Bright early in the morning, the sun had yet to rise.
In Qingyun Dao Sect of Qingzhou region.
It was an unqualified sect.
It did not even have a rank and was the type of sect that could vanish any time.
In the main hall today, there were only seven disciples of the Qingyun Dao Sect who were all excited and nervous at this moment.
It was because their Sect Leader had sent a letter three days ago to tell them that the Qingyun Dao Sect would soon welcome its eighth disciple.
Yes, they were going to be receiving a Junior Brother soon.
Perhaps for other sects, there was nothing special about having a new member in the sect.
However, for the Qingyun Dao Sect, it was a herculean task to gain a new member.
Sects were similar to the forces of the mortal world. Most cultivators joined Dao sects with the intention of finding a powerful backer.
Putting aside the bonus of resources, even for sects without resources, the stronger ones would be safer.
Disciples of smaller sects would have to suck it up and bear with the humiliation of getting bullied.
On the other hand, when disciples of larger sects were bullied, they would have the support of their sect, which would have their backs.
That was also the reason that many newly-advanced cultivators would choose to join stronger sects.
The larger sects would never look down on the new cultivators either. In fact, they would even take extra care of them.
No one was a fool and no sect would be so arrogant as to reject new disciples.
As a result, the strong sects became stronger while the weak ones became weaker.
For sects like the Qingyun Dao Sect, a new disciple would join only once in a blue moon.
Now that they had heard that there would be a new disciple joining, how could the members of the sect not be excited?
How could they not be elated?
In the main hall of the Qingyun Dao Sect, seven figures were seated.
There were five male and two female members, the former seated on the left while the latter sat on the right.
At this moment, the seven of them seemed rather nervous and excited.
However, at this very juncture, the first man from the left took the initiative to speak up, breaking the silence in the hall.
"Fellow Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters, we have recruited a new disciple to our Qingyun Dao Sect, which is something worth rejoicing over."
"However, considering the issues that happened previously, Master has repeatedly instructed in his letter that we must not be too enthusiastic towards this Junior Brother and not let him think that we are useless or that we are in need of members."
"Hence, we must stay calm and behave like experts. We should try our best to be as steady as possible. As long as this Junior Brother stays in our sect for an entire year, we can submit the audit file or the third-grade sect," said the first man on the left.
He was not old and seemed to be about 27 or 28 years old. His eyebrows were like swords and he had a pair of starry eyes. Although he was wearing a plain robe, his face gave off an inexplicable vibe and he seemed like a peerless swordsman.
His name was Su Changyu.
He was the eldest Senior Brother of the Qingyun Dao Sect.
After he said his piece, the disciples nodded one after another.
"We understand."
They chorused solemnly in unison.
However, after saying that, everyone fell silent again.
After a short while, someone spoke, once again breaking the silence.
"Eldest Senior Brother, I can stay calm, but how do we lie to him? With our cultivation level, I'm afraid we'd let the cat out of the bag easily."
The man who asked that question with a frown was about 24 to 25 years old and had a delicate appearance.
He was the second Senior Brother of the sect, Xu Luochen.
Xu Luochen seemed a little vexed.
He could stay calm and at most, he would just remain silent. However, he really did not know how to lie to others.
After he said that, the other disciples began to look worried too.
They were still young and although they had gained some experience in the world, their personalities were still pure and untainted. They might fool others but it was hard for them to cheat.
The disciples stayed silent.
After a while, their eldest Senior Brother Su Changyu spoke again slowly, "In fact, all of you may have gotten the wrong idea. We're not necessarily cheating him in the true sense, but rather, we're just portraying ourselves as experts. Master has stated in his letter that our new Junior Brother is a newbie who doesn't know a thing about cultivation."
"We just have to exaggerate a little when we're talking about our forte. For example, you can tell him that I'm good at the Sword Dao, which he cannot comprehend at all. Junior Brother Luochen, since you're good at refining pills, just teach him some pill-refining skills that can't be put into practice at all."
"Although our lies will be exposed sooner or later, there should be no problem to keep it under wraps for a year. After one year, the Qingyun Dao Sect will be qualified to submit the audit file. Once our Dao Sect advances to the third grade, our lives will get better."
When Su Changyu mentioned about advancing to the third grade, he couldn't hide the smile on his face at all.
"Senior Brother, we get it now. We just have to lie to him for a year. If he finds out after a year and thinks it's unacceptable, we'll let him leave on his own accord."
"If he is willing to accept it, he will enjoy some benefits once we get lucky and advance to the third grade. No matter what, we won't shortchange him."
Xu Luochen said so with a look of certainty.
He was actually comforting himself, because after all, it was still a lie.
However, he had no choice since the Qingyun Dao Sect was poor and pathetic. For the sake of the sect's livelihood, he had no other option.
"Senior Brothers and Senior Sister, don't worry. Maybe the new disciple is a prodigy and can pick up everything we teach him. If that's the case, we won't owe him an explanation."
The most junior female disciple said so.
She tried to comfort everyone, lest they felt guilty.
However, her words made everyone smile.
Prodigy?
Frankly speaking, how talented can one be if they chose to join the Qingyun Dao Sect?
Why would a talented person join the Qingyun Dao Sect?
Not to mention the Immortal World, within the territory of Qingzhou alone, there were many large sects which would hold a Grand Immortal Ascension Meet annually to select some disciples and send many of their existing disciples to recruit members who were fated with immortality.
In other words, all candidates, regardless of their aptitude, were welcome to join the selection. Anyway, it would cost nothing to give it a try and they wouldn't have to give the candidates many resources. It was a free selection, so what was there to lose?
Hence, the chance of smaller sects recruiting talents was almost zero.
So what if an assuming sect could produce a talent?
The other immortal sects would immediately try to poach the talent once they caught wind of it. They would first shower the talent with plenty of resources, then suppress him or her with power, and then send some attractive disciples of the sect to tempt them.
Frankly speaking, who could resist that?
Hence, the possibility of the Qingyun Dao Sect recruiting a genius was zero, unless a miracle happened.
"Okay, if nothing goes wrong, our new Junior Brother will be arriving at noon tomorrow. This is my last reminder for all of you."
"Stay calm! Stay calm! You must stay calm! You must behave indifferently and show your nonchalance at all times. The more you act like this, the more convinced he will be. No matter what he does, you have to downplay it. Even if he's talented, you must criticize him and make him seem worthless.
"Besides, we will not take the initiative to look for him. It must be the other way round, so from now on, we'll proceed with what we have to do. Got it?"
Su Changyu once again emphasized.
"We understand."
Everyone nodded without raising any objections.
Just like that, the seven of them gradually left the main hall.