"Is there anything else you find wrong, Junior Brother?"
Fairy Lian Qin asked politely. Her pleasant demeanor made it hard for Jiang Hao to find any faults.
In the end, he could only shake his head and let her leave.
After waiting for a few days, Jiang Hao resumed his cultivation. But just like before, a dull pain thrummed along his meridians whenever he cultivated.
The next day, he appraised the Thousand Feather Flower again, but the results were identical to last time. It seemed that no matter how he transplanted it, the outcome wouldn't change.
"How is this possible?"
Bai Ye pondered, perplexed.
This time, Jiang Hao didn’t bother seeking out Fairy Lian Qin again. If she was this cooperative, then the positioning likely didn’t matter to her. No wonder she regarded it as a masterpiece.
Another day passed.
Jiang Hao started cultivating again, but when that vague pain flared in his meridians, he diverted his focus to appraise himself.
As expected, there were additional findings.
[Status: Affected by the Heaven Extinction Gu Poison as well as Bai Ye's Spirit-Sealing Technique. The Spirit-Sealing Technique was created by Bai Ye. It subtly combines the properties, taste, and aura of spirit herbs without any tangible traces, making it impossible to guard against. However, planting the Black Lotus Flower nearby can nullify it.]
Seeing the appraisal result, Jiang Hao breathed a sigh of relief. He could break it.
However, Black Lotus Flowers weren’t easy to come by. A trip to the Snow Lotus Pavilion would be needed. But this was not a long-term solution; ultimately, he needed to find Bai Ye and understand his cultivation level.
As morning broke, Jiang Hao headed to the Snow Lotus Pavilion. The Black Lotus Seed cost three hundred spirit stones. He left behind a Healing Talisman, sold everything else, and finally bought the Black Lotus Seed.
The next day, he appraised the seed, aiming to find out how to make it grow the fastest.
[Black Lotus Seed: Holds potent medicinal properties, can enhance cultivation when matured. Planting will cause invisible fluctuations, affecting the stability of nearby spiritual energy. Needs one bottle of spiritual liquid daily and will sprout after seven days.]
One bottle of spiritual liquid each day?
Jiang Hao went out again to purchase spiritual liquid, costing thirty spirit stones a bottle.
Spending a total of two hundred and ten, he was now penniless.
The cost of planting the Black Lotus was absurdly high.
Seven days later.
The Black Lotus broke through the soil, rewarding Jiang Hao with a blue bubble.
Staring at the bubble, Jiang Hao began to calculate.
Five hundred spirit stones for a single blue bubble. If he had fifty thousand, could he gain a hundred bubbles in seven days?
With a hundred thousand, could he advance once every seven days? This was faster than mining.
But the key question was, where was he going to get those hundred thousand spirit stones?
After collecting the bubble, Jiang Hao tried cultivating. This time, the pain didn’t return.
White Eye was truly a terrifying person, having delayed him for almost a month.
"Master, why are you growing so many lotuses?" The rabbit asked, shaking the collar around its neck. "The Snow Lotus Flower, Blue Lotus Flower, and now a Black Lotus Flower. Perhaps next time a White Lotus Flower?"
Jiang Hao paused at the comment, taking a closer look. Indeed, the garden housed little else but three different lotuses.
"Collect all seven lotuses and who knows what might happen," Jiang Hao mused quietly.
"What did you say, Master?" the rabbit asked with curiosity.
"Nothing, let’s go to the Spirit Herb Garden," Jiang Hao replied as he exited the garden.
Since something had already been set in motion at the Hundred Bone Forest, there wouldn’t be too many follow-up actions.
The Heavenly Joy Pavilion, meanwhile, was still waiting for the right moment. This allowed him to roam different places within the sect without too much trouble.
Taking advantage of this, he planned to dig deeper into Bai Ye’s activities.
"I heard from others that your name showed up in the sect's tasks for enrolling entry-level disciples. Can I go? Let them recognize the future great demon, Lord Rabbit," the rabbit said with excitement and anticipation.
