Xiuxian: I use magnetic fields to prove my truth

Chapter 83 The Elders' Choice
Wei Kuang is a person who doesn't like to go out. Unless he is doing a mission, he rarely goes out on his own initiative.

Zhou Qing thought about it and didn't remember what tasks he had been assigned recently.

He used the wave search method he had just invented to explore Wei Kuang's location, but after a while, no news was sent back.

This spiritual energy fluctuation decayed very quickly and completely dissipated about ten miles away. It seemed that Wei Kuang was not around Ziyun Mountain.

Zhou Qing had no choice but to go home and wait.

When he finished his meditation session in the afternoon, he explored again. This time he sensed Wei Kuang and discovered that he was walking back from the direction of Qingyun Mountain. He had just reached the foot of Ziyun Mountain.

No wonder I didn’t find it before, it turns out he went to Qingyun Mountain.

Zhou Qing took advantage of this free time and simply went out for a walk, and went to meet Wei Kuang by the way.

He walked down the mountain road in the gradually dimming sunset, and finally met Wei Kuang at the foot of the mountain.

Wei Kuang took a few quick steps forward and asked, "Where are you going, Senior Brother?"

Zhou Qing smiled and said, "I knew you were going to pass by here, so I came to see you."

Wei Kuang was unsure for a moment whether Zhou Qing was joking or had truly mastered some kind of deduction technique, so he simply asked, "Big Brother, do you have something to talk to me about?"

Zhou Qing nodded, pointed in the direction of Wei Kuang's house, and said, "Let's talk while we walk."

The two of them then walked side by side towards Wei Kuang's house.

Zhou Qing saw that he was frowning, as if he was worried about something, so he put his own affairs aside and asked, "I saw you coming from Qingyun Mountain."

Wei Kuang nodded and said, "Elder Fang Daoyi passed away, and the sect held a funeral for him. Some of the nearby sect members came to express their condolences. One of them, the Tiger Guards Luo family, had a long history with my ancestors, and Elder Jinmang asked me to meet the guest."

It turned out that the elder's name was Fang Daoyi.

Zhou Qing said, "I thought that after death, the immortals returned to dust and earth, and there would not be funerals like mortals."

Wei Kuang said: "After all, immortal cultivators are not the immortals of legends. They cannot be completely immune to worldly affairs. The funeral of an immortal sect has to fulfill many important functions."

Zhou Qing became interested and asked, "I don't know about that. Can you tell me about it?"

Wei Kuang said: "The living environment in the world of immortal cultivation is not good. Everyone, even every sect, is looking for their own allies."

"Fellow disciples are natural allies. Although we may fight openly or covertly on a daily basis, we must still be united when facing the outside world."

"So in the world of immortal cultivation, the sect is the first and most core alliance, and other alliances are developed on this basis, through the communication between the disciples of each sect."

"For example, Elder Fang Daoyi was also a man of great spirit when he was young, and he loved making friends."

"Every time I go down the mountain to travel, I always do something earth-shattering and make friends with people from different sects."

"After returning to the mountain, friends often exchanged news and comforted each other. When one of us was in trouble, we would rescue each other. Over time, this personal friendship would transform into a relationship within the sect."

"Now that Elder Fang Daoyi has passed away, it's natural to pass the news on to them. Firstly, this will allow them to learn of their old friend's death and have the opportunity to come and pay their respects. Secondly, it will also allow the friendship between our two sects to continue."

Well, that makes sense.

Zhou Qing nodded and said, "Yesterday I went to the Cliff of the Living Dead to clean up his stone chamber. Thinking that such a lively and heroic person could spend the last moments of his life in such a small stone chamber, I can't help but sigh."

"I see you look solemn. Are you grieving over the passing of Elder Fang Daoyi?"

Wei Kuang said, "It's certainly a bad thing that the elder has passed away, but I haven't met Elder Fang, so I don't need to be so worried."

"I just heard some bad news in Qingyun Mountain."

Zhou Qing said: "What bad news?"

Wei Kuang said, "Although the sect has no explicit rules, everyone subconsciously follows a common practice. Whenever an elder in the Cliff of the Living Dead passes away or comes out of seclusion, the elders who intend to enter the dead retreat will quickly decide whether to abandon worldly affairs and enter the cave."

"Elder Lin Maoshan of the Transmission Hall is nearing the end of his life. He has always intended to go to the Cliff of the Living Dead, but he has not yet made up his mind."

"Now that Elder Fang Daoyi has passed away, I think he will leave soon."

"With Elder Lin's departure, the position of Elder of the Transmission Hall has become vacant. The next candidate will definitely be between Uncle Chen Qingxuan and Uncle Lu."

Zhou Qing frowned and asked, "Do you think Uncle Chen has no chance of defeating Uncle Lu?"

Wei Kuang nodded heavily and said, "It's difficult."

Zhou Qing asked curiously, "What considerations does a sect take into account when selecting elders?"

Wei Kuang said, "The headmaster, the chair, and the elders are the true rulers of the sect. They ultimately make decisions on all the sect's regulations, its industries, and its external affairs." "Therefore, the selection of elders is a comprehensive consideration, one of which is ability. The ability of the elders in the Transmission Hall takes into account both their personal cultivation and their ability to teach and impart knowledge. This is the only reason that Uncle Chen is not afraid of Uncle Lu."

