Chapter 178: Impeccable Plan

Everyone faltered slightly upon hearing this, following which looks of realization abruptly appeared on their faces.

"Master Nine is right! Who knows who killed who in there? It's impossible for those high-ranking church members to find out exactly who killed their children, but Night Demon is a very safe bet! The second-highest kill count was only around two thousand, yet his is in excess of thirty thousand!

“On top of that, barely anyone from the main church perished during the past editions of the Parasite Ascension Project, yet they were killed in swathes in this edition, so the culprit has to be him!"

"That's right," Dongfang Sansan confirmed with a nod. "The main church has always had a rule prohibiting retaliatory measures after past editions of the Parasite Ascension Project. Most of the deceased Generals were from the subsidiary churches, so they had no problems enforcing this rule, but it's their own children who've died on this occasion. Do you think they'll continue to enforce and abide by this rule?

“The prominent clans of the main church don't allow branch lineal descendants to take part in the Parasite Ascension Project, so all those who are sent in there are direct lineal descendants. I'm sure I don't need to explain the implications there, considering many of you are also from prominent clans. All we need to do is channel the resentment of those mourning senior figures and use that to our advantage to eradicate Night Demon!

“Even though Night Demon has shown his potential to the main church, he's still just a General, so the higher-ups of the main church won't go out of their way to protect him. If he dies at a time like this, who will be able to find out who killed him? There are so many clans that want him dead, there are simply too many potential culprits!

“He has made himself a public enemy of the main church, and he will fall on his own sword! He has already sealed his own fate! Hence, not only can we not kill Night Demon, we have to protect him to a certain extent."

"Why is that?"

Everyone was perplexed once again.

"There are so many powerful figures in the main church after his head, it would be a massive waste if he were to be killed by the first person that goes after him. If we can ascertain Night Demon's whereabouts, we can use him as bait to take out all of the people sent to kill him! Who killed those people? Night Demon, of course!

“They came here to kill Night Demon, but were killed themselves, so the culprit can be none other than Night Demon! Even if he tries to tell people that the Guardians are protecting him, no one would believe him! This is how we can take maximal advantage of the situation! I'm sure all of you could've also figured this out if you just learned to think!"

Dongfang Sansan's voice trailed off into a weary sigh here.

After a brief pause, he continued, "Once Night Demon has outlived his usefulness, and we can no longer use him as bait to lure in more victims, we'll unveil the evidence that we've been protecting Night Demon this entire time and declare that Night Demon has been on our side all along! At that point, so many people from the main church will have died because of him, and no one would be willing to defend him!

“With no one to support him, we could easily swoop in and eliminate him for minimal consequences. In fact, the main church would be glad to be rid of him! Please think, everyone! Why kill someone at such a heavy cost to ourselves when we could leave him alive and reap immense benefits? You have to be able to see the bigger picture and many steps ahead, not just react to whatever's in front of you!"

Everyone was enlightened by Dongfang Sansan's immaculate plan.

"As expected of Master Nine!"

"Brilliant, as usual!"

Dongfang Sansan smiled as he asked, "Surely I don't have to teach you how to instigate and encourage Night Demon's enemies to hunt him down, right?"

Sheepish looks appeared on everyone's faces upon hearing this.

"Of course, Master Nine, you already have more than enough on your plate. If we're incapable of even carrying out such a basic task, then we may as well put an end to our own lives right now!"

"Alright, in that case, meeting adjourned," Dongfang Sansan declared with a smile.

Everyone immediately stood up with looks of admiration in their eyes to escort him out of the room, and only after that did they begin devising a plan.

"As expected of Master Nine!"

"There's no one that I admire more than Master Nine!"

"It's like he's a god! Like he sees the world differently from all of us!"

"Let's discuss how we can take maximum advantage of the Night Demon situation. We have to strike while the iron is hot!"

"......"

Meanwhile, Dongfang Sansan had already returned to his study, and only then did he allow himself a faint sigh of relief.

A wry smile appeared on his face as he murmured to himself, "It's going to be hard to protect him if he keeps kicking up such a big fuss wherever he goes!"

A contemplative look then appeared on his face as he fell into deep thought.

How is Deputy Pope Yan going to react to this situation? I heard that his granddaughter was the one who led all of the Generals of the main church in the Parasite Ascension Project, surely there's no way he can disregard the wrath of all of those powerful clans! I've set up everything for you, Yan Nan. What choice do you have but to play right into my hands? You have to act according to my plan if you want to appease all those grieving clans.

Now that I think about it, maybe it's still not enough. Maybe I still need to do more. If I'm going to make a move, then I have to ensure that Yan Nan dances to my tune! What if he's not smart enough to see everything that I've laid out for him? If he doesn't fall into the trap, then all my efforts will have been for nought.

Dongfang Sansan couldn't help but feel concerned over the IQ of Deputy Pope Yan.

In the end, he decided, He may not have the brains to figure it out, so I have to give him an extra push.

A look of weariness appeared in Dongfang Sansan's eyes. He felt like a Go player that not only had to worry about his own moves, but also had to instruct his opponents on how to play.

I'll point out my trap to you. It's over here, but you have to come in!

Right at this moment, the sound of door-knocking rang out.

"Oh? This isn't like you, Master Bing," Dongfang Sansan jibed. "Don't you normally come barging in without bothering to knock? What do you think of the disciple I recommended to you?"

The door was opened, and Bing Qianshan made his way inside.

"Not bad at all. He does indeed possess an innate swordsman constitution. It's just a pity that he didn't build a very solid foundation from birth."

"He comes from an eighth-tier clan, so of course they didn't have the resources to build him an ideal foundation. That's why I gave him to you, so his talents won't go to waste."

"He's still young, so it's still not too late. I came here to ask you why you assigned him to me. There must be a reason."

Dongfang Sansan invited Bing Qianshan to sit down as he scoffed, "You make it sound like I'm trying to screw you over or something."

"Xue Fuxiao is the only one in this world that you won't screw over," Bing Qianshan sighed.

"Nonsense!" Dongfang Sansan chuckled. "Alright, let me tell you the truth. Ding Jieran is a prodigy that the Night Demon planted into White Cloud Warrior Academy."

"Fuck! I knew you were screwing me over!" Bing Qianshan yelled.

"Hold on now, let me explain," Dongfang Sansan hurriedly said as he pressed a hand down onto Bing Qianshan's shoulder. "Here's the gist of it..."

After hearing what Dongfang Sansan had to say, Bing Qianshan fell into deep thought as he mused, "I see."

"We can't just let a child with such tremendous potential go to waste, so I decided that we had to do something," Dongfang Sansasn said.

"But he has a Five Spirit Parasite in his body," Bing Qianshan sighed. "Even I'm powerless to do anything, so he's still going to die sooner or later."

"That's why I want you to stall for time as much as possible. In the next few years, I'll have a solution to the Five Spirit Parasite in his body."

"You have a way to remove Five Spirit Parasites?" Bing Qianshan exclaimed in astonishment.

"You'll find out when the time comes," Dongfang Sansan replied in a mysterious fashion.

"I see."

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

A hesitant look appeared on Bing Qianshan's face as he said, "There are two more things that I have to report. I did a thing, and I also discovered a bright talent."

"You did a thing? Oh lord, what have you done now?" Dongfang Sansan wailed. "That guilty look on your face alone tells me whatever you did had to have been terrible!"