But he gave too much.

While Xu Jinghuai was dozing with his eyes closed, the disciple recruitment ceremony was in full swing. Several peak masters and elders were observing and assessing the immortal sprouts below the Jade Platform.

By now, some peak masters had already taken in their beloved disciples, while others were still indecisive.

“The aptitudes of this batch of immortal sprouts seem quite good.”

“Indeed. I’ve already set my eyes on four immortal sprouts. Their aptitude and temperament are both excellent. With a little cultivation in the future, they will undoubtedly become pillars of the sect.”

“My Medicine Spirit Peak, as in previous years, only accepts female disciples, regardless of aptitude.”

“By the way, Sect Master, have you taken a liking to anyone?”

As the elders and peak masters chatted, the topic shifted to the Sect Master in the main seat. They found the Sect Master frowning and looking at Xu Jinghuai in the last seat.

Suddenly, the Sect Master asked, as if muttering to himself, “How many years has it been since Jinghuai achieved Immortal Venerable?”

The peak masters and elders were stunned for a moment, then thought for a bit before answering, “It’s been almost two thousand years now, hasn’t it?”

“Exactly!”

The Sect Master clenched his fist and slammed it into his other palm, saying with exasperation, “Two thousand years, two thousand years! And he still doesn’t have a single disciple. What in the world is this little brat thinking?”

“He just nests alone on Youyun Peak all day, and I never see him cultivating in seclusion. I thought he was just waiting to sit and transform into dust!”

The peak masters and elders: …

Junior Brother Jinghuai is still here, Sect Master, is it really appropriate to say such things to his face?

Looking at Xu Jinghuai again, he remained seated calmly on his chair, oblivious to the world, as if everything happening here had nothing to do with him.

But the more Xu Jinghuai acted this way, the more exasperated the Sect Master became.

“No! Today, this brat must take a disciple!”

The Sect Master seemed to have made up his mind and winked at the Peak Master of Forging Peak, who was sitting next to Xu Jinghuai: “Peak Master He, go wake up that brat Jinghuai.”

The Peak Master of Forging Peak was a burly man with a bare chest and a scraggly beard. He was a bit confused when called upon, but being a straightforward man, he didn’t hesitate and directly slapped Xu Jinghuai’s shoulder with a heavy hand.

“Junior Brother Jinghuai, the Sect Master is calling you.”

The Peak Master of Forging Peak wielded a thousand-jin forging hammer every day, constantly swinging and striking weapon blanks. His palm strike would likely leave an ordinary person half-paralyzed, yet Xu Jinghuai remained completely still, sitting as steady as a bell.

Instead, his own hand felt a little sore, and he pulled it back.

“Sect Master, this…”

“Why isn’t Junior Brother Jinghuai reacting?”

The Sect Master’s eyebrow twitched; he had already noticed the trick.

From his seat, he extended a sword-finger behind his back, activating a small spell that, without attracting anyone’s attention, removed Xu Jinghuai’s earplugs.

Then, he said to the Peak Master of Forging Peak without changing his expression, “Perhaps your voice was a bit too soft, Peak Master He. Lean closer to Jinghuai’s ear and speak louder, then he’ll react.”

“Alright.”

The Peak Master of Forging Peak nodded, doing as the Sect Master instructed. He leaned close to Xu Jinghuai’s ear, took a breath, gathered his strength…

“Jing! Huai! Ju! NIOR! BROTHER! The Sect Master is calling you!”

Meanwhile, a certain Sect Master also thoughtfully used a spell to control the space around the two, allowing sound to only propagate within it, making it soundproof to the outside.

And so…

“Damn!”

“What the hell happened?!”

Xu Jinghuai nearly leaped out of his chair. He felt as if his ears had just been hit head-on by a high-speed bullet train, over and over, causing a sharp pain.

Forcibly awakened from his nap, Xu Jinghuai was greeted by the Peak Master of Forging Peak’s bearded face.

Xu Jinghuai rubbed his ears, looking utterly dejected, “Seriously, Old He, why did you suddenly yell at me?”

The Peak Master of Forging Peak, seeing a reaction, was somewhat happy and said with a simple smile, “Junior Brother Jinghuai, it was the Sect Master who wanted us to call you. He wants you to take a disciple at the recruitment ceremony.”

“Sect Master?”

