"I will do as you say, Martial Nephew," the Second Elder replied happily after listening to Liu Zheng, knowing that after implementing the changes, his status would elevate in the sect.
....
"The second change is not so much a change as it is an opportunity. Every month, we will hold a small tournament where the disciples competing will be divided by Major Cultivation Realm, with no artifacts allowed whatsoever.
The top three winners from each division will be rewarded accordingly with cultivation resources such as pills and martial skills. Major Tournaments will also be held annually with much better rewards, including secret techniques, secret arts and cultivation arts. All the elders will take turns managing these minor and major tournaments."
This proposal was accepted much more easily, but there was common concern in everyone's mind which was finally asked by the 3rd Elder.
"Martial Nephew, you mentioned the rewards will include secret techniques, secret arts and even cultivation techniques. Where will we find so many of them to be distributed every month and year."
"To solve this issue, I will be providing a few of them myself, and the sect master will contribute a few from his own library which has always been exclusive to the sect masters. Additionally, we will purchase the techniques and arts obtained by our disciples and the outsiders at a fair price. If they are particularly valuable, I can offer Mysterious Grade Pills for the transaction. Everyone here knows that no one from our nearby sects will miss such precious opportunities."
The Great Elder's eyes widened. "Y-y-you also have Mysterious Grade Pills?! Why would you give them to the outsiders instead of our own sect." Many other elders also started saying many things in his support.
Liu Zheng flared his Qi slightly, silencing the room. "How I use my resources is my decision, Great Elder. The members of the sect will have their own ways to obtain them, I will discuss it later. Keep it in your mind, every transaction involving Mysterious Grade Pills go through me. The seller could be anyone, their origin doesn't matter as long as they are not demonic cultivators."
The elders quieted under the pressure. Liu Zheng sighed and took back his Qi
'The problems with the disciples is now completely solved. Before, if any one wanted to go past initial element, their only hope was to join factions and lick the boots of these elders but now they will have enough alternatives to facilitate their growth, but the internal politics won't disappear so easily.'
"The Third change concerns the elders of the sect. From now on, the minimum cultivation requirement to become an elder would be 6th Stage Immortal Ascension Realm or above. The ranking between the Elders and the selection of the new Elders will be decided through a competition witnessed by the whole sect, which will take place every two years with the first one taking place after two months."
"MARTIAL NEPHEW! EVEN IF YOU HAVE THE SECT MASTER'S TOKEN, YOU CAN'T MAKE SUCH IMPORTANT DECISIONS BY YOURSELF. WE HAVE GIVEN OUR BLOOD AND SWEAT TO THE SECT, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO KICK US OUT LIKE THIS!" Fourth Elder stood up, fuming. It was within Liu Zheng's expectations since this change meant only top three elders will be able to retain their seats.
"I Agree, Fourth Brother! This simply abuse of power!" Fifth Elder stood up in support.
"We will talk about this directly with the Sect Master. You can't just throw away their lifetime's worth of commitment to the sect to the trash." Great Elder also stood up, leading elders to leave the room with him.
Liu Zheng unleashed all his Qi as well as took control over all the energy particles in the radius of 50 meters, immobilizing all but the top three elders, who struggled to breathe under the pressure. The Second Elder remained unaffected, as Liu Zheng didn't want to harm him.
"W-What do you mean by this, Martial Nephew? Do you want to use violence against your Elders?" the Great Elder gasped.
"I never intended to take such measures, but it greatly displeased me that the elders of the sect are disrespecting the Sect Master like this."
"Y-You are not the sect master, Liu Zheng. You ---" Great Elder again tried to act up.
"This token signifies that words I am speaking are the words of Sect Master himself, if you want to confirm it or challenge it, you can do so later on but for now, Kindly take your seats." Liu Zheng showed the token in his right hand.
"But you cannot ban---"
"Oh, Come On, why don't you guys take your seats first." All the Elders suddenly lost the control of their own bodies and sat down on their own. Great Elder tried his best to resist but his body betrayed him, and he too was also forced to sit on his chair again, feeling as if sitting back was his own decision but at the same time, not.
All of them knew they wanted to leave and even tried to speak up but somehow couldn't do it at all. Liu Zheng had already put them under Kanzen Saimin in the beginning in case something like this happened.
"So, as I was saying, the competition which will take place two months later will select and rearrange nine elders. The number of elders will never exceed 9 unless ordered by the Sect Master though if there are lesser 8, the seats will remain vacant until the next competition or some special circumstances."
"Those who do not fit the criteria will be demoted the newly created rank of deacon and will be allowed to take administrative positions in the various halls, except the position of the leader."
