The Psionic Order is fragmented.
In name, the Psionic Order is a powerful organization. They have the authority to manage all psionicists throughout the Empire and organize psionic corps to provide all necessary psionic support to various other Imperial organizations, from the military to the Inquisition to civil administration.
However, this was only achieved when the Psionic Order was first established, and it later became a dead letter.
For a long time, psychic power was taboo within the Empire and could not be mastered. Psychic awakeners suffered severe persecution, primarily handled by the Inquisition. Most psychics were imprisoned or simply executed.
Later, the Imperial Chancellor who had accompanied the Emperor in establishing the human empire and was known as the Immortal believed that while psychic energy was a dangerous power, it was still a force that could be controlled. He personally established the Psychic Order to cultivate and control the psychic power of the entire empire.
During that period, the Psionic Order fulfilled its duties powerfully, training a large number of psionicists and distributing them to various units. Psionic experts in the Inquisition, psionic units in the Astronautical Army, navigators and thinker clusters in the Navy, and even the think tanks of the Space Marine Chapters would exchange information with the Imperial Psionic Order.
That was an incredibly glorious era for the Psionic Order.
The Psionic Order controls numerous Psionic academies, selecting and training individuals with psionic abilities. Once trained, various factions vie for personnel from the Psionic Order. The Grand Master reports directly to the Imperial Chancellor and is a crucial member of the High Council, wielding extraordinary powers beyond the reach of ordinary mortals within the Empire.
Psionicists dispatched abroad are subject to dual leadership from both their psychic order and their own unit, depending on their academy of origin and their rank within the psychic order. A single word from the high master of the order can mobilize all the psychic energy of a unit or assign it to a specific team.
In addition, the Psionic Order possesses its own direct forces, primarily composed of psionic energy, but also includes a large number of specialized anti-psionic units. These units use psionic energy to counter psionic energy, or assist the Cult of Mechanics in developing anti-psionic weapons and equipment, and are equipped with elite soldiers to form legions.
Such a psychic order certainly deserves the status of a high lord.
However, this period of prosperity was short-lived. The imperial prime minister, who was supposedly an immortal being, passed away in the era after the emperor's ascension, dying in a massive civil war. Without his support, the psychic order lost its most fundamental political strength.
Of course, that alone wouldn't be as bad as it seems.
But in the years that followed, their core base was gradually eroded.
The core issue lies in the dual leadership of psionicists.
Logically, any psychic in any organization should be under the jurisdiction of a psychic order. However, the Inquisition was the first to object.
Our court has so many confidential matters, many of which are related to various supernatural forces. Handling those matters requires psychics, but how can we let you, a psychic sect leader, take charge? Wouldn't that be a leak?
Even you psionicists, listening to warp whispers every day, might become corrupted or explode one day, posing a huge threat, and must be subject to regulation.
With the Tribunal as its main force, the Psionic Order faced continuous challenges and suppression over the long years that followed.
Other imperial powers also have ample motivation to prevent their psionic teams from being controlled by the Psionic Order.
After all, which is more comfortable: dual-line jurisdiction or single-line jurisdiction?
The Astral Army didn't want its psionic forces to be suddenly transferred away by the Order; the Navy couldn't accept the Pathfinders and Thinkers being taken from their ships, especially since the Assassin's Guild, such a mysterious place, never allowed the Psionic Order to interfere with the psionic assassins they trained.
The Psionic Order, of course, did not relinquish its power, and engaged in a long-standing struggle with various parties, which continues to this day.
However, the outcome of the struggle was clearly not good.
The main reason is that, on this matter, the Psionic Order is practically at odds with everyone.
If that were all, it would only mean one leg had been cut off.
They also have a large number of psionic academies, and as long as they can control the training and allocation of psionicists, they will still have considerable influence.
But in this respect, they are also constantly being deprived of their rights.
Everyone has the potential to be a psychic, so why would they want to be held hostage by a spiritual sect?
