Hidden Moth-Chapter 587 - 339: Worthy of the Seat Today

The Xiao Alliance established the Supreme Council initially by imitating the Ancestral Hall of the Magic Sect. The structure of the Magic Sect's Hall of Sect Rules has always been stable, with the seven Sect Leaders serving as Elders.

When a new Sect Leader takes office, the former Elder would step down to become a Supreme Elder, either retreating for peaceful cultivation or going into seclusion, no longer concerning themselves with Sect affairs.

The prerequisite for maintaining such a structure is having sufficient talent reserves, with each Sect having Tier Six Cultivators.

Throughout the thousand-year history since the establishment of the Ancestral Hall, although there were brief vacancies at certain times, for the most part, the Magic Sect has been able to guarantee this talent reserve.

The easiest gap to appear is within the Lingxi Sect, where sometimes a Tier Five Cultivator is needed to temporarily act as Sect Leader and attend meetings of the Ancestral Hall, such individuals being known as substitute Elders.

It is rare for the Ancestral Hall to have "substitute Elders", and even if it occurs, the duration is usually short.

The status of Elders in the Ancestral Hall has no distinction of rank; they are equal. A routine matter can be decided by one Elder, as long as other Elders do not express clear opposition, while major issues require unanimous agreement from all Elders. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

For instance, the original prohibition against Tier Three or higher Sorcerers entering Qi Yuan was a decree from Gu Chunxia. However, substitute Elders do not have the authority to make independent decisions on routine matters, which is also a tradition of the Magic Sect.

The Supreme Council of the Xiao Alliance initially mimicked the design of the Ancestral Hall but added some customized modifications. Members of the Supreme Council are called Yuanlao, sounding like the Roman Senate's elder council.

Since the Xiao Alliance does not have the concept of the Seven Great Magic Sects, initially, seven Yuanlao represented the inheritance of seven branches of techniques.

But for the Xiao Alliance, throughout history, it is not always possible to maintain ample reserves of experts and will require certain Tier Five Sorcerers to temporarily take up tasks and serve as Yuanlao of the Supreme Council.

Sometimes, Tier Five Sorcerers even made up the majority, such as four out of seven, eventually leading to the term "Grand Yuanlao".

Tier Six or higher Sorcerers are referred to as Grand Yuanlao, while the others are regular Yuanlao.

In modern times, the rules of procedure for the Supreme Council have undergone multiple modifications, wherein regular Yuanlao not only lack independent decision-making power in routine affairs but also lost their veto power on major matters.

The Supreme Council turned into a voting system, with decisions made based on majority vote according to the number of attendees, with minority conceding to majority.

Grand Yuanlao still retained their veto power; even if a certain proposal is approved by the majority, a single dissent from a Grand Yuanlao can veto it.

These reforms began when Arthur's mentor, Sorcerer Watt, became a Grand Yuanlao, about eighty years ago.

Thirty years ago, Arthur also broke through to Tier Six Cultivation and became a Grand Yuanlao of the Supreme Council. Watt smoothly declared his retirement for seclusion, seemingly imitating the Supreme Elders of the Magic Sect's Ancestral Hall.

Although Watt retired, he remains Arthur's strongest support behind the scenes, clearing obstacles for Arthur to continue advancing reforms, and the Supreme Council has become what it is today under Arthur's leadership.

According to tradition, the Supreme Council only has seven Yuanlao, some of whom are Tier Five Sorcerers. If a Tier Six Sorcerer emerges in the corresponding technique branch, these regular Yuanlao positions will naturally be replaced.

However, Arthur abolished this replacement system. Once entering the Supreme Council, one becomes a Yuanlao, and even if fellow cultivators break through to Tier Six Cultivation, they will not automatically replace them.

The subsequent second reform was the expansion of the Supreme Council, from seven to nine, then from nine to eleven, and now defined as thirteen Yuanlao seats, coinciding subtly with King Arthur and the twelve Knights of the Round Table.

Now the first Yuanlao of the Supreme Council happens to be named Arthur, isn't that a coincidence... A load of nonsense! Hu Weidong could guess without thinking that this name might have been chosen later, who knows what he was called when he was first born.

What's the matter with Arthur's "first Yuanlao" title?

He exploited a loophole in the meeting rules to create it, according to the Supreme Council's latest rules of procedure, major matters require collective voting, with proposals implemented only after obtaining majority approval.

Out of a total of thirteen Yuanlao, at least eight must be present to make the meeting valid.

So a scenario could occur where, for example, eight people vote, resulting in a four to four tie with no Grand Yuanlao veto. What then? In such cases, Arthur holds the deciding vote.

Arthur attained the position of first Yuanlao but retained his veto power like other Grand Yuanlao. He does not intend to remove it, but the resistance faced is overwhelming.

According to the Xiao Alliance's rules of procedure, any proposal he makes to eliminate it would be vetoed by other Grand Yuanlao.

Hu Weidong, a Tier Six Alchemist practicing Alchemy Cauldron Skill, naturally became a Grand Yuanlao with veto power after entering the Supreme Council. This was one of the primary concerns for the Xiao Alliance's senior leaders regarding his admission to the Supreme Council.

However, the Supreme Council could not but include Hu Weidong, as they recently lost three Yuanlao.

Aside from the Illusion Master who was killed in Qi Yuan and Master Dan Qiu who was killed in the Immortal Pot Grotto Heaven, there was another slain Tier Five Cultivator who was also a Yuanlao of the Supreme Council.

Since the Supreme Council has thirteen Yuanlao seats, it needs to replenish three more.

The two other positions are filled by Tier Five Sorcerers, but to overlook Hu Weidong, a conspicuous Tier Six Alchemist, would be unreasonable.

The Xiao Alliance's Supreme Council initially had seven Grand Yuanlao, including the first Yuanlao Arthur, who were——