Chapter 281: Promoting Cultivation

"Six thousand eight hundred people..."

Hua Changxi stood outside the main hall of Lingguang Hall, holding the "Vermilion Bird Army Roster," gazing down at the mist-shrouded clusters of buildings below.

From far to near, beyond the gate tower, many cultivators lingered and hesitated; on the square behind the gate tower, dozens of cultivators burning with desire were moving forward with difficulty.

Further ahead, on the steps leading to the Transmission Hall, seven or eight figures were struggling against the illusion.

Opposite the Transmission Hall, in the Training Hall, over three thousand rooms were occupied, and the people inside were all focused on cultivation.

Hua Changxi issued the mission "Investigate the Anomaly in Nanxiang County" and opened the doors of the Mission Hall.

As soon as the mission was recorded, the sound of a copper gong rang out in the Mission Hall lobby.

Hearing the sound, the cultivators training in the Training Hall left their rooms one after another, following the noise to the newly opened Mission Hall.

Lingguang Hall was a towering five-story complex reaching into the clouds; at the highest level was the Main Hall, one floor down was the Enforcement Hall and the Merit Hall, further down were the Mission Hall and the Armory, the fourth floor housed the Martial Arts Hall and the Logistics Department, and the lowest floor held the Transmission Hall and the Combat Training Hall.

Currently, the palaces opened in Lingguang Hall included the Transmission Hall and Combat Training Hall on the fifth floor, the Logistics Department on the fourth floor, and the Mission Hall on the third floor.

The remaining palaces were all still closed.

"Look, the Hall Master has issued a mission."

"Investigate the Anomaly in Nanxiang County..."

Su Yu looked at the mission posted in the Mission Hall, lost in thought. He had assumed the Hall Master had already noticed the anomaly in Nanxiang County. "So she only found out now?"

If so, wasn't the Hall Master's information channel very blocked?

Su Yu looked up toward the main hall; although the spiritual mist was thick and he could see nothing, he could feel someone standing up there watching them.

No need to guess, it must be the Hall Master.

Su Yu glanced around at the people nearby. Now that more and more cultivators were joining the Vermilion Bird Army, what could he do to stand out from the crowd and attract the Hall Master's attention?

Take the mission to investigate Nanxiang County?

Su Yu frowned slightly. The anomaly in Nanxiang County had actually started long ago, but the imperial family had covered it up.

Thinking of Prince Fu's tight defense of Nanxiang County, investigating it would mean going up against the imperial family.

The imperial family was undoubtedly powerful; after the anomaly appeared in Nanxiang County, they sent dozens of Nascent Soul realm cultivators to guard it.

Under such circumstances, who dared to act rashly?

Su Yu's thoughts were also the thoughts of most people present. Those who could break through various obstacles and join the Vermilion Bird Army in the first place, even if they lacked family background, were not ignorant fools.

Hua Changxi watched the crowd outside the Mission Hall discussing heatedly, yet no one stepped forward to accept the mission. She couldn't help but furrow her brows.

"Everyone's enthusiasm isn't high enough!"

At the same time, Hua Changxi realized that although there were Heart Demon Oaths in front of the Transmission Tablet and she had set up trials on the square and the steps, the Vermilion Bird Army recruited this way would still have uneven quality.

Orders are as firm as mountains. If one day she needed to command these Vermilion Bird soldiers onto the battlefield, would they obey?

Could these people truly become qualified Vermilion Bird soldiers?

Just as Hua Changxi was racking her brains over the Vermilion Bird Army, across the entire Great Jin, because display spirit tools had been deployed in various regions, news of the Four Holy Lands publicly recruiting disciples caused an uproar everywhere.

In the Medical Department, various factions also gradually received word of the Four Holy Lands recruiting people.

"No wonder Hua Changxi wasn't worried at all when we united to resist her before—she already had her backup plan."

"Hua Changxi knew she couldn't compete with us, so she never planned to recruit apprentices from within the Medical Department or the capital. She aimed at everyone outside the capital!"

When the capital's nobles learned of this, they felt as if Hua Changxi had played them for fools.

It felt like their previous united resistance had been nothing but a monkey show. They thought they were the audience, but they never expected they were the monkeys on stage.

In Qihuang Pavilion, Prince Shu was so angry he wanted to vomit blood. The imperial family could use their power to control the people inside the Medical Department and the capital from joining the Danyuan Secret Realm, but they couldn't control everyone in Great Jin from joining it.

He knew the imperial family could no longer suppress Hua Changxi.

Once upon a time, the imperial family was the supreme ruler of Great Jin, but now, just trying to seize control of a secret realm from a low-born commoner had ended in failure!

Prince Shu was too unwilling, unwilling that the imperial family's authority had declined so quickly.

If earlier his actions against Hua Changxi were only for the Danyuan Secret Realm, now Prince Shu wanted her dead.

[]

No other reason: her very existence laid bare the dynasty's decay!

In the Spirit Realm Pavilion, Xia Zhen received the news and sat in silence for a long time.

