Kill as many as come.

The regular division of the Command Hall!

These five words alone were enough to send the newcomers into a frenzy!

Among the seven halls of the Taibai Sect, the personnel affairs of all other halls were uniformly managed by the Executive Hall. Disciples with established master-disciple lineages would consider it beneath them to become mere executives in those halls; it would be a severe loss of face.

However, the Command Hall was a different story altogether.

The Command Hall was the seat of the strongest combat power in the Taibai Sect. Disciples of the Command Hall might not necessarily hold the highest status, but their strength was undoubtedly the greatest. To enter the Command Hall, there was simply no other path than combat, and not even the Inquiry Elders had the authority to intervene. In other words, among the seven halls, even the Inquiry Elder with the greatest power could not meddle in the affairs of the Command Hall.

Of course, merely entering the Command Hall was not enough to sway these people. Regardless of how one looked at it, they were disciples with formal lineages; they had no reason to take on such grueling and thankless tasks.

The crucial part was the last two words: the regular division!

What did that mean? It meant possessing the ultimate training method! It meant a regular division aimed at absolute strength!

The Command Hall had a total of just over a hundred disciples, all of whom were elites among elites. To say they could take on ten by themselves might be an exaggeration, but taking on five was the bare minimum standard. As for the regular division, it was capped at ten members, where taking on ten adversaries was merely the baseline requirement.

Beyond that, there was a hidden temptation.

Direct-line disciples.

Throughout history, all direct-line disciples of the sect had emerged exclusively from the regular division of the Command Hall.

A direct-line disciple of the Taibai Sect was an honorary title. It did not mean being the personal disciple of a specific cultivator, nor did it belong to any single branch; it was a direct lineage of the entire sect. Such a disciple enjoyed welfare benefits comparable to those of Core Formation cultivators, possessed the authority to issue orders to ordinary and elite disciples, could directly petition the Sect Master, had free access to the Myriad Laws Pavilion to peruse all texts including the nine sacred scriptures, and more!

In other words, a direct-line disciple was someone the entire sect poured its utmost resources into nurturing—they got whatever they desired.

Aside from these tangible benefits, there was another aspect that young cultivators like them yearned for infinitely: glory.

In the history of the Taibai Sect, only six direct-line disciples had ever appeared, and every single one of them had grown into a grandmaster of the Nascent Soul stage, without a single exception.

Ten thousand years had passed since the Cataclysm, yet merely six direct-line disciples had been produced in all that time. How rare was that? So rare that many ordinary disciples had long forgotten the supreme glory associated with the title of a direct-line disciple.

Yes, glory!

A direct-line disciple represented not only boundless and overwhelming benefits but also supreme, peerless glory!

And now, a path leading directly to that glory lay bare before them.

By becoming a member of the Command Hall's regular division, one would be eligible to receive the Command Hall's secret, elite training. Once their strength surged and they achieved peerless merits on the battlefield, they could contend for the title of a direct-line disciple!

Almost everyone's blood boiled with excitement, yet none of them stopped to think that this might just be a grand illusion painted for them by the sect...

Direct-line disciples were rare, but members of the Command Hall's regular division were not quite that scarce. At any given time, the Command Hall maintained a regular division. So why, in the span of ten thousand years, had only six direct-line disciples emerged?

However, these young cultivators, their heads hot with fervor, refused to entertain such thoughts. After all, getting into the regular division of the Command Hall during peaceful times was no easy feat either; out of every ten candidates, only one could squeeze through. Those who managed to enter were prodigies of cultivation with exceptional strength. In times of peace, it was difficult even to find a chance to die in battle, let alone wait until one reached Core Formation... could an opportunity arise even once in a decade?

Yet, things were different now. At this very moment, with the demon cultivators invading and battles occurring with relentless frequency, as long as one seized the opportunity to enter the regular division of the Command Hall, there was a genuine chance to build peerless merits and ascend to the rank of a direct-line disciple!

Three spots released all at once? Such a thing had never happened before...

Carrying their surging excitement, the Foundation Establishment disciples dispersed.

***

Qian Jiale did not return to his own tent; instead, he made his way to the quarters shared by Lingyu and Fang Xinyan.

