After seeing off Yang Jihua, it wasn’t long before Lu Yuan had another visitor.
"Taoist Lu."
Zhen Xuan’s aged face was full of smiles as he entered and began to chat endlessly about trivial matters regarding his years as Sect Leader, resembling soone visiting friends and relatives.
Lu Yuan listened for a while, and seeing that the other party was reluctant to get to the point, he impatiently said, "Taoist Zhen Xuan, have you co to just to talk about these things?"
Compared to Yang Jihua, his attitude towards this old fellow was sowhat better.
There was no helping it, the main strategy of the Taiping Dao was to ally with the Jiuzhou Immortal Sect in the future to eliminate the Qing Immortal Sect and unify the Great Domain.
Under this strategic policy, naturally, he had to maintain a good relationship with the Jiuzhou Immortal Sect.
Thus, for the past four hundred years, Lu Yuan outwardly appeared impartial between the Qing Immortal Sect and the Jiuzhou Immortal Sect, siding with whoever offered more money.
But privately, aside from official duties, Lu Yuan kept his distance from the Qing Immortal Sect and favored the Jiuzhou Immortal Sect.
He focused on one, with the lower and middle ranks mainly from Qing Immortal Sect, and the upper echelons from Jiuzhou Immortal Sect, balancing it so that neither side felt cheated.
Over four hundred years, he and Zhen Xuan had ford no small friendship.
Because of this, Zhen Xuan was now able to talk about these trivial matters with Lu Yuan.
"Why the hurry, Taoist Lu? I am here to bond with you, and you seem to have no patience for it."
Zhen Xuan complained, but seeing Lu Yuan’s expression, he stopped the small talk and said seriously, "This ti I have co to seek Taoist Lu mainly regarding the matter of your sect’s upcoming change in leadership. Your sect is changing leaders again after just four hundred years, with you about to retire and the new Sect Leader never having been spoken of before, I don’t know his temperant or his attitude towards Jiuzhou. So, I specially ca to seek guidance from you."
Not only was the Qing Immortal Sect worried about the Taiping Dao changing its leader,
Jiuzhou was equally concerned.
Indeed, people from both sides had co.
"I knew you were here for this matter."
Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan selectively relayed part of what he had said to Yang Jihua earlier, "My Junior Brother Yu is assuming the position of Sect Leader to cleanse the internal atmosphere and nd the divisions among the disciples."
He briefly ntioned the responsibilities of the Jade Brocade, then cautioned, "He is different from , not soone who can be swayed by money and possessions. If you wish to interact with him in the future, it must be strictly official business, without ulterior motives."
Upon hearing this, Zhen Xuan’s face fell, "Ah, Taoist Lu, our two sects have shared a friendship for seven hundred years, why must we be so distant? Calculating everything so precisely harms our relationship and also brings many inconveniences. Is there really no other way?"
Lu Yuan shook his head, "What can I do? The sect has already made a decision, this matter simply cannot be changed or stopped. Moreover, once I retire, I will be like Elder Brother Yi, entering secluded cultivation and disengaging from external affairs. I won’t be able to manage future matters either."
"Ah, you are going into seclusion?"
Just like when Yang Jihua heard the news that Lu Yuan would enter seclusion, Zhen Xuan was also visibly shocked and could hardly understand why he would do this.
However, after the shock passed, Zhen Xuan quickly responded with urgency,"Elder Brother Yi entered seclusion four hundred years ago and has not erged since. Now you are also entering seclusion, and we do not know when we might see each other again. With the new Jade Sovereign of Taiping Dao being difficult to deal with, and the real connections between our Jiuzhou and your sect being mostly just you and Elder Brother Yi, who have both gone into seclusion, who shall we Jiuzhou turn to when we need to discuss matters with Taiping Dao in the future? Surely we can’t just handle everything on an official basis with the Jade Sovereign, as you said. How would we get things done then?"
Many matters, if put forth bluntly and handled in an entirely official manner, cannot be accomplished.
Negotiations need to be conducted privately.
Such is the way of the world.
The rapid warming of relations between the Taiping Dao and Jiuzhou over the years wasn’t achieved by adhering strictly to official business.
The close relationships between the previous Sect Leaders, Yi Dancheng and Lu Yuan, and the high ranks of Jiuzhou were also crucial factors.
Now, with the Taiping Dao changing its leader and the previous leaders entering seclusion one after the other, this effectively severed the high-level communication between the two sects.
How could they maintain their relationship?
What?
You say Yang Xiuan also has good relations with Jiuzhou, this True Immortal of Taiping Dao could also be considered high-level.
That’s not considered high-level, it’s not sothing you can just claim, it depends on his influence over the sect’s decisions.
Considering the current situation, Yang Xiuan was late even to learn about the change in leadership.
Let alone having proposal and voting rights, he doesn’t even have the right to observe. How is this high-level?
Zhen Xuan, who was quite familiar with the internal chanisms and systems of the Taiping Dao, naturally couldn’t count on him.
Hearing Zhen Xuan’s complaint, Lu Yuan thoughtfully said, "What you say does have rit; our two sects have deep ties that indeed shouldn’t beco estranged so suddenly."
He pondered a mont then said, "Here’s what you can do, if Zhen Xuan Taoist you encounter any issues in the future, you can seek out my Elder Brother Che in Jiuchuan Country, he can discuss matters with you. Although Junior Brother Yu is the new Sect Leader, Elder Brother Che’s tenure and his ability to speak on so matters within the sect still count. Should you seek him out, as long as the matter is reasonable, Elder Brother Che won’t disregard it. I will also speak to Elder Brother Che about this before I enter seclusion, asking him to look after things."
After his own and Yi Dancheng’s retreat, promoting Elder Brother Che to the forefront was Lu Yuan’s next plan.
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