Han Xuhan`s face was blank as he watched the elder offer the stack of papers to him that he had just finished writing on .

　　"You`re giving me a cultivation manual ? Just like that ?" He asked elder Kong , feeling rather confused . Shouldn`t they first discuss what sort of techniques the elder had ? He could then choose one from them afterwards . That was the deal , right ?

　　"I`ve just noticed an...issue with your dao foundation , Xuhan ," elder Kong said in a low voice . Xuhan felt his heart clench . He did not like the expression on elder Kong`s face , not at all .Seeing him fall silent , elder Kong decided to press on .

　　"Correct me if I`m wrong , recently your dao tower has experienced some rather strange mutations , yes ?"

　　Dumbfounded , Xuhan nodded . How the fuck did that guy even know that ? HOW ?

　　Meanwhile elder Kong continued executing his uncanny skill of verbally bombarding his disciples with knowledge he wasn`t supposed to know .

　　"Secondly , your current cultivation technique , the one that summons skeleton minions , it`s a very sloppy one . I haven`t seen the entirety of its contents . But your I see through your dao heart , disciple . There is nothing remotely close to sophistication or ponderous about your cultivation technique . It doesn`t affect or guide your dao heart in any way !"

　　At this point , Xuhan`s jaw was long hanging low . For a moment , he considered asking if the elder knew what the colour of his underwear was . But then he realized that if the elder didn`t know that too by now , there was no reason to prompt him to do so . Sometimes , ignorance is bliss .

　　"Correct or not ?" Elder Kong said grimly . But before Xuhan could form a response , he started speaking again .

　　"Just kidding , I know it was correct . Anyways , what you need to do right now is to practice this technique I`m giving you earnestly alongside your current cultivation technique . Otherwise , you`ll die a horrible death when you attempt to break through to the soul reformation realm . Unless..."

　　"Unless ?" Xuhan caught onto that one word with all the remaining hope in his heart . Was there another way ? A shortcut for him ? Could it be ?

　　"Unless you end up becoming crippled halfway through the physique transformation realm , completely dashing your chances of ever even reaching the bottleneck to soul reformation realm which , if I might add , is a very , very plausible ending judging by the current state of your meridians . Seems like your extravagant methods of fast paced cultivation is further damaging them ."

　　". . .Man , fuck cultivation ."

　　After a long silence , that was the only response Xuhan could come up with . What was the point of cultivating anymore when he was just gonna end up crippled a few layers later ? The shock and despair enveloping his mind was hard to dispel . But he had been through similar experiences so many times in this world that at this point , he had automatically come to learn not to focus much on the negative thoughts trying to pull him down an abyssal rabbit hole of self pity .

　　"How much does this cost , elder ?" Xuhan asked in a depressed voice . All of his enthusiasm about becoming the elder`s apprentice was killed off . Elder Kong gave him a blank look and handed the stack of papers over on Xuhan`s outstretched hands .

　　"It`s free . Consider it a gift ."

　　Eyebrows raised , Xuhan sighed and put the stack aside . "Elder , do you have any way to counter the last problem ? You told me that you could teach me anything as long as I accept you as my master . Are you skilled in any such secret technique that can remedy damaged meridians ?"

　　Elder Kong`s lips tightened into a thin line upon hearing his question ."Yes . I cannot exactly guarantee that it`ll be the absolute solution to your numerous problems , but it`ll keep you from being crippled as long as you follow my instructions . And make no mistakes , no elder of this sect has the skills to remedy your problems . I swear that on my dignity as a teacher ."

　　Briefly , Xuhan considered whether he was being conned . He didn`t believe any of that bullshit swearing . But the issues elder Kong had pointed out were certainly plausible , yet the man looked rather desperate for disciples . Who could say for sure that he wasn`t lying when he said that Xuhan`s dao foundation wasn`t going to get him to the soul reformation realm ? He could have also lied about his damaged meridians becoming even more damaged too , right ?

　　But then he remembered a certain fact . He , Han Xuhan , was one of the trashiest disciples of his generation . Even if elder Kong was desperate for disciples , he wouldn`t need to stoop so low to lure him in as an apprentice . Xuhan didn`t have any treasure or cheat item on him that could attract powerful cultivators . The chances of elder Kong lying was unlikely .

　　"Then there`s not much to consider ." Calmly , Xuhan got up from the ground and clasped his hands together ."Master , this disciple greets you ."

　　........ .......... .........

　　Kong Ye`s eyes were focused on the system screen instead of Xuhan . Lines after lines of prompts from the system were flashing by on it .Stolen novel; please report.

　　[ Congratulations ! ]

　　[ First official disciple accepted ! ]

　　[ Registration Completed ]

　　[ Disciple Potential : B+ tier ]

　　[ Issuing Reward : One turn of the myriad wheel of scriptures - Increasing the chances of getting scriptures that focus on repairing meridians ]

　　A rough drawing of a wheel appeared on the screen and started spinning by itself . The lone pointer moved over blurred possibilities countless times before the wheel finally came to a stop suddenly before Kong Ye`s heartbeat could even speed up in anticipation .

　　The name of the scripture that the pointer had stopped over slowly became larger and larger while the rest of the wheel faded away .

　　[ Name : The Hand That Holds Treasure ]

　　[ Description : This is a top notch stealing technique that all thieves and rogues in the universe would trade their right hand away for . Cultivate this , and tread on the path of the Thief Monarch Shen Long , a founder of the Fingers Of The Universe . This allows you to steal even the most secure treasures ! ]

　　[ Scripture Level : A tier ]

　　[ Scripture Type : Demonic ]

　　[ System Remark : Welp , tough luck , host ! Even though this isn`t the thing you wanted for your new disciple , you can just give it to him . He`s a smart kid . He`ll figure out what to do with it anyway . Plus the technique you gave him earlier will keep him busy enough for a while . ]

　　Kong Ye`s excitement burst like a balloon . Suppressing his urge to curse out loud , he took an empty scroll out of his pocket and wrote down the entire scripture in front of a silent , devastated Xuhan .

