Starting off in my scan, I determine the amount of people that need to be reviewed.
Around 12,300 people.
A truly massive amount. An even more terrifying amount, considering that around a third of them used to be cultivators. Which is an outsized part of the normal population, since normally, cultivators are very rare in the population.
The only reason that there are this many here… is that usually the nail that sticks out gets nailed down. And cultivators usually are the ones to stand out the most. And it seems that the solution for handling people who seriously irritated someone was to cripple them, both physically and in their development. Then throw them to the parasites to be tortured for the rest of their lives.
An open secret throughout the region.
Something that, since they are now healed, is both great and terrible.
These people are the ones who stood out the most. Whether its political dissidents, combative personalities, unfortunate victims, or in some cases, total psychopaths.
There’s even another category put in here that I’m having a hard time deciding how to handle.
Demonic cultivators.
I’m not sure what kind of idiot thought it would be a good idea to put former demonic cultivators with parasites that were originally created by demonic cultivators. Luckily (or not so luckily), they weren’t able to do anything about it, without cultivation or a way to access more powers.
Either way, that leaves me with a solid fact.
These people are going to raise absolute hell when woken up. Whether it’s with me or the world at large.
Depending on how I handle it, they could be a great asset or turn everyone in this area against me.
I rapidly opt to fill in Gong for an additional perspective.
Huh… this might be a good chance to use the jade slips to ask everyone in my private circle their thoughts.
Considering this, I pull out the slip and talk to Ai, Lin, Shi, Mei Lin, Sister Nuan, and even Xun.
“””Hey, what’s up?”””
They all instantly pickup, as if waiting for the call. And in such a synchronized way.
It’s a little creepy, honestly. Making me wonder if they planned that, in their secret talks to mess with me.
“I’m here with Gong and have a conundrum. Could I get your opinions on it?”
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I explain the details and my thoughts, which were to accept the vast majority into the group contract, with some of the variable people being determined case-by-case, of course with my scan. Of course, I go through the data I collected already on some of the problem ones.
There’s also the fact that this is a colossal amount of people to interject into my group.
At the moment, I have over 850 people in my group.
Adding 12,000 people in… would totally change the dynamics in the group.
The others naturally bring this up as a concern.
My scan tells me I could make it work, but it would take a lot of work… and a hierarchy of sorts. One method being that the people who have already been with the group have a greater say. Seniority.
Another goes off experience and contribution. But that may lead to others not helping each other as much.
Benefits and downsides all around.
That’s when Xun speaks up.
“I’m curious… do you know if any of the following people are in this group?”
She runs down a list of people’s names. Many of which aren’t in the group. However, it’s only a little less than half of her list of hundreds. But she seems satisfied. Quite a few of them are people who would be targeted in some way, if not protected. Others would be seriously volatile to have their cultivation back… and some don’t even need that to be dangerous.
“Hmm… I can take those off your hands. There are quite a few people who would be happy to have them back in safe hands. And for the others that no one wants… well, I can figure out a use for them.”
Curiously, two of the people she mentioned are demonic cultivators. Two of the five that I have on my hands. And my scan is telling me she won't torture any of them or allow them to be put in a bad situation.
“Thanks Xun, that definitely helps.”
“Of course, but make sure not to heal their cultivation back. I’ll use that as a temptation to buy their compliance.”
With her help, that’s around 400 or so people off the list.
Only 11,900 to go.
Sigh.
Lin raises a question.
“Do you really have to take most of them in?”
I sigh again, but now audibly.
“Sadly, yes. If we let them go free with no protection… they’ll be attacked, targeted, or experimented on. Whether because of their history, knowledge, or the fact that others will want to know how they were healed. Which would waste the healing done for them.”
I shake my head, even though I know only Gong can see it.
“Not only that, but almost all of them can be useful in some way… it’s just a risk, is all.”
Ai comes up with an idea, speaking softly.
“What if… we have them join the sect directly?”
Everyone pauses. Sister Nuan speaks to the group.
“…that could work, as long as you restore the cultivation of the ones that could be trusted and teach the ones that don’t have cultivation the OCS methods. With how effective your healing and optimization is, each of them should, at a minimum, have above average spirit roots.
“If so, the sect can receive numerous promising members. And there’s no way the sect would turn them away, even with the potential issues, since an above average spirit root cultivator has a great chance of becoming an inner court member, let alone outer court.”
She pauses to re-emphasize.
“This would be a massive contribution, even if you only sent half of them with that. The key will be working with them beforehand to make sure their personalities, issues, and actions won’t cause problems for the sect.”
…that’s the problem, though. If they were model people, then I wouldn’t be so worried about integrating them into my group…
It’s not the worst idea, though. One choice out of the many my scan had available, but it requires a lot of background work to make it happen, which is why I didn’t first consider it.
But this one could earn our group points with the sect, if we do this right.
“Okay… I think we might have to do something non-standard then, beforehand.”
I turn to Gong.
“Can you prepare massive underground space, away from the underground city, where we can build up temporary facilities, to move them all into? That way, I can sort through the people in a sane manner.”
I think it’s time I do some rehabilitation measures.