"This is a very serious problem. If this continues long-term, the Sect will become the personal property of a few families, which will inevitably lead to its decline."

"The Strategy Department spent five years on their calculations. They suggest that one of the core departments relinquish most of its benefits to better support the disciples from poorer backgrounds."

The moment Dang Jun’an finished speaking, the other three fell into a strange silence. The power struggles and division of benefits among the four core departments had long been set in stone.

Asking an entire department to suddenly relinquish its benefits would surely cause an uproar.

Seeing their reaction, Dang Jun’an felt rather helpless. He pondered for a moment before continuing, "Alright, we’ll discuss this matter last. But we must reach a decision today. Otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to report this to our Martial Uncle."

"When that happens, it won’t be such a peaceful negotiation. And if a department ends up suffering for it, don’t you dare blame me."

"After all, knowing our Martial Uncle’s temper, he’s fully capable of just picking a core department and dismantling it."

"I don’t dare to sweep this under the rug, either. Junior Sister Geng from the Strategy Department spent five years and sacrificed fifty years of her lifespan to create this proposal. I can’t suppress it, nor would I dare to."

"So, my dear junior brothers, I suggest you think this over carefully."

"For now, let’s move on to the matter of the Spirit Mountain Dao Conference and the Outer Realm Study Group exchange..."

Dang Jun’an’s words made the expressions of the other three men change. They began the rest of the discussion, clearly distracted.

Within the Celestial Spirit Sect, the Peak Masters didn’t handle day-to-day operations. The supervisors were the ones who managed daily affairs.

Any matter that required a Peak Master’s attention was, by definition, no small thing.

Furthermore, it wasn’t common for the Sect Leader to simply make unilateral decisions. Most of the time, matters were decided through joint deliberation by the four core departments, much like an enlightened council.

Of course, the council was originally supposed to consist of fifteen seats, all deliberating together.

But this was the Cultivation Realm, after all. A Great Cultivator at the Three Talents stage could enter seclusion for decades, or even centuries, at a time. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

So it was impossible to follow this procedure for every single matter, holding some kind of representative assembly every year.

Thus, for any issue that wasn’t critically important but still beyond the authority of their subordinates, the decision was usually left to the four core departments.

If other parties were involved, they would be included as needed. For example, today they had summoned someone from Spirit Nurturing Peak.

As a result, the Sect Leader played an important role in these proceedings but did not have absolute authority.

...

Zhang Deming left the hall. The moment he stepped outside, he let out a long, slow breath.

Nothing that happened today had gone as he’d expected.

All the preparations he had made were almost completely useless.

Outside the hall, a cold wind blew across his face, clearing his head slightly and finally pulling him from his bewildered stupor.

He began to replay the day’s events, trying to sort through his thoughts. But the more he thought about it, the more confused he became. The more he tried to make sense of it, the muddier it got.

He couldn’t make heads or tails of what had happened in the hall today. He didn’t have a single clue.

None of the old masters had even questioned his unusual cultivation level, which was the one thing he had been certain would happen.

Zhang Deming realized he couldn’t read these old masters of the Three Talents stage at all. ’God only knows how their minds work,’ he thought.

Even Yue Mengsheng, the one who seemed to dislike him the most, hadn’t given him any trouble this time.

On top of all that, he’d somehow ended up on Spirit Nurturing Peak as one of the Four Peak Masters. ’How am I supposed to make sense of any of this?’

After pondering for a long time, his thoughts only grew more chaotic. In the end, he decided to stop worrying about it. ’At least for now, it doesn’t seem like a bad thing. I’ll just take it one step at a time.’

"Why have we stopped?" Zhang Deming asked, looking at the disciple leading the way.

"We’ve arrived at the registration office, sir." The disciple leading the way was also a Tai Chi Stage cultivator, but he was exceptionally amiable toward Zhang Deming.

Anyone who could make their way to the Main Peak, let alone be assigned to duty in the Celestial Spirit Hall, was far from simple.

You wouldn’t get a post like this without either a powerful background or an exceptional heart.

Therefore, even though the disciple was very deferential, Zhang Deming put on no airs. After all, he still felt this whole "Peak Master" business was completely surreal.