The training of psionicists is not a proprietary system; they cannot be exclusively trained in psionic academies. In the past, this was enforced primarily for better control, as the Empire had relevant mandatory administrative orders.
Administrative orders can be overturned and changed.
Each organization began to cultivate specific psychics independently, according to their own needs.
To this end, they keep making incisions in the old psionic system.
If too many loopholes are opened, the rules themselves become riddled with holes.
Next came the budget cuts to the psychic orders, which made it increasingly difficult for psychic academies to operate, forcing them to close one by one. Each organization had its own dedicated psychic forces and anti-psychic experts, and the psychic orders' own direct forces also gradually dwindled due to budget problems...
As things stand, there are still some psychic academies, but their proportion in the overall training of psychics in the empire is very low; there are still direct forces, but their strength is really not enough to support psychic cultivators to sit at the table.
The Psionic Order is increasingly resembling a club where Imperial Psionicists gather to exchange and learn, lacking sufficient real power, and thus finding it difficult to attain a particularly strong political position.
The Grand Master is theoretically qualified to enter the High Lords Council, but in the last one or two thousand years, the Psionic Order has not been seen among the High Lords.
This is the current state of the Psionic Order.
They are certainly not content with this.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have bothered to approach Gu Hang.
However, it was also because of their unwillingness to accept defeat and their desire to maintain the image of a powerful central imperial institution that Salihovic made some of his subsequent assessments of them.
They maintain their aloofness, as if the psychic order had never declined, striving to preserve their dignity; yet they are also often very flexible, clinging to anything that might even remotely relate to them, seizing any opportunity to demonstrate their own worth.
With such an easy target, how could anyone let it go?
All sorts of sordid things were dragged over by this group of psychic practitioners who were putting on a brave face.
A high-ranking official has gone missing. The psychic order should send an advisor to see if it's related to psychic powers. If the person is found, you'll get credit, and you'll be just an advisor. What more benefits do you want? If the person isn't found, then you'll take the blame.
There's a war going on. Shouldn't the Psionic Order send out some of its core Psionic troops? No? They should at least send some, otherwise they'll have a reason to cut their remaining budget.
These are all relatively minor issues. If a psionic disaster were to occur somewhere, you would be even more likely to be blamed.
It's like a garbage can where you can throw all sorts of filth into—a place of destitution, being manipulated, and feeling stifled…
sad.
In other words, it had a relatively solid foundation. Within the Empire, and in Holy Terra, there were some psionic academies that served as its base, allowing it to forcibly prolong its life.
However, if this trend continues, the psychic order will likely face inevitable collapse in the foreseeable future.
After hearing all this, Gu Hang recalled one of the paths that Galardo had arranged for him before, which was to come and become the leader of the Spiritual Energy Order.
At that time, he was still thinking, the Spiritual Cult is a top-tier power, how could they just let Gu Hang, an outsider, become their leader?
Surprisingly, it really was that simple.
There's no need to fight for it; they're just handing it over to you!
However, elevating the chief mentor to the position of high lord is not a trivial matter, but an extremely difficult task.
Of course, Gu Hang didn't think that Galardo was talking nonsense at the time. In fact, Gu Hang could guess how this would be done: it was simply a matter of 'selling' his war merits in the Ironclad Wars.
That won't do.
Returning to the matter at hand, Gu Hang asked, "So, what suggestions do you have, my ambassador?"
In his gradual narration, Salihovic had already made his stance clear: "I suggest we stay away from them, Your Excellency; getting too close to them will only bring misfortune."
After a pause, he continued, "The Psionic Order is now just a name and a framework. If you want to lead them to revive, you will not only need to invest a lot of resources, but you will also face numerous difficulties. The worst part is that the more things improve, the greater the resistance you will encounter. The stronger the Psionic Order becomes, the more conflicts of interest it will inevitably create with various parties, which will be very detrimental to your great cause."
