Although the Royal Sacred Sect had many factions, they didn’t interfere with each others matters. Rather than to say they were a sect, it would be better to say that they were an alliance.
This point was clearly understood by all the factions within the Sect. The Core Faction were the masters of the Royal Sacred Sect, while the other factions were their servants. If they were truly a sect instead of an alliance, that elder surnamed Li wouldn’t have needed to invite Qin Wentian to join the Core Faction.
In this alliance, the Core Faction was the leading faction. They were the strongest, irreplaceable faction. In the history of the Royal Sacred Sect, there had been cases of other factions being replaced before. Those factions that were too weak would simply be eliminated and kicked out. They didn’t have the qualifications to remain in the Royal Sacred Sect.