Foundation Establishment cultivators were assigned two to a tent, which naturally paired Lingyu and Fang Xinyan together.

These tents were thoroughly equipped with advanced facilities, particularly protective arrays. Leaving aside their soundproofing qualities, their defensive capabilities were top-tier. Even if the White Deer Hermitage were breached, the demon cultivators would have to expend a considerable amount of effort to blast these tents apart.

Wisps of curling smoke rose, carrying a lingering, delicate fragrance. Holding a jade pot, Fang Xinyan gracefully poured hot tea into a jade cup. Her fingers, resembling tender bamboo shoots, appeared even whiter than the jade itself.

"Junior Brother Qian, please have some tea." Possessing exceptionally exquisite and stunning features, Fang Xinyan's demeanor remained reserved and courteous. She looked less like a dancing girl and more like a young lady from a prestigious noble household.

Qian Jiale did not know Fang Xinyan's background; he merely felt a silent pang of admiration at her beauty before accepting the cup. "Thank you, Senior Sister Fang."

Fang Xinyan smiled faintly and gently pushed another jade cup across the table. The cup glided smoothly through the air, landing precisely on Lingyu's desk without spilling a single drop of liquid.

Lingyu was currently practicing talisman crafting. Once her cultivation base had stabilized, she had picked up the art of talisman making once again.

While her talismanic arts were nothing remarkable in the vast Cangming Realm, her innate talent for deconstructing spiritual talismans was genuine. Picking up the craft anew, her progress was swift, advancing a thousand miles a day. Coupled with her greatly increased cultivation base, she easily mastered the foundational principles and officially became a talisman master.

For a sword cultivator in battle, swordsmanship was naturally the fundamental base, but spiritual talismans were also one of the methods used to achieve victory through surprise. Lingyu was not the type of rigid sword cultivator who believed one should devote their body and soul exclusively to the sword. On the contrary, she had always believed that victory was the ultimate goal, and any effective means justified the end.

"Junior Sister Cheng, what are you drawing?" Qian Jiale leaned over to take a look, asking with a bewildered expression.

"This is called the Ice Flood Dragon Sword Talisman, a type of artifact talisman." Seeing that Qian Jiale seemed quite interested, Lingyu pointed at the runes inscribed on the paper. "This is the character for 'ice', this is the character for 'transform', this is the character for 'fly'..." This Ice Flood Dragon Sword Talisman was exchanged from the Myriad Laws Pavilion. As a tier-two spiritual talisman, it was composed of a full twenty runes.

The more Lingyu explained, the more confused Qian Jiale became. "I know nothing about talisman crafting. I recognize every single rune individually, but when they're combined like this, I have no idea what they mean."

"That's why they call this talent," Lingyu said with a triumphant chuckle, lowering her head to resume her practice.

Qian Jiale had always understood the wisdom of playing to one's strengths. He would never display things he didn't understand to make a fool of himself, so he simply pretended not to hear Lingyu's self-praise.

"Right, Senior Brother Qian, what brings you running over here? Surely you didn't just come to drink tea and watch me draw talismans?" Lingyu split her focus, practicing her craft while tossing out a question.

Qian Jiale rubbed his nose and said, "I just wanted to ask how the two of you view this matter."

Lingyu paused her talisman brush for a moment, looked up, and asked with a serious expression, "Senior Brother Qian, do you want to enter the Command Hall?"

"...A little bit." Qian Jiale flashed a sheepish grin at her. "You know how it was back in the Minor Sword Pool; everyone dreamed of getting into the Command Hall."

"But times are different now..." Back then, they were ordinary disciples without any foundations, and entering the Command Hall upon reaching Foundation Establishment was the best possible choice—the benefits were great and it carried immense prestige. But what about now? They now had master-disciple lineages; their benefits were no less than those in the Command Hall, and as for prestige—well, Qian Jiale was the disciple of a Nascent Soul cultivator, after all!

However, seeing the eager look on Qian Jiale's face, Lingyu swallowed the rest of the words she had intended to say.

"I always thought that if I could just get into the Command Hall, it would be enough. And now, an opportunity to fulfill that dream has presented itself..." Moreover, it was for the regular division. It was rumored that the Command Hall provided its regular division members with numerous special training methods capable of rapidly enhancing one's strength. As a sword cultivator, that was an offer impossible to refuse.

