Chapter 1295: Chapter 734: Meddling in the Entire Empire?
The Psychic Cultivatorâs Association is fragmented.
In name, the Psychic Cultivatorâs Association is a powerful organization. They have the authority to manage all the Psychics within the Empire, organize psychic units, and provide all necessary spiritual energy support for various other Empire organizations, from the military to the Tribunal and then to civil institutions.
However, this was only realized when the Psychic Cultivatorâs Association was first established; later, it became an empty promise.
For a long period, spiritual energy was considered a taboo within the Empire, unable to be controlled, and those who awakened their spiritual energy were severely persecuted, mainly handled by the Tribunal. Most Psychics would be imprisoned, or simply executed.
Later, the Imperial Chancellor, who followed The Emperor to establish the Human Empire and was known as the Eternal Life, believed that although spiritual energy was dangerous, it could still be mastered. He personally established the Psychic Cultivatorâs Association to cultivate and dominate the Empireâs spiritual energy power.
During that phase, the Psychic Cultivatorâs Association fulfilled its duties effectively, cultivating a large number of Psychics and deploying them to various units. The Tribunalâs Psychic Experts, the Star Realm Armyâs Psychic Troops, the Navyâs navigators and Thinker clusters, and even the Think Tanks of the Starfighter Battle Group would communicate with the Empireâs Psychic Cultivatorâs Association.
It was an age of unparalleled glory for the Psychic Cultivatorâs Association.
The Psychic Cultivatorâs Association controlled a large number of Psychic Academies, screening the population, training Psychics, and after training, all parties were eager for the Psychic Cultivatorâs Association to send personnel. The Chief Grand Master answered directly to the Imperial Chancellor and was an important member of the Supreme Council, wielding the extraordinary power that mortals of the Empire could muster.
External Psychics, according to the Academy they hailed from, were ranked within the Psychic Cultivatorâs Association and subjected to dual leadership by both the Association and their respective units. With one word from the Associationâs Grand Master, the entire spiritual energy of a certain unit could be either withdrawn or added to.
Moreover, the Psychic Cultivatorâs Association also had its own direct troops, primarily comprised of spiritual energy forces, but also included many specialized anti-spiritual energy units. Using spiritual energy to counter spiritual energy or assisting the Sect of Mechanics in developing anti-spiritual energy weapons, gear, and equipping elite soldiers to form legions.
Such a Psychic Cultivatorâs Association was certainly worthy of a High Lordâs status.
But the good times didnât last long. That Imperial Chancellor, supposedly the Eternal Life, perished in a great internal conflict after The Emperorâs ascension. Without his support, the Psychic Cultivatorâs Association lost its fundamental political power.
Of course, this in itself wasnât enough to cause such a plight.
But in the subsequent period, their basic foundation was continuously eroded.
The core problem lay in the dual leadership over Psychics.
In theory, every Psychic in any unit was to be governed by the Psychic Cultivatorâs Association. However, first and foremost, the Tribunal disagreed.
We have so many confidential affairs within the Tribunal, many also related to various supernatural powers. Handling those affairs requires Psychics, but how could we allow the Psychic Cultivatorâs Association to lead them? Wouldnât that result in a breach of secrecy?
Moreover, these Psychics listen to Subspace whispers daily, and who knows when they might become corrupted, explode, or pose a great threat, so they must be under surveillance.
Lead by the Tribunal, the Psychic Cultivatorâs Association faced ongoing challenges and suppression over many years.
Other Empire forces also had strong motives; they didnât want their own teams of Psychics to be controlled by the Association.
After all, dual governance is never as comfortable as having a single line of command.
The Star Realm Army didnât want their Psychic Troops suddenly reassigned by the Association; the Navy couldnât accept navigators or Thinkers being removed from their ships, and such a mysterious place as the Assassin Court never allowed the Psychic Cultivatorâs Association to interfere with their cultivated Psychic Assassins.
The Psychic Cultivatorâs Association certainly wouldnât relinquish its authority easily and engaged in a prolonged struggle with all parties, even continuing to the present day.
However, the outcome of these struggles is evidently less than satisfactory.
The primary reason is that the Psychic Cultivatorâs Association is practically opposing everyone in this matter.
If it were only this, it would have merely lost a leg.
They still had a large number of Psychic Academies and if they could continue to control the cultivation and allocation of Psychics, they still retained substantial influence.
But even this was being continuously stripped away.
Everyone had use for Psychics and didnât want to be throttled by the Association.
Cultivating Psychics isnât some exclusive process; it doesnât have to happen within the Psychic Academies. Previously, enforcing this was mainly for ease of control, with the Empire enacting related mandatory decrees.
Such administrative orders can be overturned and altered.
Everyone began independently cultivating specific Psychics according to their needs.
To this end, they constantly exploited loopholes in the past psychic systems.
As more loopholes were exploited, the rules themselves became riddled with holes.
Consequently, the financial budget for the Psychic Cultivatorâs Association was reduced, Psychic Academies gradually couldnât maintain as many schools and were forced to close one after another; all factions had their own dedicated psychic troops, anti-spiritual energy experts, and due to budget issues, the Associationâs own direct troops also slowly withered away...