At the disciple’s words, Zhang Deming looked up and saw that, not far from the Celestial Spirit Hall, a small side hall did indeed house an identity registration office, much like the one in the Outer Sect.

He wasn’t sure if it was for convenience or some other reason.

Zhang Deming sized it up for a moment before stepping inside.

The side hall was tucked away in a corner, one of many similar halls in the area. It didn’t look like a place that received many visitors.

So when Zhang Deming entered, the disciple on duty was dozing off. He was another senior brother at the Tai Chi Stage.

"Ahem..." Zhang Deming stepped forward and coughed twice.

The dozing disciple woke with a start, his eyes hazy and his face a mask of confusion.

He looked completely out of it, as if he had just been woken from a deep sleep. His expression seemed to ask:

’Who am I?’

’Where am I?’

’What am I supposed to be doing?’

From that single expression, Zhang Deming understood exactly how cushy this post was, what a perfect retirement job it was, and what a complete slacker this disciple was.

This was the Celestial Spirit Sect Main Peak, after all—the location of the sect’s only Four-Star Low-Grade Spirit Vein.

Of course, one couldn’t hope for a spot right on a spirit vein node, but any random location on this peak was equivalent to being at a One-Star Spirit Vein node elsewhere.

So even for a do-nothing post like this, weren’t people supposed to be fighting tooth and nail to get in?

But this guy? He was just sleeping on the job. This wasn’t some backwater hill in the Outer Sect where cultivation was impossible.

The two stared at each other for a long moment before Zhang Deming finally said, "Senior Brother, I’m here for identity registration."

The disciple blinked, slowly emerging from his stupor.

There was only one reason someone would come here for identity registration: they had just been approved for a new status in the Celestial Spirit Hall.

Regardless of the circumstances, anyone who underwent that process was no ordinary figure.

Once he’d collected himself, he smiled and took Zhang Deming’s Identity Card, beginning to process it as he spoke.

"My apologies, Junior Brother. This place is just too quiet. I can go half a year without seeing a soul. After a while, you just..."

Zhang Deming nodded. "I understand. It must be tough on you, Senior Brother."

Zhang Deming’s polite remark received no reply. The disciple at the desk had frozen completely.

He was stationed here as part of a special department within the Secret Group. The information of everyone approved in the great hall had to be kept confidential, which was why this registration office was located here in the first place.

He had been posted here for forty or fifty years since reaching the Tai Chi Stage, and in that time, he’d registered his fair share of strange cases.

He thought he’d reached a point where nothing, no matter how bizarre, could surprise him or make him feel jealous. After all, he’d seen it all.

He’d seen more than his fair share of geniuses.

But...

’What the hell is this? Promoted directly from the Outer Sect to Peak Master?’

’And not just any Peak Master, but one for Spirit Nurturing Peak? The one everyone is dying to get into?’

’Damn it, isn’t that position even more coveted than the Sect Leader’s?’

’Since when did the Celestial Spirit Sect have a fast track to heaven like this?’

’Am I seeing things? This can’t be real.’

’Then what the hell was the point of me grinding away here for fifty years to build up my seniority?’

’We’re both Tai Chi Cultivators! This is just unfair!’

’Even if it was a special appointment, couldn’t they have been a little more subtle about it? I may be the registrar from a special department, but I can still get jealous! This is so unfair!’

’I’ve been building up my seniority for fifty years! I’ve been struggling for this Sect for ninety-seven years! I’m a somebody, you know! Keep this up, and you’re going to lose me! You hear me?! LOSE ME!!!’

Seeing the disciple staring blankly, not moving for a long moment, Zhang Deming asked, "Senior Brother, is there a problem?"

The young man snapped out of it, paused, then said, "Ah, oh, there might be a problem with the Array frequency. Let me just... fix it."

Zhang Deming nodded. "Alright, but please be quick. I expect I have a lot of things to take care of today."

The disciple nodded. "Of course, it’ll just be a moment."

He quickly made a few gestures at the Light Screen, performing various operations. After confirming the information was correct, he felt his whole world turning bleak.

It turned out that the senior who had handed this post over to him decades ago had been right. This place wasn’t just a do-nothing post; it was, in fact, a damn breeding ground for jealousy.

...