　　"You know , this doesn`t exactly look like a technique that can repair my meridians ," Xuhan said after glancing at the content of the scroll .

　　"Er...are you sure about that , disciple ?" Kong Ye muttered , trying to sound mysterious and omniscient like those famed masters in myths . Judging by Xuhan`s dark , deadpan expression , it didn`t look like it was working though .

　　[ Does host want to open the second reward ? ]

　　Yes , dammit !

　　[ Opening Grandmaster Tier gift box ]

　　Three images appeared on the screen . All three of them were cards of various shapes with stylized decoration , facing away from him . With the system`s prompt , the cards turned around one by one .

　　[ First Card : Framework for a one-time searching talisman !It can find any object within fifty square miles ! ]

　　[ Second Card : Framwork for a short distance teleportation talisman ! It can teleport you away from unstoppable attacks ! Maximum distance is one hundred meters . ]

　　[ Third Card : A tier Cultivation Manual Augmentation ! Augment any A tier cultivation manual the way you want to . As long as your plans of augmentations aren`t absolutely illogical , Inspirations and analytical information shall flood your mind and create a beautiful masterpiece ! ]

　　[ System Remark : Host , you know what you gotta do now , don`t you ? ]

　　Kong Ye gulped audibly . Finally ! A ray of hope !

　　"Disciple , trust in your master . What I gave you is just the basic version . Try to study it for a few days and comprehend its intricacies . Once you`ve gotten a good grasp on the basics , I`ll teach you the specialized version that`ll solve a great number of issues that you`ll undoubtedly face soon . Moreover , this isn`t even what I`m going to teach you as a part of your apprenticeship . You simply need this the most right now . Once we`ve solved the issue , we`ll get to the main point of our deal and you`ll find yourself learning skills far beyond what the rest of the elders in this sect can teach you ."

　　Seeing Xuhan looking rather convinced , Kong Ye felt his heart finally calming down . His mysterious , omniscient , master persona was finally working !

　　Now , he just had to execute the main step he had recruited Xuhan for . After all , his system`s main mission was never going to be completed with just Xuhan alone...

　　"Now that we`ve become master and disciple , can I entrust you with a task , Xuhan ? Think of it as your first repayment to your master ."

　　Xuhan looked visibly relieved for some reason as he said that , something that befuddled Kong Ye .

　　"Of course , master. Just say it ! I`ll do my best !"

　　"You`re close friends with Mu Ran , Yuen Zhou and Xiao Wu , aren`t you ?" Kong Ye asked , fully knowing it to be true . From his observations during their regular classes , he had noted that while Mu Ran , Yuen Zhou and Xiao Wu were not on particularly good terms with each other , they all had a decent relationship with Han Xuhan . Nobody really liked Mu Ran due to his arrogant attitude , Yuen Zhou was a very reticent person who rarely spoke to anybody unless absolutely necessary and Xiao Wu was a good natured child who maintained a friendly relationship with most of his peers , just like Xuhan .

　　"Yes , master . I am ," Xuhan answered without any hesitation . But Kong Ye could see the dull glint of realization in his eyes . The boy had already guessed what his task was going to be , it seemed .

　　"If it`s possible , find out a bit more about their aims in life . What they want to be , what are their short term goals , whether there is any particular area of skills that they`re interested in , even which elder they want to acknowledge as their master . The more details , the better . Although you four are a part of the black sheep mountain peak , I find you lot to be rather full of potential just waiting to be unlocked . It`d be great if I can manage to recruit all four of you as my disciples . On behalf of your master , can you slip in some tips suggesting that I can teach them the skills that interest them ? You`ve already seen how easy it was for me to come up with what you need right now , didn`t you ?"

　　Master and disciple faced each other in a rather awkward staring contest once Kong Ye finished speaking . He knew his request was borderline crazy , almost coming off as pathetic . But his system`s deadline was fast approaching . There was nothing else he could do except hoping these cheap tricks would work . It was the main reason why he had put Xuhan so high up in his recruitment list . The boy was the only disciple `resourceful` enough to help him execute the stunt .

　　"If you don`t mind me asking , master...why are you so insistent on recruiting disciples ? As far as I`m aware , it isn`t exactly necessary for all elders to take in apprentices ."

　　Kong Ye felt a headache coming . It was a question he had expected to face , but hoped not to .

　　"Think of it as a bet , disciple . I promised a certain somebody that I`d guide the best cultivators in this entire world one day . Now , it`s become sort of a competition between her and me . And I`m running out of time very fast ."

　　It was a flimsy reason , but partially true , which was why Kong Ye could say it without feeling any guilt . His dao heart wasn`t compatible with treachery and lies , as they were the worst qualities a teacher could have .

　　Han Xuhan thankfully did not press further into the issue , seemingly having guessed that he wasn`t going to get a clear cut answer . Kong Ye found himself being thankful to the heavens again that he had found such a sharp disciple .

　　"As you wish , master ," Xuhan said with a tight lipped smile .

　　"Good disciple ." Kong Ye sighed and turned off the talisman inside his pocket .

　　[ Mind Mollification Talisman terminated . 2/5 uses left ]

　　[ Runtime : twenty minutes ]

　　[ Used Intensity : 42 % ( mild ) ]

　　[ Operation successful ]