A Pawn's Passage

The newlyweds only stayed in Yunjin Mountain for a few days.

Over these few days, Qi Xuansu did little besides constantly meeting all types of relatives. The Zhang family was truly a big clan. He had met at least 100 family members from all generations, and these were only the ones who had the status or connections necessary to meet Qi Xuansu. There were even more who did not qualify.

By the end of it, even Zhang Yuelu was getting confused, because she did not recognize many of them either. Some were cousins whom she was meeting for the first time. This was the downside of belonging to such a large clan. Many relatives were akin to strangers. They could very well pass one another on the streets without even recognizing their own kin.

Qi Xuansu had originally wanted to explore the Dazhen Mansion, but he never managed to get his way.

However, there would be plenty of opportunities in the future. Qi Xuansu would inevitably be visiting the Dazhen Mansion again.

As Zhang Yuelu’s marriage leave drew to a close, the newlyweds had no choice but to bid farewell to the Zhang family and return to Jade Capital.

This time, they hitched a ride aboard the Heavenly Preceptor’s flying ship, as the Heavenly Preceptor was also returning to Jade Capital to prepare for the handover with the Imperial Preceptor as the Great Sage Lunzhi.

Meanwhile, Zhang Wuyue headed directly to the Southern Continent with a group of people from the Zhengyi Sect.

This time, Zhang Wuyue had made full use of every advantage available to him. Relying on his recently earned good reputation, the prestige of Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu, and the rare opportunity of having so many Zhang family members gathered in one place, he managed to negotiate quite a few arrangements. Many members of the Zhengyi Sect were also interested in investing in the Southern Continent and planned to accompany Zhang Wuyue there to take a look for themselves, effectively conducting an on-site inspection.

Zhang Wuyue was acting like a middleman to bring in investors, while Huangfu Ji’s side would be responsible for receiving them. These people had plenty of idle funds on hand and wanted to put their money to work, while the Western Daoist Order was only just getting started and urgently needed external capital. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Although the Western Daoist Order would not give Zhang Wuyue any kickbacks, the arrangement would bring the two sides closer together. The Western Daoist Order would offer various preferential policies and other forms of support. This was not an underhanded scheme, but rather a mutually agreeable arrangement between willing parties.

If, one day in the future, New Port managed to take off and subsequently drive the development of the Southern Continent as a whole, Zhang Wuyue would deserve a share of the credit.

In that sense, this was the work of a proper merchant, a major one too.

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu’s return to Jade Capital this time was mainly for two matters.

The first matter was Zhang Yuelu’s formal return to Tiangang Hall. After going full circle, Zhang Yuelu had finally returned to the Tiangang Hall she knew so well. Following the setback she suffered in Nanyang, Zhang Yuelu had reflected deeply on the experience and decided to heed Qi Xuansu’s advice. She would slow down and accumulate strength. Thus, her primary task upon returning to Tiangang Hall was not to push through any reforms but to identify outstanding talents to build a team of her own, especially those who were ideologically dependable, of good character, loyal to the Daoist Order, and possessed strong ideals and convictions.

As far back as when Qi Xuansu first joined Tiangang Hall, it had already been the hall with the highest proportion of wild Daoists. Most wild Daoists lacked powerful family backgrounds, which meant they had fewer concerns and were entangled in fewer vested interests. As a result, they were more likely to support Zhang Yuelu’s reforms.

Thus, Zhang Yuelu could recruit talent from Tiangang Hall far more effectively than from the local Daoist Mansions. No matter the region, the Daoist Mansions would inevitably be riddled with deeply entrenched local factions and networks.

Chen Jianchou was a perfect example. On the surface, he seemed like a young man with no particular background and a clean slate, but upon closer examination, one would discover all sorts of intricate connections behind him. While he remained an insignificant figure, these connections seemed like a stretch. But the moment he rose to prominence, the people at the other ends of those connections would come knocking on their own initiative, making it very difficult to guarantee his independence from such entanglements.

