Chapter 1693 - 1687: Recruitment
At this moment, Chen Yang finally understood the intention behind Ma Jiantao seeking him out.
It turns out that after seeing yesterday’s image, he realized that Chen Yang is a cultivator and thus came to extend an olive branch.
"Are you saying you want to recruit me?" Chen Yang asked directly.
Ma Jiantao nodded with a broader smile, "That’s right, that’s exactly what I mean! Having reached this stage of growth, you should be very aware! Cultivators of our era, without backing or banding together, find it very difficult to persist long-term."
"If you join us, our secret agency won’t treat you unfairly. We might even focus on cultivating you according to your talents! We certainly won’t be stingy with corresponding cultivation resources!"
Ma Jiantao spoke very directly, and seeing that Chen Yang caught onto this, he immediately presented enticing conditions.
The cultivation resources he mentioned probably referred to items like Spirit Stones.
"The conditions are tempting, but I know too little about your agency.
I don’t even know what you do, so how can you expect me to join?" Chen Yang continued.
Seeing Chen Yang’s interest in their agency, Ma Jiantao was immediately keen.
"These aren’t issues. If you’re considering joining our agency, I can absolutely brief you on our situation and operational philosophy."
...
Ma Jiantao explained the significance of their secret agency to Chen Yang in detail.
It took over twenty minutes for him to roughly finish explaining.
It turns out their secret agency has been established for a long time.
Their duty is to maintain social stability, dealing with some unruly cultivators or violent spirit beasts.
In simpler terms, you could say it’s like the police station of the cultivation world, maintaining social harmony and stability.
Additionally, they have their paths of development. For instance, if there are mysterious areas that have yet to be explored, their secret agency forms professional teams to explore them.
Anyway, whatever seems odd to ordinary people, the secret agency can handle uniformly.
"Our agency has its own baseline of conduct. I’ve looked into you and know you’re a good person; joining us absolutely aligns with your style of conduct," Ma Jiantao said with a smile.
In Ma Jiantao’s view, Chen Yang had shown interest in their agency. Moreover, being a Loose Cultivator without any institutional affiliation, joining their agency was practically certain.
After all, the saying "enjoying the shade under a big tree" is known to everyone, not to mention being a cultivator one in ten thousand.
But in this matter, he miscalculated.
Chen Yang was indeed curious about the secret agency, but the conditions offered by Ma Jiantao didn’t attract him much.
Previously, he might have needed those so-called cultivation resources.
But now, with the coal mine in Fuling Village about to be secured, he wasn’t short of those so-called cultivation resources at all.
He didn’t need the most important conditions of the secret agency, so joining or not joining held no significance for Chen Yang.
"I see, so your agency, in simple terms, is the police station of the cultivation world, right? Always quietly maintaining social harmony and development," Chen Yang responded.
Ma Jiantao kept nodding with a smile, "That’s right, you could say so. Without agencies like ours, today’s society wouldn’t be as stable as it appears! Cultivators would run amok without restraint, and the consequences would be unimaginable."
Saying this, Ma Jiantao’s face was filled with a strong sense of pride.
And he certainly had reasons to be proud.
To maintain such a vast society’s stability is indeed quite impressive.
"Yes, yes, that’s true." Chen Yang nodded, agreeing with Ma Jiantao’s words.
"So, Chen Yang, after hearing all this, are you interested in joining us? Our agency is actually quite leisurely; generally, there aren’t many missions assigned. But even if there are, it would likely be a good opportunity for you to temper yourself."
Ma Jiantao extended another invitation to Chen Yang.
This time, Chen Yang didn’t beat around the bush. After contemplating for a while, he chose to answer directly.
"I’m sorry, Deputy Director Ma, your secret agency is indeed quite impressive, but for now, I have no intention of joining any agency, so I can’t join you." Chen Yang politely declined Ma Jiantao.
This did indeed surprise Ma Jiantao.
However, he didn’t press to retain Chen Yang further, merely said casually, "You still don’t understand our agency fully. It’s understandable if you don’t want to join right away. But as your cultivation grows, you’ll definitely start considering our agency."
"As for what happens in the future, I’m not sure, but for now, I have no such intention," Chen Yang responded with a smile.
Hearing this, Ma Jiantao also smiled, "Alright then, since you’re really not interested, I won’t say much more. I have high hopes for you. How about this, keep my business card, and if you ever change your mind, feel free to contact me anytime, how about that?"
"Sure, okay."
Ma Jiantao’s attitude towards Chen Yang was very courteous and sincere.
Hence, Chen Yang had a very good impression of him and was more than willing to accept the business card he handed over.
"Anything else we need to address?"
Having chatted enough, Chen Yang had no intention of staying longer and wanted to leave.
"Nothing else. If you have other matters to attend to, please go ahead. Remember what I said; you can contact me anytime once you have thought it through."
Acknowledging Chen Yang’s unspoken message of wanting to leave, Ma Jiantao stood up and spoke politely.
Chen Yang also stood up with a smile.
"I will."
With that, he turned around and left.
Just as he reached the door and was about to leave, Ma Jiantao suddenly called out to him from behind.
"Wait a minute."
"What’s the matter? Is there something else?"
Hearing the voice, Chen Yang immediately turned his head and looked at Ma Jiantao.
Ma Jiantao walked out from behind the desk with a smile and approached Chen Yang, "It’s nothing major. It just occurred to me that we have an operation coming up in our bureau that you might be interested in, so I wanted to mention it."
"Operation? What kind of operation?"
Chen Yang watched Ma Jiantao curiously.
"Actually, the headquarters of our Lingnan secret agency is in the provincial capital, and the reason I’m here is because I brought a team here to carry out a mission while also training them a little."
"You probably don’t see cultivators around your age often while cultivating alone, right? This is a great opportunity to join our mission and also get a real feel for our agency’s formidable collaborative capabilities!"
"How about it? Interested?"
Ma Jiantao asked with a smile.
After hearing what Ma Jiantao had to say, Chen Yang was quite surprised.
He wasn’t even a member of the Lingnan secret agency, yet Ma Jiantao told him all this and directly invited him to participate in an activity. Does this show a firm determination to recruit him?
"I really seldom encounter cultivators of the same age and similar Realm. If there’s such an opportunity, I’d love to see and experience the capabilities of your Lingnan secret agency."