Gu Hang pressed further, "What if I only want his name and the framework?"
After all, it was given away for free.
As long as Gu Hang agrees, he can obtain the so-called 'Chief Mentor' title with almost no cost.
It's at least a top-tier title, enough to get into the High Lords Council.
Even a broken ship has some nails; the Psionic Cult still has some remaining power. They also receive tens, sometimes hundreds of billions, of dollars in budgets from the Empire every year. And even as a dumping ground for the Empire's core, they can still build up a considerable network of connections...
"No, that's unrealistic," Salihovic said. "Leaving aside other factors, there are also significant problems within the Psionic Order itself. They invited you to be their Grand Master in the hope that you would lead their revival. If you don't take any crucial steps soon, it will be difficult for them to continue to follow your will. In that case, they will not only be less of an asset to you, but may even become a hindrance."
Gu Hang stroked his chin, agreeing with Salihovic's assessment.
However, he also had his own thoughts during the conversation.
"What if I were to establish a psionic order?"
"Hmm?" Salihovic asked, somewhat puzzled.
Didn't we already talk about it?
"Isn't relinquishing the Psionic Order's authority over all psionicists in the Empire the biggest point of contention between the Psionic Order and other factions within the Empire?"
Salihovic was a very intelligent man, and he immediately realized what was going on: "You mean... to focus on building up the psionic academy and the monastic order's direct forces?"
"Yes," Gu Hang said. "The future Psionic Cult will be transformed into a training base for psionics. The existing psionic academy is a good foundation, and they have enough talent. As long as the resources keep up, the psionic academy can expand rapidly. We will increase the training of psionics, either by accepting commissions from other imperial factions for training, or by training them ourselves and sending them into the direct psionic and anti-psionic forces."
"As one of the highest-level independent institutions in the Empire, the Psionic Order's direct forces, as I recall, can carry out missions anywhere in the entire Empire without needing anyone's consent, as long as it's ordered by the Grand Master, and are only responsible to the Grand Master, right?"
Salihovic nodded: "Yes."
"Does that mean I have the power to interfere in any matter across the entire empire?"
Salihovic calmly reminded him, "I'm afraid it's not that simple. Putting aside strength and the negative consequences of excessive interference, even from a legal standpoint, the Psionic Order's authority to handle affairs throughout the Empire is limited to matters of psionic energy. Although actions do not require approval from others and are only accountable to the Grand Master, the Grand Master still needs to have a plausible reason for doing so."
"Ah, that is a problem." Gu Hang's smile grew wider. "In this world, everything can be related to psionic energy, right?"
"...If you wish, indeed."
A governor whose abilities cannot even be described as Alpha-level, a professional psionic organization—what can't they make related to psionics?
Or rather, what in this universe is not related to the subspace?
However, Salihovic remained deeply worried.
"Will the Psionic Order agree? They have guarded their glory for thousands of years, and their dream is to return to the golden age when all the psionicists in the empire were united under the Psionic Order. If you abandon this claim, they will probably find it hard to accept, and you will face great resistance if you push this forward."
Gu Hang's smile faded: "That's Master Dou's task. Why should I play the villain? I hope he can clear out the old fogies in the Spirit Energy Cultivation Association and hand over a clean and honest association to me."
"Let's postpone joining the Psionic Cult as a Grand Master for now. However, before Dou Zhao left, he said he wanted me to go to the Psionic Cult for an exchange?"
"Would three days be enough time to prepare?"
"I will clean his house and offer some help."
At this point, Gu Hang waved his hand, dispelling the mental deception of the monitor.
Gu Hang usually tries to be as honest as possible. But when it comes to sensitive topics in conversation, it's best not to let them hear them.
These monitors, who possess anti-psychic abilities, have no idea who they are monitoring.
As long as Gu Hang wants, everything they hear and see is what Gu Hang wants them to hear and see.
It simply means using it as little as possible and at a lower intensity to avoid being detected.