Sun Yi took a deep breath, his gaze locking onto Patriarch Qingxuan.
“Patriarch,” Sun Yi said, his voice steady. “To execute this turnaround, I need leverage. I require absolute executive authority—second only to you—and unrestricted access to the sect’s liquidity and assets.”
Before the Patriarch could respond, the five Golden Core elders exploded.
“Absolutely not!” Elder Jin Jue leaped forward. “You are a third-level Qi Refining servant disciple! How dare you demand plenary powers?”
“This is insane!” Qin Chu shouted. “Giving a minor cultivator control of the budget is a security risk!”
“Patriarch, do not listen to this madness!” Li Tai pleaded. “Authority is not a toy!”
Han Yun and Ye Luo joined the chorus. They knew exactly what “absolute authority” meant. It meant they would report to Sun Yi. It meant their tenure was over.
Patriarch Qingxuan frowned. He had already decided against the five Elders; their earlier performance review had been disastrous. But handing the keys to the kingdom to a Qi Refining disciple was a gamble.
Still, Sun Yi’s logic was sound. And the request was only for a one-year term. For a Nascent Soul cultivator, a year was a blink of an eye.
Sun Yi saw the hesitation and pressed his advantage.
“Patriarch,” Sun Yi said, raising his voice over the Elders’ protests. “If I take the position of Sect Master, I must implement radical structural reforms. These changes will disrupt vested interests. Without your mandate and absolute authority, the obstructionists”—he glanced at the Elders—”will sabotage the restructuring.”
“Reforms?” Qingxuan leaned forward, intrigued.
“The Qingyun Sect has reached the point where change is unavoidable. Once I become Sect Master, I will carry out several major reforms, and they will certainly meet heavy resistance.”
“Elaborate,” Qingxuan commanded.
Sun Yi straightened his spine. “First: the sect rules. I propose ten new sect rules to replace the outdated sect rules.”
He then stated the ten rules one by one.
“1. Treason: death.” “2. Betrayal of Humanity: death.” “3. Internal Violence: Soul Refining Penalty for minor offenses; death for major offenses.” “4. Collateral Damage to Civilians: Soul Refining Penalty or death.” “5. Sexual Misconduct and Theft: Soul Refining Penalty or death.” “6. Abuse of Authority: Soul Refining Penalty or death.” “7. Negligence Causing Financial Loss: Soul Refining Penalty.” “8. Killing fellow cultivators for treasure: Soul Refining Penalty or death.” “9. Collusion: Soul Refining Penalty or death.” “10. Desertion: Soul Refining Penalty.”
“These ten rules will be carved on a monument in the sect plaza. Everyone from elders to disciples must obey them; the detailed provisions can be developed later.”
Jin Jue scoffed. “Killing for treasure is the common practice! The strong eat the weak. Why punish ambition?”
Sun Yi replied, “That may be true elsewhere, but not in the Qingyun Sect. I want our cultivators to uphold justice and stand united. If everyone grows accustomed to killing for treasure, will they kill fellow disciples for their treasures too? How could the sect remain united?”
Qingxuan smiled approvingly. Sun Yi knew him to be upright and deeply attached to the sect, so these rules should earn him favor.
“Besides revising the sect rules, is there anything else?” Qingxuan asked.
“Of course. Next, I plan to temporarily abolish the monthly allowance system. Cultivators will no longer receive spirit stones, pills, and other resources every month.”
Jin Jue cried out in shock, and the other elders looked increasingly hostile. This proposal had struck their lifeline; even Qingxuan frowned.
“What?” Jin Jue gasped. “You’re cutting our allowances?”
“I am abolishing the monthly allowance system,” Sun Yi clarified. “No more free spirit stones. No more free pills. The era of the ‘Iron Rice Bowl’ is over.”
The Elders looked ready to riot. This was cutting their arteries.
“We are shifting to a points-based system,” Sun Yi continued, ignoring their rage. “I will implement a ‘Points System.’ All disciples—regardless of tenure or rank—start at zero. There will be no more Inner, Outer, or Servant distinctions. Everyone is an ordinary disciple.”
“Anyone who wants resources must earn points.”
“We will construct three hundred-floor Battle Towers for Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Golden Core cultivators. Each floor will contain a trial of suitable difficulty and award points when cleared.”
“Each year we will rank disciples by challenge points and reward the leaders, encouraging battle and rapidly improving their strength.”
Jin Jue objected that no sect treated gifted disciples the same as ordinary ones.
Sun Yi explained that talent meant faster cultivation, lower difficulty, better resource efficiency, greater potential, and easier breakthroughs—but not necessarily greater strength or loyalty.
“This reform gives less talented disciples no special resources, only a fair chance to compete. Whether they become dragons or worms depends on themselves. Talented disciples who work hard can easily earn more than their old guaranteed allowance.”
“Starting everyone from the same line will also push talented disciples to work harder. Losing despite better talent would shame them.”
Qingxuan found the argument convincing. Sun Yi was delighted and decided to keep fooling him—no, to keep reasoning with him.
“We will convert every sect resource into points: spirit stones, pills, spirit artifacts, formations, talismans, and opportunities for guidance. This will simplify exchanges and allow us to begin lending.”
“What lending business?” everyone asked.
“We lend points to disciples. They exchange them for resources and improve their cultivation; afterward they repay us double the points at the appointed time.”
Sun Yi added that the lending system required detailed planning and could begin only after all resources had been converted into points.
“Finally,” Sun Yi said, delivering the coup de grâce, “I will dissolve the current management structure. All management posts are vacant effective immediately.”
The five Elders turned purple.
“I will hire new managers based on performance, not seniority,” Sun Yi said. “Managers will be audited every five years. High performers get rewards. Low performers get demoted. The core philosophy is simple: The capable rise, the incompetent fall.”
Qingxuan laughed, a genuine sound of amusement. “Interesting. Very interesting.”
Although Qingxuan lacked management experience, Sun Yi’s reforms sounded useful for the sect. Besides, granting him one year could hardly cause a serious problem.
Hearing Qingxuan’s praise, Sun Yi was delighted. Letting professionals manage their own fields, plus performance reviews—if the national football team worked this way, it would have made the World Cup long ago. His position as Sect Master was nearly secure; he should keep raising the stakes.