Chapter 667: Chapter 650 Xia Chichi Becos the Sect Hierarch
mbers of the Four Symbols Sect felt deeply ashad of their past low-level thinking.
“And to think I believed it was the Divine keeping the Venerable by force… Look at this Dharma Image of the Vermilion Bird spreading its wings, even from a great distance one can feel the might and power. The Vermilion Bird Venerable must have made significant progress in her cultivation, thus triggering a resonance with the stars.
This is not servitude; even the Maitreya Sect, which boasted endlessly of Dual Cultivation, wouldn’t dare claim they could help soone attain such improvent. This is not that sort of thing, it can only be a true Divine blessing that allowed the ever loyal and selfless Vermilion Bird Venerable to make such a leap in her cultivation.
This is a miracle among miracles, and who knows, it might even deplete the Divine significantly. How could one even begin to imagine such a distasteful scenario?”
The Sect mbers bowed their heads in prayer, deeply repenting their disrespectful suspicions toward the Divine and the Venerable.
They should be more faithful to their beliefs and strive to receive such blessings as well, to break through the thresholds that have held them back for so many years.
After exchanging expressionless looks with the Xuanwu Venerable for a while, Xia Chichi finally said, “The new doctrines and regulations have been announced. Everyone should go back and study them, act according to the new rules. As of today, we are the true National Religion, and we need to set an example, especially in terms of killing, we can no longer continue the old ways, lest we be seen as demonic. Adapt to the other rules gradually.”
The Sect mbers bowed their heads, “As the Sect Hierarch commands.”
The “demonic” nature of the Four Symbols Sect was not due to inherently malicious characters; its mbers were not bloodthirsty or evil. In this regard, they might not even compare to the Blood God Sect, the real extremists of violence. It was rely because of the original doctrines, which seed sowhat demonic in nature, with their very clear ssage of “This world belongs to Emperor Ye, and the Human Emperor must be our Azure Dragon; all others are impostors and can be completely disregarded”—hence the label “demonic.”
But tis change, and in the current context with a Divine visibly blessing the Vermilion Bird below, and the current Emperor genuinely being their Azure Dragon, there was no longer any ground for the Four Symbols Sect to be seen as a Demon Sect. This was the Divine Country they had dread of. Now, it was the local rebels who were the evil ones. Damn it, how dare you oppose our Azure Dragon Sovereign Emperor?
Xia Chichi said, “The greatest advantage of the Holy Sect lies in its grassroots influence, and it just so happens that the Imperial has an important matter that requires the response of the common people.”
“Please give your orders, Hierarch.”
“Previously, the Imperial recruitnt of officials was controlled by the Aristocratic Families, not only monopolizing the court, but their students and old officials spread like a spider’s web throughout the provinces, nurous like Zhai Muzhi. I intend to reform… The late Emperor had once implented the Martial Arts examination to reinforce the military and the Demon Suppression Departnt, an independent force outside the Aristocratic Families. But this is not enough, the late Emperor had no concept of statecraft and governance was still dominated by the Aristocratic Families. We need to expand from the Martial Arts examination to implent the Civil Service examination… It might be difficult for others to do this, but we are the Four Symbols Sect!”
We are the Four Symbols Sect.
When it cos to grassroots influence, the solid foundation of religious influence is very suitable for this endeavor, enough to counter the entrenched local power of the Aristocratic Families.
On the other hand, in terms of literacy and cultural levels, religious folk, due to deliberate cultivation, are far stronger than the purely Martial Arts Sects. Though not comparable to the level of the Aristocratic Families, they could barely support a sufficiently large-scale examination and official selection.
It doesn’t matter if the Aristocratic Families resist, as long as there is massive participation from the common people and all the officials selected are Four Symbols Sect mbers, can the Aristocratic Families still sit comfortably?
If this were an ordinary Imperial governnt, doing such a thing would worry about revolts and chaos in different regions. But what is there to fear now with the current governnt? Rebellion is already everywhere; the only areas under Imperial control are just around the capital, the Jianghuai region, and the Yann defense armies, and it’s uncertain whether even the Tang family in Jiangnan counts. It’s essentially a broken-down situation, akin to rebuilding heaven and earth from scratch. The only opponents left to contend with are the old forces like Lu Jianzhang, so if not now, when?
However, while Xia Chichi was seriously discussing state affairs, her mind was wandering.
