24: Becoming an apprentice, a task from Li Yi

Li Yi sat on the Grandmaster's chair, very satisfied with Jiang Yan's recent mission.

“I agree to these matters as your Revered Master.”

As Li Yi's voice fell, his right hand lightly swept across the tabletop.

Following that, two Magical Artifacts, a Storage Pouch, and a hundred Spirit Stones appeared on the table.

Seeing these things given by his Revered Master, Jiang Yan felt a warmth in his heart.

Although this Cheap Master treated him well, he also understood that this was only built on mutual benefit.

According to the Sect's rhetoric, nurturing them was a sign of valuing their future.

If one day you became useless or were crippled, the Sect would at most say a few words on your behalf; as for retirement... keep dreaming.

Moreover, he knew quite a few Sect secrets; it could even be said that these were no longer secrets.

The reason the Sect did not have more than thirty people in the Core Formation Realm was not because the Sect didn't want to nurture them, but because there weren't that many False Cores.

As for where False Cores came from, they were formed from the Golden Core left behind by a deceased Core Formation Realm expert.

Entering the Core Formation Realm seemed easy for Geniuses, but when there were no Geniuses, the Sect would create Core Formation powerhouses for the sake of profit.

Therefore, before any Core Formation powerhouse reached the end of their lifespan, the Sect would have them condense their Golden Core to replenish the Sect's resources.

Of course, for anyone who had such an agreement with the Sect, the Sect would almost always fulfill the other party's requests—such as making their descendants monarchs, or allowing their offspring to become a cultivation Family that supplied fresh blood to the Sect.

However, there were exceptions, and that was stepping into the Core Formation Realm by relying on one's own ability.

If one entered the Core Formation Realm through personal ability, the Golden Core inside the body was private property; even if you died while showing off outside, the Sect had no right to interfere.

Thus, the Sect's investment in nurturing Disciples was a guaranteed profit.

“Revered Master, please help me check if there's any problem with this Storage Pouch.” Jiang Yan handed the Storage Pouch he had obtained to Li Yi.

Li Yi took the Storage Pouch, glanced it over, and tossed it back to Jiang Yan.

“No problems. No tracking marks were left on it; it's the most common kind.”

Hearing there were no issues, Jiang Yan felt relieved.

Just as he was putting the items given by his Revered Master into the Storage Pouch, Li Yi asked, “Did you get this from killing someone and looting their treasure?”

“Yes, the Heir of the Prince of Zhenbei of Great Gan.” Jiang Yan nodded in admission.

“Alright, I understand.” After Li Yi spoke, he stood up and walked toward a shelf.

After rummaging through the shelf for a while, he brought two books to Jiang Yan.

“Take some time to learn these two books. When the time comes, even if you encounter Zhuang Yu, you'll be able to win easily.”

Hearing this, Jiang Yan hurriedly picked up the books to look at them.

One book was called the “Sword Breaking Method,” and the other was called the “Sword Shadow Art.”

“I don't want to ask how you obtained the Seventeen Forms of Breaking Saber and the Shadow Link Sword Outline, but in the future, if you want to Cultivate anything else, just go look through the shelves. Remember, exposing certain things will only bring disaster upon you.”

Hearing Li Yi's warning, Jiang Yan had a sudden realization.

“Thank you for your guidance, Revered Master.” Jiang Yan cupped his fists in a salute.

This time, his gratitude was heartfelt. He hadn't expected that the Cultivation Techniques he had plundered would hide so many secrets.

“Alright, no need for thanks. After the Disciple Recruitment Ceremony is over, I have another mission for you.” Li Yi waved his hand to dismiss him.

Hearing Li Yi say this, he felt like his gratitude from a moment ago had truly been thrown to the dogs.

‘Schemes everywhere, pitfalls everywhere.’

‘What a realistic cultivation world!’

Outer Sect Disciple Peak, the recruitment ceremony square.

The hundred newly admitted Disciples stood in neat rows on the square, while above them sat the Outer Sect Elders.

For the Disciples ranked below fiftieth, they basically had no right to choose a Revered Master, and the Elders could also choose not to take them.

For those ranked tenth to forty-ninth, some Elders would step forward for a Disciple they wanted, but the final choice rested entirely with the Disciple.

As for the top ten, they could choose their own Revered Master. Of course, some Elders would also offer corresponding benefits to entice Disciples.

Once Liang Jian and the other fifty were left unassigned, it quickly reached the mutual selection phase.

Some Disciples were happy, while others were slightly disappointed, but being able to join an Elder's tutelage was already good—at least it was much better than the bottom fifty Disciples.

When it was Jiang Yan and the others' turn, no Elder even asked about the top three, as if they were automatically filtered out. In contrast, Jiang Yan became the hot commodity of this competition.

The conditions offered by the Elders were far higher than the prices they had quoted in the Kui Ling Hall.

