Zheng Dahai scolded him without mercy.
Fu Hanchuan's face was black as the bottom of a pot.
But in the end, he didn't dare say a word. After all, he was an Internal Strengthening martial artist himself; how could he fail to sense how frightening this man was?
At last, he could only leave with a sullen farewell, taking the others with him as they departed the Qin Mansion.
Watching this unfold,
Qin Jiu remained silent.
Inwardly, he pondered Zheng Dahai's words. The first thing the man had said earlier had been rather intriguing.
"Don't overthink it."
Zheng Dahai smiled faintly. "The reason I came to the Qin Family first was to repay Li Yuan for a favor."
"Him?"
Qin Jiu was somewhat surprised.
He hadn't expected that the good karma Li Yuan had mentioned that day
would turn out to involve the Mystic Firmament Sect.
After thinking it over for a moment, he asked, "Elder Zheng, forgive my boldness, but what conditions does your sect require of those it recruits?"
"Conditions?"
Zheng Dahai coughed and said, "This old man has been traveling for days with his disciples."
"I'm hungry and thirsty right now."
"Where would I find the strength to tell you all that?"
At this,
Qin Jiu raised an eyebrow and clapped his hands. "Mysterious Boat, serve the tea. Also, have someone prepare a banquet at once, to welcome our distinguished guests from the Mystic Firmament Sect."
A short while later,
Zheng Dahai held a teacup in both hands and let out a long breath.
"In this freezing weather, a sip of hot tea really hits the spot. You're good at reading the room, young man. No wonder Li Yuan speaks so highly of you. At such a young age, you've already broken through to Three Refinements. In a small place like this, you're truly a crane standing among chickens."
As he spoke,
he set down his teacup, his expression suddenly turning serious.
Qin Jiu sat up straight.
He said nothing.
"At present, the Mystic Firmament Sect has only two requirements for recruiting disciples."
"The first is martial cultivation, and the second is natural aptitude."
"First, the martial cultivation requirement. Those with inferior bones who reach Three Refinements before the age of thirty may enter the outer sect. Those with average bones who reach Internal Strengthening before thirty may enter the inner sect. Those with superior bones who reach Internal Strengthening before twenty-five may become inner-sect true disciples."
"As for the second requirement, your current cultivation already meets the standard for joining the sect, so this old man won't waste his breath. Of course, if others in the Qin Family also wish to join the Mystic Firmament Sect, they can have their bones measured along with everyone else."
Listening to this,
Qin Jiu nodded silently.
In truth, if he joined the Mystic Firmament Sect, then based on his martial cultivation alone, becoming an inner-sect true disciple before the age of twenty-five would be all but certain.
"However..."
At this point,
Zheng Dahai changed course and continued, "Though Li Yuan made the request, the sect's rules cannot be broken. I still need to examine your bones, just to make sure nothing has been overlooked. Don't worry; whatever the result, it won't affect your admission."
Qin Jiu readily agreed.
After all, his physique had been tempered by talents such as Dragon Tendon Tiger Bone, so his bones were bound to be extraordinary.
There was no reason for him to hide his abilities now.
Zheng Dahai rose from his chair and came to stand before Qin Jiu. With a flick of his wrist, he gripped Qin Jiu's shoulder.
"What exceptionally sturdy bones..."
The moment he made contact, a hint of surprise appeared on his face.
Then he joined his fingers together like a sword.
His hand swept swiftly over Qin Jiu's shoulder, arms, back, waist, and hips.
"Excellent natural aptitude."
"No wonder you've reached the Three Refinements Meridian Clearing stage at your age, without the backing of a major sect."
Zheng Dahai looked delighted.
Just as he was about to withdraw his hand, he felt Qin Jiu's whole body tremble.
A surge of frigid, baleful inner strength
instantly flowed into his palm.
Though Zheng Dahai was measuring Qin Jiu's bones and assessing his aptitude, he normally avoided violating a martial artist's boundaries by probing their inner condition.
So when Zheng Dahai touched that inner strength,
his expression changed abruptly.
"Young man, this is... Mystic Power?!"
"Mystic Power?"
The other two men sprang to their feet at once, their eyes instantly fixed on Qin Jiu.
They hadn't said a word since arriving at the Qin Mansion.
Their expressions had seemed quite calm.
But now, both of them wore friendly smiles at the same time.
"You truly can't judge a person by appearances."
"Junior Brother Qin is so young, yet he's already cultivated Mystic Power at Three Refinements. You're more outstanding than most inner-sect disciples."
"You two senior brothers flatter me."
"I happened upon some opportunities in my youth, which is how I came to possess such inner strength."
Qin Jiu nodded modestly.
That served as his response to them.
Meanwhile, Zheng Dahai pondered for a moment, then took out a token and said, "Your bones are excellent, and with inner strength like this, I can recommend you for the inner sect. Once you return to the sect, you can take this identity token to the Sect Master and explain the situation."
"Thank you, Elder Zheng."
Qin Jiu was overjoyed.
Not long after,
a table laden with food and wine was set in the reception hall.
"Junior Brother, let me offer you a word of advice as someone who's been there. Save the sect contribution points you're given when you join. Spend them only on the martial arts you must cultivate, and don't squander them. After you break through to Internal Strengthening, keep them for the secret art that turns inner strength into qi."
"Whatever you do, don't waste your precious time"
"earning contribution points."
"Our prime lasts only a few years. If you can't convert all your inner strength into true qi during that time, then even if you later break through to the Willow Tendon stage, beyond Internal Strengthening, you may run out of steam and find it hard to climb any higher."
At the banquet,
a young man offered this advice.
The speaker was named Qi Yuan, and the other man was Xu Jinghua.
Recalling their earlier introductions, Qin Jiu nodded. "I'll remember your advice, Senior Brother Qi. But besides the contribution points granted by the sect, where else can we obtain them?"
"You'll naturally be told once you join the sect..."
Qi Yuan said, taking a sip of wine before continuing, "But we have nothing else to do right now, so I may as well tell you."
"There are two sources of sect contribution points. The first is missions within the sect, and the second is exchanging all kinds of natural treasures for them. The latter includes gold and silver, but there's an annual limit on how much gold and silver you can exchange, so you can't get too many contribution points that way."
"As for natural treasures, there's no need to say more."
"What martial artist would ever say they have too many? So the missions issued by the sect have become the most reliable source of contribution points."
"To be frank,"
"Junior Brother Xu and I came with Elder Zheng for the contribution points."
Listening to this,
Qin Jiu nodded slightly.
Then he continued to trade cups with them, probing for other information, until the banquet ended. He had Qin Xuanzhou arrange rooms for the three men, then returned to the East Wing himself.
"The Great Zhou wants to share the realm with the sect."
"The Mystic Firmament Sect has established the Divine Guard Army and recruited disciples in two other counties. Songshan County is the final stop..."
In the East Wing courtyard,
Qin Jiu sat alone in the pavilion.
Eyes closed, he digested the information he had just learned.
The revelations were astonishing.
According to Qi Yuan, the Mystic Firmament Sect's Divine Guard Army was on its way from another county. After selecting disciples in Songshan County, they would escort them away. But the Divine Guard Army's main purpose wasn't simply to escort disciples back to the sect's mountain gate. They were going to station troops here.
"Are these claims true?"
"I should be able to get a rough idea by using Ghost Illumination."
Before you continue