Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 398: Sect Internal Situation
Under a clear, cloudless sky, a beam of light shot down from Luoyun Mountain in Bianxi City, revealing Song Xian's figure.

Upon returning to his sect, he immediately summoned Lu Yuan to inquire about his recent situation.

His trip took more than half a year to complete. Fortunately, nothing major happened in Bianxi City during his absence, and everything in the sect was in good order.

After listening to Lu Yuan's brief report, he summoned the heads of each hall to inquire about the situation of each department, and then returned to his residence.

...............

As night fell, the moon shone brightly, and the inner courtyard of the mansion was completely silent.

Song Xian leaned against the headboard, constantly playing with the dark green, crystal-clear beads in his hand.

Since it absorbed the Ghost General's crystal core, the bead has remained unchanged for the past few months.

It was as if what had happened before was just his imagination.

Su Zhirou lay naked in his arms, her arms wrapped around his neck, her head nuzzling against his broad chest like a cat. Seeing that he only had eyes for the bead, she angrily snatched it away.

Song Xian smiled, hugged her tighter, and kissed her forehead: "This isn't a woman, what's wrong with looking at it a little longer? You're not going to get jealous over this bead!"

Su Zhirou pouted in dissatisfaction: "My husband has been staring at this bead ever since he came back, but he can't see anything special about it."

"You're all looks and no brains, long hair and short wits, and you still won't admit it. Now you should admit it! I told you long ago that this bead was extraordinary, but you didn't believe me. That ghost infant was already peculiar, and this bead was hidden in the cave where it was sealed. How could it be a useless thing?"

"Then what exactly is this thing used for, my husband?"

“Its ability to devour the Ghost General’s crystal core must have a special purpose, but we haven’t mastered its secrets yet.” Song Xian’s eyes shone with confidence: “One day, I will definitely be able to crack its secrets.”

Su Zhirou nudged him with her head: "Husband, please don't mention this bead again."

"Oh right, I haven't asked you yet! I heard you changed the cabinet's decision and ordered the Qingxuan Sect to continue making flagpoles? Is that true?" Song Xian gently stroked her long, beautiful, black hair that reached her waist and kissed her forehead.

Lu Yuan didn't mention this matter. The reason he didn't mention it was simple. After all, he was a party involved, and Su Zhirou was involved. It wouldn't be appropriate for him to say it. It would sound like he was complaining. Canceling the flagpole forging was a minor matter and there was no need to mention it specifically.

Song Xian learned about this matter from Huang Ye, who is currently the head of the Surveillance Hall. No matter how big or small the sect's affairs are, they cannot escape his eyes. Although this matter is not big, it is special because it involves Su Zhirou and Lu Yuan. Since he is Song Xian's personal advisor and an outsider, he has no scruples.

"It was Xiao Bao who asked me to put in a good word for them. That's why I let them keep the Qingxuan Sect's assets."

“Xiao Bao.” Song Xian was somewhat surprised, not expecting that Hu Xiao Bao was behind this: “What does this have to do with him? Why is he speaking up for Zhang Yanqing and his people?”

"Xiao Bao said that this was Lu Yuan specifically targeting those independent cultivator forces. Zhang Yanqing came to him to plead for mercy. He had considered it and said that doing so would affect the unity of the sect and damage the interests of the sect, but he could not directly intervene, so he asked me for help."

Song Xian remained silent, deep in thought. Hu Xiaobao's words about affecting unity and harming the sect's interests were just empty words. The reason he helped Zhang Yanqing must have been because he received benefits or wanted to win over these people for his own use.

Hu Xiaobao was already a Foundation Establishment cultivator who could stand alone in the sect. After returning to Bianxi City, he was promoted to elder and put in charge of all affairs of Tianshan.

Over the years, a faction centered around him has formed within the sect, showing signs of rivaling the original Qingyun sect factions led by Zhong Wenyuan, Lin Zixiang, and Lu Yuan.

Song Xian had noticed this before, but hadn't paid much attention to it.

In his mind, although Hu Xiaobao had matured a lot and his cultivation was enough to stand on his own, he never regarded him as a capable and ambitious sect leader.

Perhaps because Hu Xiaobao grew up in his presence, his spoiled nature from his youth was deeply ingrained in him. Therefore, he always regarded him as a grown-up and sensible child, and did not truly consider him and George Lam to be on equal footing.

However, after this incident, he suddenly realized that a powerful faction had already formed around Hu Xiaobao within the sect.

Hu Xiaobao himself seems to have ambitions to compete for power with people like Lin Zixiang and Lu Yuan, otherwise he wouldn't have asked Su Zhirou to intercede for him in order to win over Zhang Yanqing and others.

This kid...

