Chapter 106 - 105: Inspector
Feng Wushang wasn’t surprised to hear Chen Yuan’s words.
He had already guessed that Chen Yuan had his eye on the position.
After a moment, he frowned slightly. "To be honest, this will be very difficult."
"In terms of merit from annihilating the Blood God Sect remnants, no one in the White Tiger Hall—or even the entire Zhenwu Hall—has outperformed you."
"But you have two critical weaknesses. The first is your seniority, and the second is your strength."
"Many were already dissatisfied when you became a Guardian Envoy at the Qi Casting Realm. If you now become an Inspector at the Sea of Reincarnation Realm, I’m afraid even more people will be unhappy."
Chen Yuan sneered inwardly at Feng Wushang’s words.
’Feng Wushang didn’t say it was impossible, which means it *is* possible.’
’He’s just making it sound dire to see how I’ll react.’
Chen Yuan cupped his hands. "I know this is difficult, Hall Master. However, besides myself, is there anyone else in the entire White Tiger Hall qualified to become an Inspector?"
"What if the Main Hall decides to transfer a Condensing Truth Realm expert from the Celestial Martial Guard or the Po Jun Guard to be the Inspector? Would that new Inspector truly respect you, Hall Master?"
"I was recommended to the Zhenwu Hall by Sir Liu Suifeng, but ever since I came under your command, I have always treated you with the utmost respect. You, in turn, have valued me greatly, and I am indebted to you for recognizing my potential."
"Whether I am a Guardian Envoy or an Inspector, my attitude toward you will never change. But if it were someone else... that’s not so certain."
Feng Wushang’s expression flickered with uncertainty as he listened to Chen Yuan.
He had originally planned to put Chen Yuan in his place, making him understand the difficulty of the matter so he would be more deferential—and perhaps offer more gifts.
But thinking about it now, he realized he *had* to help Chen Yuan secure the Inspector position!
’Chen Yuan is obedient, sensible, and knows his place. If he becomes one of my eight Inspectors, the future benefits for me will be immense.’
’Whether they transferred someone from the Po Jun Guard or the Celestial Martial Guard, that person would only be grateful to their old superior who supported them. How could they ever be truly loyal to me?’
Once he figured this out, Feng Wushang immediately beamed at Chen Yuan and gently patted his shoulder.
"I know you’re loyal. The Inspector position is hard to come by, but I’ll do my best to fight for it for you."
"It just so happens that the Main Hall also needs to discuss matters concerning the Blood God Sect. You will come with me to the Main Hall, and during the meeting, I will nominate you for promotion to Inspector."
Chen Yuan smiled and cupped his hands. "Then I’ll have to trouble you, Hall Master."
Feng Wushang might be greedy, but he was a man of action.
Having decided to make Chen Yuan an Inspector, he immediately took him to the Main Hall for the council meeting.
Ning Province is so large, most Guardian Envoys and Inspectors actually rarely travel to and from the Main Hall.
But Chen Yuan, on the other hand, would follow Feng Wushang to the Main Hall every so often, showing his face in front of the big shots at the Main Hall, which made the other Inspectors quite envious.
But envy was one thing; this time, they didn’t have much to complain about.
In the matter of annihilating the Blood God Sect, Chen Yuan’s merits alone surpassed everyone else’s. If any of them complained, they could expect a lecture from Feng Wushang.
There was only one exception. Although Du Tianfeng did not directly face Gongyang Li, he was considered to have participated in that battle, so he also managed to rake in a lot of merit.
......
「Inside the Zhenwu Hall Council Chamber.」
The four Hall Masters gathered and reported on matters concerning the Blood God Sect.
The battle reports had already been transmitted to the Main Hall via an array; the in-person meeting was just to go over the details.
Overall, the situation was favorable. Since the Blood God Sect had been discovered abruptly, they hadn’t dared to clash head-on with the Zhenwu Hall.
Most Blood God Sect Martial Artists chose to flee and take temporary shelter, either fleeing into the Western Grassland, Desolate Heaven Ridge, or You Province’s territory.
The Zhenwu Hall’s losses were not too great. Among the casualties, the highest-ranking was the Inspector, Qi Yuanming.
After listening, Chao Hongtu nodded in satisfaction, but his face wore a look of weariness.
At this moment, Feng Wushang stood up and said: "Grand Commandant, my subordinate Inspector Qi Yuanming was killed by the Blood God Church Master Gongyang Li. Currently, the Kaiping Prefecture Inspector position is vacant."
"My subordinate Guardian Envoy Chen Tian has the greatest merit in this battle, so I propose that Chen Tian be promoted to Inspector to oversee Kaiping Prefecture."
The position of Inspector can be said to be the pillar of the Zhenwu Hall. Even a Hall Master couldn’t decide who could become an Inspector.
However, as a Hall Master, there was no problem with having priority in making a recommendation.
"Old Feng, are you kidding me? That Chen Tian of yours is only in the Sea of Reincarnation Realm. And how long has he even been in the Zhenwu Hall to be promoted to Inspector?"
The Cyan Dragon Hall’s Hall Master, ’Mountain-Crushing Saber’ Cui Wenzhong, frowned slightly and directly voiced his opposition.
Cui Wenzhong had a tall and powerful build, with a long beard that reached his chest, giving him a stern and majestic appearance.
He spoke out in opposition because he also had his eyes on this Inspector position.
Before becoming a Hall Master, Cui Wenzhong had also served in the Celestial Martial Guard. A former subordinate learned of the vacancy for the Kaiping Prefecture Inspector and wanted to use his connections to ask him to put in a good word.
Afterward, Cui Wenzhong also investigated and found that no one in the White Tiger Hall was suitable for the Inspector position. Only then did Cui Wenzhong accept the gift and agree to it.
