Chapter 1263: The Rise of the Holy Court

Up to this point, Qi Xuansu’s gains had been quite satisfactory. Setting aside the Shebishi Venom, the Xuan Jade, and the sarira, the progress he had made in investigating the Longevity Stone Heart alone was worth the trip.

Qi Xuansu did not wish to reach the pinnacle relying on the Longevity Stone Heart only to later fall into ruin because of it.

This journey to Lingshan was, in essence, Qi Xuansu leveraging one force against another—using the Heavenly Preceptor’s influence to counter the Earthly Preceptor’s power.

Though this also involved sidelining the Grand Master’s authority, the current situation differed greatly from the past. When the sixth-generation Grand Master ascended, the Three Deputy Grand Masters had just experienced the authoritarian era of the fifth-generation Grand Master. Thus, they shared significant consensus born from lingering caution. They cooperated closely, leaving the sixth-generation Grand Master with little opportunity to manipulate opposing forces against each other. But after decades of working together, many contradictions accumulated among the three Deputy Grand Masters. Cracks had formed on their shared ground, and their alliance was no longer unbreakable.

Moreover, the Three Deputy Grand Masters did not have much time left. As the sixth-generation disciples gradually ascended or passed away, the seventh-generation disciples would slowly forget the fifth-generation Grand Master. Many of them had never personally experienced such an authoritarian era, and the eighth-generation disciples even less so. Without deep personal memory or genuine fear, hearing only secondhand accounts from elders, they would naturally no longer remain excessively wary of centralized authority under the Grand Master.

Due to the combination of these factors, Qi Xuansu’s idea of achieving balance through leveraging opposing forces was still possible. The difficulty and resistance would be far less than during the era of the sixth-generation Grand Master.

Of course, even with reduced resistance, this did not mean it would be easy. The demands on individual capability remained extremely high.

Afterward, Qi Xuansu and Qi Jiaoyao retraced their steps out of the underground ruins and closed the Yin-Yang Gate, restoring Elder Yao’s painting to its original state by moving the image back from Wu Xian to Elder Yao. The formation shut down once again, returning to a dim stillness.

They then waited for the Blood Moon to fade before continuing their journey toward Lingshan.

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On the other hand, before any clear results emerged from the investigation into the Kunlun Daoist Mansion, Zhang Yuelu was invited to attend a council meeting in Jade Capital.

This was not an attempt to arrest Zhang Yuelu under the guise of a meeting. Rather, it concerned follow-up matters from the Nine Halls joint council. Last time, the meeting had been presided over by Sage Cihang. This time, the rightful host would be Sage Qingwei. Thus, the location had also been changed to the Beichen Hall.

Zhang Yuelu was very familiar with Beichen Hall, as it was her first workplace in Jade Capital. However, she did not have a particularly favorable impression of Beichen Hall.

After the meeting formally began, Sage Qingwei first summarized the achievements of the past two years, describing them as both gratifying and encouraging. Through everyone’s tireless efforts, most of the nails had been removed, and conditions across overseas territories and coastal regions had greatly improved. Special praise was given to the Poluo Daoist Mansion. Since Qi Xuansu was in seclusion, Xu Jiaorong attended the meeting on his behalf, which was also part of the responsibilities of a Second Deputy Mansion Master.

After summarizing the achievements, Sage Qingwei did not immediately move into the main agenda. Instead, he began discussing what seemed like an unrelated topic—the fall of the Roman Empire. Everyone present was a second-rank Taiyi Daoist who had systematically studied Western history and was familiar with this period.

The Roman Empire’s capital was known as the City of Seven Hills. With the collapse of the Roman Empire, the Western Continent returned to a state of multiple competing states and never formed another unified empire like the East.

During its final centuries, its citizens no longer wished to serve in the military, since military service required up to ten years of harsh labor, stationed at border regions with little chance of return, low pay, and constant risk of death. As a result, so-called “barbarian” groups gradually came to dominate the Roman army, somewhat similar to the way non-Han forces came to control the military during the late Qi Dynasty. During this process, the civil and military officials of the Roman Empire diverged into two distinctly separate paths.

In the late Roman Empire, various barbarian warlords constantly fought among themselves. The emperor was little more than a puppet, while regional warlords became the true power holders, ruling as generals. Ambitious figures rose one after another, manipulating the emperor to command the regional lords, much like the regional military governors at the end of the Qi Dynasty.

The Romans considered these generals barbarians, and the true Roman elites viewed military service as vulgar and refused to enlist.

At this point, the civil bureaucracy had collapsed, and the empire had lost control over local administrative regions. The Roman elites chose another path by entering the Holy Court.

