Grandmaster Zhang Yang

"Take disciples!"

"We must take disciples!!"

"No matter what their aptitude is today, we take them all!!!"

Zhang Yang fumed inwardly as he picked up the Sect Register and headed for the mountain gate.

Recruiting disciples for the sect was also known as opening the mountain gate, and today was the day the Azure Cloud Sect opened its gate.

Before Zhang Yang descended the mountain, Third Uncle-Master gave him strict instructions: the sect was too poor, and not a single disciple was to be taken during this gate-opening. He was to use every possible means to weed out and eliminate that entire group of examining disciples!

However, Zhang Yang had no intention of doing any such thing.

Dozens of teenagers stood at the Azure Cloud Sect's mountain gate, boys and girls alike, an unusually large number of them.

Seeing that someone from the Azure Cloud Sect had finally arrived, the many teenagers perked up, subconsciously straightening their postures as they cast eager gazes toward Zhang Yang.

They had heard before coming that the Azure Cloud Sect's examinations were extremely strict; within a hundred years, only three people had successfully passed the examination to enter the Azure Cloud Sect.

What kind of difficult examination problem would the Azure Cloud Sect dish out this time?

Facing everyone's eager gazes, Zhang Yang smiled and inquired, "I am the person in charge of the examination for the Azure Cloud Sect this time, and I want to ask you all—do you wish to enter the Azure Cloud Sect?"

A crowd of people nodded frantically. If they didn't want to enter the Azure Cloud Sect, who would run all the way out here?

"To enter the Azure Cloud Sect, having this sincerity is all that is required. I have already felt your sincerity, and everyone has passed the examination." Zhang Yang took out the Sect Register and said to the crowd, "Come, drop your fresh blood onto the Sect Register, and from now on you are disciples of my Azure Cloud Sect. My name is Zhang Yang, and I am your Senior Brother. If you have any matters in the future, come find me."

"What!?"

Everyone waiting for the examination was inevitably dumbfounded.

Not only were there no longer any thresholds for the Azure Cloud Sect, but even the mountain gate had flown away?

"Could it be that you are unwilling to enter the Azure Cloud Sect?" Zhang Yang asked.

"I am willing!"

A plump little fellow stepped forward.

He had run out of options; even if the Azure Cloud Sect were a pit of fire, he still had to jump right in.

The little fellow bit his finger, pressing his blood-dripping finger against the Jade Disc. A flash of brilliant light swept across, and the little fellow's figure appeared on the Jade Disc—registration successful.

Seeing that the Sect Register entry was complete, a heavy stone in the little fellow's heart finally dropped, and he couldn't help but reveal a happy smile.

The others also snapped back to their senses, quickly stepping forward one by one to drip their blood onto the Jade Disc.

The figures on the register grew more and more numerous, alarming the current School Leader of the Azure Cloud Sect, Azure Cloud Master, who was in closed-door seclusion.

Azure Cloud Master swept his vast divine sense across the sect's domain, instantly understanding what was happening.

"Zhang Yang!"

A ethereal voice came rolling mightily down from Azure Cloud Peak like a surging tide toward the mountain gate of Azure Cloud Peak, echoing in everyone's ears as if the mountains themselves were speaking.

"Master!"

Zhang Yang's smiling face instantly froze.

"Who told you to take so many people... Get your butt up here!" One could hear the gnashing of teeth in Azure Cloud Master's voice.

Zhang Yang hurriedly said, "Master, do not fret. There are still a few people who haven't finished registering yet. Once they're done, I'll come right away. Quick, quick, quick, is there anyone else who hasn't registered on the Sect Register? If you miss this, don't blame me for not giving you a chance."

Although the others noticed that the situation was abnormal, judging from the circumstances just moments ago, this was indeed a chance to enter the Azure Cloud Sect.

Those who hadn't registered on the register swarmed forward, successfully signing their names on the Azure Cloud Sect Register one after another.

Zhang Yang tucked away the Sect Register and said to the crowd, "You are now disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect. Your first task upon entering the sect is to run up this mountain trail. I will wait for you at the grand sect hall."

After finishing these words, he leaped into the air and flew toward the peak.

The others looked at each other and rushed up the mountain trail in a chaotic swarm.

