Chapter 111: A Righteous Sect's Difficulties
"Greetings, Sect Master Brase. Senior brother Keasal has told me many great things about you."
After taking a breath, Yaan clasped his hands, smiled, and greeted the sect master directly. A few people showed surprised expressions…
They knew that this new elder was only in his twenties. Whilst it was incredible that he had achieved his cultivation and become a sect elder at such a young age, that was only testament to his cultivation talent.
But his demeanour showed that he did not lack in mental resilience. The fact that he could maintain his calm under eight powerful stares said enough, but his manners were also very impressive. Usually, the disciples at his age in their sect were too arrogant and prideful, this was especially so for the most talented elite core disciples.
Some of the elders present had met Elder Zue Yin a few days earlier, so they couldn't help but compare Yaan and her.
Actually, some already thought that Zue Yin was better, though others held a different opinion.
Zue Yin was more adept at dealing with the righteous, this was a fact. When thrust into this environment, an unfamiliar place but with a very familiar hierarchical structure, she quickly adapted.
Zue Yin was less guarded, hence, some elders felt better disposed towards her. They thought that Yaan's attitude was a bit stiff, too formal and distant.
Then again, he had only just arrived, none of them were familiar with one another, it really wasn't so strange. Still, his ability to influence people positively was lacking compared to Zue Yin.
A single sentence was enough to say much about a person.
'Teacher didn't tell me anything about this new junior brother of mine, only that I must have him integrate into the sect, and that I should assign him the role of battle and survival teacher to the new core disciples…' Brase thought to himself as he continued to examine Yaan.
'Clearly, he is not overly adept at developing friendly relationships. His mental resilience however, is astounding…he is not at all intimidated by the judgement of those more powerful than him…but he is cautious and guarded. He masks his wariness behind politeness…he is inexperienced in dealing with personal matters within an organisation, but his potential for adaptation is actually not bad.'
If Yaan were to hear the sect master's thoughts right now, he would definitely break out in a cold sweat. This person was able to see through his key flaws whilst remaining objective and taking into consideration his good points, whilst even seeing through some of his potential. Such a person…really was suited to being the sect master of a superpower!
Finally, the sect master spoke.
"Junior brother Yaan, there is no need to be so formal, we both share the same teacher." He smiled and laughed, clapping his hands as he walked forwards, beyond the rest in the crowd such that he was facing Yaan up close.
Brase was no body temperer, but he was a towering man nearly seven feet in height. He had an imposing and domineering presence, yet he showed friendliness towards Yaan, even patting his shoulder lightly in front of the others.
Seeing how close the sect master was acting with the new elder made certain people immediately retract their stares towards Yaan, relieving much of the pressure that he was silently enduring. Still, just by looking at him, you would not be able to tell that he even felt the difference.
"Come, come, you should sit in on this small meeting so that you can start to develop an understanding of our sect." Brase continued, nodding to Yaan as he turned and walked back towards his position. He eventually sat down on a large chair that resembled a throne at the end of the hall, gesturing to his side with one hand. Yaan nodded and maintained his smile as he silently took his position besides his new senior brother.
It was obvious that the sect master was telling everyone in the room that he considered Yaan as his true junior brother, and that they should treat and respect him as such. Of course, Yaan was still just another elder, it was only due to his teacher that his status was special, so nobody needed to show him deep reverence or anything like that. Really, it was just a matter of Brase showing Yaan good will by helping to relieve the pressure of meeting so many elders all at once. This show was as much for Yaan as it was for the others.
Yaan noticed these things at the same pace as the others, but this was only because he was utilising his psyche power within his sea of consciousness to continually make deductions and analyse the surrounding environment and people. Compared to those righteous elders who were accustomed to such small plots continuously developing and unfolding around them, Yaan was forced to put in many times more effort just to keep up.
"Junior brother, a few days ago, Elder Zue Yin also joined the sect. We heard that you and she have some relationship?" Brase turned to Yaan and asked with a smile.
Yaan almost choked…relationship? What was he implying exactly?
"Elder Zue Yin is a friend of mine, please don't misunderstand senior brother." Yaan replied with a slightly forced smile. This clearly forced expression of his seemed to lighten the mood in the hall, especially after the sect master and a few others laughed.
Yaan glanced at Keasal, who gave a light cough and looked away, avoiding meeting his gaze. Yaan felt a bit speechless.
'Just what did he tell Brase? Hah…'
Brase looked at Yaan one final time.
"Elder Zue Yin also sat in on a meeting when she first arrived in the Elder Court. Generally speaking, only those who are needed to be present will attend meetings, but when an elder first joins the sect or when a disciple is promoted to elder, they are permitted to join one or two meetings to better understand the process of the sect's upper echelon."
"I understand, please go on senior brother, I will listen attentively." Yaan nodded.
"Good. Now then, let us get on with the meeting."
