Chapter 456 - 374: Remote Game, The Discussion of Promotion (3)

Normally, if a Candidate for Commander-in-Chief wanted to be promoted to Deputy Commander-in-Chief, it would be unthinkable without ten or even twenty years of experience. And that timeframe would still be considered fast! Countless Candidates for Commander-in-Chief spend their entire lives unable to take that next step forward.

Furthermore, to become a Deputy Commander-in-Chief, there was a hard and fast unwritten rule: one’s Martial Arts Realm had to, at the very least, have reached the Peak Realm! Only those in the Peak Realm met the basic qualifications for the position!

Besides his age, Chen Ping’an’s Martial Arts Realm also completely failed to meet this requirement. Even though Chen Ping’an possessed combat strength comparable to the Peak Realm, trying to meet the conditions on that basis alone was undoubtedly a huge stretch.

Furthermore, how long had it even been since Chen Ping’an was promoted to Candidate for Commander-in-Chief? How much merit could he have possibly accumulated? Surely that wasn’t enough for another promotion!

Upon hearing the news of Chen Ping’an’s promotion, everyone in the office, aside from Liu Yuanhua, had more or less the same reaction: shock was written on all their faces. The only difference was that, unlike Liu Yuanhua, they remained silent.

Fan Zheng Heng, the Commander-in-Chief of the Weishui Garrison, was a square-faced, middle-aged man. He wore a small, neat beard, which lent him an air of scholarly refinement.

Fan Zheng Heng was in the Pseudo-Grandmaster Realm! Years ago, he had suffered a severe injury that greatly damaged his foundation. As a result, his combat strength was near the bottom among Pseudo Grandmasters. Strictly speaking, he was only a notch stronger than a top-level expert of the Peak Realm. Any given master from the Dragon and Tiger Chart could trade blows with him evenly.

However, this did nothing to diminish his authority within the Weishui Garrison!

Hearing Liu Yuanhua’s cry of surprise, Fan Zheng Heng looked up at him. Liu Yuanhua immediately fell silent, and the others nearby quickly composed their expressions.

"The matter of Chen Ping’an’s promotion has already been decided by the State Garrison Command. It is not for us to question!" Fan Zheng Heng’s voice was deep and heavy, rumbling like distant thunder through the office.

"Lord Fan, your subordinate had no intention of questioning the decision. I was merely perplexed by it, and thus lost my composure," Liu Yuanhua explained, his expression turning grave.

Though his own power and influence were considerable, he still had to show basic respect in Fan Zheng Heng’s presence.

"What are you confused about?" Liu Yuanhua was the representative of the Weishui Liu Family, after all. As long as it didn’t touch upon any core interests, Fan Zheng Heng was not inclined to publicly slight him.

Liu Yuanhua took the opportunity to voice his confusion, first regarding Chen Ping’an’s realm, and second, his accumulated merits.

"Although Chen Ping’an’s realm has yet to reach the Peak Realm, his combat strength is comparable to those who have. With his talent, it’s only a matter of time before he breaks through. This point was specially approved and recognized by the State Garrison Command. Furthermore..." Fan Zheng Heng paused for a moment. "As for the matter of merits, Chen Ping’an also meets the State Garrison Command’s requirements for promotion!"

"He meets the requirements?" Hearing Fan Zheng Heng’s explanation, Liu Yuanhua was taken aback.

’According to the information I’ve gathered,’ he thought, ’even though Chen Ping’an has racked up a lot of achievements, he’s still far from meeting the merit requirements for promotion to Deputy Commander-in-Chief!’

Fan Zheng Heng glanced at Liu Yuanhua. "In addition to his routine merits, the State Garrison Command awarded him bonus merits to commend him for killing the disciple of the Seven Extremes Elder. That incident struck a blow against the Celestial Net Sect’s arrogance and boosted the morale of the Garrison Commandant’s Office, making it a model case for commendation!"

Hearing this, Liu Yuanhua’s expression froze, and he said no more.

’When the higher-ups want to promote you, you’ll meet the requirements one way or another!’

’But when they don’t want to promote you, every little thing is strictly scrutinized, all according to procedure. You can overcome every obstacle and finally pass the review with great difficulty, the promotion just within your grasp. But then, at the very last second, they’ll use an excuse like "lacking seniority" or "needing more tempering" to put your promotion on hold.’

’Ah, humanity! We are all born human, so why are our fates so vastly different!’

’It’s truly enough to make one sigh!’

...

PS: Hey everyone, what position do you think he’ll be promoted to? Oh, and by the way, where’s Ah Bai? I haven’t seen any of his comments lately.