Who would have thought Feng Wushang would push forward Chen Tian, a newcomer with no seniority and insufficient cultivation? This was just absurd.
Feng Wushang glanced at Cui Wenzhong and said indifferently, "I’ll just say one thing. In this long campaign against the Blood God Sect fiends, what are the battle records of your three halls?"
"You mobilized so many forces, yet you only killed a few ordinary Low Tier Blood God Sect disciples, not even a single person of consequence!"
"My subordinate Guardian Envoy Chen Tian first slew the Blood God Sect’s Saint Heir, Feng Xieyun, and then fought to the death against the Blood God Church Master, Gongyang Li."
"In the battle at Mountain Monarch Ridge, more than ten Blood God Sect Martial Artists died. This battle record is stronger than all three of your halls combined!"
"With such merit, how can he not be worthy of being an Inspector?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Cui Wenzhong’s expression immediately darkened.
The Vermilion Bird Hall’s Hall Master, ’Fairy Chixia’ Ling Baiyan, and the Black Tortoise Hall’s Hall Master, ’Mountain Guardian Warrior’ Wei Yuanlong, both had bewildered expressions.
’Cui Wenzhong is the one objecting, not us. Why are you lumping us in with him?’
"Is this merit Chen Tian’s alone? So many people died in that battle, and five masters from the Vajra Prajna Temple also fought to the death against Gongyang Li. How did the merit become his alone?"
Feng Wushang sneered, "Cui Wenzhong, is this your first day in the Jianghu? What’s the point of talking about the great merits of the dead? Only the living are qualified to be rewarded for their merits!"
"Enough! All of you, shut up!"
Chao Hongtu, with an impatient look on his face, silenced everyone.
’It’s just one Inspector position, and they’re bickering like this.’
"Suifeng, this Chen Tian was recommended by you to enter the Zhenwu Hall. What do you think?"
Chao Hongtu turned his gaze to Liu Suifeng.
Liu Suifeng cleared his throat and said faintly, "One should recommend the worthy without favoritism. Logically, I shouldn’t say much on this matter."
"However, since the days of the Celestial Martial Alliance, our rule has always been just four words: clear rewards and punishments."
"If we rely on seniority and connections, then the Zhenwu Hall would no longer be the Zhenwu Hall."
"Whether Chen Tian becomes an Inspector is secondary. The great merit he achieved must be properly acknowledged. Otherwise, how will we maintain morale?"
Chao Hongtu nodded, thought for a moment, and said directly, "Then let Chen Tian be promoted to Inspector and take charge of Kaiping Prefecture."
Clear rewards and punishments was the core rule of the Zhenwu Hall. It could not be broken.
Therefore, if they didn’t make Chen Tian the Inspector, the Main Hall would have to produce a reward of sufficient value.
And it was better to just promote him to Inspector than to find something else to reward him with.
After being recruited by the court, the Zhenwu Hall was no longer expanding, and its reserves were not that large.
The once magnanimous and bold Chao Hongtu had also become stingy and calculating.
Seeing that the Grand Commandant had spoken, even if Cui Wenzhong disagreed, there was nothing he could do.
Chen Yuan rose and bowed. "My thanks, Grand Commandant."
"No need for formalities. Our Zhenwu Hall has clear rewards and punishments. If your merit was insufficient, you could not have become this Inspector, no matter how many people recommended you," Chao Hongtu said in a deep voice.
At this time, Feng Wushang suddenly asked, "By the way, Grand Commandant, five disciples from the Vajra Prajna Temple also died at Mountain Monarch Ridge, and they don’t even have complete corpses. How should we explain this to the Vajra Prajna Temple?"
Feng Wushang was also worried that the petty monks would come looking for trouble again, so this matter had to be cleared up.
Chao Hongtu turned his gaze to Liu Suifeng.
This kind of matter dealing with outside Jianghu Forces had always been decided by Liu Suifeng.
Liu Suifeng said indifferently, "Just tell them the truth. The monks of the Vajra Prajna Temple wanted to kill Gongyang Li. Now that Gongyang Li is dead, their goal has been achieved. Our Zhenwu Hall has no obligation to guarantee their safety."
"No matter how overbearing or difficult the monks of the Vajra Prajna Temple are, they are far away in Qin Province. It’s not worth it for them to raise a big fuss in Ning Province over the deaths of a few disciples."
"Our Zhenwu Hall’s might is not what it used to be, but we are not so weak that we need to be cautious over the deaths of a few monks."
Chao Hongtu nodded. "Do as Military Advisor Liu says."
The group then discussed some other miscellaneous matters within the Zhenwu Hall, though of course, it was still mainly about the Blood God Sect.
Now that the Blood God Sect had been driven out of Ning Province, the Zhenwu Hall could also withdraw some of its forces and not be so tense.
At the same time, many of the Inspectors and Guardian Envoys under the four halls had also achieved merits, and the Main Hall had to reward them as well.
Chen Yuan could be paid off with the Inspector position, but the others needed to be given tangible rewards, which also had to come from the Main Hall.
However, the merits of the other three halls combined were not as much as the merits of the White Tiger Hall alone. Feng Wushang had really stolen the show this time.
After the meeting was dismissed, as they were leaving, Liu Suifeng seemingly unintentionally glanced at Chen Yuan, and Chen Yuan also nodded lightly.
He understood Liu Suifeng’s meaning.
Last time, Liu Suifeng had said that after he was promoted to Inspector, he would borrow his position to place a group of people into the grassroots level of the Zhenwu Hall.
Perhaps even Liu Suifeng didn’t expect this day to come so quickly.
Now that Chen Yuan had the Inspector position in hand, Liu Suifeng could insert his people whenever he wanted.