"You need not bare your heart. Of course I know your loyalty to the sect; otherwise, I would never have promoted you to be the master of Spirit Herb Mountain back then. I merely find your method somewhat hard to understand," the One-Eyed Elder said mildly, his voice gentle.
"Thank you, Martial Uncle." Perfected Master Tongyu bowed respectfully again before slowly explaining, "The reason this disciple did so was to advance by retreating."
"Advance by retreating?" The old man stroked his beard, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.
"Yes, Martial Uncle. This disciple already said just now that if we purge the traitors now, it will easily beat the grass and startle the snake. Rather than that, it would be better to promote them openly while demoting them in secret, entrusting them with steward duties. First, we can throw a great many miscellaneous affairs to them, leaving them no time to refine pills. As time goes by, their pill-refining arts will naturally regress. In that case, even if they betray the sect, after those factions exhaust untold hardships, all they will have roped in are a few pieces of trash. That is the first point."
"Second, since they have become stewards, on the surface they are core members of our sect, people of high position and weighty authority. Any news they carry out from their mouths, the great factions of both righteous and demonic paths will certainly believe without doubt."
"Mm, just like what you did this time. You deliberately leaked to them the information that our sect had the formula for the Heaven Dust Pill but had never been able to refine this spiritual medicine. Sure enough, all the spies of the righteous and demonic paths withdrew." A gleam of approval flashed through the One-Eyed Elder's eye. This