Yuanxiao pondered for a while, thinking that he already had so many potential opponents, and there might be other unknown enemies. After this selection was over, he'd better deliberately keep some distance from the fat man and Xiaoying.
For the time being, the farther away we are from each other, the better, and the less contact we have, the better, so as not to harm them both and put them both in danger.
Let’s do it! Having made up his mind, Yuanxiao’s eyes became firm.
The ninth elder Jiu Tian on the stage, who is also the master of Zhang Dahai and Zhou Qingqing, is very happy at this moment.
The two apprentices have already reported about the three of them. The performances of the three of them are pretty good, especially Yuanxiao. I believe he will be more popular in the future.
After the first round of testing ended, when the elders saw Yuanxiao light up the orange hammer bead, they exchanged glances and said that during the one-year outer sect training period, no elder could actively compete for Yuanxiao.
According to the rules of Yunhai Sect, those who passed the test and were admitted as outer disciples this time must serve as menial servants in the sect for at least three years, and will be given 1 to 2 levels of Qi Refining Mantras to explore on their own.
Three years later, these people can participate in the sect's annual outer disciple competition. Those who perform particularly well will have the opportunity to be admitted to the inner sect.
Those who are recruited as inner disciples can first be accepted as disciples by the master, but they cannot immediately enter the inner sect to practice with the master. Instead, they must first do odd jobs and train in the outer sect for a year, just like the outer disciples.
People of this type will first be given the 1st to 3rd level Qi Refining Mantras to let them explore on their own, but the benefits enjoyed by inner disciples, the benefit of three low-grade spirit stones every month, will still be retained.
Moreover, although they are serving in the outer sect together, these people who are temporarily enrolled as inner sect disciples are different from pure outer sect disciples after all, and they still have some status.
Generally, they can be assigned a better position in the outer sect, without having to do too hard work, or they can be directly assigned a position to manage other outer sect disciples, so that they can free up more time for cultivation.
However, some masters are more concerned about their newly-accepted inner disciples, and even arrange for them to do odd jobs in their own courtyards, rather than necessarily sending them to the outer sect.
The Yunhai Sect also wants to temper the will of these disciples and smooth out their edges through this year of outer sect chores, so that they can endure loneliness and withstand the wind and rain and intrigue.
The Outer Sect is a microcosm of the world of immortal cultivation, where sincerity and kindness, mutual assistance, as well as intrigue, strife, and even life-and-death struggles, are common. Only by overcoming this barrier can one adapt to the real world of immortal cultivation in the future.
After completing the one-year training period in the outer sect, those who have been accepted as inner sect disciples by their masters will return to the inner sect to begin training with their masters. If there are disciples who are not selected, or if they do not want to be selected by any master, they will be taken to the Pavilion of Learning to train on their own.
Public lecturers would occasionally come to the Pavilion of Learning to teach the basics of cultivation, but they would not provide personal guidance. Personal guidance or extra care were only offered to inner disciples with a clear master.
Yuanxiao is a special case due to his extraordinary talent, so the elders agreed that they cannot fight over Yuanxiao as their apprentice right now.
After one year of menial labor is over, Yuanxiao can choose which elder to practice with and where to practice within the sect.
Although the elders agreed not to snatch people away, since they were disciples recruited by Zhang Dahai, Zhang Dahai, Zhou Qingqing and Yuanxiao were relatively familiar with each other. The Ninth Elder felt that it would be more convenient for him to say some things at that time, and he would also have more advantages in recruiting Yuanxiao.
The middle-aged Taoist shouted, "The second test is now over. The four people who scored above five stars are Murong Xue, Wang Yin, Xu Ying, and Yuan Xiao. They are all admitted as inner disciples."
"Now, please ask the four people who just took the Spirit Pillar test and showed five stars or above to go to the Second Elder to register their detailed personal information. The Second Elder is responsible for managing the sect's treasures and also manages the files of all the sect's inner disciples."
At this time, there was a white-haired old man with a serious face sitting in the main seat. Hearing this, he raised his hand and motioned the four people to come to his side.
Although the Second Elder had a head full of white hair, his skin was still very shiny and he looked energetic. Presumably, these elderly cultivators could rely on their cultivation to keep their bodily functions in good condition.