This time, Zhang Yuelu intended to identify and cultivate a reserve of talented people. Their cultivation levels were secondary. What mattered most were their convictions and character. She did not expect these people to play any significant role right now. Rather, she was planning for the long term. If that day truly came, and either she or Qi Xuansu became the Grand Master, these people should have grown as well, becoming a force that could help them transform the Daoist Order.

Moreover, unlike the restrictions Qi Xuansu had faced in Beichen Hall, Tiangang Hall was Zhang Yuelu’s turf. Sage Cihang would not obstruct her and would even listen to her opinions. Zhang Yuelu could easily maneuver certain personnel appointments and transfers to achieve her objectives.

As for other matters, Zhang Yuelu would not make any rash moves for the time being.

The patience she exercised now was for the sake of a future victory.

Changing the Daoist Order was not something that could be accomplished through a momentary surge of hot-blooded passion. It was a long and arduous process that might take an entire lifetime, or perhaps even longer. Thus, one had to know when to advance and when to retreat. Methods and strategy were important, as the line between seeking a quick victory and defeat was exceedingly thin. One had to have the resolve and the preparation to wage a drawn-out war.

Thus, Zhang Yuelu had reflected on her past actions and had drawn lessons from her experiences, correcting her mindset and approach.

Zhang Yuelu was certainly not perfect. She could be overly aggressive, and she could make mistakes, but she was by no means a reckless fool driven by passion.

The second matter was Qi Xuansu’s appointment as the Wanxiang Daoist Palace Master, a position directly beneath Great Sage Shi.

This had been decided long ago, so there was nothing surprising about it.

Since the relevant ceremonies had already been conducted when Qi Xuansu was promoted to Omniscient Sage, he was only given an official letter of appointment this time.

Sage Donghua spoke with Qi Xuansu as a formality and even joked, “There should be no need to send anyone to escort you to your new post this time, right? After all, you’re most familiar with the place.”

Qi Xuansu had grown up in the Wanxiang Daoist Palace. Just as Zhang Yuelu’s return to Tiangang Hall was like returning home, so was Qi Xuansu’s return to the Wanxiang Daoist Palace.

Naturally, Qi Xuansu had no need for anyone to escort him there.

There was not much to say about Qi Xuansu’s new position, nor would he need to concern himself with the day-to-day administration. Education was a long-term undertaking, and it was difficult to produce any obvious results in the short term. If all he did was make minor adjustments and patch up small problems, then compared with the things Qi Xuansu had handled in the past, these would merely be trivial matters that he could take care of along the way.

Thus, Sage Donghua had only one requirement. Qi Xuansu was to focus on the ideological side of things, beginning with areas such as mental fortitude, ideals, convictions, and moral character. He was expected to approach matters from a broader perspective and produce something impressive and substantive. Ideally, there should be fresh ideas that could bring about a new atmosphere, rather than simply rehashing the same old platitudes.

Qi Xuansu was also aware of this. He had even considered whether he should put together a dedicated team specifically for this purpose. In essence, it would be similar to the book-compilation projects commissioned by emperors in the past.

This position as the Wanxiang Daoist Palace Master was more of an intermediate transition. Once Qi Xuansu had produced some impressive work, he would move on to serve as a Mansion Master, truly taking charge of an entire region.

Up to this point, Qi Xuansu had never truly taken sole responsibility for an entire region. Even when he served as Chief Deputy of the Poluo Daoist Mansion, Chief Deputy of Beichen Hall, and even now as Palace Master, there had always been a superior above him. Only upon reaching the level of Mansion Master could he truly be considered capable of independently taking charge of an entire domain.

A Daoist Mansion was essentially a microcosm of the Daoist Order. Serving as a Mansion Master was akin to an advanced apprenticeship in governing the Daoist Order itself. With the exception of the Holy Xuan, every Grand Master throughout history had experience independently governing a Daoist Mansion, including the sixth-generation Grand Master.

