"Take in disciples!"
"Must take disciples!!"
"No matter what their aptitudes are, we'll take them all in today!!!"
Zhang Yang was determined in his heart. Holding the sect's disciple record album, he went to open the mountain gate.
Taking in disciples for the sect was also known as opening the mountain gate. Today was the day when the Qingyun Sect opened its mountain gate.
Before Zhang Yang went down the mountain, Third Uncle Master had instructed him that the sect was too poor and that not a single disciple should be taken in during this opening of the mountain gate. He was supposed to think of all ways to eliminate all the disciples who came for the assessment!
However, Zhang Yang didn't plan to do so.
At the mountain gate of the Qingyun Sect, dozens of teenagers, both male and female, were standing there. There were an unusually large number of them.
When these teenagers saw someone from the Qingyun Sect coming, they immediately perked up, subconsciously straightened their backs, and looked at Zhang Yang with eager eyes.
Before they came, they had heard that the assessment of the Qingyun Sect was extremely strict. In the past hundred years, only three people had successfully passed the assessment and entered the Qingyun Sect.
What kind of difficult assessment questions would the Qingyun Sect come up with this time?
Facing the eager eyes of everyone, Zhang Yang smiled and asked, "I'm the person in charge of the assessment for the Qingyun Sect this time. I'd like to ask you all, do you all want to join the Qingyun Sect?"
A group of people nodded vigorously. If they didn't want to join the Qingyun Sect, who would come here?
"To join the Qingyun Sect, all you need is sincerity. I've already felt your sincerity, and you've all passed the assessment." Zhang Yang took out the sect's disciple record album and said to everyone, "Come on, drip your blood on the sect's disciple record album. From now on, you'll be disciples of our Qingyun Sect. My name is Zhang Yang, and I'm your eldest senior brother. Come to me if you have any problems in the future."
"What!?"
All the people waiting for the assessment couldn't help but be stunned.
"Don't you want to join the Qingyun Sect?" Zhang Yang asked.
"I do!"
A chubby boy stood out.
He had reached a dead end, and even if the Qingyun Sect was a pit of fire, he would jump into it.
The chubby boy bit his finger, and with his bleeding finger, he pressed it on the jade album. A flash of light passed by, and the figure of the chubby boy appeared on the jade album. The registration was successful.
Seeing that he had been registered in the sect's disciple record album, the chubby boy felt a huge stone in his heart fall, and he couldn't help showing a happy smile.
The others also reacted and quickly stepped forward one by one, dripping their blood on the jade album one after another.
More and more figures appeared on the album, which alerted Qingyunzi, the current sect leader of the Qingyun Sect who was in seclusion.
Qingyunzi scanned the entire sect area with his vast spiritual sense and instantly understood what had happened.
"Zhang Yang!"
An ethereal voice surged like a tide from Qingyun Peak towards the mountain gate of Qingyun Peak, as if the mountains were speaking. It rang in everyone's ears.
"Master!"
Zhang Yang, who had been smiling, couldn't help but freeze his smile.
"Who told you to take in so many people... Come up here right now!" One could tell from the voice that Qingyunzi was gnashing his teeth.
Zhang Yang quickly said, "Master, don't be impatient. There are still a few people who haven't finished registering. I'll come up immediately after they've registered. Hurry up, whoever hasn't registered in the sect's disciple record album yet, don't blame me if you miss this opportunity."
Although the others had noticed that something was wrong, from what had happened just now, it was indeed an opportunity to join the Qingyun Sect in front of them.
Those who hadn't registered in the album rushed forward and were all successfully registered in the Qingyun Sect's disciple record album.
Zhang Yang put away the sect's disciple record album and said to everyone, "You are all disciples of the Qingyun Sect now. Here's your first task after entering the sect. Run up this mountain road. I'll wait for you in the sect's main hall."
After saying that, he leaped towards the peak.
The others looked at each other and then rushed up the mountain road in a swarm.
