After bustling about for two months, the apprenticeship event finally came to an end.
The two Lord Daoists accepted three disciples in total. One was Lord Daoist Shoujing's disciple, and the other two were Lord Daoist Qingwei's disciples.
The three disciples were all in the Foundation Building realm. Each of them had a different temperament, but they were all resolute, quick-witted, and intelligent people.
During the apprenticeship event, Xiaoguzi spread the news about what kind of disciples the two Lord Daoists liked and what requirements they had. This made it a lot less troublesome for them to choose disciples, so they didn't have to send a lot of messy candidates.
Because of this, they specially rewarded the siblings with a top-grade magic tool each, which made them so happy that they could only see their teeth.
The two of them made a lot of money from this apprenticeship event. When people from all walks of life came to inquire about the news, they felt embarrassed not to send them a few good things. All in all, it was a huge fortune for them.
Moreover, with the two of them here, as long as they finished their business, the two grandmasters wouldn't care about what they did. It was much more comfortable than living with Kuang Zhu.
"It'd be great if it could always be like this." On a protruding rock on the surface of the Extreme Abyss Pool, Xiaoguzi stretched his body, feeling extremely happy.
"Isn't that right?
Senior Martial Brother Kuang Zhu always told us to be diligent and cultivate … The two of us aren't cut out for that! "
Xiaozui carried a basket and walked to his side. The two of them took out a grill, bamboo skewers, firewood, and all kinds of seasonings from the basket. In the end, they took out several pieces of beast meat and started barbecuing.
"So you're here!" A voice rang out next to them. Ye Zhenji rubbed his nose and walked over. "It smells so good. Share it with me."
As he said that, he took a well-cooked piece of beast meat from the basket and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Martial Uncle Ye!" Xiaoguzi said, "You're really friendly!"
Ye Zhenji didn't care at all. He said with a smile, "It's just a few pieces of beast meat. Why are you so stingy?"
Xiaozui stopped barbecuing. He tilted his head and stared at Ye Zhenji for a long time before he suddenly said, "Martial Uncle Ye, is something bothering you?"
Ye Zhenji swallowed the barbecued meat in two or three bites then scooped some water from the pool to wash his hands. "How did you know?"
"I know just by looking at you!"
Xiaoguzi bumped his arm. "If you're like this, I'll know!"
Ye Zhenji rolled his eyes at him but didn't say anything.
"Yes, Martial Uncle Ye," Xiao Zui said, "Looking at you, no one else told you about this, right?"
Ye Zhenji rolled his eyes at her.
After a while, he said …
"En … Master wants me to enter seclusion to form my Gold Core."
"In that case, I'll form my Gold Core," said Xiaoguzi casually as he ate the roasted meat.
"That's right, Core Formation is a good thing!"
Ye Zhenji paused for a moment then said, "But I don't have much confidence …"
"You still don't have confidence?" Little Zui asked curiously. "Martial Uncle, you're the disciple of the most outstanding Nascent Soul cultivator in Xuanqing School."
Ye Zhenji showed a bitter smile. "It's precisely because I'm Auntie's and Master's disciple that … my aptitude is ordinary. If it weren't for Auntie and Master's care and if it weren't for me being diligent, how could I be where I am today?
Both of them are heaven-bestowed geniuses, but I … Master was right that day. At my age, Auntie has already entered Closed Door Meditation to form her Nascent Soul, and Master has also reached the peak stage of the Core Formation realm, but I haven't even crossed the barrier of the Core Formation realm. "
Once Ye Zhenji finished speaking, his mood became gloomy.
He understood the principle of accumulating experience and understood that his aptitude was ordinary, so he wanted to accumulate more experience before entering Closed Door Meditation to form his Gold Core.
But now, his master wanted him to form his Gold Core earlier. He really didn't have enough confidence in himself …
In the end, he heard Xiaoguzi say, "Martial Uncle Ye, you're so strange.
If you can be compared with them casually, would they still be heaven-bestowed geniuses?
You're not even two hundred years old yet, so you're even younger than us. Most elite disciples form their Gold Core at around two hundred years old, right?
Some can't even form their Gold Core their whole lives! "
"But …" Ye Zhenji was speechless for a long time. "I'm Auntie and Master's disciple!"
"If you're their disciple, do you have to be the same as them?
