The Western Region Buddhist Sect’s sphere of influence only began beyond the territories of the Western Region under the Daoist Order’s actual control. Both Kunlun and Jade Capital were located within the Western Region in the broader geographical sense. So the Daoist Order had been determined to drive the Buddhist Sect out. As such, the Buddhist-Daoist conflict had ended in victory for the Daoist Order.
However, many within the Daoist Order saw this victory as incomplete, because the Buddhist Sect was not a subordinate organization like the Confucian School, nor was it completely eradicated. The Buddhist Sect remained a threat to the Daoist Order.
These were undoubtedly extraordinarily high standards and demanding expectations, reflecting the pride of those within the Daoist Order. A minor victory was practically considered a defeat, and only an overwhelming triumph could be regarded as a genuine victory.
Yet from the Buddhist Sect’s perspective, the Buddhist-Daoist conflict had unquestionably been a crushing defeat for them. The Buddhist Sect in the Central Plains had been destroyed, the Western Region Buddhist Sect had been forced into retreat, and the Buddhist Sects in Nanyang and Fenglin had subsequently suffered defeats of their own, adding up to a comprehensive collapse.
Although the Buddhist Sect in the Central Plains was later reestablished, it was little more than an empty facade, with a splendid exterior concealing a worthless interior.
The Buddhist Sect’s defeat gave rise to two major factions within its ranks.
One major faction was the capitulationists, who advocated acknowledging their defeat, admitting that the Buddhist Sect was inferior to the Daoist Order, and submitting to the Daoist Order as the Confucian School had done in exchange for an improvement in their circumstances.
The other major faction was the radicals, who advocated retaliating against the Daoist Order by any means necessary, resurrecting the Lord Buddha, and launching a second Buddhist-Daoist war. Their proposed methods included forming alliances with external powers such as the Shamanistic Sect, the Holy Court, and the Tenmon Sect, supporting the Buddhist Sects in Nanyang and Fenglin in launching large-scale anti-Daoist movements, and backing secret societies such as the Lingshan Witch Cult and the Cult of Fates.
The two factions frequently struggled against each other. During the tenure of the fifth-generation Grand Master, the Daoist Order provided substantial support to the capitulationists, also known as the pro-Daoist faction within the Buddhist Sect. As such, the pro-Daoist faction gained the upper hand during this period.
However, following the departure of the fifth-generation Grand Master and the succession of the sixth-generation Grand Master, the great aristocratic families that had been suppressed by the former began to reassert themselves.
Although the feud between the Zhang and Li families stretched back many years, the great families led by these two behemoths had always shared a common understanding. The Daoist aristocracy were the founders of the Daoist Order. In particular, the Zhang and Li families, as original shareholders who had contributed substantial resources when the organization was established, regarded themselves as its rightful owners.
Those who rose to prominence later, or who came from humble backgrounds, were nothing more than the Daoist Order’s stewards, regardless of how high their positions might be. This mentality was deeply ingrained in the aristocratic families. Even individuals of humble origins who attained the highest offices could be executed at a moment’s notice. By contrast, members of the great families could almost always expect some degree of leniency, with life imprisonment generally being the harshest punishment they faced.
However, the fifth-generation Grand Master had been an exception. He was of common origin and had managed to force the Three Great Families to bow their heads as he took to the supreme position within the Daoist Order. Moreover, he had accomplished much, second only to the Holy Xuan himself.
Qi Xuansu could be considered something of a partial exception. He certainly did not come from an aristocratic family, nor did he possess the extraordinary capabilities of the fifth-generation Grand Master, so it could hardly be said that he had risen entirely through his own efforts. There was no need to shy away from the truth or embellish his achievements. His very first step toward prominence had been made possible by relying on Madam Qi’s influence. It was through her personal connections and patronage that he had managed to get his foot in the door.
Now, everyone said that Qi Xuansu had considerable experience working at the grassroots level. However, this definition of “grassroots” depended on whom he was being compared with. Compared to the scions of aristocratic families, Qi Xuansu had indeed started from a very low position. But compared to genuine grassroots Daoists, Qi Xuansu’s starting point was already the pinnacle of their careers.
Countless people spent their entire lives struggling without ever attaining even the rank of a ninth-rank Daoist, while some were only seventh-rank Daoists by the time they retired.
