Wei Tu was briefly stunned.

Just moments ago, he had secretly been feeling relieved that True Lord Che was taking in disciples en masse—thinking he could blend into the crowd and avoid standing out.

But to his surprise, True Lord Che was actually planning to take him in as a personal, inner disciple.

After collecting his thoughts, Wei Tu glanced at Qingmei Shangren beside him and saw that the latter still didn’t look too happy. He immediately understood—these words from Gao Chen had been spoken to him alone.

“I wonder who else present, like myself, has been favored by Senior Che?” Wei Tu thought for a moment, then sent a voice transmission to Gao Chen.

Among the other two groups of people in the front hall, although they too had come to become True Lord Che’s disciples, they clearly belonged to different factions. The ones who brought them in were Gao Chen’s two junior fellow disciples.

Gao Chen was True Lord Che’s second disciple.

But since True Lord Che’s eldest disciple had died, Gao Chen, as the second, was now effectively the eldest.

Gao Chen didn’t doubt Wei Tu’s intentions, assuming he was just preparing ahead of time, hoping to gather information on his “rivals” so he could be better prepared.

“That young man behind Third Junior Brother Shi Jun is named Hua Xianlong. He’s quite well-known in Zheng Kingdom’s western border region.”

“Though his achievements in talisman arts are weaker than yours, Junior Brother Wei, his cultivation level is a notch above yours.”

Gao Chen’s gaze turned toward the crowd, settling on a dashing young man. He spoke solemnly.

“That girl in yellow behind Fifth Junior Brother Chen Gu—her name is Mu Die. It’s said she’s a top-grade spiritual root cultivator he found among the commoners. Although she’s only at the Qi Refinement realm right now, her future prospects are limitless.”

Gao Chen continued.

A cultivator with a mid-grade spiritual root, if of appropriate age, already had a chance of entering a major sect.

As for those with top-grade spiritual roots—they were often regarded by sects as “Golden Core seeds.” Compared to ordinary cultivators, they had 20% higher chances of successfully forming a Golden Core.

“I really don’t know where Fifth Junior Brother found this Mu Die,” Gao Chen muttered with a trace of envy.

After failing in his own Core Formation, Gao Chen, now stuck at the False Core stage, could only pin his hopes on his master True Lord Che granting him another opportunity.

Finding Wei Tu and building ties with him was part of his plan to win favor from True Lord Che.

But now that Fifth Junior Brother Chen Gu had found someone with even greater talent than Wei Tu, his feelings were understandably mixed.

However, remembering Wei Tu’s exceptional gift as a talisman master, Gao Chen felt a bit less pressured.

Even if Mu Die had greater innate potential, she would still need 100 to 200 years to grow to late Foundation Establishment.

In other words, while her qualifications were outstanding, the time needed for her growth meant she might not be immediately useful to True Lord Che.

“Top-grade spiritual root…” Wei Tu’s heart skipped a beat.

Such roots were rare commodities. If not for the current chaos in the world, someone like Mu Die would’ve already been taken into a major sect through a sect envoy long ago.

…

After waiting for about half a day—

An elderly man with white hair and a youthful face, dressed in a feather-embroidered robe, slowly stepped out from the rear hall. The aura emanating from him clearly marked him as a Golden Core cultivator.

He walked into the central courtyard.

Gao Chen, Shi Jun, and Chen Gu all bowed respectfully and addressed him as “Master.”

Hearing them, Wei Tu and the others quickly snapped out of their daze, bowed their heads, and greeted the man as “Senior Che.”

True Lord Che walked into the front hall, his gaze sweeping over the gathered cultivators before nodding slightly.

Standing behind Gao Chen, Wei Tu noticed that True Lord Che’s gaze lingered the longest on three people—himself, Mu Die, and Hua Xianlong.

“My intention was to take in four inner disciples,” True Lord Che said with a slightly displeased look as he took his seat at the head of the hall. “Yet you lot misunderstood and brought so many fellow cultivators here…”

The moment he finished speaking—

The dissatisfaction many were feeling vanished instantly. Despite the number of cultivators present, four inner disciple slots were not a small number.

Their chances of being selected by True Lord Che were still over 50%.

However—

True Lord Che’s next words immediately crushed any hopes they had begun to nurture.

“Mu Die, Wei Tu, Hua Xianlong—these three possess the best qualifications among you. They shall become my inner disciples.”

His voice was calm but carried unmistakable authority.

The crowd looked at each other in shock, clearly unaware of this decision.

At first, they had all assumed that Mu Die, Wei Tu, and Hua Xianlong were on the same footing as them, and that all would have to pass assessments before being accepted as inner disciples.

They never expected True Lord Che to bypass all that and just name the three directly.

“But he mentioned four spots earlier—now three are taken. There’s still one left!” Many immediately began to hope again.

Though their odds had dropped from 50%, it wasn’t like they were out of the running yet.

They still had a chance.

“Mu Die, Wei Tu, Hua Xianlong—do the three of you wish to become my disciples?” True Lord Che asked with a smile.

Anyone who had made it this far was already mentally prepared to become True Lord Che’s disciple. At this point, of course no one would hesitate or dare to refuse and risk offending a Golden Core True Lord.

