"Xiao Gu, this thing is too valuable, I can’t accept it."

Xu Fang quickly shook his head, "Usually when we bet, we gamble on insignificant things, most adding some money or similar worldly items."

"Worldly items..."

Hearing this, Gu Shen felt rather helpless; as it happened, he didn’t really have any worldly items.

Originally he wanted to take out some red silver.

But after searching through Pure Land, purple silver was the lowest quality Mithril he had on him.

Xu Fang laughed, "How about this, if you lose the bet, just take us on a good tour of Changye... The previous recruitments were all rushed. After this ends, we plan to stay in Snow Forbidden City for a few days."

"Absolutely."

Gu Shen said warmly, "As fellow Qinghe people, I’ll arrange your food, drink, accommodation, and transportation in Changye."

Xu Fang laughed heartily and asked, "If you win the bet, Brother Gu, what do you want?"

"I don’t want anything either."

Gu Shen smiled, "I just want to make a friend; it’s been a while since I’ve met anyone from my hometown. If possible in the future, when you return to Qing River, why not visit my hometown and, if available, help look after my ’family’."

"That’s easy to say."

Xu Fang agreed promptly and then asked in confusion, "Xiao Gu, your family didn’t come with you to Changye?"

"Well... they are not blood-related to me, nor are they transcendents."

Gu Shen thought for a moment and said, "So since I came to Changye, I didn’t bring them along."

"I see."

Xu Fang nodded upon hearing this and said, "Understandable."

The world of transcendents is filled with dangers.

Many Awakeners prefer to stay in their hometown because they can’t bear leaving their loved ones, keeping the ’transcendent mystery’ a secret while guarding their homeland.

Gu Shen was unwilling to place the orphanage that raised him into danger.

Actually, the small courtyard in Wulaoshan had long been cared for by Cui Zhongcheng and the Huazhi Group, and it’s likely doing quite well now.

Xu Fang and Old Yu don’t need to oversee it.

Given Gu Shen’s current status, no one would dare touch his "family."

But he didn’t want to use the pendant as a betting stake.

A gentleman loves wealth but acquires it rightfully; although Gu Shen doesn’t claim to be a gentleman, he wouldn’t steal or cheat either.

"Qinghe transcendents have always united, coming from small places, we must stick together for warmth."

Xu Fang said solemnly, "Brother Gu, I know several young people from Qinghe who are venturing in Changye; I’ll pass their contact information to you now... though they are not particularly formidable figures, they are fellow natives. Since you are fighting alone in Changye without any backing, having more acquaintances looking out for you is beneficial."

"Alright... I’ll trouble you then."

Gu Shen smiled without refusing.

Xu Fang sent a strand of spiritual message containing several young people’s contact information.

Gu Shen scanned through with Heart Lake.

"Indeed very young, the oldest is about twenty, while the youngest is a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy."

Chu Ling couldn’t help but laugh after seeing this, "Who is really being taken care of here?"

"Xu Fang is not a bad person."

Gu Shen said flatly, "I guess they are all from Green River Court; since he is a transcendent instructor, he should train one or two disciples into Changye each year, and the youngest one is certainly his prized pupil."

Indeed.

"Ahem, the youngest ’Su Hang’ is one I sent to Changye last year... that one may need Brother Gu’s help to look after."

Xu Fang blinked and said, "This kid has quite good talent, B+ level in elemental category, I hear the Third Judge Wutuo is quite fond of him, likely to apprentice within a couple of years."

Wutuo, hearing this name.

Gu Shen’s expression became a bit nuanced.

This isn’t a good choice for a mentor!

Fortunately, Chu Ling already located Su Hang, and the little guy is safe, unaffected by the ’defection’ turmoil, mainly due to his young age, still cultivating in the Third Judgement Court dojo, neither officially apprenticed nor taken out for missions.

This actually is good news.

Because nowadays, within the Judgement Institute, the so-called ’Third Judgment Faction’ no longer exists.

Wutuo nearly eliminated all top-ranked warriors from this faction, then defected.

This news hasn’t spread in East Continent, only the top echelon knows, small figures like Xu Fang naturally have no chance to encounter the truth.

"Okay, I’ll take care of it."

Gu Shen smiled while communicating, "Chu Ling, I might need to trouble you a bit."

"What are you saying, your affairs are mine."

Chu Ling said warmly, "I’ll now contact Li Family and Mu Family as you, drafting emails to Li Qingsui and Mu Qingyang..."

Gu Shen’s status is too high, directly arranging things would be inappropriate, possibly attracting too much attention.

But Li and Mu Families are different; the five great families also have sufficient status, and these two regularly manage the ’Convergence’ project, needing talents. If these people perform well in ’Convergence,’ they naturally receive deserved rewards and more resources.

"Good. The youngest one, Su Hang, is indeed highly talented..."

Gu Shen said, "Since Wutuo is dead, he can find a new teacher. When the Gu Family envoy arrives, I’ll personally introduce him."

