Sect Leader! Please strengthen our Dao Sect!

The day after the Lunar New Year holiday.

To Shen Shanshui's surprise, Liu Jiujiang and Wu Lianshan took the initiative to visit him.

The two men had been very helpful to him, and he had originally planned to visit them today.

Liu Jiujiang cupped his hands and smiled:

"Old Wu and I estimate that after the New Year holidays, our young friend will be able to formally start taking on apprentices."

He thought he would come and check things out, and also pick a couple of disciples.

I never thought about this when I was young, but as you get older, you start to think more about it. All these skills of mine need to be passed on.

"I wonder if you would mind if I and Lao Wu were to register our names at your Tianyi Dao Sect?"

Shen Shanshui was quite surprised to hear this. Liu Jiujiang's words were not wrong, but why did it feel like a big shot was about to die and was looking for a successor?

These two should be quite young, in their prime. If they wanted to take on disciples, they would have done so long ago.

Moreover, Shen Shanshui had previously invited the two to open a cave dwelling on the mountain, where they could come and sit when they had nothing to do.

Back then, Liu Jiujiang used his official position to shirk responsibility, so why does he want to hold a nominal post now?

The salaries of celestial officials in the Celestial Dynasty are not high, but it is permissible for them to serve as elders or honorifics in celestial sects. In fact, many celestial officials themselves come from celestial sects.

Celestial officials like Liu and Wu, who are single-mindedly focused on their duties, are actually anomalies.

"It would be an honor, but I am short of funds. I suspect you two only have the title of elder, but no offerings to receive."

Shen Shanshui looked embarrassed. He couldn't afford to accept the offerings from the two of them.

Shen Shanshui needed to make plans for the future development of his sect from the spirit stones that Liu Ruyan had given him.

"It's alright, cultivation resources are of little use to either of us at the moment."

"Hehe... Old Wu, aren't you coming with me to pay our respects to the sect leader?"

Liu Jiujiang made a gesture to bow, but Shen Shanshui wouldn't let him, and quickly took the other's hand.

"You two are too kind to flatter me."

Shen Shanshui was both amused and exasperated. Was Liu Jiujiang serious?

Congratulations, Sect Leader!

With the acquisition of two top-tier Foundation Establishment elders, the Immortal Sect's endeavors are flourishing.

Rewards: Sword Dao True Understanding x1, Core Formation Insight x1

Upon hearing the system notification, Shen Shanshui raised an eyebrow.

Is this a sign that they think he's weak? They even gave him insights into Core Formation?

Well, Shen Shanshui had to admit that he was weaker than the two newly added elders. He hadn't even finished overcoming his second tribulation yet.

……

At the foot of Tianyi Mountain, the streets are bustling with traffic and people of all kinds.

There were wealthy merchants dressed in finery, and also cultivators with restrained auras. Most of them were accompanied by one or even a dozen teenagers.

In addition, there were some young people and teenagers who came alone.

The snow was falling heavily, and the cold wind was howling, making people feel a sharp pain.

The wealthy young men were dressed warmly enough to withstand the biting wind. Those whose elders were cultivators also received some care and assistance.

Those without any background could only huddle together by the fire, but even though the fire wasn't very strong, it couldn't provide much warmth.

But when everyone looked up at the towering Tianyi Mountain and saw the magnificent hall with its faint glow above the clouds, the burning anticipation rising in their hearts dispelled all the chill.

"Do we really have a chance to become disciples of a master?"

I went to Langya Sword Pavilion before, and was immediately kicked out.

"I don't know, let's try our luck. I came all the way from Gufeng County and heard a lot of legends about this real person along the way."

It's said that this person himself is a hermit and not particularly talented, so it seems that those of us without much talent also have a chance.

Several young people huddled together by the fire, breathing on their hands and rubbing them together as they chatted.

Nowadays, there are many rumors about Shen Shanshui in Jiangnan Prefecture, and naturally, not many people believe those unofficial stories in the folk tales.

However, most people believe that Shen Shanshui must be a devoted ascetic who is single-mindedly pursuing the Dao. Perhaps he did not achieve the status of a True Person for very long.

After all, most of the Foundation Establishment cultivators in Jiangnan Prefecture are already well-known, and their growth trajectories are traceable. Even for some younger generations born later, it is not too difficult to understand them.

But Shen Shanshui was the only one who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, and his origins were completely unknown. He was more likely a hermit.

Huhu~

As the cold wind intensifies, more and more people are huddling together for warmth.

The weather is like something out of a ghost story; Qingyang County has never been this cold in previous years.

Although the wealthy young men were dressed warmly, they could not withstand the continuous ravages of the wind and snow after a while.

Even some Qi Refining stage cultivators are struggling to keep up. Most of them are at the first or second level of Qi Refining, or at most the third level. They have to take care of themselves and the younger generation in their families, and the spiritual energy is simply not enough.

Before long, these people split into several small groups.

The sons of wealthy families gathered together. Those with elder cultivators in their families protected each other, taking turns using their spiritual power to safeguard them.

The most pitiful were those young people who had no one to rely on but were driven by their obsession with cultivating immortality. Most of them hunched over, trying to curl up as much as possible, afraid that even a wisp of heat would escape from their bodies.

Among these people, a young man dressed as a scholar stood out.

Unlike the others, this person stood upright in the wind and snow, his lips turning purple from the cold, yet his gaze remained steadfast as he stared at Tianyi Mountain.

The scholar looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old, taller than most of the young people present, but in reality, he had already passed the prime age for cultivation.

"Hey scholar, come and warm yourself by the fire."

A kind-looking young man saw that the scholar was so cold he could barely stand, and kindly offered to help.

Everyone else remained silent, assuming the scholar was a fool.

The scholar was probably too cold, as it took him a while to react before he walked over with stiff steps.

Thank you.

"Hehe, my name is Li Daniu. You look like a scholar, what brings you here?"

The honest-looking boy was not tall and was obviously much younger than the scholar, but he was more mature than the scholar.

"My name is He Wenzheng. I used to study at Donglou Academy. I heard that there was a sect in Qingyang County that was recruiting disciples, so I came here to give it a try."

Even though the scholar was almost frozen, he still maintained his composure and raised his hand in a salute.

"East Building Academy? Oh dear!"

"Isn't this going the long way around? Do students of the East Tower Academy really need to seek pilgrimage to a celestial sect? Who in Jiangnan Prefecture doesn't know the renown of Chief Scholar Li?"

The wind and snow were so loud that no one knew who said it, but the words were clearly sarcastic.

If these people could go to the East Building Academy, who would suffer this hardship of waiting at the foot of Tianyi Mountain?

The scholar naturally sensed the barb in the words, but he wasn't annoyed and simply said:

"I am a student of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, and I have been studying the words of the sages."

The idea that the Great Qin Dynasty and the Immortal Sects would jointly govern the world is a fallacy! Immortal Sect cultivators disregard the law, neglect moral cultivation, and regard the common people as ants; sooner or later, they will become a great calamity for the Immortal Dynasty.

"Our Great Qin should educate its people with benevolence and restrain its cultivators with even harsher laws."

"Hey! With thoughts like yours, no wonder you couldn't survive at the East Building Academy. So why are you even here, so aloof?"

"Even the words of a sage cannot save the Qin Dynasty!"

"I am but a mortal, unable to educate those cultivators, so I will have to use my immortal body to educate them."

……