"Uncle Chen's realm is higher than Uncle Lu's, and he has his own unique perspectives on teaching. Now he has also trained a rising star like our eldest brother, who is gaining fame in the sect. He will never lose to Uncle Lu."

"But Uncle Chen is far behind in other aspects."

Zhou Qing asked curiously: "What aspects are there?"

Wei Kuang said: "His popularity in the sect, or in other words, how many people hope that he can take the position of elder."

"First of all, the elders of the sect, the Sect Master and the two Jindan masters, Xu Jingfeng, never express their opinions. However, the other Sect Masters, such as the Sect Master of Qimen Hall, always favor disciples from the sect. The Miscellaneous Affairs Hall Master, He Huifeng, has the lowest status among the four Sect Masters and rarely expresses his opinions. He just follows what others say."

"Under the chairperson, more than half of the elders in each hall also tend to favor disciples from the sect."

Zhou Qing said, "Master Chen was also selected from the mortal realm, so it's difficult for him to gain the support of the sect elders?"

Wei Kuang nodded and said, "However, there are some elders who are not biased towards insiders and outsiders. For example, Elder Jin Mang strongly supports Uncle Chen. So, in terms of the elders, Uncle Chen is just at a disadvantage, but he is not completely powerless to fight back."

"That other level is truly Uncle Chen's absolute weakness."

Seeing Zhou Qing looking at him inquiringly, Wei Kuang explained, "Generally speaking, when a disciple is eligible to participate in the election for elder, the disciples of the same class as him have also grown up and held important positions in the sect. Some have even become elders before him."

"In this way, they can naturally support each other and promote each other to higher positions."

"But because of Mu Zhuosha's demonic possession, the morale of that generation of disciples was severely damaged. Over the years, those disciples who died have died, and even those who didn't have become idle wanderers, often wandering outside and rarely returning to the sect."

"Uncle Chen has become a lonely man, and it's hard to find a helping hand."

"Uncle Lu is different. He is the eldest senior brother, and his younger brothers and sisters have now become the "vassal lords" of the sect."

Wei Kuang was very satisfied with his analogy and continued, "For example, Liu Bingxuan's great-grandfather Liu Wentian was in charge of a spirit stone mine for the sect. This was a crucial position and naturally had a significant influence within the sect."

"The news I received is that, taking advantage of Elder Liu Daoyi's funeral, the disciples away from home are also returning to pay their respects. The disciples on Uncle Lu's side are planning to take advantage of the situation and push him to the position of elder."

Zhou Qing said: "After listening to what you said, I feel that there is no hope for Uncle Chen."

Wei Kuang smiled bitterly and said, "That's why it's difficult."

Zhou Qing pondered for a moment and said, "Whether it's Uncle Chen or Uncle Lu, what's the difference between them being elders? Why do you feel like you're facing a formidable enemy?"

Wei Kuang said: "It won't have much impact on me, but it will have a huge impact on my senior brother and the other junior brothers and sisters who came from the mortal world."

"Master Lu is naturally a so-called localist. His faction has always been striving to promote reforms that benefit the localists."

"For example, they could reduce the salaries of disciples from the mortal realm and provide subsidies to local disciples. Or, they could set different assessment standards for local and foreign disciples."

"Their reasoning is that the local disciples' parents and grandparents have contributed a lot to the sect, and they deserve better training. If those foreign disciples want to enjoy the same conditions, they should pay a higher price than the local disciples."

"This set of ideas is very popular in the sect."

Zhou Qing smiled and said, "What do you think of this?"

Wei Kuang smiled shyly and said, "I used to agree with this view as well. That's why when I first joined, I firmly believed that I should be the eldest senior brother and looked down upon you and Wei Xu and the others."

"It was only after I spent more time with Senior Brother that I gradually realized how narrow-minded this statement was."

Zhou Qing said: "How do you say that?"

Wei Kuang turned his head and looked towards the west. The sun had already set, and the Baiyun Mountain in the distance turned into a huge black shadow, like a monster crawling on the ground.

After a moment, he turned around and said, "Because I realized that if their argument succeeds, Big Brother will never be able to make a name for himself in the sect, or at least he will have to pay a huge price to do so."

"For someone as brilliant as Senior Brother to be held back by a set of unreasonable rules, unable to enjoy the sect's better training, what a waste!"

"If the sect wants to develop well, it needs to continuously discover outstanding talents and give them room to grow, regardless of whether they come from the local area or the mortal world."

"Only in this way can the sect continue to grow stronger due to the enthusiasm of talents."

"Qingyun Sect is where my path to immortality lies. I hope it gets better and better. The local faction's arguments are too focused on self-interest and ignore the overall interests of Qingyun Sect."

"So I don't want Uncle Lu to become an elder and strengthen their influence."

Zhou Qing looked at Wei Kuang's young and innocent, yet righteous face and was stunned for a moment. After a moment, he smiled and said, "If you had been the eldest senior brother, it would have been enough."

(End of this chapter)