It wasn't long before the hall became boisterous, filled with various voices echoing out, sometimes speaking over one another, and all filled with a hint of restrained aggression. All of this conflict was kept verbal, though, from start to finish, they remained civil.
"Head Elder Hanji, you actually have the nerve to demand that the Outer Sect Department give up an additional 10% of our resource allocation?" A woman stared at a decrepit looking old man as she spoke sharply.
"Hehe, Head Elder Janine, does the outer sect really need such a generous offering of resources? My investigations tell me that many of the resources distributed across the 13 nations are ending up in the hands of territory divisions, cultivators who are firmly rooted in the outer sect nations and have no intention of ever stepping foot in the inner sect. Does it not make more sense to divert these wasted materials away from the wasteful Outer Sect Department, towards my Inner Sect Department? The inner sect disciples are, after all, the future of the core sect…"
The decrepit old man, who seemed to be so old that he was hunched over by a worrying degree, did not look ashamed that he was demanding resources from another department. From what Yaan understood, such a disagreement was actually very common, only, this old man had pushed it too far.
"An exaggeration! Whilst it's true that the number of territorial divisions has increased in the outer sect nations, these groups are still only minor inconveniences, if they can even be called that! Regardless of what they say, whenever someone gains the qualifications to enter the inner sect, they almost always do so!" Head Elder Janine scoffed, not giving an inch to the hunched old man. She glared straight into his eyes, which were partially hidden thanks to his scrunched up leathery skin.
Yaan really felt like this old man could die from old age at any given moment…
Even if he was the second strongest person in the room, another Peak Origin Soul realm powerhouse!
At the Origin Soul realm, Qi masters developed an ability called 'spirit sense'. Using this method, they could use their origin soul to directly transfer their thoughts into the mind of another person at will.
As the argument unfolded before him, Keasal silently informed Yaan of the various peoples' identities, explaining why they were having this disagreement, and so on.
Head Elder Janine was the head elder for the Outer Sect Department, whilst Head Elder Hanji led the Inner Sect Department.
All head elders were in charge of a certain department within the sect. As it turned out, every single head elder actually possessed a Peak Origin Soul realm cultivation!
Learning this deepened Yaan's impression of the Fragment Sect. Truly, any organisation backed by an immortal was simply on a completely different scale.
An organisation led by even the strongest of Origin Soul realm powerhouses could never advance to this stage. This was partially because an Origin Soul realm Qi master, no matter how powerful they may be, could not maintain absolute control over dozens of others at their realm.
The other reason was simply a matter of lifespan.
Origin Soul realm Qi masters were powerful, but their total lifespan was still restricted to a range of 600-800 years. Immortals were not limited by the matter of finite lifespan, though, Yaan had learned from the Spirit Plane Lord that immortals had their own difficulties, primarily in the form of periodic heavenly tribulations…
Even so, any immortal could easily outlive an Origin Soul realm Qi master by such a huge extent, that it was possible for them to rule a sect across many generations of Foundation Step cultivators. This gave the sect an enormous backbone which provided them with sufficient time to expand and grow to this extent.
"Head Elder Hanji…" Finally, the sect master spoke out. Both sides became quiet, turning towards him with different expressions.
Head Elder Janine looked as if she was barely managing to suppress her rage, whilst Head Elder Hanji seemed amused by her discontent. As for the other six individuals, they were only here to provide support for the head elders, they had no right to speak on the important matters at play today.
"Three years ago, I already agreed to a similar request of yours, did I not?" The sect master sighed, rubbing his temples as he turned to the decrepit old man bitterly.
"Hmm, this old man doesn't have the best memory sect master, was that the case?"
Hearing this ridiculous excuse, the sect master sighed again. He knew that Head Elder Hanji had only become more brazen and daring in recent years because his lifespan was reaching its end. Soon, he would be forced to take that step into the Nirvana realm…and he had no confidence in making it through alive.
Perhaps he was trying to expand the influence of his department as his final act before he died…or maybe he was just trying to make the last moments of his life more interesting. Either way, dealing with someone like this was a pain. Force did not work and they tended to be unreasonably stubborn.
However, the sect master would not make exceptions just because of something like this. He needed to be firm and impartial, or else others would lose faith in his leadership abilities.
"Head Elder Hanji, you're pushing Head Elder Janine a bit too far, don't you think? She only became the head elder for the Outer Sect Department recently, it would be too much to move away further resources from her department. As Head Elder Janine said before, the outer sect is the future of the inner and core sects, it cannot be dealt with too severely, even if it does have some issues…"
After saying this last bit, he glanced briefly at head Elder Janine. She bit her lip, but remained silent, unable to refute this claim.
In the end, after further discussion, Head Elder Hanji did not get what he came for, but Head Elder Janine was lightly reminded that if she wished to continue receiving the sect's support, she needed to ensure the proper and efficient function of the outer sect.
Coming away from this meeting, Yaan had a whole new understanding of the righteous faction.
"Leading the righteous path is really tedious, huh…"
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