I Only Know How to Bully Noobs

Chapter 98: Disciple Recruitment Conference

One month later.

Over a thousand li from Qingfeng City, in a small town at the westernmost edge of Jiangzhou.

"Brother Fang, have you heard? A storyteller from out of town came to the teahouse. He said that in a month, two Third Grade Experts will hold a disciple recruitment assembly in Qingfeng City. Regardless of background, only talent and comprehension matter..."

A young man burst into a tavern, excitedly sharing the good news with everyone.

Inside the tavern, a group of young men were drinking and laughing.

When someone barged in, they quieted for a moment, but as soon as he was halfway through, there was an uproar of laughter.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Haven’t even started drinking, and already daydreaming?"

"Third Grade Experts? Publicly recruiting disciples..."

"Keep going, keep making things up..."

Naturally, no one believed such words.

The young man named Little Six flushed red and said emotionally,"It’s true, Brother Fang, I’m not lying to you..."

"Enough!"

At that moment, the young man leading the group smoothed things over."We’re all brothers here, don’t go too far. Little Six, I know you’ve been upset ever since you failed to find a master. Come, sit down and have a drink..."

Seeing no one believed him, Duan Xiaoliu turned and ran off in anger. He was going to prove to them—it was real.

Inside the tavern, the half-drunk youths continued mocking Little Six’s foolish dreams.

Two days later, the young man surnamed Fang suddenly asked,"Where’s Little Six? Haven’t seen him these past couple days."

"Don’t tell me he really went to Qingfeng City to become a disciple?"

Everyone fell silent for a moment, then erupted into raucous laughter.

"He’s not really that dumb, is he?"

"Sounds exactly like something that fool would do..."

"……"

Amid the laughter, someone in a corner murmured,"What if... what if it’s actually true?"

The crowd quieted for a second, then almost everyone refuted in unison,"No way!"

"If you think it’s true, why don’t you go too? Leave now, you can still make it."

The one who had spoken hurriedly waved it off with an awkward smile,"I was just saying."

……

Meanwhile, Duan Xiaoliu, carrying his pack, a saber left by his father, and silver earned from selling their house, set off in pursuit of his dream.

Along the way, he ate dry rations when hungry, drank from streams when thirsty, slept in woodsheds of strangers, braving the cold and snow, traveling day and night.

On the road, he heard many people talking about the disciple recruitment assembly by the Third Grade Experts in Qingfeng City. He even learned their nicknames and backgrounds.

Golden Saber Li Donglin.

Said to have been a bandit, he later turned over a new leaf and became a guard for merchant caravans.

He met a benefactor and learned high-level saber techniques. Later, he sailed overseas and, with a golden saber, slew countless foreign experts. Eventually, he aged, washed his hands of the martial world, and retired.

Unfortunately, his descendants were unworthy, none could inherit his legacy. Nearing ninety, unwilling to let his martial arts be lost, he decided to hold a disciple recruitment assembly to take in students.

The other was Canglang Sword Han Dengxing, once a beggar, nearly starved to death.

Luckily adopted by a kind soul, he started as a servant, met a good teacher, and learned excellent martial skills.

He also sailed abroad, comprehending the Canglang Sword Technique at sea.

Once fought Zheng Longwang to a draw.

He had three disciples, but all met misfortune.

With his skills facing extinction, upon hearing his friend Li Donglin planned to recruit disciples, he readily agreed.

Duan Xiaoliu memorized all this and became even more convinced.

As he got closer to Qingfeng City, he encountered more and more fellow travelers—some in groups of three to five, some in pairs, and some alone like him.

He had a hunch—they were all heading to become disciples.

Like him, they were all cautious.

In their hearts, they each viewed the others as potential competitors.

Of course, not everyone was like him. Some tried to strike up conversation."Little brother, heading to Qingfeng City too? If we’re on the same road, let’s travel together—it’s good to have company."

Duan Xiaoliu, of course, declined.

……

In this way, after twenty-five days, Duan Xiaoliu finally arrived at the legendary Qingfeng City.

The city said to be bustling was, indeed, bustling.

Far surpassing his hometown’s little town.

Upon entering, he didn’t even need to ask around.

On every street and alley, even the beggars at the roadside were talking about the two Third Grade Experts recruiting disciples.

After getting enough information, the first thing Duan Xiaoliu did was find an inn.

But the room rates were terrifyingly high—six silver coins a night for a regular room.

The better rooms were even pricier, and this was the last room available at that price.

At this point, no matter how expensive, he had no choice but to stay.

He bathed, changed into new clothes, and went downstairs.

Inside the inn, nearly everyone was like him—outsiders come to join the disciple recruitment assembly.

Everyone was talking about it.

On his first night in Qingfeng City, Duan Xiaoliu fell asleep full of excitement, agitation, anxiety, and unease.

