Chapter 1357 - 1357: Recruiting New Members

Things were going very smoothly with the Ice Palace's relocation.

This Sect that had previously been hidden in specks of dust was now blooming like flowers among the nearby mountains.

The Female Immortals were all opening up new Cave Mansions around the area.

Various locations suitable for Cultivation by different races were also conjured into existence out of thin air.

The Sect Protection Array and Restrictions were quickly laid down as well.

Brother Cheng originally planned to show off the skills of an Eighth-Grade Dao Array Master, dazzling all the Female Immortals' dog eyes.

But after thinking about it, what if he made the Array too strong and when the enemy wanted to attack, they couldn't even find the way in?

Wouldn't that be making people run all the way here for nothing?

"Supreme Palace Master, I was wrong."

Venerable Xue Yi, forcibly yanked out of her Cultivation state, slowly condensed into form from a snowy plain.

Jiang Taishang ignored her murderous gaze, clasped his hands behind his back, and gave a slight nod like a real elder of the Sect.

"Mm, cultivate properly, don't slack off."

Then, before Venerable Xue Yi could even string together a proper curse, he drifted away, hiding both body and name.

This guy actually knew that interrupting someone's Cultivation was an immoral thing to do.

But hey, since none of you truly see me as the Supreme Palace Master in your hearts, I can only come every day to give you a little review and deepen the impression.

Not long after, he appeared again atop a mountain peak that gleamed with crystalline light like a Treasure Vault.

Then, very familiarly, he passed through a Restriction and knocked on the door of Venerable Linjing's Cave Mansion.

"What are you here for? Could it be that some enemy is attacking?"

Brother Cheng shrugged. "Nope, calm as can be out there."

"Then did the Palace Master send you to call me to a meeting?"

"I, a dignified Supreme Palace Master—since when have I fallen to being a messenger boy?"

"So what you mean is, there's absolutely nothing going on?" Venerable Linjing's eye corner twitched.

"Indeed."

"And with nothing going on, you still interrupt my Cultivation, are you…"

"I came to remind you not to forget your daily greeting." Brother Cheng said with a squinty smile.

"You!"

Lin Jing took a deep breath, her teeth grinding with a crackling sound.

"Supreme Palace Master, I was wrong."

Clearly she wanted to start cursing him out, yet she had to admit fault first—what kind of logic was that?

She wanted to say more, but discovered Jiang Taishang had already vanished on the spot, not giving her any chance to retaliate.

High in the sky outside, his gratified old voice was still echoing from afar.

"Work hard and strive to enter Daoist Venerable early, I have high hopes for you!"

If she had a body of flesh and blood, Lin Jing would probably be coughing blood on the spot from rage.

As for the idle Jiang Cheng, a Sect full of girls was his earliest lifelong dream.

Now that it was basically realized, this was exactly the sort of fun he wanted.

These few days, his life had been regular yet monotonous.

All day long he was immersed in that constant string of "Supreme Palace Master" and couldn't extricate himself.

After just five short days, he was met with unanimous crusade from the entire Sect.

Inside the Ice Crystal Hall, the five Ultimate Elders and dozens of Celestial Venerable Elders were all fired up, jointly suing Jiang Taishang.

"This is too much!"

"A dignified Supreme Palace Master, and he doesn't do any proper work all day."

"And he never Cultivates either, has zero ambition, setting a terrible counterexample for the Sect disciples…"

If it were before, Gong Qing would definitely have harshly scolded all the women.

But this time she deliberately kept silent.

She hoped that, stimulated by them, Lord Jiang would also become ambitious, start waging war everywhere and expand the Ice Palace's sphere of influence.

Unfortunately, her hope was destined to fall through.

Brother Cheng didn't care at all about the women's criticism.

He even humbly clasped his hands repeatedly toward them.

"Hahahaha, I'm flattered, I'm flattered."

"I acknowledge your praise, I'll continue to work hard in the future."

If Gong Qing weren't present, the other Female Immortals would probably not be able to stop their own itching Pink Fists.

"But according to the Sect rules, everyone has to regularly go out to recruit newcomers."

Venerable Wuyuan, shrouded in a layer of white mist, suddenly chimed in.

The women immediately chimed along.

"Right, everyone has a task to recruit newcomers."

Brother Cheng froze, and could only cast a questioning look at his "own person," Gong Qing.

"There's actually such a weird rule about pulling in heads?"

Advisor Gong nodded slightly.

"There really is such a rule. Not just us, most Sects in Yunmi Dao have this rule."

Same old story—the situation here is different from outside.

Here, living people are extremely precious; each one is a strategic resource.

If you go outside and pull in a newcomer, that's equivalent to strengthening the Sect; its significance is no less than doing tasks like mining or planting herbs for the Sect.

"Our Ice Palace is quite lenient in this regard. Even if you don't recruit anyone, it's fine; just do your best."

Gong Qing added, "Some harsh Sects that forcibly fuse Split Souls will even assign quotas for recruitment, and if you fail to meet them, there will be punishment."

Before Jiang Cheng could voice an opinion, Lin Jing, Xue Yi and the others immediately hoisted Brother Cheng up.

"Although you're not required to definitely succeed in recruiting, as the Supreme Palace Master, you should at least set an example, right?"

"Exactly. It's one thing if others can't recruit anyone, but if you, the Supreme Palace Master, also fail to recruit newcomers, that'd be way too embarrassing."

Venerable Lanmiao giggled. "We were all recruited by the Palace Master. Since you want to stand above the Palace Master, you should recruit more people than her, and stronger ones too, right?"

The other Celestial Venerables all chimed in as well.

"Yeah yeah yeah, the Supreme Palace Master mustn't let us down."

"We pre-congratulate the Supreme Palace Master on a triumphant start!"

"Heehee, the Supreme Palace Master is so awesome, he'll definitely be able to recruit several Supremes, right?"

"Supreme? Are you looking down on Jiang Taishang? At the very least it should be Daoist Venerable!"

"Exactly, I totally worship the Supreme Palace Master. I believe he'll bring back tens of thousands of people!"

Brother Cheng curled his lips. You say you worship me with your mouths, but I don't see even a shred of worship on those faces.

And Gong Qing was even more torn between laughter and tears.

It's just like how resources grow scarcer the more years they're mined. Although living people appear anew every year, there are too many competitors; too many monks, not enough porridge.

Yunmi Dao has been developing for so many years, its overall structure already stable, and recruiting newcomers is getting harder and harder.

The Ice Palace's Power couldn't really be called weak trash; after all, it has a Daoist Venerable presiding.

But across the entire Yunmi Dao, it can't even rank in the top hundred, so it doesn't hold much appeal for newcomers.

Normally when she went out to recruit, getting two or three people already counted as a great harvest.

Tens of thousands?

The last time a Sect recruited tens of thousands in one go was three hundred billion years ago.

"You're kind of making things difficult here." Brother Cheng rubbed his chin, his brows tightly furrowed.

This was the first time the women had seen him show a "worried face," and they were absolutely thrilled inside.

Finally stumped you, huh?

Go on then, try acting arrogant again?

"What's wrong, you lost your confidence?"

Venerable Linjing was the first to jump out and jab at him.

"This doesn't look like the bearing a Supreme Palace Master should have!"

"Yeah, is Jiang Taishang afraid it'll be too embarrassing if he can't recruit anyone?"

"No no no…"

Brother Cheng shook his head with a squinty smile.

"What I mean is that your vision is too short. Recruiting just ten thousand people—how is that worthy of my identity as Supreme Palace Master?"