A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 1416: The Instructors

Once Zhang Jucheng agreed to handle the matter, Qi Xuansu stopped worrying about it. At the level of an Omniscient Sage, it was a basic skill to deal with political enemies. There was no need for a junior like Qi Xuansu to instruct Zhang Jucheng on how to do so.

Qi Xuansu had simply handed Zhang Jucheng a blade. But whether to stab, slash, or cleave depended entirely on the wielder.

Some might argue that Qi Xuansu had no evidence proving Li Tianlan was behind it. But this was not a trial. Power struggles did not require evidence.

It was sufficient that Qi Xuansu had determined the matter was likely tied to the Taiping Sect. Zhang Yuelu had already traced things to the Kunlun Daoist Mansion, so its Mansion Master Li Wuji was the prime suspect. The Zhengyi Sect and Quanzhen Sect were not completely cleared of suspicion, but they lacked motive, so they were not the focus.

Qi Xuansu did not need hard proof, only a reasonable judgment. If he was wrong, then it meant he had made a poor move and fallen into someone else’s trap. That would be his own responsibility.

At present, Qi Xuansu believed members of the Taiping Sect were behind it. Even if Li Tianlan himself was not directly involved, striking down a Taiping Sect Second Deputy would still count as a powerful counterattack.

This was all taught to him by Madam Qi. One must never approach such matters with a problem-solving mindset, as they had no predefined boundaries.

Power struggles were not like assigned tasks, where one should solve within a given framework. That was not how real conflict operates. Often, one must break free from the framework entirely to understand the situation.

Of course, engaging in this kind of struggle constantly was both mentally and physically exhausting. That was why so many people talked about leaving the arena of power to live in seclusion.

Since Qi Xuansu was in his prime, he was still full of energy and ambition. He neither felt fatigue nor resentment.

He had set three goals for himself:

Seize power.

Establish unparalleled achievements.

Leave his name in history.

Even if he lost much along the way, he would be satisfied as long as his name endured in the annals of history.

A true man should aspire to nothing less.

Next, Qi Xuansu would be heading to the Wanxiang Daoist Palace with Huangfu Ji.

At first, Qi Xuansu believed this matter was also secretly orchestrated by the Taiping Sect. But after careful investigation, he realized things were not that simple.

The Wanxiang Daoist Palace was located deep within Quanzhen Sect territory, and most of its students eventually joined Quanzhen Sect. Thus, it was heavily influenced by the Quanzhen Sect, followed by the Grand Master’s lineage and the Zhengyi Sect. The Taiping Sect had little reach here, and the Li family had minimal presence within the institution.

Qi Xuansu did not believe that Little Yin being ostracized was merely a coincidence.

Taking advantage of the ceremony, Qi Xuansu met with Ning Yuqing to discuss the situation at Wanxiang Daoist Palace.

Ning Yuqing revealed some insider details, which involved factional issues.

These factions were not based on bloodlines but on teacher-student relationships in the Wanxiang Daoist Palace.

The Zhang-Li rivalry involved not just interests but governance philosophy. Similarly, factions within the Wanxiang Daoist Palace included ideological disputes about academic directions.

For example, one side might advocate steam technology, while another championed talismanic arts. Initially, it was a scholarly debate on paper, with counterarguments. But once disagreements escalated, it would turn into factionalism and personal attacks, often just as vicious as political struggles in Jade Capital.

There were five levels of instructors in the Wanxiang Daoist Palace that corresponded to their Daoist ranks.

Special-Rank Golden-Purple Instructors held a status equivalent to Deputy Hall Masters, Deputy Mansion Masters, and Deputy Palace Masters.

They could mobilize significant resources, including large amounts of Taiping coins, to fund academic and technological research.

With money, power, and status, these instructors formed their own elite circles.

Their factional mentality was far stronger than outsiders could imagine.

Ning Yuqing gave an example. When a Special-Rank Golden-Purple Instructor passed away, his library had already been reassigned before his funeral was even completed. Many of his books were labeled forbidden and destroyed.

Upon inquiry, it turned out that the deceased instructor’s longtime rival had claimed the library. Once a person dies, their influence fades. His disciples could not stop the rival, so his works were destroyed.

Most of his achievements were essentially erased because those books, notes, materials, and drafts in this library were the lifelong work of the deceased Special-Rank Golden-Purple Instructor.

There was no real way to regulate such matters. If scholars wanted to find fault, they could fabricate a hundred criticisms even where none exist. There were reasons why something was labeled forbidden. Unless the dead could return to argue, there was no winning the debate.