The next benchmark above that was becoming a Sage Commander. Such a position would usually involve multiple Daoist Mansions and Daoist Halls, requiring the Sage Commander to integrate, coordinate, and oversee them. It could be considered a rehearsal for becoming the Grand Master. Essentially, anyone capable of becoming a Sage Commander would inevitably be considered a prospective candidate for Grand Master.

For example, Sage Qingwei was the Sage Commander in the Fenglin War. The conflict involved not only the Fenglin Daoist Mansion but also the Liaodong Daoist Mansion, Qizhou Daoist Mansion, Jiangnan Daoist Mansion, as well as Tiangang Hall, Beichen Hall, Tianji Hall, and Duzhi Hall. Sage Qingwei had to oversee and coordinate all of them.

This was a position that could only be held by someone with prestige, ability, and formidable personal strength.

Compared with the responsibilities of a Sage Commander, what the Grand Master did merely encompassed a broader scope and greater authority. But their fundamental nature was not all that different.

Of course, the Daoist Order had no explicit requirement that a prospective Grand Master must have served as a Sage Commander, because wars could not simply be summoned at will. If no large-scale conflict occurred, there was nothing anyone could do about it. One could only say that experience as a Sage Commander was an enormous advantage, and if one had also achieved the feat of expanding the Daoist Order’s territory, that would be a bonus.

The fifth-generation Grand Master had served as a Sage Commander. More importantly, he had successfully risen to the position of Grand Master on the strength of his illustrious military achievements in conquering East Shakya.

By contrast, the sixth-generation Grand Master lacked such experience and consequently suffered from insufficient prestige.

Since ancient times, prestige had always been won on the battlefield. Of course, this was also a double-edged sword. If one ended up losing the war, it would instead become an enormous stain on one’s record.

By the time of the seventh-generation disciples, the Western Region War and the Fenglin War had broken out in succession, with Sage Donghua and Sage Qingwei serving as Sage Commander, respectively. However, both conflicts were campaigns to suppress rebellions and could not compare with a war of territorial expansion. Moreover, the opponents they faced were not of the same caliber as the Westerners confronted by the fifth-generation Grand Master. Thus, neither of them possessed an advantage as great as the one the fifth-generation Grand Master had enjoyed.

Sage Cihang lacked this kind of experience, which was why she was regarded as having little hope of becoming the Grand Master.

With Qi Xuansu taking up the position of Palace Master this time, he would also assemble a team of his own. The position of secretary had already been decided and would go to Yan Yongzhen. After working together over the past few days, Qi Xuansu was quite satisfied with him.

Next came the two positions of Deputy Palace Master. The last time Qi Xuansu went to the Wanxiang Daoist Palace because of Little Yin’s affair, he had brought down two Deputy Palace Masters, so those two positions were still vacant. Qi Xuansu decided to fill them with his own people. One of them was Lu Yujue, who had chosen to stand on Qi Xuansu’s side against the Li family. The other was Cheng Lixue.

Cheng Lixue had a blemish on his record, but he was also capable. He had already been a prominent figure during his time at the Wanxiang Daoist Palace and was several cohorts senior to Qi Xuansu. He had been a Superintendent since the Fenglin Campaign. After so many years, with his military achievements and seniority, coupled with the added advantage of being an alumnus of the Wanxiang Daoist Palace, he was more than qualified to serve as the lowest-ranking Deputy Palace Master.

After all, Lu Yujue had come from Beichen Hall and would eventually follow Qi Xuansu to a local Daoist Mansion, so Qi Xuansu still needed someone familiar with the Wanxiang Daoist Palace to assist him and remain there after his tenure. As such, Cheng Lixue was comparatively well suited for that role.

Madam Wu’s appointment had officially come through as well. She would serve as the Great Sage of the Western Region Daoist Mansion.