Chapter 1030: The Youngest Sage
Just as Qi Xuansu was about to arrive at Lion City, Zhang Yuelu had just concluded her conversation with Sage Donghua in Jade Capital.
Qi Xuansu had the most battle merit among the eighth-generation disciples in this Fenglin Campaign, while Zhang Yuelu firmly ranked as second.
Her promotion had long been anticipated.
It had been mentioned before that Zhang Yuelu’s greatest advantage over Qi Xuansu was not in her family background but in her steady ascent with solid experience to back her up.
When Zhang Yuelu was a fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist, Qi Xuansu was merely at the seventh rank. But now, they both held the same third-rank Youyi Daoist title. Clearly, Zhang Yuelu’s path had been slowly built through time with an accumulation of experience. By contrast, Qi Xuansu’s rise felt meteoric and too abrupt.
For this reason, Qi Xuansu still required a three-step transitional process. First, he would serve as the Second Deputy Mansion Master before he would be formally confirmed. Then, he could be considered for a promotion to the second rank. However, Zhang Yuelu could be appointed in one step.
After a small meeting within the Golden Tower Council, it was decided that Zhang Yuelu would be granted a positional rank of a second-rank Taiyi Daoist master, which meant that her rank would be tied only to her position.
There were two reasons for this arrangement. First, it would be improper to have two Acting Second Deputies simultaneously. Second, Qi Xuansu had already held a regional post for some time and had just recently been formally confirmed as a third-rank Youyi Daoist. So to immediately promote him to the second rank would seem hasty. Thus, it was better for the young man to wait a little and advance when the time was right.
On the other hand, Zhang Yuelu had never held any regional posts. To promote her straight to a Sage would be hard to justify, especially since Qi Xuansu, who had the most battle merit, had not reached that rank. Moreover, Zhang Yuelu was still very young, so such a rapid rise would invite criticism.
Thus, the compromise was to grant her a positional rank of Sage, which was reasonable.