Please, Young Master, Slay the Demon!
Chapter 851 - 62: Master Chu Must Have His Reasons for Doing This [Two in One]_2

Chapter 851: Chapter 62: Master Chu Must Have His Reasons for Doing This [Two in One]_2

Although Master Chu is young, in the Immortal Cultivation World, he can already be described as being able to ’turn his hand into clouds and cover his hand with rain.’ Master Chu tells me to keep stable, and indeed it is just that stable. If Master Chu tells me to recruit disciples, then I go recruit disciples.

In short, Master Chu must have his reasons for doing so.

"The Talisman Sect is now one of the Ten Earth Sects, and it must look the part on the surface," Henchman A said. "The number of disciples can’t be too few, and their cultivation can’t be too low, otherwise, it might become a point of attack for others. There are already many comments out there saying that our Talisman Sect doesn’t deserve the seat among the Ten Earth Sects, saying that we from Shu Mountain are only after profit, cultivating relationships to advance, lacking integrity, ignoring the big picture, shameless, and manipulating behind the scenes."

"It sounds like there’s some truth to it," Lin Bei couldn’t help but nod his head.

Thump.

Chu Liang slammed his hand on the table, gritting his teeth. "I definitely did not manipulate behind the scenes."

"You can deceive others, but don’t deceive your brothers," Lin Bei said. "Everyone else fights over a single vote to the point of breaking their heads, so why did they all vote for the Talisman Sect?"

"Then you go ask them," Chu Liang said with an aggrieved expression.

It was Shang Ziliang who seriously brought the conversation back to topic, saying, "But it’s impossible to train a group of disciples with both good character and cultivation in a short time. It would take at least a decade or so, an entire generation, for them to mature."

"No need," Chu Liang shook his head. "I have an idea, is ’Male Cultivators and Female Cultivators Charge Ahead’ still running?"

"It is," Shang Ziliang said. "It has become a fixed program of Red Cotton Peak, and every day there is a considerable number of spectators around, even more than those who go shopping. The news of wanting to stop it has even led to a lot of backlash."

In the past, to boost the short-term talisman consumption within the Immortal Cultivation World, Chu Liang created this obstacle course program. Reaching a certain stage, contestants could win prizes. If they failed, they would be knocked down into the Cloud Sea below.

This obstacle game was hugely popular, with hundreds of cultivators from all over rushing to compete each day. In addition to this, there were large crowds of people willing to be onlookers, seemingly finding joy in watching others exert themselves and make blunders.

The original intention of ’Male Cultivators and Female Cultivators Charge Ahead’ was to allow the Talisman Sect to smoothly dominate the market. Now, it had fulfilled its mission. The Talisman Sect products have been recognized by the market, and no further promotion is necessary.

And with Huan Leisheng’s words at the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands conference becoming reality, the Talisman Sect also had a perfect excuse to cut prices, subtly implementing a ’dimension reduction attack’ from industrial-scale talisman production against handcrafted talismans.

The mission of ’Male Cultivators and Female Cultivators Charge Ahead’ was completed, and it was no longer necessary for Red Cotton Peak to burn money to run it, so Chu Liang wanted to stop it. To his surprise, as soon as the news of its cancellation spread, a large group of the public protested.

The current functionality of Red Cotton Peak was indeed lacking compared to the original Taotie City. Although the trading aspect had already surpassed it, there was a big gap in the leisure and entertainment part. After all, Taotie City had everything from gambling to drugs, things that Chu Liang couldn’t possibly do on Shu Mountain—otherwise Lin Bei’s dream would come true.

However, programs like ’Male Cultivators and Female Cultivators Charge Ahead’ perfectly filled the demand for entertainment. People coming to Red Cotton Peak for business could, after completing their transactions, stroll over to see the fun, directly increasing customer retention significantly. Some even flew to Shu Mountain specifically for the excitement, and incidentally to eat, drink, and shop.

This program had become an important part of the entertainment for the vast majority of cultivators during their leisure time.

This had even exceeded Chu Liang’s original expectations.

But this was also a good thing.

Chu Liang said, "Spread the word, ’Male Cultivators and Female Cultivators Charge Ahead’ will not be canceled, but there will be another program to take over. This program will also be widely participatory."

"What is it?" everyone asked.

"It is the Talisman Sect’s disciple recruitment program," Chu Liang spoke confidently. "In order to promote the tradition of the Talisman Heavenly Master, we will openly recruit young cultivators under the age of twenty with cultivation in the second realm or above, who have enough passion for talismans. Over three months, we will evaluate them from various aspects such as character, talent, intelligence, etc., to select the most outstanding few to become the first batch of disciples of the new Ten Earth Sects Talisman Sect Leader, Mr. Huan."

