"Dou Zhao must be senile."
"I demand that the impeachment process against Dou Zhao be initiated immediately!"
"A person who betrays the religious order and wants to abandon its most glorious history is not fit to lead the religious order!"
Daphne Margaret was in the Psionic Order's Masters Council, raising her hands high and passionately attacking the current Grand Master.
She didn't even glance at the old monk.
Although the two once shared a teacher-student relationship, that was a long time ago. Driven by ambition and conflicting stances, they had long since parted ways. She had become a clear opponent within the Spiritual Energy Cult, vying with her classmate, Ni Xun, also a student of Dou Zhao, for the top position after Dou Zhao's departure.
Her enemies were her treacherous junior brother and her biased teacher—that's what she had always thought.
But unexpectedly, Gu Hang suddenly appeared.
She vehemently opposed the proposal when it was put forward by someone on the mentor committee.
However, the objections were ineffective.
This proposal was not only put forward by Dou Zhao, nor was it only Ni Xun, whom she once thought was 'insidious and despicable, only good at pleasing the mentor,' who also strongly supported it. The entire mentor committee seemed to be collectively inclined to support it.
The more knowledgeable psionic experts are about psychic abilities, the more they realize the terrifying truth that Gu Hang's psychic powers on the front lines truly represent.
Moreover, Gu Hang possesses more than just powerful spiritual energy.
He was also a powerful regional lord within the empire and a hero with outstanding military achievements. This meant that he still possessed ample political influence and economic resources to support and develop the psychic order.
If all these factors are combined, then within the entire empire, there is no one more suitable than Gu Hang to be the chief mentor.
People with resources and status don't have such strong spiritual power; those with such strong spiritual power... come on, the entire empire has never seen anyone so powerful.
It was as if the imperial prime minister were still alive.
Honestly, if there were no conflict of interest, Daphne Margaret would also think that it would be a good thing if Gu Hang could become the Grand Master of the Spiritualist Order.
But isn't that a conflict of interest?
She herself wanted to become this great mentor.
If I am not the Grand Master, then the revival of the Psionic Order is meaningless.
Of course, it's okay to think about this kind of thing, but you can't say it out loud.
She could only resort to other arguments to attack.
But it just won't work.
She was somewhat desperate, even disheartened, and prepared to leave the Psychic Order.
I'm an S-rank psychic, after all, and I have a group of supporters within the cult. If all else fails, I can always go solo or join another faction; there's always a way.
Until just now, a huge opportunity was presented to her.
After meeting with Gu Hang, Dou Zhao convened a meeting and announced something: to discuss relinquishing the Psionic Cult's jurisdiction over all psionicists in the empire.
This matter caused a huge uproar in the mentor council.
What is the greatness of the Psychic Order based on? Isn't it based on the fact that all the psychic powers of the entire empire should obey the Order's commands?
If we give up on this, what kind of spiritual order is it?
Countless people think that Dou Zhao has become senile.
Some quicker-witted people were able to realize that this was by no means Dou Zhao's own idea.
The chief mentor presented this proposal without any prior warning, immediately after meeting with Gu Hang.
Although Dou Zhao didn't say it, it's easy to guess: this is probably a prerequisite for Gu Hang to take over the affairs of the Spiritual Energy Cultivation Association.
Those who understood this point had two different attitudes.
Some people, however, turned to silence.
These people probably share Dou Zhao's mindset. They feel that the current situation of the Spiritual Cult is extremely dire, and sticking to the old ways is tantamount to waiting for death. If they want to revive, innovation is essential. Giving up the nominal but practically useless power in exchange for a leader with real resources and ability to lead the cult's revival might not be a bad idea.
However, the matter was still too shocking and directly challenged the foundation of the Psionic Order, so they did not stand up to support it for the time being.
However, some people do not think that way.
In their eyes, that was betrayal.
They were very disappointed with Gu Hang's attitude. In their view, this kind of revival was not the revival they wanted at all.
And this was the opportunity Margaret saw.
She had already been considering running away with the bucket, but she seized the opportunity to step into the limelight and point the finger at Dou Zhao.
Dou Zhao remained silent, but Ni Xun stepped forward and engaged in a heated debate with her.
During this period, Margaret uttered some classic lines.
"The laws of our ancestors must not be changed!"
"This is a betrayal of us!"
"Gu Hang is not here to lead us to revival, but to dismember us!"
Her statements resonated with a considerable number of people.
With her existing supporters, she quickly gathered enough people to initiate impeachment proceedings against the Grand Tutor!
The impeachment process requires two of the nine mentors to jointly initiate it, and it must be approved by one-third of the members of the current mentor committee.
Once initiated, a vote from all the mentor committee members is required; a majority vote is needed to overthrow the chief mentor.
Currently, the total number of members on the Psionic Order's committee is 217, and 134 of them are present at this meeting.
She currently has 57 votes, and needs 52 more.
Victory is in sight!
The remaining seventy-odd votes at the meeting were not all against; many abstained. These are the people we can try to win over. There are also more than seventy people who couldn't attend the meeting due to distance or their duties, and they are also potential targets!
Margaret was overjoyed!
This is something that has been impossible to achieve for many years!
And it actually happened!
We should be thankful that the teacher has become senile!
Ignoring her still noisy junior, Margaret looked at Dou Zhao with the air of a victor.
The chief then slowly stood up.
Margaret shuddered for no apparent reason.
Dou Zhao has been the chief for a long time, accumulating a great reputation and possessing formidable strength.
Most importantly, she knew that her teacher was nearing the end of his life. A dying person is capable of doing anything crazy.
