On the night he returned from the Red Moon World, Jiang Xia was not idle either. He set up a night banquet in the large garden of Liu's house to entertain Wang Liufu who came as agreed.
The outer sect elder and Jiang Xia were already very familiar with each other, and with one of the four strongest men to fight against foreign enemies together, and also being a member of the Fengshan Society, their relationship naturally took a step further.
Although that small group now only has three people.
Including Shi Rui, there are only four.
But this does not prevent both sides from treating each other as their own.
The banquet was a bit boring. There were no singers or dancers playing any musical instruments, and no exotic dishes. There was just a large copper pot with charcoal on it, and some sliced ​​meat and seasonal vegetables.
Then there were two monks, drinking sweet fairy wine and planning secret things.
"In just over a month, you will be my disciple from Mo Shuang Mountain."
Wang Liufu picked up the refreshing lotus root slices with chopsticks and put them into his mouth. He then picked up the wine glass and raised it to Jiang Xia, saying with a congratulatory smile:
"From now on, we are family, and we are of the same generation. You can call me senior brother from now on, and our relationship will be further improved. Come, have a drink."
Jiang Xia picked up the wine glass and clinked glasses with Lao Wang.
The two drank the wine in one gulp, and the atmosphere became more harmonious.
"I have been wondering before. Our Mo Shuang Mountain has not recruited new disciples for many years and has always maintained a small scale. Why are we quietly holding a talent selection ceremony now?"
Jiang Xia took the chopsticks, scooped the cooked meat from the hot pot, dipped it in the sauce, and put it into his mouth. He asked:
"Is this a sudden expansion plan of the sect? Or is there some other reason?"
“Expansion is one thing.”
Jiang Xia is going to become an inner sect disciple, so Wang Liufu will no longer hide the sect's affairs.
He explained:
“Since its establishment, our Mo Shuang Mountain has relied on the Mo Sect’s heritage and weapon-making skills to rank among the thirty-three sects of the Immortal Alliance. However, the sect leader is a lonely person and has only accepted two disciples in his life.
He didn't care about the size of the sect and didn't interfere too much in its management.
But the thirty-three sects are the backbone of the Immortal Alliance after all, and they all have their own magical powers. If an unexpected incident causes the inheritance of a sect to be cut off, it will be a huge loss to the Immortal Alliance.
Therefore, over the years, the top leaders of the Immortal Alliance have been urging our sect to recruit more disciples and expand the inheritance. This talent selection ceremony is also timely.
This should have been done long ago, but it has been put off until now.
It was only approved by the headmaster at the beginning of the year.
It is said that the head of the sect, Mo Jun, made a special divination during his retreat before agreeing to this matter.
You may not know that our head is a well-known scholar in Kumu Realm, and his divination skills are also well-known in the cultivation world."
"Oh, I see."
Jiang Xia threw a few vegetables into the hot pot, and amid the steam, he said:
"The Sect Master seems to be a closed-minded person. I heard Shi Rui say before that he has been in the sect for nearly 20 years and has never seen the Sect Master. It is said that the Sect Master, Mo Jun, has been practicing in seclusion?"
"Yes, I am in seclusion, but I am not practicing."
Wang Liufu twirled his short beard and corrected himself:
"The headmaster has entered the realm of seeking the way, and is a serious and powerful cultivator. His realm is very strange and has nothing to do with cultivation. Seeking the way, seeking the way, you can understand it just by listening to the name.
This realm is where a cultivator must find his own destiny and dharma in order to get one step closer and embark on the path of cultivation.
The head of the sect, Mo Jun, has been in the realm of seeking the Tao for three hundred years, but has never been able to break through it. The reason why he has kept it closed is that he has been studying the secret book left behind by the Mohist sect five hundred years ago.
Try to find your own way from it.
This time, the headmaster suddenly agreed to recruit new disciples. According to my master, it may be that the headmaster has realized something and will do something big, so he left a seed of inheritance for the sect in advance. "
"???"
Jiang Xia was horrified when he heard this. He said:
"Your words make me feel uneasy. What do you mean by doing something big? Do you mean you have to sacrifice the entire Mo Shuang Mountain?"
"No! What are you thinking about!"
Wang Liufu glared at Jiang Xia, put a hot meatball into his mouth, and said:
“According to my master’s guess, the head of the sect might be taking the sect’s senior leaders and true disciples to the West Sea, where the Mohist sect’s sect used to be located.
But now it has sunk into the abyss of Xingluo Sea.
The head of the sect probably wanted to find more Mohist heritage from there, but how big is the West Sea? Even if the head of the sect and the elders went there in person, it would definitely take a long time.
In order not to delay the development of the sect, we have to recruit disciples in advance."
"Yes, I understand."
Jiang Xia nodded, poured a glass of wine for himself and Wang Liufu, and asked:
"So how many disciples will the inner sect recruit for this talent selection ceremony?"
"The plan is for twelve people."
Elder Wang said:
"But you have been selected, so there are only eleven spots left."
"That's all?"