“Disciple greets Master.” Wei Tu, along with Mu Die and Hua Xianlong, knelt down and performed the full formal rite of apprenticeship before True Lord Che.

“Rise. From today onward, the three of you are my inner disciples.”

True Lord Che looked on with a satisfied expression and nodded.

“Wei Tu, among the three of you, you’re the eldest, so from now on, you’ll be my sixth disciple.” True Lord Che smiled, swept his wide sleeve, and used his magic power to help Wei Tu up.

As he spoke, True Lord Che took out a jade talisman from his sleeve and handed it to Wei Tu.

“You’re a second-rank high-grade talisman master, so you should recognize this item. I’ll give this to you as your gift for becoming my disciple.”

“A Minor Shift Talisman?” Wei Tu glanced at the jade talisman and his expression immediately lit up with joy.

He still had a Minor Shift Talisman that Zhao Qingluo had given him, so he was naturally familiar with it.

What caught him off guard was how generous True Lord Che turned out to be. The gift for accepting a disciple turned out to be a Minor Shift Talisman.

Even third-rank talisman masters wouldn’t have many of these.

First, drawing a Minor Shift Talisman was extremely difficult.

Second, the talisman paper required for it—crafted from the rare spiritual material “Void Azure Stone”—was one of the few materials used in refining spatial treasures. It was incredibly hard to come by.

So aside from the richest sects, very few cultivators would ever consider using a Minor Shift Talisman as a gift for new disciples.

“What kind of treasure did True Lord Che give Wei Tu as a gift?”

The other cultivators in the front hall, seeing the joy on Wei Tu’s face, were all curious and jealous, wondering what sort of talisman it was.

But Wei Tu had no interest in satisfying their curiosity. After thanking True Lord Che, he quietly stepped aside and stood next to Gao Chen.

Next—

True Lord Che also assigned seniority to Hua Xianlong and Mu Die, gifting each of them a Minor Shift Talisman as well.

“Senior Brother Wei, what is this jade talisman?” Mu Die, standing beside Wei Tu, asked curiously.

She came from the mortal world, a lady from a scholarly family. Currently only at the Qi Refinement realm, she naturally couldn’t recognize the Minor Shift Talisman.

When Wei Tu heard Mu Die’s voice transmission, he was slightly surprised that True Lord Che didn’t explain what the talisman was to the new disciples himself.

But now wasn’t the time to overthink it. He thought for a moment and casually explained the function of the Minor Shift Talisman to Mu Die.

“Thank you, Senior Brother Wei,” Mu Die said sweetly with a smile.

After explaining, Wei Tu suddenly thought—compared to him, Chen Gu, the senior brother who had brought Mu Die into the cultivation world, obviously had a closer relationship with her. It made no sense for Mu Die to bypass Chen Gu and come to him with her question.

“Junior Sister Mu, why didn’t you ask Senior Brother Chen?”

Mu Die paused and replied, “Master told me to ask you. He said… Senior Brother Wei, you’d know these things…”

True Lord Che?

When Wei Tu heard that, it all clicked. He instantly understood True Lord Che’s intention.

—True Lord Che didn’t want him, Mu Die, or Hua Xianlong, the new disciples, to get too closely entangled with Gao Chen and the other old disciples, forming factions within factions.

True Lord Che was subtly telling Wei Tu: compared to Gao Chen, your true support is your master.

“Looks like, compared to Hua Xianlong, True Lord Che values me more,” Wei Tu thought to himself.

Hua Xianlong, like him, was also a second-rank talisman master.

…

After taking in Wei Tu and the other two as his inner disciples, True Lord Che swept his sleeve and set up a formation platform outside the hall, to assess the remaining cultivators including Qingmei Shangren.

The winner of the duel would become True Lord Che’s final inner disciple.

“Gao Chen isn’t someone to underestimate. He plays the long game,” Wei Tu thought, scanning the room with his divine sense after True Lord Che set up the arena.

The cultivators brought by Shi Jun and Chen Gu were all talented Foundation Establishment cultivators with excellent potential, but in terms of current cultivation, they clearly fell short compared to Qingmei Shangren, whom Gao Chen had brought.

Qingmei Shangren, aside from the three newly admitted inner disciples, was one of only two cultivators present who had reached late Foundation Establishment.

When Wei Tu had first seen Qingmei Shangren at Gao Chen’s cave dwelling, he mistakenly thought True Lord Che had some way to heal Qingmei Shangren’s “condition.”

But the developments that followed made Wei Tu abandon that assumption.

He now suspected that Gao Chen had long anticipated how True Lord Che operated, and so he brought both him and Qingmei Shangren—one as a sure pick, the other to compete for the final spot via combat.

One day later.

The arena duels concluded.

Qingmei Shangren narrowly defeated another late Foundation Establishment cultivator, securing first place in combat and becoming True Lord Che’s final inner disciple.

At the same time, True Lord Che also made a public promise about Qingmei Shangren’s “incurable condition,” saying he would do his utmost to help restore his Profound Wood Spirit Body and assist him in reaching Core Formation.

“Senior Brother Wei, Junior Sister Mu…”

Qingmei Shangren approached Wei Tu, greeted him and Mu Die one by one, and respectfully bowed.