Gu Shen had a very good candidate in mind, which was Zhong Fan.

Chu Ling understood instantly, "You want to recommend the little guy to Zhong Fan? That’s indeed a good choice."

In just a few seconds, these people’s fates transformed.

But Xu Fang was unaware of everything that was happening.

He even thought Gu Shen’s "I’ll take care of it" was a joke.

"Alright, alright, back to business. Who do you think will go further, ’Lian Du’ or ’Guan Ji’?"

Xu Fang pointed out the locations of the two young men to Gu Shen.

"I think the one who will go further should be..."

Gu Shen reached out and pointed to an inconspicuous little guy, smiling as he said, "I think it’s this kid. I have high hopes for him."

Although he pointed casually, Xu Fang was taken aback, then shook his head repeatedly: "You fancy ’Liu Quan’? This kid doesn’t have potential; he couldn’t even pass the White Dam Judgement Institute’s rating test, and he’s in the Spiritual series, at the Initial Stage, with no advantage in a duel."

Gu Shen just smiled, not saying more.

The matchup list was set and the trials over here officially began.

The dojo had ten arenas. The "recruitment trials" for these young men were very simple and direct... it was just to see whose fists are harder.

The competitions of Initial Stage Transcendents were, in fact, extremely dangerous. If they truly go all out, without strong supervision, it could very well turn deadly.

So usually, a Third-Order Transcendent would oversee the arenas.

And now, there were two Judges present, ensuring utmost safety.

...

...

"Brother Qi He."

Xie Zheng yawned, watching the battles on the arena, showing no change in expression. He looked quite disheveled and seemed to lack energy.

"Speak plainly."

Qi He frowned, not wanting to have much interaction with Xie Zheng.

Though they were both part of the Judgement Institute system...

Xie Zheng was a peculiar, odd individual.

Becoming a Judge should be a highly honorable task, yet after becoming a Judge, Xie Zheng kept his doors shut, not meeting outsiders every day, nor did he challenge the Judges ahead of him each year... That was why Qi He didn’t like Xie Zheng; Qi He had to face challenges from the lower-ranked Judges every year, yet Xie Zheng did nothing, wasting the challenge opportunity!

If he didn’t genuinely care about the ranking, he would have willingly dropped to seventeenth!

Of course, despite his disdain, they were both Judges, so he didn’t want to offend Xie Zheng...

After all, rumor had it that Xie Zheng was proposed by the Mu Family.

Xie Zheng probably had Mu Qingyang, soaring high in Changye, behind him! The future head of the five families!

"Do you think something’s off in the spectator seats?"

Xie Zheng smiled, sending a message as he gestured towards the spectator area beside the dojo.

"Off?"

Qi He looked over. Every year at recruitment, the East Continent would have Transcendents from various regions come... these coaches from small places, bringing their disciples to the headquarters, would wait here for recruitment results.

The spectator area was nearly filled at the moment.

Besides these coaches, quite a few Transcendents from Changye were interested in "recruitment."

Wanting to stay in Changye doesn’t necessarily mean joining the Judgement Institute is the only path.

Subsidiary families under the five major families also have vast industries, seeking talented young Transcendents.

Failing the "recruitment" through the three-institute system doesn’t matter.

Changye offers endless opportunities awaiting talented young people.

"What do you mean by off..."

To be safe, Qi He asked again.

"I heard that during headquarters ’recruitment,’ the higher-ups might send strong individuals as ’auditors’ to review if the recruitment process is reasonable."

Xie Zheng leaned on his cheek and asked, "Is there anything special about this year’s recruitment that could attract high-level ’auditors’?"

"There are auditors indeed, but their status is not higher than Judges."

Qi He said casually, "If there really are auditors, we would be informed in advance, don’t worry... True big shots wouldn’t care about small trials of this level."

"True."

Xie Zheng laughed awkwardly, saying, "I was overthinking."

"Is this something you should be worried about?"

Qi He said expressionlessly, "Think for yourself, how many years has it been since the Eighteen Judgement Dojo recruited disciples? Was this recruitment pushed by Mu Qingyang? If no new talents are recruited, the Eighteen Dojo might dissolve due to insufficient numbers."

"Ha... haha..."

Xie Zheng laughed awkwardly.

That’s indeed the case.

"Let me tell you in advance... I want the first place in this recruitment trial."

Qi He said indifferently, "Since your dojo isn’t genuinely recruiting, don’t compete with me on this matter."

"I am serious about recruiting disciples."

After thinking for a while, Xie Zheng did not agree. He looked at Qi He seriously and said, "But don’t worry, I’m not like you. I don’t care about rankings, only whether fate is suitable or not. If the fate is suitable, I’ll take the person; if not, even if ranked first, I won’t take a second look."

"..."

Qi He looked at this earnest guy with pity, saying nothing.

Fate?

Do you think you’re a Divination Inheritor?

Acting mysterious.