He realized that since coming to the Medical Department, he had faced more powerlessness than in all his previous experiences combined.

The younger generation, like Meng Qingyao, also remained silent.

Dongfang Hao compiled a list of locations where the display spirit artifacts had appeared and found that they had been deployed in all of Great Jin’s densely populated cities.

Afterwards, he watched the recruitment announcements that cycled through the artifacts over and over again.

"Weren’t we told that Hua Changxi always fought alone?"

Dongfang Xu immediately chimed in: "Right, the display spirit artifacts showed the Four Holy Lands recruiting at the same time. Hua Changxi must have dealings with people from the other three Holy Lands."

Meng Qingyao: "Maybe Hua Changxi only acts aloof in the Medical Department."

Jiang Nianyi, heavy-hearted, said coldly: "I used to think Hua Changxi wore her emotions on her sleeve and had no scheming, but now I realize she hides deeper than anyone."

Meng Yuchuan and Xia Ziyang nodded in agreement.

Dongfang Hao glanced at Jiang Nianyi, his eyes flickering.

Ever since Hua Changxi speculated about the Jiang family’s origins at the No. 2 Qihuang Hall, Jiang Nianyi had occasionally shown hostility toward Hua Changxi, even guiding others to oppose her...

An external cultivator?

On the other side, at the Old Square Courtyard, Gu Xing was also greatly startled by Hua Changxi’s joint recruitment announcement with the other three Holy Lands.

He was both pleased that Hua Changxi understood cooperation and amazed by the scope she had displayed.

He really hadn’t expected Hua Changxi to set up recruitment for the Danyuan Secret Realm across all of Great Jin.

Such a feat required not only bold thinking but also corresponding resources to support it.

Hua Changxi’s recruitment drive this time was undoubtedly an unprecedented success!

Gu Xing smiled toward Danyuan Peak, thinking that soon Danyuan Peak would welcome a large batch of apprentices.

In the No. 10 Qihuang Hall, Gu Jinfan let out a long sigh: "The Four Holy Lands openly recruiting disciples... What a bold move."

The Five Holy Lands serve as both the anchor and the weathervane for the Central Continent.

Matters of the Holy Lands—one move affects the whole.

The Four Holy Lands’ joint recruitment of disciples not only advances the development of the four arts—alchemy, artifacts, talismans, and arrays—but also directly sparks the expansion and popularization of cultivation across the Central Continent.

Tang Yufeng, sitting across from Gu Jinfan, also sighed: "We all underestimated Hua Changxi. The way she does things, she surprises us every time."

In the Heaven Department, Wei Zhenjie flew into a rage upon receiving the news: "This is too much!"

Both Huo Yunxiao, who came to report, and Chu Junyi, who had just returned from the Nine Abysses, were startled.

Wei Zhenjie was still fuming: "Too much! The Five Holy Lands of the Central Continent are supposed to be connected in spirit. The Four Holy Lands—Alchemy, Arrays, Talismans, and Artifacts—are recruiting together, and they left out our Central Holy Land?"

Seeing that their master was actually bothered by this, Huo Yunxiao and Chu Junyi immediately calmed down.

Wei Zhenjie quickly sent out several transmissions, and his expression gradually improved.

Huo Yunxiao observed this and whispered to Chu Junyi: "Just wait. Soon, the Central Holy Land’s recruitment announcement will appear on the display spirit artifacts too."

Chu Junyi smiled and said nothing.

After sending transmissions to the successors of the Four Holy Lands, Wei Zhenjie finally had the leisure to turn his attention to his two disciples. In an unusually good mood, he said: "Truly, a wild punch can beat a veteran master."

All parties wanted the resources in the Danyuan Secret Realm, and had deployed all kinds of schemes and tricks, but who would have thought Hua Changxi would strike back by openly recruiting apprentices everywhere?

This was a full-on confrontation between overt strategy and covert plotting!

Now, who could still stop Hua Changxi from recruiting apprentices?

Chu Junyi’s face showed curiosity: "Hua Changxi?" He had heard that name many times from his master and senior brother.

Wei Zhenjie nodded: "The elder of the Array Saint Sect replied to me. The idea of making display spirit artifacts and cycling the recruitment announcements on them came from Hua Changxi."

Huo Yunxiao chuckled: "I imagine even the royal family wouldn’t dare to obstruct Hua Changxi’s recruitment now."

Wei Zhenjie snorted: "If the royal family still dares to carry on, they’ll just be igniting the public’s fury."

Huo Yunxiao thought to himself that the royal family had already ignited anger in the hearts of many.

The benefits and treatment of the Danyuan Secret Realm had actually made many within the Medical Department tempted; even though Shenhe Peak, Qingyao Peak, and Xuanhuang Peak provided cultivation techniques, they could not compare to the resources actually distributed to apprentices by Danyuan Peak.

If the royal family continued to prevent people from joining the Danyuan Secret Realm, it would only cause more and more people to resent the royal family's tyranny; if this continued, they would lose all popular support, and even the foundation they had accumulated in the past would likely be completely consumed.