Jiang Xia complained:
“If Mo Shuang Mountain wasn’t known to the world as one of the 33 sects of the Immortal Alliance, the scale of its recruitment wouldn’t even be as large as the number of disciples that San Que Mountain recruits at one time.
It’s really just a small family.”
"You know nothing."
Wang Liufu curled his lips again and responded:
“In any authentic practice, quality is more important than quantity.
We, Mo Shuang Shan, believe in the principle of "better to have nothing than to have something of inferior quality". You see, up until now since the founding of the sect, we don't even have a formal outer sect. This shows that we are taking the elite route.
All other sects have hundreds or thousands of people in the outer sect. They may look powerful, but the number of real elite disciples is not necessarily greater than that of Mo Shuangshan."
"Okay, whatever you say."
Jiang Xia shrugged, took a plate of tender beef from the side and threw it into the pot. He rolled his eyes and asked:
"Now that we've come to this, I have to ask one more question. How do you plan to manage the outer sect after you become Elder Wang? Will you continue to sell the outer sect quotas and recruit temporary workers for profit as before?"
"No."
Hearing this question, Wang Liufu suddenly looked melancholy.
He drank the wine in his hand with a sigh on his face, and said with a desolate and bleak look:
"That bastard Song Fan exposed the matter in the inner sect. Although my master protected him, he was also caught by a group of fellow disciples. I won't be able to earn extra money in the future.
Fortunately, thanks to your help, we have the Fengshan Market, so we are not going to live off our savings.
I am afraid that I will not be able to serve as an outer sect elder for too long and will have to return to the inner sect to continue being a true disciple with no name and no hope.
My talent for cultivation is not that high, I only have some skills in making instruments of the Mohist school. Even if I go back and cultivate well, I can only reach the Divine Cultivation Realm in this lifetime."
Elder Wang was filled with resentment and said:
"If I had known this would happen, I would have wasted so many years. I should have stopped practicing and become a mortal, living a carefree life."
"The elder is too pessimistic."
Jiang Xia shook his head, poured him another glass of wine, and said to this fellow disciple who was experiencing a "midlife crisis":
"In my opinion, the situation is not irreversible yet. If we can find a way, we may be able to bring it back to life."
"Um?"
Wang Liufu was a cultivator in the realm of truth after all, and his mind worked very quickly. He immediately understood the hidden meaning of Jiang Xia's words. He held the wine glass in his hand and moved closer to Jiang Xia.
explain:
"I am a craftsman from the Mohist school. You know me. I have always been honest and not good at planning secret things. I am born with a straightforward personality.
Junior brother, if you have a good idea, don't hide it.
As you showed when you defeated Ruyifang before, you are a very smart person. I guess you are attracted to my stall in the outer sect?"
“I do have some ideas.”
Jiang Xia did not hide anything. He narrowed his eyes and said to Wang Liufu:
"In a month, the inner sect will hold a talent selection ceremony. With the status and reputation of Mo Shuang Mountain, a large number of talented people will come from all over the country, but the inner sect will only accept twelve disciples.
Wouldn’t it be a wasted trip for the remaining kind of people who are willing to inherit the Mohist tradition?
I think, why don't you take this opportunity to recruit a large number of new members in the outer sect? Anyway, with the order from the Imperial Academy, you have to accept wasteland ascenders as members.
Besides, it is reasonable for other sects to have inner and outer sects.
Since ancient times, selecting talents has always been a process of sifting through the sand.
The outer sect should recruit a lot of disciples, slowly select them, and then let those outstanding disciples to supplement the inner sect. This is the good direction for the development of the sect.
In the past, the Sect Master didn’t care, and since there were few people in the sect, he naturally couldn’t take care of the affairs of the outer sect. But now the Sect Master is also willing to leave a legacy, so the outer sect must be set up.”
He said to Wang Liufu:
"The elders are busy with their cultivation, how can they have time to care about these mundane affairs? But as the head of the outer sect, this is your responsibility. If you can't do it, you will be derelict in your duty."
"you mean……"
Wang Liufu also blinked his eyes. He played with the wine glass, but no wine spilled.
After a few breaths, he twirled his beard and said:
"Yes, I have no disciples, I am alone, so naturally they would lay off me. But if I had a hundred disciples to manage, I would need to be managed.
If they remove me, the situation will be in chaos.
Given the personalities of Song Fan's disciples, they would definitely not be willing to condescend to the outer sect.
Wonderful.”
"Yes, having the power to speak and not having it are two different concepts, elder."
Jiang Xia offered a plan and said:
"Let's be honest, Elder, you did not do the right thing in the past regarding the outer sect, but a prodigal son who returns is more precious than gold, and now you are wholeheartedly thinking about the development of the sect.
With the help of Elder Cha Sanbao, there is great potential for outer sect affairs.
Besides.
There are more than 30 people in the inner gate, and they are fighting among themselves all day long, which is really annoying.
We can't change the current situation of the inner sect, so we might as well make this plate bigger! If there are more than a hundred outer sect disciples under the elders, and there is a conflict, and they all go into battle together, the momentum will be incredible.
