Chapter 880: Dangling a Carrot
When the Holy Xuan first established the Golden Tower Council, there were four factions: the Taiping Sect, the Quanzhen Sect, the Zhengyi Sect, and the Grand Master’s lineage, corresponding respectively to the three Deputy Grand Masters and the Grand Master himself.
The so-called Grand Master lineage was actually the neutral faction. The Wanxiang Daoist Palace belonged to this group. Its primary purpose was to prevent the Grand Master from being sidelined by the three major sects. At its height, the neutral faction even produced a Grand Master who had all Nine Halls under his control, leaving the three sects in charge of only the local Daoist mansions. However, being far looser in structure than the three sects, the neutral faction ultimately never developed into a true fourth sect.
Of course, whether successive Grand Masters could control the neutral faction depended on their own ability. The sixth-generation Grand Master disbanded the Zixiao Palace, losing the neutral faction’s support entirely. He reaped the consequences, being completely sidelined, with decrees unable to leave the Zixiao Palace. By contrast, the fifth-generation Grand Master held the neutral faction firmly in his grasp, making it his power base. He skillfully exploited the rivalries among the three sects, winning over one, suppressing another, and provoking internal conflicts so they could never unite against him. He wielded the imperial art of balance to perfection, even to the point of replacing the Deputy Grand Masters.
This was why even an alliance between the Zhengyi Sect and Quanzhen Sect could not guarantee winning the Grand Master’s seat. First, the Zhengyi and Quanzhen Sects each harbored reservations and guarded against one another. Second, if the Taiping Sect secured the neutral faction’s backing, it could still seize the Grand Master’s position. This was why the Li family needed to ensure victory in the Fenglin campaign.
Whether an Omniscient Sage could be promoted to a Great Sage followed an unwritten rule. Apart from Immortals, who were guaranteed promotion, those from the neutral faction had an easier path to becoming a Great Sage. A Pseudo-Immortal Omniscient Sage from the neutral faction was almost certain to be promoted once passing the age and seniority requirements, whereas those from the three sects needed enough merit and achievements to command respect.
Of course, this had its pros and cons. In the Grand Master elections, the three sects held a significant advantage, while the neutral faction was almost sidelined and could only wait for the result on who they were going to serve. Thus, this easy promotion rule was essentially a form of compensation.
Officially, the Golden Tower Council elected the Grand Master by a vote from its 36 Omniscient Sages. However, to prevent deadlocks, the Great Sages also had voting rights. To safeguard their lofty position, these Great Sages were difficult to bribe or sway, making them relatively fair.
The neutral faction was considered a loose organization with no clear leader like the other three sects, but had a few Great Sages at its helm. Thus, its members lacked strong allegiance. The Quanzhen Sect was, similarly, not that united.
This, too, was a problem left behind by the Holy Xuan.
When Holy Xuan redefined the three sects back then, the Taiping Sect was centered on the Li family, and the Zhengyi Sect was centered on the Zhang family, supplemented with other lineages such as the Qingqiu and Cihang lineages, respectively. But the Quanzhen Sect was harder to structure, as there was no concept of the Yao or Pei families yet. They were just a handful of people, not even true clans. The other lineages were evenly matched, which was an inherent weakness.