<h4>Chapter 1167: Chapter 1174: Skyhawk Pavilion (2)</h4>


    "However, I have secretly investigated some matters," Tong Zhentian said. "Ever since I learned of the existence of the Skyhawk Pavilion, I began to pay attention to many things. In the past, masters or some forces in the Martial Arts world would disappear without a trace, and at first, not many people cared. Butter, I discovered that these incidents were likely the work of the Skyhawk Pavilion. Who else but the Skyhawk Pavilion could wipe out a faction overnight? Moreover, every time such an event urred, the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion would be the first to voice condemnation of the perpetrators, then send people to investigate. Although the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion puts on a show, they did indeed capture many people. However, those they captured were rarely made public and instead were secretly executed, with everyone told that justice had been served. I investigated several simr cases, and those captured by the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion were not the culprits but rather people who opposed them. Using the pretense of capturing murderers, the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion framed and falsely used them, then openly dealt with their opponents."


    "Among these events, what left the deepest impression on me was the death of a master from the Heavenly List. This Heavenly List master had publicly used the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion of being a den of corruption and called on Martial Arts figures to unite against it. However, half a yearter, it was discovered that the Heavenly List master died at home, reportedly from a sudden illness. Many believed it, but I did not, because I knew him. That person was very robust, and even if he were ill, he could not have died so suddenly. Therefore, I suspected the Skyhawk Pavilion murdered him - only they had the motive. This suggests the Skyhawk Pavilion’s power is terrifying, possessing the ability to eliminate a Heavenly List master."


    After hearing Tong Zhentian’s ount, Ling Chen gently nodded. Ling Chen was not repulsed by the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion’s actions because this was quite normal. As Tong Zhentian said, everything has two sides - this world is just like that. Not only the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, even he had done simr things. As a major power, eliminating potential threats and consolidating one’s position is perfectly normal and not surprising.


    However, what Ling Chen worried about now was that since the Skyhawk Pavilion was so powerful, they had to act cautiously and not give the Skyhawk Pavilion an opportunity to strike.


    Seeing Ling Chen in deep thought, Tong Zhentian spoke, "I told you all this just as a reminder. As for whether Su He will engage the Skyhawk Pavilion, that’s still unknown. Furthermore, given the Skyhawk Pavilion’s operating style, all we can do is defensively react. Presently, it’s a good time for us to grow quickly."


    Ling Chen understood Tong Zhentian’s intention. The rich resources disyed by Dragon Tiger Hall today were enough to attract arge number of people to join, which was indeed a good beginning.


    After Tong Zhentian left, Ling Chen rested for most of the day. Under the careful care of Wanqing and the others, his injuries healed quickly. In the afternoon, Ling Chen asked Nanrong Wanqing and the others to go home first and, apanied by Tang Guolun, went to the main control room on the underground second floor.


    At this time, everyone was busy handling various affairs. Tang Guolun mentioned that since the morning, Hu Fei had not properly rested.


    Seeing the busy Hu Fei in front of theputer, Ling Chen approached and greeted, "Hey, fatty, how’s it going?"


    Hu Fei pointed to the stack of documents beside him, eyes on theputer screen, and said without turning his head, "I definitely have to work overtime today, with half the data still unfinished."


    Ling Chen casually picked up a document, nced at the filled information, and asked, "Whose data is this?"


    "Who else could it be? It’s naturally those wanting to join Dragon Tiger Hall. Old Man Tong had all the data collected, over two hundred files, and asked me to investigate each of them thoroughly. My staff is limited, and the workload is so heavy, hey! You need to raise our pay," Hu Feiined discontentedly.


    Ling Chen patted Hu Fei’s shoulder with a smile, encouraging him, "Do a good job, take this chance to lose some weight, and maybe beautiful women will notice youter."


    "Get outta here, it’s my chubby figure that the beauties love."


    After a few jokes, Ling Chen didn’t disturb Hu Fei’s work any further and returned to the main building with Tang Guolun. Ling Chen understood Tong Zhentian’s request. Although Dragon Tiger Hall needed to absorb arge amount of fresh blood, they couldn’t be too casual in recruiting people. Rather go without than hire unsuitable individuals - that’s the standard. Those wanting to join Dragon Tiger Hall needed to have clean backgrounds and not engage in criminal activities. Furthermore, if they previously belonged to another faction, Dragon Tiger Hall would reject their application.


    Who knew if they were genuinely eager to join Dragon Tiger Hall or just spies wanting to steal martial arts secrets from Dragon Tiger Hall.


    In short, it’s not about how strong your skills are, but your character passing muster and having a clean background to meet Dragon Tiger Hall’s recruitment standards.


    There weren’t many who met this standard, and Hu Fei worked overtime through the night to finally clear up the background checks of those applicants. Out of more than two hundred applicants, only about forty met the criteria.


    What surprised Ling Chen was that Tian Hanzhong was also on the list of applicants, and he passed the preliminary review. It turned out that initially, Tong Zhentian wanted to ept Tian Hanzhong as a Registered Disciple, but during the assessment, they found Tian Hanzhong’s qualifications quite ordinary, not meeting his requirements, so he could only dissuade him.


    Although Tian Hanzhong was introduced by Ling Chen, Tong Zhentian didn’t like to base such matters on personal connections. Martial Arts inheritance is a very serious matter and can’t be chosen carelessly. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be beneficial for either party.


    Nheless, getting the opportunity to join Dragon Tiger Hall was indeed a stroke of luck for Tian Hanzhong.


    Among the forty-plus individuals joining Dragon Tiger Hall, only about ten had barely passable martial arts skills, while the others were quite average. Fortunately, it wasn’t their aptitude that was average. For better training and improvement, Ling Chen split them into two groups and used different methods for their cultivation. Fortunately, these individuals had solid foundations, so there’s no need to start from scratch - only to choose martial arts suitable for them for teaching, quickly enabling them to be elites.


    In the aspect of martial arts teaching, after discussions between Ling Chen and Tong Zhentian, it was decided to conduct the teaching in stages. They were well aware that the major attraction for these people joining Dragon Tiger Hall was the martial arts secrets. If everything were given at once, they might all run away the next day. Therefore, gradually imparting skills was best. In the meantime, as long as their sense of belonging to Dragon Tiger Hall was strengthened, there shouldn’t be any major problems with retention.


    Apart from the training of martial arts figures, Dragon Tiger Hall also began to recruit disciples externally and set up many youth sses. This was a request proposed by Tong Zhentian; those children would be the future of the martial arts world. Only by nurturing from a young age and instilling the right concepts could the Huaxia martial arts world truly rejuvenate.