Tianyuan Sect, Seven Stars Peak, courtyard at the peak.

"When will this ever end? The disciples of Seven Stars Peak have all run away, and I cannot cultivate. In this year's Sect Competition, my Seven Stars Peak doesn't even have a single disciple to send into the arena."

Qin Xiao spoke to himself with a helpless expression.

As a transmigrator, Qin Xiao had already been in this world for three years. He had happened to be accepted as a personal disciple by the Seventh Elder of the Tianyuan Sect, but not long after taking him in, this cheap master had fallen in battle defending the sect from a Demon Beast Riot.

Qin Xiao was the Seventh Elder's only personal disciple, so he had inherited Seven Stars Peak by default. However, because he could not cultivate, all the other disciples had been poached by the other peaks. Now, the entire Seven Stars Peak was left with only him-a commander without troops, and an uncultivated one at that.

"Junior Uncle Qin sure is leisurely. Today is the day of the Sect Disciple Recruitment, and the Sect Leader sent me to relay a message asking Junior Uncle to attend."

An outer disciple walked straight into the courtyard without even knocking, speaking to Qin Xiao in an indifferent tone.

Because Qin Xiao could not cultivate and yet occupied Seven Stars Peak alone, many people within the sect looked down upon him. If not for the fact that the Seventh Elder had left behind only one personal disciple who had given his life for the sect, the higher-ups would have driven Qin Xiao away long ago out of sheer decency.

As a result, even an outer disciple no longer showed him any basic respect. Ordinarily, such an errand would have been handled by an inner disciple, but today only an outer disciple had been sent.

"Is it today? I almost forgot. You head back first; I will be right there."

Qin Xiao felt a fresh wave of anxiety. The three-year agreement had arrived, and there wouldn't even be any need to wait for the Sect Competition-he would likely fail to keep Seven Stars Peak.

Ever since the disciples of Seven Stars Peak had been poached, many people had petitioned to dissolve the peak since it had only a single member. Finally, Sect Leader Lin Tiancheng, hard-pressed by circumstances, had issued an ultimatum: as long as Seven Stars Peak could continue recruiting disciples, it would be retained. If no one joined, the peak would be abolished, and Qin Xiao would be reassigned to another peak.

The time limit was exactly three years, and today was the recruitment day of that very third year. If no disciple was willing to enter Seven Stars Peak, he would lose even his title as a commander without troops.

Humph, still putting on the airs of a Junior Uncle? Once Seven Stars Peak is dissolved, let's see how you keep up that pretense. You're nothing more than trash who can't cultivate.

The outer disciple felt even more disgusted when he saw Qin Xiao's perfunctory reply, muttering discontentedly to himself.

In truth, Qin Xiao wasn't trying to put on airs; he was currently stressed to the point of being utterly overwhelmed. How could he possibly care about the feelings of a mere messenger?

"Three years have passed. Congratulations, Host, for activating the Infinite Resource System."

Just as Qin Xiao was wondering what to do, a voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

"What is this? The Infinite Resource System?"

As a transmigrator, Qin Xiao naturally understood what this meant and hurriedly opened his mind to check.

"The Infinite Resource System has currently unlocked Low Grade Spirit Stones. One Low Grade Spirit Stone will be added every second."

"Each time the Host recruits a Heavenly Spirit Root disciple, a new item will be unlocked. For every item unlocked, an additional Spirit Stone will be added per second."

"The Infinite System Space has been unlocked, containing an infinite number of slots. Each slot can stack up to nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine items."

Looking at the system introduction, Qin Xiao was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes.

"Three years! Do you know how I've survived these past three years? Why did you have to show up only now?"

Though Qin Xiao had some lingering grievances, overwhelming excitement quickly took over.

During the past three years, Qin Xiao had participated in every disciple recruitment drive as the peak master of Seven Stars Peak, but not a single person had been willing to join. The main reason was poverty-Seven Stars Peak simply lacked the resources to offer competitive conditions. While other peaks offered generous supplies of spirit stones and treasures, he had nothing to give.

Everything belonging to Seven Stars Peak had been stored in his late master's spatial ring. But when his master died in battle, no corpse or bones remained, and the ring had vanished without a trace. Consequently, Seven Stars Peak was nothing more than an empty shell; apart from a relatively dense concentration of spiritual Qi, it had no advantages whatsoever.

"It's fine now. I finally have spirit stones! During this recruitment drive, my Seven Stars Peak will definitely secure disciples. If we can get a Heavenly Spirit Root disciple, even better. If not, an Earthly Spirit Root will do just fine to fill the ranks first."

Qin Xiao felt a wave of euphoria wash over him. As he watched the number of spirit stones in the Infinite System Space steadily tick upward, he wanted to burst out laughing. He managed to restrain himself just in time, reminding himself to stay low-key-one had to maintain a low profile.

"One per second means eighty-six thousand four hundred spirit stones a day. With spirit stones, why worry about lacking disciples? Heaven really is helping me! I knew I couldn't have transmigrated for nothing."

Watching the spirit stones accumulate with every passing second, Qin Xiao's mood improved drastically.

He turned back to his room to change into formal attire-specifically, the ceremonial robes of a Seven Stars Peak Master. Since the Sect Disciple Recruitment was an official ceremony, showing up too casually would only invite criticism from those old fogies.

At that moment, the main sect square of the Tianyuan Sect was packed with people eager to participate in the trials.

