Chapter 1749: The Selection Process
Chapter 1749: The Selection Process
Emperor Kong opened his eyes and exhaled. The first step of meeting and possessing the target has been accomplished. From now on, everything about the Great Sage Qi — his identity, destiny, Dao, and to some extent, his [Existence] — belonged to Kong. As long as he is careful, no one will be the wiser.
’Now, for the second step,’ Emperor Kong thought. The Lord Selection Process was a complex system that could be divided into two stages: Strength and Influence. The entire selection system used a 1000-point system, with the Strength Portion accounting for 40% and the Influence aspect for 60%.
The strength aspect is the most direct: at some point, all eligible candidates will face a battle to determine who is the strongest. Emperor Kong is quite comfortable with this aspect, and not because of his personal strength. This world is not a Source Chaos World, meaning it cannot give birth to an unlimited number of Primal or even Peak Paragons. Well, even a Source Chaos World does not have such power.
Because the Nine Lords gather all the luck and destiny of the entire world — and probably from the Infinite Divine Court — it’s very challenging for normal Primal (D-Class) to appear among cultivators. And as one of those rare cases, Great Sage Qi is destined to have high achievement in the [Strength Portion].
’If I play my cards right, I might be able to defeat everybody and receive the maximum 400 points,’ Emperor Kong strategized. The issue is the Influence Portion of the selection. Based on the rules, every Immortal Cultivator will recommend who they believe should be the next lord. A Great Emperor’s recommendation is the standard, an Empyrean is twice as valuable, and a Paragon is five times as valuable. Then, based on the number of recommendations and their cultivation realm, a complex calculation will be performed to assign each candidate a number between 1 and 600.
With Great Sage Qi’s extremist views, his conservative and dull personality, and his lack of charisma, the chances of scoring above 100 in that portion are almost zero. Luckily for him, someone else was under the steering wheel. Emperor Kong’s legacy might have been ruined in the lower dimension or overshadowed by Wang Wei and his Heavenly Emperor Era, but he was still an unparalleled talent.
He single-handedly reversed the decline of the Myriad Emperor World by creating the concept of academies. He revived the Literary Way and brought it to the point of competing with Taoism. He almost dethroned the Dao Opening Sect as the most powerful faction. He is someone loved by Heaven and Earth.
If not for the fact that Kong injured his foundation, which resulted in his competitor spreading news that he had to rely on luck and Heavenly Dao’s favor to become an Eternal, his legacy would have been on par, if not better, than most of the Eternal Emperors before Wang Wei’s era. In terms of pure charisma, Kong would not lose to anyone.
’Let’s get started,’ Kong thought. The first order of business was to deal with the issue of Zhang Ji. He could not abandon this identity as it was crucial to the second step of the plan. However, as an avatar, there is still the possibility that someone would detect the karmic link between them. So, the first thing Kong did was turn Zhang Ji into a causality-free clone. The materials were prepared during the five-year waiting period, allowing Emperor Kong to get things done as swiftly as possible.
Without pause, he strives for the second order of business: finding an excuse for Great Sage Qi’s sudden change. Zhang Ji left the meeting room and headed directly to Emperor Black Ink, apologizing that the Great Sage Qi had an epiphany and would delay their one-to-one discussion. His reason for doing what seems like such a pointless thing? Everyone knew Great Sage Qi was a stickler for rules, meaning it would raise red flags if he suddenly missed the three-month deadline for meeting with Emperor Black Ink.
Of course, this was just one of his purposes. A little over nine months later, a terrifying vision spread from the Plum Phoenix Academy before spreading to every corner of Roaring Flame City. People immediately recognized this unique aura belonging to Great Sage Qi, making them wonder what new enlightenment this old man had attained that could resonate so strongly with Heaven and Earth.
After the "epiphany," Great Sage Qi finally had a meeting with Emperor Black Ink, and after leaving, the talented Emperor had a strange feeling: the Sage had changed. Although he couldn’t put his finger on it, his intuition told him so. It did not take long for many people to start feeling the same.
From that day on, Great Sage Qi always invited a young talent to his lecture: Zhang Ji. First, the Sage’s lecture was slightly different than before; it appeared as if his ideologies had changed. Then the young man, Zhang Ji, would always start the debate by speaking about his [Golden Society]. All the scholars were fascinated by this new idea, and with Great Sage and Zhang Ji spearheading the debate and showing that no argument was taboo, everybody participated.
As time passed, people noticed the changes — both physical and spiritual. While still a rigid man, Great Sage Qi seems to have more life, more spirituality, more joy toward life. Meanwhile, his core philosophy was slowly being influenced by Zhang Ji and the debates of myriad scholars. Then, as everyone had already predicted, Great Sage Qi accepted Zhang Ji as his disciple.
With those two working together, Great Sage Qi’s fame and influence spread at an alarming rate. Emperor Kong’s tactic was simple: draw people with the allure of a new philosophy. Scholars, by their nature, loved learning and debating, and they wished nothing more than to leave an eternal legacy; in other words, they are fame whore. And the appearance of a new and enticing ideology is the perfect ground for them.
After drawing their attention, Emperor Kong started to influence and convert them into faithful followers. He did not target the Paragons — especially the ones from an ancient clan or faction. These lineages have occupied the world’s resources, so the idea of the [Golden Society] is the highest form of blasphemy to them. They sent their people to debate against Great Sage Qi and Zhang Ji to crush their spirit and stop this nonsense. So, Emperor Kong used them as stepping stones for his fame and glory.
Many talented Great Emperors and Empyreans cannot reach higher realms due to a lack of resources, making them prime targets. According to the philosophy of the [Golden Society], such talent should be nurtured with the utmost care to ensure their eventual contribution to Heaven and Earth. Under such promises, how could these people resist Great Sage Qi’s allure? They were not the only ones. Many Paragons cannot go any further in their cultivation because of the suppression of those Lord-Class Lineages. Emperor Kong did not hesitate to target them and lure them to his side.
"How are things with the Nine Council?" Emperor Kong asked, lying down comfortably next to a small table with tea and snacks.
’They have their suspicions, but after a few tests, they have kept their distance," Zhang Ji replied.
"Our transition was indeed smooth, but it was still a bit too drastic," Emperor Kong nodded. Everyone noticed the Sage’s change, but once all their actions are placed under scrutiny, there are some unavoidable flaws.
"Do you want me to give them something to do?"
"No," Emperor Kong shook his head. "The less we do, the safer we are. Plus, those people will not remain quiet and allow the council to replenish their number of Primals."
"Then, we should prepare for the eventual assassinations," Zhang Ji frowned. "Especially from Glass Pen; he won’t let the opportunity to steal some Literary Luck."
"Yes, we should," Emperor Kong nodded. "Let’s stage an assassination and survive. We can then have a valid reason to ask the council for some protective measures."
"But what if they insist on putting people besides us with the excuse of guarding the candidate?"
"Oh, they will, but it’s fine as long as they give the treasure."
"Allowing them to leave their people might reduce our suspicions, but from now on, we must be extra careful," Zhang Ji sighed. "And I was about to suggest we lure Glass Pen and kill him."
"That’s too risky," Kong shook his head. He stood to look through the window with his hands behind his back. "Don’t forget Glass Pen is probably a peak A-Class Primal. If we want to kill him, we need to plan many steps ahead. However —"
"If we can become the Literary Lord, everything will be much easier."
"Time, as of now, is on our side. So, there is no need to rush things," Emperor Kong calmly said. "What’s our next step?"
"We need one event to complete your final transition as the true bearer of the Golden Society Lineage," Zhang Ji calmly uttered.