enhancement but lacked the merit points; the system indicated it would cost 1,000 merit points. Lu Ye vaguely sensed that the richer the spiritual energy, the more merit points it would cost to purchase enhancements, a sentiment his Fourth Senior Brother had also expressed.

Checking their imprints, he and Hua Ci had acquired 88 enhancements during the Spirit Creek Guardianship Battle. Each of these was a basic enhancement, valued at 500 merit points. These enhancements could be converted into merit points, but because they were sect-type assets, they could only be converted into sect merit points, not directly into personal merit points. However, a certain conversion mechanism existed between the two; for example, Lu Ye could donate his personal merit points to be converted into Blood Sect's sect merit points, which would then be stored in the Tianji Pillar. The reason major sects possessed so many merit points to purchase Tianji Pillar enhancements was due to the accumulated donations from their disciples. Matters within a stronghold couldn't be resolved by one person alone; they required the collective effort of many disciples. Furthermore, as a Guardian, bearing the responsibility of safeguarding the stronghold, Lu Ye could receive a portion of the sect's merit points from the Tianji Pillar monthly as his stipend. Hua Ci, as Deputy Guardian, also had this entitlement. In the future, if any disciple performed outstandingly and made significant contributions to the sect, they could even be directly rewarded with a certain amount of merit points from the Tianji Pillar, in addition to spirit stones and spirit pills. These were all fundamental pieces of knowledge recorded in the jade slip that Li Baxian had given Lu Ye earlier.

Inside Tianji Hall, Lu Ye raised his hand and pressed it onto the Tianji Pillar. With a slight mental command, he instantly converted all 88 enhancements into sect merit points. The Tianji Pillar immediately gained 44,000 sect merit points. He didn't immediately use these points to purchase more enhancements. Instead, using his authority as Guardian, he issued the monthly merit point stipends to himself and Hua Ci. Hua Ci noticed the change and checked her battlefield imprint, startled. "Why so much?" Her personal merit points had increased by 4,400, which was 10% of the total. The same happened for Lu Ye. "You didn't kill many people in the Chess Sea, and everyone is short on merit points. Take them for now; you might need them sometime," Lu Ye said. "This is too much; I don't need this many," Hua Ci replied. "You will use them," Lu Ye insisted. If the monthly stipend ratio couldn't exceed 10%, Lu Ye would have wanted to give more. These merit points were earned by him and Hua Ci together in the Chess Sea, so splitting them equally was fine. However, considering they also needed to use points to increase the stronghold's spiritual energy concentration, and several thousand points were a significant amount at this stage, it was temporarily sufficient.