Zhang Yang flew back to the grand sect hall, where seven people were already seated inside—both men and women. Sitting right in the center was none other than Azure Cloud Master.

At this moment, Azure Cloud Master glared fiercely at a disheveled-haired man on his left, scolding him: "Third Junior Brother, I told you to preside over this gate-opening ceremony. How on earth did you handle things? Why did you hand such an important matter as opening the mountain gate over to that brat Zhang Yang to manage?"

Third Junior Brother wore a grievance-filled expression: "I was busy refining a furnace of pills, and it had already reached a critical juncture, so I just let that kid Zhang Yang run the errand for me. When he went down the mountain, I specifically instructed him not to take a single disciple during this gate-opening. I'd like to ask the School Leader, just what major event occurred to summon all of us here like this?"

When everyone in the Azure Cloud Sect gathered together, the matter was definitely no small affair.

Could someone have stormed the Azure Cloud Sect, threatening its very survival?

"What major event occurred?" Azure Cloud Master happened to see Zhang Yang fly in, and he pointed a trembling finger at Zhang Yang. "You ask him—you ask him what on earth he's done! You brat, take out the Sect Register and show it to them."

"I just took in a few sect disciples, that's all!" Zhang Yang muttered under his breath as he pulled out the Sect Register and activated it.

Upon seeing figure after figure emerge from the Sect Register, everyone present turned pale with shock. They turned in unison toward Third Junior Brother and cursed angrily, "You truly deserve to die! What's so great about refining your lousy pills? Why couldn't you go open the mountain gate yourself instead of making Zhang Yang go in your place? Didn't you know what kind of person he is? Now look at this, none of us will ever have peace and quiet again!"

Third Junior Brother beat his own chest, unable to squeeze out a single word.

Azure Cloud Master let out a long sigh, speechless toward the heavens: "For nearly three hundred years, our Azure Cloud Sect has only recruited seven or eight disciples. This time, opening the gate has instantly brought in over eighty... Heaven is truly destroying my Azure Cloud Sect!"

"Master, Uncles, it's not that serious!" Zhang Yang began comforting the older generation.

"You brat, you don't understand. Recruiting disciples means you have to provide them with cultivation resources!" Azure Cloud Master said with a distressed expression. "Our Azure Cloud Sect is poor! With the sect's current resources, what we have isn't even enough for us few... If we hadn't been afraid that the sect line would die out once we few left, we wouldn't have taken you on as a disciple ten years ago.

Now you've suddenly brought so many people up the mountain, what resources are we supposed to use to give them for cultivation?"

Accepting disciples into the sect wasn't just a matter of taking them in and leaving it at that; they had to be responsible for them.

The seven of them thought about how headache-inducing it was just to cultivate one Zhang Yang, and now there were suddenly seventy or eighty more people... Everyone felt their vision go dark.

"A few elders, hear me out!" Zhang Yang raised his voice. "Precisely because our Azure Cloud Sect is poor, we have already reached a point where reform is imperative. If we don't reform, our Azure Cloud Sect will go bankrupt sooner or later! And the beginning of this reform will start with this opening of the mountain gates!"

"Reform?"

The few of them looked at each other, somewhat dumbfounded.

Ever since they took Zhang Yang up the mountain, they frequently heard some new terms.

However, these new terms weren't difficult to understand, and they could grasp the meanings within them as well.

"Master, I have read the Azure Cloud Chronicles and understand the history of the Azure Cloud Sect. A thousand years ago, the Azure Cloud Sect was a top-tier great sect. In its heyday, disciples numbered over a thousand, and it possessed vast territories. And now, the Azure Cloud Sect, together with you few elders and myself, totals eight people.

If the patriarchs of past generations knew that the Azure Cloud Sect had actually fallen to such a state, they would probably be so angry they'd jump right out of their coffins.

To think of our grand Azure Cloud, why did it decline to this extent?

The first reason is simply that there are no people!

With people, things are easy to get done.

Therefore, the first step of reform is to recruit disciples."

Zhang Yang spoke with passion and fervor, spittle flying everywhere. "I've wanted to do this for a long time, but the various elders kept disagreeing. I've finally waited for this opportunity to push forward the first step of reform. Having taken in dozens of disciples this time, the Azure Cloud Sect is about to soar!"