10,000x Cultivation: I Gain Power by Adopting Training Acolytes

The hall fell silent as all eyes turned to Zhang Yun on the platform."Zhang Yun, have you lost your mind?" Meng Zhong spat, breaking the quiet.Ignoring him, Zhang Yun calmly addressed Xu Ming below. "Do you swear to become my disciple?"Xu Ming snapped out of his daze and answered without hesitation, "I do!""Good! From this moment, you are my first disciple!" Zhang Yun smiled."I object!" Meng Zhong's voice boomed.Zhang Yun frowned."Sect Master!" Meng Zhong turned to the violet-robed figure overseeing the ceremony. "Though he bears the title of Ninth Elder, Zhang Yun has never taken a disciple. His judgment is clearly flawed! Accepting this cripple wastes our sect's resources. I demand his recruitment rights be revoked!""A cripple?" Zhang Yun chuckled coldly."What's so amusing?" Meng Zhong glowered."Your ignorance amuses me!" Zhang Yun retorted. "What you deem a cripple, I see as a genius!""Genius?!" The word rippled through the crowd like a shockwave. Even the sect master leaned forward slightly.Meng Zhong burst into mocking laughter. "Zhang Yun, did your qi deviation fry your brain? A shattered spiritual root—a genius? Let's settle this! If you're so confident, let's wager!""Wager how?""A test of teaching!" Meng Zhong gestured to two gray boulders in the training area. "We'll each instruct our new disciples—your 'genius' and my low-grade recruit Nie Zhi. After one hour of guidance, whose disciple inflicts greater damage on the Martial Stones wins. If you lose, surrender your recruitment rights!"Zhang Yun raised an eyebrow. "And if I win?""Impossible!""Then why hesitate? Add stakes—10,000 spirit stones if I lose. But when I win…" Zhang Yun's gaze sharpened. "You'll pay me 10,000 for your slander."Gasps filled the hall. The sum equaled five years of an elder's stipend.Meng Zhong's face flushed. "You're mad!""Afraid?" Zhang Yun echoed Meng Zhong's earlier taunt."Done!" Meng Zhong snarled. "Nie Zhi! Demonstrate your 'mediocrity'!"The white-robed youth stepped forward confidently, selecting a long blade from the weapon rack. His initial strike left a fingernail-deep groove in the stone.Meng Zhong critiqued loudly for all to hear: "Flawed footwork! Wasted motions! True power comes from economy of movement—first strike gauges balance, second shifts grip, third unleashes full force!"Following the instructions, Nie Zhi adjusted. His third two-handed slash carved a palm-width crevice, stone fragments spraying across the floor.The crowd murmured in awe. Meng Zhong smirked. "Your turn, Ninth Elder."Zhang Yun sighed dramatically."Already conceding?" Meng Zhong jeered."I mourn for Nie Zhi." Zhang Yun shook his head. "Under your 'guidance,' he barely taps half his potential.""Arrogant fool!" Meng Zhong spat. "Let's see your miracle!"Without another word, Zhang Yun descended to the weapon racks. The sect master's gaze followed, intrigued. Xu Ming stood trembling, hope and dread warring in his hollow eyes.