Chapter 138 (2): Duan Xiyang!

"If this was truly a test, then I don't think I will encounter any more ambushes over the rest of my return journey."

"Even so, I can't leave you now. We're already close to reaching the southeast. If I turn back now, only for you to be killed, then all of my prior efforts would go to waste."

"In that case, I'll have to trouble you for a while longer, Senior Hong. Should we pick up the pace from here?"

"Sure."

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Just as Yin Shengong anticipated, no further attempts were made on his life on the rest of the way back.

"The One Heart Church headquarters is just up ahead, so there's no need to accompany me any further, Senior Hong," Yin Shengong said as he extended a deep bow of gratitude. "Thank you for escorting me all this way. If it wasn't for you, I would already be long dead by now. I hope to be able to somehow repay you someday."

"I'm not the only one," Aunt Hong said with a faint smile before casually waving in a certain direction, and two figures appeared out of thin air in that direction before vanishing once again.

Yin Shengong was very much taken aback, having completely failed to detect their presence this entire time, and he hurriedly extended his gratitude to those two as well.

With a final parting smile, Aunt Hong vanished into thin air, and Yin Shengong felt as if the entire journey back to the One Heart Church had been like a dream.

After extending a deep bow, he raced into the mountains toward the One Heart Church headquarters.

Shortly following his departure, Aunt Hong reappeared, having finally completed her escort assignment.

"Have the bodies of those two Faceless Reapers been packed up?"

"Yes, Aunt Hong."

"Let's head back to the main church. Make sure the bodies don't thaw on the way back. It looks like the Faceless Assassins Guild needs to be taught a good lesson!"

***

During the course of Yin Shengong's return journey, a wave of excitement had been steadily building across the entire continent.

As far as the general public was aware, the Church of the Self-Righteous was the one that had proposed the friendly matches with the intention of crushing the morale of the Guardians.

In contrast, those allied with the Church of the Self-Righteous knew the truth, which was that Dongfang Sansan had proposed these friendly matches.

Regardless of which side was the instigator, what was certain was that the top young prodigies of the entire continent were about to battle it out in a contest for the ages.

The Cloud Weapon Archive had already been around for a very long time, and it had inevitably begun to wane in popularity and relevancy over time, so there were many people clamoring to start a new list called the Cloud Prodigies Archive.

This suggestion immediately resonated with everyone, and it quickly began to gain traction and support.

However, the Church of the Self-Righteous refused to play along, stating that such a list would be redundant.

According to them, there was no need to make a list for the young prodigies of the continent when they could simply aim for the Cloud Weapon Archive in the future.

Of course, the real reason behind their opposition to this proposal was their traumatic history with all of the lists that Dongfang Sansan had released in the past.

Just the thought of a new list for the prodigies of the younger generation was enough to have the deputy popes shaking in their boots.

They were only able to eradicate the lists after starting an all-out war against the Guardians, and they certainly weren't going to make the same mistake again.

The general public didn't have such a long memory, so they didn't know the true reason behind the refusal from the Church of the Self-Righteous, but the warriors at the top who had been around during that past era knew exactly what the Church of the Self-Righteous was afraid of.

Thus, they began educating the masses on how Dongfang Sansan had used the lists of the past to keep the Church of the Self-Righteous wrapped around his finger, revealing to everyone that the Church of the Self-Righteous was opposing this proposal because they were afraid.

This rhetoric quickly began to make the rounds, and everyone began looking into chapter of history.

Sure enough, the historic records corroborated the story, and this provided a huge morale boost for all allies and supporters of the Guardians.

As a result, there was even more anticipation for the upcoming friendly matches, and everyone had marked down the date on their calendars.

In contrast, the morale of the Church of the Self-Righteous took a massive hit after the story surrounding the lists of the distant past were made known to the general public.

Desperate to claw back some semblance of dignity, some people began trying to come up with justifications for the ineptitude of the Church of the Self-Righteous.

"Y'all don't know shit! Do you know how powerful our church was back then? In terms of overall power, we had a crushing advantage over the Guardians!"

"Oh yeah? Then why didn't we conquer the continent back then?"

