Chongming's New Rules (Thanks to Brother Big Bone Who Loves Sleeping for the 10,000 coins)

"Eleven people with Triple Spirit Root and thirty-one people with Four Spirit Roots." As soon as the list handed over by Duan Anle entered the hands of Sect Leader Kang Da, the latter frowned after reading the first line.

Kang Dabao clicked his tongue and muttered, "It seems a bit too much."

Now, thanks to the income from the Spirit Stone mine, Chongming Sect has also acquired a large share of the Cangcui stone mine in Tanggu County.

Moreover, the magistrate of Kangda County also had access to the tax revenues of various households in Ping and Jin counties. In order to fit in, he had to get some of the money.

Not to mention the various gifts and tributes that families from the two counties diligently sent over.

Although this last item of income was somewhat taboo for the Cloud Horn Prefecture Court, the principle of "no investigation without a complaint" still applied. What sensible family in the vicinity would dare to report Chongming Sect?

Furthermore, do you really want to sit in the Pingrong County Temple, watching Magistrate Kang sit in the main seat, striking the gavel, and interrogating the kneeling Sect Leader Kang Da?

Therefore, Chongming Sect has had a relatively abundant supply of Spirit Stone over the years. In recent years, about twenty new disciples have joined the sect each year Immortal Ascension Assembly.

This number is not much, after all, even a fallen Lineage like the Ma Household can count hundreds of Qi Refinement.

Even counting Kang and Jiang, Chongming Sect already had two Foundation Establishment, which was quite a lot in Cloud Horn Prefecture, where the Immortal Dynasty was not prosperous. However, Chongming Sect had less than a hundred Qi Refinement disciples, most of whom were outer disciples who had only been in the sect for less than ten years and had not even settled on a master. They were not capable of great things, which made Chongming Sect seem somewhat top-heavy.

Because this Immortal Ascension Assembly was the first to use the Heart-Questioning Formation, Sect Leader Kang Da had discussed with Duan Anle a rule that even disciples with poor aptitude could be promoted and selected as long as they had good character.

But after looking at the register, Kang Dabao still felt it was a bit too much. He turned his attention to the list of immortal seedlings from cultivation Lineage and began to sketch them out.

The disciple sent by the Jade Moon Shan Household was first chosen by Sect Leader Kang Da: "Although Shan Jiong has Triple Spirit Root, he couldn't even withstand five breaths in the Heart-Questioning Formation, so we won't take him."

Duan Anle remained silent, but Sun Fu, who was assisting him, spoke up, "Sect Leader, Shan Jiong is, after all, Shan Household. The two families are always allies; I'm afraid there might be some issues..."

Although Sun Fu's words were mature and experienced, Kang Dabao shook his head and said, "It's alright, let's leave it at that."

Just before the Lunar New Year, Shan Household Sect Leader Kang Da had a chance encounter with Shan Sheng, the head of the Shan family, on his way to Xuanwei City. At the time, Shan Sheng looked radiant and seemed to be in good spirits. However, his disguise was completely ineffective against Kang Dabao's pupil technique, and Kang Dabao was certain that Shan Sheng would die this year.

Several days have passed since Shan Sheng took the Five-Pattern Heavy Peak Stone on credit from Sect Leader Kang Da, but the Jade Moon Shan Household has remained completely silent.

Furthermore, because of Wu Cangyun's matter, Kang Dabao still harbored some resentment towards Shan Sheng.

Even after the Shan Household learned of the "deaths" of Shan Xuerong and her son, and then sent a young virgin from the direct line of the family to Zhou Yixiu as her second wife, this prejudice had not yet disappeared.

Against this backdrop, Kang Dabao was naturally willing to part with just a poorly behaved immortal seedling with Triple Spirit Root. He no longer wanted to deepen his ties with the Shan Household.

After all, this will involve collecting debts in the future. If the two families have a very deep relationship, and the Shan Household falls too far into decline, it will be difficult for Sect Leader Kang Da, with his magnanimous nature, to ask for money.

After marking Shan Jiong's name, Kang Dabao continued looking through the registers.

Duan Anle has indeed become quite adept at managing the household over the years, and the promising young talents he has selected are certainly without fault.

Apart from Shan Jiong, who was involved in Foundation Establishment clan and was slightly controversial, the others in the register had no problems. Sect Leader Kang Da looked at it for a long time but did not write anything more.

Upon reaching the very end of the register, Kang Dabao's small eyes suddenly lit up. "This little girl named Qi Ke really managed to withstand twenty-eight breaths within the Heart-Questioning Formation?"

