Every gaze in the hall shifted at once to Sect Master Hong Qingyuan, who had not said a word until now. He was still habitually tapping the table with one finger, tap by tap, and only after a long brooding silence did he speak slowly: "This is no small matter. We must all discuss it properly."

"..." The others looked at one another, speechless. It had sounded very grave, and amounted to saying nothing at all.

Yet Hong Qingyuan could hardly be blamed for smoothing things over; from where he stood, there truly was no way out. After all, a rising talent like Xue Jianming was bound to bear heavy responsibilities. To leave a Golden Core cultivator at grand completion—one whom every other sect would have begged for—idle and unutilized would be a dereliction of his duty as sect master.

But for the sake of keeping the overall situation under control, Hong Qingyuan could not possibly let this rising star, Xue Jianming, steal the spotlight. Otherwise, given the tempers that Xue Jianming and his father, Xue Liping, had already displayed, things would sooner or later spiral beyond all control—and then the fun would really begin.

"Does the Sect Master mean that this is the important matter of the day?" Chi Qianqiu asked, exchanging a glance with the others.

"Indeed. Everyone, sit down first. There is no hurry to fight over positions; let each speak his mind, and once a result is discussed, I expect there will be no more quarreling. What do you all think?" Hong Qingyuan proposed.

"Good." Chi Qianqiu did not stand on ceremony; he led the other elders to their seats one after another.

"Then... who will speak first?" Hong Qingyuan swept his gaze around the hall. In a matter like this, only he, as sect master, held the final say—but the more that was so, the less he could reveal his own attitude beforehand. Only by keeping his expression unchanged and letting everyone air their views could he retain the greatest initiative.

Chi Qianqiu and the others looked at one another and, by unspoken agreement, kept silent. Because they had not coordinated beforehand, none of them dared speak lightly until they had clearly weighed every advantage and disadvantage.

"Then shall I say a few words first?" Xue Liping smiled, then continued: "As the saying goes, one does not avoid recommending one's own kin. Although Feng'er is my son, he is now a Golden Core cultivator at grand completion, so I believe he ought to be placed in a correspondingly important position. Otherwise, if word got out, it would not only be hard to convince people—outsiders might even make a joke of it, and that would hardly do."

"Vice Sect Master Xue might as well speak plainly. What sort of important position do you think he should be given?" Chi Qianqiu asked, eyes narrowed.

"As a cultivator second only to the Grand Elder, I think he should at the very least hold the position of the number two figure. Of course, I am not saying he should take the sect master's seat—after all, he is still young and inexperienced, and for the time being he could not yet command the overall situation," Xue Liping said with pointed meaning.

Hong Qingyuan's eyelid twitched at these words. His face remained impassive, but inwardly he was already cursing under his breath. "For the time being he could not yet command the overall situation"—did that mean that in the future he would want to command it? So what these father and son were really after was not the number two position at all; they were scheming for his own seat as sect master!

Chi Qianqiu and the others frowned at this too, though in their hearts they were laughing. This father and son pair were truly arrogant beyond all bounds—were they not plainly shoving Hong Qingyuan over to their side?

"The number two position? Taken literally, the rank below sect master is naturally that of vice sect master. From what Vice Sect Master Xue says, does he intend to step down and yield his place to his own son?" The Third Elder grinned.

"I have no objection. Although the Xuejian Sect has no tradition of a son inheriting his father's office, your family's situation is special. Having produced such a promising son, I think it is barely feasible to let him replace you as vice sect master," the Fifth Elder declared.

"Seconded," the Fourth Elder nodded.

"I second it as well," the Second Elder nodded likewise.

"Since that is everyone's meaning, I have no objection either," Chi Qianqiu nodded along. Given the present circumstances, it was unrealistic to keep resisting Xue Jianming's rise. That being so, they might as well let him take his father Xue Liping's place. They were long accustomed to locking horns with the vice sect master anyway; it made no difference whether the father was swapped for the son.

"Heh, I think everyone has misunderstood. I have always been diligent and conscientious in this vice sect master's post—if I have no merit, I have at least borne the toil. Besides, I never once said I intended to step down and yield my place, did I?" Xue Liping said with a cold laugh.

"And one more thing, let me add: my father's post as vice sect master hardly counts as the number two position, does it? Great Elder Chi, have you not always claimed to stand a head above my father?" Xue Jianming spoke up himself.

"From what you say, you have set your sights on my seat as Great Elder?" Chi Qianqiu could not help laughing.

"Xue Jianming, oh Xue Jianming. Young as you are, you grew up in the sect from childhood—do you not know how the post of Great Elder comes about? It is not self-appointed. The Great Elder, like the sect master, must be elected by vote of the council of elders and must also receive the personal approval of the Grand Elder. Do you think you can hold it just because you want to?" the Second Elder said with scorn.

"Exactly. Beyond strength, what matters most for a Great Elder is contribution to the sect and deep seniority. Which of those two do you think you qualify for?" The other elders chimed in one after another.

"..." Xue Jianming was checked by these words. Harsh as they were, he truly had no rebuttal. Apart from his strength as a Golden Core cultivator at grand completion, he had nothing—seniority went without saying, and as for contribution to the sect, Chi Qianqiu had been a brother in life and death to the former sect master, now the Grand Elder, and had once rendered shining merits that no one in the entire Xuejian Sect could match. What had Xue Jianming ever done?

"You have all misunderstood again. I have never thought of becoming the sect's Great Elder," Xue Jianming had no choice but to say.

"Then what exactly do you want?" The others looked at one another.

"Vice sect master—but with two words added in front: executive," Xue Jianming said bluntly.

"Executive Vice Sect Master?!" Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then their expressions changed in unison. Great Elder Chi Qianqiu, by virtue of his seniority, could somewhat overshadow the vice sect master, the two of them essentially on equal footing—but an executive vice sect master, as the name implied, clearly stood above an ordinary vice sect master, and thus naturally above the Great Elder as well. That would make him the true number two figure of the council of elders!

"In other words, you want to conjure an executive vice sect master out of thin air?" Chi Qianqiu turned at these words to the impassive Hong Qingyuan and said: "Sect Master Hong, do you think there is any need for this?"

"Indeed, is there any need for this?" Hong Qingyuan did not answer directly, but let the current carry him and turned to look at Xue Jianming. (To be continued.)