There are so many Nascent Soul Lord Daoists in our school, but I don't see any Lord Daoist's disciple who's already in the Nascent Soul realm, "Little Zui said and even commented," I think you're just making trouble for yourself over nothing! "
"…" Ye Zhenji felt depressed that he had been struggling for several months, but in the end, he was criticized by this brother and sister pair as worthless.
"Martial Uncle Ye!"
Xiaoguzi pressed his shoulder and said, "Just relax. You have your own path, so why do you care so much?
Look at me and Little Zui — we're practically idling around waiting to die. Senior Martial Brother Kuang Zhu even said we're wasting Mount Taikang's spiritual aura if we're alive!
Did you hear that from your sworn brother?
You've only been criticized by your master; what's the big deal? "
"Did Senior Martial Brother Hanjian really say that?"
"That's right." Little Zui didn't take his words to heart and started counting with his fingers. "Every month, he teaches us a lesson, every ten days, he urges us to cultivate, and every day, he sends someone to monitor our cultivation!
Look, is this how humans live their lives? "
"Then the two of you …" Ye Zhenji felt extremely strange. Then why were they still so carefree?
"We just don't like cultivating!"
Xiaoguzi said, "Everyone has their own aspirations. I think it's enough for us to cultivate to the Foundation Building realm and live for three to four hundred years, watching the mountains and rivers every day.
As for forming our Gold Cores, we don't have such aspirations, and we don't have such good aptitudes. "
Little Zui added, "In your opinion, shouldn't we go out and die?"
Their four eyes stared at him. Ye Zhenji was at a loss. "Then I …"
"Do you want to form your Gold Core?" Xiaoguzi asked.
Ye Zhenji nodded without hesitation. "Of course."
"Then it's settled." Little Zui shrugged. "If you want to form your Gold Core, form your Gold Core!
If you fail, form it again. In any case, you have a good master and aunt, so it's already much easier for you than for other people. Why do you have to think about those useless things? "
Upon hearing this, Ye Zhenji felt enlightened. "That's right! If I fail, I can try again!" He stood up abruptly then disappeared like a wisp of smoke. "I'm going to cultivate."
Upon seeing his figure disappearing, Xiaoguzi and Little Zui giggled and high-fived each other. "He's finally gone! There's one less person to share meat with!"
* * *
"Zhenji's in Closed Door Meditation," Qin Xi said.
Mo Tiange frowned slightly. "He entered Closed Door Meditation in such a hurry. Will there be a problem?"
"It's fine," Qin Xi said, "Let him try. If he fails, he'll know what his flaws are."
"… That's the only way."
"What about Linbo?" Qin Xi asked.
"Linbo told me that he'll also enter Closed Door Meditation after dealing with the last bit of business."
Qin Xi nodded slightly. "That's good.
Feifei will be back soon, right? "
"En, he'll be back in a few days."
Mo Tiange paused and said, "Xiaohuo and Xiaofan are already in the seventh rank. They're quite obedient, so we don't need to worry about them."
"That's good."
They didn't need to worry about anyone, so they could focus on their new disciples. Only after they brought them into the sect could they enter Closed Door Meditation with peace of mind.
This time, without prior consultation, they all chose Foundation Establishment disciples.
First, Core Formation cultivators mostly had a master, and those who didn't had a master were too old. Second, Core Formation cultivators mostly had chosen a cultivation technique and had their own Dao. Foundation Building cultivators, on the other hand, had just entered the sect, so their Dao was like a blank piece of paper that could be used at will.
Third, Foundation Building disciples were more obedient than Core Formation cultivators.
As for the other requirements, most of them were the same as what Xiaoguzi said, but the candidates were beyond everyone's expectations.
The disciples Mo Tiange accepted were a man and a woman. The man's name was Xie Zhengyi, and the woman's name was Chi Yunshu. Both of them had just entered the Foundation Building realm not long ago and were in their thirties.
As for elite disciples, their age of entering the Foundation Building realm was neither too early nor too late, and their aptitudes weren't the best. They both had relatively ordinary double spiritual roots.
They were chosen mainly because of a few points.
Xie Zhengyi came from a small cultivation clan with an ordinary background. He had a steady character, could endure loneliness, and had a foundation in formations, so he was the best candidate to learn the Art of Machineries.
