Chapter 254: Era's Catalyst (23)

The content of the Dan Yuan Secret Realm's apprentice recruitment announcement spread through the entire Medical Department like lightning.

The royal family and various nobles never expected that Hua Changxi's conditions for recruiting apprentices would be so simple, nor did they expect that the benefits she offered to apprentices would be so generous.

Hua Changxi had once again surprised everyone.

"This Hua Changxi, does she even understand management?"

The mindset of the various secret realm masters had already been somewhat broken by the oath tablet Hua Changxi erected, and now after seeing her apprentice recruitment announcement, their mindset was broken again.

"The Hua family is just a small household; Hua Changxi probably has never even managed a single shop on her own. How could she know anything about management?"

"Isn't that right? If she had ever managed a shop, she would know the importance of strictly controlling expenses."

The resources Hua Changxi invested in her apprentices were far too generous; compared to her, they, the secret realm masters, seemed too stingy.

People are afraid of comparison. Over time, those who join their secret realms would definitely become dissatisfied.

This Hua Changxi really makes things difficult for them at every turn.

The royal family and nobles were also put in a very passive position by Hua Changxi's apprentice recruitment announcement.

They had just issued the order to boycott Hua Changxi's recruitment, and immediately after, Hua Changxi pulled this stunt.

Prince Fu and Prince Shou couldn't laugh anymore. Boycotting Hua Changxi's recruitment was not a rash order issued on a whim of anger.

They did this because, first, Hua Changxi had touched the interests of the secret realm masters and nobles, so all parties would definitely respond actively.

Second, entering and leaving the secret realm required a Heart Demon Oath, which was a concern for the vast majority of cultivators who wanted to enter.

According to their speculation, Hua Changxi's conditions for recruiting apprentices would be very harsh, and most people would not be able to enter the secret realm.

"If I can't enter the secret realm, no one else should either." As long as they slightly stirred up this mentality among the cultivators, the plan to boycott Hua Changxi's recruitment would proceed very easily.

But who would have thought that Hua Changxi would do the complete opposite of what he expected, giving benefits to apprentices that exceeded his expectations, truly catching them off guard.

Without even sending people to investigate, they could imagine that even if it meant taking a Heart Demon Oath, countless cultivators would now want to join Hua Changxi's Dan Yuan Secret Realm.

Chu Junhao looked at Prince Fu and Prince Shou, whose faces were dark, hesitated for a moment, but still walked over: "Uncle Fu, Uncle Shou, how about we retract the order?"

As soon as he said this, Prince Shou's cold gaze shot at Chu Junhao: "Xiao Qi, do you know what you're saying?"

Chu Junhao's scalp tingled under Prince Shou's gaze; he opened his mouth but couldn't say anything.

Prince Shou snorted coldly: "Since the spiritual energy revival, the power of the capital's nobles and local magnates has been continuously growing, and they are increasingly disobeying the royal family's orders."

"Over the years, your father and the clan elders have tried every means to stabilize the overall situation and prevent others from making reckless moves."

"Now, you actually want us to retract the order to boycott Hua Changxi. Do you know what that means?"

"It means the royal family is bowing to a little girl! It means that in the future, everyone can ride on the royal family's neck!"

The more Prince Shou spoke, the angrier he got, and by the end, he was outright shouting.

Chu Junhao, upon hearing this, fell to his knees with a 'plop': "Uncle Shou, Junhao thought too shallowly. Please punish me, Uncle Shou."

Prince Fu saw that Prince Shou was quite angry and didn't tell Chu Junhao to get up: "The royal family's order has been issued and cannot be changed." As he spoke, he waved his hand and had someone summon the Director of the Medical Department.

"Go, and remove the registration location that Hua Changxi set up at the entrance of the Medical Department for this prince."

"The Medical Department is a government office. Without the court's consent, no one is allowed to recruit people at the entrance of the Medical Department!"

He paused.

"Also, pass down the order: everyone must keep their mouths shut and try not to let Hua Changxi's apprentice recruitment announcement spread beyond the Medical Department."

