Chapter 949: Three Steps
After the conclusion of the Ise battle, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu were granted a half-month leave.
That was because the pair had used the Twin-Sword Union three times in succession, an immense burden that caused them to suffer backlash. They needed time to recover, and no one could dispute this. There was a less public reason that they were put on leave. During Li Changge and Yao Pei’s absence, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu had achieved too many merits and had upset the balance among the four. Naturally, things had to be evened out, or at the very least, the gap had to be narrowed so that the other two would not fall too far behind.
In short, this was a reasonable form of discreet sidelining. No one could diminish or take away their achievements, but this would deny them further opportunities to earn merit.
At this stage, with the overall situation settled and manpower plentiful, such an arrangement became all the more feasible.
Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu harbored no real resentment because they genuinely wanted some rest.
Since entering Fenglin, they have barely had a moment to breathe. The three consecutive Twin-Sword Unions had placed a tremendous strain on them. They had also amassed enough battle merits.
If the two tallied their merits, Qi Xuansu’s would stand out the most. He had participated in the escort of Toyotomi Hidemochi, the capture of a major smuggler from Jiangnan Daoist Mansion, the persuasion of Suzuka Gozen to surrender, the retrieval of Shuten-Doji’s head, and the execution of Master Sosen, Katsura Yoshiyuki, a jokai-rank shinkan, Hinnyo, and the oguji of Ise-jingu.
Those were just the major merits, not even counting the minor deeds like leading a group of Daoist priests safely back to the army camp after the flying ship crash, uncovering intel on the Westerners’ interference in Fenglin, taking part in the assault on Kobe Castle, joining the peace talks at Tsu Castle, and leading a team of Spirit Guards into Mount Omikami, among others.
All these combined amounted to at least four Heaven merits or more, enough to warrant promotion to a second-rank Taiyi Daoist master. Officially, that rank was not strictly merit-based, but decided through recommendation. However, recommendations still required solid grounds, and achievements could not be dismissed. Even when choosing a Grand Master, the candidates’ merits were considered, let alone for a Sage.
The key was that many of Qi Xuansu’s feats were joint efforts. If he had accomplished all of them single-handedly, then the outcome would have been unimaginable. He might well have leaped directly to the position of Chief Omniscient Sage.