"What?" Eminent Jiguang's proclamation caused an uproar. Major and minor pathkeepers have long been considered to be of higher status than normal eminents because they represented the top talent of Myriadpath Valley. Almost without exception, they were from the Three Exalted Houses. Few, if any, from other houses could get that title.
The nomination of any minor pathkeeper had to be judged by all Three Exalted Houses together. Candidates would be evaluated based on both talent and actualized bat capabilities, and receive recognition from the three houses and the valley lord to be able to bear the title. They were unquestionably paragons of Myriadpath Valley!
As the Three Exalted Houses had to recognize them, it was incredibly difficult for even gold ring disciples from august houses to be made into major or minor pathkeepers, let alone a black ring disciple like Tianming. Even with his Suishen ward status, the circumstances of his birth automatically precluded him from being a minor pathkeeper, hence the controversy over Eminent Jiguang's announcement.
"Did Eminent Jiguang suffer a blow to the head?"
"I don't know!"
"That title doesn't just stand for talent! It's also a sign of the topmost bloodlines of Myriadpath Valley! Even gold ring disciples from august houses can barely make the cut!"
"The Three Exalted Houses have scrounged up many resources for their own disciples all these years. There's no way they'll make an outsider a minor or major pathkeeper."
"Of the current ten minor pathkeepers, House Qitian has four, while House Yumo and House Suishen each have three."
All three minor pathkeepers from House Suishen happened to be right by Tianming's side. Once Tianming became one, his status would be equal to Suishen Yao's. The titles of 'Suishen ward' and 'minor pathkeeper' were both official, but being the daughter of Eminent Ranxing wasn't. Either way, officially being considered an equal of these proud scions was a dream that many wouldn't dare to fantasize about.
It wasn't that the crowd didn't want to acknowledge Tianming as a minor pathkeeper, but they simply didn't think it could be possible at all! There was no way Myriadpath Valley would allow a black ring disciple to have such high status. They were supposed to be the lowest of the low, a plete contrast to esteemed minor pathkeepers! Never had there been a minor pathkeeper who was a black ring disciple.
People noticed that Eminent Ranxing flared with rage for an instant before getting his emotions under control. Meanwhile, the other eminents were pletely stunned.
"Auntie?" Suishen Yao wasn't shocked, just curious at how a black ring tainted beastmaster could bee a minor pathkeeper like her.
As the disbelief rose to a peak, Eminent Jiguang took out a golden tome from her ring with the title 'Myriadpath Sacred Code.' She flipped through the pages and said, "Everyone else here with a copy of the code, please look at Page 193 and read what it says!"
"Page 193?" There were only two hundred rules in the Myriadpath Sacred Code, so 193 was rather far back. When everyone saw what was written there, their expressions immediately changed to outright and utter shock.
Eminent Jiguang pletely expected their reactions. Eminent Ranxing had emphasized the authority of the Myriadpath Sacred Code by using it to justify his ruling to prematurely close the Prehistoric Path, making now the best time to use one of its other rules in an argument.
Though, if someone of Eminent Jiguang's status hadn’t brought it out, others wouldn't dare to, either. She moved back to Eminent Ranxing with the tome and addressed the crowd. "Any fortuna disciple that manages to clear the trial of the seventh divine idol shall be made a minor pathkeeper. Similarly, any maniverse disciple that clears the trial of the ninth divine idol shall be made a major
pathkeeper!"
The rules were clear, simple, and required no further explanation. There were no exclusionary clauses of any sort. There were a few reasons why people didn't remember to cite that rule. First, nobody had expected that Tianming would actually be able to clear the seventh trial.
Second, his status was so far from that of a minor pathkeeper that people didn't even consider the possibility. Perhaps they implicitly assumed that the 'any fortuna disciple' in the rule only referred to gold ring disciples. But the words didn't lie no matter how hard one scrutinized them.
Not even Suishen Zhao and Suishen Yao, who were both extremely confident in Tianming's capabilities, had thought in that direction. Eminent Jiguang knew that the rule definitely applied, but hadn’t brought it up sooner as she was worried it would agitate Tianming and affect his performance. After all, even with the undeniable rule, there was a lot of pressure for a black ring disciple to bee a minor pathkeeper.
She’d been worried about it the entire time, but then Eminent Ranxing had brought up the Myriadpath Sacred Code of his own accord. Since that was the case, everyone in Myriadpath Valley would believe that making Tianming a minor pathkeeper was also in line with his will! That was when Eminent Jiguang had jumped out and made her move.
"I've always thought that rule only applied to gold ring disciples, but it does say 'any fortuna disciple' on the page."
"Could it be that the ancestors hadn't even considered the possibility of a black ring disciple achieving something like that when they wrote the rules?"
"It's possible!"
"If we really follow the rules to the letter, Li Tianming will be made a minor pathkeeper without having to be evaluated by the Three Exalted Houses!"
"Heavens!"
"I know! The reason that Eminent Ranxing forced Li Tianming to stop challenging the eighth idol was to emphasize the authority of the Myriadpath Sacred Code. Then Eminent Jiguang came to make that announcement. No doubt, Eminent Ranxing instructed her to do so. It’s House Suishen's will!"
"As expected of Eminent Ranxing! Li Tianming’s only a Suishen ward right now, but once he bees a minor pathkeeper, it's the same as House Suishen gaining an additional minor pathkeeper. That'll make Li Tianming a proper member of House Suishen."
"Why didn't he make the announcement himself? Is he trying to pretend that Eminent Jiguang discovered that little bonus on her own so he doesn't appear to be too greedy?"
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