Duan Anle immediately replied, "Master, I, along with Senior Brother Wei Gu and all the other fellow disciples, witnessed it with our own eyes. There's no mistake."

"Born into the Willow Grove Wu Household, originally from Tall Wood Cave?" Sect Leader Kang Da recalled the marching notes submitted by the Thief-Catching Office after they had wiped out the evil cultivators in Ping and Jin counties, and had an impression of it.

He asked softly, "That town has been ravaged by a few Evil Cultivator. This child has a good character, but what about his mind?"

Duan Anle seemed to have been prepared, and without hesitation replied, "This child is just quiet, but mentally sound. If Master is worried, then let Junior Sister Ye take care of him more."

"Hmm, you did a good job." Sect Leader Kang Da asked casually, just to be on the safe side. In fact, he was also reluctant to part with this sapling that had managed to hold out for nearly thirty breaths in the Heart-Questioning Formation, especially since it was Qi Ke rare Triple Spirit Root.

By this calculation, Qi Ke's aptitude is almost comparable to Kang Changyi's, who possesses Dual Spirit Root. If there are no other flaws, how could Sect Leader Kang Da not choose him?

Having settled this matter, Kang Dabao spoke again, "Let's do it this way. These forty-one disciples will enter the Nurturing Qilin Hall and be placed under the supervision of the mentor disciple Ye Yaoling."

Furthermore, Han Xundao, a former disciple of the Nurturing Qilin Hall, has advanced to the Qi Refinement Fourth Layer and is now the leader of all disciples. He has been promoted to Ye Yaoling's deputy and will jointly serve as the supervisor of the beginner disciples, responsible for assisting in the management of their studies.

Due to the increasing number of disciples within the sect, Chongming Sect had already drafted a set of regulations several years ago.

This charter was derived from the organizational structure of the Chongming Sect during the lifetime of Patriarch Zhang, and Sect Leader Kang Da and several fellow disciples made some appropriate improvements based on it.

In addition to continuing the existing four-tiered system of sect leader, elder, steward, and disciple in charge, the new regulations also introduce three new identities: outer disciple, inner disciple, and True Disciple.

New disciples, upon joining the Chongming Sect, are all considered outer disciples unless granted special permission by the sect leader, and must first enter the Nurturing Qilin Hall for five years of cultivation.

During this period, the disciples had no formal teacher and were taught by the Transmission Elder and the Instructor. Instructors from various professions would also provide instruction in stages and periods. During these five years, the disciples only needed to collect their annual stipends and True Cultivator, without having to concern themselves with any worldly affairs.

Regardless of their aptitude, outer disciples receive an annual stipend of five Spirit Stones, plus a two- Spirit Stone subsidy for medicinal pills.

If, after the five-year term, the disciples who emerge from the Nurturing Qilin Hall are still not selected by the sect leader, elders, or deacons to be accepted into the sect, then they will have to cultivate alone for the rest of their lives.

In addition to their cultivation, these disciples must complete five tasks assigned by the Merit Points Hall each year in order to receive their full annual salary and various benefits from the sect; only then can they use their Merit Points to gain the opportunity to attend and listen to the teachings at the Daoist assemblies held by their masters every ten days or every month.

If an outer disciple fails to break through to the Qi Refining Seventh Layer before the age of eighty-five, the Chongming Sect will provide them with travel expenses and allow them to leave the mountain and Gui Household. This status as Double Brightness disciple can only be retained by an outer disciple for another ten years.

If these outer disciples cultivate to the Qi Refinement Fourth Layer before the age of twenty, they can apply to become inner disciple after passing the advancement trial.

The inner disciple receive much better treatment. Not only do they not have to passively accept tasks issued by the Merit Points Hall, but they can also receive all the benefits in full. Their annual salary is also much higher than that of the outer disciples, with a full fifteen Spirit Stone stones and eight Spirit Stones of pills as a subsidy each year.

Those Double Brightness disciples who can advance to the Qi Refining Seventh Layer and become late-stage cultivators before the age of forty-five can request to become True Disciple after completing the advancement task.

Furthermore, regardless of whether one is an inner or outer disciple, anyone who meets this condition can become True Disciple. This is a way to give some outer disciples who are a step behind a shortcut to catch up.

True Disciple receives an annual stipend of fifty Spirit Stone, and the sect provides one bottle of Grass Dew Leopard Embryo Pill each year to help improve their cultivation. Just these two items combined mean that a True Disciple's annual expenses are nearly one hundred Spirit Stone.

Moreover, the benefits of True Disciple are not limited to this. Besides the generous annual salary, the more crucial aspect is that True Disciple have the opportunity to actively seek a position as a disciple of a Foundation Establishment elder. Whether they succeed or not is another matter.

