CH 205

The Sanctum of Providence was usually as empty as it was silent, but today it was bustling with activity. The independent cultivators had split into three lines in front of Hua Ci, Yi Yi and Kong Niu’s tables to register their basic information such as name, background, cultivation level, cultivation period, talents and so on.

They wouldn’t be joining the Crimson Blood Sect immediately after the registration, of course. That would be no different from accepting anyone and everyone into the sect. This was just basic information gathering. When all was said and done, Lu Ye and Hua Ci would go through the papers and select those they believed were qualified to join the sect; the behemoths among the dwarves so to speak.

When the day turned into night, they finally registered every independent cultivator that had gathered in front of the Sanctum of Providence.

Lu Ye was sitting on the stairs and going through a book when suddenly, he asked with a frown, “Who’s the one who wrote this book?”

He was asking because the handwriting was god awful. It was so terrible that he, a cultivator had to squint to identify the chicken scratch before his eyes.

“Me!” A stuffy voice answered. Lu Ye looked up and saw Kong Niu shooting him a silly grin. There was nothing he could say to that.

After he put away the registration books, Lu Ye spoke up, “Thank you all for your hard work. Hua Ci, Chen Yu, please stay with me for the moment. The rest of you may take your leave.”

Ruan Lingyu, Yi Yi and Kong Niu left after he said this. The two girls went to the headquarters while Kong Niu went to the training chambers. It was because he wanted to cultivate.

Kong Niu was an extremely hard-working man who more or less spent all of his time cultivating at the training chambers unless it was mealtime. In the past, he couldn’t progress as much as he would like because the environment of Mount Ying wasn’t cultivation-friendly so to speak. It was a different story after he joined the Crimson Blood Sect though. Not only was there an abundance of cultivation resources, the World Spirit Qi in the training chambers were incredibly dense. Mount Ying had nothing on the Outpost.

He was deeply appreciative of what he had right now. That was why he did not want to waste even a second of it.

Lu Ye, Hua Ci and Chen Yu had stayed behind to go through the list of independent cultivators and select those who were qualified to join the sect. The reason Chen Yu was here was because of his knowledge. While he couldn’t claim to know every man and woman down to the color of their underwear, he knew them better than Lu Ye and Hua Ci at the very least. There was no doubt that his help would ensure the quality of their recruits and speed up the screening process.

There were a total of four hundred and thirty two long-stay independent cultivators in the bazaar, and that the number of names that had been registered in the books. In other words, every single independent cultivator had registered to join the Crimson Blood Sect. Their enthusiasm had exceeded Lu Ye’s expectations to say the least. He had thought it would be good if even half of them came to register to join the Crimson Blood Sect.

It was well into the night when the trio finally finished their work. A hundred people were chosen to join the sect as disciples, while those who did not make the cut were given the choice to become an associate. Judging from the enthusiasm he had seen today, Lu Ye did not think anyone would reject the offer.

In the Spirit Creek Battlefield, many independent cultivators willingly became associates because it would grant them access to the sect’s infrastructure such as the training chambers. They would also be allowed to build their own homes within the boundaries of the Outpost and enjoy the improved World Spirit Qi of the Divine Opportunity Column. 

In return, the sect required the independent cultivators to contribute in certain areas and follow orders. For example, if someone declared war on the Outpost, the associates who received the call to arms would be required to participate in the battle. Those who refused would have their associate status revoked.

Generally speaking, the personnel of each Outpost in the Spirit Creek Battlefield could be split into three types: disciples, cultivators-in-training from allied sects, and associated independents.

The biggest difference between a disciple and the other two types was that disciples were paid a monthly salary, which also meant access to more cultivation resources.

Those who failed to make the cut on the first try had nothing to worry about though. Since the Crimson Blood Sect had begun recruiting once more, they were definitely not going to stop here. If their performance was good, it was only a matter of time before they were made a disciple.

Chen Yu returned to the bazaar and posted the completed list on the noticeboard the same night. The one hundred independent cultivators who found their names on the list were overjoyed, and those who didn’t were disappointed as a matter of course. That said, it wasn’t all bad news since they were still given the option to become associates of the Crimson Blood Sect. Chen Yu also informed them that the sect would be recruiting more disciples in the future, so they simply needed to keep up the hard work and wait for the next opportunity.

As for Lu Ye, he had returned to the headquarters to report to his senior sister and to obtain an appropriate sum of Spirit Stones and Spirit Pills. 

The next day, Lu Ye and Hua Ci were standing in front the Sanctum of Providence, and their one hundred new disciples were slightly further away from them. Chen Yu was standing at the forefront of the group.

Lu Ye announced amidst a hundred pairs of excited eyes, “From this day onwards, you are all initiates of the Crimson Blood Sect. The sect’s will is your will, and the sect’s pride is your pride. Today, you are proud to be able to join the Crimson Blood Sect, but in the future, it may be the sect who is honored to have you. The Sect Master believes that there will be such a day, and so do I. That day will surely come as long as we work together as one!”

“Yes, senior brother!” Everyone roared.

Lu Ye nodded in satisfaction. “Now, please step forward when your name is called!”

Hua Ci brought out a name list and called out in a melodious voice, “Chen Yu!”

“I am here!” Chen Yu answered the call immediately.

Lu Ye produced an engraved block—it was his Legate Seal—and invoked the Heavens. After stamping an imprint on the back of Chen Yu’s hand, he gave him a couple of Spirit Stones and Spirit Pills. It was the monthly salary of the initiates Shui Yuan had given him last night. It wasn’t much—not even enough for half a month of cultivation—but it was the basic benefit every sect offered to their initiates. Finally, he said, “Keep up the hard work.”

