Cultivating In Secret Beside A Demoness

The girl was around twelve or thirteen years of age. She had short hair and looked very disheveled.

She looked malnourished. It was not uncommon for children to appear in groups like these.

However, Jiang Hao saw more than most. The little girl’s spirit was strong. Her physical strength was also remarkable.

He could sense the spiritual energy between her breaths, but when she held the jade slip, nothing lit up at all.

!!

Jiang Hao knew that this wasn’t an ordinary child. He was saving his Daily Appraisal ability in case he came across someone exemplary. If not, he would have used it on the child.

Not a single person from this batch of ten had managed to light up the jade slip. They needed at least three disciples to be recruited. If they couldn’t find them here, they would have to search again.

“No talent?” said the little girl in disappointment as she handed the jade slip back.

Mia Xing was about to instruct the next ten people to come forward when Jiang Hao stopped him.

‘Wait!”

The others looked at him in confusion.

“What’s your name?” asked Jiang Hao. If the girl was talented, he would take her back and recruit her to the Cliff of Broken Hearts. If she really had no talent, then he could tell her to go back to where she had come from.

The little girl pointed at herself in surprise. “Me?”

Jiang Hao nodded.

“Li. My name is Li.”

“Alright. Stand at the side and wait for the next test,” said Jiang Hao calmly.

Zheng Shijiu and the others were puzzled. They couldn’t understand what Jiang Hao was trying to do.

Miao Xing was confused as well. However, he didn’t ask anything further.

Little Li stood at the side and waited.

“Does Little Li have some kind of hidden talent?” Xin Yuyue asked.

Yue You looked at the little girl. “She does have strong limbs and a great constitution. However, I can’t sense anything from her. If she has no talent, I guess she could always learn martial arts.”

Feng Baifei shook his head in disdain.

They all had limited spots and wanted to recruit very talented disciples for their respective branches.

The test continued.

From time to time, they found some people who could make three sections of the jade slip light up. However, no one till now had managed to light up four of the seven sections.

Jiang Hao and the others weren’t in a hurry. They wanted to do this process slowly to find talented disciples.

If four sections lit up, it meant a person had average talent. Five and above was decent.

However, nobody had ever managed to light up all the sections. That was uncommon. If something like that happened, they would have to inform their respective masters.

Extraordinary people like that were usually fished out from the masses and taken to the branches.

After testing a hundred people, a girl managed to light up all five sections. After her, other two people managed the same.

When they tested five hundred people, someone with a superior talent appeared. It was a sloppy little boy. Everyone remembered his name. Jiang Hao paid attention to everything.

The recruiters could choose three people for their own branch. Naturally, they remained on their guard.

The test went smoothly.

They had tested around two thousand people by now. Some were happy to have passed, and others were sad.

So far, they had found nine people who showed above-average talent. Zheng Shijiu reminded them that a recruiter couldn’t choose all three people with high potential. This was to give all the branches a fair chance.

At this moment, three people approached the table. Two boys and a girl. They were from the same village.

One of the boys looked strong, while the other seemed frail and weak. The girl also seemed strong.

Jiang Hao glanced at the frail boy out of the three people. He could sense that something was different about that boy. Something… hidden.

The other boy and the girl held the jade slips. All seven sections lit up for both of them.

Zheng Shijiu and the others were shocked. They got up from their seats.

Jiang Hao didn’t want to be the odd one out, so he stood up too.

The recruiters were ecstatic to find top-notch talents. Meanwhile, Jiang Hao couldn’t help but stare at the frail boy. Only three sections of the jade slip lit up for him. He barely made it.

Jiang Hao wanted to use the Daily Appraisal on him, but he held himself back. He wasn’t in a hurry, and he could always appraise them later.

Zheng Shijiu calmed himself. “You two, come here! Tell me your names.”

The boy and the girl walked over to him, while the frail-looking boy was left behind. He looked dejected.

Jiang Hao didn’t say anything. It couldn’t be helped. Besides, the frail boy would survive longer in the demonic sect if he kept a low profile and stayed out of the way. People usually tried to harass weak people like him if he sought out too much attention.

“I-I’m Zhao Qingxue,” said the girl.

“My name is Lin MO,” said the boy.

Zheng Shijiu turned to the others. “What do you all think?”

“I don’t think we can decide matters like these,” said Xin Yuyue.

“The Hundred Bones Forest will be willing to take one of them,” said Feng Baifei.

“Would you indeed?” said Ye You. “We can’t decide whether we want them or not among ourselves. They have top-notch talents. Junior Sister Xin is right. We need to take them back with us and have the elders decide. Or do you think the Hundred Bones Forest has the authority to choose for everyone? Do you think other branches have to sit tight and watch while you take them away?” “Who are you to decide who gets what anyway?” Feng Baifei said in disdain.

“What do you think, Junior Brother Jiang?” asked Zheng Shijiu.

“It’s up to you, Senior Brother Zheng,” said Jiang Hao politely.

No matter what they did, everyone knew that none of them had the authority to decide something like this. They could either inform their masters now or take the disciples along with them to solve the matter later in the sect.

“Maybe we should just get on with it,” said Jiang Hao. “There might be others equally talented among the crowd.”

They nodded. Zheng Shijiu told Miao Xing to keep the people coming in batches.

They didn’t find any top-notch talent other than the boy and the girl from before.

Some were average, and others were just slightly more decent than average.

Jiang Hao suddenly frowned. A young man approached them with a sweet smile. She was already in the Golden Core Realm.

She looked at them and smiled even more. “Should I test too?”

She held the jade slip, and all seven sections lit up.

The others also knew that something was wrong. She was someone at the Golden Core Realm, so the test was meaningless.

Miao Xing also felt that this was strange.

“Any of you from the Cliff of Broken Hearts?” asked the woman.

“I am.” Jiang Hao got up. “Is something the matter?”

“I want to join your branch. I heard you each get three spots to recruit people to your own branch. Select me,” she said rudely.

“May I ask who you are?” Jiang Hao asked politely. “Miao Tinglian,” said the woman and smiled.

Jiang Hao was surprised..