Unusual Expansion of Recruitment

The matter of that punch splitting the wooden post soon spread throughout the entire outer courtyard.

Early the next morning, the Training Ground was far livelier than usual.

Before dawn had fully broken, quite a few apprentices were already standing before the wooden posts, practicing their fists.

Some practiced while muttering the words Instructor Li had said yesterday.

"Again!"

"This time, I have to be steadier."

"If I can truly cross that threshold..."

Zhao Chuan had risen earlier than usual as well.

He performed the Basic Fist more than ten times in a row. Sweat quickly beaded on his forehead, yet he still refused to stop.

Chen Mo stood to one side and watched for a while.

"Did you take the wrong medicine today?"

Zhao Chuan stopped and caught his breath.

"What do you mean, take the wrong medicine?"

"When I usually tell you to practice a few more times, don't you always complain about being tired?"

"How is that the same?"

Zhao Chuan wiped his forehead.

"Yesterday, I finally saw things clearly. With the little skill we have now, we're still a long way from true experts."

Chen Mo smiled.

"So now you know how to work hard."

"Of course."

Zhao Chuan settled back into his stance.

"At the next Quarterly Assessment, I'm definitely making the top ten."

Chen Mo glanced at him.

"Work on your defense first."

Zhao Chuan's face darkened.

"Can't you forget about that last match?"

"No."

"..."

As the two spoke, a burst of footsteps suddenly sounded nearby.

Several disciples hurried over from the direction of the inner courtyard, their expressions all somewhat strange.

"Have you heard?"

"Heard what?"

"The hall is getting a lot of newcomers today."

Someone immediately leaned closer.

"Didn't recruitment already end?"

"This isn't a newcomer assessment."

That person lowered his voice.

"I heard the authorities issued another order, telling the martial arts hall to keep expanding recruitment."

"Keep expanding recruitment?"

Discussion immediately erupted around them.

Chen Mo stopped moving as well.

"Didn't they say they were only taking five this time?"

"Those were the previous slots."

"I heard this time is different."

Someone said:

"As long as your family can afford the fee, you can enter."

"Really?"

"How could it be fake? My older brother works as a handyman in the hall. He already heard the news."

Zhao Chuan frowned.

"You can get in just by paying?"

That person nodded.

"It seems they don't need to undergo trials like ours anymore."

At once, the voices around them grew even louder.

Some people thought it was a good thing.

"Isn't that perfect?"

"With more people, the martial arts hall will definitely expand."

"There'll probably be more instructors in the future too, right?"

"Maybe there'll even be more medicinal ingredients."

Anticipation even appeared on many faces.

But Chen Mo said nothing.

He thought of what Instructor Li had said yesterday.

Medicinal ingredients.

Bone structure.

Fortuitous opportunities.

All of these affected cultivation.

If the martial arts hall truly expanded recruitment, its resources should increase accordingly.

Yet for some reason, he could not shake a faint, indefinable unease.

At noon that day, a group of newcomers indeed arrived at the hall.

They were completely different from when Chen Mo had first entered the hall.

There was no long queue.

There were no rounds of trials.

Nor was anyone waiting anxiously outside the gates.

As soon as the gates opened, more than ten youths walked directly inside.

Some wore brocade robes, some had family servants following behind them, and some carried weapons they had just bought.

A middle-aged steward stood to the side registering names.

"Those who have paid their silver, go collect your waist badges first."

"Your lodgings are in the eastern apprentice courtyard."

"The dining hall arrangements will be changed this afternoon."

The crowd buzzed with excitement.

Zhao Chuan watched from afar for a while, then could not help saying:

"This is far too easy."

Chen Mo looked at him.

"We nearly threw our lives away back then."

"Exactly."

The more Zhao Chuan watched, the more uncomfortable he became.

"Back then, there were five slots, and countless people fought until their heads were bloodied for them."

"They have it easy. They just pay and walk in."

Chen Mo did not respond.

Because he soon noticed something else.

Although there were many more newcomers, nothing in the martial arts hall had noticeably increased.

The Training Ground was still the same size.

