From now on, you will be my disciple

Of course, some people also began to ponder Xu Jinghuai’s intention behind this move.

The peak masters and elders sitting on their chairs quietly exchanged telepathic messages, discussing.

Forging Peak Master: “He actually asked if they could cook? Junior Brother Jinghuai’s conditions for accepting disciples are really strange…”

Zhenfu Peak Master: “Old He, you can’t say that. Accepting disciples is no small matter, Junior Brother Jinghuai must have his own considerations.”

Forging Peak Master: “Junior Brother Jinghuai’s considerations… Could it be that his Youyun Peak lacks cooks?”

Medicine Spirit Peak Master: “…Peak Master He, Youyun Peak has always only had Jinghuai alone, why would he need a cook?”

Immortal Sword Peak Master: “I understand.”

“?” 

A look of understanding appeared on the face of Luo Jiujian, the Immortal Sword Peak Master who had been sitting calmly on her white jade chair: “I understand Junior Brother Jinghuai’s intention in this action.”

Everyone asked suspiciously, “What do you understand, Peak Master Luo?”

Luo Jiujian gave Xu Jinghuai an appreciative glance and shared her insight with everyone: “Fellow junior brothers and sisters, do you still remember what Junior Brother Jinghuai’s second condition was?”

“It was willingness to endure hardship!”

“Whether one can cook, on the surface, seems like a condition completely unrelated to accepting disciples, but in reality, it is a test given by Junior Brother Jinghuai, intended to curb the spoiled temperaments of these immortal sprouts from noble families!”

“Junior Brother Jinghuai is telling these disciples that Wuling Immortal Sect is not like their own noble families; no one will tirelessly serve them or indulge their whims!”

“Junior Brother Jinghuai’s move is truly remarkable, I, Luo Jiujian, admire it!”

Through Luo Jiujian’s explanation, the peak masters and elders all understood, sighing in admiration at Xu Jinghuai’s wisdom and intelligence.

Among the immortal sprouts below, a few also caught on to this layer of meaning, steadfastly keeping their hands raised, their expressions firm.

However, most reluctantly and honestly lowered their hands.

This second condition immediately eliminated more than half the people.

Seeing that so many people still had their hands raised, Xu Jinghuai was not surprised at all. He simply extended his hand, and with a calm expression, raised his third finger.

“The third condition, and also the final condition.”

“Finally, I will choose one from the remaining people to be my personal disciple.”

Gulp…

Everyone grew tense, countless eyes fixed on Xu Jinghuai, waiting for him to announce the third condition.

Finally, Xu Jinghuai spoke softly, revealing the last condition.

“This Venerable only accepts female disciples.”

Silence—

A deathly silence.

It was a long while before people gradually came back to their senses.

“Huh????”

“Only accepts female disciples???”

“What the hell, are you playing with me?!”

“So many hopes, so many regrets…”

“Unfair! This is gender discrimination, isn’t it?! Absolutely gender discrimination, hey!”

A group of immortal sprouts, indignant, protested one after another.

But Xu Jinghuai merely glanced indifferently at the few protesters, crossing his arms: “Do you have any objections to this Venerable’s disciple selection criteria?”

The few instantly fell silent.

They almost forgot something: the white-robed figure standing on the Immortal Platform was an Immortal Venerable! And the Venerable of this age! The strongest in the world!

Coming here was for him to choose and accept disciples, not for them to pick a master. Xu Jinghuai could accept whomever he wished; what right did they have to criticize him?

In this world, the strong are revered. Low-cultivation cultivators pointing fingers at high-cultivation cultivators like this was already overstepping. If the Venerable was in a bad mood, they could be instantly annihilated without consequence.

The protesting few bowed their heads: “We dare not, it was our overstepping. We beg the Venerable for punishment…”

Their humble demeanor was a world apart from their previous defiant protests.

‘Alas, but I still prefer your previous defiant look.’

Xu Jinghuai clicked his tongue inwardly. In truth, he wasn’t angry at all. He had been a lazy slacker for nearly two thousand years; his firm Dao Heart wouldn’t be stirred by a few words from these people.

