Who let him join the Sword Sect!

Chapter 400 A Troublemaker's Nature Is Contagious
"Whoever the little rooster points to, that's who I'll choose."

Zhang Ze closed his eyes and performed the "Counting Roosters" technique, which, along with throwing shoes and spinning tortoise shells, is known as one of the "Three Methods of Destiny."

Numbers began to refresh on the crystal screen in front of him.

"stop."

As he finished speaking, Zhang Ze pointed to two numbers that were frozen in time.

06 09
The first test targets were Star Gods 06 and 09.

“Is this reasonable?” Lily asked.

She felt that the decision on this matter should be made more rigorously, and that a conclusion and a clear goal should only be reached after a tense and exciting discussion.

Relying on counting roosters is too hasty.

"No clues, no enemy, unknown location. What else do you want us to do?" Old Tang said from the side.

"Fortune telling, Taoist priest? You know fortune telling, right? It's better to tell a divination than to have the boss counting roosters here, isn't it?" Lily asked, puzzled.

"Didn't I already say that we don't know anything right now? What are you asking me to divine? Divination is not a magic trick that creates something out of nothing, but a rigorous discipline."

Seeing that Lily still looked puzzled, Old Tang, who was in a good mood today, explained it to her.

"Whether it's the aura, the timing, or even destiny and innate qualities, it's all a subject that can be observed and integrated..." Old Tang rambled on.

After listening for a while, Lily finally clapped her hands and said, "I understand."

"If you can tell someone ate chives in their last meal just by looking at their teeth, and you can tell someone's urine is yellow just by looking at their pale complexion, isn't that what the boss called elementary deduction? How boring."

So Holmes Lily said.

"All things in the world, when traced back to their origins, are simply like this; they are all based on very simple principles. Those who find them mysterious or profound are merely limited by their own narrow-mindedness and knowledge."

"Just as ordinary people see spiritual energy and brutes see magic formations, they all think it's some kind of divine skill, but to those who understand it, the underlying principles are just that simple," Old Tang said with a smile, sipping his tea.

"Sigh, my filter is shattered. I should have known better than to ask." Lily pouted, looking unhappy.

Having completed his task of drinking hot tea for the day, Old Tang chuckled and shook his head without saying anything more.

These words were spoken to Lily, and they also reflected Old Tang's recent insights.

The idea of ​​destiny and human will is mysterious and profound, but now that the secret has been revealed, he finds it to be just like that.

These star gods are quite interesting; in some cases, they know less than he does.

Moreover, Old Tang was quite talented. After learning the truth, he was not disappointed like Lily. Instead, he enjoyed playing the system tasks immensely.

I feel restless if I don't do some daily tasks every day.

Looking at the system points jumping around in front of him and those fabricated achievements by the Star Gods, Old Tang, who was quite old, was overjoyed.

Even though I know it's all fake, the feeling of "what you gain is what you get," "heaven rewards diligence," and "one certificate is proof forever" is truly wonderful.

Such as now.

After drinking his seventy-eighth cup of hot tea that day, a new interface popped up in front of him with a ding.

Today's tea (78/100)

【Diamond Mouth Level 1 (165/500)】

[Skill Description: Drinking more hot water will make your mouth hard as a board. If mastered to the extreme, even if the four continents explode, your mouth will endure for eternity.]

Looking at the fabricated Golden Mouth, Old Tang suddenly remembered something.

Speaking of which, since Blade Spirit is a product created by imitating the Star God, does that mean that Blade Spirit can also produce similar effects?

After the adjustment, no one accompanied him, and he used this thing that Zhang Ze called the proficiency panel to urge the cultivators to practice.
If this method works, wouldn't the disciples be able to cultivate more efficiently and be more motivated?
interesting……

While Lao Tang's thoughts were wandering further and further away, Zhang Ze had already made preparations and finalized the scripts for the two male leads.

However, they encountered difficulties in assigning tasks.

"Based on the initial feeling, number 06 is in Jingzhou, and number 09 is in Qingjing."

