Chapter 281: Promoting the Popularization of Cultivation

"Six thousand eight hundred people..."

Hua Changxi stood outside the main hall of the Lingguang Hall, holding the "Zhu Que Army Roster" in her hand, looking down at the cluster of buildings below shrouded in spiritual mist.

From afar to near, outside the gate tower, many cultivators were pacing and hesitating; in the square behind the gate tower, dozens of cultivators burning with desire were struggling to move forward.

Further ahead, on the steps leading to the Dharma Transmission Hall, seven or eight figures were strenuously resisting the illusionary realms.

In the Training Hall opposite the Dharma Transmission Hall, over three thousand rooms were occupied, with everyone inside 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 gong rang out in the main hall of the Mission Hall.

Upon hearing the sound, everyone cultivating in the Training Hall walked out of their rooms one after another, following the noise to find the Mission Hall that had just opened.

Lingguang Hall was a five-story architectural complex soaring into the clouds; the main hall was located at the highest level, the Law Enforcement Hall and the Merit Hall were on the level below; further down were the Mission Hall and the Armory; the fourth level housed the Martial Drill Hall and the Logistics Department; at the very bottom were the Dharma Transmission Hall and the Martial Refinement Hall.

At present, the opened halls within Lingguang Hall included the Dharma Transmission Hall and Martial Refinement Hall on the fifth level, the Logistics Department on the fourth level, and the Mission Hall on the third level.

The remaining halls were still in a closed state.

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

"Investigate the anomaly in Nanxiang County..."

Su Yu looked at the mission posted by the Mission Hall, lost in thought; he had assumed the Hall Master had detected the anomaly in Nanxiang County long ago: "Only just found out?"

If that were the case, wouldn't the Hall Master's information channels be extremely blocked?

Su Yu raised his head toward the main hall; although the spiritual mist was so thick that nothing could be seen, he could feel someone standing above watching them.

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

Su Yu glanced around at the people surrounding him; nowadays, more and more cultivators were joining the Zhu Que Army, so what should he do to stand out from the crowd and attract the Hall Master's attention?

Accept the mission to investigate Nanxiang County?

Su Yu frowned slightly; the anomaly in Nanxiang County had actually begun long ago, but it had been covered up by the imperial family.

Thinking of Prince Fu's strict defense and blockade of Nanxiang County, investigating Nanxiang County would mean confronting the imperial family.

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

Under such circumstances, who would dare to act rashly?

Su Yu's thoughts were shared by most people present; those who could break through various obstacles to join the Zhu Que Army at the first opportunity, even without noble background, would certainly not be ignorant fools.

Hua Changxi watched the crowd outside the Mission Hall discussing heatedly, yet no one stepped forward to accept the mission, and her brows furrowed involuntarily.

"Everyone's enthusiasm is not high enough!"

At the same time, Hua Changxi realized that although there was the Heart Demon Oath before the Dharma Transmission Stele, and she had set up trials in the square and on the steps, the Zhu Que Army recruited in this manner would still exhibit a mix of good and bad elements.

Military orders are as weighty as a mountain; if one day she truly needed to command these Zhu Que Army soldiers onto the battlefield, would they obey orders?

Could these people really become qualified members of the Zhu Que Army?

Just as Hua Changxi was feeling troubled over the Zhu Que Army, throughout the entire Great Jin, due to display spiritual devices being deployed in various regions, news that the Four Sacred Lands were openly recruiting disciples caused an enormous uproar everywhere.

In the Medical Bureau, factions on all sides also successively received news of the Four Sacred Lands recruiting people.

"No wonder Hua Changxi was not the least bit anxious when we previously united to boycott her; it turns out she had prepared a backup plan long ago."

"Hua Changxi knew she could not compete with us, so she never intended to recruit apprentices from within the Medical Bureau or in the capital; she was targeting everyone outside the capital!"

After learning the news, the nobles in the capital all felt as though they had been played by Hua Changxi.

They felt their previous united boycott was like a monkey show; they had thought they were the audience watching the play, only to realize they were the monkeys on stage.

In the Qihuang Pavilion, Prince Shou was so angry he wanted to spit blood; the imperial family could rely on its power to control people within the Medical Bureau and prevent those in the capital from joining the Danyuan Secret Realm, but the imperial family could not prevent everyone in the Great Jin from joining the Danyuan Secret Realm.

He knew the imperial family no longer had the strength to suppress Hua Changxi.

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

Prince Shou was too unwilling to accept it, unwilling to accept that the imperial family's authority was declining so rapidly.

If dealing with Hua Changxi before was only for the sake of the Danyuan Secret Realm, now Prince Shou wanted to kill Hua Changxi.

For no other reason than that her existence laid bare the decline of the imperial family without any doubt!

In the Lingjing Pavilion, after receiving the news, Xia Zhen also sat silently for a long time.

He discovered that since coming to the Medical Bureau, the number of powerless situations he faced exceeded all his previous experiences combined.

Meng Qingyao and others of the younger generation were also very silent.