Let’s talk about Elder Cha Sanbao.
Although I have never met him, I have heard that he is a great and kind senior.
Since you have been pushed to the edge of the inner sect by Liu Chu, you might as well give up your position in the inner sect and turn to the outer sect for development. From now on, the outer sect will be the basic base of your faction.
With this power, can't we fight Liu Chu?"
"And if you become a disciple of Elder Shi Yan, then our two factions, working together from the inside and outside, will be able to crush Liu Chu's faction."
Wang Liufu quickly understood Jiang Xia's thoughts.
He squinted his eyes, looked Jiang Xia up and down, shook his head and said:
"Junior Brother Jiang, you are indeed a person who only wants to cause chaos in the world. You have just caused a stir in Fengming Country, and you have already started planning the affairs of Mo Shuang Mountain before you even enter the sect.
I don’t know if it is a blessing for Mo Shuang Shan to accept someone like you into my inner sect.”
"Haha, you were the ones who decided for me to enter the mountain."
Lao Jiang laughed and said bluntly:
“It’s too late to return the product now!
To be honest, I originally wanted to join Ma Tishu's Sanque Mountain.
That small force that was neither big nor small was easy to control. He had originally wanted to start from there, take over the entire Fengming Kingdom cultivation circle, and do something.
But now that I am a disciple of Mo Shuang Mountain, I have to plan more for myself."
"But if you can think of it, Song Fan must have thought of it too."
Wang Liufu thought for a moment and said:
"If I bring this method up for discussion among the sect's top leaders, Song Fan will definitely get involved."
“Don’t be afraid!”
Jiang Xia snorted and said confidently:
“The Ascendants from the wasteland are now all members of the Mo Shuang Mountain clan and have to enter the outer sect. They may not be able to cultivate to become immortals, but with their mechanical bodies, beating up a small cultivator is as easy as playing.
They are your confidants, the elders!
Besides, Liu Chu's faction is mainly in the inner sect. How much resources can they provide to support the outer sect? If Elder Cha Sanbao can make up his mind, he can invest all his resources in the outer sect.
Even if they planted spies outside the gate, what could they do?
We are all here for spiritual practice, this is not a matter of jealousy.
This is human nature. Whoever gives more benefits will naturally win the hearts of the people. Either the east wind prevails over the west wind, or the west wind prevails over the east wind.
Elder, please do it with confidence. With the full support of Kunlun Square, your good days of being able to dominate the outer sect will soon come.
Of course, the charter must be prepared in advance.”
As he spoke, Jiang Xia called out on the chip communication, and soon Jasmine came running over, handed a printed set of regulations to Jiang Xia, snorted at Wang Liufu, and then turned and left.
The little girl still holds a grudge against the fat monk for dismantling her camera in Fengshan last time.
Lao Jiang handed the regulations to Wang Liufu.
The latter took a look and was immediately stunned.
"Mission announcement? Outer sect contribution? And material exchange... You are trying to use me, the outer sect disciple, as your servant of Kunlun Square."
"Elder, what are you talking about?"
Lao Jiang said slowly:
“Now that you have become a disciple of the sect, you must make contributions to the sect.
Do you want to eat and take it for free?
From now on, our outer sect will adopt a competition system. Disciples who are willing to make contributions will naturally be able to exchange for better resources for their practice. As for those lazy idiots who want to practice while lying down comfortably, let them dream.
That's not what I said.
Although I don't know much about the cultivation world, I already know the general situation of each sect. You cultivators are really too pampering to your sect disciples.
They spend all day cultivating themselves to become immortals, but fail to create any value at all.
When it comes to resource utilization, he is not even as good as that freeloader Zhu Baifeng.
In my opinion, being a monk is also a job, no different from any other job in the world. If you don’t work, you won’t get paid. The more you work, the more you get. This is the truth.”
"Um."
Wang Liufu frowned but did not refute.
Actually, what Jiang Xia said was not quite right. The inner disciples of Mo Shuang Mountain also have daily work to do, but as he said, the daily work is very easy and will not affect their practice.
Judging from mortal standards, the inner sect monks of Mo Shuang Mountain do lead a very comfortable life every day.
"I'll go back and think about it."
Wang Liufu put away the regulations and was about to leave, but was stopped by Jiang Xia. Old Jiang dipped a piece of meat in chili oil, put it into his mouth, and said to Wang Liufu incoherently:
"In fact, I have a woman who knows how to practice cultivation by my side. She will also go with me to the Talent Selection Ceremony this time. Maybe she can enter the inner gate directly and keep me company.
Elder, do you think this is possible?"
"You can enter the inner gate whenever you want?"
Wang Liufu blew his beard and glared and said:
"Don't underestimate me, Mo Shuang Shan. After all, we are the authentic sect of the Immortal Alliance, a serious cultivation sect. We believe in fate and cause and effect. We don't accept just anyone."
"Tsk, there are only eleven places, it's no big deal."
Jiang Xia took a sip of wine and said casually:
"Why not just grab another one?"