Qi Xuansu started at the seventh rank and had never even worked at a Daoist temple in a remote region. So compared to ordinary Daoists, Qi Xuansu was actually a member of the elite. He graduated from the Wanxiang Daoist Palace and entered the Tiangang Hall directly. Thus, his labels of “humble origins” and “country bumpkin” were merely how the scions of aristocratic families viewed him, not how most people saw him. After all, even if those aristocratic scions did absolutely nothing and simply coasted through life, they would still attain at least the fourth rank, like Zhang Yuyue.
By now, the meaning of “humble origins” within the Daoist Order had changed considerably. In the past, the term referred to farming and scholarly families whose status was inferior to that of the aristocratic clans. Such families could afford to support scholars who devoted themselves entirely to their studies without having to work, making them considerably better off than ordinary commoners. But nowadays, “humble origins” simply referred to impoverished families and children from poor backgrounds.
Those who did not have someone like Madam Qi supporting them actually formed a rather awkward group within the Daoist Order, caught somewhere between the upper and lower levels.
They could not rise to the top because their families could not provide them a safety net or pull strings on their behalf. With little hope of advancement, they could only rely on themselves or hope for a stroke of luck.
Yet they were not at the bottom either, because these Daoists were still far from poverty. They enjoyed comfortable lives and looked down on others. If they were actually assigned to grassroots Daoist temples in remote regions, they would feel terribly aggrieved, believing themselves to be diamonds in the dust. They would accuse the Daoist Order of burying their extraordinary talents and begin talking about the corruption and darkness of the Daoist Order. In essence, they were merely dissatisfied that they had failed to sell their services for a sufficiently high price. In their eyes, the Daoist Order was an unscrupulous buyer that failed to recognize their worth and deliberately drove down their value.
The upper levels were those whose families paved the way for them and who had substantial resources of their own. The Three Daoist Prodigies were prime examples of this. Such individuals had both the ambition and the ability to achieve results. With such lofty aspirations, they were careful to protect their reputations. They did not spend their days wondering whether they could make it safely to the other shore while treading on thin ice. Instead, they were more willing to take action and were not afraid of making mistakes. After all, their families are there to support them, giving them ample room for trial and error. Qi Xuansu eventually became part of this level.
By contrast, the lower levels were people who genuinely came from impoverished backgrounds. Even if they were assigned to a remote Daoist temple, it would still be better than their original circumstances. They could consider themselves to have finally “made it” by securing a stable livelihood. Thus, they would not harbor any grievances and would actually feel quite grateful for the opportunity.
This was how the Daoist Order’s overall operating logic came to be. The scions of aristocratic families would inherit positions of power, passing authority down from one generation to the next and forming the upper echelon. Meanwhile, those from impoverished backgrounds would work diligently and conscientiously, forming the foundation of the organization.
The Daoist Order had little need for a distinct middle class because it would be for the scions of aristocratic families who lost the competition. At the same time, the Daoist Order must leave open some avenues of advancement for the lower levels, giving them something to look forward to and a glimmer of hope. Only then would they work even harder. Those who successfully rose through the ranks would occupy some of these middle-ranking positions.
As a result, there were very few middle-ranking positions left available.
Those caught between the upper and lower levels could not compete with the scions of aristocratic families in terms of resources or family wealth. They also could not compete with the grassroots Daoists in terms of enduring hardship, working tirelessly, and competing for opportunities. Thus, they were full of grievances.
From this perspective, Madam Qi truly had given Qi Xuansu a second life. It was she who shamelessly went out of her way to approach Sage Donghua and Sage Cihang, paving the way for Qi Xuansu’s advancement. She treated Qi Xuansu as her own son, leading others to regard him as an adopted son of the Yao family. It was because of this that the Daoist Order’s aristocratic families came to view Qi Xuansu as one of their own, granting him relatively equal treatment and ensuring that no one took a share of the credit for his achievements. Otherwise, no matter how many meritorious deeds Qi Xuansu accomplished, he would never have risen through the ranks so quickly.
Once Qi Xuansu married Zhang Yuelu, he truly became a member of the Daoist Order’s upper echelon and could no longer be considered someone from humble origins.
This classification was rather tragic, yet it was also an undeniable reality.
That was why Qi Xuansu was so deeply grateful to Madam Qi and regarded her as his own mother. By comparison, Madam Qi’s habit of withholding his meager stipend was utterly insignificant. Countless people would gladly kneel before her and offer her money, yet they would never even be given the opportunity.