"I don't want to travel far recently, so this 09 is mine. Who wants to go to the 06 side?"

After Zhang Ze finished speaking, he looked at Dao Ye.

However, Daoist Master was thinking about important matters, and he waved his hand, indicating that he did not want to go out.

Zhang Ze looked at Lily.

Lily shook her head, then nodded.

She wanted to go, but she was also a little scared and didn't dare to go alone.

Just then, a whooshing sound came from outside the room, and Stone Girl Xiao Xuan rushed into the room on her balance bike, drifting to a stop in front of Zhang Ze.

Having not appeared for a long time, she struck a JOJO pose in front of Zhang Ze, covered her face, and said, "Leave it to me!"

"Huh?" Zhang Ze was a little surprised to see Xiao Xuan suddenly appear.

"Actually, it's me. I just wanted to go out and see the world."

As Xiao Xuan struck a pose, Xiang Xiang floated out from behind her like a substitute.

The extra devices on Xiao Xuan's Thousand Mech Armor were gleaming.

"Is everything alright?" Zhang Ze asked, looking at the two people who had the same face.

Xiangxiang is just a projection, while Xiaoxuan is a tough rock. Although Dongzhou is generally peaceful, Jingzhou is close to the wasteland of Zhongzhou, which is still somewhat unsafe.

"Don't ask Stand users such questions."

Xiangxiang recited the lines she had learned from Zhang Ze, and with a wave of her hand, seven Nascent Soul stage Daoists with large heads leaped out from the void behind her.

They are all brightly colored and striking various poses, just like the Power Rangers.

Looking at their appearance, Zhang Ze regretted telling them those ridiculous stories.
However, with them around, nothing should go wrong.

"Then, be careful on the road," Zhang Ze said.

Jingzhou.

Qi Lin, the sect leader of the Wine Sword Sect, who had just finished his seclusion, sat across from the tea table, leaning over the shoulder of the guest and gazing blankly at the mountain scenery outside.

Qi, the sect leader, was at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm. He was a middle-aged drunkard who, despite being in a teahouse, never parted with his wine.

His Sword and Wine Sect's mountain gate is separated from the Central Wasteland by only one mountain. Looking up, one can see the strange scenery and weather of the Central Wasteland.

The reason why the head of the Qi family chose this place was firstly because it was secluded and uninhabited, so he didn't need to spend a lot of money to buy land and property.

Secondly, they felt that the scenery on the other side of the mountain was quite nice and could be considered a spectacular sight.

However, after he had everything arranged and spent all his savings to erect the mountain gate, he realized that he had overthought things.

There's a reason why this deserted place is deserted.

Due to the abnormal weather patterns in Central Continent, thunderstorms occur frequently every two years, accompanied by extreme weather such as strong winds and hail. At night, the wind howls, sounding like the wailing of ghosts.

The same is true of the strange sights of Central Continent. Every few years, when viewed from this place, the sky over Central Continent turns into a color like vomit.

Such as now.

The colors that day were not only disgusting, but looking at them for too long could also affect one's mental state.

The people of Jingzhou all praised Qi Lin for his righteousness and concern for the world, for guarding the Central Continent from such a close distance and sharing the burden for Jiange.

The disciples and followers also felt that Qi Lin had put a lot of thought into setting up the sect in a perilous place, and deliberately using that swill-like sky to test the disciples' and followers' Dao hearts.

There were even rumors that Qi Lin was making plans for the future restoration of Zhongzhou.

But only Master Qi himself knew that he had been tricked by those scoundrels, the Thousand Machine Cultivators, back then.

After agreeing on the price, those bastards repaired the entire sect according to his requirements in just five months.

The speed of their actions was astonishing. They even assigned someone to accompany him on daily inspections of the construction site, listening to his instructions and preventing him from leaving.

He had praised those dogs for being more efficient and honest than he was, never imagining that they were actually taking advantage of him.

The reason that group of Thousand Machine cultivators worked so quickly was simply because they were afraid that this sucker would run away.

Three days after the group of Thousand Machine Cultivators took the money and left.

