173: Chapter 173 A Hundred Billion Cultivators Stand Ready! The Gu Family Opens its Gate to Accept Disciples!

A month is neither long nor short!

For those waiting bitterly outside the Mountain Gate, every day was an agonizing torture!

Yet, no matter how long the wait, the day of opening the Mountain Gate finally arrived!

The number of people who came this time was even greater than the last, reaching tens of billions!

They came from the Desolate Ancient Continent and those even more distant Major Thousand Worlds!

In the Major Thousand Worlds, where myriad worlds stand, the Desolate Ancient Continent is not considered top-tier; its area is not vast, and its Spiritual Qi is not the most concentrated. However, the reputation of the Gu Family has already made it the most eye-catching place in this Star Domain!

Many factions, due to being located too far away, simply could not arrive within a month!

Otherwise, the number of people would definitely be even higher!

It is possible that the entire Desolate Ancient Continent would have been packed with people!

"Brother, stop pushing! My feet are already off the ground! If you push any harder, I'm going to fly away!"

"Do you think I want to push? The people behind me are pushing me too! Who told you to stand at the very front?"

"Damn! There are way too many people this time, right? At least several times more than last time!"

"Of course! Last time they only recruited one hundred thousand, but this time they are recruiting one million! The news has spread throughout the entire Major Thousand Worlds, and even those old monsters who usually never leave their seclusion have come!"

"The Major Thousand Worlds are so vast; just the ones I know of number over three thousand, and that's only in our region! I heard people have even rushed over from even more distant Star Domains!"

"The Desolate Ancient Continent is considered an average place, but once the Gu Family appeared, they directly elevated this place above everyone else! Who could have imagined that a Small World could produce a faction of this caliber?"

"Who's to say otherwise! Before, people from those big worlds looked down on our Desolate Ancient Continent, but now they are all shamelessly rushing over here, fighting tooth and nail even for the spots of a menial servant!"

"Alright, alright, stop lamenting. Look over at the Mountain Gate! It seems like someone has come out!"

While everyone was discussing and debating, Clan Leader Gu Tianhua walked out, followed by Jian Wuji, and began to announce the start of this recruitment!

Today, the Gu Family is opening its Mountain Gate to recruit vassal factions, Disciples, and menial servants! The rules are the same as last time!

However, this time, the menial servants have a requirement! Their cultivation must reach the Saint Realm! Then, they can enter the Gu Family by passing the test of the heart-questioning mirror!

Clan Leader Gu Tianhua's voice still echoed in the air outside the Mountain Gate! Some Cultivators who had traveled from afar were completely shocked!

They were unwilling to believe it before; after all, how could such absurd news be true? Now that they had actually heard this, they couldn't help but feel a shock!

"What?! The menial servants really require the Saint Realm?!"

"I previously thought it was just a rumor, but now it seems the Gu Family has really raised the threshold to the heavens! In our lands, a Saint Realm Cultivator could be an Elder, but in the Gu Family, they can only sweep the floors! This contrast is truly a bit too large!"

"It is large, but think about it: the Gu Family provides high-grade spiritual liquid and dual cultivation even for sweeping floors, so how exaggerated must the treatment for Disciples be? As long as I can gain a foothold in the Gu Family, let alone sweeping floors, I would be willing to carry manure!"

"Isn't that a bit extreme..."

"Not at all! Not extreme in the slightest! Didn't you see the people from those super factions? Even their Old Ancestors have come in person; isn't it to fight for the vassal spots? They are much smarter than us—if the Gu Family didn't have the real deal, would they come?"

"That's true! Anyway, since I'm already here, there's no harm in trying!"

Especially for those Cultivators who had traveled a long way and whose cultivation was just on the edge of the Saint Realm, their expressions were more complex than anyone else's around them!

There was a sense of self-deprecation mixed with relief, as if their cultivation, after struggling outside for so many years, had only just touched the threshold upon arriving at the Gu Family! One could only say that the Gu Family's requirements were too high!

To think that even recruiting a menial servant required the Saint Realm, and they were recruiting so many people at once! One hundred thousand people, all at least at the Saint Realm—that is one hundred thousand experts! The resources consumed daily would already be an astronomical figure, and the Gu Family even pays you a salary!

Moreover, the benefits and treatment are beyond reproach; seeing such benefits, they would break their heads trying to get in!

And although those people felt it was somewhat absurd, the Gu Family's strength was plain for all to see!

"But then again, since the Gu Family has set such a high threshold even for menial servants, how exaggerated must the resources for official Disciples and vassal factions be?"

"Don't you know? I heard that Eternal Realm Disciples are directly equipped with a pseudo-extreme emperor weapon, with no limit on the quantity."

"Damn? The Gu Family is so generous, aren't they afraid of draining their foundations?"

"They have wiped out three worlds and added the Canglan Dao Realm; have you ever seen them suffer a loss? The more they fight, the richer they become; the more they recruit, the stronger they get! This isn't a Family; this is clearly a gold-devouring beast!"

The representatives of those super factions, although able to keep their composure on the surface, were already calculating in their hearts! Unlike the Loose Cultivators competing for Disciple spots, they were competing for vassal faction spots—to have their entire faction packed up and brought into the Gu Family!

Once selected, the entire Sect or Family would become a vassal of the Gu Family, gaining protection and resources!

Therefore, they were even more nervous this time! After all, there were only 188 spots, and the number of large and small factions that had arrived was countless!

They also did not know if the requirements for vassal factions would be very strict; after all, with so few spots, the assessment would naturally be strict!

Just at this moment, Clan Leader Gu Tianhua coughed twice and said, "All factions applying to be vassals, please pay attention! Your Disciples will participate in the test uniformly! As long as the overall pass rate reaches eighty percent, the entire faction can obtain the qualification to be a vassal!"

Clan Leader Gu Tianhua paused, looking at the representatives, "In other words, as long as eight thousand out of ten thousand people pass the test, those who fail will be eliminated, but these eight thousand people can stay, become members of the Gu Family's vassal faction, and enjoy the same conditions as Gu Family Disciples!"

As these words fell, the crowd exploded into an uproar again! The super factions felt their hearts tighten!

This requirement did not feel too high, but their factions had numerous people, especially a countless number of miscellaneous individuals! They were already half-hearted about their own faction's Disciples, let alone being sincere to the Gu Family! Naturally, they were worried about having slackers in the crowd!

"Eighty percent? Doesn't that mean eight thousand people! What if our own good-for-nothing Disciples drag us down!"

An Elder of a super faction said in a low voice, and his fellow Sect members looked at each other! They hadn't expected the required pass rate to reach eighty percent, leaving only twenty percent room for error!

"Sect Head, doesn't this mean our fate is held in the hands of those low-level Disciples?"

Another Elder lowered his voice! The Sect Head did not answer, but his brows were already locked tight. He turned to his own Disciples, his tone carrying an unprecedented seriousness,

"You have all heard it. This test is not just about yourselves; it concerns the future of the entire faction! Whoever dares to drop the ball, don't blame me for turning hostile!"

The composition of vassal factions is complex, so naturally, they must be screened thoroughly. Eliminating twenty percent would not cause too great a blow to their original vassal factions! Moreover, those who are screened out are people who were not sincere to begin with, so it is actually a good thing for those factions!