“Senior Apprentice Sister, wait for me!”
Xue Mo dashed out of Anti-Upheaval’s encampment, leaving Chen Guangfa far behind. He had no choice but to rush after her and yell for her to wait up.
When she reached their new student recruitment area, she saw a vast, impenetrable sea of people.
“Step aside,” she said. The students waiting to join up couldn’t help but turn back and frown. However, when they saw that it was Xue Mo, their frowns hurriedly turned into smiles. They immediately cleared a path.
“No need to rush, everyone. Take it easy,” said Ye Zichen to the crowd. He hadn’t noticed Xue Mo’s arrival, and she made no noise. She simply stood there in a daze, staring at the mountain of treasure in astonishment.
“Society Head.” Bao Jingwu, who was keeping the crowd in order, caught a glimpse of Xue Mo out of the corner of his eye and called out to her.
In response, everyone who’d already signed themselves over to Anti-Upheaval straightened their backs and greeted her with the utmost respect.
When Ye Zichen heard that, he turned around and arched his brows. “You’re here.”
“You…” When she saw the smile on his face, Xue Mo furrowed her brows but said nothing. About eighty percent of her frown was because of that mountain of treasure. She’d seen Ye Zichen’s crystal card. She knew just how long he’d been in the God Realm.
He was a newbie! How could someone who’d only just ascended possess so many resources?
“Don’t look so shocked! I’m recruiting new members on your behalf!” Ye Zichen smiled at the surrounding students, old and new, then walked up to Xue Mo and whispered in her ear, “Since you’re already here, as our Society Head, don’t you think you ought to say something?”
Xue Mo froze, then a smile blossomed across her face. “Welcome, everyone, to our Anti-Upheaval Society. Although we have some unpleasant memories in our past, I, Xue Mo can guarantee that we won’t let you regret the choice you made today. One day, you’ll feel honored to have become a part of Anti-Upheaval.”
Xue Mo was a rare beauty to begin with, but when she set aside her usual icy expression, quite a few of the surrounding male students went mad for her.
Especially the brand new students. They’d refused to join Anti-Upheaval at first on account of some unpleasant rumors, but they’d had no idea Anti-Upheaval’s leader was such a striking beauty.
Before long, the number of wannabe recruits increased once more.
After Xue Mo said her piece, Ye Zichen smiled and chimed in, “The society head said it herself, so what are you waiting for? Anti-Upheaval welcomes you all!”
With that, Ye Zichen left the task of processing admission requests to Chen Guangfa and the others. They no longer needed to rush about scrambling for recruits. All they had to do was keep a record of their new recruits and have everyone sign the appropriate contract.
As for Ye Zichen himself, he took Xue Mo by the arm and led her away. She had quite a few questions to ask him, so after one final smile at the crowd, she followed him out of the recruitment zone.
“Don’t you think you should explain yourself?” she said as soon as they reached a less crowded space. Coincidentally, there were fountains and miniature mountains around, so Xue Mo stood beside the water as she crossed her arms and focused on Ye Zichen.
“Explain myself? Is there something wrong with your brain?” said Ye Zichen.
“Didn’t you only just arrive on the Divine Mountains? Where did you get all those resources? You really don’t think that’s worth explaining?”
“Who do you think you are?” Ye Zichen rolled his eyes irritably. “I’m recruiting new blood on your behalf. Aren’t you overstepping your bounds?”
“But are you sure your recruitment methods are reasonable?”
Xue Mo was clearly worried, but Ye Zichen had already thought this through. “You don’t need to worry about that. I modified the application form. Although it’s a little inhumane, once they’ve signed, they can forget about running away. Right, I’m telling you, you’d better reimburse me for the resources I’m spending on this.”
“Got it,” said Xue Mo.
Ye Zichen was stunned; he hadn’t expected her to agree so easily.
“Don’t look at me like that!” She said, “As Society Head, Anti-Upheaval was my problem to begin with. You only just joined us; I can’t possibly make you pay our expenses out of pocket.
“However, there’s something I must warn you about,” she continued, her eyes flashing with cold light. “I’ve got my eye on you. You’d better not be a spy from some other race or major power. Otherwise, if I find out about it…. Well, you already know the end result.”
Ye Zichen shrugged calmly. He knew his behavior would inevitably provoke suspicion. She’d get to know him over time, and in any event, he really wasn’t a double agent or spy, so there was nothing to be afraid of.
“I’ll leave new student recruitment up to you. I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll be on my way for now.” Ye Zichen waved Xue Mo goodbye.
She couldn’t help but frown. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to go excavate talent!”
Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and the welcoming ceremony had yet to begin, yet everyone in Skyspan Academy had already heard of the new student Ye Zichen.
Soon, they came up with an apt nickname for him: the excavator!
Over three days, he met with every platoon leader in the Grizzly Bear Society except Sun Jialing, as well as over thirty lieutenants. No one knew just what he promised them, but two platoon leaders and twenty other officers left the Grizzly Bears.
During this year’s recruitment, the Grizzly Bear Society hadn’t simply failed to grow stronger; their strength took a full-on nosedive.
Anti-Upheaval, meanwhile, now had over a hundred thousand members, including over three thousand sky supremes. They’d split into two platoons, each led by one of the former Grizzly Bear Society platoon leaders. This was one of their conditions for coming to Anti-Upheaval.
As for their other conditions, no one else knew.
One night, Xue Mo showed up at Ye Zichen’s doorstep. She was dressed as a scholar, and had a ring in her hands. “Hey, you spent way too much Supreme Pills during new student recruitment, so I can’t replace them all right away. I’ll have to use other goods and materials to make it up to you instead.”
Ordinary students had to stay in group housing. Although Skyspan Academy occupied an enormous swath of territory, there were too many students for everyone to have a private residence.
Within a Student Society, only platoon leaders and higher could have private rooms, and even then they shared a residence with each other and the Society Head.
“That’s fine. Go ahead and set it on the table,” said Ye Zichen without even looking at her. He was busy staring at his reflection and fussing with his clothes. The welcoming ceremony was nice, so he had to look his best.
Otherwise, how could he face the academy’s girls?
This wasn’t just him talking nonsense; Ye Zichen had only been here a few days, but he’d already won himself quite a few fans. Setting aside Anti-Upheaval’s promised benefits, just in terms of aesthetic appreciation….
The men joined up for Xue Mo, and the women…. Showed up because of Ye Zichen.
“Isn’t it just a welcome ceremony? Why are you dressed so formally?”
Ye Zichen smiled confidently. “Do you really think this ceremony is as simple as that?”