Picturing the complexity of recruiting disciples, Jiang Hao refused sternly:
"No, you can’t."
Though there were sect tasks, he hadn't noticed; the matter with Bai Ye had worn him out.
He wasn't strong enough and had no backing.
His presence was also all too conspicuous.
It was indeed challenging to survive in the Demonic Sect. He wouldn't have made it this far without something to rely on.
How had others managed?
Speaking of which, he was twenty-two years old already.
He had yet to congratulate himself.
With a slight shake of his head, he arrived at the Spirit Herb Garden.
He went through his routine, collecting bubbles and tending to the spirit herbs.
Then he went to the Law Enforcement Peak to check on his task.
"Recruit disciples at Broken Hearts Cliff, Jiang Hao; minimum total three hundred, maximum total one thousand."
Seeing the task, Jiang Hao was a bit surprised. That many?
"Is it because of the battle with Azure Sky Mountain and the significant losses?"
He recalled being sold to the Demonic Sect, hearing that they needed to recruit at least a hundred disciples.
At the time, the shortage of people led to them scouring around.
That was how he had the fortune of becoming an outer disciple.
Even though entry-level disciples could be recruited freely, they had to have cultivation potential; otherwise, it wouldn’t count.
The sect turned a blind eye to one or two without potential but wouldn’t allow many.
This task felt no easier.
However, he wasn’t the only one tasked with it.
He then noticed the names of four others.
Zheng Shijiu from Icy Moon Valley.
Xin Yuyue from Thunder Fire Peak.
Feng Baifei from Hundred Bone Forest.
Le You from Horizontal Waterfall Sect.
"Two acquaintances, plus one from the Hundred Bone Forest, and one from Horizontal Waterfall Sect."
The two acquaintances probably wouldn’t be problematic, but the Hundred Bone Forest was hard to say.
He hadn’t yet crossed paths with anyone from Horizontal Waterfall Sect.
"Perhaps I could learn something about Bai Ye from the disciple of Hundred Bone Forest."
But it would depend on the opportunity; it couldn’t be rushed.
He was still in the late Gold Core stage.
Though his cultivation had accumulated much strength, he was still a bit away from perfection.
Afterward, he checked the disciple recruitment timing, scheduled for seven days later.
It seemed this didn’t require much preparation. The previous venture to the demon cave allowed a month for preparation.
In comparison, it was clear which was more daunting.
——
Seven days later.
Before setting out, his master called him over, seemingly with something to impart.
On the way, he glanced at his vital qi and cultivation.
[Vital Qi: 89/100 (Cultivation Possible)]
[Cultivation: 83/100 (Cultivation Possible)]
He was close to one hundred, only two months away from achieving a perfect Gold Core.
Though he didn’t know how much more remained before catching up with Bai Ye.
Soon after.
"Master," Jiang Hao respectfully greeted Ku Wuchang.
"Going to recruit disciples today?" Ku Wuchang didn’t waste words, straightforwardly saying, “When recruiting, find three with great potential to bring back to Broken Hearts Cliff.”
Bringing them back early allowed them to become inner disciples ahead of others.
Typically, outer disciples cultivated beyond the twelve main peaks.
Once their cultivation was sufficient, they’d be selected by various peaks as inner disciples.
They could also request to join on their own initiative, provided their cultivation was adequate.
But by bringing them back early, there was no risk of them being snapped up by others.
Disciples recruited had this privilege.
However, everyone could only bring back three.
It wouldn’t affect the bigger picture too significantly.
"Yes," Jiang Hao promptly nodded.
"What would you like in return?" Ku Wuchang didn’t expect Jiang Hao to work for nothing.
I want to mine... Jiang Hao contemplated inwardly but couldn’t express it.
Yet he pondered, if he asked his master to remove the spirit herbs from the Hundred Bone Forest, would his master agree?
However, he didn’t want to alert anyone prematurely.
Once he had gauged Bai Ye’s cultivation strength and boosted his own, he’d venture to the Hundred Bone Forest.
Actions shouldn’t be rushed, but progress made steadily.