The high-ranking Golden Tower Council elites did not care much about such trivial matters and saw them as minor squabbles. In the world of scholars, plagiarism was not seen as theft, nor was seizure considered robbery. With mere words, they could twist truth and falsehood. Mishandling it might offend them, and they could retaliate by writing distorted histories to slander others. Moreover, the Daoist Order had always been lenient with scholars, so long as they did not interfere with authority. It was easier to just let them be.

Thus, this small circle developed its own set of rules.

Whoever survived to the end would gain the ultimate authority.

Outsiders often think scholars were noble and untainted, like lotus flowers rising from the mud. In reality, where there were people, there was intrigue and social maneuvering.

The Golden Tower Council allocated limited resources and Taiping coins to the Wanxiang Daoist Palace. If one side received more and another got less, determining each person’s share would inevitably lead to fierce struggles.

Many people use this to criticize the Daoist order, chattering endlessly that Westerners did not engage in internal conflicts.

Ning Yuqing commented that such people simply had not seen the world. If they had visited the Royal Society of the Lune Kingdom, they would not think the grass was greener elsewhere.

Human nature was the same everywhere. Under the same sun, no one was inherently more virtuous than another.

In this regard, the Royal Society of the Lune Kingdom was indeed no better. Two successive presidents fought internally. They first lay low, then once in power, they immediately dismantled laboratories, destroyed libraries, and erased all records and portraits of the previous president, as if that person had never existed. Later, disputes over academic credit sparked a massive feud lasting over a century.

Qi Xuansu did not know any of this because he was from the Lower Palace and had only interacted with Regular and Assistant Instructors, so he had no insight into these upper-level conflicts.

By the time Qi Xuansu rose to prominence, he took a different path outside this circle. When he occasionally returned to the Upper Palace, the high-ranking instructors he met were all polite and refined, leading him to believe the upper ranks lived in peaceful harmony.

Only now did Qi Xuansu realize that internal conflicts within the Wanxiang Daoist Palace were constant, and much of Great Sage Shi’s energy was spent balancing these tensions.

Little Yin being ostracized by the children might have been a coincidence. But the public uproar that followed was clearly the result of deliberate manipulation.

The problem lay with these internal factions within the Wanxiang Daoist Palace.

Under normal circumstances, it was very difficult for someone in a deputy position to be promoted to a full position. For example, Yao Shu could not directly move from Chief Deputy Hall Master to Hall Master. He had to go to Poluo first to be a Mansion Master before he could go back to Jade Capital to be a Hall Master.

However, the Wanxiang Daoist Palace was an exception. A Special-Rank Golden-Purple Instructor could be promoted to a second-rank Deputy Palace Master or even rise all the way to Palace Master. This had been quite common in its history.

At the moment, the Wanxiang Daoist Palace did not have a regular Palace Master, only a Great Sage.

According to the rules, both positions could coexist. The Palace Master was like a crown prince, assisting the Great Sage and learning the ropes to succeed in the position or temporarily manage affairs. In special cases, the Palace Master could be reassigned elsewhere, and a new Great Sage might be appointed.

If the Great Sage were still in their prime, the Palace Master position might remain vacant until the former neared retirement.

Given the current situation, Sun Hewu had the strongest qualifications to become Palace Master, but he was too old, making him unsuitable.

Thus, rumors emerged that the Golden Tower Council planned to appoint a new Palace Master—Qi Xuansu.

Anyone could see that Qi Xuansu had been advancing rapidly. Having reached the position of Chief Deputy Beichen Hall Master, he would almost certainly become an Omniscient Sage if nothing went wrong.

Although there were suggestions that he might become a Mansion Master, considering his age and experience, the Palace Master role suited him better. With Great Sage Shi aging, appointing a Palace Master was reasonable. For Qi Xuansu, it was a good position that allowed him to advance toward higher positions or fall back to become the Great Sage of the Wanxiang Daoist Palace.

Moreover, Qi Xuansu’s experience was highly practical. He had worked at the grassroots level, been on the battlefield, hunted dangerous beasts, and handled economic affairs. What he lacked was academic or teaching experience. Being the Wanxiang Daoist Palace Master would perfectly fill this gap, allowing him to develop more comprehensively. Great Sage Shi’s acknowledgment also seemed like preparation for his rise.

However, with so many people spending half their lives as Deputy Palace Masters and waiting years for the Palace Master position, who could accept giving up this long-coveted position to Qi Xuansu just when they finally saw a sliver of hope nearing Great Sage Shi’s retirement?

As such, when Qi Xuansu sent his daughter to the Wanxiang Daoist Palace, it was only natural for them to trip him up a little.

Zhang Yuelu saw the situation turning bad, so she decisively backed down and left. If she had insisted on pushing forward, these scholars would have stirred up public opinion, launching verbal attacks and written criticism, showing just how powerful the brush could be in twisting the truth.