The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun.

"Daimyo."

"Li Gou Dan".

"age."

"Six years old."

Lin Pingzhi sat at the table, pen in hand, head down, writing something, asking questions as he wrote.

At this moment, Lin Pingzhi's hair was a mess, as if it had been pulled, and his clothes were also torn, with half of the sleeve flying off, revealing his fair skin.

Where do you live? What do your family do?

A chubby-faced child stood in front of the table, with a peasant woman beside him.

Upon hearing this, the peasant woman quickly replied, "My family lives in Lijia Gou. We are farmers. His father's name is Li Fugui, and my name is Yang Cuilan. Last year, when his father came to the city to work, he broke his leg and has been bedridden ever since. He has been supported by my farming. My family has five children, and he is the youngest."

"Lijia Gou..."

After writing down the place name and her name, Lin Pingzhi put away his pen, looked up at her and said, "Alright, you can go back now. The Huashan Sect will come to your Lijia Gou to check on things later."

Yang Cuilan nodded upon hearing this, and then left with her son.

This is the seventh one recorded by Lin Pingzhi.

After the initial commotion, the scene finally calmed down. Those who wanted to join the Huashan Sect lined up to have their aptitude checked by the Huashan disciples. Those deemed suitable were recorded by name, asked a few simple questions, and then sent back. Only after the Huashan Sect had investigated their family backgrounds and confirmed that there were no abnormalities would they be officially accepted as disciples.

So far, nearly a hundred people have signed up, but only seven have met the standards. The others are either too old or have a stubborn temperament.

It was already dark, so Lin Pingzhi put away his pen and prepared to finish his work, planning to continue tomorrow.

"Hey, why are you leaving?"

In the crowd, a boy saw Lin Pingzhi's actions and immediately shouted, rushing out of the crowd and pressing his hands on the table.

"I haven't registered yet."

Lin Pingzhi patiently said, "It's very late today, let's continue tomorrow."

"That won't work."

The boy got impatient: "I've been waiting in line for ages, why can't I get through when it's almost my turn?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Pingzhi frowned slightly and looked at the young man in front of him.

At this moment, the young man was dressed in silk clothing and had a jade pendant hanging from his waist, which looked quite valuable.

This is the young master of a prominent family.

Lin Pingzhi didn't speak, but turned to look at Jiang Ning.

"Senior brother, look..."

Jiang Ning sat calmly to one side. After hearing Lin Pingzhi's words, he looked at the boy, then stood up and dusted himself off.

There were so many people that he was swallowed up by the crowd and covered in dust. Some little kid had secretly pressed a handprint on his clothes, which were now covered in mud.

Jiang Ning approached the boy. He remained silent, his expression calm, but the boy instantly quieted down as if he were a mouse encountering a cat.

"You want to join my Huashan Sect?"

Upon hearing Jiang Ning's words, the boy nodded vigorously like a chick pecking at rice: "Yes, I dream about it."

Jiang Ning looked at him and asked, "Why do you want to join my Huashan Sect?"

Upon hearing this, the boy became excited: "I've heard that the people of the Huashan Sect are highly skilled in martial arts and can fly around. I want to learn!"

Jiang Ning didn't say anything, but asked another question.

"So what do you want to do after you've learned it?"

Without hesitation, the boy replied, "Of course I can do whatever I want! Once I learn martial arts, I can do whatever I want, and no one will dare to say anything to me!"

Jiang Ning's expression remained unchanged as he asked another question: "If a young girl were abducted in the street by a high-ranking official's son right in front of you, what would you do?"

Without a second thought, the boy said, "I'm not going to do anything. I'm learning martial arts not to save people."

The next second, the boy seemed to realize something and quickly added, "Of course, if those people go too far, I will still save them."

Jiang Ning had already turned and left.

"You are not suitable to join my Huashan Sect."

Chapter 121: Disciple

They only recorded seven names in one day. They still need to investigate their family backgrounds. If they are not from good families, they will be eliminated. At this rate, they will probably have to stay in Pingliang Prefecture for a while longer.

A few more days passed.

Lin Pingzhi and his friends originally thought that the number of people signing up would decrease day by day, but they didn't expect that the number of people would increase in the following days. The first day's hundred people were the fewest.

Lin Pingzhi's hands were numb from copying for the past few days.

"Senior brother, this is the completed list, there are thirty people in total."