Although it was impossible to prevent well-informed factions from obtaining the content of the announcement, it was enough as long as they could prevent ordinary people from knowing the news.

As for the others within the Medical Department, they were either royal family members or nobles; it was unlikely they would dare to openly oppose the royal family.

After receiving Prince Fu's order, the Director of the Medical Department personally led a team to the main entrance, watching with his own eyes as his subordinates dismantled the registration location set up by Pharmacist Xu and others, and smashed the recruitment wooden sign to pieces.

At the same time, the Director sternly warned Pharmacist Xu and the others.

"Without the court's consent, who allowed you to recruit people at the main entrance?"

"Get back to the No. 13 Qihuang Hall, and if you do it again, you will directly leave the Medical Department."

Watching Pharmacist Xu and the others leave dejectedly, the cultivators from the Guardian Families watched with amusement, while the capital's nobles took the opportunity to go along with the flow.

They knew that the royal family was pressuring Hua Changxi, forcing her to remove the Vow Monument if she wanted to recruit apprentices.

The reason all parties were fixated on the Danyuan Secret Realm was to use its resources to cultivate their own forces, not to hand over their people to the Dan Saint Hall for nothing.

Those at the top each had their own hidden agendas, while the ordinary cultivators within the Medical Department couldn't hide their disappointment upon learning that Prince Shou had ordered them not to join the Danyuan Secret Realm.

Yet they dared not step forward to resist and could only remain silent.

Hua Changxi did not know that the moment she erected the Vow Monument and issued the recruitment notice, she immediately faced joint opposition from the royal family and all parties.

However, even if she knew, she wouldn't care too much.

The main force of her apprentice recruitment was never in the capital; the royal family and the powerful could prevent some people from joining the Danyuan Secret Realm, but they could not stop the masses across the land.

After giving the recruitment notice to Pharmacist Xu, Hua Changxi left the Medical Department.

At this moment, she was setting up a teleportation array at the Shennong Hall pharmacy in Feng'an Ward.

Once the teleportation array was set up, she immediately tested its effect. As soon as the array was activated, in the blink of an eye she teleported to the fourth level of the Danyuan Secret Realm.

Then, she teleported back from the fourth level of the Danyuan Secret Realm to the Shennong Hall Secret Realm.

Instant teleport and return!

Hua Changxi was very satisfied with the effect of the teleportation array, and without pausing, she left the capital, heading straight to Lingguang Hall. After setting up a teleportation array there, she went to Wuzhi Mountain.

She busily set up teleportation arrays with great enthusiasm, completely unaware of the turbulent situation brewing in the capital.

Dingyuan Bo Mansion.

Earl Hua summoned the clan elders and outstanding juniors of the Hua family to the mansion and held a clan leader meeting.

At this moment, the expressions on the Hua clan members' faces were quite interesting.

The moment they thought that the Danding Altar had appeared because of Hua Changxi, the Hua clan members were overjoyed, because this meant that after the Dan Saint Hall revived, Hua Changxi's status would definitely not be low.

The Dan Saint Hall was one of the five great sacred lands of the Four Spirit Realm, with a lofty status. For the Hua clan to be able to occupy a position and have a certain say in the Dan Saint Hall would definitely be a tremendous opportunity.

However, when they thought about how Hua Changxi had offended powerful figures from all sides by erecting the Vow Monument and issuing the recruitment notice, the clan elders couldn't help but sigh.

Earl Hua looked at the silent Hua Bin's family, his expression somewhat complicated.

He never expected that Hua Bin, who had grown up relying on the kindness of many families, would be the clan member with the best luck after the spiritual energy resurgence.

Thinking of the twin sisters Hua Changxin and Hua Changxi, he couldn't help but envy Hua Bin.

For other families, producing one exceptional junior was already a stroke of great fortune, but Hua Bin had produced two remarkable granddaughters at once.

