When the Holy Xuan first established the Golden Tower Council, there were four factions: the Taiping Sect, the Quanzhen Sect, the Zhengyi Sect, and the Grand Master’s lineage, corresponding respectively to the three Deputy Grand Masters and the Grand Master himself.0

The so-called Grand Master lineage was actually the neutral faction. The Wanxiang Daoist Palace belonged to this group. Its primary purpose was to prevent the Grand Master from being sidelined by the three major sects. At its height, the neutral faction even produced a Grand Master who had all Nine Halls under his control, leaving the three sects in charge of only the local Daoist mansions. However, being far looser in structure than the three sects, the neutral faction ultimately never developed into a true fourth sect.0

Of course, whether successive Grand Masters could control the neutral faction depended on their own ability. The sixth-generation Grand Master disbanded the Zixiao Palace, losing the neutral faction’s support entirely. He reaped the consequences, being completely sidelined, with decrees unable to leave the Zixiao Palace. By contrast, the fifth-generation Grand Master held the neutral faction firmly in his grasp, making...0