Global Game: I Can Choose Instance Rewards

"Long Dao, I already told you, didn’t I? All four sabers are yours! You don’t need to return them to me!"

Wang Zhifan was speechless in front of her. He had already informed the lady that all four sabers were given to her, yet she seemed quite stubborn.

"Daoist, I’ve tested them outside already. These four sabers are definitely masterpieces, deserving of the name. It’s already my fortune to have two; I dare not ask for more. Please give these divine weapons to someone who needs them more!"

Mieyue Long Dao firmly returned the ice and wind spirit blades, signaling that she wasn’t dissatisfied with the weapons she didn’t choose, but rather felt that they were quite strong and leaving them in her hands to gather dust seemed like a waste of divine weapons.

"Alright, alright! I’ll take these two back for now. If you ever feel like switching weapons, come to me and take them back."

Seeing this, Wang Zhifan had no choice but to take back the blue and cyan exceptional spirit blades and warned Mieyue Long Dao.

"Hmm... I’ll go find a place to get familiar with these two sabers, and come back to challenge you in a few days."

Returning the weapons, Mieyue Long Dao quickly left, looking eager to use the Thunder and Fire Dual Sabers against the demons for practice, without engaging much further with Wang Zhifan.

Watching her disappear swiftly with unmatched grace, Wang Zhifan couldn’t help but fall into deep contemplation:

"Why does this woman always have the urge to challenge me? I gifted her weapons, yet she won’t let me off. Am I funding my opponent, just to invite a beating?"

Regarding Mieyue Long Dao’s prowess, Wang Zhifan currently isn’t entirely clear, but he has seen her Cyan Dragon True Spirit form and knows it’s no joke; he himself might not be able to handle it without using everything he’s got.

He wasn’t afraid of her challenge—it’s more about feeling it unnecessary. Clearly, their relationship is fine, yet it’s hard to say how intense a fight would get. A true clash would surely consume a lot, which wouldn’t be favorable for his upcoming battles with the demons.

"She seems to be a reasonable type, should not overdo it... Otherwise, I might have to employ some means to suppress her."

Thinking it over, Wang Zhifan quietly stored the twin sabers back into the Black Tower and headed to the bustling area on the other side of the hall, where Master Xuanzhen with his goatee was still busy.

He had already seen that the second batch of seekers inside the hall had reached a certain scale, and soon it’d be time for him to conduct a new batch of trials.

Unlike the previous batch, this group enjoys added advantages.

Because they have already gathered information about the trials from the previous youth, organizing a strategy from the collective trial experiences.

Currently, in a corner of the hall, the elders of those youths are whispering advice on how their children should handle the upcoming trial.

"Cong’Er, remember, once inside that place, you’ll encounter a low mountain. Don’t climb it directly, first find a secret passage at the base leading to the summit..."

"Do you remember the demons, the monstrosities we encountered outside the city? You’ll face one in the trial later; don’t panic, find the weapon behind it and eliminate it..."

"As far as I know, the Martial Venerable favors stable and calm disciples. So when encountering opponents in the trial, definitely don’t lose composure..."

...

Listening to the reactions of this second batch from a distance, Wang Zhifan couldn’t help but curl his lips.

"Haha... Do they really think I didn’t anticipate the sharing of information? They’re being overly naive! My trials are not identical or unchanging! While the qualities assessed are consistent, the format varies entirely! Just one trial template has seven or eight variations, and there are five basic types of templates. If they follow the script, they’ll surely fall into the trap!"

Indeed, this scenario was entirely within Wang Zhifan’s expectations. The trial that the second batch of seekers would undergo wouldn’t be the mountain-climbing and monster-fighting challenge the parents anticipated, but rather a completely different approach!

Many parents who sought to have their children copy answers might find themselves becoming part of the pitfall, but Wang Zhifan actually relishes such developments.

He doesn’t want his disciples to blindly trust everything their elders tell them; independent judgment and adaptability to change are essential for martial artists, and he will use trials to screen for these qualities.

Thus, for the rest of the day until evening, Wang Zhifan spent most of his time conducting the Black Tower trials, apart from cultivating Pure Yang True Skill.

With each trial, youths passed the initial filtering based on age and bone structure, keeping in mind the so-called guidance, and entered the Black Tower only to find the reality there wasn’t as their elders described, leading most to downfall amidst a vast mental gap, while very few created miracles.

This scenario became especially evident in the second round of trials, where out of a hundred youths, only one barely passed, earning Wang Zhifan’s tutelage.

This youth, according to Wang Zhifan’s observation, succeeded because his family was particularly thoughtful, predicting that the second trial might differ from the first, thus guiding him with a more holistic approach, sparing him from the confusion that befell others.

From the third round onwards, it improved significantly; by then, the parents had mostly figured out the trial’s approach, realizing the previous trials could only serve as reference points and loosened rigid guidance for their children, allowing for more normal performance. Wang Zhifan received three to five disciples each round.

Consequently, by the time the Martial Venerable Hall halted recruitment at dusk, Wang Zhifan had around fifty disciples.

These youths were mostly locals from Celestial Essence City. After passing Wang Zhifan’s trials, while it might be an exaggeration to call them martial arts geniuses, they were definitely children with talent for martial cultivation.

Given that birth, age, bone structure, and character traits meeting martial cultivation requirements were about one in a hundred, this was about as high as Wang Zhifan could demand right now; being too strict might leave him without even one disciple.

"In the coming days, I’ll recruit several more batches, likely stopping at around two hundred disciples."

Wang Zhifan decides to adopt a quantity strategy instead of the more traditionally favored elite cultivation approach.

This isn’t because he dislikes cultivating elites, but under current conditions, he finds it difficult to recruit true prodigies.

The most gifted children in this world have long been scooped up by the Daoist, Buddhist, and Confucian paths, and with those paths being more recognized by society, even left to choose, the prodigies would mostly head to them, leaving little chance for Wang Zhifan, the so-called Martial Venerable, to intervene.

Regarding the educational challenges posed by a quantity approach, he has a unique solution that spares him worry: the Black Tower!

The legendary Black Tower is arguably the most suitable tool for nurturing talent, with its highly customizable tower-climbing system, producible rewards, and detailed settings and illusions—all forming a training sanctuary a martial artist could only dream of.

Wang Zhifan plans for the Black Tower to take on most of his teaching duties, meaning that after concentrating on the basics, he will have his disciples regularly train within the Black Tower.

Initially, they’d focus on illusionary stages to avoid accidents, and once they gain some competence, real combat modes will be used, with detailed settings in place to ensure basic safety for the disciples.

Moreover, he’ll be especially attentive to appointing opponents for these disciples; all enemy models in training will be derived from this world, primarily featuring various demons, Demon Generals, and even the Demon Venerable, along with some human foes from the Daoist, Buddhist, and Confucian paths, ensuring the abilities honed in extensive training hold significant real-world relevance.