Liu Feng was feeling frustrated; he had originally thought Liu Ruyan could "persuade" Jiang Yan, but Liu Ruyan had returned and told him directly that Jiang Yan refused.

Just as the crowd of Elders was bidding and fighting over him, Li Yi lazily called out, “I only offer one Spirit Stone. Are you willing to become my Closed-Door Disciple?”

The moment this was said, all the Elders looked stunned, but the second half of the sentence was like a thunderclap!

What was a Closed-Door Disciple?

It meant he would only take Jiang Yan as his sole Disciple!

It was the Revered Master's most beloved Disciple and the only one who could fully inherit the Revered Master's legacy. This was countless times better than being an Inner Disciple.

Jiang Yan knelt and kowtowed to Li Yi: “Disciple Jiang Yan pays respects to Revered Master!”

The reaction and operation of this Revered Master-Disciple duo directly left the surrounding Elders dazed.

“Wait, it's that fast?”

“Actually, I could have taken a Closed-Door Disciple too.”

“Damn it, Li Yi isn't playing by the rules!”

“Just one Spirit Stone? I'll give a hundred, and I can take him as a Closed-Door Disciple too!”

As the Elders grumbled, the entire square instantly reached a boiling point.

No one expected that Li Yi would take Jiang Yan away for just one Spirit Stone.

Moreover, before the surrounding Elders could react, Jiang Yan had already finished the Revered Master-recognition ceremony.

Standing beside Jiang Yan, Ji Daofeng had no idea what he was seeing or doing.

He was completely bewildered by Jiang Yan's maneuver!

“Brother, are you serious?” Ji Daofeng asked in a daze.

“Take a guess,” Jiang Yan said, then decisively walked toward Li Yi.

Take a guess?

Ji Daofeng was completely confused, pointing at Jiang Yan: “You're asking me to guess? Why should I guess? Whether I guess or not, you guess if I'll guess.”

Jiang Yan's lips curled up as he waved his hand with his back to Ji Daofeng.

“The two of you did this on purpose, didn't you?” Lü Yang asked, leaning close to Li Yi.

Li Yi didn't speak, only looking at Jiang Yan with a beaming smile.

When Jiang Yan reached Li Yi's side, Li Yi patted Lü Yang's shoulder: “Come to my Spirit Beast Peak for tea when you have time.”

As Li Yi's voice fell, he flew away from the Outer Sect Disciple Peak with Jiang Yan.

Jiang Yan's departure didn't even take a leaf with him, but it introduced a new way for the Elders to play the game.

Ji Daofeng was bought by the Mission Hall Elder Tie Lizhen for one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones to be a Personal Disciple.

Qin Shuang was bought by Elder Hua Yulan for one hundred Spirit Stones to be a Personal Disciple.

Although a Personal Disciple wasn't as good as a Closed-Door Disciple, it was still better than an ordinary Inner Disciple.

Spirit Beast Peak, Animal Rearing Chamber.

After Li Yi sat on the Grandmaster's chair, he threw a token to Jiang Yan.

“Blood Cloud Sect?”

Looking at the token, Jiang Yan asked in confusion, “Revered Master, what is the meaning of this?”

“Spy, undercover—have you heard of those?” Li Yi asked.

“Huh? You want me to be an undercover spy?” Jiang Yan looked at Li Yi in shock.

He didn't understand why Li Yi wanted him to go to the Blood Cloud Sect as a spy. Was there a grudge with that Sect? Was he being sent to assassinate some Foundation Establishment Realm Elder?

“That's right, I'm letting you be an undercover spy.” Li Yi stood up, walked to Jiang Yan, and patted his shoulder. “This mission isn't something I'm making you do, but something you must experience for yourself!”

Experience it himself?

Jiang Yan was completely baffled. Why should he experience the life of a spy?

Why not just live a good life of cultivation? Why go experience being an undercover agent?

“Wait, Revered Master, can I choose not to experience it?” Jiang Yan asked tentatively.

“You can.” Li Yi seemed indifferent, patting Jiang Yan's shoulder again and reminding him meaningfully, “But life only gives you this one chance. If you give it up, I won't ignore you; after all, you are my Closed-Door Disciple.”

After hearing this, Jiang Yan felt something was not quite right, as if there were a huge pit in front of him that he absolutely had to jump into.

“Wait, Revered Master, the way you're saying this feels very off,” Jiang Yan probed.

“Your Revered Master is very normal. This is just your choice; whether you choose it or not is up to you.” Li Yi's expression was calm, his tone as flat as ice. “But... from now on, I won't give you any missions, and you can look after the books on the shelf yourself.”

Jiang Yan was speechless. Wasn't this just forcing him?

‘Damn it, it really is a giant pit!’

“Revered Master, say no more. This Disciple will go right now.” After speaking, Jiang Yan turned to leave.

But before he could even take two steps, Li Yi's large foot kicked directly toward him!