……

The next morning, Duan Xiaoliu woke early.

After breakfast, he headed straight for the East Gate.

He already knew—the open land by the Tai River near the Ten Li Pavilion outside the East Gate was the site for the disciple recruitment assembly.

To participate, one had to register first. Registration would close in four days.

Four days later, the recruitment assembly would officially begin.

When Duan Xiaoliu arrived beside the Ten Li Pavilion, he saw many tents erected by the river, and several arenas in the center.

The registration point was inside a large tent next to the pavilion, with a big sign beside it bearing the words"Registration"in bold.

In front of the pavilion, many were already lined up.

Duan Xiaoliu quickly joined the end of the line.

At that time, the sky had not yet fully brightened, and the pavilion staff had not arrived.

He waited for a full hour.

What was originally a queue of seven or eight had become a long line—at least fifty to sixty people by estimation.

Seeing this, Duan Xiaoliu’s eyelids twitched. So many people?

Could he really stand out among so many and be chosen by the two Third Grade Experts?

Just as he was thinking this, the person in charge of registration finally arrived.

……

After waiting a good while longer, it was finally Duan Xiaoliu’s turn.

The two tall guards stationed outside the tent gestured for him to enter.

Only then did Duan Xiaoliu step inside. Just moments ago, he had witnessed with his own eyes how they subdued and threw out two people who tried to cut in line—they were at least Eighth Grade Martial Artists.

If both guards were Eighth Grade, then it was obvious the people inside had to be major figures.

Inside the tent, there were only three people: one young man around twenty years old with an extraordinary bearing, and two men who looked like bookkeepers, sitting beside him, writing something down.

The two bookkeepers began asking questions.

"What’s your name?"

"How old are you?"

"Where are you from?"

"What is your cultivation level?"

When Duan Xiaoliu heard this question, he lowered his head somewhat guiltily."N... Ninth Grade."

After the two finished questioning, the young man spoke."Come over here. I’ll test your strength. Only those who meet the requirements are qualified to participate in the disciple recruitment assembly."

Duan Xiaoliu quickly asked,"What counts as meeting the requirements?"

The young man replied,"That’s for me to judge. Come, try hitting me with a palm strike."

"This—"

Duan Xiaoliu hesitated.

"Don’t waste time. If you don’t dare to strike, leave now."

Duan Xiaoliu gritted his teeth and suddenly struck with his palm.

Bang!

His palm struck squarely against the other’s, and he immediately felt a surge of overwhelming force pushing him down, knocking him to the ground. His chest tightened, and he nearly fainted.

Then he heard the other’s evaluation."Not bad, your foundation is solid. Definitely Ninth Grade. Alright, you’ve passed."

Duan Xiaoliu thought he misheard.

He passed just like that?

The young man said,"Don’t just stand there. Take your number token—0539. Come compete four days later. Bring this with you. At the time, only the number will be called."

"Alright."

Duan Xiaoliu quickly got up from the ground, accepted the number token, and once he left the tent, he dashed off until he found a secluded place.

Looking at the bamboo token in his hand, he grinned foolishly.

He had actually passed.

He could participate in the disciple recruitment assembly.

That meant he had a chance to be accepted as a disciple by a Third Grade Expert.

0539!

What a great number.

Wait a minute...

Duan Xiaoliu suddenly realized—did that mean 538 people had already passed before him?

He looked at the long line in front of the nearby pavilion.

There were still four days left.

Would the number of those who got a token exceed a thousand?

That number made his scalp tingle.

For the first time, he realized that there were so many people in the world who practiced martial arts.

……

【You defeated an LV11 enemy and gained 40 experience points.】

Chen Ming saw this notification but felt no joy at all.

"Another Ninth Grade."

He sighed.

These past few days, among those who came to register, ninety percent were Ninth Grade Martial Artists.

There were only about ten Eighth Grades, and even fewer Seventh Grades—just five.

Not a single Sixth Grade.

Defeating a Ninth Grade only gave forty points.

An Eighth Grade gave one hundred points.

A Seventh Grade gave four hundred points.

Of course, he hoped for more high-cultivation participants.

Chen Ming had devised strategies for Feng Siyuan, helped persuade Zhao Xiyan, and even painstakingly created a competition format—all for this very day!

Everyone who wanted to join the disciple recruitment assembly had to go through him first.

So far, over two thousand people had registered.

Half of them were locals from Qingfeng City.

He had eliminated three-quarters of them.

All those disqualified were due to not meeting the age requirement.

Of course, these days had yielded great results—he had accumulated over eighty thousand experience points in total.

And with four more days of registration left, people would keep coming.

Conservatively, he estimated he could gather over one hundred thousand experience points this time.

He couldn’t help but give himself a mental thumbs-up for his genius idea.