Chapter 158: Killing Generals of the Main Church

"Quit bickering!" Xue Hun snapped. "If you wanna win, then bet on me!"

"Anyone who doesn't bet on me has shit for brains!" Pope Liu Qianyang of the Fire Demon Church declared.

Yin Shengong rolled his eyes as he rose to his feet, and his despair and frustration finally got the better of him as he yelled, "All of you can fuck right off! I'm betting on myself! I'll bet... I'll bet a thousand divine crystals on myself!"

Divine crystals were the highest form of internal currency in the Church of the Self-Righteous, and they could be used for both cultivation and expenditure.

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

One divine crystal was worth a hundred jade crystals, a thousand gold crystals, and ten thousand bone crystals. In the mortal world, just a single divine crystal would be seen as a priceless treasure, and the hall master of the main church that was running the betting station was ecstatic to hear this.

At this point, the highest bet had only been three hundred divine crystals, yet Yin Shengong had just bet one thousand divine crystals on a hopeless cause!

"Would you like to bet on a top-ten finish, a top-three finish, or the top spot?" the hall master asked. "For a top-ten finish, the odds are 2/1, it's 6/1 for a top-three finish, and 50/1 odds for a top spot finish! If you're already going to bet a thousand divine crystals, I suggest you go big or go bust and bet on a top spot finish, Pope Yin! Unimaginable wealth awaits you if you win!"

"Fine! I'll bet on a top spot finish then!" Yin Shengong spat through gritted teeth.

"Brilliant!" the hall master yelled, and he hurriedly wrote up a betting slip for Yin Shengong to sign in case the latter changed his mind.

"Pope Yin, if one of your Generals claims the top spot, you'll receive fifty thousand divine crystals! Best of luck to you!" "Thank you for your kind words," Yin Shengong replied with a steely expression, while all of the other popes were already denouncing him as a delusional fool.

Qian Sanjiang dragged Yin Shengong away with a glum expression as he sighed, "That was too rash, Pope Yin."

Yin Shengong regretted his decision as soon as the words slipped out of his mouth, but before he knew it, the betting slip had already been written up, and he had no choice but to sign it unless he wanted to embarrass himself in front of all of the other popes.

"Who knows? Maybe I'll win. If I lose, then there's no point in keeping all those divine crystals anyway, so I may as well take this opportunity to build some connections with Hall Master Hu.""That's not going to be an easy task," Qian Sanjiang sighed.

The hall master's name was Hu Qiu, and he was the fifth hall master of the main church's treasury altar. He was renowned for being a stingy miser, and once money fell into his hands, it may as well have fallen into a black hole, never to be seen again.

"It's fine."

After giving in to his impulses, Yin Shengong had calmed down, and he was already beginning to consider how he was going to get back at Ren Zhongyuan.

"You better not give me any chances, Ren Zhongyuan! If I get my hands on you, I'll tear you to shreds!" he spat through gritted teeth.

Night Demon, you've talked the talk, you better back up your big mouth and walk the walk now! All my hopes rest on your shoulders!

***

Elsewhere, Ren Zhongyuan was resting in Bei Mingxin's residence under the guise of visiting the latter.

The deputy popes had no right to attend the gathering of popes outside, and Ren Zhongyuan had already snuck quite a few glances toward the plaza with a look of longing in his eyes.

When the next Parasite Ascension Project comes around, I'll be the one standing among the popes in Yin Shengong's place!

Bei Mingxin was resting on a reclining chair with his eyes closed, but he could see everything that Ren Zhongyuan was doing.

***

"Don't worry, Zhongyuan," he said in a calm voice. "All of the arrangements have already been made, all you have to do is sit tight and wait now. All 256 Generals have already been inexorably linked to you, and it's a perfect piece of evidence pointing to how oblivious and incompetent Yin Shengong is.

“A top-three finish is unlikely, but if you still can't secure a top-ten finish even after all of this planning and preparations, then the heavens are truly against you. Right now, your impatient and agitated behavior is completely unbefitting of a pope."

"I understand, Uncle-master. It's just that the 256 Generals had already been selected, so where had Yin Shengong found an additional General to put into the roster at the last second? Something just doesn't feel right to me, like the situation isn't completely in our control."

"Your concerns are understandable, but unnecessary," Bei Mingxin said. "We've already been informed that the General Yin Shengong put on the roster at the last minute is the one that was provoking everyone outside, and he's only a fifth-rank General, so what do you have to be worried about? Surely you're not worried that a mere fifth-rank General will eliminate all of your Generals, the vast majority of which are at the eighth and ninth ranks."

