Previously, because there were few applicants, Jun Changxiao had no choice regarding spirit root aptitude and could only recruit using the eye confirmation method.

Now things were different.

There were four to five thousand young applicants, and he couldn’t take them all in, so he naturally had to select those with good aptitude to cultivate.

The System said, “Didn’t you say that cultivating low-grade aptitude disciples gave you a great sense of accomplishment? Why are you being picky now?”

Jun Changxiao knew it was deliberately mocking him, so he replied blandly, “I feel like it.”

“…” The System fell silent.

“Name.”

“Zheng Yan.”

“Aptitude.”

“Mid-Grade Spirit Root.”

Jun Changxiao didn’t hesitate and directly stamped it with the sect’s great seal.

At the same time, notification sounds of increased membership and increased Contribution Points rang in his ears.

Of course.

There was one type of person whose spirit root aptitude he didn’t consider—as long as they registered, he absolutely took them into the sect.

That’s right.

This type of person was women.

The Iron Bones Sect had always been overwhelmingly male.

Considering gender balance, as long as young women came to register, he absolutely took them in without hesitation.

One hour later.

After questioning them one by one, Jun Changxiao selected 999 people from the thousands of applicants—750 male disciples and 249 female disciples.

In terms of aptitude, there were over 20 with Mid-Grade Spirit Roots, with the rest mostly being Common Grade and a small portion with Low-Grade Spirit Roots.

The next Hundred Sects recruitment had no need to be held.

Because Sect Master Jun had intercepted them first, taking the excellent young men and women who had just come of age into his sect, the other sects could only pick the best of what remained.

After recruiting 999 disciples, the sect membership reached exactly 2,000, and he gained 999 Contribution Points with an overflow of 254 points.

The best part was.

After the sect reached full capacity, sect missions were activated again.

The mission board in the Mission Hall once again displayed a dense array of missions.

According to Jun Changxiao’s calculations, if the disciples completed all the missions, they could each gain 2,000 points in Contribution Points and Achievement Points.

Beautiful, absolutely wonderful!

……

After recruitment ended, Li Qingyang distributed uniforms and sect rules to the newly admitted disciples and arranged their accommodations.

At this time, the role of their internal affairs manager became apparent—even with nearly a thousand more disciples, the inner courtyard chambers could still easily accommodate them.

However, they were also reaching saturation.

After Li Qingyang arranged the new junior brothers properly, he suggested to the Sect Master that they expand the inner courtyard.

Jun Changxiao gave him 100,000 taels. “It’s in your hands.”

“Yes!”

Thus, Li Qingyang once again transformed into a civil engineer and began drawing expansion blueprints for the inner courtyard chambers, trying his best to arrange and utilize space reasonably.

After rather mystically burning incense and bathing, Jun Changxiao sat in his study and once again opened the Shop.

At this moment, he had only one thought—he hoped to refresh an isolation array from the Basic Shop!

The System poured cold water on this. “Very difficult.”

Jun Changxiao ignored it and scanned through the Shop. Confirming there was nothing good, he decisively scrolled down.

Among the new products, daily necessities predominated.

However, there was also a formula called “Soft Silk Armor.”

From the description, this item was similar to the Solid Iron Shield—a type of protective gear worn on the body.

“I’ll buy it!”

“Ding! Host has spent 100 Contribution Points and obtained Soft Silk Armor Formula ×1, which has been delivered to the spatial ring.”

“Ding! Sect Contribution Points: 2140/2000.”

The formula appeared in the spatial ring and was automatically matched to the Forging Hall.

After opening it, Jun Changxiao discovered that the main material for this protective gear was spider silk.

Coincidentally, when doing missions in the Death Valley, he had exterminated spider swarms and obtained quite a bit of spider silk, which could be used directly for refinement.

The Forging Hall began operating.

Taking advantage of this time, Jun Changxiao continued viewing the Shop. After scrolling to the very end without finding anything good, he began refreshing again.

After refreshing 5 times and spending 100 Contribution Points, he still hadn’t refreshed anything useful.

Just as Sect Master Jun was about to give up, the 6th refresh produced a product called “Array Aptitude Elixir.”

The System said, “This is good stuff!”

Jun Changxiao opened the description.

Item: Array Aptitude Elixir.