Under such a system, the fact that the fifth-generation Grand Master, who had come from humble origins, managed to break through every obstacle and fight his way to the position of Grand Master, even establishing his authority over the Three Great Families was enough to demonstrate just how extraordinary and formidable he had been.
The fifth-generation Grand Master was a true sage of the Daoist Order.
That was why Qi Xuansu felt he was utterly inferior by comparison, and why Zhang Yuelu held the fifth-generation Grand Master in the highest esteem.
This was also why the Three Great Families had launched a retaliation campaign of political reckoning against the fifth-generation Grand Master, repudiating him and his legacy. Many policies implemented during his tenure could no longer be properly continued, including the policy of supporting pro-Daoist factions within the Buddhist Sect. This in turn allowed the radical Buddhists to gain more influence.
Had the sixth-generation Grand Master not belatedly switched sides, and had the Three Grand Masters not realized that completely discrediting the fifth-generation Grand Master would severely undermine the very foundations of the Daoist Order, forcing them to reluctantly acknowledge his legitimacy despite their misgivings, it would be difficult to say how many generations of Grand Masters the Daoist Order would officially recognize today.
However, by then it was already too late. The radical faction within the Buddhist Sect had grown into a formidable force and was exceedingly difficult to suppress. Thus, since the tenure of the sixth-generation Grand Master, the Buddhist Sect stirred up countless troubles, including supporting the secret societies and the conflict in the Western Region and Fenglin. Although the anti-Daoist faction in Fenglin was primarily led by the Tenmon Sect, the Fenglin Buddhist Sect was also involved.
......
The autumn winds swept across the Gobi Desert, passed over snow-capped mountains and high plateaus, and finally arrived at Nalanda Temple, where they swirled through its grounds, carrying fallen leaves in their wake.
Nalanda was the final destination recorded in The Records of the Western Region, a sacred place to which countless monks made pilgrimages. It housed tens of millions of volumes of Buddhist scriptures and was the true ancestral seat of Buddhism.
A young monk with his chest exposed walked into the great hall.
Ten thousand golden lamps were arranged in tiers, extending along the surrounding walls toward the towering dome above. But strangely enough, the dome itself was completely devoid of light, shrouded in nothing but darkness.
At the center of the great hall was an enormous golden Buddha radiating brilliantly, as it was illuminated by the countless lamps.
Four elderly monks sat upon meditation cushions before the great Buddha. Judging by their robes, they held exceptionally high positions. All four had their eyes lowered, appearing as though they were on the verge of falling asleep.
The young monk bowed respectfully to the four elderly monks, handed a letter to the one seated at their head, and then withdrew to the side.
The leading elderly monk opened his eyes and read the letter in his hand before announcing, “The date for the Daoist Order’s grand election has been settled. It will take place no later than next year’s Shangyuan Festival.”
Another elderly monk asked, “Whom should we support?”
The leading elderly monk replied, “We will support neither side. Regardless of who assumes power, our circumstances will not improve significantly. What we seek is uncertainty. Only when the position of Grand Master remains undecided will the Daoist Order be forced to devote most of its energy to internal affairs rather than external matters. If the succession is settled too early, the Daoist Order will turn its attention elsewhere.
“We must ensure that the Qingwei faction and the Donghua faction remain evenly matched, with neither side possessing a clear advantage. The more evenly matched the two sides are, the better. The closer the contest, the more unwilling the losing side will be to accept defeat, and the greater the likelihood that they will refuse to recognize the election results.
“As long as one side refuses to acknowledge the outcome, they will resort to force. We want the Daoist Order to descend into internal turmoil. We need blood to be spilled among the Three Daoist Sects. Only then will we have an opportunity to seize the opportunity and rise to power.
“At present, Pei Xuanzhi clearly holds the advantage. This is unacceptable. We must use external forces to bolster Li Wugou, ensuring that both sides return to an equal footing.
“The Western Region is a territory of the Quanzhen Sect and the source of Pei Xuanzhi’s greatest achievements. On the other hand, Fenglin is where Li Wugou has achieved his greatest accomplishments.
“Therefore, we must work through the Fenglin Buddhist Sect to ensure that Fenglin remains stable. At the same time, the Western Region must be thrown into turmoil. Only by maintaining stability in one region while creating chaos in the other can we restore the balance between the two Daoist factions.”