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

As the civil government collapsed, the Holy Court, which held immense wealth, gradually assumed the functions of local governance, and the clergy became the de facto rulers of the cities. Consequently, the Roman noble families sent their children to the institution, integrating with the Holy Court to ensure the continuation of their lineage and survival amid the chaos.

This marked the beginning of the Holy Court’s rise toward becoming the ruler of the Western Continent.

This raised an important question. When the Roman civil administration collapsed, why was it the Holy Court that assumed governmental responsibilities? That was due to the Holy Court’s education system. Secondary education was designed for nobles and the respectable classes, while universities functioned as training grounds for clergy, physicians, judges, and lawyers.

The sole purpose of a university, also called the Cathedral School, was to train clergy members. Since the Holy Court insisted that the interpretation of the Sacred Canon must adhere to orthodox theology approved by the Holy Court, all clergy were required to undergo theological education, and the Cathedral School was established specifically for that purpose.

As the world evolved, courses in medicine and law were added to meet the needs of missionary work.

Medicine hardly needed explanation, since it was essential at all times. The Daoist Order understood this deeply, using talisman water to save people during chaotic times, thereby winning hearts and minds. Its effectiveness was second only to distributing food. In prosperous times, elites relied on alchemy to please emperors and nobles, allowing them to rise rapidly and become important officials. At its core, all of this was about dispelling illness and disaster, or at most pursuing longevity on the foundation of health.

Legal studies were more of a necessary tool for clergy members seeking advancement through elite circles. Clergy skilled in law could better serve regional rulers, gain proximity to them, seize influence, and ultimately guide them toward spreading the doctrine. In essence, this mirrored the Confucian path of mastering scholarly and martial arts to serve the Imperial Court. They were merely different routes leading to the same destination.

For this reason, clergy increasingly assumed bureaucratic responsibilities, eventually replacing officials entirely after the collapse of the civil administration.

Thus, universities came to revolve around three core disciplines: theology, medicine, and law.

Later, nobles were no longer satisfied with secondary education alone, and many commoners seeking upward mobility also flooded into universities. As a result, academic disciplines expanded. Yet even then, only students of theology, medicine, and law enjoyed various privileges.

The Wanxiang Daoist Palace essentially modeled itself after the Holy Court’s university system but took it further. It was not limited to the three foundational disciplines. Instead, it functioned as a comprehensive educational institution, aimed not merely at training Daoists or technical bureaucrats. Those who reached the end of its path would be part of the leadership itself.

Once one understood the rise of the Holy Court, it became clear that its path differed greatly from that of the Daoist Order. Instead, it more closely resembled the Confucian route, moving from dependence on rulers to eventual control over them.

Meanwhile, the Daoist Order’s path to rise was rebellion. After the Confucian School became the dominant ruling party, the Daoist Order retreated from the official halls and into Jianghu. From there, it embarked on relentless uprisings, mobilizing the populace to oppose the Imperial Court and challenge Confucian dominance. It only succeeded at the end of the Wei Dynasty, replacing Confucianism as the ruling power of the world.

These two divergent routes determined that the Holy Court and the Daoist Order developed fundamentally different mindsets and modes of action.

The Holy Court was obsessed with missionary work, essentially replicating its past victorious strategy of subtle infiltration, influencing hearts quietly, and replacing systems from within. Thus, spies, subversion, and infiltration emerged, attempting to destabilize the Daoist Order through preaching and ideological influence.

The Daoist Order likewise replicated its own historical successes, promoting massive resistance movements in the New Continent, helping indigenous peoples overthrow the Holy Court’s rule, fight for independence, and establish their own nations.

Thus, in unfamiliar domains, the Daoist Order was unquestionably on the defensive. It had to continually purge internal traitors and remove various nails. This was precisely why the Beichen Hall convened the Nine-Hall Joint Council to address the Holy Court’s infiltration.

In familiar domains, however, the Daoist Order became the attacking side. For example, in the New Continent, it successfully helped indigenous peoples establish their own nation, forming a north-south balance of power with the Holy Court. As the Holy Court struggled to suppress multiple uprisings, it was forced into a defensive position.

Hearing this, Zhang Yuelu felt her spirits lift. She began to understand what Sage Qingwei was about to say.

Sure enough, Sage Qingwei said, “After two years of relentless effort, we have achieved a favorable situation, having successfully blocked a punch thrown by the Holy Court. But we must not celebrate too early. Blocking their strike does not mean victory. Since it’s only proper to return what one receives, we must strike back in turn.

“As for how we respond, we cannot act like them by secretly spreading doctrine or infiltrating. Instead, we will open a new battlefield in the New Continent.”

As Sage Qingwei finished speaking, a massive curtain slowly descended behind him, revealing a map of the entire New Continent painted across its surface.