The wooden posts were still the original ones.

The stone benches were still arranged in the same few rows.

Even the dining hall's pots had not been replaced.

The most obvious change was in the pharmacy.

Previously, Outer-Courtyard Apprentices had to queue to receive Body-Strengthening Powder, but they could always get some in the end.

Now the line was clearly much longer than before.

Chen Mo waited at the back for a long time. When his turn finally came, the person distributing the powder had already shut the wooden box.

"There's none left today."

Chen Mo froze for a moment.

"None left?"

"Come again tomorrow."

After saying that, the person called for the next in line.

Chen Mo could only step aside.

Zhao Chuan heard it from beside him.

"Wasn't there still some yesterday?"

The apprentice responsible for distribution spread his hands.

"There are more people today."

Zhao Chuan immediately flared up.

"So because there are more people, there's none for us?"

"What's the point of telling me?"

That person was somewhat helpless too.

"This is all they sent from above."

Zhao Chuan wanted to say more, but Chen Mo tugged at him.

"Forget it."

He glanced at the newcomers waiting behind them.

"Don't hold up the others."

Zhao Chuan gritted his teeth and could only retreat to one side.

The two left the pharmacy.

"Why didn't you let me speak?"

"It wouldn't have helped."

Chen Mo said.

"It wasn't him who took the medicine."

Zhao Chuan's face remained dark.

"But we worked so hard to pass the assessment and get in. Why do we have to squeeze in with them now?"

Chen Mo thought about it.

"Who knows?"

He said nothing more.

Because he could not make sense of it either.

After that day, the changes in the martial arts hall became increasingly obvious.

There were not enough wooden posts in the mornings.

Before, they could practice anywhere they pleased. Now they had to queue.

The dining hall was more crowded than before as well.

Sometimes, Chen Mo would carry his bowl around for ages before finding somewhere to sit.

The instructors grew much busier too.

In the past, when Instructor Li inspected the Training Ground, he could often stop and correct their movements.

Now, however, it was difficult for him to remain beside the same disciple for long.

After only a few words, someone would call for the instructor from over there.

By the time he went over, another problem would arise somewhere else.

Once, Chen Mo made an error while practicing his fist techniques. He had wanted to ask for guidance, but after waiting at the edge of the grounds for a long time, he could only puzzle it out again himself.

It was not that no one cared for them.

It was simply that after the number of people suddenly increased, many things were no longer the same as before.

Wang Lie did not say anything about this.

If there were not enough wooden posts, he practiced in the open space.

If there was less medicinal powder, he practiced a few more times.

If someone occupied a spot, he went elsewhere.

Day after day, he worked himself to the bone.

Chen Mo watched him and could not help admiring him somewhat.

That fellow truly did not care what happened around him. He only knew to do what he himself ought to do.

As for Zhao Chuan, he was clearly not nearly as composed.

One afternoon, just after he came out of the dining hall, he could not help complaining.

"Were we scammed?"

Chen Mo looked at him.

"Scammed out of what?"

"They promised the martial hall would feed us and provide medicine."

"Now the dining hall was packed like a marketplace, and we even had to queue for medicine."

Chen Mo smiled.

"That wasn't what you said back then."

Zhao Chuan froze for a moment.

"What did I say back then?"

"You said it would be good enough if we got two meals a day."

"I..."

Zhao Chuan was left speechless.

"So what if my standards are higher now?"

Chen Mo laughed.

But after laughing, he glanced toward the Training Ground again.

There really were more and more people.

It was lively, all right.

But for some reason, he always felt that something was off.

Just then, a commotion suddenly arose at the entrance of the Blue Martial Arts Hall.

"Isn't that Zhou Ye?"

Zhao Chuan immediately turned his head.

Chen Mo followed the sound and looked over as well.

At the entrance stood a familiar young man.

It was Zhou Ye.

The young man who had ranked first among the reserves in the expansion assessment, yet ultimately failed to enter the Blue Martial Arts Hall.

Zhou Ye had changed into a cleaner set of short clothes. He clutched a new wooden token in his hand as he stood at the entrance, looking inside.

