Chapter 237: Era's Driving Force (6)

The selection of the Spirit Realm Pavilion's master was decided by drawing lots, and every Secret Realm Master had a chance to serve. Apart from Long Chenyi, everyone else was very satisfied with this arrangement.

The first master of the Spirit Realm Pavilion was Meng Qingyao, who had drawn the number one lot.

"Qingyao, from now on, you are the master of the Spirit Realm Pavilion. As the first master, you must set a good example."

Xia Zhen smiled at Meng Qingyao and gestured for her to take the seat of honor.

Under everyone's gaze, Meng Qingyao steadied her mind, stepped forward calmly, and looked at the assembled Secret Realm Masters.

"Everyone, Qingyao is fortunate to serve as the first master. If I do anything inappropriate in the future, I hope you will all offer corrections and understanding."

"Now that the Holy Lands have fallen silent, since we have received the recognition and blessings of the Divine Tree, we should work together towards the early restoration of the Holy Lands."

All the Secret Realm Masters were obliging and expressed their support.

Zhang Tianshi glanced at Xia Zhen, knowing that Meng Qingyao and the Xia family were on the same side. He smiled and asked, "Master, we certainly hope the Holy Lands can be restored soon, but we have never been able to find the way. Do you have any specific leads?"

The ruins of the five Holy Lands were all in the capital. To obtain the inheritance of the Holy Lands and become their masters, the royal family and the nobles alike had each tried their own methods—like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each showing their unique powers.

Unfortunately, after centuries of investigation, not only had the Holy Lands not been restored, but not even a trace of their inheritance had been discovered.

The five protector families—Xia, Bai, Wu, Zhu, and Long—maybe they possessed the means to restore the Holy Lands?

Meng Qingyao shook her head. The protector families did not know the way to restore the Holy Lands either. If they did, the five protector families would have already appeared and taken control of the five Holy Lands.

"From ancient times to the present, too much time has passed. For the Holy Lands to be restored, we must explore together."

"However, the Alchemy Saint Hall bears the responsibility of spreading medicine and alchemy. I believe that as long as we strive in this direction, we will certainly be able to activate the Holy Lands to some extent."

"For example, the Qihuang Halls are obviously places for teaching. The top priority for us Secret Realm Masters is to teach frequently in the Qihuang Halls."

Xia Zhen took over: "That's right. Prince Shou has already confirmed that starting from the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, the eighteen Qihuang Halls will begin rotating lectures.

Among the eighteen Qihuang Halls, only Wei Zhenjie, the head of the Heavenly Department; Gu Qiming, the director of the Medical Department; and Gu Jinfan of the Xingguo Duke's mansion did not receive a secret realm. All the others are Secret Realm Masters.

None of the Secret Realm Masters objected to teaching in the Qihuang Halls.

After all, they had obtained the Divine Tree secret realm and had to do something practical for the Holy Lands.

Xia Zhen looked at Meng Qingyao. "Qingyao, please continue."

Meng Qingyao: "In addition to teaching in the Qihuang Halls, I suggest that each of us contribute a portion of the spiritual herbs from our own secret realms every year to cultivate alchemists."

Since the output of the secret realms involved the direct interests of the Secret Realm Masters, everyone immediately started discussing.

Gu Xing remained silent throughout. He knew this proposal would definitely pass.

The appearance of the protector families' people in the Medical Department had actually harmed the interests of the royal family.

Although everyone knew that the Medical Department was the ruins of the Alchemy Saint Hall, it was still a government department and was under the control of the royal family.

To appease the royal family, the protector families would certainly have to cede a portion of their secret realm profits.

Meng Qingyao's proposal was probably something Xia Zhen and the others had already discussed.

As for Mu Qingying and the others...

The Divine Tree secret realm was like a tempting treat; everyone had their eyes on it.

Mu Qingying and the others had deep ties with the royal family and the capital's nobility. If they truly didn't contribute any benefits, they would definitely be targeted.

Even if these people were unwilling, no one would step forward as the first to oppose at this time.

Just as Gu Xing had thought, no one stood up to oppose Meng Qingyao's proposal.

