Hidden moth

Chapter 340 The Cause of Yesterday's Promise

When Hu Weidong spoke these words, he looked directly into Merlin's eyes, and everyone else in the room was also watching Merlin. Everyone knew that Johnson was Merlin's man, and that it was Merlin who had nominated him to join the Supreme Council.

The Supreme Council has only thirteen seats, which is less than two seats on average for the seven major schools of magic. However, the Body Observation School has three seats, even with two Grand Elders already in place. This is obviously unreasonable!

One of Merlin's purposes in bringing Johnson into the Supreme Council was to suppress Fabre's influence within his faction, while also ensuring that the Guan Shen faction would have an advantage in votes on matters of the Supreme Council.

The reason she chose Johnson was not because he was particularly outstanding, but precisely because he was simple-minded and easy to control.

Hu Weidong had also heard rumors that Johnson and Merlin were having an affair, which didn't surprise him. Even if it were true, Johnson was nothing more than Merlin's lackey.

It's common knowledge that Merlin's first elder, Arthur, had an affair.

Arthur usually focused on his cultivation, entrusting Merlin with many of the daily affairs of the Free Alliance. However, given their cultivation levels, having a romantic relationship did not necessarily mean they shared the same stance.

Johnson deliberately jumped out to provoke Hu Weidong, and even a fool could guess that someone was behind it.

The purpose was a kind of suppressive test, to test his cultivation level and his style of doing things, so as to decide how to deal with him in the future, or how to deal with him.
As for the mastermind behind it all, it was undoubtedly Merlin. Even if it wasn't Merlin, it had to be Merlin, because a dog has an owner. Hu Weidong gave the most direct response and immediately launched a counterattack.

If it were merely a response to a provocative challenge, Hu Weidong's action of throwing Johnson out would have been sufficient. However, there was another matter that angered him greatly.

Before entering the Supreme Council, many people privately communicated with him, but two people left the deepest impression on Hu Weidong.

It was Arthur who first approached him, hoping that he could send his children to the Eastern Kingdom to infiltrate, as originally arranged by the Alliance of the Wanderers. This would be a contribution to the Alliance of the Wanderers. Arthur also hinted that he wanted to join the Supreme Council, as this was the only way to silence the opponents.

Two days ago, Merlin also came to see him privately and told him that his joining the Supreme Council was settled. He also boasted that he had played a big role and implied that he needed to repay him.

As for how to repay him, there is a ready-made solution right now.

The most important topic today is a discussion of a large-scale leak. The project in question was led by Merlin, who asked Hu Weidong for help.

Hu Weidong agreed at the time, saying he would help her as much as possible based on the facts. However, when they arrived at the meeting, Johnson suddenly jumped out and started causing trouble for him, which greatly disgusted Hu Weidong.

What he disliked was Merlin's style of doing things and his way of thinking.

Merlin clearly needed his help, so he should have cooperated and helped him with other matters as well, and at least stopped deliberately causing trouble.

When the Supreme Council convened a meeting of all the elders, Merlin pulled this stunt.

Perhaps in Merlin's view, suppressing Hu Weidong would make him realize her influence and power, and make him more obedient, otherwise he would suffer more suppression.

Is this dog training? Even when training a dog, you have to give it a bone! Johnson is Merlin's little wolfhound, and Merlin will never consider Hu Weidong one of his own.

If someone asks him for help but doesn't follow the principles of cooperation, instead suppressing him and trying to make him obedient so they can suppress him even more easily later... then Hu Weidong might as well just break off all ties.

Seeing everyone looking at him, Merlin asked in a deep voice, "Elder Hu, why?"

Hu Weidong's answer was concise and to the point: "He doesn't deserve it!"

This statement carries a divine message; its central idea is that Johnson is unworthy to be a senior member of the Supreme Council. As for the specific reasons—everyone just saw them.

While it's unrealistic to expect a fifth-tier Zhuyou cultivator to defeat a sixth-tier alchemist, Johnson has been at the fifth tier for several years now, and as an elder of the Supreme Council, he should be considered one of the best fifth-tier cultivators.

Hu Weidong had just broken through to the sixth level when Johnson launched a provocative attack, but he couldn't even withstand a single move from Hu Weidong. Not only could he not withstand it, but he could at least struggle a little; he didn't even have the slightest ability to resist!
Normally, if two people fight, even if Zhang San loses to Li Si, the result is one to two, one to three, or even one to ten. There is still something to say about it, at least that he has the ability to fight back.

A sixth-tier cultivator is also made of flesh and blood, and may be defeated by a fifth-tier cultivator under certain circumstances. But if the result is zero, whether it is zero to one or zero to ten, it only proves one thing: he is simply not qualified.

