Confidently, one of the youths walked up towards the stone and placed his hand onto the glowing stone, resulting in a green glow.
Not only was he disappointed, everyone present was shocked. That youth was believed to be one of the top geniuses and yet he was only average to someone of Ace and Cidd's caliber?
"Everyone present, I would need you to spread the news of me looking for potential talents to every single town or village nearby. I would be leaving the moment no one else is interested."
"I'll see to that right away." One of the soldiers accepted the order and headed off after getting onto a horse.
"Who's next." Ace asked as though nothing happened. To him however, all he really cared about was finding someone with talent that emits a blue glow and above.
Cultivators after cultivators, walked up and tried, yet no one managed to emit a blue glow. Not even a trace of it. All that's left, were a few youths around his age who were eyeballing towards him and the stone but afraid to step out.
"The four of you, come out and try if you're interested." Ace pointed towards them, only for one of them to step out and say, "We're known to be untalented anyways!"
"Remember, if you allow any chance to slip past you as a cultivator, all hope is lost and being a mortal would probably be the best choice you can make."
Those were the only words of advice Ace could give, the decision was still up to the four youths.
"I'll try first." The first youth stepped out and to his expectations, he only emitted a faint white glow from the stone, the same went to the second and third youth.
In the end, only a single youth was left. His attitude was nonchalant to be exact. He had long black white which covered his left eye and he was unwilling to step out, but the youths around him were persuading him.
"Big brother, just go up there! We know you've been neglecting your cultivation because you don't want to abandon us."
"Don't worry Ray, go out there and spread your wings! The world beyond this town is where you belong!"
"Don't worry you little fool, haven't we held you back enough?"
"You three...I'll remember this." The youth by the name Ray said with tears glistening in his eyes, for the first time in his life, he showed his true cultivation as a 15 years old cultivator.
He was an early stage Martial Master.
"Sect master Ace, please allow me to give it a try." Ray asked politely as he placed his hand on the talent stone after receiving Ace's permission.
In the end, everyone was surprised besides Ray himself, he sparked the orange glow as well, he himself was a genius that was only beneath Ace in terms of talent.
"Everyone, I'm sorry for concealing my talent this entire time. As such, I'll be showing everyone my true strength today."
Ray said, his palm facing Ace, "Be careful sect master."
Ace smiled as he drew out his sword, his strength wasn't enough for him to ignore the threat of a Martial Master yet.
Energy gathered around Ray's palm, most cultivators present may not identify it, not even Ace or Charlotte.
"Be careful sect master, that's the light element." Cidd cautioned from the side as he prepared to intervene if needed.
"Show me your strength Ray."
Ace said as a dazzling beam of energy threatened to tear through the air which made way for it.
"Scarlet Frenzy first slash: Unbalanced harmony!"
The unbalanced came from the opposing elements fire and ice, the harmony came from them coming together against natural odds.
As for the second slash, Ace was incapable of understanding it in the slightest..
The sword wave blocked the beam for a moment before vanishing into mist and exploding, but the attack still continued to make its way towards Ace.
"Cidd."
Hearing his name, Cidd dissolved the attack easily, Ace walking towards Ray.
"Not bad, from now on, you'll be the third disciple of my sect." Ace told Ray as another batch of geniuses interested to test their potential talent and maybe enroll into a sect arrived.
"Cidd, Ray, stand behind me now."
Cidd did as told while Ray seeked permission before going to search for his friends. It might be the last time they spend time together.
Out of every batch of close to hundred youths, there would only be one or two blue talents which were considered better than average at least. That might seem like the case, but they would definitely be a core disciple in any other sect on the seven continents.
In the end, 27 more disciples were recruited as Ace made his way back to the sect. Only to realise that he forgot to settle another problem.
"Anyone here interested in becoming the chef of my sect?"
His invitation to recruit one last person caused an uproar as people after people tried to volunteer themselves, yet none of them had met his expectations.
What he wanted wasn't just a chef capable of cooking, but someone with the spirit chef profession.
In this world, spirit chefs are capable of cooking food that provide cultivation benefits such as the enhancement of one's foundation, increasing cultivation slightly, increasing body strength...the results might be slight, but if eaten over a long time, the benefits will stack in the long run.
"Um...I'm a spirit chef...would you consider taking me in…" A young girl stepped out from among the crowd and whispered softly, but Ace still heard her.
Looking around, he asked, "What about your family?"
After he asked, an old man walked out from the crowd and said, "I'm her grandfather, her parents had left a long time ago claiming that they had to settle something, but ever since then, I've never heard news about them."
"That...if I join, can my grandfather join me?"
"Of course, each disciple has their own dwelling that can accommodate up to four people, those of you who are interested can bring along your family or friends." Ace said as he eyeballed towards Ace, signalling to him that he can bring his friends along which he did intend to.
"Thank you sect master!" At once, most of the new disciples thanked him while some requested for permission to bring their family members along before entering the sect.
"No worries, just remember, as long as you're my disciple for one day, I'll shelter you in the case of troubles. But if you commit evil, don't blame me for being merciless and being the one to settle you through my own hands." Ace said coldly, but his words were direct and struck every disciple.
We can't disappoint our sect master.
"Alright everyone, my sect would be opening up a pavilion in any town or village that's interested so please feel free to look for elder Clarissa and Arith from my sect to discuss the details if you're interested." Right when Ace finished speaking, he was already leaving as the disciples followed after him.
Members: 3 elders, 30 disciples (33/100)
"Charlotte, I think I just caused another problem…" Ace whispered into her ear on the way.
"What is it?"
"Clarissa and Arith can't handle all of them meetings at once while refining that many elixirs…"
"You fool!"
Hearing Charlotte suddenly shouting at Ace, the male disciples looked at each other awkwardly before looking back towards their sect master, their eyes saying one thing.
Good luck sect master.
As for the female disciples, they just laughed it off.
"But still...I need to settle this problem as soon as possible…"