Xu Jinghuai was stunned, glancing at the dignified Sect Master sitting in the main seat. Whether intentionally or not, Xu Jinghuai immediately noticed two small objects being fiddled with in his hand.

Hiss…

Aren’t those my earplugs?!

Ah, dang it… caught napping…

It’s over, looks like this year’s stipend is going to be withheld by the Sect Master again…

“Uh, Sect Master, you…”

To salvage his precious money, Xu Jinghuai attempted to argue, but the Sect Master cut him off with a telepathic message.

[Take a disciple at this recruitment ceremony, and I’ll pretend I didn’t see this matter. I won’t deduct your stipend.]

Xu Jinghuai’s eyes became dead fish-like: “Take a disciple?”

“Forget it, Sect Master, I don’t want to take disciples. Taking disciples would torment both them and me… You should just deduct my stipend…”

Indeed, he was acting like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water.

It was just a year’s worth of pocket money; if it was gone, it was gone. He could always wait until next year.

Taking disciples was different. The resources needed for a disciple’s cultivation would cost more than a year’s worth of pocket money, and he would have to worry about their safety and all sorts of things.

Damn it, isn’t it better to just be a shut-in on Youyun Peak?

Really…

But it was clear that the Sect Master of Wuling Immortal Sect was not going to give Xu Jinghuai the chance to slack off, and he laid out the conditions.

“Hehe~ Jinghuai, don’t be in a hurry. If you take one disciple at the recruitment ceremony, then your stipend for this year and every year after will be twice what it is now.”

“One disciple means double, two disciples means quadruple, three means six times…”

“You understand what I mean, kid.”

Hiss…

Xu Jinghuai immediately leaned back tactically.

Oh my god… Boss is so generous!

To be honest, Xu Jinghuai was very tempted. In the Wuling Immortal Sect, an Immortal Venerable’s annual stipend was not small; it included seven-grade healing immortal pills, five high-grade immortal spirit crystals, and various other supplementary cultivation immortal pills, totaling roughly tens of thousands of low-grade immortal spirit crystals.

This was the stipend for doing nothing in the sect for a year, which Xu Jinghuai himself described as a paid annual leave every day of the year.

But unfortunately, Xu Jinghuai couldn’t control his hands. As soon as his stipend arrived, he would go online to the Oracle Network’s exchange to buy things and live lavishly, becoming a glorious “month-end pauper.”

If the Sect Master’s words meant what they implied, as long as he took one disciple, he would get double the salary on top of his existing one!

Two disciples meant quadruple, and so on…

So the more disciples he took, the more stipend he would receive each year, potentially bankrupting the Sect Master!

However, Xu Jinghuai quickly calmed down.

This old fox of a Sect Master, why would he do such a losing business? He must be planning to get it all back with interest from somewhere Xu Jinghuai hadn’t noticed.

Moreover, if he really took so many disciples, could he actually manage them all?

He couldn’t be blinded by temporary gains!

‘I must uphold my Dao Heart!’

“Oh, I almost forgot to mention.”

At this moment, the Sect Master added, “Considering you have no experience as a master, how about this: the cultivation resources your disciples receive each month will not be counted with yours. All those previous stipends belong solely to you and will not be deducted from your share.”

The disciple’s cultivation resources were calculated separately…

Not included with his own stipend!?

What?! There’s such a good deal?

Immediately, Xu Jinghuai straightened his expression and said, “Actually, Sect Master, I also feel that my Youyun Peak is a bit too quiet. The matter of taking disciples should indeed be put on the agenda.”

The Wuling Immortal Sect Master looked at Xu Jinghuai, smiling without warmth, “Do you look like you want to take disciples?”

“You’re clearly just coveting spirit stones!”

Xu Jinghuai gently shook his head, looking utterly enlightened: “How could that be? It’s all thanks to the Sect Master’s brilliant wisdom for awakening me in time!”

“We shouldn’t just focus on cultivation; we should prioritize infrastructure development, look to the future of the immortal sect, and cultivate high-quality talents to contribute to the great revival of the immortal sect!”

Xu Jinghuai’s righteous declaration made him sound like a truly loyal disciple with a sincere heart for the immortal sect.

The Wuling Immortal Sect Master raised an eyebrow and asked, “Then you don’t covet spirit stones?”

“I do.”

Xu Jinghuai answered without hesitation.

No choice, he offered too much.

The Wuling Immortal Sect Master: …