The Sect's First Recruitment

[Ding-congratulations, host, you have successfully unlocked the Building Synthesizer. The Building Synthesizer offers an extremely high degree of freedom. Please explore its functions yourself.]

To be fair, this system really was thoughtful.

Lin Xiao felt deeply gratified.

But "an extremely high degree of freedom"... just how high was it?

He had thought the Cultivation Method Synthesizer already offered a very high degree of freedom.

Forget it. Never mind.

First, he would try the Building Synthesizer and see what it was like!

With that thought, Lin Xiao opened the [Building Synthesizer].

Then he saw two familiar slots.

They were labeled [Brick Materials] and [Beam Materials] respectively.

But there was something different too.

After the two slots was a plus sign, like this: [+].

Lin Xiao didn't understand what it meant, so he tried tapping the plus sign.

Then he discovered that a third slot had suddenly appeared after the first two, with a [?] on it.

The [+] had moved to a position after the third slot.

Lin Xiao was a little surprised.

Did this mean he could keep adding things indefinitely?

Lin Xiao looked at what he currently had in his private storage.

[Private Storage]:

Spirit Stones x7, Mist Spring Grass seeds x1, pine soot ink x6, "Beginner's Spirit Herb Cultivation Manual" x1, Spirit Gathering Grass seeds x5, "Peach Blossom Spring Myriad Void Instruction" x1.

It seemed he didn't even have anything he could toss into it. Surely he couldn't throw in a cultivation method or something like that.

After thinking for a moment, he decided to recruit people first.

Now that he had the Building Synthesizer, gathering materials was only a matter of time, and it wasn't something he had to do alone.

If he recruited sect members, they could pool their efforts and gather materials quickly.

But if he didn't have the synthesizer and recruited people only to have everyone build houses together, others might easily think he had ulterior motives-that he was a swindler deliberately tricking people into building him a house.

The weather wasn't very good that day. It was almost noon, yet there wasn't a glimpse of the sun.

The sky was somewhat gloomy, and Lin Xiao guessed it might rain in the next couple of days.

Better early than late!

It would be best if he could recruit some people before the rain came.

With that thought, Lin Xiao entered the grass shelter, said a word to the two people cultivating there, and headed down the mountain.

He went home, carried a broken table and a bench out with him, and arrived at the threshing ground in the center of the village.

It was the spring equinox, and the threshing ground was wide open.

But since it was right in the center of the village, with roads connecting the villagers' homes to most of the fields, people passed by fairly often.

At least one person probably passed by every few minutes.

Not to mention the many village children playing nearby.

Lin Xiao set the table across the middle of the threshing ground, put the bench in place, and sat down leisurely.

Then he cleared his throat twice and suddenly raised his voice in a cry:

"The Lingxian Sect is recruiting!-

Do you want to cultivate immortality? Do you want to live forever? Do you want to move mountains and fill seas? Come join our Lingxian Sect, fellow villagers! Don't miss it as you pass by!"

That shout successfully caught the attention of the homebodies nearby, who were picking at their lunches and chatting.

Even many people in the fields, eating with their heads down and intent on finishing quickly so they could get back to work, looked over.

The first to gather around were a group of middle-aged women.

There were also a few village idlers who lived off their parents.

"Oh, isn't this Dayou's second boy? What's this about? Playing at setting up a stall like the grown-ups at the market?" called a woman of Lin Xiao's auntie generation in a shrill voice.

Lin Xiao gave her a fake smile and ignored her.

One shout was enough. The enthusiastic (and nosy) villagers would spread the word for him.

All he had to do now was sit quietly and wait for someone who caught his eye to come to him.

When he said nothing, someone else picked up the conversation.

"Listen to Sister-in-Law Liu~ Didn't Dayou's second boy just say it? This is some sort of immortal cultivation sect, where you go to learn how to live forever and move mountains and fill seas~ Oh my, just listen to those words. You can live forever~ Sister-in-Law Liu, aren't you going to give it a try?"

An idler who knew Lin Xiao came forward and teased him:

"Brother Xiao, what do you think of me? Want me to join that sect of yours and be your master?"

Lin Xiao gave him a fake smile and still didn't respond.

"Hey! You tell me, has Brother Xiao played that make-believe sect game of his so much that he's turned stupid? He can't even talk anymore."

More and more people gathered around Lin Xiao's table.

Some chatted for a while and left, while new passersby and people who had come to watch the excitement joined them.

The place grew livelier and livelier.

That was one good thing about a small, isolated village.

Whenever something even slightly new happened, it would be known throughout the village in no time.

And so.

Lin Xiao finally found the first person who caught his eye.

On the vast threshing ground.

The noisy, gossiping crowd seemed to fade into the background.

Between heaven and earth, all that remained was a handsome young man with a carefree air, sitting casually behind an old table.

His coarse hemp clothes could not conceal his bright and easygoing manner.

Just then, another young man with a gentle countenance and an upright bearing pushed through the crowd and came to the table. He made a formal bow to the youth sitting there and said:

"Sect Master Lin, I am Sun Yigao. I have taken the liberty of coming to join the Lingxian Sect."

Lin Xiao smiled faintly.

"Brother Sun, your arrival brings glory to this humble place."

When the onlookers got a good look at the newcomer, they were all surprised.

"Oh, isn't that Landlord Sun's scholar? What's he doing here playing with the Lin boy? Has he stopped studying?"

"Doesn't Elder Sister-in-Law Sun keep a tight rein on him? How does he have time to come out and play this make-believe game with the Lin boy?"

"Oh! Haven't you heard? Sister-in-Law of the Sun Household, yesterday, she wasn't doing so well..."

"Oh? What was wrong? Dear sister-in-law, tell me quickly..."

Someone on fairly close terms with the Sun Household heard this and hurriedly cut in:

"Pah, pah, pah! What do you mean, Elder Sister-in-Law Sun wasn't doing well? She caught a chill last night and felt a little weak, that's all. She rested for a day and has long since made a full recovery!"

"Yes, yes, I even went to wash clothes with Elder Sister-in-Law Sun this morning."

The discussion around him went on without end, but Sun Yigao stood straight and acted as though he hadn't heard it.

Meanwhile, Lin Xiao was examining Sun Yigao's panel.

[Name: Sun Yigao]

[Gender: Male]

[Bone age: 15]

[Aptitude: As rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns]

[Cultivation: Mortal]

[Sect status: Outer disciple (changeable)]

[Sect position: None (changeable)]

His aptitude was as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns!

Lin Xiao wondered which was better, that or his own "dragon and phoenix among men."

Who would have thought that little Xiushui Village harbored so many talented cultivators?

Or was it that, actually, everyone had the ability to cultivate to some extent, rather than it being like those novels, where Spirit Roots and the like mattered, and anyone without a Spirit Root had no chance of treading the immortal path?

Lin Xiao wondered if perhaps the so-called aptitude given by the system depended more on things like comprehension.