Even the upper echelons of the Royal Sacred Sect were shaken. At their cultivation level, they didn’t have the time to monitor matters of the sect everyday. In fact, Zai Qiu’s actions were initially unknown by many in the upper echelons.
If back then Zai Qiu first seeked approval before acting against Qin Wentian and Quinn, the elders might not have allowed him to use such a radical method. Zai Qiu also knew this point, this was why he chose to act first instead, using the most direct method to kill Quinn and making it so that things become irreversible.