Chapter 49

"Therefore, I can tell you straight: cultivation is inevitably filled with countless hardships and obstacles, and fraught with all sorts of dangers."

"But the more this is the case, the stronger the cultivator will become."

"Every cultivator is an existence with ambitions higher than the heavens."

"They are confident they can resolve all dangers; of course, some are overly confident, turning into arrogance, and thus die without a burial place."

"But even so, there are still countless heaven-favored geniuses stepping onto this path. Fellow Daoist Morax, why do you think that is?"

Zhongli was somewhat dazed, and said softly:

"Because they have things they wish to obtain."

Jiang Yan smiled.

"A longer life, greater power, a status that can make the world bow down..."

"Whether it is the disciple who was forced onto this path and is bent on revenge, or the one who crossed thousands of hardships to seek the Dao and entered the immortal gate."

"I saw too, too many of them back in the day at Shushan."

"Some sought immortality just to settle a score, but after truly getting their revenge, they did not lose their drive to move upward."

"They had experienced the feeling of holding their fate in their own hands, and experienced the wonder of longevity."

"They could not give up cultivation."

"Greed is the instinct of all intelligent life."

"Having obtained some, they want to obtain more."

Zhongli sighed.

"The world is full of desires, and we gods, how could we escape such worldly states?"

"Therefore, they cannot refuse cultivation!"

Jiang Yan said decisively:

"Want revenge? Cultivation gives you power."

"Want longevity? Cultivation gives you time."

"Want to stand above ten thousand people? Cultivation can let you dominate the world alone."

"Want the deceased to return to life, want family to reunite."

"Whether it is the 'Resurrection from the Dead' of the Seventy-Two Earthly Transformations, or other pills that can bring the dead back to life and regrow flesh on bones, all are possible."

"Even, when stepping into a small world, traversing the river of time and space, and reversing everything, is also possible."

"All things in the world are within the Dao, and cultivation is the seeking of one's own Dao."

"Fellow Daoist Morax, what do you think?"

Jiang Yan looked at Zhongli with a smile, but felt somewhat helpless inside.

Although with his strength, he could easily recruit disciples.

With a wave of his arm, countless people would respond.

But disciples with top-tier talent like Zhongli and the others are not found everywhere; if they don't want to join, could he kidnap them?

He was confident that Zhongli and the others could not refuse cultivation; right now, it was merely out of consideration for the future of Liyue, and such a major decision could not be made quickly.

If he truly saw something good and pursued it recklessly, he would not be worthy of being the Rex Lapis who carries the people of Liyue forward.

Every word and action of his, every drink and meal, concerns national affairs and the future of countless citizens; Zhongli does not have the right to make decisions lightly.

Because he loves his people more than he loves himself.

Jiang Yan could also leisurely cultivate and wait for them to come knocking on his door.

But in the dark, a feeling told Jiang Yan that he must establish Shushan as soon as possible and let Shushan develop as soon as possible.

And then...

This seems to concern his future... and the past of Shushan?

Jiang Yan was somewhat confused, but establishing Shushan as soon as possible was definitely not wrong.

Previously, Jiang Yan thought Teyvat was full of geniuses, after all, he discovered two special constitutions and a bunch of top-tier spiritual roots in one day yesterday.

Even if ordinary people were a bit worse, they wouldn't be that bad.

But Jiang Yan still overestimated Teyvat.

Just looking at these Millelith soldiers right now, the best-case scenario.

Is a three-spiritual-root candidate.

Some even have no spiritual roots at all.

It seems that ordinary people do have a chance at cultivation.

But the true geniuses must be these existences who shine in the original world's game.

Perhaps...

Is it because they are favored by the world?

But for a small world to produce so many geniuses is quite absurd.

Ultimately, the main force for Shushan's recruitment must be these people with strong presence.

Thinking of this, Jiang Yan sighed in his heart and added:

"So, have you all decided?"

Before Zhongli could speak, this time, Ningguang spoke first.

"Mr. Jiang Yan, will you be recruiting disciples in other nations of Teyvat later?"

"That is natural."

Jiang Yan nodded.

"The revival of Shushan is a long and arduous road; Liyue alone naturally cannot satisfy the needs of Shushan's revival."

"Even if all the geniuses of Teyvat were added together, I fear it would only barely satisfy the development goals of the Shushan stage."

"When Shushan was prosperous in the past, the lower-realm Shushan Sword Sect recruited disciples from one hundred and eight middle-thousand worlds."

"And the upper-realm Shushan Immortal Sect recruited disciples from the entire great-thousand world."

"Now Teyvat is only a small world attached to a middle-thousand world; although there are many geniuses, I fear it cannot satisfy Shushan's development needs."

"Later on, I may recruit disciples from other worlds."

"Is there a problem? Miss Ningguang."

Hearing this, Ningguang shook her head.

"No, thank you for clarifying, Mr. Jiang Yan."

Having said that, Ningguang glanced at Zhongli without a trace.

The question asked to Jiang Yan was for Zhongli.

Since they had already decided to cultivate yesterday, there was no need to dwell on these one or two days.

In case they drag it out and people from other nations come, and Jiang Yan recruits them first.

Liyue would be a step behind and would likely regret it to death later.

Not to mention anything else, hasn't Alice already gone back to pick up Klee and is preparing to come to Liyue?

Zhongli naturally saw Ningguang's urging.

At this moment, he also felt that he had indeed thought too much.

Since he had already made the decision, there was no need to hesitate for these one or two days.

Immediately, Zhongli nodded and said:

"Coming here this time is to visit on behalf of the nation of Liyue and congratulate Shushan on its reconstruction."

"It is also to lead everyone here to see if they have the fate to join Shushan and seek the Dao of cultivation, is that acceptable?"

Jiang Yan smiled and looked around at everyone.

Unaccountably, purple energy seemed to flow in his eyes.

After checking them one by one, although Jiang Yan was mentally prepared, he was still very moved.

Among this group, the one with the worst talent was an unknown immortal.

Top-grade Metal Spiritual Root.

Those with the best talent were the sword-bodied Keqing, the top-grade Earth Spiritual Root Ningguang, and the top-grade Water Spiritual Root Madame Ping.

As for those like Ningguang who were known by name, their talents were better than the last.

Even the immortals he didn't recognize all had top-grade spiritual roots.

Teyvat is just too suitable for cultivation.

Jiang Yan even felt that if Teyvat didn't cultivate, it would be a huge waste of resources.