Chapter 73: Dahlia’s Brutal Recruitment Begins
The young cultivators lined up nervously on the beach. Some were whispering, others stared at Dahlia who stood confidently in front of them.
Garion leaned lazily against the fallen log, watching her with an amused grin.
"Alright, Dahlia. Show me how you plan to ’test’ them."
Dahlia smirked.
"Easy. We’ll start with appearance."
The entire crowd froze.
"Appearance?"
Dahlia nodded proudly.
"Yes. Appreciation and body build. You don’t expect to be part of God Gym looking like weak people, do you?"
Garion chuckled quietly, saying nothing. He was enjoying this.
Dahlia walked slowly in front of the rows of rectuirst, scanning them up and down.
Some straightened their backs nervously. Others puffed out their chests, trying to look confident.
She stopped in front of a tall young man with quite a big build.
"Hmm. Nice arms, solid shoulders, and you actually look like you’ve done some heavy lifting. You pass."
The man blinked.
"Uh... thank you?"
She moved on to the next one. A scrwany boy who looked like he hadn’t eaten in a week.
Dahlia stared for a long moment, then sighed.
"Do you even have bones, or are you made of noodles?"
The boy stammered, "I-I can use mana, miss. I’m already at..."
Dahlia cut him off with a smile that wasn’t really a smile.
"Mana? Don’t you know that we’re body cultivators? We focused more on the body than mana! Fail!"
The boy’s face turned pale as she waved him off.
Dahlia continued walking down the line, pointing people left and right.
"You pass. You fail. You are too thin. You are too sleepy. You... nice hair, but terrible body. Fail."
After half an hour, a big group of rejected recruits stood aside, staring in disbelief.
By the time she was done, only three hundred people remained.
That meant five hundred forty-one people had been eliminated just because they’re ugly or have a weak body.
The air grew heavy with tension as whispers spread among the rejected group.
"This is ridiculous! You’re judging by looks!"
"Yeah! This isn’t a beauty contest!"
"You can’t just choose the pretty ones! That’s discrimination!"
Garion crossed his arms, watching quietly as Dahlia turned to face the angry group.
Her expression didn’t change. She still had the same calm, confident smile.
"Oh? You think I’m being unfair?"
"Of course!" one of them yelled.
"You didn’t even test our strength of mana!"
Dahlia raised an eyebrow.
"Didn’t you hear what I said before?"
She took a step forward, her voice firm but smooth.
"God Gym cultivators are body cultivators. Our training focuses on the body, and your body type matters more than how flashy your mana is."
She paused, her eyes scanning the group.
"If your body isn’t strong enough, you won’t even survive a day of our training."
She shrugged.
"So yes, I chose based on appearance. Because appearance tells me everything I need to know."
Some of the youths scoffed.
"That’s nonsense!"
Dahlia smiled wider, pointing at the nearest complainer.
"Really? Then come here. Show me what you’ve got."
The boy stepped forward confidently, clearly offended.
He threw a punch toward the air, releasing a small burst of amna that cracked the sand.
"See that? Strength!"
Dahlia nodded.
"Not bad. Now... my turn."
She flicked her wrist casually, and the air split with a BOOM, and the shockwave threw the boy off his feet, sending him tumbling into the sand like a ragdoll.
Everyone went silent.
Dahlia crossed her arms.
"See? Your body isn’t strong enough to even withstand my aura, let alone my punch."
The crowd flinched as Dahlia’s gaze turned toward them again.
"I don’t care if you’re a man or a woman, rich or poor. But I do care if your body can keep up. If you’ve trained your body properly, it’ll show."
She pointed at the three hundred who passed.
"These people? They might not all be perfect, but they have a solid foundation. That’s why they passed."
Silence followed her words. Even the elder couldn’t help but nod slightly at her logic.
Garion stepped forward, smiling proudly.
"Well said, Dahlia. Looks like I trained you well."
Dahlia smirked and shrugged,
"Of course. I learned from the best."
Garion turned toward the elder and the remaining recruits.
"Alright then, that settles the first selection. The rest can return to the ship."
The elder nodded and signalled the young cultivators.
The rejected group began walking back, some still grumbling but no longer daring to argue after seeing Dahlia’s strength.
Garion then turned back to the three hundred disciples.
"Alright, now that there are only three hundred of you left, I need to make something clear."
He pointed his finger at them, going from left to right.
"Out of you three hundred... I’ll only be choosing one hundred."
Gasps and whispers erupted throughout the group immediately.
"What?!"
"Only a hundred?"
"That’s less than half!"
Garion simply smiled, letting their shock settle for a moment, then he muttered under his breath.
"Hmm... but this will be troublesome and quite long if I have to test them one by one."
He crossed his arms, thinking out loud.
"And besides, most of them probably can’t even understand my special training methods yet, like squats, push-ups, and planks."
Dahlia tilted her head.
"Then what will you do, Master?"
Garion smirked slightly as he thought.
"Just watch. I have an idea."
He thought to himself.
’The system got upgraded recently... maybe it can help me with this.’
He then tried to call the system.
’System, can you select the one hundred suitable outer disciples and maybe... one potential personal disciple from these three hundred?’
For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then suddenly...
Exactly one hundred bright arrows of light appeared above the crowd, hovering over certain individuals.
Then, in the center of the group, one arrow stood out as it shone gold.
Garion grinned, folding his arms, feeling satisfied.
"Wow... I didn’t think that would actually work. Looks like the system’s even smarter than I thought."
The remaining cultivators stood frozen, glancing nervously at another as Garion’s grin widened.