The ship slowly descended in front of a huge gate which was engraved with two angel wings surrounded by numerous lines, it was the Divine Wind Sect's emblem.
The elder walked in followed by the lines of new disciples. The two disciples at the gate bowed and opened it with a respectful expression, "We welcome back Elder Yan!"
They were wearing white robes, which according to Elder Yan's description meant they were outer sect disciples. On the other hand, blue robes were assigned to inner sect disciples, and green robes were allocated to elders and deacons.
One of the disciples with an incomplete spirit root asked Elder Yan about the color of the robes of the core sect disciples. But he was simply met with a snicker of disdain making his face turn red in embarrassment.
Once they had passed the gates, they were met with a huge staircase that seemed like it led towards the heavens.
"Are we there yet?" One of the new disciples with a low martial realm was already exhausted from climbing stairs for almost an hour.
Elder Yan simply smiled, "if you can't even endure this much, how can you aspire to become a cultivator?"
The disciple nodded with an ugly face, 'what does walking have to do with cultivation', he thought but didn't dare to voice his complaints.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a huge pagoda appeared before their eyes, its scale and grandeur shocking them to no end. Most of them were nobles who had seen various palaces and castles, but they all paled in comparison to this pagoda. It wasn't something that could be built by the hand of mortals.
Inside the pagoda, an old man wearing bright green robes was sitting cross-legged. As soon as their group entered, he opened his eyes greeting Elder Yan with a smile, "Brother Yan, how was your harvest?".
Elder Yan smiled mysteriously, "Brother Lei, our sect is going to welcome a new monster"
Elder Lei was confused, urging Elder Yan to explain.
"Are you aware of rare spirit roots?", Elder Yan asked.
Elder Lei nodded, "The sect leader has the only rare spirit root in the sect, a low-grade lightning spirit root", he said worship evident in his gaze.
"Well...", Elder Yan paused for a long time relishing in Elder Lei's irritation, "In the recruitment ceremony at the Radiant Sun Empire, I managed to recruit a disciple with Light spirit roots"
Elder Lei was amazed, it should be noted that even in their whole continent, the number of people with rare spirit roots could be counted on two hands, and most of them were powerhouses at the level of sect leaders.
"What about the grade?", He asked with an anxious expression, if the grade is too low then it doesn't matter how rare the spirit root is, it will simply be wasted.
"It's just average", he said making Elder Lei's expression sink, "just Mid-grade"
"WHAT?!", Elder Lei couldn't keep his calm as he jumped up to his feet.
After making sure that Elder Yan wasn't kidding, he instantly brought out a communication talisman and sent an urgent message to all of the elders in the sect. This was the most important event that had happened since the last sect war.
Several minutes later, Powerful auras approached the pavilion with terrifying speeds. A dozen old men wearing green robes entered the pavilion led by a middle-aged man with sharp features and a dreadful pressure making everyone who dared look into his eyes feel like their souls had been struck by lightning.
"Sect Leader!", The two elders bowed, prompting the new disciples to also bow rather awkwardly.
He spoke with a deep echoing voice, "Brother Lei, where is the disciple with the rare spirit root?", making Elder Lei point at Lin Fang.
Lin Fang, unflustered, bowed slightly neither humble nor overbearing, "Disciple Fang greets sect leader"
The sect leader nodded his head in approval and directly asked, "Do you want to be my disciple?"
The law enforcement elder interjected with an irritated expression, "You already have a disciple Brother Chen, and with your already limited time you will be wasting the potential of this new gem", He said making the other elders nod in agreement.
After all, the sect leader's faction had monopolized the position for centuries and they knew that letting him take Lin Fang, would guarantee that his faction would monopolize the position for another generation.
The elders continued arguing for several minutes, making the new disciples' jaws drop in shock.
"why are they not fighting over me?", whispered one of the new disciples his eyes filled with jealousy.
One of the elders catching his words simply shooed them away with an angry expression, "What are you still doing here? get your robes and scram to your quarters!"
The new disciples rushed out of the pavilion with wronged looks, vowing to make the elders regret looking down on them and to catch up to Lin Fang, unaware that the gap between them would only get larger.
Just as the argument was getting more heated, an old man appeared out of thin air and spoke in a soothing voice, "Why not let the young man decide for himself?"
Instantly, the room turned silent as if the elders didn't dare to argue anymore, "it's your choice disciple Fang, choose wisely", said the Sect Leader with a deep voice.
Lin Fang didn't hesitate, he had been closely examining the Elders during their argument, and at first, he felt that the sect leader would be the best choice since he was emitting the strongest aura and also had a rare spirit root.
However, the arrival of the old man changed everything, he had a gut feeling that the old man was the strongest out of all the elders.
"is elder willing to take me as his disciple?", said Lin Fang with respect his eyes locked on the old man.
The old man exploded with laughter, "I only came here to stop these bickering kids", he said making the elders grimace, "I didn't expect to get a disciple"
The elders were dumbfounded, "d-does that mean?",asked one of the elders aware that this old man had never taken a disciple before no matter how much they begged him.
The old man nodded his deep eyes scanning Lin Fang in approval, "I will take him as my disciple"