Chapter 3816 — Li Zhengming's Request
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
To a young master like Xu Lingchong, a mere Foundation Establishment Pill was nothing worth a second glance. Even Foundation Establishment Liquid, which could not be bought in the market, could be obtained with a casual word. But for Meng Jueming, this matter was nowhere near so simple.
Though he was the senior steward disciple of the Qingyun Pavilion's new disciples, overseeing the distribution of all manner of benefits, and appeared to wield no small authority, the resources at his disposal had never included superior-grade resources like Foundation Establishment Pills.
One had to understand that in earlier years, owing to a scarcity of resources, the Welcome Pavilion did not provide Foundation Establishment Pills to new disciples at all. The greatest support a new disciple had in striving for Foundation Establishment was the cultivation cave dwelling allotted to them and a paltry few spirit jade.
Foundation Establishment Pills, by contrast, were a benefit that had appeared only in recent years, and in extremely limited quantity. As a rule they were held back until the final juncture and given to the handful of new disciples who had performed most outstandingly.
It was only this year, thanks to the special patronage of Zhang Lifeng, the Divine Physician and Sage of Pills, far away on the Middle Island, that the number of Foundation Establishment Pills the Sandie Pavilion allotted to the Welcome Pavilion had multiplied. Only then did the phenomenon arise of a Foundation Establishment Pill being awarded at the very first month's mountain trial, something utterly inconceivable in years past.
Yet even so, given Meng Jueming's position, he still could not involve himself in the distribution of these Foundation Establishment Pills. The reason was simple: he was merely a steward disciple, far from qualified.
Across the whole of the Welcome Pavilion, only two people had any say in the distribution of these Foundation Establishment Pills. One was Pavilion Master Hu Yunfeng; the other was Vice Pavilion Master Feng Song. By the rules, the Third Pavilion Master ought also to have some voice, but Lu Bianren had long since become a thoroughly marginal figure and was about to be kicked out anyway, so naturally he was not to be considered.
Had Meng Jueming already replaced Lu Bianren as Third Pavilion Master, then out of regard for the great young master Xu behind him, he might have been able to get a hand in the Foundation Establishment Pill distribution. Unfortunately, he was not that yet.
The distribution of Foundation Establishment Pills had never had anything to do with him from start to finish. And as an expert on the verge of breaking through to the mid-stage Foundation Establishment, he simply would not keep a stock of pills like Foundation Establishment Pills that were of no use to himself. What was he supposed to do?
Yet if Meng Jueming were to refuse Li Zhengming's request outright and claim there was nothing he could do, that would be rather hard to justify. Not out of any stirring of conscience, but out of various deeper considerations.
To begin with, doing so would cost him face before his underlings. More to the point, if word of this got out, it would deal a heavy blow to the authority of this senior steward disciple!
After all, Li Zhengming was the first new disciple under him, apart from Meng Zhou, to come forward and pledge allegiance of his own accord. His strength was plainly a cut above the other new disciples, and he could be counted as one who bore hardship without complaint. Even without any great merit, he had at least shed sweat and blood.
As the senior steward disciple, as the undisputed faction leader in the eyes of all the Qingyun Pavilion's new disciples, if Meng Jueming could not even satisfy so small a request from Li Zhengming, what face would he have left to command the other new disciples?
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