As soon as Qi Lin opened the door in the morning, he was hit in the face by hail. After wiping away the water, he looked up and saw a sky that looked like vomit.

He was so angry at the time that he wanted to kill those Thousand Machine Cultivators.

Although he has been celebrating the New Year for so many years, he and his disciples have long been accustomed to it.

At the same time, due to this unexpected turn of events, he gained a great reputation among his peers, and the Jingzhou Sword Pavilion also took good care of his Drunken Sword Sect.

but!

He himself still had a lot of opinions about the Thousand Machine Cultivator.

He thought these people were awful, there weren't any good ones among them.

Therefore, when he saw the Thousand Machines Pavilion cultivators who came to promote their wares, he remained silent and rudely looked out the window.

Of course, his daydreaming wasn't just due to his personal preferences; there was another reason.
Lately, he hears voices in his head every day.

Just like now.

[Daily Intelligence - Mortal Rank]

In Xiaowang Village, north of Jingzhou Porcelain Town, pickled mustard greens are half price today.

[The young master of the Bai family at Baiyun Mountain is getting married; no invitation is needed, just offer your congratulations and receive a reward.]

[Wuma Lake is rich in spiritual energy, and Golden Pearl Parrots are found there. The Beast Taming Sect is offering high prices to acquire them.]

This intelligence is updated daily at noon and is reminded every hour. Right now, he has yesterday's intelligence in his mind, but today's information has not been updated yet.

Similar comments have been heard for several days in a row.

After making inquiries from various sources, he discovered that all of this information was true and not false.

At first, he thought it was an external evil invading him, but after repeated checks, and even spending a day at the Tranquil Pool in Jingzhou Jiange, he still found nothing.

Now, Master Qi has become somewhat accustomed to this intelligence and is no longer as nervous as he was at the beginning.

They even had the leisure to ponder the meaning behind this intelligence.

He had carefully reviewed the intelligence gathered over the past few days. To profit from it, one didn't even need cultivation; a mere mortal could do it.

Moreover, this intelligence is quite sophisticated. Although it is random, it is generally far apart and time-sensitive. It is not easy to complete it all at the same time.

A trade-off needs to be made.

For example, of the three pieces of intelligence from yesterday, the second one, congratulatory intelligence, was the simplest and yielded the least amount of money, but it might bring unexpected opportunities. Selling turnips was the safest option, but it required capital and its future was predictable.

Catching parrots at Wuma Lake is the most lucrative activity, but there's a high chance of making a wasted trip or even encountering danger.

How to choose depends entirely on one's personal ability and courage.

Besides that, the mortal rank is also of great interest.

If these intelligence reports are graded, wouldn't that mean we can obtain higher-level intelligence in the future?
Information about the Nascent Soul stage... what must that be like?
Is this an opportunity or a trap?
Sect Leader Qi was lost in thought, wondering whether he should wait until the intelligence arrived today and then find a place to take a look.

However, the annoying voice of the Thousand Machine Cultivator disrupted his thoughts.

"Sect Leader Qi? Sect Leader Qi, what's your decision?"

Qi Lin, who hadn't heard anything at all, came back to his senses, looked at Qian Ji in front of him, shook his head, and said coldly.

"Walk slowly without sending."

The Thousand Machine Cultivator, "?"

Master Qi didn't want to talk to this man any longer, because it was almost noon and he was very curious about the information he had gathered that day.

The cultivator with the Thousand Machines skill also noticed Qi Lin's indifference, but he did not leave. Instead, he stood up and cupped his hands in greeting to Qi Lin.

"Our Thousand Machines Pavilion believes in harmony bringing wealth. Since Sect Leader Qi is not interested, we will not force him. However..."

As he spoke, the Thousand Machines cultivator took off his outer robe.

Qi Lin, "?"

However, the Thousand Machines cultivator in front of him did not continue to take off his clothes as Qi Lin had expected. Instead, he turned his clothes inside out and put them back on.

The clothes have two sides.

The outside is the Qianji Pavilion, and the inside is the clothing of the Jingzhou Sword Pavilion.

