Chapter 1261: Remains of the Creation Project
Qi Xuansu walked in front while Qi Jiaoyao followed behind; one after the other, they entered the Yin-Yang Gate.
On the other side of the Yin-Yang Gate was a long corridor. The ceiling vault and both walls were inlaid with some unknown stones that emitted a faint phosphorescent glow. It was not bright, but enough to not be completely dark.
Behind them was the Yin-Yang Gate they had come through, leaving them no choice but to proceed forward along the corridor.
“Tian Yuan, you say you’re a rising star in the Daoist Order. But how high are we talking?” Qi Jiaoyao asked out of boredom and curiosity. “You don’t even care about immortal objects, so what do you care about?”
Qi Xuansu replied casually, “I told you—high enough to contend for the Grand Master’s seat. What I care about, of course, is my position within the Daoist Order.”
“You’re serious?” Qi Jiaoyao was a little surprised. “I thought you were bragging. To contend for Grand Master, you need huge backing and support. Who’s behind you? The Zhengyi Sect? The Quanzhen Sect? Don’t tell me it’s the Taiping Sect.”
Qi Xuansu said, “My only advantage is that I’m neutral enough. Whoever takes the position of the seventh-generation Grand Master will intensify the conflict among the Three Sects. By the time the eighth-generation Grand Master is chosen, I will become the greatest common divisor between the Three Sects and the Grand Master lineage, that is, if the Daoist Order doesn’t want to split up completely. Oh, ‘greatest common divisor’ is a concept from Westerners. You know what it means, right?”
“Don’t look down on me. I’m a seventh-generation disciple, after all. I’ve studied those Western ideas,” Qi Jiaoyao snorted. “At least you can see things clearly. If the Three Sects can’t overpower one another, then choosing a neutral party is indeed the best short-term option. At the very least, it preserves the Daoist Order’s surface unity. But if that neutral one lacks roots and sufficient support, it’ll be all too easy to follow the sixth-generation Grand Master’s path. The neutral one will only become a puppet of the Three Sects, further weakening the Grand Master’s authority, throwing the Golden Tower Council’s central governance into chaos, and allowing local powerhouses to grow even stronger. In the long run, supporting a centrist is like drinking poison to quench thirst. It’ll only accelerate the Daoist Order’s separation.”
Qi Xuansu looked at Qi Jiaoyao with some surprise. “I didn’t see that coming. You actually have insights like this. I really underestimated you.”
Qi Jiaoyao snorted again. “I just have no interest in building a career in the Daoist Order. If I did, then the Three Prodigies would become the Four Prodigies.”
Qi Xuansu almost couldn’t hold back his laughter. After all, he was also the Fourth Prodigy.
But Qi Xuansu had been a high-ranking Daoist for long enough, and as a Zaohua-stage Martial Arts Practitioner famed for controlling every inch of his body with microscopic precision, he ultimately held back the laugh and returned to the topic. “Everything has to be viewed from both sides. This is a disadvantage, but it’s also an advantage. If this centrist Grand Master can leverage his position, borrowing force to counterforce, achieving a balance of power, mending the rifts among the Three Sects, and further integrating them, then the Daoist Order could still be revitalized. We could remain the dominant force in the world.”