Wang Yin, Murong Xue, Xu Ying, and Yuan Xiao lined up and walked towards the second elder's platform one by one.
On the way, he happened to pass by the stage of the Fourth Elder Tianchou. The spirit-eating marten that was originally gnawing on the low-grade spirit stone on the stage suddenly stood up and stood still holding the low-grade spirit stone in his hand.
The little head of the spirit-eating marten turned slightly as the four people walked, and its nose sniffed several times continuously.
Wang Yin, Murong Xue, and Xu Ying had all walked over. Murong Xue and Xu Ying thought the spirit-eating marten was quite cute and reached out to tease it, but the spirit-eating marten had no reaction at all and ignored them.
When Yuanxiao just walked to the front of the stage, the spirit-eating marten jumped up and ran onto Yuanxiao's shoulder, sniffing at Yuanxiao's neck, face, and collar, which scared Yuanxiao.
The fourth elder shouted, "Come back!"
But the spirit-eating marten just raised its head and looked at the fourth elder, and still did not jump back.
The fourth elder immediately confirmed his previous guess that this kid either had a magic weapon or a high-grade spirit stone!
The Spirit-Eating Marten is a special spirit beast that does not have much attack ability and is not very useful in battles.
However, because it is naturally very sensitive to spiritual energy and energy fluctuations, and is good at digging holes in mountains, its greatest use is to find spiritual stone veins, or to find treasures rich in spiritual energy. It is a relatively useful auxiliary spiritual beast for the sect.
Spirit-eating martens feed on spirit stones and spiritual energy on a daily basis, and have a large appetite. Generally, only sects can afford to raise them.
Moreover, although the treasure-hunting ability of higher-grade spirit-eating martens will be enhanced, their appetite will also be larger, and they may even need to be fed with medium-grade or higher spirit stones. This consumption is a headache even for the sect.
Moreover, finding mineral veins and treasures depends more on chance. Having a spirit-eating marten does not guarantee that you will find treasures or mineral veins.
In addition, the spirit-eating marten has a very poor reproduction ability and its number in the world of immortal cultivation is extremely small. Therefore, it is not popular even in the immortal cultivation sects. Only a few sects have one or two low-level spirit-eating martens.
At this moment, the Spirit-Eating Marten was lying on Yuanxiao's shoulder, holding on to his collar and not letting go.
The spirit-eating marten sniffed Yuanxiao's neck, stopping occasionally with an intoxicated look on its face, which made Yuanxiao laugh and cry.
Yuanxiao didn't know why the spirit-eating marten stuck to him, but the Fourth Elder knew everything about his pet.
The fourth elder thought that the spirit-eating marten must have discovered the spiritual energy on Yuanxiao, and the quality was not low, so it dropped the low-grade spirit stone in its hand and went to get closer to that energy.
Tianchou has made up his mind. Maybe his chance to break through and advance to the middle stage of foundation building lies with this kid!
If this opportunity really exists, I must get it no matter what while this kid has not yet been accepted as a disciple by a master and has no one to protect him!
Yuanxiao had no choice but to hold the Spirit-Eating Marten with both hands, pull it off his shoulders, put it back on the platform in front of the Fourth Elder, and considerately put the half piece of low-grade spirit stone back into the Spirit-Eating Marten's hand.
The little guy was very unwilling. He had just torn Yuanxiao's clothes with his little claws.
"Let's meet again if we're lucky. If we're in the same sect, we should see each other again!"
Yuanxiao didn't care whether the Spirit-Eating Marten understood or not. He touched the Spirit-Eating Marten's head and comforted it. Then he walked towards the second elder to register.
The Spirit-Eating Marten wanted to jump onto Yuanxiao's shoulder again, but at this time the Fourth Elder picked up a stick and knocked the table.
The spirit-eating marten really calmed down and didn't dare to leave again. Perhaps it was brought up with beatings since childhood.
But the spirit-eating marten angrily threw the half of the low-grade spirit stone in its hand onto the table. Obviously, it was no longer in the mood to chew the spirit stone.
At this moment, it just wants to get close to Yuanxiao!
Yuanxiao had already noticed the malicious expression of the Fourth Elder from the corner of his eye. It was an expression of greed!