Before Anyone Realized, the Entire Side Hall Had Fallen Silent

True Monarch Chanxi waited for the disciples below to finish asking all their questions before raising her hand to signal for silence.

“First, regarding the grouping issue, I will answer it from four perspectives.

“First of all, for the 186 Foundation Establishment stage disciples, other than our current grouping method, the only other options would be pairing the first place with the ninety-fourth place, or the first place with the 186th place.

“Both of these pairing methods suffer from the same issue.

“The gap in rank between the Head and Deputy Pavilion Masters would be far too large.

“Xiaoyao arranged these appointments for you because we hope everyone can gain something from the experience.

“We want you to showcase your strength and even achieve something in these roles.

“Think about it. If we paired you up using either of those two methods, wouldn't the Deputy Pavilion Master be completely overshadowed by the Head Pavilion Master, leaving them with no opportunity to show their capabilities?

“Second, disciples who are closer in rank are more likely to find common ground in their thinking, making collaboration far more effective.

“Imagine if we used those other two grouping methods and encountered a situation that required a decision.

“If the Head Pavilion Master proposed a plan, the Deputy Pavilion Master might have their own ideas but feel powerless to speak up due to the massive gap in strength.

“Conversely, if the Deputy Pavilion Master proposed a plan, the Head Pavilion Master might find it too sluggish or inefficient to execute.

“I am merely using this as an example, not saying that either plan would be inherently bad.

“It is simply that when two people possess different levels of strength and depth of thought, forcing them together will not result in the stronger leading the weaker. Instead, they will only drag each other down.

“Third, to put it bluntly, Xiaoyao encourages competition. Our training of disciples follows a tailored approach, and we offer targeted training for our top disciples.

“You can already see this from how we separate you from the multi-spirit root disciples.

“On a macro level, this theory applies to all new disciples.

“On a micro level, the same theory is used to cultivate you formal disciples.

“Do not limit your vision to Xiaoyao or to your fellow disciples.

“Look outward. Look at the Nine Sects and Eight Schools, and see how many other sects are waiting for a chance to drag Xiaoyao down from its position as the number one sect.

“See how many genius disciples are rising, waiting to trample the chosen talents of Xiaoyao underfoot.

“See how many forces are eyeing the prime territory of Yunzhou and the resources in Xiaoyao's hands, waiting for an opportunity to muscle in.

“Look toward the future. Look at the demon world to the west, which could break through its barrier at any moment and transform the Five Continents into a domain for demon cultivators.

“Look at the demon realm to the north, and see how many of the demon race want to unleash a beast tide to turn humanity into their livestock.

“The powerful cultivators of Xiaoyao will eventually ascend, enter secluded cultivation, or reach the end of their lifespans.

“The upper echelons of each peak will inevitably undergo a generational shift.

“There is the pressure of passing down our internal heritage, and there are constant threats from the outside world.

“The sect's training of you has always been to make the strong even stronger.

“The higher you rank, the more rewards the sect provides.

“Chosen talents must be cultivated alongside other chosen talents. The strong must cooperate and compete with those who are even stronger.

“To put it bluntly, why should the first-place disciple slow down to team up with someone in the middle or at the bottom? Why should she carry a weaker disciple? Does she owe you anything?

“Nurturing the weaker disciples and guiding every new disciple is the sect's responsibility, not the duty of the first-place disciple. Even if it were, it certainly wouldn't be now. This has nothing to do with her.

“What the sect is doing right now is precisely this: grouping you in sequential order so that even the lower-ranked disciples have an equal opportunity to challenge and train themselves.

“Rather than stopping to wait for you, these top disciples have far more important things to do.

“Their goal is not to turn back and carry you, but to make themselves stronger so they can support the sect sooner, step out into the world, and accomplish the things you cannot.

“Someone has to bear those burdens, and they are the only ones who can.

“The fourth and final point. The sect deeply values every single one of you 693 disciples.

“Regardless of your rank, everyone has their own strengths and unique brilliance.

“The sect believes that whether you can run a pavilion well does not depend on your ranking in the inner disciple promotion competition.

“We are looking forward to the day when the team led by the very last-place disciple defeats the first-place team.”

Before anyone realized, the entire side hall had fallen silent.

Only the voice of First Senior Sister Chanxi echoed through the space.

This silence was not born of politeness, meeting protocols, or intimidation from her power. It was a silence brought about by sheer awe.

As their senior sister spoke, they couldn't help but cast their gazes into the distance, into the future, toward worlds they had never before encountered.

Everyone now understood the sect's painstaking intentions.

Everyone began to ponder how they could become excellent Pavilion Masters and Abode Masters.

Many even started thinking about how to elevate the strength of the pavilion under their management, hoping to surpass Senior Sister Gu and Senior Sister Wen's Songyue Pavilion.

Senior Sister Gu and the others might have incredible cultivation and states of mind, but that didn't necessarily mean their administrative abilities were just as strong.

In this regard, everyone was at the exact same starting line.

Gu Ningyun engraved every single word spoken by First Senior Sister Chanxi into her heart.

In truth, when superiors made decisions for their subordinates, they were under no obligation to explain themselves.

As subordinates, they only needed to obey instructions and execute them.

Yet their senior sister had broken everything down point by point to explain it to them, showing she truly wanted to nurture them.

She was teaching them the sect's management system, philosophy, and decision-making logic, piece by piece.

Their senior sister had said that they would eventually have to step up and take over leadership positions.

They would have to succeed their predecessors and shoulder the heavy responsibilities of the sect.

These were things they would have to understand sooner or later, and they absolutely had to comprehend them thoroughly.

While Gu Ningyun listened intently, Daoist Lord Yi Chu, far away on Spirit-Attuning Peak, had absolutely no idea that this meeting even had a Q&A session.

He had no clue that Chanxi would explain so much to them, and in such great depth.

In his mind, his disciple was only at the early Foundation Establishment stage, and at fourteen years and nine months old, she was the youngest of her batch.

At this age, she should be focusing entirely on her cultivation and raising her strength.

When she grew tired of cultivation, she could do whatever she liked, travel to places she wanted to see, and gain some life experience.

She shouldn't be like them old geezers, bound to the sect by a position and a set of responsibilities, having to think twice about where they went or what they did.

The sect produced a new generation of disciples every ten years, and these responsibilities were currently being carried by the generation of her first senior brother.

In Yi Chu's plan, his disciple could serve as a minor Pavilion Master for ten years first to temper herself and gain an understanding of the sect's structure.

After that, once she had solidly mastered talismans, arrays, artifact refining, and wind-attribute spells, and broken through to the Golden Core stage...

Only then would he start introducing her to Spirit-Attuning Peak and letting her take over peak affairs.

In his eyes, there was a proper time for everything.

For this reason, he had not even mentioned the matter of her being the successor of Spirit-Attuning Peak.

After all, with his disciple's current cultivation and strength, looking at the heavy responsibility of managing an entire peak was like a mayfly gazing up at a massive mountain.