"I am Wang Xiao, a disciple of the Sword Pavilion of Jingzhou. I have been sent by the Pavilion Master to pay my respects to Sect Master Qi."

Qi Lin, "?"

As someone who rarely goes out, Qi Lin is somewhat oblivious to changes in the outside world.

Especially since he had just emerged from seclusion.

In his mind, a disciple should not belong to two sects. Moreover, as a native of Jingzhou and a fellow sword cultivator, he was very familiar with the Jingzhou Sword Pavilion.

Qi Lin didn't remember that the Pavilion Master Mu Mu had a disciple named Wang Xiao.

Newly received?
"I don't know you," Qi Lin said, frowning.

"It's normal that you don't recognize me, because I'm an exchange student," Wang Xiao said with a smile.

"Exchange student program?"

Qi Lin didn't understand.

"Yes, I am an exchange student from Longhu Mountain. I currently major in swordsmanship and minor in the Thousand Machines Technique. I also work part-time selling Wind-Riding Boats at the Thousand Machines Merchant Guild in Jingzhou City. This is my calling card, please."

As Wang Xiao spoke, he took out the identification document that resembled a keychain.

Also brought out was the brochure for the exchange student program.

Its purpose, in addition to making the exchanges between the six sects closer, is also to give better development to those disciples who initially joined the wrong sect due to reasons such as being close to home.

After reading it, Qi Lin discovered that it was all true.

He was stunned for a while before he came to his senses and coughed lightly. "We can talk about Feng Xingzhou later. Let's get down to business first. What does Pavilion Master Chen want me to do?"

Wang Xiao said, "This is not an order, but merely a proposal. Whether it succeeds or fails is entirely up to you, Sect Leader Qi."

"Exchange Students?"

"No, but it's pretty much the same."

After saying that, Wang Xiao took out two jade slips from his pocket and handed them to Sect Leader Qi.

Qi Lin took the first jade slip and examined it with his divine sense. A line of elegant handwriting came into view.

Continuing Education Program.

Unlike exchange students, this program is mainly aimed at small and medium-sized sects.

Each sect decides and selects disciples below the Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining stages.

After passing the assessment, they are sent to the Thousand Machine Pavilion to practice the Thousand Machine Heart Method. Then, depending on their talent, they can enter one of the six sects or the Thousand Machine Pavilion to practice.

Their own sect's heritage will not be altered or erased, and the immortal techniques and Taoist arts learned from the six sects can all be brought back to their original sects.

Therefore, this method is only being piloted, and many unexpected things may happen, such as poor selection of people, trainees running away after receiving the opportunity, or stagnation in cultivation due to overly diverse learning...

Therefore, the Six Sects will provide certain compensation and preferential treatment to smaller sects that join the advanced training program.

Master Qi read it several times and felt a little excited. He thought to himself, "Why don't I become a trainee?" But out of pride, he didn't bring himself to ask.

He picked up the second jade slip, which recorded the preferential treatment and compensation after joining.

The compensation is quite interesting.

Firstly, sects that join the advanced training program receive certain preferential treatment when trading with the Six Sects and the Thousand Machine Pavilion.

Moreover, even if their disciples are not advanced students, they can accept tasks issued by the Six Sects and the Thousand Machine Pavilion, and the contribution points they obtain can be used by any one of the Six Sects.

But what interested Master Qi the most were the last two special services.

[Ask Me: Three chances, decided freely by the sect leader who joins the plan. The selected person can go to the six sects to ask questions and practice martial arts with the elders above the Void Refinement level.]

Note: Advance reservations are required. Players at the Tribulation Transcending level or above will be subject to a waiting list.

【Dongfeng is Coming: Three chances to summon Dongfeng Express three times within the Dongzhou area to protect you.】

Note: Delivery may be delayed; the specific courier service used depends on your location and availability.

At the end of the jade slip, a video was thoughtfully included to explain what it means to send the east wind and the power of this east wind.

Master Qi took out the wine flask at his waist and took a sip, feeling that these last two services were like a pillow delivered to someone who was sleepy.