"We will follow Sect Master's orders."x7 the Elders and former Elders replied in unison. The top three would retain their seats while rest 4 will be demoted to the position of Deacon.
"Now, there are positive changes for the Elder hall too, not just negative changes. For all the Elders and Deacons, A new system of Elder Contribution Points will be introduced. You can earn these points through Mentorship and Regular Seminars.
Basically, the success of your personal disciples will earn you points. If they progresses fast with a strong foundation, win many tournaments, and contribute to the sect's development, It will help you too.
For Seminars, you can conduct Dao discussions, sharing your understanding of the heavenly way and helping them solve their doubts regarding their cultivation and other techniques. The quantity of the points earned from this will be dependent on the number of disciples attended and the feedback received which would be recorded by the shadow hall and processed by the Contribution halls.
The salaries the of elders will be increased by 5 times and given in form contribution points which can be exchanged for anything available in the Elder's section of the Contribution Hall, including Mysterious Grade Pills and Heaven grade techniques."
The whole time Liu Zheng talked, the faces of the elders got brighter and brighter and overwhelming joy was seen at the mention of increased salaries and high-grade resources. They thought just by lecturing for a few hours week will now earn them a ton of high grade resources.
Little did they know that Liu Zheng had plans absorbing the nearby sects and many other lone cultivators without any backing and the number of high level cultivators is just going to keep increasing making it hard to even keep their seats.
"This concludes the major changes. If you have any suggestions, raise your hand. If you have objections, the Sect Master is fully healed, and you can consult him."
No one had suggestions, and objections couldn't be raised here, so everyone remained silent.
"If there is nothing, this session is over. The new roles of the deacons will be decided by the elder hall in the next session. Hope you all have a great day." Liu Zheng left the the Elder's Hall with that.
Next, Liu Zheng visited the Disciplinary Hall. He reviewed the rules, writing down necessary changes and sending them to the Great Elder who was in charge of the hall, the major change being the creation of a new department to resolve disputes between the disciples whenever violence is involved, peacefully on the ground level, without any interference from the elders.
At the Shadow Hall, Liu Zheng met the Hall Master, who usually never interferes in the sect and had the cultivation of Immortal Ascension 3rd Stage. They technically had no work now since Liu Zheng took their disciple's only work so he assigned them the task of keeping an eye on suspicious behavior of the disciples and hall members, reporting it to the Disciplinary Hall. After three reports, if no action is taken then report it directly to the sect master where he will deal with the matter including negligence of the Disciplinary Hall.
He wished to use the shadow hall to do a lot of things, including creating a special dark force for covert operations in charge of dirty works which couldn't be known by anyone as well as to keep an eye on the management including the Elders, acting as the eyes of the Sect Master but after watching their pitiful cultivation and not so shadow type techniques he simply gave up.
After visiting the remaining halls, Liu Zheng was finished with his work and knew everything he needed to know so he went on his way back home.
"Yo, Liu Zheng, finished with all the boring work?" Zangetsu appeared beside him using sonido, putting an arm around his shoulder.
"Yeah, it was pretty boring. Did you learn anything." Liu Zheng replied and they kept walking.
"Just the basics, but Never Mind. Why waste so much time improving the sect if you are just going to leave and later take the people with you later?"
"Well, you can think of it as an experiment."
"You're using humans as lab rats?" Zangetsu said with a stunned expression.
"No, not the scientific one but the socio-economic or management one. I want to see if the changes I implemented would have any positive effect on growth of the sect."
"Anddddd what if they doesn't?"
"Oh, well, we at least got two chapters' worth of content."
"Understandable."
"By the way, I've arranged accommodation for you and old man. Just change your clothes and take these tokens, you won't have any trouble getting around, even inside the sect."Liu Zheng handed Zangetsu the clothes and tokens for both of them.
"You are kicking us out again?"
"Or what? You wanna disturb a couple's privacy?"
"'dIsTuRb a CoUpLe'S pRiVaCy?' Call for Su Yan next time you need a fu*king bankai!"
"Dude, we don't get much free time to spend with each other. You should learn from Old man." Seeing Zangetsu's sour expression, Liu Zheng added, "You can do whatever you want, as long as you don't get caught when I am not around."
"DEAL!" Zangetsu instantly shook hands with him, happy with the condition.
"Your goal from the beginning was to make me agree to this, right?"
"Hehehe, King. You know me well, Bye-bye." Zangetsu vanished, and Liu Zheng continued on his way.
**************************************************
Cultivation - Immortal Ascension 5th Stage
Body Cultivation - Top Rank Mysterious Grade
Combat Power:
- Immortal Ascension Peak (Base-Fused Shikai)
- Transcendent Realm 2nd Order (Bankai-fused)
Sharingan - Mangekyou Sharingan