“Yes, senior brother.” Chen Yu accepted the offering with the utmost seriousness.

“Zhang Hai.”

“I am here!”

“Liu Wu.”

…

Every time someone was called out, Lu Ye would stamp them on the back of their hand and pay them their monthly salary. There wasn’t a single person who wasn’t brimming with happiness.

A million thoughts flashed through Lu Ye’s mind as he stared at the one hundred cultivators in front of the Sanctum of Providence. With this, the Outpost finally possessed the semblance of an Outpost, but they were still a long, long way from true prosperity. None of their new recruits were particularly powerful given that Chen Yu was the only Seventh-Order cultivator among them, and there were only a handful of Sixth-Order or even Fifth-Order cultivators. Worse, none of them were particularly talented, which meant that their cultivation speed was going to be worrisome.

That said, what they lacked in talent, he could make up with sheer quality of Spiritual Qi. He wasn’t done setting up the Gathering Spirits at the training chambers yet, but once he was, their cultivation speed—at least for the early stages of cultivation—should be on par with the average at the very least.

It didn’t take long for the official registration to finish. Once the one hundred initiates were gone, the hundreds of independent cultivators waiting outside the venue came in.

These independent cultivators were here to become associates of the Outpost. They did not get a salary, and their benefits were a tad poorer compared to the initiates. For example, sect disciples would always have priority access to the training chambers.

Lu Ye left it to Hua Ci to process the independent cultivators while he went to the training chambers to set up the Gathering Spirits.

When it was evening, Hua Ci finally messaged him to tell him that the process was done.

Lu Ye rushed back to the Sanctum of Providence where Hua Ci waited for him.

“Let’s begin.”

He was going to improve the Outpost’s concentration of World Spirit Qi. It was also the biggest reward he and Hua Ci had gotten from the Battle Royale of the Legates.

The reason he hadn’t done this immediately after returning to the sect was because he did not want it to influence the independent cultivators’ decision when he began the recruitment.

Of course, it turned out that he had overthought this. Every single independent cultivator in the bazaar had become an initiate or an associate of the Crimson Blood Sect. There were no exceptions.

Once the news had spread, he was sure that more independent cultivators would show up to join them.

At the beginning, every Outpost’s Spiritual Qi was ten percent higher than the wilderness. One must purchase Blessings at the Divine Opportunity Column to improve its concentration.

Before the Battle Royale of the Legates, Lu Ye had purchased a Blessing with five hundred Contribution Points, which put the Outpost’s Spiritual Qi at a total of twenty percent higher than the wilderness.

He had tried to purchase another Blessing only to be informed that he didn’t have enough Contribution Points. Not only that, he was told it required a thousand Contribution Points to purchase the second Blessing.

Lu Ye thought then that he might have to spend exponentially more Contributions to continuously improve the concentration of the Outpost’s World Spiritual Qi. Li Baxian had spoken about this as well.

He checked his Battlefield Imprint. He and Hu Ci had obtained a total of eighty eight Blessings from the Battle Royale of the Legates. They were all the most basic type of Blessing and were worth five hundred Contribution Points each.

While these Blessings could be exchanged for Contribution Points, they could only be exchanged as Sect Contribution Points because they were technically wealth that belonged to the sect.

There was some room for maneuver when exchanging between Sect Contribution Points and Personal Contribution Points. For example, Lu Ye could convert his Personal Contribution into Sect Contribution Points by donating it to the Divine Opportunity Column.

In fact, the reason so many sects were able to purchase Blessings for their Divine Opportunity Column was thanks to their disciples’ donations. There were plenty of things in an Outpost that could only be solved via the concerted effort of many disciples.

The opposite was also true. A Legate was burdened with the important responsibility of guarding an Outpost, so they were granted the special right to obtain a portion of Sect Contribution Points as their monthly salary. The prolegate—in this case, Hua Ci—also possessed the same right.

If a disciple performed exceptionally well or made major contributions to the sect, they could also be rewarded with a certain amount of Contribution Points besides Spirit Stones and Spirit Pills. The Contribution Points would be obtained from the Divine Opportunity Column.

These were all basic knowledge. They were all recorded in the jade slip Li Baxian had given him before.

In the Sanctum of Providence, Lu Ye placed a hand on the Divine Opportunity Column before converting all eighty eight basic Blessings into Sect Contribution Points. The Crimson Blood Sect’s Sect Contribution Points immediately jumped up by forty four thousand.

He did not purchase the Blessings immediately, however. Instead, he used his authority to pay himself and Hua Ci their monthly salary.

Hua Ci noticed this and inspected her own Battlefield Imprint. She was shocked by what she found. “What the heck?”

Her Personal Contribution Points had skyrocketed by four thousand and four hundred points, or ten percent of the total Sect Contribution Points.

It was the same for Lu Ye.

“You were great at the Chess Sea, but your kill count was extremely low, wasn’t it? It’s what you deserve.”

“It’s still too much. I don’t need this many right now.”

“You’ll need it eventually, so just save it until then.”

If it wasn’t for the fact that the monthly salary could not exceed ten percent, he would’ve paid her and himself even more Contribution Points.

He and Hua Ci had put in their blood, sweat and tears to acquire all these Contribution Points. No one could say they were being unfair even if they were to split it half-half and leave nothing for the sect. That said, the Outpost desperately needed to improve its Spiritual Qi concentration right now, not to mention a couple thousand Contribution Points was pretty huge for their current level.