However, a late-stage cultivator under the age of forty-five would be considered a fine piece of jade in any sect in Cloud Horn Prefecture, so it's reasonable to assume that he wouldn't be rejected unless he had major flaws.

The three-tiered disciple system established by Sect Leader Kang Da is not absolute. After all, there are always some disciples in this world who are the type to accumulate knowledge and skills before making a name for themselves. In order not to bury talent, Kang Dabao will not set all the conditions rigidly.

Outer disciples who have made great contributions, even if they miss the opportunity to become inner disciple, can still be recommended by the sect elders to become inner disciple, as long as it can be approved by the sect leader and the elders.

The same applies to inner disciple and True Disciple, except that it is much more difficult to be promoted to inner disciple.

Disciples who have made meritorious contributions should be rewarded, and those who have made mistakes should be punished. If True Disciple commits a serious error, he or she may very well be demoted to an outer disciple, but this also requires public approval.

In addition to establishing these three levels of disciple status, Kang Dabao also made some improvements to the existing job assignments. For outer disciples with lower aptitude, they could also take this path to obtain as much cultivation resources as possible from the sect.

Regardless of a disciple's status, as long as a disciple of the sect successfully cultivates a skill to the First-Tier Lower-Grade, they can request to serve as the disciple in charge of that skill.

Generally speaking, each of the various arts and crafts is assigned three to four disciples to oversee it. In addition to completing the tasks assigned by the sect, these disciples are also responsible for teaching and nurturing the next generation.

In return, the disciples in charge receive an extra ten Spirit Stone per year as a stipend and can participate in some less important discussions. Their access to information is certainly much better than that of outer disciples or even inner disciple.

Above the disciples in charge are the stewards of each of the hundred arts. Generally speaking, there is only one steward for each of the hundred arts. In order to serve as a steward of a hundred arts, in addition to the hard requirement that one's skill in the hundred arts must reach the First-Tier Superior-Grade, one must also have Late Qi Refinement of Qi Refining.

As the deputy of the Hundred Arts Elder, the Hundred Arts Steward not only receives a stipend of thirty Spirit Stone, but also enjoys the privilege of participating in most of the sect's routine meetings, just like True Disciple.

In this way, the Hundred Arts Steward could be considered a mid-level member of the sect, and also had the right to take on disciples.

The Elder of a Hundred Arts, as the name suggests, is in charge of all the arts of cultivation. In addition to being proficient in these arts at the Second Tier, according to the new rules of the Chongming Sect, in order to receive the annual stipend of one hundred coins, disciples holding this position must also reach the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Such a person, needless to say, is undoubtedly a core member of the Chongming Sect. Even the sect leader himself must show him respect.

However, an outer disciple who is not skilled in alchemy, artifact crafting, talisman formations, or puppetry and beast taming is not entirely without potential. If such an outer disciple cultivates to the Late Qi Refinement, he can participate in the selection of the Battle Hall stewards.

As long as one's combat skills are outstanding enough, one can also stand out from the crowd. The first Battle Hall Elder of the Chongming Sect was Jiang Qing, which makes him incredibly attractive to the disciples.

Besides the Battle Hall, there are other assignments such as goods handling, caravan management, and skill transmission, which can be applied for regardless of status. In this way, if there are truly talented outer disciples, they should not be overlooked.

The newly established organizational structure and job assignments of the Sect Leader Kang Da and his fellow disciples are far less like the old system of the Chongming Sect, which used to distribute subsidies based solely on cultivation level.

There was less support for outer disciples with poor aptitude, and more resources were concentrated on inner disciple, True Disciple, disciples in charge of specific areas, and deacons of various arts.

In fact, this is the philosophy behind the selection and training of disciples in nine out of ten sects worldwide. Sects as lenient as the former Chongming Sect, which treats all disciples equally regardless of their aptitude, are few and far between.

Geniuses and mediocre people are treated the same, which seems fair, but in reality, it is the greatest injustice in the world.

After Sect Leader Kang Da reformed the old system, it also meant that Chongming Sect had gradually gotten rid of its previous predicament and was slowly getting back on track.

However, the effects of this new system are unlikely to be seen in the short term, and the Chongming Sect is not under much financial pressure. After all, it is difficult to find many more people like Duan and Kang who are both True Disciple and core members holding important positions within the Chongming Sect.

There are many disciples like Du Qing who can only barely hold a position as outer disciples. As the quality of disciples recruited by the Chongming Sect has improved over the years, it's only a matter of time before younger disciples catch up and take his place.

