Immediately people began to vacate the plaza. Azure Leaf's recruitment had been announced prior to the founding so they already understood the requirements. Prospective disciples must be between 10 and 16 years old, otherwise they wouldn't be recruited. Naturally those who were younger than 10, if they qualified, could join at a later date but if someone was above 16 without shocking talent the Sect had no interest in them.
Once they left Ren looked over at the disciples. "We Elders will be taking 3 disciples each. This is a one time opportunity seeing as those of you who qualify will be our first generation of disciples." Ren explained his aura imposing as it washed over the youngsters.
"To begin the process form into 4 lines in front of us Elders, we will each be holding an orb like this. I am sure some of you are familiar with this, its a Talent Tester. If you touch the orb and provoke a reaction it would be equivalent to having a talent of 1, in which case you qualify to be a disciple. If you provoke no reaction then you will be rejected." Ren explained as each of the Elder's took out a pearl like orb.
Hearing this a lot of the prospective disciples already had looks of dismay. A number of them had naturally tested their talent for cultivation before and knew they didn't qualify. They were hoping that the test might involve combat or a challenge of some sort since they still had some cultivation despite their lower levels of talent.
The testing process passed by smoothly. Hundreds of kids had to be tested, so those who failed were hurried along while the few who passed stood behind their respective Elders. After about an hour the testing process concluded. Of the near 500 who had been tested, only 48 had passed. Each with a talent grade of 1.
"All right. With the testing process concluded we will be taking you all to the Merit Hall, there we'll register you and give you a medallion. After which you will be given a day to go settle your matters at home and report back to the Sect." Ren explained as he motioned them to follow him up the mountain.
Out of the four Elders Ren was the only one who spoke to the disciples. Naturally this wasn't because the Elders had nothing to say, but rather to streamline the process. While not officially, Ren was treated as a Vice Sect Master of sorts so the other three were willing to defer to him in regards to the recruitment process.
After walking up the mountain for about 5 minutes, they reached a fork in the path. Taking the path on the left they soon found themselves in front of a grand hall. It was made of a sort of wood and had "Merit" written on its front. The roof was azure in colour and even the children of nobility looked at it with some surprise.
Upon entering Ren and two of the other Elders stood to the side. Now a younger looking Elder took charge. He had slightly wavy brown hair, and sharp hazel eyes. He looked to be one of the younger Elders maybe around 30 years old.
Making his way behind the main desk at the Merit Hall, he cleared his throat. "Ahem. I am Elder Jin, in charge of the Merit Hall and general finances of the Sect. In this case I am also in charge of your registration. Please form a line, I will need you to tell me your name and origin I will then provide a medallion and you can make your way back home. You must be back at the foot of the mountain by noon tomorrow." He introduced himself as he gestured the disciples to line up.
In a matter of minutes he registered all 48 disciples and they made their way down the mountain. "Tch. These kids are slow, not only that some of them are as meek as sheep." Jin complained turning to his fellow Elders.
"They're not bad you're just petty and love to complain." Ren replied as he looked towards the other two Elders hoping they'd agree. To his left there was an old man, he truly embodied the idea of an "Elder", his hair having already gone grey, his face covered with a long and majestic beard.
"Ren is right Little Jin. Some of them are quite young, not to mention they must be intimidated by our presence. We'll know more about their personalities with further testing." The old man gave his two cents.
"Haizz. Well they better do well then, if I have to take 3 wastes as disciples they'll just drain my finances." Hearing this a look of understanding graced Ren's face. 'He just doesn't want to waste money on disciples!' Feeling a bit exasperated he didn't know what to say.
"Speaking of disciples, Old Cong what's the gossip around the stronger disciples." The final of the four elders asked. She was a woman with waist length straight black hair and almost shaped eyes looking about 30 years old. While she was indeed beautiful, she wasn't some kingdom toppling beauty, but rather an elegant woman with her own charm.
"Hmmm. Well depends, what kind of gossip are we talking about? Clan relations? Rivalries? Their techniques and abilities? You need to be more specific." Elder Cong replied as he pulled a book out of his robe and started flitting through it. Seemingly all the gossip within the kingdom was written down.
"Mei why did you get him started? Haizz, if you're gonna start gossiping do it outside of my Merit Hall I am going to work." Jin sighed shooing them out of the hall.
At the peak of Radiant Dawn Chen merely chuckled. Naturally he could see what was happening inside the Merit Hall and found it quite comical. These 4 were the people he had recruited to found his Sect, and he trusted each greatly. Despite that, he also knew they were each rather "unique" in their own way.
"Well regardless, two of those kids were quite impressive. The shine of the talent tester was similar to mine back then." Chen mumbled to himself, his hands clasped behind his back.
Time ticked by slowly but surely, and soon the next day arrived, and then noon followed.