Chapter 118 - Selection

As per the general rule of Xianxia novels, a fight must happen every second day to make the story interesting. Even if the protagonist fell asleep at the bottom of a glacier, a scuba knight would probably appear and attempt to kill them with a trident. 

Today, Simon had very little to do, blue was finally reaching the breakthrough point of Core Formation, quickly pushing herself towards the fabled realm of Nascent Soul. At this point, Simon started to understand why Xianxia novels get boring after a few hundred chapters. He came to realise that slow leveling with random techniques and stereotypical plot devices get boring after a while.

'Perhaps if my next novel shifted back to a more modern setting, it would be a better read. Even after all of this time, I still need to improve.' Simon noted down his thoughts in a notebook, discarding it in his spatial storage afterwards,

"Grey, I think I'm gonna break through soon." Blue slowly walked into the living room and placed her hand on the wall, huffing and puffing heavily.

"Cool." Simon sat on the couch and laid back until he was at a comfortable resting position. He did not really care too much, he just wanted to leave by the next day. 

Progress is the only thing that speaks. If they can't progress, then there will be nothing to do. Unless Simon wants to take up fishing or botany, he would slowly crumble into a state of boredom induced madness.

"I'm going to go out again soon, just hurry up and break through so we can leave tomorrow, okay?" Simon rolled off the couch and stood up slowly. It was midday and there was nothing much to do inside the condo, see he decided it would be a good idea to go talent hunting. It just so happened hat the trials were going to take place within the next hour, so he thought maybe this was a good chance.

"Hey, before yo-"

Simon disappeared again without a trace and arrived at the patriarch's home.

"!!!" The guards flinched and jumped back slightly, before bowing and opening the door.

"Please enter, Venerable Hui." One of them said while bowing his head.

"Ah! Brother Hui, I see you have come again after our last meeting. I take it that your companion is about to reach Nascent Soul?" Wu Zhong smiled and poured a hot cup of tea, sliding it over to Simon's side of the table.

"My companion is but a few hours away from breaking through." Simon day down and took the cup of tea with his left hand.

"Brother Wu, I have come here today to ask for some help in recruiting more disciples. Since I am to become an elder in the Divine Tempest Sect, shouldn't I have the right to select talents from this batch of trial runners?" Simon sipped from the cup, calmly stating his request.

"Only that? If you d.e.s.i.r.e it, you can have the whole lot of them! The Divine Tempest Sect treats its elders well, we will make sure that you feel pride in being an elder of our sect. Just a few no-name kids that have to rely on medicinal pills to breakthrough? You can have them and all the geniuses recruited this year! Just ask and I will do my best to get it for you." Wu Zhong laughed and banged his fists on the table, somehow not breaking it.

"Are there any applicants this year that have sparked any interest from brother Wu? I d.e.s.i.r.e your advice in this aspect of recruitment, my eye for talent is not so refined. I only believe that the student can only be as strong as the teacher, so I do take talent into account very often."

"Brother Hui, I have only found one applicant to be of any interest in this entire batch. Her name is Yao Xue, the most beautiful and talented applicant that We've received in the last century. I can hand her over straight under your care right now if you wish."

"How about the most useless trash, someone that has worked very very hard to get here." Simon seemed disinterested.

'Yao Xue? A princess which I ended up giving the ice queen personality archetype to. In any case, best to stay away from her.'

"Hmmm…" Wu Zhong scratched his chin as he pondered on Simon's specifications.

"Ah! There is a boy that lost his family to a clan war as well as witnessed his lover cheating on him with a nobleman. It was said that he used to be a peerless genius until he reached the age of 16, where he suddenly stopped making any progress in cultivation, keeping him at Foundation Building 1st layer for so long. I pity him, but I do not wish to waste sect resources on taking in someone with no potential. People like that should work in the field of poetry and medicine, it is much easier to make a living despite low cultivation if they work in those fields." Wu Zhong spoke somewhat sympathetically.

"Okay. Is there anything else that is special about this kid? What is his work ethic like? How long does he train every single day? Does he possess an unknown ring which looks like ordinary silver? Anything?"

"Hmmm… The kid, Long Wang, Is a hard worker. He trains a single hour every-"

"What do you mean hard worker? Is that even considered work?" Simon sounded shocked.

"Ummm… well… you see… Kids in this day and age usually rely on medicinal pills to break through, so they don't tend to work hard and stop progressing after Core Formation if they even manage to ever reach that. An hour per day is considered quite good here."

'What do you mean?! People are supposed to train day and night to become powerful! I wrote that the standard training time is at least four hours a day! What do you mean less than an hour?!'

"I'm not taking him. All of them are trash." Simon sighed.

"Very well. Is there some disabled person here that you know works very hard despite his limitations?"

"Hmmm… I know! Fatty Chen lost his arms and legs defending against an attack from a rival sect! He persevered day and night to learn a technique which allows him to roll around at the speed a human can sprint! Despite his disability, he wields a sword using his mouth and has cultivated all the way to Core Formation 3rd layer at only the age of 18! Alas, he could have been much more if he had arms and legs. He is nevertheless a powerful individual in this branch sect."

"How many hours a day does he train on average?" Simon asked with a focused expression.

"He trains day and night, compensating for his lost limbs with only his pure effort! Although he is not attempting the trials, he is a splendid man to recruit! The only issue is his appetite… The other disciples get angry that he keeps on eating all of the chickens before they even have a chance to react. I do feel pity for them, food is precious even if we have a lot."

"Okay. I will take this Fatty Chen. However, I want to know if there are any other interesting types in this branch sect."

"Hmmm… there is Chef Hong! Chef Hong has been in this sect for a long time. He cooks amazing dishes and is said to have been enlightened in the dao of cooking. I also head the Chef Hong has no talents in cultivation and martial arts, yet he still aspires to become a great immortal. Through his effort alone, he has reached Foundation Building 8th layer. He may be old, but he is someone that you can rely on!" Wu Zhong had nothing but praise for the amazing chef, acting as if he was speaking of a deity of great prominence.

"Janitor Kong is also a great worker in the sect. He can clean any surface within a minute. Without him, the condos and the entirety of the sect would not look nearly as beautiful as it does right now. Luckily, he has trained quite a few janitors, so it won't hurt too much to see him leave for higher places. Same like Chef Hong. Both of them are fantastic individuals that I cannot help but praise."

"Unfortunately, like Chef Hong, Janitor Kong has no talents in cultivation and martial arts, only managing to achieve the 5th layer of Foundation building after 60 years of hard work. Say the word and I will hand 5em both over to you."

"Hmmm… yep. I will have them both." Simon seemed satisfied with his gains for the day. Three hardworking disciples is an achievement in itself.

"Brother Wu, why do you even work at a branch sect anyways?"

"Oh, this is a clone body. I work at the the main sect and this sect by splitting my conscience while I'm doing mundane tasks, maintaining a sense of dual focus. You should try it."

"I should."