"The entire selection process will be conducted openly on Red Cotton Peak. The audience can choose their favorite Talisman Master and vote for them with the small gifts they receive from spending money on Red Cotton Peak. Their votes will account for a significant proportion in the final results."

"Hmm..." Lin Bei pondered. "Sounds a bit like the selections in Nanyin Square, doesn’t it?"

"It is the same kind of talent show, except that here anyone with dreams of talismans can sign up. As long as you are passionate enough, even grassroot talents have a chance to rise," Chu Liang said. "Moreover, we value authenticity. You can’t see what’s happening behind the scenes in Nanyin Square, but here we let everyone see the true nature of the Talisman Masters."

"This method might give the audience a greater sense of involvement?" Henchman A immediately said.

"Indeed," Chu Liang nodded with a smile. "It will bring the joy of nurturing a Talisman Master."

"Then I must cultivate a beautiful and gentle female Talisman Master." Lin Bei also smiled and said, "Why not select only female Talisman Masters to participate? We can call the show ’Super Female Talisman Maker’."

"There aren’t as many female Talisman Masters as there are male ones, and ’Happy Man Talisman’ might be a better idea..." Shang Ziliang countered, "Do we really need to limit it by gender?"

"Indeed, there’s no need for that." Henchman A agreed, "Since everyone isn’t officially a Talisman Master yet, I think we could name it ’Talisman Master Apprentices’."

"I’ve already thought of the name," Chu Liang said, "with the aim of selecting the most outstanding Talisman Master seeds from the Four Seas and Nine States and promoting this tradition that has never been mainstream, we’ll call it ’Nine States Have Talisman Masters’."

"I like that!" Lin Bei was the first to agree, "It sounds very explosive."

"Then it’s settled. Does anyone have any other questions?" Chu Liang finally asked.

As everyone shook their heads, Huan Leisheng suddenly raised his hand and said, "I have a question."

"Please speak, Mr. Huan."

"Are apprentices really reliable when they’re voted in by everyone?" Huan Leisheng hesitated, considering that other people only watched for the excitement, and ultimately these individuals would enter his Talisman Sect as his disciples.

"Hmm..." This question stumped everyone.

Whether the people from Nine States Have Talisman Masters are reliable or not, who knows?

In the end, Lin Bei put it bluntly, "Who cares, you’re not relying on them to make talismans anyway."

Right.

Huan Leisheng suddenly understood.

The Talisman Sect wasn’t like those traditional Talisman Sects that make their own talismans; they relied solely on the Talisman Heavenly Plate. Whether the disciples were reliable or not didn’t matter; what Master Chu wanted was only the process of selecting the disciples.

With this realization, he looked at Chu Liang with renewed devotion.

Master Chu must have his reasons for doing this.

...

At the Holy Mountain Cliffs in the North Region.

Chu Yi stood with his hands behind his back and sighed deeply, "I was indeed too naive. How could I possibly outwit Senior Brother? So cunning, I can’t even understand how he won."

Li Jiantong, who was behind him, blinked and said slowly, "Is it possible... that it was just a coincidence?"

"Naive." Chu Yi, with his childlike face, chided in an old-fashioned tone, "If you attribute Senior Brother’s success to coincidence, what is it when it happens once, twice, and then a third time?"

"It’s..." Li Jiantong hesitated, then answered, "Good luck?"

"..." Chu Yi looked at his subordinate, who seemed increasingly foolish, and shook his head, "When someone always succeeds in ways you can’t understand, you should consider whether they are standing at a height you cannot see. If I can predict three steps ahead, Senior Brother is the type to think four or five steps ahead. Even I cannot comprehend his strength, so I can’t blame you."

"It is I who am dense," Li Jiantong acknowledged, not fully grasping the concept but nodding repeatedly.

"You see, if he’s so discreetly maneuvering to seize control of the Ten Earth Sects through the Talisman Sect, he must have a grand scheme. A master doesn’t make idle moves; with the world changing rapidly today, this may be a key part of his scheme in the Nine States," said Chu Yi, gazing into the distance, "Is there any big move from the Talisman Sect lately?"

"Actually, yes," Li Jiantong answered.

"Oh?" Chu Yi asked again, "What are they doing?"

"Well..." Li Jiantong said, "They’re organizing a talent show."