While senior disciples were still surprised by the sect's treasure being suddenly multiplied, clarification soon came through the elder presiding over the disciples.
"These crystal spheres in our hands are projections of the main body of one of the greatest artifacts of our sect, the Crystal Library. Each of you must step forward, insert your spiritual energy into it, and it will analyze the attributes of your roots, providing the best cultivation technique for you. After that, you must…"
He then began to explain, and soon the waiting elders started calling out the disciples' names. One by one, they stepped forward, receiving their techniques and a storage pouch containing their initial items, along with a certain amount of credit to purchase their first weapons at the sect's exchange pavilion.
This time, all the items they received had been crafted by the sect's own disciples rather than the elders, which showed that Aotian's hard work in training disciples had already begun to bear fruit. Perhaps one day he wouldn't need to do anything at all, and the sect would grow on its own.
As for the Crystal Library, it was still something fake, simply used as a pretext to distribute techniques, although Aotian had refined it to create an effect of camouflage and mystery.
Regarding the techniques the disciples would receive, Aotian had already discreetly observed the roots of everyone who reached the 999th step of the staircase through his powerful avatars, and everyone's techniques had been prepared long ago.
For the Infinite Dao Empire, on the other hand, the castrated techniques were standardized by element and not created specifically for each individual.
The sect could also do it that way, but making small adjustments according to each person's physique slightly increased the technique's efficiency. And these small differences, once mastered by the disciples, made Aotian's understanding of cultivation a bit clearer through the feedback they provided him.
Unfortunately, he couldn't receive feedback from the Infinite Dao Empire, since it was a force separate from the sect. Even so, as the strongest and most qualified officials accumulated more merit and power, one day they might enter the sect, and then he would receive their feedback anyway. It was, therefore, a long-term investment.
Back to the technique distribution, as the second to pass the trial, Shen He was indeed the second to be called.
As soon as he stepped forward and inserted his energy into the crystal orb, a jade slip was suddenly spat out from the top of the object. His master didn't dare to investigate, for fear of triggering something unexpected. He still knew very little about that sect, and with each day he spent there, the veil of mystery seemed only to grow thicker rather than dissipate. Thus, for the time being, he didn't want to provoke a sudden confrontation.
Shen He gently took the jade slip from the orb, thoughtful, but then the elder in front of him suddenly smiled and transmitted a message.
["You may show the technique to your master without fear. This was permitted by the sect and will not be seen as a betrayal, since he is the young miss's great-grandfather."]
He explained in an amused tone, making Shen He widen his eyes and freeze in place, startled.
"This… elder, I…" he tried to explain, but the elder raised a hand and interrupted him, merely shaking his head with a smile free of any malice.
Then the elder handed him the storage pouch and asked Shen He to move aside, before calling the next name, not allowing him to explain himself.
The boy couldn't help but leave somewhat embarrassed, while his master in the necklace, who had heard everything, raised an eyebrow. He was surprised by the generosity and insight of that sect, and by the fact that even lower-level elders knew of his existence.
Of course, he had no interest in a Qi Refinement technique, but considering the growth speed of those disciples, he still needed to see what it was about.
If it were something harmful, he would not allow his disciple to cultivate it. Nor would he trust a sect that harmed its disciples, which would prompt him to urgently take his granddaughter away.
As for Shen He, he felt guilty, knowing that he would hand the technique to his master before using it himself—an act that was essentially equivalent to betrayal.
On Aotian's side, he also knew that the boy would do so, even if it were forbidden, and therefore neither stopped him nor intended to.
There were even other disciples who would likely do the same for family members, which he wouldn't find strange.
On the staircase, there had indeed been a loyalty test, but it served to ascertain the loyalty someone had toward something they were already loyal to. At the moment, they had just entered the sect and couldn't yet be classified that way.
That was why Aotian didn't dare distribute techniques before leaving the continent. Their recent loyalty to the sect still couldn't surpass that which they had toward family and loved ones, and with so many people, he wouldn't be able to control the leakage of techniques.
But now that they were heading to another continent, where they had no contact with anyone, it would be easy to earn the loyalty of these kind-hearted people, who were neither evil, treacherous, nor ungrateful. They only needed time, and that would be enough for their loyalty to become unshakable.
Thus, slowly, time passed, and soon more than fifty thousand disciples were dismissed to their respective quarters on the ship after receiving their items.
In the coming days, aside from the old disciples who would continue fighting, these new ones would focus on their cultivation, while new batches of disciples would come to train in real combat.
Although later-round disciples suffered a slight disadvantage due to a few days' delay in cultivation, even the last batch—seven days behind the first—was not significantly affected. In this case, those who arrived first were served first—or rather, those who passed the recruitment earlier held the advantage.
Just like during the five-month journey of the last recruitment, those who were accepted in the final days ended up having, in practice, a five-month disadvantage. However, when it came time to desperately seek contribution points, that difference was largely compensated, since the most lucrative tasks appeared later.