Song Xian felt a mix of emotions. As the sect grew larger and its internal structure became more complex, with numerous factions emerging, power struggles and conflicts of interest were inevitable.

"What's wrong, my husband? Is this important?" Su Zhirou looked up and saw that he looked preoccupied, so she gently pecked him on the corner of his mouth.

"It's not important, just a small matter. I just didn't expect it to be Xiao Bao behind it all. It seems he's really grown up." Song Xian said with some emotion.

Deep down, he was actually happy to see Hu Xiaobao stand up and compete with Lin Zixiang. In the past, Zhong Wenyuan and Lin Zixiang were the only ones who held power. Now that a new faction has emerged to check and balance them, it's not a bad thing.

There needs to be a balance within a sect. If one group always holds all the power, it may not be a good thing in the long run.

Since various factions are inevitable, healthy competition is not a bad thing.

With such a large sect, hundreds of disciples, and countless affairs, even if he had three heads and six arms and didn't eat, drink, or cultivate every day, he still couldn't manage everything. Decentralizing power would inevitably lead to the emergence of intrigue and power struggles within the sect.

However, it cannot escalate into a conflict like the one that occurred with the Qingyun Sect before. With him around, such a thing would not be allowed.

He has his bottom line. He can usually turn a blind eye to things, but if anyone crosses the line, he will not let them off the hook.

.........

Inside the spacious and bright hall of Qingyuan Mountain, several leaders of the Qingxuan Sect were gathered together, enjoying a drink.

This mountain is a spiritual vein that Song Xian allocated to them; it can be said to be their exclusive territory.

"Brother Huang, you're taking a few brothers to Tianshan tomorrow to take up your post. You'd better do a good job and not disgrace our Qingxuan Sect. Contact me anytime if anything comes up." Zhang Yanqing raised his wine glass.

Since getting in touch with Hu Xiaobao, not only has the flagpole industry issue been settled, but Hu Xiaobao has also promoted Huang Sheng to the position of the fourth captain under the Foreign Affairs Hall's Trade Peak, responsible for the transportation of spiritual medicines in Tianshan Market. He will be transferred to Tianshan in a couple of days.

Therefore, several leaders of the Qingxuan faction gathered here to celebrate.

As the group was enjoying themselves, a man entered from outside and bowed to Zhang Yanqing: "Reporting to the leader, the sect has sent someone who says they are here on the orders of the sect leader to see you immediately."

Upon hearing this, everyone put down their wine glasses, their expressions turned solemn, and they all looked at Zhang Yanqing.

Zhang Yanqing also looked puzzled. Since joining the Hunyuan Sect, he had only met Song Xian a few times, all in public.

"Where are people?"

"They are now waiting in the main hall."

Zhang Yanqing didn't say much, immediately got up and left the hall, going to the main hall. Inside, a man was already waiting. Upon seeing him, the man stood up, bowed, and took out a note: "Senior Brother Zhang, by order of the Sect Leader, you are summoned to Luoyun Mountain immediately." Zhang Yanqing recognized him as the person in charge of liaison with the mountain gate from the Outer Liaison Peak. He took the note and glanced at it: "Junior Brother Xu, do you know why the Sect Leader summoned me?"

"I don't know, I came here on orders."

"Besides me, who else has received the sect leader's summons?"

"As far as I know, there doesn't seem to be anyone else."

Zhang Yanqing's eyes widened: "The sect leader summoned me alone?"

"should be."

"Please wait a moment, Junior Brother Xu. I need to give some instructions. I'll be right there." Zhang Yanqing turned and went back into the hall, where he informed the others of the matter.

The group was surprised to hear that Song Xian had summoned them privately, but none of them knew what had happened.

Zhang Yanqing frowned, looking at the group with a solemn expression: "This is the first time the sect leader has summoned me alone. Have any of our men caused trouble during this time?"

The group shook their heads, indicating that they had not had any disputes with anyone recently.

Huang Sheng, who had been silent all along, stroked his chin with a flicker in his eyes: "In my opinion, the reason why Sect Leader Song Xian summoned the Chief this time is not because our people caused trouble. That's not his style. If someone caused trouble, he would either arrest them directly or summon them for questioning. I think it's either about the flagpole forging or there's a problem with the two resource territories we control."

"Flagpole forging? Wasn't that resolved? It's been months, why are they still bringing it up?"

"Could it be that Lu Yuan is coming up with some underhanded tricks again?"

"If it's just about the flagpole forging, it shouldn't have alarmed Sect Leader Song Xian enough to ask him about it privately!"

None of them could make up their minds.

Seeing that the others were also confused, Zhang Yanqing didn't ask any more questions and left Qingyuan Mountain with the sect's disciple who had given the order.