The foundation upon which the Free Alliance was established lies in the inheritance of magical arts. Even considering numerous factors, the primary prerequisite for membership in the Supreme Council remains cultivation achievement.

If your cultivation level is not up to par, everything else is useless; that's the main reason.

As for the secondary reason, it is also a recent fact. Johnson lacked sufficient respect for the senior elders and the Supreme Council, behaving inappropriately and disrupting order in formal parliamentary settings.

These reasons were difficult to refute. Seeing the various expressions on everyone's faces, Hu Weidong continued, "My provisional proposal, in its formal content, is—"

Given Johnson's conduct and achievements, he is unsuitable to continue serving as a Senior Member of the Supreme Council. It is proposed that his Senior Member status be removed, and a vote should be held immediately!

Hu Weidong's counterattack caught Merlin somewhat off guard, but Hu Weidong had already used the parliamentary process to push the proposal to the voting stage.

Although it was his first time attending a formal meeting, he clearly had a deep understanding of the powers of the elders and the Supreme Council, and applied the rules very skillfully.

Besides Arthur, Merlin, and Fabre, the other three elders also expressed their agreement: the weapon master Walder, representing the Microscopic School; the geomancer Madara, representing the Mind School; and Hu Weidong himself, representing the Alchemy School.

Two more people then raised their hands in agreement: fifth-order elders from the Microscopic Insight lineage and the Mind Plate lineage, respectively. It was natural for them to align themselves with the senior elders of their respective lineages; this was customary.

Hu Weidong swept his sharp gaze toward another ordinary elder present, a blonde female cultivator named Alice, who was a fifth-level cultivator of alchemy.

Alice hesitated, waiting to see Arthur and Merlin's reaction, when she heard Hu Weidong's divine thought: "Even if you disagree with me, don't contradict me in the public proceedings of the Supreme Council."

Elders of the same lineage should maintain a unified stance during formal voting in the Supreme Council, provided there are no irreconcilable major conflicts. In the presence of senior elders, the stance of the senior elders of the lineage shall prevail.

This has been an unspoken rule of the Supreme Council since ancient times, and Alice raised her hand in agreement upon hearing this.

Next, two ordinary elders representing the Lingxi lineage and the Xingshen lineage also raised their hands in agreement.

The Lingxi lineage has only one ordinary elder in the Supreme Council, while the Xingshen lineage originally had two seats, including a Grand Elder. Unfortunately, that Grand Elder was recently beheaded in Qiyuan.

Of those present, only the three elders—Arthur, Merlin, and Fabre—remained silent, along with a single ordinary elder from the Qi Observation lineage. The reason this ordinary elder hadn't spoken was simple: he needed to maintain consistency with Arthur's stance.

Twelve people participated in the vote, and eight votes were in favor, which was enough support.

Aside from the proposer Hu Weidong and the seconder Alice, the other six people agreed for a simple reason. First, it left a senior member's seat vacant, and since everyone present had the right to nominate and vote, it meant there were private benefits involved.

The benefits of nominating someone are obvious. Even if the person you nominate can't become a elder, ultimately agreeing to someone's nomination still implies a kind of exchange of benefits. There's another reason, easily overlooked but very important, especially for the senior elders.

Hu Weidong's proposal was not merely about removing Johnson from his position as a senator; rather, it added a prefix, arguing that Johnson's conduct and achievements made him unsuitable to serve as a senator in the Supreme Council.

For sixth-level cultivators, voting means that the result must conform to their true judgment.

Even at this point, the proposal is not considered passed, because three senior elders have yet to express their opinions. Each of them has veto power, and regardless of who votes against it, the proposal will still fail to pass.

At this moment, Merlin glanced at Fabre, seemingly wanting Fabre to step forward and veto the proposal.

Fabre hesitated, as if he was thinking about something.

Johnson's conduct and cultivation achievements were indeed inferior to some other fifth-tier cultivators in the Free Alliance, but in Fabre's view, the qualifications of a senior member of the Supreme Council could not be determined solely by these factors; other factors also needed to be considered...

Before Fabre could express his opinion, Hu Weidong's divine thoughts came through his primordial spirit, mainly reminding him to think carefully about three things.

The first question was asked of Fabre: Did he really think that Johnson, with his character and conduct, was qualified to be an elder statesman?

Next, ask Fabre if he knows what role Johnson will play in the Supreme Council. With two senior elders already in the lineage, why take on another spot?
Merlin brought Johnson in with one of his purposes: to check Fabre within the faction. Now that there's an opportunity to remove Johnson, if Fabre still opposes it, is he perhaps torturing himself?
Finally, he advised Fabre to wait for Merlin to express his opinion before making his own.

Perhaps it was this last piece of advice, but Fabre took it to heart and secretly spoke to Merlin telepathically: "Elder Merlin, what is your stance? I await your statement!"