"That's surely not possible," Ren Zhongyuan said with a bashful smile.

"In that case, why are you still so agitated? Sit down and have some tea. I'm getting dizzy watching you pace and forth like this."

***

In the Parasite Ascension Domain, Fang Che continued his killing spree, dragging along his six utterly exhausted companions.

"Let's... take a rest..." Ling Kong gasped between ragged breaths, feeling as if he were about to pass out from exertion, and his five companions were all in a similar state of exhaustion.

They were sweating so heavily that they looked as if they had just jumped into a river.

"Brother Night Demon... How're you still so full of energy... Holy shit... I'm about to collapse..." Lu Yuan panted.

Xiao Jue's heart was pounding so violently in his chest that he felt as if it were about to leap out of his throat, and he panted, "I can't move another step... Even if I had a sword resting on my neck!"

He fell back onto the ground in a spread-eagled fashion as he groaned, "Just leave me behind and let me die... I can't take another step!"

Everyone else instantly fell to the ground as well, emulating his spread-eagled pose.

"Get up! The birds up ahead are really spooked, so there must be something happening over there! We'll miss our chance if all of you keep lazing around like this!" Fang Che urged. "Think about all of the spoils that we've reaped from all of the people that we've killed over the past few days! The six of you are so rich now that you could found a nation, and I haven't even asked for a single thing!"

"Of course you haven't asked for anything! You don't have a spatial ring, where would you even put the spoils?" Ling Kong snapped. "Don't come complaining to us! You're a fucking animal! I've never seen anyone with this much energy!"

"I'm not complaining, I just want the six of you to accumulate more wealth. Let's go, surely you've had enough rest," Fang Che urged.

"Piss off! All I want to do is sleep right now," Ling Kong snapped in a feeble voice as he looked up at the sky with a pair of lifeless eyes.

All of a sudden, a thought occurred to Fang Che, and he abruptly yelled, "Shoot, it's Yan Beihan! I'm getting out of here! Look after yourselves!"

Ling Kong and the others immediately clambered to their feet and fled the scene, having been reinvigorated by their survival instincts.

Fang Che hurriedly set off in pursuit as he chortled, "I knew all of you had more to give! That wasn't so hard, was it?"

***

"We can't touch those people," Ling Kong said in a grim manner as he observed the battle taking place up ahead.

There were several Generals dressed in One Heart Church attire up ahead, and Fang Che was looking at them with more than a hint of killing intent in his eyes as he asked, "Why not?"

"You see those people behind them? Those guys are from the enforcement altar, so they've clearly already been recruited by the enforcement altar. On top of that, they're from the One Heart Church as well, so surely you're not going after them."

"I can spare everyone else here, but those One Heart Church Generals must die!" Fang Che spat through gritted teeth.

Ling Kong fell silent upon hearing this.

Fang Che's had made his intentions abundantly clear: he was trying to eliminate his competition.

"In that case, you'll have to go after them on your own. Given your combat prowess, you should be able to handle them just fine."

"Leave it to me!" Fang Che replied in a confident manner, then sprang onto the scene in a wraith-like manner.

The Generals from the enforcement altar were observing the battle when they spotted Fang Che, and they were ecstatic to see his One Heart Church attire.

"Are you from the One Heart Church?"

"Yes."

"Get over here! Hold on a second, aren't you the one who was provoking everyone outside? I can't believe you're still alive!"

"The fact that he's still not dead after so long with everyone on his tail means that he must have some tricks up his sleeve. Why don't we recruit him as well?"

Fang Che took a glance at the One Heart Church Generals to discover that they were battling a group of Moon Demon Church Generals, and the former had already gained a significant upper hand.

He feigned an expression of relief, then turned to the enforcement altar Generals in a wary manner as he asked, "Who are you?"

"We're from the main church, you idiot!" one of the enforcement altar Generals scoffed. "Quick, get over here!"

A skeptical look lingered on Fang Che's face, but he approached the group as instructed, nevertheless.

"The battle here's just about to wrap up. If you want to help your One Heart Church brothers, then..."

All of a sudden, Fang Che drew his sword, and the six enforcement altar Generals felt an almighty wave of baleful qi sweeping directly toward them, plunging them into the coldest depths of hell.

Never had they imagined that a One Heart Church General would dare to attack them, so they were caught completely off guard.

With six swift, consecutive sword strikes, Fang Che sent the six enforcement altar Generals toppling to the ground with their hands clasped over their throats and their eyes wide with incredulity.