In any case, it wasn't as if this were a race, nor as if there were absolute fairness in the world, or as if Aotian and the sect owed them anything.
The way he conducted everything was already fair enough to everyone, and the proof of that was that no one held resentment toward the sect. At most, some felt a bit discouraged for ending up at the back, but mere days were no big deal, and they could wait.
With everyone dispersing, Shen He headed toward a specific plaza on the ship, where the teleportation circles were located—capable of taking him to various points on the vessel. This still deeply impressed him, and he felt he would never lose his sense of novelty toward it.
His master merely commented that such things were common in Void Refinement–level sects or higher, and that it was normal for the Infinite Dao Sect to possess such things, considering that even the young sect master's protectors had reached that level.
Thus, less than twenty minutes later, the boy and his master, who lived in the necklace, were back in their room… located within the private courtyard of Rihai and Aotian.
An outer disciple like Shen He shouldn''t be in such a place, but who could blame him for carrying the spirit of a stubborn old man around in his necklace? After all, Liu Taixuan was Rihai's great-grandfather, and he insisted on living close to his great-granddaughter, determined to protect her.
Aotian rolled his eyes at this and had to accept it against his will. He didn't want to kill the old man, as that would sadden his wife, but at the same time he felt powerless, since he didn't trust him enough to believe he wouldn't do something crazy—like suddenly kidnapping his wife and fleeing.
Thus, helpless, his secret trump card against a disembodied soul couldn't leave his side for even a single moment, otherwise he wouldn't feel at ease. In this way, the trump card, Ancestor Zhao Wenming of the Heritage Pavilion, would have to accompany him for an extended period.
And because on certain days the ancestor had other duties to attend to, Aotian needed to accompany him—along with his wife—during the periods when he used an ability resembling a minor epiphany on the disciples for two days each month.
As for his avatars, who normally benefited from this ability on a daily basis, he could only permit the ancestor's divine incarnation to wield it in their stead, even though its effect was somewhat weaker.
Ancestor Zhao Wenming would only be free again once Aotian earned Liu Taixuan's trust and was certain that Grandpa Liu wouldn't do anything reckless—which, unfortunately, seemed unlikely in the short term, given that the stubborn old man had yet to accept becoming a member of the sect.
Back in Shen He's room, the imposing old man with red hair materialized, wearing a pensive expression.
He extended his hand toward the storage pouch at the boy's waist, and a jade slip flew out of it on its own into his palm.
Holding it, he analyzed it with his powerful energy and discovered that it didn't seem to contain excessive content—anything that could cause mental collapse in whoever used it.
There were also only two uses available on that jade slip, which made the old man wonder whether this had been planned specifically for him and Shen He to use, or whether it was simply the sect's standard, allowing the disciple to review the content. Even so, he knew in his heart that it was the former.
His mouth twitched slightly as he thought about this. Old Liu, in truth, wanted to be hostile toward that sect, as he feared for his great-granddaughter and knew how valuable the Dao rhymes in her roots were in normal times—let alone now, when the world was in a countdown.
But the goodwill the sect had shown toward him, as well as the kindness proven toward outsiders, made it incredibly difficult to nurture that hostility.
In his plans, Liu Taixuan only needed a good reason so that his great-granddaughter wouldn't blame him or try to return to the Infinite Dao Sect when he took her away, but this sect seemed determined to do everything possible to make that task difficult—something that would normally be so simple in other sects.
And, for the first time, he couldn't tell whether that was truly something bad… or simply too good.
Gritting his teeth discreetly as he felt torn, he slapped the jade slip against his forehead to distract himself from those thoughts.
But the instant he did, his eyes widened in disbelief.
"Holy shit!" the old man shouted in shock, almost jumping in place. However, upon seeing his disciple staring at him in alarm, he quickly composed himself and coughed into his fist, adopting a solemn look. "Ahem! I mean… impossible!" he exclaimed again, this time with more refinement, before returning his focus.
As Shen He watched his master's suddenly bizarre behavior in silence, the latter ignored him completely, fully focused on what was now unfolding in his mind.
'This… this can be done like this? Wait, and if I rotate my energy in this way as well… although the difference during cultivation is small, perhaps I could improve my strength a bit in a few years. Wait, I don't have a body—forget it. But what the hell is this? There are no errors. On the contrary, there are specificities I never even considered before. It's as if someone with cultivation knowledge far beyond my own created this! Even I, if I study this a bit, could gain a clearer view of what cultivation truly involves!'
The more he thought, the more his heart raced in disbelief.
In ancient times, his family had already had a Mahayana-level cultivator, who had refined the entire family inheritance in his spare time. Even so, what he was seeing now was like heaven and earth when compared to his family's inheritance.
Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself and reviewed the technique several times, searching for problems or something malicious hidden within. However, no matter how much he searched, simulated, or even tested within the limits of what he could do, he found none.
His surprise only continued to grow, and along with it, a profound sense of dread.
Finally, he raised his eyes and stared at Shen He in silence for a long time.