Merlin was somewhat displeased. At this moment, Hu Weidong spoke to Merlin through divine sense: "If my proposal is not passed, then I will no longer cooperate with you on the discussion about the leak."

Merlin roared in anger through his divine sense: "How could you break your promise!"

Hu Weidong replied in secret: "You should know very well that with my cultivation level, how could I possibly break my promise?"

Grand Elders who have broken through to the sixth level of cultivation have a huge advantage over ordinary Elders: they can communicate secretly with their divine senses during voting sessions without being detected by others.

On the other hand, the sixth level of cultivation is also known as the Great Completion, and in ancient times it was also called the True Person.

There's a saying, "A true person doesn't tell lies." This isn't just about moral cultivation, but rather a state of being where one's words truly reflect one's inner intentions.

Since it is a genuine intention, it will not break its promise; otherwise, it would be tantamount to damaging one's own cultivation.

However, ordinary people should never think this is a bug and try to use it to scheme against experts. Not only will they fail, but they may also suffer a terrible fate, because the specific reasons are never that simple.

Hu Weidong had promised Merlin beforehand that he would cooperate with him in the discussion about the leak at this meeting, but now he proposed a condition for the cooperation.

This shows that in Hu Weidong's mind, the cooperation he reached with Merlin was conditional. Johnson's actions and Merlin's reaction have already undermined those conditions.

It's like a regular customer telling the shop owner, "Since we're such good friends, how about a 20% discount?" The owner agrees, but the customer betrays him... Can the owner still offer the discount?
This is no longer a question of whether or not there's a discount!
Perhaps in Merlin's view, Hu Weidong had to do what he promised her, no matter how much she tried to suppress or test him.

Unexpectedly, Hu Weidong's promise had its implicit preconditions, or rather, she messed up this time.

The meeting room fell into an eerie silence again. Hu Weidong finally spoke up: "According to convention, if we don't express our opinion by this point, it means we've abstained."

Arthur nodded without speaking, indicating that he abstained, and another ordinary elder also abstained.

Merlin took a deep breath and said, "I abstain!" Fabre was stunned for a moment, then also abstained.

Twelve people participated in the vote, eight voted in favor and four abstained, and the proposal passed. Johnson was not only beaten and thrown out, but was also immediately stripped of his eldership.

As for the nomination of the new elders and the final vote, Arthur announced that it would be discussed at the next meeting.

Next, we finally got to the main topic of the meeting: the large-scale leak that had recently occurred within the Xiaomeng Alliance. The background of this matter is somewhat complicated, and its nature is not yet fully determined.

Since the beginning of this year, Xiaomeng has also been promoting a modern information management system. This is clearly imitating Shumen, but they are more than a year behind because they need to refer to Shumen's implementation experience first.

According to the experience of the medical community, the first step is to develop an information management system, then input the information and contact details of all members, and conduct dynamic tracking and management.

Information management has hierarchical access control.

Ordinary disciples can only submit inquiries to confirm the identity of a specific person. For example, if Zhang San encounters Li Si, and Li Si claims to be a disciple of the Body Observation Sect, Zhang San can apply to the Sect's Information Office to inquire whether the Body Observation Sect actually has a person named Li Si.

At the level of steward, one has the right to access the information of all disciples of the sect.

Only elders have the authority to access the information of all disciples in the sect.

He Kao possesses information on all registered disciples of the sect (excluding elders), thus granting him the authority of a prospective elder.

The Clan Law Hall issues various notices and messages through this information system. For example, some messages are delivered to the level of stewards, some to high-ranking cultivators, and some to all disciples of the sect.

The message conveyed to all disciples of the sect was essentially an announcement.

Based on the above framework, Xiaomeng has also developed an internal information management system. The person in charge of this project is Merlin. It is currently in the trial operation stage and has only completed the initial information entry work. Information query permissions have not yet been opened.

Once the system is fully operational, the elders of the Supreme Council will have the authority to access information on all members of the Free Alliance. However, currently only Arthur and Merlin possess this privilege.

A few days ago, a major glitch occurred while I was doing system testing.

The latest announcement from the Clan Law Hall was, of course, seen by the higher-ups of the Free Alliance. The highest meeting even discussed it specifically, concluding that the news should be kept secret and not allowed to reach ordinary members of the Free Alliance.

The Sect's Legal Hall doesn't have the contact information for the Free Alliance members, so the announcements won't reach them. Even if someone hears rumors and comes to inquire, the higher-ups will give a unified answer, claiming it's a trap set by the Sect.

The specific details of the announcement will, for the time being, only be accessible to the elders of the Supreme Council.

However, when the staff entered the clan hall's announcement into the database, because its title ended with the word "announcement," the system defaulted to it being a notification sent to all members and automatically sent it out...

**
(End of this chapter)