"It's all because of the chief strategist of the Guardians! His wisdom and foresight are unmatched, and he's constantly able to come up with all types of ploys and strategies to keep us at bay! Ask around if you don't believe me! His name is Dongfang Sansan, and he's like the god of the Guardians! Honestly, given Chief Strategist Dongfang's peerless intelligence, it's already very impressive that our deputy popes have been able to deal with him for so long!

"It's not that the Guardians are more powerful than us. On the contrary, we've always been superior in terms of overall power, but Dongfang Sansan is the true difference maker here."

However, these justifications didn't do much to raise the morale of the Church of the Self-Righteous. Instead, they only served to further enhance Dongfang Sansan's already legendary status.

Overnight, Dongfang Sansan gained countless new fans in the Church of the Self-Righteous, and by the time the higher-ups of the church discovered this phenomenon, it was already too late for them to do anything about it.

In response, Yan Nan made a candid public statement, conceding, "I admit that I am an inferior strategist to Dongfang Sansan, and that's why I'm so cautious in everything that I do. The enemy is superior in intelligence, but we are superior in power. At the moment, it's impossible to say which side is superior on an overall basis, so all of you must work hard to tip the scales in our favor.

"I am in opposition to the idea of starting a new list for the top young prodigies of the continent as I fear a repeat of our past mistakes. Our young prodigies must be protected, and if I must compromise my own reputation to do so, then so be it."

Never had anyone imagined that someone of Yan Nan's status and influence would deliver such a candid statement.

The entirety of the Church of the Self-Righteous was united in praise of Yan Nan's honesty and eye for the bigger picture, and according to the latest news, even Dongfang Sansan had expressed his admiration for Yan Nan following this public statement.

This immediately provided a huge morale boost for the Church of the Self-Righteous. Even Chief Strategist Dongfang admires Deputy Pope Yan!

In contrast, the Guardians were furious!

"Those shameless bastards! When did Master Nine ever say anything like that? Who the hell does Yan Nan think he is to be worthy of Master Nine's admiration?"

"The Church of the Self-Righteous is lying to protect its reputation! And they're lying at Master Nine's expense!"

"We have to debunk them! We can't let them use Master Nine like this!"

Even Bing Qianshan was unable to contain his fury as he rushed into Dongfang Sansan's office and yelled, "Have you heard what Yan Nan has been saying about you? That shameless scoundrel! If he wants to talk shit so much, then I ought to take a shit in his mouth!"

Dongfang Sansan was in the middle of a meal, and he instantly spat out the food in his mouth with a dark expression.

"Get out!"

***

An esteemed guest had come to visit the White Cloud Prefecture Hall of Protectionists.

It was Dong Changfeng, and his arrival was met with much fanfare and excitement.

He had come to express his gratitude. Having lived in seclusion in the White Cloud Prefecture for so many years, he had seen the valiant contributions made by the Protectionists to ensure the safety of the people.

Furthermore, he also had a request to make.

During his battle against Bei Mingxin, thousands of innocent civilians had perished as collateral damage, and that was something that he had always felt very guilty about.

Thus, he had come here with a billion taels of silver worth of resources for the White Cloud Prefecture Hall of Protectionists to distribute to the families of the deceased as compensation.

Song Yidao was more than happy to carry out this request, and he invited Dong Changfeng to stay for a meal, but was turned down. Thus, he led Dong Changfeng on a tour of the White Cloud Prefecture Hall of Protectionists before the latter departed.

On the cusp of his departure, Fang Che heard a very faint voice in his ear, no louder than the buzzing of a mosquito.

"Come to the northern area of the city tonight at midnight."

Fang Che's expression remained unchanged as he assigned duties to all of the administrators for the upcoming period.

This was his final day of work before he went on break to focus wholeheartedly on preparing for the selection trials.

As he was about to leave, Zhao Ying'er called out to him a few times, but he merely gave her a parting wave before departing, leaving Zhao Ying'er to stare after him with a sullen expression.

It felt to her like Fang Che had changed drastically compared with before she went on injury leave, to the point that he felt like a completely different person.

Jing Xiuyun heaved a faint sigh at the sight of Zhao Ying'er's dazed and pitiable display.

Ever since the untimely deaths of Zuo Guanglie and his band of brothers, Fang Che had become even colder and more unapproachable.