NOVEL WEB Ch. 94
Chapter 94: Recruitment from All Sides
The black-robed man pondered for a moment, then spoke somewhat awkwardly:
“The Qingxie Small World... sounds vaguely familiar... My Brahma God Sect should also have a Lower Realm sect within it... What was it called again...”
Gu Fan silently sighed. Worlds ranked lower truly received no attention.
“If this disciple remembers correctly, it should be a sect called the Heavenly Evil Sect.”
The black-robed man slapped his forehead and laughed heartily twice.
“That’s right, the Heavenly Evil Sect, along with a few other Demonic Path sects, right? Since you know this, could it be that in the Lower Realm, you are a disciple of a subordinate power of my Brahma God Sect?”
“This disciple is indeed a disciple of the Heavenly Evil Sect.”
Upon hearing this, the man was instantly overjoyed. To think he was actually a disciple from one of their subordinate sects—this made it much easier. With just a little effort to establish rapport, he could steadily bring him into the Brahma God Sect.
However, just then, several figures appeared at the distant horizon.
In the blink of an eye, they landed on the island.
The black-robed man's expression immediately changed upon seeing this scene, his entire demeanor turning extremely cold!
“Wu Di, what’s with that expression? Are we not welcome?”
“Haha, Wu Di probably wishes he could eat us alive. How could he possibly be welcoming?”
The black-robed man, called Wu Di, glared coldly at the approaching three figures.
“Zhai Qi, Huang Laiwu, Liu Qinsong! Why aren’t you guarding your own assessment islands and instead came here to mine!”
Upon hearing this, one among the three—who appeared youthful but already had graying hair—stepped forward.
“Wu Di, I heard a genius who triggered the Nine Rings of the Dao Bell appeared here, didn’t he? According to the rules, talents of the Holy Son level like this should be given a chance by all of us to recruit.”
“Hmph! Zhai Qi! This disciple ascended directly from a subordinate sect of my Brahma God Sect. This rule doesn’t apply!”
At these words, another middle-aged man sneered coldly.
“What a joke. If we go by that, then every Lower Realm power can trace its origin to one of the Four Major Sects. Does that mean we can skip centralized assessments and just bring in our own?”
“Indeed. Fellow Daoist Wu Di, your words are mistaken. Since he comes from your Brahma God Sect, you naturally have more advantages. We each only get one chance to make contact—yet you’re still worried? Seems you’re not very confident in your sect’s appeal.”
Wu Di’s expression turned grim as he looked at the three of them, regret surging in his heart.
Had he known a Nine Rings-level genius would appear, he would’ve made preparations long ago.
But who could have expected such a thing? The last time a Nine Rings disciple emerged was probably over ten thousand years ago.
Even the current Brahma God Sect Holy Son had only triggered eight rings back in the day!
Still, Wu Di understood clearly that if he didn’t agree to the three today, they wouldn’t let it go.
After all, this rule was something jointly decided by the Four Major Sects, and he didn’t dare truly defy it.
With that in mind, he turned back to glance at Gu Fan and put on a friendly smile.
“Remember, no matter what benefits these three offer you later, don’t agree to anything. As long as you join my Brahma God Sect, you absolutely won’t be treated poorly! Moreover, our cultivation methods are top-tier inheritances. Switching to another sect would bring many uncertainties!”
Gu Fan winced, having no choice but to bow in reassurance.
But in his heart, he was already cursing.
If he remembered correctly, after the Nine Rings, there would be a test of innate talent and physique.
He swore, in that round he would definitely be at the bottom of the barrel.
After all, it was precisely because of poor innate talent that he had joined the Heavenly Evil Sect back then.
Even though he had cultivated up to this point, the bigwigs of the Heavenly Evil Sect all thought he was some kind of naturally gifted genius—but only he knew the truth: he was a hard-working cultivator.
Back in the Apocalypse World, he had leveled up by crazily slaying Zombies, and the time ratio was five to one.
Most importantly, he had a full-time, nonstop auto-cultivation cheat: the Annihilation Evil Lotus.
This was the only way to barely keep up with everyone else's progress.
If, during the upcoming test, his aptitude turned out to be trash, it would be truly embarrassing.
But thinking about it, Wu Di and the others probably wouldn’t suspect that a disciple capable of triggering the Nine Rings of the Dao Bell could have such a poor physique.
Yet it was unrealistic to try and explain now.
So Gu Fan could only grit his teeth and press on.
“In that case, each of you three sects gets five sentences. Once you finish, whichever one this disciple is willing to follow, that’s the one he will go with!”
Wu Di ultimately chose to take a step back.
The three looked at one another and quickly nodded.
All they needed was a chance.
Seeing this, Wu Di pointed to the first youthful man with graying hair.
“Zhai Qi, you go first!”
The other party didn’t waste time. He stepped forward and raised his hand, a halo blocking any eavesdropping enveloped the two of them.
“Young man, no one else can hear us now, so I’ll keep it brief.”
“Our Pure Radiance God Sect has high hopes for you. Perhaps our forces clashed in the Lower Realm, but that was the Lower Realm. In the Upper Realm, the Pure Radiance God Sect absolutely will not target you over past matters. You can choose any cultivation method you like, our Elders will assist your retraining, grant you empowerment, combat treasures, defensive artifacts, combat arts, all provided at the highest standard.”
After speaking, Zhai Qi looked steadily at Gu Fan and said his final sentence.
“I hope you will consider carefully.”
Then the halo dissipated.
Wu Di’s expression was unpleasant; he hadn’t expected them to even employ an isolating formation.
Next, the second middle-aged man stepped forward, raised his hand, and another formation enveloped the two of them.
“Young man, I am Huang Laiwu from Sacred Land Yaochi. I cannot promise you much. Besides cultivation methods, treasures, and resources, if you agree to join Sacred Land Yaochi, I can personally arrange for you to choose a candidate Holy Maiden to be your Dao Companion. If she one day becomes the Holy Maiden of Yaochi, the benefits you’ll receive will be far beyond imagination!”
Gu Fan respectfully bowed, sighing inwardly. They even resorted to the beauty trap.
It seemed the Nine Rings truly carried substantial weight.
Unfortunately, the more he thought about it, the more speechless he felt. If that Dao Bell hadn’t malfunctioned, he wouldn’t be in such a predicament.
The last man stepped forward, claiming to be from one of the Four Major Sects, the ancient Gu Family!
The conditions he offered were basically the same—money and women.
These were the most common tricks used to tempt cultivators.
After all, on the path of cultivation, resources were more important than anything.
Seeing the three had each taken their turn, Wu Di fixed his gaze firmly on Gu Fan.
Gu Fan chuckled and said:
“Senior doesn’t trust me this much?”
Wu Di gave an awkward smile.
“It’s not exactly distrust—mostly, you’ve just arrived in the Upper Realm. There are too many temptations, I fear you might be deceived.”
Gu Fan smiled but said nothing. He wasn’t a fool.
Seeing him remain silent, Wu Di began to grow anxious.
“Gu Fan, my young friend, have you made your choice? Our Brahma God Sect’s nurturing will absolutely be no worse than the other three!”
Gu Fan looked silently at Wu Di and said:
“This disciple does not ask much in terms of resources. I only have one request.”
“What is it?”
“This disciple wishes to see the real Dao Bell!”
A trace of peculiarity appeared on Wu Di’s face, his expression slightly changed.
“Why? The Dao Bell may be mysterious, but at your current realm, seeing its true form won’t bring much opportunity—at most, some inspiration.”
Gu Fan lowered his head and smiled.
“This disciple feels fated with the Dao Bell. I ask for nothing else, only to glimpse its true form!”