Take, for example, this proposal that Dou Zhao, with his century-long reputation, couldn't suppress the opposition to—isn't that crazy enough?
The entire meeting room fell silent.
Though old, its tiger-like might remains.
However, under the tense gazes of her and everyone else, Dou Zhao simply stood up without making any further drastic moves.
He cleared his throat and said, "I fully respect the impeachment process of the conference. However, as long as the formal impeachment process is held within 15 days, it meets the rules. Tomorrow is the time I invited Gu Hang to the association for an exchange. In the name of the chief mentor, I require all committee members to be present tomorrow."
"I think you all need to see what the true power of psychic energy is like."
...
Why are you so confident?
After the meeting, Ni Xun couldn't help but ask his teacher a question.
Certainly, he was Dou Zhao's staunchest supporter, tirelessly charging forward at the meeting.
But he also had his doubts.
Dou Zhao shook his head and said, "You'll see for yourself tomorrow."
"I understand. After all, it was you who sent me to the front lines for this Ironclad War. I've also witnessed Governor Gu's several outstanding performances. I know that psionic energy is a powerful force, and a sufficient army of psionicists, led by a powerful archmage, can decide the outcome of a battle. Governor Gu has excelled in this regard; his psionic abilities, surpassing even Alpha-level, are no exaggeration. I never imagined that someone could single-handedly change the course of a battlefield of this scale..."
"But even so, what can we do? A psionicist, no matter how powerful, powerful enough to influence the victory of an entire battle, can he influence the entire empire? Our Psionic Order has never lacked powerful psionicists. S-rank psionicists don't appear one by one, but emerge in batches. But our situation has never improved."
At this point, Ni Xun sighed, his mood sinking.
This has always been the dilemma faced by the psychic order.
Individual strength?
They are powerful enough. An S-class psyker can even overpower a Space Marine!
They can even compete with the champions of the warband.
Moreover, the functionality and wide-range destructive power of psionicists are unmatched by the Warband Champions.
Moreover, this is a power that mortals can control.
But so what?
Even the most powerful individual is as insignificant as dust under the vastness of an empire.
Nothing can be changed...
"That just means you don't have a thorough understanding of 'true power'."
Ni Xun turned his head and saw a blue light swirling in his teacher's eyes.
"I can see, I can feel... He is far from reaching His limit."
"But just now is enough."
"What we are welcoming is not just a leader, but perhaps a new prime minister."
Ni Xun was puzzled for a moment, but then he was shocked by his teacher's words.
Prime Minister?
The title of prime minister is different from that of prime minister.
The Prime Minister is a position referring to the head of the Imperial government, who oversees the four major imperial administrative agencies: the Ministry of Military Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Taxation, and the Executive Yuan. Typically, they are also the highest-ranking member of the High Lord Council, and some particularly ruthless and iron-fisted Prime Ministers may even wield supreme power throughout the entire Empire, forcing the other High Lords to submit.
For example, the current Prime Minister, Zeppelin, has shown some signs of this in the decades since the death of the Sun Lord.
But the prime minister is different.
The title of prime minister is a special one, much like that of an emperor.
It refers to the one who stood beside the emperor when the empire was founded, and can be considered the emperor's closest comrade-in-arms.
He was an immortal being, and also the most powerful psionicist in the history of the Empire.
After his death, the empire had no more chancellors.
Was the teacher's statement a bit... excessive?
Dou Zhao stopped explaining and the light in his eyes faded.
The slightly weary chief instructor said to his most loyal student, "Go and contact the Imperial Guards. Tell them there might be some commotion here tomorrow, and not to make a fuss."
...
Gu Hang touched it from the left and right, then said with some emotion, "This place is really well done."
He arrived as promised today at the Psychic Order's meeting place.
This place is located within the Imperial Palace—the Imperial Palace complex is vast, occupying the entire area that was once the roof of the world. Many of the Imperial government's most important institutions are located within the Imperial Palace.
The Psionic Order is no exception.
The same applies to this exchange space.
Gu Hang admired that this exchange field offered no power restrictions to the psionicists within, allowing them to unleash their power without reservation. However, a powerful defensive shield formed around the exchange field, preventing psionic power from exceeding a certain threshold.
The alliance also has the relevant technologies, which Gu Hang has extracted from among the many technologies that do not need to be specifically mentioned.
However, the level of the mage academy built by the alliance is clearly incomparable to the current one—the cost is vastly different, and the technical level is several levels lower.
There is such a thing, which would be very useful for cultivating and training high-level psionicists; at the same time, it would also be of great help in developing new psionic skills.
Gu Hang was quite envious.
Upon seeing his expression, a clear, cold snort rang out from the crowd.
Gu Hang looked over and saw a red-haired woman staring at him with undisguised hostility.
Gu Hang simply returned a polite smile, then turned to Dou Zhao and asked, "Your Excellency, in what form should this exchange take?"
Dou Zhao began, "We have some non-mandatory exchange procedures. For example, you can demonstrate your skills in manipulating psychic energy, or you can demonstrate the strength of your psychic energy. Finally, we can arrange for some psychic masters to engage in some friendly psychic combat with you. During this process, the committee members will observe from the sidelines, and we can ask and answer questions at any time."
"That sounds quite formal. However, I remember you telling me that you hoped all the committee members would have a clear understanding of my current level of psychic abilities?"
"Yes."
"I have an idea, I don't know if it follows the proper procedures, but I think it should best reflect your needs."
"Oh? Please go ahead."
"Why don't you all come at me together? This exchange arena is quite large, enough for all of you to show your strength, and let me see what kind of power the Psionic Cult is now."