Xu Jinghuai chuckled softly: “This Venerable understands your feelings. Perhaps you are unwilling to be rejected, or perhaps you resent this Venerable for not stating the requirement of only accepting female disciples beforehand, instead giving temporary hope only to bestow disappointment, believing this Venerable is toying with you.”

“If you merely think this, then it only indicates that your perception is too shallow.”

With his hands behind his back, Xu Jinghuai slowly walked to his chair at the end.

Then, in the eyes of everyone, he placed his hand on the ‘manly pink’ chair.

“This Venerable asks all the male disciples present, what color is this chair you see?”

A group of male disciples, after a short or long period of observation, all said in unison.

“Red.”

‘This is pink, damn it!’

Xu Jinghuai’s eyebrow twitched slightly, his facial expression still unchanged: “Then this Venerable further asks you, this color, do you commonly see it more on men, or more on women?”

Many of the male disciples already understood, but they still obediently replied.

“…Women.”

Xu Jinghuai chuckled, “Now you know why this Venerable only accepts female disciples, right?”

‘Aren’t soft and pretty female disciples more appealing? I’m not some stubborn fool from Martial Dao Peak who goes around shirtless, advocating muscle philosophy. Youyun Peak already has enough Yang energy with him around, why would he take male disciples?’

The male disciples fell silent, one after another lowering their raised hands.

Finally, only a handful of people remained with their hands raised.

It wasn’t that there were too few female disciples, but rather that most of the female disciples had been filtered out by Xu Jinghuai’s second condition.

There was no helping it; most of those who came to participate in the Wuling Immortal Sect’s disciple recruitment ceremony were pampered young ladies from influential families, so naturally, not many remained.

Xu Jinghuai carefully scanned the remaining five female disciples one by one.

At the same time, he began to ponder in his mind.

Even if he took a female disciple, she had to be quiet. Too lively wouldn’t do; noisy ones would disturb his future slacking off.

So, in Xu Jinghuai’s eyes, the two female disciples who actively raised their hands, looking excited and eager to be noticed by Xu Jinghuai, clearly seemed like the lively and boisterous type, and he immediately dismissed them in his mind.

As for appearance, Xu Jinghuai didn’t care much about it. The Cangnan Realm was filled with spiritual energy that even mortals could absorb, so basically, as long as a woman wasn’t extremely obese, she wouldn’t be too ugly.

Then it came down to aptitude.

Xu Jinghuai primarily cultivated immortal arts, to put it simply, he was a traditional cannon-mage type. So, any disciple he took would ideally have talent in this area to be easy to teach.

Thus, another female disciple carrying a sword, clearly a sword cultivator, was also dismissed by him.

For the last two remaining, Xu Jinghuai directly used an immortal-grade ocular technique that could see through a person’s spiritual root aptitude and Dao Body, looking at both of them.

One had dual spiritual roots of earth and wood, quite ordinary. Although she had some aptitude, her future achievements would probably only reach the Human Immortal stage at best.

Mediocre.

And the other…

Hiss…

This one was even more impressive!

Xu Jinghuai gasped, rubbing his eyes. The sight before him made him wonder if he had seen wrongly.

But the information from his ocular technique remained consistent.

A single water-attribute Heavenly Spirit Root! And this girl possessed a refined Water Spirit Immortal Body!

This was one of the peerless immortal physiques, among the Five Elements Immortal Bodies, only recorded in ancient texts!

Once the immortal body was activated, the person themselves wouldn’t need to cultivate diligently. As long as they stayed in an environment rich in the corresponding attribute of their immortal body, their cultivation realm would automatically rise!

However, at this moment, the other party probably hadn’t activated her immortal body yet, and there were no characteristic signs of it on her. Only with Xu Jinghuai’s immortal-grade ocular technique could he discern her physique.

Oh my god!

If I take her as a disciple, and help her activate her immortal body, then I can just toss her into a pool and AFK, and she’ll be fine!

Anyway, she’ll cultivate on her own! He won’t have to worry about a thing!

This way, he can continue his days of slacking off and chilling out!

Yay!

Suppressing his excitement, Xu Jinghuai took a deep breath, adjusted his state, and directly flew down, landing beside that female disciple.

Xu Jinghuai used gentle immortal power to subtly push everyone away from her, completely clearing the area around the two.