Lin Pingzhi handed a thick stack of papers to Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning glanced through it casually, then said to Lin Pingzhi, Liang Fa, and the others, "Thank you for your hard work, junior brother, and all the senior brothers."

Lin Pingzhi and the others waved their hands to indicate that it was nothing.

Jiang Ning distributed the names on the list to them, leaving five for himself.

"Then let's set off."

The quota has been exceeded, so what remains is to conduct further on-site inspections to see what the families of these children are like.

Actually, this kind of thing could be delegated to others, but Jiang Ning felt it was better for them to make the trip themselves.

The first person on the list lived in the city. Jiang Ning wandered through several streets and alleys before finally meeting the person on the list in a relatively remote abandoned house.

A dirty boy is feeding a white steamed bun to his younger brother, who is only two or three years old.

"eat fast."

The boy carefully tore the steamed bun he had bought with the copper coins he had begged for that morning into small pieces and fed it to his younger brother.

"Don't worry, even though Mom and Dad are gone, I won't leave."

Although the younger brother's clothes were also very dirty, his face and hands were very clean.

"elder brother……"

The younger brother doesn't seem to speak very well; he can only utter these two words.

"Ye Ying?"

A voice rang out, startling the boy. He turned around and saw someone standing next to him.

"You...you're from the Huashan Sect?"

The boy was initially a little scared, but after seeing Jiang Ning's appearance clearly, he remembered that he had tried his luck two days ago to sign up to join the Huashan Sect, and he had met Jiang Ning before.

Jiang Ning nodded: "Pack your things and come back to Mount Hua with me."

The boy was stunned at first, then incredulous the next second.

"Can I join the Huashan Sect now?"

The boy was very excited.

His parents were killed last year by bandits who roamed Pingliang and Fengxiang prefectures. His family was destroyed and he begged in the city with his two-year-old brother. Later, he heard that the bandits had been wiped out by the Huashan Sect. The boy longed for the Huashan Sect. When he heard that the Huashan Sect was coming to Pingliang Prefecture to recruit disciples, he tried his luck. Unexpectedly, his dream came true.

But after the initial joy, the boy became somewhat hesitant.

"Can I bring my younger brother along?"

Jiang Ning glanced at the child next to her who was holding the boy's finger and nodded: "Okay."

The boy's eyes were filled with joy.

After bringing the boy and his younger brother back to the inn where the Huashan Sect was staying, Jiang Ning headed to his next destination.

The location was a village ten miles outside the city, but Jiang Ning did not bring anyone back this time.

The family he visited was indeed an ordinary family, but after getting to know them and observing them, he found that the people in the family were not of good character.

Jiang Ning left after telling them that his child did not meet the Huashan Sect's recruitment requirements.

Another day has passed.

After conducting an on-site investigation in Jiangning, he found only two people on his list who met the requirements: the boy who was begging and a child from a kind-hearted family.

Lin Pingzhi and his group have almost finished their investigation. Each of them is accompanied by several children, making a total of fourteen, including the two-year-old boy from Jiang Ning.

"what?"

When Lin Pingzhi and the others saw the little boy, they were also surprised, as such a young child was not within their recruitment scope.

"This is his younger brother, who is not on the Huashan Sect's recruitment list."

Jiang Ning offered an explanation.

The others suddenly realized.

"I originally thought we could fill all the positions this time."

Lin Pingzhi smiled helplessly.

Of the thirty openings, only thirteen were actually qualified after on-site investigations, eliminating more than half.

This is mainly because the standards set by Jiangning are too harsh, and very few people can meet them all. If they were relaxed a little, there would be more than enough for 13, let alone 100.

However, Jiang Ning attached great importance to this first large-scale recruitment of disciples for the Huashan Sect. He preferred to have fewer but better disciples than to recruit inferior ones. These disciples were the future of the Huashan Sect, and their character and temperament had to be up to standard, including their families.

If their families bully the villagers, even if they are brought up the mountain and strictly disciplined, they themselves may be able to abide by the rules, but their parents may drag them down.

The requirements for recruiting disciples may be relaxed later, but it's better to be strict for the first time.

"Thank you for your help these past few days, fellow disciples."

Jiang Ning smiled at Lin Pingzhi and Liang Fa and the others.

They have indeed been working hard these days, busy with registration and investigation, which has taken a lot of effort.