However, everyone had their own ideas about exactly how much of the secret realm's output should be contributed.

Everyone present knew that the people currently in the Medical Department were all from the royal family and the nobility. It was hard to say whether the secret realm's output would be used to train people for the Holy Lands or for the various nobles.

No one was willing to use their own resources to boost someone else's power, especially when that someone might be their rival.

"The secret realms we obtained are all different. Asking everyone to contribute the same amount of output would be unfair, wouldn't it?"

"That's right. In my opinion, it's better to determine the amount of spiritual herbs based on the grade of each secret realm."

Everyone debated, but in the end, Gu Xing stepped forward to make the final decision: each Secret Realm Master would contribute one-tenth of their output every year.

These outputs would be uniformly submitted to the Spirit Realm Pavilion, and the master would be responsible for their distribution.

With this, the first meeting of the Spirit Realm Pavilion came to an end.

This meeting confirmed Meng Qingyao as the first Pavilion Master, determined that the Secret Realm Masters would teach medicine and alchemy at the Qihuang Hall, and established that each secret realm must contribute one-tenth of its annual output to train alchemists for the Medical Department.

As soon as the meeting ended, Prince Shou learned of everything that had happened.

"Ha, so even members of the Guardian families resort to isolation and exclusion!"

A sarcastic smile curled on Prince Shou's face.

Chu Junhao sighed. "On New Year's Eve, Hua Changxi really was too dismissive toward Xia Zhen."

Prince Shou laughed. "So, she deserves to be excluded." His smile faded as he continued, "I heard that Huo Yunxiao went to discuss cooperation with her, but she turned him down?"

Chu Junhao nodded. "Yes."

Prince Shou snorted in mockery. "Does Hua Changxi really think she can manage a high-grade secret realm all by herself?"

Chu Junhao said nothing.

Prince Shou looked at his nephew. "I know you want to befriend Hua Changxi, but don't be too eager. Remember, you are the Emperor's son, a prince—do not disgrace your status."

Chu Junhao: "Junhao humbly heeds Uncle's instruction."

Prince Shou added, "Managing a secret realm requires people, and Hua Changxi has no one at all. I think she still doesn't understand the situation."

"Since ancient times, those who come knocking on their own are looked down upon. Let her flounce around for a while."

"Once the other secret realms are on the right track, we'll see if Hua Changxi gets anxious."

"By then, she won't be the one making demands."

Chu Junhao was not so optimistic about this. Given the personality Hua Changxi had shown, she didn't seem like someone who would beg.

Still, when a person is truly pushed to the brink, lowering one's head is the only solution. Even the proudest people are forced to grind down their edges.

Prince Shou stopped talking about Hua Changxi and said with a dark expression, "Only one-tenth of each secret realm's output—the Xia family really shows no respect for the imperial house."

At this, Chu Junhao hesitated and said, "Uncle, one-tenth of one secret realm's output, times eighteen secret realms, gives eighteen shares."

That's not a small amount...

Prince Shou snorted. "What do you know? Does all that output go to the imperial house? Don't we have to share it with the other nobles?"

Thinking about the increasingly complicated situation, Chu Junhao's expression also grew serious.

At the same time, other factions were also discussing the affairs of the Spirit Realm Pavilion.

With the accounts from Mu Qingying and Yuan Tianchou, Director Gu learned the entire content of the meeting.

Director Gu had no reaction to most of it, but one thing puzzled him: Gu Xing had not spoken up for Hua Changxi!

In the Plaza Old Compound, someone also asked Gu Xing this question.

"Gu, why didn't you speak up for Changxi? Weren't you quite fond of her?"

Gu Xing looked at the old woman who had spoken. If Hua Changxi had been there, she would have recognized her as Granny Sun, the old woman who used to watch over the kitchen in the Chores Hall.

"Little Sun," said Gu Xing, "Hua Changxi is far too willful and headstrong."

"Jade cannot be polished without carving. For someone like her, words alone won't change her. She has to stumble and fall before she'll reflect on her actions."

"Most importantly, she rejects power. She wants the benefits of the Holy Land, but she also wants to stay out of things."

"If she doesn't taste the bitterness of power, she'll never understand what power really is."