Dongfang Hao compiled a list of where the display spiritual devices had appeared, then discovered they had been deployed in every densely populated city across the entire Great Jin.

Afterwards, he repeatedly read the recruitment announcements broadcasted on the spiritual devices many times.

"Didn't they say Hua Changxi has always fought alone?"

Dongfang Xu immediately replied: "Yes, on the display spiritual devices, all Four Sacred Lands are recruiting simultaneously; Hua Changxi must have contact with people from the other three Sacred Lands."

Meng Qingyao said: "Perhaps Hua Changxi only appears to act alone within the Medical Bureau."

Jiang Nianyi, with a heavy heart, said coldly: "Before, I thought Hua Changxi wore her emotions on her sleeve and lacked scheming, but now I realize she hides her depths deeper than anyone else."

Meng Yuchuan and Xia Ziyang nodded in agreement.

Dongfang Hao glanced at Jiang Nianyi, his eyes flashing.

Ever since Hua Changxi guessed the Jiang family's origins inside Qihuang Hall Number Two last time, Jiang Nianyi had occasionally displayed hostility toward Hua Changxi, and even guided others to be hostile toward her...

Cultivators from the outside world?

On the other side, in the Old Courtyard of the Square, Gu Xing was also greatly shocked by Hua Changxi joining forces with the other three Sacred Lands to jointly issue the recruitment announcement.

He was both happy that Hua Changxi knew how to cooperate with others and surprised by the grand vision she demonstrated.

He truly had not expected that Hua Changxi would deploy the Danyuan Secret Realm recruitment across various regions of the Great Jin.

Such a matter required not only the courage to imagine it but also corresponding resources to support it.

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

Gu Xing smiled as he looked in the direction of Danyuan Peak, thinking that it would not be long before Danyuan Peak would welcome a large batch of apprentices.

Inside Qihuang Hall No. 10, Gu Jinfan let out a long sigh: "The Four Great Sacred Lands openly recruiting disciples... what a grand move."

To the Central Continent, the Five Great Sacred Lands were both the anchor stabilizing the seas and the weather vane indicating the wind's direction.

Matters concerning the Sacred Lands meant that pulling a single hair moved the whole body.

The joint recruitment by the Four Great Sacred Lands was not merely promoting the development of the four arts of alchemy, artifact forging, talisman crafting, and formation setting; it was set to directly trigger the expansion and popularization of cultivation across the entire Central Continent.

Tang Yufeng, sitting opposite Gu Jinfan, also sighed with emotion: "We have all underestimated Hua Changxi; whatever she does truly exceeds expectations every single time."

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

His outburst startled both Huo Yunxiao, who had come to report, and Chu Junyi, who had just returned from the Nine Nether Regions.

Wei Zhenjie remained furious: "It is too excessive! On the Central Continent, the Five Great Sacred Lands share the same breath and branches; with the Alchemy, Formation, Talisman, and Artifact Sacred Lands jointly recruiting, how could they alone leave out our Central Sacred Land?"

Seeing that what bothered their master was actually this, Huo Yunxiao and Chu Junyi immediately stopped worrying.

Wei Zhenjie swiftly sent out several transmission messages, and only then did his expression gradually improve.

Observing this, Huo Yunxiao whispered to Chu Junyi: "Just wait; soon, news of the Central Sacred Land's recruitment will also appear on the Display Spirit Artifact."

Chu Junyi smiled but said nothing.

After sending transmission messages to the successors of the Four Great Sacred Lands, Wei Zhenjie finally had the leisure to look at his two disciples, his mood surprisingly good: "Truly, a flurry of wild punches can beat an old master to death."

Every faction desired the resources within the Danyuan Secret Realm, employing various sinister schemes and methods in turn, yet who could have expected Hua Changxi to simply counter with a direct strike by openly recruiting apprentices everywhere?

This could fully be called a showdown between an open strategy and a hidden plot!

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

Curiosity showed on Chu Junyi's face: "Hua Changxi?" He had heard this name mentioned no few times by his master and senior brother.

Wei Zhenjie nodded: "The Elder of the Formation Saint Sect has replied to me; the idea to refine the Display Spirit Artifact and to broadcast the recruitment announcements on it in rotation came from Hua Changxi."

Huo Yunxiao laughed: "I estimate that even the Imperial Court would not dare to obstruct Hua Changxi's recruitment anymore."

Wei Zhenjie snorted: "If the Imperial Court still dares to continue, they can just wait for the public fury to explode."

Huo Yunxiao thought to himself that, in truth, the Imperial Court had already ignited the fury in many people's hearts.

The benefits and treatment of the Danyuan Secret Realm had actually moved many within the Medical Bureau; even though Shenhe Peak, Qingyao Peak, and Xuanhuang Peak provided cultivation methods, they could not compare to the resources actually distributed into the hands of the apprentices by Danyuan Peak.

If the Imperial Court continued to block people from joining the Danyuan Secret Realm, it would only cause more and more people to resent the court's tyranny; over time, they would lose all popular support, and even the foundation they had accumulated in the past would likely be completely exhausted.