Chapter: 5453

Long Zhiqi was shocked beyond words and said, "What?! Master, you... you're going to pass on the leadership to me right now?!"

"Yes!" Hong Changqing firmly replied. "I called you here this time specifically to pass on the leadership to you in Ye Chen's presence."

"What's the reason?! " Long Zhiqi asked with confusion. "According to the precedent of Taijing Sect, you should at least pass on the leadership to me ten years from now. And I'm not experienced enough now, so it's impossible for me to take over immediately! Please reconsider, Master!"

Hong Changqing waved his hand dismissively. "Your mention of precedent is just a coincidence. Taijing Sect has never specified that the master must wait until a certain age before passing on the leadership, nor has it stated that the new master must wait until a certain age before taking over. I think you're already qualified to take on this role."

Long Zhiqi asked further: "Master, why are you in such a hurry to pass on the leadership? If you pass it on to your disciple later, what are your plans? Are you preparing to go back and practice meditation?"

Hong Changqing shook his head. "My plan is to settle down in Jinling from now on."

"What?! Settle down in Jinling?! " Long Zhiqi asked with wide eyes. "Why do you want to settle down in Jinling? Won't you still be concerned about Taijing Sect's affairs afterwards?"

Hong Changqing nodded sincerely. "Passing on the leadership to you, I naturally won't concern myself with Taijing Sect's matters anymore. With you in charge of Taijing Sect, I have no reason to worry."

Long Zhiqi pursed his lips and looked at Hong Changqing, asking: "Master, why do you want to settle down in Jinling? If you can't give me a reasonable explanation, I refuse to accept the leadership!"

He couldn't tell his own disciple, so he would have to stay in Jinling and leave it up to Leaf Qiuchun's judgment. Therefore, he could only tell Long Zhiqi, "Zhiqi, I've been at Tai Ren Sect for many years and have exhausted myself. Now that I'm old, I want to take a break and try to make some progress. This place in Jinling is beautiful and has a good climate, which really suits my taste, so I plan to stay here for a while and try to make some breakthroughs."

Long Zhiqi furrowed his brow and asked, "Master, you've spent most of your time closed-door cultivation, and when the old lady asked you to come out, you said you would continue to cultivate. But then you suddenly came to Jinling without saying a word. Now you're talking about giving up the leadership position and staying here?"

Hong Changqing could only explain, "Humans get lazy after staying in one place for too long. That's why I want to change my environment and try something new."

Long Zhiqi looked at Hong Changqing and then at Leaf Qiuchun beside him, unable to help but ask, "Master, even if everything you said is true, shouldn't you pass the leadership position on to me? According to Tai Ren Sect's tradition, the passing of the position should be held in the presence of other disciples."

Hong Changqing was embarrassed and waved his hand, saying, "Oh, those are just some formalities. Since I'm giving up my position, it doesn't matter whether others are present or not. You can take my leadership token and go back to your sect. They will naturally recognize you as the new leader."

Long Zhiqi said with a hint of dissatisfaction, "Master, this is a tradition of Tai Ren Sect. As the master of Tai Ren Sect, you can't disregard it. Besides, your choice seems a bit arbitrary. Have you ever heard of any sect that holds its leadership passing ceremony in a hotel room?"

Hong Changqing's expression turned somewhat awkward.

Indeed, holding a leadership passing ceremony in a hotel room didn't quite fit.

With no other option, he could only grit his teeth and say, "The passing of the position is not something that requires grand ceremonies. I can't call all my disciples to come to Jinling just for this. How can I be so selfish as to trouble everyone like this?"

"What's with you not going back to America? Even if you want to stay in Jinling, out of respect for the Taizhen Dao, you should take some time to go back to the sect after all this is over. You can wait until the transmission ceremony is done and then come back to Jinling afterwards!"

Hong Changqing was at a loss for words.

He was very troubled on this point himself.

He had called Dragon Siji from America just to get him here in the hotel room, simply so that Ye Chen could see his attitude.

In essence, all of this is just to curry favor with Ye Chen.

However, in order to curry favor with Ye Chen, he had to neglect the sect's rules.

Just then, Dragon Siji saw Hong Changqing hesitating and unable to say a word, and looked at Ye Chen with an expression that seemed to say, "Teacher, you just said that as long as I take over this position, it doesn't matter who is or isn't present. Then why did you ask this Mr. Ye to come here? He's not a member of the Taizhen Dao, right?" JrNovels.com