Chapter 1281: The Three Major Factions
Zhang Yuelu’s line of thinking remained clear. Since Corpse Liberation Immortals were extremely rare, so much so that their numbers rivaled even those of manmade Banished Immortals. Thus, this became a crucial clue. One could even say that once they found that Corpse Liberation Immortal, they could largely determine Qi Haoran.
Thus, both Xu Jiaorong and Lei Xiaohuan immediately voiced their agreement.
Zhang Yuelu continued, “I’m guessing that the Corpse Liberation Immortal was probably not a member of the Daoist Order. We can use the Daoist Order’s resources to search for him. It will be much easier than doing it ourselves. But there’s one thing to note—not being part of the Daoist Order doesn’t mean having no ties to it. The situation is deeply entangled, with everyone intertwined, so we should try to avoid that person.”
“What about Sage Donghua?” Lei Xiaohuan asked.
Qi Xuansu spoke up. “I feel Sage Donghua isn’t on the same side as them.”
All three women turned to look at him.
Qi Xuansu explained, “As Qing Xiao just mentioned, we don’t have proof whether it’s that person. It’s just a feeling. My thinking that Sage Donghua isn’t aligned with them is also just an intuition. I don’t want to hide this matter from him. If he already knows, there’s no need to conceal anything. If he doesn’t, then it’s even more important not to keep him in the dark. So I’d rather speak with him personally.”
Lei Xiaohuan nodded. “That’s good. My brother-in-law values you greatly. It’s better if you speak to him directly rather than having someone else relay the message.”
Zhang Yuelu suddenly asked, “Daoist Xu, what is Great Sage Lan’s relationship with the Earthly Preceptor?”
As Great Sage Lan’s former chief secretary, Xu Jiaorong was well acquainted with the internal dynamics. “Their relationship is just average. As everyone knows, the Quanzhen Sect is the largest in scale but also the least unified. The Yao family is also the newest and weakest among the Three Great Families. The combination of the largest sect with the weakest ruling clan means the Yao family’s control over the Quanzhen Sect is far weaker than the Zhang family’s control over the Zhengyi Sect or the Li family’s control over the Taiping Sect.
“In fact, there are three major factions within the Quanzhen Sect. These factions are also quite broad—hardly harmonious, and often fighting among themselves. The boundaries between them are rather blurred.
“The largest faction is led by the Yao family, inheriting from Elder Yao and incorporating most of the Central Sect’s forces. The second faction mainly traces its lineage to Elder Xu, integrating the Western Sect’s forces that remained in the Central Plains, though it’s fragmented into many sub-groups. The third faction is somewhat analogous to the Grand Master’s lineage, which is formed largely from the Holy Xuan’s efforts to divide and reorganize the Quanzhen Sect, integrating a smaller portion of the Central Sect groups. The Pei family actually belongs to the Holy Xuan’s faction. Their later alliance with the Yao family only highlights how loose and blurred the structure of the Holy Xuan faction is.