Every year, tens of thousands of disciples would compete to enter the Starfall Mountain Sect, yet only a fraction of them would succeed in the end.
As a sect known for choosing quality over quantity, Starfall Mountain Sect would increase or decrease recruitment depending on their future agenda. Over time though, the number they accepted steadily decreased.
This year, like in the past hundred or so years, the sect chose to accept only a thousand disciples.
The recent version of the ceremony itself was a rather simple affair. Selections themselves were already handled by the minor elders over the course of a month. All that was left was for the final thousand initiates to don the sect colors and line up, so that the Core elders could take them in as direct disciples if they desired.
The venue of the ceremony reflected the grandeur of the Starfall Mountain Sect. Audience seats were originally made to hold over a million guests, and they were all made of high-grade white jade. Due to disuse, the floating secondary arenas were sealed by the power of space. The final thousand disciples only occupied a small section of the main arena.
Many roads inside the sect connected to this structure to signify its importance. A sect couldn't survive without new disciples, and Starfall Mountain Sect knew this lesson well.
And yet, the ceremony nowadays was mostly held out of tradition, rather than being a grand affair.
Inside, sitting in luxurious-looking chairs, looking at the venue from above, yellow-robed elders of the Starfall Mountain were watching over the children as they lined up.
"Quality of this year's disciple is even worse than last year. If it wasn't for the Meng and Lin family children, it would have been a disgrace…" An elder sighed with emotion.
"Elder Xiao speaks the truth. I fear the overall quality of the new generations has been getting worse over the past few decades."
Elders inside started nodding with grave faces. Who among them wouldn't know the significance of new disciples?
"That little Lin brat, his talent is quite good, but his temperament needs some work. Any takers on him?" This smiling elder was Ju Yang. He was respected by disciples but was a bit of an oddball among elders. Every year he would take a few new disciples without exception. His teaching methods were considered a somewhat unorthodox, but due to their effectiveness, no one would dare to say anything. Even as a cultivator, this elder would consider himself a teacher first.
Hearing his words, an elder with a magnificent mustache smiled. "Elder Yang, are you aiming for his fire roots? I would've thought you would aim for that little guy with the decent contrasting roots instead."
"Contrasting roots are interesting Elder Yan as you said. However, this year I am more interested in special bloodlines. As you know I specifically didn't select any disciples with special bloodlines for the past 20 years as I have accumulated new ideas. Now I feel the time is ripe for some experiments!"
*Cough* *Cough* "Ehm, Elder Yang always has profound ideas, I'm sur-…"
Elder Xiao was trying to change the subject until he saw something unexpected outside. An elder of the sect had their own dignity; they would seldom display their emotions, or allow them to affect their actions. Him stopping mid-sentence naturally attracted other elders' attention and compelled them to seek the cause of this interruption.
What they saw outside using their spiritual sense, was the youngest elder in their sect history, walking towards the ceremony venue. The son of the current sect master, Elder De, listening to a gray-robed disciple, while walking!
Though they would never say it out loud, the arrogance of Elder De was well known. Some would even say well deserved. Why would someone of his stature, would deign mingle with the lesser crop?
Although as dignified elders they wouldn't listen in on another Elder's conversation, they could still hear surrounding outside disciples' whispers with their powerful spiritual senses.
"I-is that Elder De?"
"W-what is he doing with the gray robe? How could that guy offend him this much?"
"What an idiot, even if you want to seek death don't seek it from Elder De…"
"Young Mast... I mean Elder De seems to be heading somewhere?"
"The way they are headed towards is the disciple ceremony…? That can't be right?"
The disciples near the path of Elder De were trying to retreat as inconspicuously as possible while trying to keep a cautious eye on the two. Knowing Elder De's temperament, no sane disciple would risk walking on the same path! What if they offended Elder De by their very existence?!
Meanwhile, Han De couldn't figure out the situation he was in. He wasn't using his spiritual sense, as he thought listening to a private conversion without consent would be a serious invasion of privacy. Even if the other party was a disciple!
This much was obvious to him, the office worker.
That didn't prevent him from noticing their gaze, however. Everywhere they went, he felt the eyes of the disciples were following him. Occasionally, he tried to slowly look in the direction of these disciples, only to see them -aggressively- go about their business!
This caused no small amount of frustration! Han De was trying to learn how to act like old Han De, and couldn't make swift head movements in fear of breaking his character and image! And thus, he couldn't even catch a glimpse of these disciples with their swift movements!