Chi Yunshu, on the other hand, had a special constitution. The Yin inside her body flourished while the Yang spiritual aura in her body almost reached the point where she couldn't retain any Yang spiritual aura. Because of this, Mo Tiange felt Chi Yunshu should be a very good successor of the Art of Sunu. Moreover, Chi Yunshu was a man of few words, so Mo Tiange, who liked peace and quiet, was very satisfied.
As for Qin Xi, he originally didn't want to accept disciples. After all, Ye Zhenji was his disciple. However, during the selection process, he met a good candidate, so he accepted him.
That person's name was Sang Yushu. He was a bit older, almost a hundred years old, but his cultivation level had been stuck in the early stage of the Foundation Building realm. His spiritual roots were also ordinary — he didn't even have double spiritual roots, but rather three spiritual roots.
Logically speaking, with such conditions, he couldn't even be considered an elite disciple. Core Formation cultivators wouldn't want to accept him as a disciple, but Qin Xi took a fancy to him.
The reason was the same as Chi Yunshu's. Sang Yushu's constitution was extremely Yang, so he couldn't retain Yin aura. Because of this, his cultivation progress was extremely slow.
It was said that when he registered to participate in the selection, many cultivators in the same batch laughed at him for overestimating his own capabilities. Unexpectedly, he defeated a group of cultivators with superior aptitudes and noble backgrounds and became Lord Daoist Shou Jing's second disciple.
Those cultivators who laughed at him regretted it so much that their intestines turned green. They thought, 'Since even Sang Yushu was chosen, I presumably have a better chance. How could I miss this opportunity?'
However, they never thought that every single disciple eliminated by Sang Yushu was much more outstanding than them.
After the selection ended, the three disciples packed their luggage and moved into their Immortal's Cave in Extreme Abyss Valley.
With disciples and attendants, Lord Daoist Shou Jing and Lord Daoist Qingwei finally had the air of Nascent Soul cultivators.
Inside the hall, the three disciples cautiously stood in front of them. The three of them had one thing in common — their aptitudes weren't that outstanding, and their backgrounds were also relatively ordinary. This time, even they didn't dare to believe they were chosen by Lord Daoist Shou Jing to become their disciples.
Mo Tiange stared at her two disciples.
Xie Zhengyi looked like he was in his early twenties. His posture was tall and straight, his eyes were clear, and his outward appearance was excellent. It could be said that he had the standard appearance of a disciple from a prestigious cultivation group. As for Chi Yunshu, her appearance wasn't outstanding. Her appearance was ordinary, and she was thin and silent. Compared to Xi Su, she was much worse. However, her temperament was calm. In front of two Lord Daoists, she wasn't the slightest bit timid and had a unique charm.
"Are you all ready?" she asked.
"Yes, Grandmaster." Xie Zhengyi cupped his hands.
The apprenticeship ceremony hadn't been held yet, so right now, he could only call her grandmaster.
Chi Yunshu also nodded. "Yes."
Sang Yushu remained silent and only lowered his head.
The one asking the question wasn't his master, so he didn't need to answer.
"Then go and rest first. Tomorrow is the apprenticeship ceremony. In the future, you'll be my official disciples."
The two of them answered in unison, "Yes, disciple obeys."
Xie Zhengyi and Chi Yunshu withdrew, but Sang Yushu still stood there silently.
Qin Xi looked at him and asked, "Are you wondering why I picked you?"
Sang Yushu hesitated for a moment then nodded. "Yes, disciple's aptitude is ordinary. In Grandmaster's opinion, I can even be considered poor. I'm not outstanding in any other aspect. Why did Grandmaster pick me?"
Qin Xi smiled and said, "I picked you because first, you're suitable to cultivate my cultivation technique. Second, your mentality is very stable and you're very upright. Even though you're almost a hundred years old and are still stuck in the Foundation Building realm, you're still calm and don't belittle yourself.
On the path of the Great Dao, although aptitude is important, mentality is even more important. "
Seeing Sang Yushu's expression of sudden realization, Qin Xi said, "However, your aptitude is much worse than the elite disciples' and you're far behind them. If you don't work hard, you won't be able to reach the end."
"Yes." Sang Yushu's expression turned serious. "Disciple will definitely be strict with myself and won't slack off."
Qin Xi smiled. "Whether you're qualified to be my advanced inner disciple or even my direct disciple is still unknown. Work hard and prove yourself with facts."