Extra's Strategy: Cultivate Protagonists, Become Invincible-Chapter 218: The Most Special Disciple Of Salted Fish Mountain

Alongside Xuan Zi's warning followed a hand gesture far too quick to track with normal vision. Had Kong Ye not been a fairly powerful and experienced cultivator himself, he wouldn't have recognized the powerful sealing technique cast by the Sect Master.

This technique wasn't something any powerful cultivator could cast. In fact, the number of people on this planet qualified to cast this technique might not reach two digits.

It was a technique meant to isolate every kind of information from the rest of the world. Once successfully employed, even a Celestial might not be able to retrace what transpired within the affected zone, not unless their domain of power involved one of the primordial layers of the world, like the Totality of Cosmic Records.

"I have to hand it to you, Little Ye, you exceeded my expectations. Excellent observations, excellent indeed."

There was a grudging tone of respect in Xuan Zi's voice.

"I don't know how, or what you found out about Zi Wei and the remaining girl, but I doubt you'll progress further with them. Give up on the idea of recruiting them to be your disciples. I'm being very respectful here; you're not qualified for that job."

Kong Ye thought back to the terrifying stats he had unlocked on the profiles of Zi Wei and that other female disciple of Salted Fish Mountain Peak. Let alone him, even his mysterious 'system' wasn't qualified to deal with them, truth be told. He was just trying his luck...

"As for the rest, I've settled it with Elder Daheng. He has given you permission to have a private chat with each of his disciples, where you can offer them any incentives you can manage.

If they're convinced, Elder Daheng will not intervene when they choose to take you as their proper Master."

Kong Ye's eyebrows shot up as he fell deep in thought. Sect Master Zi seemed unusually cautious on the topic of those two young ladies. The secret involved here cannot be small!

But there was an even bigger problem here, a trap in the arrangement Xuan Zi had made for him.

"Master Zi, you're asking too much from me. You clearly know that these disciples have terrifying appetites.

What they need right now... I can see it. And if I am to lure them over with extra incentives in this arrangement as an active party, I'm going to have to tackle those exact needs of theirs. I'll have to overstep the boundaries I was limited to before being exiled."

Xuan Zi's face betrayed no emotion except a thin smirk. Kong Ye understood the signs.

"Something tells me this is an outcome you were hoping to arrange since you took notice of those disciples, sect master."

"I'd be lying if I denied that," Xuan Zi muttered with a shrug, the shadow of a smile on his face getting more prominent.

"Think about it, really, Little Ye. When your family made the decision to exile you here, they were abandoning you for good. What use could there be in obeying the rules they set for you?"

There was nothing more Kong Ye could say to the old man's stubborn stance.

Right when Kong Ye was about to take his leave, Xuan Zi suddenly stood up and hurried outside. Following him and his upturned gaze, Kong Ye noticed a burst of fiery red color far above, a mere speck in the sky.

A tiny, bright ball of fire was hurtling toward them as fast as a lightning bolt.

He recognized what it was. The sea of stars was filled with all kinds of travelling objects. Using some of them to send secret messages was a fairly common, albeit difficult to master method.

As the fireball got closer, the rapidly spinning body of a meteor became visible. It slammed into the mountain peak in a flash, less than ten yards away from where they stood, but Xuan Zi silenced the noise of the crash.

"A message from your family? I'm impressed! Who'd have the guts to secretly seek you out, knowing the risks?" He asked Xuan Zi with a raised brow.

Xuan Zi didn't answer. With a gesture from his hands, a well-disguised jade slip flew out from the debris. Without knowing what to look for, one would never detect it there.

A few seconds after falling into his hands, the slip caught on fire, burning down to nothing in the blink of an eye, its ashes flying away with the wind.

"What does it say? I don't think anyone would contact us exiles here unless something big happened. Should I know?"

Xuan Zi casually waved his concern off.

"Don't worry about it. I asked old man Ming to investigate a bottled solution of an ancestry detector when he was leaving the planet. Turns out there was no ancestral trace in it. I must have given him the wrong bottle, tch~"

Kong Ye scratched his head in confusion but thought nothing of it. There was another matter he had forgotten to mention to Xuan Zi.

His sixth and final pick for apprenticeship was the most ordinary disciple in the group. But that boy was probably no less important in Xuan Zi's eyes than the other five.

Hell, in a way, he was also the most important piece of the play in Kong Ye's eyes.

"By the way, Sect Master, I want to have one of those private 'chats' with that boy named Han Xuhan as well. Will that be a problem?" He said.

Xuan Zi's face looked rather rigid as he answered, "Han Xuhan? I say, aren't you getting a bit greedy, Little Ye?

You've already gotten the permission to snatch up three good disciples before the rest of the Elders. You still want more?

Moreover, why did you even pick him? His potential as a cultivator is so terrible that we didn't even pick him as a legitimate disciple during the entrance ceremony. He got in using a loophole."

Kong Ye was not pleased to hear the old man's critical tone.

"That he wasn't chosen as a disciple says volumes about the idiots you gave the positions of Sect Elders. Those Elders couldn't notice a gem even if it struck them square on their stupid faces. Hasn't that child already proven himself by establishing his status in the outer court?"

"That has nothing to do with his qualifications as a cultivator. Wit and fortune aren't enough to tread this road. Talent and aptitudes can never be overlooked if you're hoping to nurture a true disciple!" 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"...Well, I never said that his wits and fortune made me pick him as my apprentice," Kong Ye said, his voice coming off weaker than he wanted it to be.

"Oh? Don't tell me... Did you notice something weird about him as well, Little Ye? Something as abnormal as the other three of your picks? Something other than his reincarnation?" Xuan Zi asked, looking deeply concerned.

"The boy has a very good relationship with the rest of his 'special' peers." Kong Ye began his analysis gingerly.

"I'm pretty sure he got Mu Ran to spill the secrets of how he managed to cultivate a foundation tower so stable and powerful. The quality and aura of their foundation towers feel rather similar.

Besides, you must have noticed how talented the boy is when it comes to making money. He literally rose from the ranks of poor mortal disciples to become the biggest spendthrift in his generation.

Every master would want a disciple like him in the mix, someone who can handle worldly affairs so smoothly, regardless of his aptitude for cultivation. Without money and connections, how can the young ones maintain a stable cultivation speed?

And finally, I have always been up for a challenge. You know that well enough, don't you? So, even if he isn't meant to be a special seedling, what's stopping me from trying to make him one?"

Xuan Zi began to chuckle.

"Ah, the young are truly ambitious. Look at you, little Ye. I don't know if you'll ever regret having such ambitions and spirit in the future.

But I'm looking forward to seeing what you achieve! It'll be fun to see how your family reacts if we ever manage to make a grand return!"

"A grand return? I'd say you're the one with the greater ambition, between the two of us, Master Zi!" Kong Ye laughed in disbelief and shook his head.

"Then this matter is settled, sect master. I'll come to visit you once I'm done with their recruitment."

Xuan Zi raised an eyebrow at his wording.

"Oh? Once you're done with their recruitment? How are you so certain that they'll accept your offers? What kind of incentives are you prepared to hand out?"

Kong Ye smiled mysteriously, offering no answers in return. He loved to do this with older, pretentious cultivators like the Sect Master.

Don't you love to talk in circles and give vague answers? How does it feel being at the receiving end of it, asshat?

Judging by the pissed look on Xuan Zi's face, he definitely wasn't feeling anything positive. Kong Ye hoped that it would straighten the man's eccentric attitude the next time they talked.