Upon arriving at Luoyun Mountain, he was taken to the guest hall to wait until the moon was high in the sky before he was notified that the sect leader had summoned him.

.........

Inside the brightly lit hall, Song Xian slowly entered from outside. Zhang Yanqing hurriedly stepped forward, bowed, and greeted the sect leader.

He still held a certain amount of awe for Song Xian, not only because of his cultivation level and status.

He was well aware of Song Xian's abilities. The originally small Hunyuan Sect had grown slowly under his control. In just a few decades, it first annexed Tianshan, then destroyed the Kong family, and finally annexed Luoyun Sect, becoming the largest power in Bianxi City.

The history of the Hunyuan Sect is known to everyone in Bianxi City. Almost every time, they defeated the strong with the weak. Everyone agrees with and praises Song Xian's methods and vision.

As the head of the Qingxuan Sect and the leader of the same force, he understood the difficulties better than others, and naturally admired them even more.

In addition, Song Xian's personal abilities are undeniable.

Putting aside everything else, just the ambush he suffered in Xijiang County, where he fought against three opponents—one in the early stage of Foundation Establishment, one in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, and one in the late stage of Foundation Establishment—and managed to turn the tide and kill two of them, is a feat that would make him the envy of all cultivators of the same level.

This matter had already spread throughout Bianxi City. All the cultivators in Bianxi City knew that these three Foundation Establishment cultivators were 'assassins' hired by Luoyun Sect. This was because the bounty hunter named Agula, who was at the eighth level of Foundation Establishment, had caused a scene at Luoyun Sect after the failed ambush and assassination attempt, demanding compensation for his losses. Therefore, everyone knew about it.

"No need for formalities, please sit down!" Song Xian smiled and waved his hand after taking his seat in the main seat.

"Thank you, Sect Leader." Zhang Yanqing took a seat as instructed. "May I ask what brings you here, Sect Leader?"

"Do you know that the sect is going to add a new industry of refining array flags?" Song Xian asked in a gentle tone, as if he were having a casual chat. This matter was decided at this year's financial meeting, but it was delayed because he went to the South China Sea.

The crafting of the array flags was no small investment, and the cabinet could not make the decision without his approval.

"This disciple has heard of it," Zhang Yanqing replied, bowing his head. A sense of unease crept into his heart. As expected, it was still about the flagpole forging. He had previously pleaded with Hu Xiaobao to settle the matter. Now that the old story was being brought up again, it was not a good omen.

"You've been in charge of making flagpoles, so you should be quite knowledgeable about flag making! If we entrust this business to you, can you manage it well?"

"Give it to..." Zhang Yanqing suddenly looked up, his expression one of disbelief. He never expected that Song Xian had summoned him to hand over the array flag refining business to him.

This is no small business; Song Xian was willing to entrust him with such a large enterprise, something he never dared to imagine before.

"Thank you for your kindness, Sect Leader. I promise to complete this task." After realizing what was happening, Zhang Yanqing immediately stood up and gave a deep bow.

"This industry will officially launch in a month, with an initial investment of 20,000 spirit stones, mainly for refining first-grade high-quality arrays. In your opinion, how many people are needed?"

"May I ask, Sect Leader, how many sets of top-grade first-tier formations are required to be refined each year?"

"Let's set a small goal first: five sets every year."

"Each year, five sets of first-grade high-level formations are needed, requiring at least twenty people."

"Alright, you can find the members yourself. I will also send someone knowledgeable to help you. If you need any other assistance from the sect, just let me know. Next year will be a trial period. I want to see the results. If you do well, you will continue to be in charge of the array flag refining industry. If you don't do well, the sect will consider other candidates."

"This disciple will do his utmost to live up to the sect leader's high expectations."

Song Xian nodded. He had his reasons for entrusting the flag-making industry to him.

First of all, these people have been in charge of flagpole making for a long time, so they are very familiar with the process and should understand the ins and outs of it; they are at least half insiders.

Secondly, entrusting the newly added flag industry to these people demonstrates that the sect treats everyone equally and has no factionalism.

Now, a large number of independent cultivators have joined the sect, and many feel marginalized. Qingxuan Sect is one of the larger independent cultivator forces. Song Xian wants to set an example to show that he appoints people based on merit, without favoritism or bias.

Furthermore, Zhang Yanqing possesses dual spiritual roots and has reached the ninth level of Qi Refining, making him a promising candidate for Foundation Establishment. Giving him some favors now will increase his trust and gratitude towards the sect.

It doesn't matter who does it anyway, since none of the original disciples of the Hunyuan Sect knew how to refine array flags.

After their conversation, Zhang Yanqing left happily.

(End of this chapter)