Zhang Yang flew back to the sect's main hall. There were already seven people sitting in the hall, both male and female. The one sitting in the middle was Qingyunzi.
At this time, Qingyunzi was glaring at a man with messy hair on his left and scolding him, "Third Brother, I asked you to preside over the ceremony of opening the mountain gate this time. How on earth did you handle this? Why did you entrust such an important matter as opening the mountain gate to that rascal Zhang Yang?"
Third Uncle Master looked aggrieved. "I was busy refining a furnace of pills. It had reached a critical moment, so I asked that kid Zhang Yang to go on my behalf. Before going down the mountain, I had already told him that not a single disciple should be taken in during this opening of the mountain gate. I'd like to ask you, Sect Leader Brother, what's the big deal that has called all of us here?"
When all the people of the Qingyun Sect gathered together, it definitely meant something serious had happened.
Could it be that someone had attacked the Qingyun Sect, a matter related to life and death?
"What's the big deal?" Qingyunzi happened to see Zhang Yang flying in and pointed at him tremblingly. "Ask him. Ask him what he has done. Brat, take out the sect's disciple record album. Take it out and show it to them."
"It's just taking in some disciples!" Zhang Yang muttered and took out the sect's disciple record album and activated it.
When they saw one figure after another emerging from the sect's disciple record album, everyone present was shocked and looked at Third Uncle Master one after another, scolding him, "You're really damned! What's so good about that lousy pill of yours? Why couldn't you go to open the mountain gate yourself and had to let Zhang Yang go instead? Don't you know what kind of person he is? Now it's all over. We won't have any peace!"
Third Uncle Master pounded his chest, unable to say a word.
Qingyunzi let out a long sigh and looked up at the sky helplessly. "In the past three hundred years, our Qingyun Sect has only taken in seven or eight disciples. This time, more than eighty disciples were taken in during the opening of the mountain gate... Heaven is going to destroy our Qingyun Sect!"
"Master, Uncle Masters, it's not that serious!" Zhang Yang comforted the elders.
"Brat, you don't understand. Taking in disciples means we have to provide them with cultivation resources!" Qingyunzi looked worried. "Our Qingyun Sect is poor! With the current resources of the sect, there aren't even enough for the few of us... If it weren't for the fear that there would be no one to continue the sect after we leave, we wouldn't have taken you as a disciple ten years ago.
Now that you've suddenly taken in so many people, what resources do we have to provide them for cultivation?
Taking in disciples for the sect doesn't mean it's over once they're taken in. We have to be responsible for them."
The seven people thought that it was already a headache just to cultivate Zhang Yang. Now suddenly there were seventy or eighty more people... Everyone felt dizzy.
"Elders, listen to me!" Zhang Yang raised his voice. "Precisely because our Qingyun Sect is poor, it's time for us to reform. If we don't reform, our Qingyun Sect will go bankrupt sooner or later! And the beginning of the reform starts with this opening of the mountain gate!"
"Reform?"
The several people looked at each other, a bit confused.
Since they took Zhang Yang up the mountain, they had often heard some new words.
However, these new words were not difficult to understand, and they could also understand their meanings.
"Master, I've read the Qingyun Annals and learned about the history of the Qingyun Sect. A thousand years ago, the Qingyun Sect was a top-notch major sect. At its peak, there were over a thousand disciples and it occupied a vast territory. But now, including you elders and me, there are only eight people in the Qingyun Sect in total.
If the ancestors of past generations knew that the Qingyun Sect had declined to such an extent, they would probably be so angry that they'd jump out of their coffins.
Why has our mighty Qingyun Sect declined to this point?
The first reason is the lack of people.
With more people, things will be easier to handle.
So, the first step of the reform is to take in disciples."
Zhang Yang was impassioned, spitting as he talked. "I've wanted to do this for a long time, but the elders have always disagreed. Finally, I've got the chance to take the first step of the reform. With dozens of disciples taken in this time, the Qingyun Sect is going to soar!"