Chapter 3561 — The Welcoming Assembly
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
This was plainly the Welcoming Assembly the Miserable Senior Brother had mentioned. By rights, such a key occasion was the perfect chance to establish authority before all the newcomers, and the Welcome Pavilion's one master and two vice masters ought to have appeared together. Yet this third master, the one who had come out of Azure Cloud Pavilion, was still busy with those so-called odd jobs of his—not even managing to snatch a chance to show his face. A pitiable, lamentable figure indeed.
Hu Yunfeng swept his gaze across the hall, and wherever his eyes fell the clamor quieted of itself—even among the central cluster of cultivation second generations. This was no courtesy they offered of their own accord; they were simply cowed by his presence. Once one's strength reached a sufficiently high level, every casual gesture could overawe the hearts of others, and Hu Yunfeng, able to sit as master of the Welcome Pavilion, was plainly no empty name.
"Newcomers all, wherever you come from, whatever your background, since you have come to our Welcome Pavilion, from this day forth you are all reserve disciples of the outer sect—all treated as equals."
"Over the coming year, the Welcome Pavilion will provide you with cultivation resources beyond anything you could have imagined. And there is but one rule for the distribution of those resources: the strong hold them. Ranked matches will be held at regular intervals—the higher your rank, the more resources you receive, and the lower, naturally, the less. Everything must be won by your own strength. To rail at heaven and blame others is the conduct of the weak."
"Within the year, if any of you succeed in establishing your foundation, then congratulations—you may enter the San Diego Pavilion that everyone dreams of, gain better cultivation resources, and advance further in strength and cultivation. But if after a year you have still not established your foundation, then I am sorry: the Welcome Pavilion does not keep idlers, still less does it keep trash. You will be sent to the hardest, most bitter places on the island to perform penal labor, with no cultivation resources given you ever again. And if you cannot break through, you will spend the rest of your life in poverty and toil there—do not imagine you will ever take a single step out."
"Such are the most important rules of the Welcome Pavilion. Have any of you newcomers further doubts?" Hu Yunfeng asked in a loud, clear voice, surveying the crowd below.
"May I ask, Master, when is the first ranked match to be—today?" someone called from below.
Hu Yunfeng stroked his white beard and smiled. "Of course not. The first ranked match is set for this same day next month."
"In that case, how are this month's cultivation resources to be divided? Are all to be treated equally? I fear true fairness will be very hard to achieve!" the man pressed on.
Everyone pricked up their ears at once. The question was a fair one—not all resources, after all, could be handed out like pills, one grain at a time. Many natural resources, such as cultivation caves, simply could not be divided fairly; surely no one meant for everyone to swap caves with one another every day—never mind cultivating, they would be worn out with exhaustion.
"By longstanding rule, the first month's resources are allotted in the order of the three pavilions—the Soaring Heaven Pavilion first, the Mystic Mechanism Pavilion second, and the Azure Cloud Pavilion last. As for how the newcomers within each pavilion divide theirs, that is a matter for each pavilion's own house, to be settled by your two steward senior brothers in consultation. This master will not inquire into it," Hu Yunfeng explained.