In the Sacred Land of Mist, Lin Qingyi returned with disappointment, having been unable to find Gongsun Lei. However, as Gongsun Lei's soul jade was still intact, she felt somewhat relieved but was filled with anxiety. While she was deep in thought, an elder came to inform her of recent events: the Shadow Black's escape and the battle between Ye Chen and Ming Hai, which ended with Ming Hai being permanently crippled and sent to the sect's prison for violating sect rules.
Upon hearing these two pieces of news, Lin Qingyi was extremely shocked and angry. The fact that the Shadow Black had escaped and that Ming Hai, a registered disciple of Gongsun Lei, was crippled was deeply troubling. Gongsun Lei had never accepted disciples before, and Ming Hai was a potential candidate. Lin Qingyi decided she would not make any judgments based on what she had heard until she had heard directly from Ye Chen. She instructed Zhang Xinye to summon Ye Chen immediately.
At the same time, she received news that Jiang Yun had taken on eight new followers, which was highly surprising. Jiang Yun had never taken any followers since becoming the Divine Son. Lin Qingyi was even more astonished when she heard the names of some of the followers, such as Chang Ming, Mo Jun, Long Teng, and Chen Wei. She felt familiar with these names but could not recall who they were or their connections, as if something was obstructing her memory.
With growing curiosity, she instructed Zhang Xinye to also summon Jiang Yun and all his followers.
The news of Jiang Yun accepting new followers quickly spread throughout the sect. Everyone was curious to know who these lucky and capable individuals were to become Divine Son's followers. The resources allocated to Divine Son's followers were even greater than those for true disciples. Everyone heard that the highest elder had summoned Jiang Yun, so they gathered to secretly observe the event from the base of the highest elder's peak. The Sacred Deity was also aware of this and watched from a distance with interest.
Jiang Yun brought his eight followers back to his newly repaired peak. Before he could do anything, Zhang Xinye arrived to summon him to meet Lin Qingyi and instructed him to bring all his followers. Lin Qingyi was shocked to see Ming Hai among them and asked with curiosity,
"What is Ming Hai doing here? Shouldn't he be in the sect's prison?"
Ming Hai replied, "I have become a Divine Son's follower."
Zhang Xinye was even more shocked but did not dare ask further for fear of displeasing Jiang Yun. She instructed Jiang Yun to take all his followers to the highest elder's peak immediately and then left to find Ye Chen.
Jiang Yun nodded and used a gentle wave of his hand to create an ice bird, transporting everyone to the highest elder's peak immediately.
Upon arriving at the base of the peak, all the disciples there were shocked to see Ming Hai and a 10-year-old child among the followers, all wearing strange animal masks. Most importantly, none of the nine had any cultivation levels. Many disciples wondered what the Divine Son was doing. These thoughts remained unspoken, hidden within their minds.
The Sacred Deity, watching from a distance, was also shocked to see that all eight followers had the Emperor-level physique but no cultivation levels. Some, like Ming Hai, were even seriously injured. However, he did not rush to a judgment and entered the hall to briefly converse with Lin Qingyi before continuing to observe the situation.
Jiang Yun used the system to hide the true bodies of the eight followers, making it impossible even for the highest-level emperors to detect.
As Jiang Yun and his followers entered the hall, they found several elders and the Sacred Deity gathered there. Everyone paid their respects to Jiang Yun, and Jiang Yun reciprocated the respect to the Sacred Deity and Lin Qingyi. Lin Qingyi was slightly surprised to see Ming Hai but gave a slight nod.
After everyone had arrived, except for Ye Chen who had not yet arrived, Lin Qingyi began questioning Jiang Yun, "Why have you taken on followers now, and there are as many as nine of them?"
Jiang Yun replied calmly, "I just needed trustworthy servants."
Lin Qingyi was surprised and asked further, "But they have been granted the position of Divine Son's followers. You know that Divine Son's followers must be thoroughly vetted, and the resources they will receive are immense once they pass the tests. You must have chosen those who passed the tests as your followers. It is the rule. How can we trust that they are not spies or even worthy of the resources they receive? What do you think?"
Jiang Yun confidently responded, "The Sacred Land does not need to provide resources for them. Simply being known as my followers and having the right to compete for a position among the top 100 strongest is sufficient."
Ming Hai, standing behind Jiang Yun, was greatly surprised but trusted Jiang Yun.
Lin Qingyi was shocked but still had doubts because it was almost impossible for all nine to train to the top 100 within six months, especially with a 10-year-old child and some being injured or crippled, even though they all had Emperor-level physiques.
Although Lin Qingyi had doubts, she trusted her disciple and said, "Alright, I will trust you this time."
However, the Sacred Deity did not think the same way.
The Sacred Deity asked Jiang Yun in a calm tone, "Could you please remove their masks?"
Jiang Yun smiled slightly and instructed all his followers to remove their masks. As the masks were removed, a silence fell over the hall. All the elders were stunned to see the true faces of the followers... as they saw the extremely unappealing faces of all eight. However, the Sacred Deity still found it odd and inquired about what had happened to them privately to Jiang Yun. Jiang Yun responded,
"Their village was attacked by the Blood Demon Sacred Land. I found them while they were fleeing from demon cultivators in a severely injured state and saved them. When I was searching for the second elder, I found it strange that everyone from their village had various special physiques, which I discovered came from some strange trees, but they were all uprooted. I believe they were removed by the Blood Demon Sacred Land." He then immediately tossed a photo to the Sacred Deity.
Everyone was slightly surprised when Jiang Yun suddenly threw something to the Sacred Deity. The Sacred Deity inspected the photo and finally resolved his doubts. He then explained everything to Lin Qingyi and smiled, thinking that the upcoming battle of the realms was becoming quite interesting. He instructed Jiang Yun to return, providing resources to the eight followers equivalent to those of true disciples, and Ming Hai's violation of the sect's rules was forgiven.
As Jiang Yun was about to take his leave, the system's voice suddenly sounded.
Ding [Fortune's Daughter Detected]
At that moment, six people walked into the hall in front of Jiang Yun.