More importantly, the prospect of becoming a direct-line disciple was something he couldn't help but yearn for, even if only a little.

Qian Jiale didn't say it aloud, but Lingyu could read it clearly. She picked up her brush once more and continued to draw talismans. "Senior Brother Qian, you haven't changed at all."

"And you?" Qian Jiale fixed his burning gaze on her. "Or are you saying you're completely satisfied with how things are right now?"

"Of course not." Lingyu raised her head, meeting his gaze directly. "However..."

***

These two words made Qian Jiale's heart skip a beat. "Could it be that Junior Sister Cheng disagrees?"

Instead of answering immediately, Lingyu turned her gaze toward Fang Xinyan. "Senior Sister Fang, why don't you explain."

Fang Xinyan refilled her cup of tea and said slowly, "Junior Brother Qian, I wonder if you noticed something."

"What?"

"Those who accomplish battlefield merits here, the top three shall enter the regular division of the Command Hall." She repeated Lan Muyang's words, raised her head, and smiled at him. "The regular division operates on a one-in, one-out basis, capped at no more than ten members. Why would they release three spots simultaneously?"

Qian Jiale froze, sucking in a sharp breath of cold air. "You mean..."

"Three regular division disciples have fallen in battle," Fang Xinyan said calmly, her gaze sweeping past Qian Jiale's instantly pale face. "We have been at war with the demon cultivators for merely a single year."

A prolonged silence ensued.

After a long while, Qian Jiale let out a long breath and cupped his fists toward Fang Xinyan. "Thank you for the reminder, Senior Sister Fang."

In truth, Qian Jiale had harbored a deep distrust toward Fang Xinyan. The lingering shadow cast by Xu Jibo in his heart had not yet dissipated, but out of respect for Lingyu, he had not shown it outwardly. Until this moment, Fang Xinyan's seemingly casual remark had forced Qian Jiale to correct his attitude. Perhaps winning his complete trust would still require verification through actions, but at the very least, he could no longer afford to harbor blind prejudices.

"It seems the situation in Linhai is far more severe than we imagined," Qian Jiale said, having regained his composure.

"Indeed..." Fang Xinyan cradled her teacup, her gaze fixed on empty space. "The regular division disciples are said to be capable of taking on ten of their peers, far surpassing ordinary cultivators of the same generation. Even if they couldn't win, escaping shouldn't have been a problem. Yet three of them fell within a single year."

The disciples of the Command Hall were the crème de la crème of their generation, and the sect protected them with the utmost care, especially those in the regular division. Logically speaking, even if they encountered Core Formation stage cultivators, they were not mere lambs waiting to be slaughtered. Even if their luck was truly wretched, it was unthinkable for three of them to perish simultaneously. If something like this happened to ordinary disciples, what would the outcome even be?

"Do you two know the casualty figures among the disciples over the past year?" Fang Xinyan asked softly.

Both of them shook their heads in unison. Lingyu had no access to such information since her master was in closed-door seclusion and she lacked channels, while Qian Jiale hadn't even thought about it.

"I don't know either," Fang Xinyan said with a helpless smile. "Actually, my master has never kept anything from me, but after receiving the recent battle reports, she stopped letting me look at them."

Lingyu remained silent for a moment before raising her head to ask, "Senior Sister Fang, what are your thoughts?"

Fang Xinyan spread her hands. "I don't have any grand thoughts. I just feel that since we're already here, we might as well do our best—we still need to survive, don't we?"

Qian Jiale nodded. "I still want to enter the Command Hall; that goal of mine will not change. However, now that I realize the reality of this situation, I will simply have to be much more cautious."

Once both of them had finished speaking, Lingyu still offered no stance of her own. Two pairs of eyes turned to stare at her fixedly.

"Junior Sister Cheng?" Qian Jiale looked at her suspiciously. "You don't have any reaction at all? This isn't like you."

"What kind of reaction do you want?" Lingyu shot him a sidelong glance, and the next moment, she tapped her talisman brush against the desk. "If you ask me, even if we lose the argument, we shouldn't lose our momentum. Whatever comes our way, we'll just kill them all!"