Whether it's "Ask Me" or "The East Wind is Coming," both can relieve his worries.

I'm going to check the daily intelligence reports right away. If there's an ambush, I'll summon Dongfeng Express to smash them.

If you have a problem with your mindset, then go to Master Chen and ask him to get rid of your inner demons.

Having made up his mind, Qi Lin said, "There's no problem with this, but this..."

Before Qi Lin could finish speaking, Wang Xiao immediately understood and said, "You have a month to consider the candidates for advanced studies. Just report back to me when the time comes. But these preferential treatments will take effect immediately after the contract is signed."

It was noon when Qi Lin heard a ringing in his ear, but he did not immediately investigate the intelligence.

Instead, he stood up and bowed to Wang Xiao.

The exchange student program could be considered mutually beneficial among the six sects, but the advanced student program seems to be a one-sided effort by the six sects, who are essentially promoting them.

Putting personal preferences aside, one should be grateful.

"I will always remember the kindness of the six emperors."

Wang Xiao quickly stepped aside to avoid the bow, saying, "I'm just a messenger, Sect Leader Qi, there's no need for such formality."

……

After personally escorting Wang Xiao down the mountain, Sect Leader Qi finally had time to check the daily intelligence report.

There are three of them.

[Daily Intelligence - Mortal Rank]

[A new batch of fine knives has arrived at the blacksmith shop in Dongshan Town; prices are favorable.]

Pijia Tavern has moved from Yuanha Town in southern Yunnan to Chuntian Town in Jingzhou. Grand opening today! All-you-can-drink.

Sun Moon Lake suddenly shimmers with light; treasures may lie at its bottom.

As with yesterday, one of the three pieces of intelligence was reliable, one was easy, and one was difficult but yielded the greatest results.

Qi Lin thought for a moment and then headed straight for Sun Moon Lake.

The iron knife is useless, and drinking isn't urgent.

And if he were allowed to drink for free, the Pi family tavern would probably have lost so much money on its first day of operation that it would have had to flee back to Yuanha Town overnight.

……

Sun Moon Lake on the border of Jingzhou.

Sun Moon Lake is divided into east and west halves. The lake is shaped like a round sun and is located in the Zhongzhou area, where lava flows year-round.

Moon Lake, shaped like a crescent moon, is located within Jingzhou and is perpetually icy cold.

The two are separated by a mountain range, which is quite a sight.

Inside the mountain cave, Lily was using a Fukihime-brand periscope to observe the situation at Moon Lake.

After learning that Xiaoxuan had brought the Big Head Team out, Lily, now with a powerful backer, eagerly followed along.

The daily intelligence reports for the past few days have all been carefully selected by her.

As for the source of the intelligence, it's not mysterious at all. Just like Lao Tang said, many things are just that simple once you explain them.

The intelligence sources are mainly the Qianji Trading Company, the Nadutong Flying Boat Company, and the Zhendong Trading Company, which are located all over Jingzhou and are collected on a daily basis.

The rest were arranged by Lily herself.

There's nothing special about the intelligence being refreshed only at noon every day; it's just that Lily only finishes sorting and selecting it at noon.

"Seriously, that guy's way too cautious." Why isn't he coming? Lily pulled her face away from the rotten-haired periscope.

To identify the person, Lily set up sentries at every intelligence location. If someone appeared at different intelligence locations for several consecutive days, the target could be identified.

However, several days passed without any news.

“That shouldn’t be the case. I specifically selected all this information. Regardless of whether the person 06 is possessed is a cultivator or a mortal, he should take the bait.”

Lily turned to look at Xiangxiang.

Xiangxiang was using the Xiaoxuan brand detector to check the situation outside, but she wasn't looking at Moon Lake, but rather in the direction of Sun Lake. For some reason, ever since she used Xiaoxuan as a springboard to come here, she had had a sense of unease.

Having arrived at the border of Jingzhou today, this feeling is particularly strong.

I have a feeling that something is about to happen.

(End of this chapter)