As the preeminent major sect within a radius of a thousand miles, the Tianyuan Sect attracted countless aspirants every year. However, ninety-nine percent of them were filtered out during the preliminary trials, as the minimum requirement to join the Tianyuan Sect as an inner disciple was a Profound Spirit Root.

Those with Yellow Spirit Roots generally entered the outer court directly. Everyone gathered in the square possessed at least a Profound Spirit Root and was qualified to be accepted straight into the inner ranks.

Spirit roots were divided into five grades: mixed spirit roots, Yellow Spirit roots, Profound Spirit roots, Earthly Spirit roots, and Heavenly Spirit roots. As for anything higher, it remained unknown, for even the highest aptitude ever recorded across generations of Tianyuan Sect recruits was the Heavenly Spirit Root.

Qin Xiao knew well that a Heavenly Spirit Root was a rarity that could only be encountered by chance, not sought. If he could manage to secure one or two Earthly Spirit Roots this time, it would already be a decent harvest.

Everyone present in the square had already cleared the previous rounds of screening, starting from the baseline of a Profound Spirit Root. In past years, nearly all recruits fell into this category, with an occasional Earthly Spirit Root snapped up eagerly by the various peak masters. Yet even these Profound Spirit Root disciples had consistently refused to join Seven Stars Peak.

Qin Xiao had previously attempted to recruit disciples with Yellow Spirit Roots-after all, Seven Stars Peak was surely superior to the outer court-but those efforts had been blocked by the other peak masters on the grounds that the Tianyuan Sect's main peaks had never set a precedent for recruiting Yellow Spirit Roots. In the end, Qin Xiao had no choice but to drop the idea.

"All of you standing in the Tianyuan Sect square have cleared the successive rounds of screening and are the elite among elites. Now, you need only undergo a final secondary spirit root test before you may choose which peak to join."

Once Qin Xiao arrived, virtually all the peak masters had already assembled. The Tenth Elder, who oversaw the recruitment process, promptly commenced the proceedings.

The Tianyuan Sect currently comprised eight peaks and three halls: the Immortal Sword Peak under the First Elder, the Immortal Cloud Peak under the Second Elder, the Immortal Artifact Peak under the Third Elder, the Immortal Medicine Peak under the Fourth Elder, the Immortal Beast Peak under the Fifth Elder, the Immortal Spring Peak under the Sixth Elder, and Qin Xiao's Seven Stars Peak. The central peak was the Tianyuan Peak of the sect leadership, accompanied by the Rewards and Punishments Hall overseen by the Eighth Elder, the Immortal Treasure Hall overseen by the Ninth Elder, and the Immortal Records Hall overseen by the Tenth Elder.

While every other peak bore the prefix 'Immortal', only his was designated as Seven Stars Peak. Qin Xiao had once raised a question about this naming convention, but Sect Leader Lin Tiancheng had simply told him not to sweat the details, pointing out that the main peak was called Tianyuan Peak rather than Immortal Yuan Peak.

Upon hearing that reply, Qin Xiao had been left completely speechless, realizing the Sect Leader's logic was technically sound.

Starting from the Eighth Elder onward, the elders did not manage independent peaks and instead assisted the Sect Leader with administrative affairs at the main peak. Consequently, not only did the six primary peak masters eye Seven Stars Peak with covetous hostility, but the other elders shared the exact same sentiment.

"Hold on. Before we begin recruiting disciples, we ought to make a few things clear."

Just as the Tenth Elder finished speaking and before the formal procedure could commence, he was interrupted by the Third Elder, Kang Zhengye.

"What does the Third Elder wish to say?"

As the Tenth Elder, Lu Wenrui naturally knew what Kang Zhengye was driving at, but he asked anyway.

"Seven Stars Peak has failed to recruit a single disciple for two years, and aside from Qin Xiao, there is not one person left on the entire peak. This state of affairs cannot continue. Furthermore, the three-year deadline given by the Sect Leader has already arrived. If Seven Stars Peak fails to take in any disciples this time, I propose stripping Qin Xiao of his position as Peak Master and reallocating Seven Stars Peak."

Kang Zhengye did not bother beating around the bush, stating his intentions bluntly.

"And once Seven Stars Peak is reallocated, to whom shall it belong?"

Lu Wenrui naturally had his own eyes on Seven Stars Peak and had no intention of letting Kang Zhengye claim it so easily.

"When the time comes, we can simply put it up for auction to the highest bidder. The proceeds from the auction will be turned over to the sect-it kills two birds with one stone."

Kang Zhengye was no fool; knowing he could not swallow the peak entirely on his own, he suggested an auction instead. Although his Immortal Artifact Peak was not as wealthy as the Immortal Medicine Peak, it still possessed considerable financial backing.

"Hey, hold on a minute, esteemed elders, uncles, and peers. I am still standing right here! Discussing how to carve up my Seven Stars Peak right in front of me-isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

Qin Xiao knew these elders held him in contempt, but they usually at least maintained a polite facade. Today, they couldn't even be bothered to keep up appearances, clearly convinced they had him cornered.

"Enough. We will table this matter for now. The disciple recruitment has not yet begun; everything else can be discussed after it concludes."

Sect Leader Lin Tiancheng finally intervened. Having shared a strong bond with the late Seventh Elder, he was reluctant to let the elder's only personal disciple suffer public humiliation, and thus cut the dispute short.

With that, the proceedings formally moved into the secondary spirit root testing phase of the Tianyuan Sect recruitment.