While listening to the gray-robed disciples voice that was getting faster each passing minute, Han De saw an absent-minded girl walking towards them. Finally, there was someone he could get feedback from!
Just as they were about to pass each other, the girl raised her head and made eye contact with Han De. Being in character, Han De faintly smiled and even more faintly nodded to her, then casually walked past while maintaining his normal posture!
Success! Or so he thought, until he caught the girl's expression from the corner of his eye. Not only all blood had drained from her face, but she looked as if she had eaten a bug!
'…'
What was the appropriate Xianxia reaction to greeting a random disciple? Han De thought there was something wrong with this picture!
He searched his memory for any sort of interaction with the girl, but unfortunately, he couldn't find any. Then he suddenly realized something. He hadn't looked in a mirror ever since he had arrived in this world!
Cultivating for 6 hours straight? He had already done that! But it didn't even occur to him once to inspect his own body! Perhaps because everything about his body felt so natural, Han De had overlooked this. But it still seemed somewhat strange to forget something fundamental like that.
Some memories of the original Han De looking into a mirror resurfaced at once. Though it seems he looked rather nice, Han De realized something else! His body was of Asian descent!
Back on Earth, he would visit Chinatown every so often since it was close to where he lived. Seeing so many Asian people didn't feel strange. And now that he thought about it, being an Asian in a Xianxia made some sense!
Then, he made another discovery.
'S#$%! I grew up in Pennsylvania as a white dude! Some of these disciples look like they are the same person!?'
Couple with the fact that this was a completely another world, and fantasy world on top of that, and a Xianxia world on top of that, could it be that his aesthetic senses were skewed?
'… Please don't tell me this Han De is actually a legendary ugly face! F#$%... Everyone dotes on this guy; can they even tell him that he looks F#$% ugly?! F###$%... At least give an average-looking face! Motherf#$%&#!... Why did I transmigrate into this guy, I swear to god…'
Truly, it was a good thing that he was trying to stay in the character of the original Han De. Because he looked absolutely peaceful while cursing at his luck with everything he got!
Meanwhile, just after Han De passed the unassuming girl, everyone at ground zero was holding their breath.
"B-brother.."
"Youn... Elder De doesn't look at just any passing disciple… Let alone smile…"
"Did Elder De just…"
"Brother, he did"
"Heavens!"
The girl with the pale face dazedly looked at the five boys making a ruckus. She quickly realized they were the infamous Tan family quintuples. They were a sticky bunch; she and her friends had suffered from their persistent behavior for a while.
The quintuplets flinched once they saw the girl looking at them!
"S-sister. N-no! E-elder Sister! How do you do!"
"Elder sister please forgive these idiots, they are not worth your attention, I will discipline them when we get back, you don't have to worry!"
"Yes, now that Elder De claimed you as his woman, you don't have to worry about being bullied or anything."
"Yes, fear not elder sister, for we have the tightest lips in the sect!"
"Of course, who would seek death by angering Elder De's woman!"
The Tan brothers agreed with each other with profound expressions and quickly left. Other disciples near ground zero knew that the news would soon be known far and wide. A while after everyone left, the girl finally caught up to the meaning of the Tan brothers' conversion. Her pale blood drained face was now a deep shade of crimson as she looked towards where Han De went.
Elders inside the venue all had dark faces after inadvertently witnessing the commotion made by the disciples.
"Maybe we should decrease the number of disciples we take."
"Perhaps 500 would be fine for this year?"
"No, we already made the decision for 1000, if we went back, we would just lose face."
"Then we can reduce it starting next year, we should bring the matter forward at the meeting."
"If it is next year then I think even 500 is too much, perhaps 250, maybe a 100…"
Elder Yan was silent, but his liver was in pain. He knew that Han De didn't wish to take in a disciple, but nevertheless, Han De was the sect leader's only son. What could Elder Yan do but give him some face and send an invite?
The gray robe servant that he sent collapsed after Han De entered the venue. Did this brat take offense to not getting personally invited by an elder, and decided to take it out on that poor servant? Was he planning to interfere with the ceremony as well? Elder Yan started considering whether to appease Han De.
Meanwhile, Han De slowly climbed the stairs. Although his confidence was a little shaken, he decided not to take one experience into his heart. In his memories, there were no instances of the original being treated as ugly. It was true that he did not have any lovers, concubines, or Dao companions, but this wasn't a surprise. The original guy was a cultivation maniac in his mid-20s; there weren't a lot of interactions with peers of his age.
