"My god, she's beautiful! Is this the Golden Core True Person from the Lingxiao Sect responsible for recruiting disciples? She looks about our age, or even younger than you, Brother Junjie!" Lin Hangyu exclaimed. In his impression, the Foundation Establishment cultivators from his clan were all old men, with the youngest being middle-aged. He never expected a Golden Core True Person from the Lingxiao Sect to be such a pretty young girl.
This stark contrast left him momentarily stunned.
That's why the words slipped out.
"Idiot, this shows the True Person's extraordinary talent. She broke through to the Foundation Establishment stage in her late teens, hence her eternal youth." Lin Junjie was speechless upon hearing this. He wanted to smack Lin Hangyu's head and see what was inside.
It was impossible to have an eighteen or nineteen-year-old Golden Core True Person. She must have broken through to Foundation Establishment at a young age, thus preserving her youthful appearance and ceasing to age. This True Person's actual age must be at least fifty.
Lin Junjie thought to himself.
Fang Ming nodded upon hearing this. Based on the memories of Lin Xuan in his mind, in the Kyushu world, cultivators at the Condensing Pulse stage had the same lifespan as ordinary people, around a hundred years.
Those at the Foundation Establishment stage had a lifespan of two hundred years, and at the Golden Core stage, it extended to five hundred years.
As for appearance, for example, a sixty-year-old Foundation Establishment cultivator, relative to their two-hundred-year lifespan, would be like a thirty-year-old ordinary person. Thus, their outward appearance would be that of a thirty-year-old youth. A one-hundred-and-twenty-year-old Golden Core True Person would also appear as a thirty-year-old youth.
An ordinary person's appearance aged by two years, while a Foundation Establishment cultivator's appearance aged by only one.
Of course, this also depended on the age at which one broke through to a certain realm. If, like the elders of the Lin family, they only broke through to Foundation Establishment in their fifties or sixties, their lifespan would increase significantly, and their appearance would no longer age, but it wouldn't revert to their twenties or thirties either.
The only way for a high-level cultivator to appear young was to have broken through to a realm at a young age.
Breaking through to Foundation Establishment at twenty, and Golden Core at forty, would result in the current eighteen or nineteen-year-old appearance of this Dao Xuan True Person, and she wouldn't age further before the age of one hundred.
This was the characteristic of the cultivation system in this world.
Fang Ming had already memorized it clearly.
Looking up, he saw Dao Xuan True Person with long, flowing hair reaching her waist, her skin as fair as snow, and a beautiful figure.
She spoke from the stage, "Today is the time for the Lingxiao Sect to recruit disciples."
"The recruitment process is to first select the top forty individuals today. Do you see those five arenas? Everyone go up, fight each other, engage in duels. The losers retreat from the arena. Half an hour later, I want to see only eighty people remaining on each arena."
Dao Xuan True Person spoke very casually, as if treating the important matter of disciple recruitment as child's play.
She casually set the rules.
Her actions caused a rumbling discussion among the crowd below. They seemed confused by Dao Xuan True Person's selection method. Everyone fighting each other in a free-for-all duel, what kind of haphazard decision was this?
If it were them, anyone could have devised a better selection plan.
There was no way they would recruit disciples by having everyone engage in a chaotic free-for-all.
This was reckless!
This was utter recklessness!
It was like an ignorant child coming to cause trouble!
Dao Xuan True Person's method of large-scale recruitment also drew dissenting voices from the crowd.
At this moment, a person stepped forward from the crowd. Fang Ming recognized him from the original body Lin Xuan's memories as a cultivator at the seventh level of Condensing Pulse from the Lei family.
He shouted loudly, "True Person, what kind of decision is this? Everyone goes up to compete and duel. What if many people on the arena attack the strongest individual? In that case, wouldn't the strongest be eliminated at the start?"
"The strong would fall, and the weak would win."
"Can this select talented individuals?"
"Can this select talented individuals worthy of being Lingxiao Sect disciples? Can the selected individuals possess the qualities of a Lingxiao Sect disciple?"
"Clearly not!"
"True Person, this selection method is completely unfair."
"Please withdraw your order."
Many people heard these words. The cultivators below showed no outward reaction, but they were thinking, what if five or six people ganged up on one person? How could this demonstrate their true abilities and strength?
Had this Dao Xuan True Person lost her mind, acting so erratically?
This person was right!
But, given his status, speaking so boldly, his fate would likely be…
Many cultivators who were rational and knew the strength and status of Golden Core True Persons silently judged the outcome for this person from the Lei family.
Fang Ming also did not have high hopes for the person who stepped forward from the Lei family.
"This person dares to confront a Golden Core True Person; he looks like he's heading for certain death. His end will surely be tragic."
Fang Ming made his own judgment.
In his assessment, this Dao Xuan True Person did not seem like someone easy to talk to. This person from the Lei family, while speaking words that resonated with the public and the hearts of many cultivators, was openly defying a Golden Core True Person. Fang Ming could guess the outcome with his eyes closed.
He was even beginning to doubt if this person had lost his intelligence. Otherwise, how could he say such things in front of a Golden Core True Person?
Did he not know what it meant to be the first bird to be shot?
Or was he spoiled at home, thinking that arguing with Foundation Establishment elders in his family was the same as arguing with a Golden Core True Person from a major sect?
It seemed that the intelligence education for some second-generation cultivators in these cultivation families was severely lacking!
Fang Ming had already predicted the subsequent development in his mind.
And things unfolded exactly as he had predicted.
Suddenly, Fang Ming heard a cold snort.
This cold snort came from that Dao Xuan True Person!
Even before she spoke, her single snort made many cultivators present feel a chill like that of winter!
"You publicly criticize me? Say my selection method is unfair?"
"And you want me to withdraw my order?"
"I used to hear that there are truly foolish people in this world, people who always do things that make others doubt if they possess normal thinking. I thought it was fake, that people always act logically, and it's impossible to have illogical, sudden, self-detrimental actions."
"But now I realize that such people truly exist!"
"The world is vast, and there are indeed all sorts of wonders."
"Think carefully, who do you think you are? Do you think you are worthy of obstructing my decision?"
As Dao Xuan True Person spoke, she did not forget to display her power and might.
She unleashed her pressure, an invisible force directed entirely at the seventh-level Condensing Pulse cultivator from the Lei family.