The Sword God of the Universe

Chapter 598: Chapter 598: Su Zixuan’s Predicament

Splendid Pill Tower has Five Layers.

The first layer to the third layer are used to sell various elixirs and medicines.

The fourth layer is an area used by some high-level management personnel, including the residences of Pill Masters.

The fifth layer is solely used for refining elixirs and preparing medicines.

There had been no changes since Jing Yan last left Donglin City.

Within a conference room on the fourth layer, about seven or eight people were sitting around a long table.

”I think this personnel change is a bit too drastic. Many managers who are being dismissed haven’t made mistakes in their work. Is it appropriate to replace them without any reason?”

Su Zixuan’s brows were slightly furrowed, showing some annoyance.

”Manager Su Zixuan, this personnel change is also for the better development of the Splendid Pill Tower! I know that many managers and deacons in this adjustment were personally promoted by you and Chief Manager Jing Chenxing. It’s understandable that you feel uncomfortable about their dismissal, but sometimes, for the development of the Pill Tower, we must let go of some things, wouldn’t you agree?”

A middle-aged man in a golden robe, who was also looking at Su Zixuan, spoke.

This man was a manager of the Splendid Pill Tower and a member of the Jing Family, named Jing Shanqu. He was also among the Jing Family’s direct descendants.

Jing Shanqu was quite capable. When he first entered the Splendid Pill Tower, he started as a low-level deacon, responsible for some of the outward sales of the Splendid Pill Tower.

Because of his outstanding abilities, Jing Chenxing had fairly promoted him multiple times, gradually letting him take up the position of manager of the Pill Tower. He was responsible not only for the external sales of elixirs and medicines but also directly in charge of material procurement.

Whereas Su Zixuan was mainly responsible for handling internal affairs, including personnel adjustments.

In fact, Jing Chenxing’s initial restraint in letting Jing Shanqu handle personnel matters of the Pill Tower was due to caution. Jing Shanqu was a member of the Jing Family, and Jing Chenxing did not want him to bring a large number of Jing Family Disciples into the Splendid Pill Tower. Jing Yan had long stated that the Splendid Pill Tower was independent of the Jing Family and had no relation to it.

Jing Chenxing had never forgotten this point; thus, he always promoted the internal staff of the Pill Tower strictly based on individual capabilities.

Letting Jing Family members come in would be fine if they were capable, but what was frightening was bringing in those messy people who lacked both capability and strength.

Jing Shanqu was a smart man; he knew he wasn’t fully trusted by Jing Chenxing. Therefore, he didn’t interfere much with the personnel arrangements of the Pill Tower; however, every once in a while, he would introduce some people to Su Zixuan for her to assess their abilities.

Su Zixuan had to give face to Jing Shanqu, and besides, most people introduced by Jing Shanqu were quite capable. As the Splendid Pill Tower continued to grow, more management personnel were needed, so Su Zixuan let quite a few of Jing Shanqu’s recommended people join the Splendid Pill Tower.

This, in turn, greatly enhanced Jing Shanqu’s control over the Pill Tower.

Of course, even so, Jing Shanqu had always shown great respect for Su Zixuan, and he never interfered too much in personnel matters. This continued until Jing Chenxing and Jing Qingyan went to Pill Country, and Jing Shanqu suddenly seemed to become another person, aggressively competing for power in the internal meetings of the Pill Tower.

Based on the forces he had cultivated earlier, he continuously placed his people in important positions within the Pill Tower.

Had it not been for Jing Chenxing’s clear stance before heading to Pill Country, which let Su Zixuan temporarily take charge of the Splendid Pill Tower, Su Zixuan might have been ousted long ago.

Even so, Su Zixuan’s days were difficult, constantly constrained, finding it hard to make progress with anything.

Many times, faced with Jing Shanqu’s aggressive stance, Su Zixuan wanted to adopt a tough position. But a single sentence from Jing Shanqu would tie her hands. Jing Shanqu meant, you Su Zixuan are just an outsider, and the Splendid Pill Tower belongs to the Jing Family people. Su Zixuan, are you trying to steal the Splendid Pill Tower?

Many times, all Su Zixuan could do was sigh inwardly. She truly feared being accused of trying to steal the Splendid Pill Tower.

Because of this, she was being increasingly pressured in her fight for control of the Splendid Pill Tower, becoming more and more powerless.

Meanwhile, Jing Shanqu’s power within the Pill Tower was growing ever larger.

Take this internal meeting, for instance—apart from Jing Shanqu and Su Zixuan, who were managers, six other people had the qualifications to attend. Among these six, two were capable Pill Masters. These two Pill Masters rarely expressed opinions in meetings; their job was to refine pills, and they did not want to intervene in the management of the Pill Tower.

Another was the Guard Captain. This Guard Captain, although not brought in by Jing Shanqu, was also from the Jing Family. Thus, when Su Zixuan and Jing Shanqu disagreed, the Guard Captain mostly supported Jing Shanqu.

Among the three Senior Housekeepers, astonishingly two were confidants of Jing Shanqu. Only one could be considered Su Zixuan’s person.

Thus, in the internal meetings, resolutions proposed by Jing Shanqu were almost always passed, while Su Zixuan’s suggestions were frequently ignored.

Today’s meeting was even more severe.

Jing Shanqu planned to thoroughly cleanse the management of the Splendid Pill Tower.

Those being purged were naturally Su Zixuan’s people, who were previously promoted by Jing Chenxing and Su Zixuan. Those replaced by Jing Shanqu’s people were clearly going to be Jing Shanqu’s.

Most of Jing Shanqu’s people were Jing Family members. However, some were not Jing Family members but had close relationships with Jing Shanqu. Many of these people weren’t really capable; they were placed in crucial positions in the Pill Tower simply because of their good relationship with Jing Shanqu.

”Manager Jing Shanqu, I’ve looked at the people you’ve nominated, and their capabilities seem uncertain. Perhaps, should we assess them a bit longer before proceeding?” Su Zixuan, scanning a document in her hand marked with the positions Jing Shanqu wanted to change, spoke very tactfully.

She knew she couldn’t completely stop Jing Shanqu; what she wanted, or rather, what she could do, was to delay things.

She was waiting for Jing Chenxing to return from Pill Country; once Chief Manager Jing Chenxing came back, Jing Shanqu probably wouldn’t dare to play any tricks.

”Manager Su Zixuan, what exactly do you mean?”

”Before this meeting, I spoke to you. Everything I do is for the development of the Pill Tower; don’t you want to see the Splendid Pill Tower grow stronger?” Jing Shanqu’s face changed, and he fixed his gaze on Su Zixuan, speaking in a sinister tone.

”Manager Jing Shanqu, I didn’t mean that. I just feel that such a large-scale replacement might affect the stability of the Pill Tower,” Su Zixuan said with furrowed brows.