Han De walked toward the lounge with a carefree attitude. Confidence was one of the key elements of the original's character, along with an unhealthy amount of pride, of course. While he was busying himself with his performance, a yellow-robed middle-aged man with a wuxia mustache stood up to greet him.
"Elder De, I didn't think you would attend the ceremony this year. Are you thinking about getting a disciple after all? Your self-created Heaven Defying Tyrannical Sword is legendary, I'm sure any of these initiates would jump at the chance of becoming the first disciple of such a dashing figure!"
Han De looked relaxed on the outside, but inside he was racking his brain!
'Who is this wuxia uncle?! Heaven Defying Tyrannical Sword is legendary?! Didn't the System say it was trash?! Wait, dashing figure? Did this wuxia mustache S#$% just throw some shade at me? Wait, S#$%, I need to respond!'
In a panic, Han De couldn't think of how the cultivation maniac Han De would respond, rather his mind went back to the Xianxia's he read.
"Although this elder reached the mid-stage of the Core Formation realm, this elder still needs some time to grasp more of the great Dao. Still, it is never a bad idea to check what the next generation is doing as I'm sure Elder Yan would agree."
For just a tiny sliver of a moment, Elder Yan had a look of disdain, then switched to a benign smile after seemingly remembering something. "You don't need to be humble yourself Elder De, you are the youngest elder in our long history, and your Sword Dao is among the strongest! But please, let us take a seat! It would be my honor to sit beside a dashing young figure like yours! Haha!"
Han De was delighted at first. 'ALRIGHT! Haha! I knew reading so many Xianxia novels would come in handy someday! I can bulls#$% my way through with this! It works! All I have to do is to put a stupid faint smile on my face!
... But, what's with the 'dashing figure' again. What did I do to this uncle? Is this an insult to my face, or just some kind of cheap flattery?' The conflicting feedback only served to confuse Han De. A faint frown appeared on his face, to the surprise of no one.
Elder Yan too noticed it, but gave up with a sigh from inside. He gave Han De enough face according to his own standards; what was he getting offended by? Still, he took a note of this so he could try to make amends later.
Han De took the seat right beside Elder Yan, and the discussion between the elders started anew.
"That kid with the scar doesn't seem that bad, he seems to have a type of Giant bloodline…"
"Oooh, I might get that, never had a Giant bloodline before!"
"If you really want ancient bloodlines, you should look at that little girl with Fairy bloodline, her talent is pretty good too."
"Fairy bloodline interferes with sword-based cultivations, it wouldn't be good for Elder Yang as he favors sword Dao, her Fairy bloodline isn't thin either."
"Elder Xiao, are you looking for a disciple this year?"
"Perhaps if I could find the right one. I'm looking for a pure elemental root, but contrasting or compound ones might be acceptable, but their quality must be rather high!"
"Then it means you are eyeing the Meng family heir are you not?"
The random elder smiled profoundly "Perhaps, we shall see…"
Listening to the conversations, Han De was a little shaken. 'How are you people even telling who has what bloodline?! Do all of you have a supermarket brochure in front of you or something? Why do I not have one?!'
After giving it some thought, Han De thought it was clear that they were using their spiritual sense.
By now, he had only spent about eight hours in this world, six of them were spent in bitter cultivation. The feeling of being an alien in a strange land grew as he interacted with more people, and listened to their conversations. Using spiritual sense in such circumstances… seemed risky!
What could he do with his spiritual sense, what type of actions were acceptable, what would offend people, he had no idea. He decided to do some experiments after the ceremony, using the relevant memories.
Then, his thoughts went to the quest and its requirement of 30 potential points. Surely, the System would have a status check function, right?
He looked at the girl that supposedly had the Fairy bloodline.
[Name: Hung An]
[Race: Human (99.4%) / Spirit Butterfly (0.6%)]
[Gender: Female]
[Age: 11]
[Cultivation: Qi Condensation (2/13) (31.12%)]
[Constitution: None]
[Bloodline: Minor Wood Fairy (false) - Concentration (27.5%)]
[Roots: Wood (26.1%) / Wind (14.7%)]
[Potential Points (Total: 10)]
[Will: 3]
[Talent: 2]
[Comprehension: 3]
[Luck: 2]
[Fate]
[Cannon fodder]
[Notes]
[Cannot be accepted as a disciple.]