Chapter 1241: Three Benefits

The others were looking at Jiang Chen with some puzzlement. Was the Young Master Zhen perhaps grasping at straws in his desperation?

Since ancient times, countless powerful factions had attempted to rally independent cultivators to their cause, to harness the strength of loose cultivators, but virtually none had ever succeeded.

The number of independent cultivators under heaven was beyond counting — more numerous than fish crossing a river. No single sect, no single faction could possibly absorb them all.

Moreover, independent cultivators were not easy people to deal with. They tended toward eccentric personalities that made them difficult to get along with, or toward competitiveness that made them impossible to manage.

To put it bluntly, when an independent cultivator was alone, many of them were stronger than any sect disciple. But when gathered together, independent cultivators were nothing more than a ragtag mob, utterly incapable of matching organized sect forces.

To draw an analogy: one independent cultivator versus one sect disciple of equal strength, both stripped of any heaven-defying treasures, fighting on equal terms — more often than not, the independent cultivator would come out ahead.

The independent cultivator's world was far more brutal. They were always wandering the wilds, liable to lose their lives at any moment, and so their survival instincts and adaptability far surpassed those of sect disciples.

However, place a hundred independent cultivators against a hundred sect disciples, and the situation looked entirely different. At equal overall strength, those hundred independent cultivators would be slaughtered by a hundred well-trained sect disciples — without any suspense whatsoever.

Sect disciples had been bound by sect doctrine since childhood, lived under sect discipline, received collective training, possessed group awareness, and understood how to coordinate with one another.

Independent cultivators, on the other hand, had always looked out only for themselves, each one operating on their own terms.

For precisely this reason, recruiting independent cultivators and relying on them to expand one's power had long been considered a fool's errand in the cultivation world.

Countless sect powerhouses had tried it. Either they ended up humiliated and defeated, starting strong but finishing weak. Or the effort fizzled out with nothing to show for it.

Some had even ruined their reputations entirely, tarnishing legacies that had taken a lifetime to build.

The independent cultivator community was simply too complex — it could not be handled through brute force or authority alone.

Jiang Chen's smile did not fade as he met everyone's gaze with leisurely composure. He could read the puzzlement in their eyes clearly enough.

But Jiang Chen was unfazed. He encouraged the speaker: "Brother Mo, keep going. Whatever problems you see, lay them all out on the table. Feasible or not, we'll discuss it all at the end. I want you to raise every concern you have first."

"There are many problems. To summarize: independent cultivators are difficult to manage, they each do as they please, no one respects anyone else's authority, and one plus one produces less than two — sometimes even less than one. Though I myself came from the independent cultivator world, I have no intention of slandering them. A single independent cultivator is certainly stronger than most sect disciples. But a group of independent cultivators simply cannot compare to a group of sect disciples."

"Young Master, since ancient times, how many powerhouses have entertained the notion of gathering independent cultivators to serve their ends? Yet very few have ever truly succeeded."

"There was one instance — the Ancient Demon Sealing War. That was an era when sect forces and independent cultivator factions reached a reconciliation. Countless independent cultivator powerhouses rendered extraordinary service during the Ancient Demon Sealing War." Emperor Nian actually knew a thing or two about ancient lore.

The ancient era?

That was, after all, impossibly distant — so remote that only fragmentary records remained.

Jiang Chen nodded. "I'm well aware of the drawbacks of independent cultivators. However, I firmly believe that independent cultivators are all different in temperament, and not every one of them is impossible to deal with. Look at you, Brother Mo — you're a standout figure among independent cultivators, as are the Geng brothers. You're all independent cultivators, yet you possess many qualities that sect powerhouses lack. You don't fuss over trivialities, you honor your word, you're not pretentious, you don't play endless mind games. You draw clear lines between gratitude and grudge…"

Mo Wushuang burst into hearty laughter. "These qualities — plenty of sect powerhouses have them too. You can't paint everyone with the same brush."

"Exactly. You can't paint everyone with the same brush. So among independent cultivators, there must be gold — there must be hidden gems, people whose talents have gone unrecognized. I want to hold this Independent Cultivator Assembly, and I have three motivations. Everyone, hear me out."

When they heard Jiang Chen put it this way, every face in the room turned serious, and they listened with full attention.

"First: the independent cultivator world has people like you, Brother Mo, and the Geng brothers — straightforward, open people who struck a chord with me the moment we met. That tells me the independent cultivator world is full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Even if I merely sift through a pile of sand and pluck out a few nuggets of gold, that alone is a tremendous harvest. Second: when it comes to spreading good news or bad news, what community does it better than any other? Independent cultivators! Our Radiant Celestial City is going to establish an academy of alchemy. If every independent cultivator in the world is talking about it, just imagine the influence that creates. Third: our Radiant Celestial City is currently beset by rumors. No matter how many times we refute them, the outside world will believe the Peacock Great Emperor is gone, will believe our Radiant Celestial City is finished. So we need to seize this opportunity to send a clear message to the world — the Radiant Celestial City is far from finished. On the contrary, we will grow stronger! More prosperous than ever!"

Jiang Chen explained everything in meticulous detail. When he finished, the room fell into a prolonged silence.

After thinking it over carefully, they realized that Young Master Zhen's words made a great deal of sense.

Mo Wushuang mused, "Young Master, I didn't realize you'd thought this deeply and this far ahead. If your plan isn't to recruit massive numbers of independent cultivators, then I think it's perfectly workable. But if you try to absorb a huge flood of them, mixing sand with grain, dragons with fish — the costs could easily outweigh the benefits."

Jiang Chen chuckled. "Since ancient times, it's been better to go without than to settle for less. An army's strength lies in quality, not quantity; a general's power lies in strategy, not just valor. Our Radiant Celestial City hasn't fallen so low that we need to prop ourselves up with hordes of independent cultivators. What I'm saying is that the independent cultivator world is full of hidden talent — many people who could have had far better futures are drifting through the mundane world, wandering the independent cultivator life, wasting their years and squandering their gifts."

Mo Wushuang fell into contemplation. He thought of everything Jiang Chen had given him — especially the Sky Whale bloodline — and felt his heart swell with genuine agreement with Jiang Chen's words.

"Young Master, rest easy. With whatever reputation this old face of mine still carries, I'll definitely round up a group of capable people for you," Mo Wushuang pledged.