Chapter 41: The Cut-off Point Between the Old and the Present
After introducing the topic, Feng Chutang began, “To discuss the Sect Unified Examination, we must first understand its origins—namely how and why it came into being. We all know that there exists countless cultivation paths, but just as techniques may vary in level, there are superior and inferior cultivation paths as well. Some cultivation paths are major roads that will take you all the way to the top, while some will gain you a bit of brute strength at best. But no matter what kind of cultivation path one follows, so long as the method isn’t impossible to cultivate, someone could use it to found a sect or a faction back in the day. That was why there used to be countless sects in the world.
“Anything that exists in large will inevitably be a mix of the good and the bad. Sects are no exception. First, only a sect with a confirmed path to immortality can call themselves an immortal sect. All immortal sects are towering existences, so they never have to worry about having a shortage of disciples. In fact, it is the opposite that worries them. There will always be more people who wish to enter an immortal sect than there is room. Thus, the immortal sects had made up all kinds of requirements and obstacles to keep the headcount low since ancient times. And if there exists a candidate who managed to overcome all of their ludicrous tests, but they didn’t want them for whatever reason, then they may simply say, ‘You are not destined with our sect,’ to the candidate and dismiss them.”
Laughter immediately broke out in the Enlightenment Hall except for a handful of people including Wei Yuan. If he was born in that era, it was entirely possible that a humble commoner like him would fall under the “You are not destined with our sect” category.
“But for everyone else who isn’t an immortal sect, any cultivation talent is a potential source of resurgence. Small sects in particular may undergo a complete transformation and rise from the ashes. Thus, in the eternal scramble for cultivation talents, the sects began using underhanded tactics to achieve their goals. Generally speaking, the lousier the lineage of a sect, the more desperate and ruthless their methods became…”
Feng Chutang began narrating these underhanded tactics to the students, and the students found themselves becoming aware of a world they never knew about.
At the beginning, things were fairly harmless. A small sect might promise some rice, flour, grain, and oil to an excellent disciple with a poor background. Later, the promises escalated to money and fields. When everyone was promising the same thing, the reward escalated further to the entire family, meaning that if the talent decided to join their sect, then their entire family would be rewarded as well. For example, they might bring the disciple’s family and relatives into the sect as well.
Some sects even took a different approach and promised wives and concubines to those who chose to join their ranks. Of course, female disciples were promised husbands and male concubines.
When the situation escalated to the point where material rewards were no longer sufficient, some sects decided to drop all pretenses and declare an entire land and mountain to themselves. They would proclaim that all the cultivation talent in City A or Land B belonged to them and forbade anyone from laying their hands on them or even looking in their general direction.
Later still, a small sect happened to obtain a disciple who was blessed with fortune, but they realized that they lacked the means to give him a proper education. Then, they got the bright idea of selling the disciple to a bigger sect. Thus, a whole new field of competition was born.