Chen Mo paused.

"How did he get in?"

Zhao Chuan was somewhat surprised as well.

"Did they add him afterward?"

The two walked over.

Zhou Ye saw them too.

The three stared at one another across a short distance for a moment.

In the end, Chen Mo was the first to smile.

"You got in now?"

Zhou Ye nodded.

"Mm."

Zhao Chuan looked him up and down twice.

"What kind of luck did you run into?"

Zhou Ye shook his head.

"The expansion."

He said it simply.

"The authorities told the Blue Martial Arts Hall to take in more people, so all the previous reserves were admitted too."

Zhao Chuan immediately clicked his tongue.

"If I'd known it would turn out like this, I wouldn't have worked so hard back then."

Zhou Ye glanced at him.

"You passed the assessment."

Zhao Chuan froze.

"Yeah."

"Then you still got the better deal."

Chen Mo could not hold back his laughter.

Zhao Chuan shot him a glare.

"You're still laughing."

The three stood there, and the atmosphere was not as awkward as they had imagined.

Zhou Ye looked toward the Training Ground.

There were a lot of people.

Even more than he had seen from outside the walls before.

He fell silent for a while.

"Are there this many people every day now?"

"More or less."

Chen Mo answered.

Zhou Ye frowned.

He had always longed to enter the Blue Martial Arts Hall.

But when he finally stepped inside, the first thing he saw was not the quiet cultivation he had imagined, but a crowded, noisy scene.

Before long, however, his gaze fell upon the rows of wooden posts.

"Where can I train?"

Chen Mo pointed ahead.

"Go find yourself a spot."

Zhou Ye nodded.

Without another word, he headed straight for the Training Ground.

He walked quickly.

It was clear that he had waited a long time for this day.

Chen Mo stood where he was and watched for a while, an indescribable feeling rising in his heart.

Zhou Ye had finally gotten in.

But by the time he entered, the Blue Martial Arts Hall was no longer the Blue Martial Arts Hall it had once been.

Just then, another set of footsteps came from the raised platform.

Instructor Li and several other instructors emerged from the inner courtyard.

None of them looked particularly relaxed.

"Have the newcomers from that batch been settled?"

"There isn't enough room to house them."

"Then squeeze them in for now."

"What about the dispensary?"

"We're already trying to figure something out."

Chen Mo was standing nearby and vaguely caught a few words.

Instructor Li did not notice him, merely speaking quietly with the people beside him.

Chen Mo watched his back.

This instructor, who was always stern, had his brow furrowed even tighter than usual today.

But when they reached the Training Ground, Instructor Li had already returned to his usual expression.

"Stop crowding around."

"If you should be practicing your fists, then practice your fists."

The newcomers quickly scattered.

Chen Mo did not keep watching.

That evening, however, he stood beneath the corridor eaves and looked out over the entire Training Ground.

There were more than twice as many people as before.

Some practiced their fists, some carried stone stools, and some crowded around the wooden posts, fighting for space.

From afar, it truly looked far livelier than before.

Like a martial hall that had genuinely begun to flourish.

But Chen Mo knew that queues had already begun to form elsewhere.

There was less medicinal powder.

The dining hall was crowded.

The instructors no longer had as much time as before to guide them.

The liveliness was real.

So was the crowding.

Leaning against a corridor pillar, he slowly turned his gaze westward.

Outside Qinghe Town, the mountain range still lay there in quiet repose.

A few days ago, hunters had been injured in those mountains.

Later, the Blue Martial Arts Hall had suddenly expanded its recruitment.

And now, the authorities were demanding a large-scale replenishment of Martial Artists.

These things had happened one after another, far too closely.

Chen Mo stood there for a while.

"It can't be such a coincidence..."

His voice was very soft.

No one answered.

The evening breeze blew in from the west, carrying a trace of dampness from the mountains.

Chen Mo withdrew his gaze and turned toward the apprentice quarters.

Meanwhile, new apprentices continued to stream through the distant gates of Clear River Martial Hall.

No one knew what this sudden expansion was really for.

Nor did anyone know what exactly the authorities had discovered.