After all, true powerhouses are never restricted. He might not be able to surpass them in cultivation, nor in the arts. If he were to truly fall to that level, he would be completely detached from the power center of the Chongming Sect and become just another ordinary outer disciple.

Therefore, the introduction of this new rule is not a good thing for some unambitious older disciples. Some things cannot be changed by effort alone.

Conversely, it is of great benefit to disciples like Wei Gu who have truly mastered the core techniques. He is now at the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining and serves as a disciple responsible for setting up formations.

However, since he was already over twenty years old when he broke through to the Middle Qi Refinement, he was only an outer disciple. Nevertheless, with the two annual stipends and subsidies combined, he could receive seventeen Spirit Stone every year for free, which ranked him among the top outer disciples.

However, he is only forty-three years old this year. As long as he can break through to become a late-stage cultivator within two years, and then advance his array master to the First-Tier Superior-Grade, he can ask to be accepted into the sect by the sect leader and elders, becoming True Disciple and array-setting steward. He will receive eighty Spirit Stone and a bottle of Grass Dew Leopard Embryo Pill pills every year.

Therefore, Wei Gu has been full of energy these days, and his cultivation and array skills are improving day by day. He has not been lazy at all.

As for junior disciples like Zhou Yixiu, Yuan Jin, and Pei Yi, who already hold high positions but clearly do not meet the requirements, Sect Leader Kang Da also made flexible use of the wisdom from his previous life.

It's simply a matter of "new rules for new people, old rules for old people."

They were brothers who had shared joys and sorrows, weathered storms together, so how could Kang Dabao really bear to strip Zhou Yixiu of his elder status, forcing him to remain an outer disciple within the Chongming Sect as a Spirit Plant steward, thus reducing his annual income by more than half?

Zhou Yixiu is almost eighty-five years old. Will Kang Dabao really be able to expel her from Little Ring Mountain according to the new rules? If he really does that, then the Sect Leader Kang Da will truly chill the hearts of the disciples.

Therefore, when Sect Leader Kang Da suddenly mentioned Han Xundao's name and asked him to serve as a supervisor of the beginner disciples along with Ye Yaoling, it was obvious that he wanted to promote Han Xundao.

Duan Anle felt uneasy about his master's arrangement.

Han Xundao was Han Yundao's second cousin, and he only joined the sect a year after the latter's death. Sect Leader Kang Da was a man who valued old friendships, and Han Xundao also resembled Han Yundao, so he naturally received a lot of preferential treatment.

In fact, Kang Dabao was not the only one within the Chongming Sect who took care of Han Xundao.

From his senior uncles to his fellow disciples, how many of them hadn't given him some Spirit Stone and provisions? Duan Anle was one of them. He had even heard that his master had recently considered having his third uncle take him under his wing.

However, Jiang Qing rejected the suggestion. After He Yuanbing's death, the Double Brightness Sword Immortal became even more indifferent and had no intention of taking on any disciples.

With so much favor and privilege bestowed upon him, Han Xundao's cultivation level naturally rose accordingly. In Duan Anle's view, Han Xundao had already shown signs of becoming arrogant these days, and if he received even more favor, he might become even more haughty.

However, with others present, Duan Anle could not possibly deny what his master had said on the spot. He simply swallowed his words of advice and nodded in agreement.

After arranging this matter, Sect Leader Kang Da turned to Sun Fu and said, "Junior Brother Sun, you and Junior Brother Niu have been appointed as outer sect stewards for some time now. It's time to select some outstanding juniors to inherit your mantle."

"Thank you for your kindness, Senior Brother Sect Leader." Sun Fu's face showed some joy. He and Niu Kuang were only Middle Qi Refinement cultivators. The fact that they could serve as stewards and receive salaries for several years was all thanks to Kang Dabao's special favor in consideration of their hard work. He never expected that he would be able to obtain the qualification to open his meridians and accept disciples today.

Sect Leader Kang Da nodded, quite understanding of Sun Fu's excitement. The latter was Rogue Cultivator with no bloodline descendants; once he died, there would truly be no successor.

Kang Dabao had seen many people like him. Some people in this world are not afraid of death, but they are afraid that no one will remember them.

However, Sect Leader Kang Da naturally approves of the elders and deacons accepting disciples. Even if an outer disciple has a master, their status remains that of an outer disciple, and the sect will not grant them an extra Spirit Shard.

Just as Sect Leader Kang Da was about to offer Sun Fu a few more words of encouragement, a dark blue letter came from the direction of Xuanwei City and was being passed to him.

(Thanks to Brother Wuhuang Lei for the 500 coins, and thanks to Rong Lao Bai for the monthly pass and for sorting it out)

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