Hua Changxin was the direct disciple of the head of the Taisu Palace, and many things were beyond their reach, so let's not talk about her for now.

But Hua Changxi had always been in the capital; it was still easy to find out about her actions.

This girl's prominence in the Medical Department had even overshadowed Meng Qingyao, who was backed by the Guardian Families, and she did it all on her own—truly astonishing.

For the family to have such an outstanding junior was undoubtedly a blessing and opportunity for the Hua clan, a sign of the family's prosperity.

But who would have thought that Hua Bin would be unable to even keep his own granddaughter close?

For a family of close blood relatives to have such a distant relationship was truly speechless to him.

And now, with Hua Changxi not close to the clan members, even though she held abundant resources, the clan couldn't gain any benefit from her.

What troubled Earl Hua the most was that Hua Changxi's temperament was too willful and she was too good at drawing hatred.

The interests of the royal family and the powerful were intricately intertwined, making it hard for them to unite against something or someone. Even some rising wealthy and powerful families hadn't managed to make them unify, yet Hua Changxi had achieved exactly that—there was no one quite like her.

She alone was like a whole clan!

Without gaining any benefits and possibly even getting into trouble because of Hua Changxi, Earl Hua didn't know whether to be happy or worried.

Seeing that Earl Hua and the others were silent, Hua Minghe couldn't help but speak up: "Earl, the ninth girl's secret realm needs people. If the clan can support her now, she will surely repay the clan in the future."

Earl Hua did not conceal the matter of the royal family and the powerful boycotting Hua Changxi; he told the clan as soon as he learned about it.

Hua Minghe was anxious, knowing that his daughter was being jointly pressured by the powerful.

The ninth girl was not close to her family and even indifferent to the clan. He also wanted to use this matter to let his daughter know that her family and clan were her backing.

The second elder snorted coldly: "The royal family has already ordered that no one is allowed to join the Danyuan Secret Realm. If the clan steps in now, it would be a direct declaration of opposition to the royal family."

"Even top-tier families like the Tang family dare not openly break with the imperial family. Can our Hua clan withstand the imperial family's wrath?"

Hearing this, Hua Minghe fell silent.

Lord Hua glanced at the Grand Elder.

After receiving the cue, the Grand Elder smiled and said, "We are not capable of resisting the imperial family head-on. But Changxi is still a junior of the clan; we cannot refuse to help. How about we wait and see for a while, to see if we can think of a solution that satisfies both sides?"

Upon hearing this, Hua Bin immediately stated his stance: "The Grand Elder is right. There's no rush regarding my Ninth Miss's matter. The secret realm is always there, so it's fine if we can't recruit people right away."

Hua Minghe glanced at Old Master Hua. He knew the Old Master was afraid that the clansmen would be implicated by Ninth Miss. However, Ninth Miss was not close to the clansmen. If the clansmen did not show their stance now, it would only be harder for them to be accepted by Ninth Miss in the future.

He understood Ninth Miss's character. She would not be stingy toward those who had helped her.

Hua Minghe wanted to say something more, but Old Master Hua firmly held him back.

Lord Hua looked at Hua Minghe and Hua Bin, then said, "The situation in the capital changes very quickly. Let's not rush to make a decision."

Then he said to Hua Minghe, "Minghe, you can go ask Changxi first, see if she has any thoughts about the clan."

"Over the past two years, the strength of the major aristocratic families has been increasing, but our clan has been standing still. Without strength, we have to be cautious when facing major issues. You must explain these circumstances clearly to Changxi."

"No matter what, the Hua clan is the backing behind Changxi. Whatever the clan can support her with, we definitely will not ignore."

After hearing this, Hua Minghe's eyes flickered.

He knew that Ninth Miss treated Hua clan members the same as outsiders when recruiting apprentices, and the clan was dissatisfied with this. The clansmen wanted preferential treatment in the Danyuan Secret Realm.

Lord Hua was hinting at him: if Ninth Miss did not show sincerity first, the clan side likely would not arrange for people to join the Danyuan Secret Realm.