Effect: After consumption, instantly gain array aptitude and become a Junior Grade Array Master.

Price: 200 Contribution Points.

Jun Changxiao said, “Can become an Array Master? That seems pretty good.”

“More than pretty good!”

The System said seriously, “On the Xingyun Continent, Array Masters have quite high status. This System recommends the host purchase this with ten stars!”

Previously it was five stars, now ten stars.

This showed that the Array Aptitude Transformation Elixir was truly excellent.

“If I can’t refresh an isolation array, I can also try to set one up myself.” As Jun Changxiao murmured, he had already clicked on purchase.

“Ding! Host has spent 200 Contribution Points and obtained Array Aptitude Elixir ×1, which has been delivered to the spatial ring.”

“Ding! Sect Contribution Points: 1830/2000.”

After purchasing it, Jun Changxiao retrieved a small bottle similar to the Aptitude Transformation Elixir from his spatial ring and drank it down without hesitation.

The taste was sweet and refreshing, leaving an endless aftertaste.

“Whoosh, whoosh!”

Suddenly, a stream of special information pervaded Jun Changxiao’s sea of consciousness, causing his head to split with pain.

This pain vanished in an instant.

Everything returned to normal, and Jun Changxiao felt that he had already mastered array knowledge.

This kind of knowledge normally required time to slowly accumulate, but relying on the Array Aptitude Elixir, he instantly obtained it—System products were truly heaven-defying!

The current Sect Master Jun was not only a martial cultivator but also a Junior Grade Array Master.

However.

Having array knowledge without array diagrams was still like a clever housewife trying to cook without rice.

The System said, “If the host can refresh array blueprints in the Shop, that would be even more perfect.”

“Is it easy to refresh?” Jun Changxiao asked.

The System replied, “Easy to refresh, but the prerequisite is in the Intermediate Shop.”

“…” Jun Changxiao was speechless.

In the Intermediate Shop, there was still a Mid-Grade Cold Light Sword weapon formula that he couldn’t bear to buy. If he refreshed, it would definitely be wiped out.

The Junior Grade Cold Edge Sword was already quite formidable. The Mid-Grade Cold Light Sword would definitely be even more powerful. Wiping it out would definitely be the worst strategy.

The System said, “The host can buy it first before refreshing the Shop. If you’re lucky and refresh an isolation array or array blueprints, you can wait until you’ve accumulated enough Contribution Points to buy them.”

Jun Changxiao was silent for a moment. “That makes sense.”

Thus, he spent 1,000 Contribution Points to purchase the formula, which was automatically matched to the Forging Hall.

The main material for the Mid-Grade Cold Light Sword was also cold iron, but the quantity required was 100 jin.

“The materials are a bit hard to find now.”

Jun Changxiao withdrew the panel and continued browsing the Intermediate Shop. Confirming there was nothing good, he gritted his teeth and scrolled down to refresh.

After spending 100 Contribution Points, the old products were replaced by new ones.

Sure enough.

The Intermediate Shop had more good items.

Even if some could be classified as daily necessities, their effects were stronger than those in the Basic Shop.

“Hm?”

After browsing one by one, Jun Changxiao locked his gaze on the second item in the second row. It was a product with a thick book icon named—Thirty-Two Miraculous Gate Arrays [Improved Version].

Improved version?

Curious, he opened the details.

Item: Thirty-Two Miraculous Gate Arrays [Improved Version].

Description: This item was created by an Array Grandmaster from the Myriad Worlds Continent, who used his entire life’s energy to create thirty-two types of advanced arrays. It was later improved by a great expert and subdivided into Junior Grade Chapter, Mid-Grade Chapter, High-Grade Chapter, Supreme-Grade Chapter, and Transcendent-Grade Chapter.

Advantages: After improvement, the Thirty-Two Miraculous Gate Arrays are simpler to set up and suitable for beginners.

Price: 1000 Contribution Points.

Seeing the words “suitable for beginners,” Jun Changxiao’s eyes immediately lit up.

Although he had relied on the Array Aptitude Elixir to become a Junior Grade Array Master, he had no array-setting experience, which made him equivalent to a beginner.

The System sighed, “Came here planning to refresh array blueprints, but didn’t expect the host would directly refresh an entire array compendium. This luck is truly exceptional.”