Chapter 1: If You Won't Do It, Someone Else Will

"Ding — the Greatest Sect System in History has successfully upgraded!" (When you flip to the first page, please set your brain aside.)

"Holy shit, System, you've finally finished upgrading!"

Su Bai sprang to his feet with a carp-flip leap and spat out the foxtail grass he'd been chewing.

He had transmigrated to this world three days ago — and had spent all three days waiting for the System to load!

Soon, a transparent system screen appeared before Su Bai's eyes.

[HOST]

Name: Su Bai

Age: 18

Realm: Mortal

Items: 20 copper coins

[SECT INFORMATION]

Sect Name: Heavenly Dao Sect

Sect Rank: 0-Star

Sect Members: 1

Sect Territory: One hundred meters in radius (the Host is absolutely invincible within the territory)

Sect Buildings: One dilapidated thatched hut (Sect Main Hall)

Sect Assets: 0

Sect Points: 0

1-Star Sect Upgrade Condition: Recruit one disciple (must kowtow and pledge discipleship before the Sect Main Hall)

Mission: Please upgrade to a 1-Star Sect as soon as possible. Reward: One Immortal Arts Pavilion

Host Feedback: The Host's power equals ten times the combined strength of all sect disciples

............

"Recruit one disciple? And they have to come to the Main Hall to kowtow and pledge?"

Su Bai flickered and appeared before a ramshackle thatched hut. Hanging above its door was a plaque carved with three large characters: "Heavenly Dao Sect."

And this Heavenly Dao Sect sat atop a bare little hilltop with nothing on it but foxtail grass.

Buddy, with conditions like these, you expect to recruit disciples?

Which immortal sect's main hall isn't magnificent and resplendent?

Which immortal sect's mountain isn't wreathed in clouds and mist, brimming with celestial energy?

This has to be a joke, right?

Su Bai grumbled inwardly.

Still, complaints aside, the sect still needed to be upgraded, the missions still needed to be done, and disciples still needed to be recruited.

Two hours later, Su Bai appeared at the "Talent Market" in Yunshui City, a dozen or so li away.

Of course, in this world it wasn't called a talent market — it was called the Hundred Sects Assembly.

The so-called Hundred Sects Assembly was a gathering where all the nearby sects and factions recruited disciples in one place, for the sake of efficiency.

There were many such Hundred Sects Assemblies across the continent; the one Su Bai had come to was naturally the closest one to him.

* * *

Yunshui City, Lingxiao Sect branch.

"You failed the formal disciple assessment. Come back in half a year!"

The cold voice rang out in the cramped room. Zhuge Feng raised his head to look at the middle-aged man seated behind the desk, who didn't even glance at him and said flatly, "Next!"

"Steward Wang, I ranked first in all six of Lingxiao Sect's tests. Why did I fail?"

"Senior Brother Gan failed every single one, so why did he pass?" Zhuge Feng asked, unwilling to accept it.

The middle-aged man known as Steward Wang turned and shot him a sidelong glance. "Why? Do you have a father who's a Foundation Establishment Elder like he does?"

Zhuge Feng was left speechless. He pressed on: "Then what about Junior Brother Han? His scores were so much lower than mine — why did he pass?"

Steward Wang let out a short laugh. "Do you have three hundred taels of silver like he does?"

"......."

He had scraped together every last coin he owned, bankrupting himself to come up with two hundred taels of silver, which he had paid to Lingxiao Sect as half a year's Menial Disciple fees. He didn't have a single copper coin left on him now.

Steward Wang shook his head with a contemptuous smirk and continued, "No money? Either wait for the next assessment in half a year, or get lost!"

"But… but my talent and comprehension are better than anyone else's. Even…" Zhuge Feng tried to argue his case.

"Ha!"

Steward Wang let out a disdainful cold laugh and cut him off. "In this world, the one thing we're never short of is self-important geniuses like you!"

"Never mind becoming a formal disciple — even your spot as a Menial Disciple has at least eighty to a hundred people eyeing it. If you won't do it, someone else will!"

Zhuge Feng fell silent at those words. He clenched his fists so tightly that his fingernails dug into his palms without him even noticing.

After a long moment, he unclenched his fists, turned around, and pushed the door open to leave.

"Just an ordinary nobody who actually thinks he's a genius?" Steward Wang's muttering drifted out from behind him.

Outside the door, a long queue had formed — young men and women, one after another, all nervously waiting to hear whether they had passed.

Becoming a formal disciple of Lingxiao Sect meant gaining access to immortal arts — and though those still required large sums of silver to purchase, they were immortal arts!

If one cultivated successfully, they could become an immortal capable of commanding the wind and rain!

These were all children from ordinary families. Many of their households had already bankrupted themselves just to get their child into Lingxiao Sect.

And so they waited with even greater anticipation — just like Zhuge Feng had before — dreaming of the day they might become immortals.

Zhuge Feng didn't know what to say to them. Should he tell them that passing the formal assessment was simply impossible? That the spots had been decided long before the assessment even began, and the whole thing was just a formality?

The ones who had already passed were standing off to the side, watching the crowd with mocking smiles!

Not far away, beneath a tree, a group of lavishly dressed young men and women leaned against the trunk, watching the queue with contemptuous grins.

Senior Brother Gan, Junior Brother Han, Junior Sister Liu…

They had no need to wait and wonder whether they would pass — they had known the outcome long before the assessment even started.

"Haah…"

Resentment, indignation, bitterness, helplessness… all manner of emotions surged through Zhuge Feng's chest, and in the end they could only escape as a quiet sigh.

What was he supposed to do — demand that Steward Wang, who was at the Peak Qi Refining Stage, force his own passage through?

He was just an ordinary person with no power and no backing — an insignificant ordinary person in a vast world. How could he stand against a cultivator?

How could he argue with a powerful sect?