Damn that deadbeat turtle, who knows when he ran off… Is that how you act as a Venerable? He didn’t make a single sound from beginning to end, sitting on the side like a mascot, almost reaching out for a handful of sunflower seeds to crack. And as soon as we talked about state affairs, he didn’t even stick around as a bystander but just took off.
One sneaking off to skulk, another entangled in romance with a man, leaving just doing the serious work for such a large Sect. Now Xia Chichi finally understood what it ant to boorang—it had hit her own head this ti. What was the Vermilion Bird Venerable’s mindset while maintaining the Sect…
Wait a second…
She supported to be the Hierarch, willing to be the assistant—could it be not out of selflessness, but rather a desire to ditch responsibility?
…
While Xia Chichi was putting effort into being the Hierarch, the Vermilion Bird Venerable lay limp on the altar table, her mask still on, eyes vacant, her Vestnt robe unfastened, hanging open on both sides. Her legs dangled weakly off the sides, twitching.
The scattered doctrines of the Blood God Sect lay on the ground, like snowflakes floating in the sky.
Vermilion Bird’s own mind was so dazed, she wondered if she should consider this the quintessential scene of an Evil Demon sacrifice ritual?
Even Zhao Changhe’s performance was markedly different from when he was with Huangfu Qing, clearly more excited.
Indeed, a single thought could determine whether one was aligned with gods or demons.
But the swell of power inside her was real and tangible. If it had been a breakthrough to the Third Layer Secret Treasure that she had subdued her Mindfla, and after such a long ti it had settled into a mid-stage form, then now she could definitely claim to be at the pinnacle of the Third Layer, standing at the threshold of the Imperial Realm.
If she wanted to Breakthrough, it was simple. Just truly reaching that place she had visited in her earlier conscious wandering and experiencing it once would suffice.
Saying this was achieved through Dual Cultivation wouldn’t be accurate. Dual Cultivation was just a key; what really got her to this point was the analysis of the Heavenly Book and shifting the universe in a mustard seed’s space. This wasn’t a technique of Zhao Changhe himself; rather, this underground Secret Realm was a Magical Treasure, and its effects made possible here what wouldn’t be elsewhere.
But Vermilion Bird was certain that even Xia Longyuan, who could descend divinely anywhere under the Heavenly Vault, could not take soone drifting with him. Otherwise, he would have just taken Xia Chichi on a drift to Tianya Island long ago, saving much trouble and reducing many uncertainties. This indicated that Xia Longyuan certainly couldn’t take soone with him, but Zhao Changhe had managed it.
“How did you do it?” Vermilion Bird asked weakly, sitting up and leaning into the man’s embrace as she whispered, “Your Cultivation has just broken through the Third Layer Secret Treasure; how did you manage to do sothing that only divine beings could do?”
Zhao Changhe lowered his head and kissed her. “I’ll tell you the truth, just don’t think I’m saying it just to please you.”
Vermilion Bird shook her head. “I won’t.”
Zhao Changhe said, “When I forged the Galaxy Sword, the stars that resonated with it truly did heed . My control over this piece of the Heavenly Vault exceeds even old Xia himself. Otherwise, what’s the point of forging the sword… In that sense, I really am Emperor Ye, and you don’t need to be conflicted over whether or not you’re a traitor.”
Vermilion Bird was stunned for a mont. “Why didn’t you say this earlier? Trying to challenge on purpose; you wanted to subdue , right?”
“How could you believe without any proof?” Zhao Changhe said. “Besides, I honestly don’t intend to use the na of any god to do anything… What’s between you and is just between you and . If you want to hit , you can still hit , and if you want to punish , you can still punish . Would it make any sense to call myself a god?”
When their emotionally charged monts were stripped to the essence—just about the two of them—without any so-called faith being involved, only for them to realize afterward that it indeed related to faith, that feeling undoubtedly filled Vermilion Bird with joy. She pouted slightly and whispered, “You always know the right things to say. Dare you say you never thought about having the Vermilion Bird Venerable kneel before you?”
Zhao Changhe leaned in to whisper a kiss. “What I want, you understand…”
Vermilion Bird retorted, “You want to mistreat again, don’t you? Why don’t you do that to Tang Wanju?”
It’s started…
Zhao Changhe could only laugh and cry, softly saying, “But what I like the most are Vermilion Bird’s lips… I don’t feel this strongly about anyone else…”
Vermilion Bird didn’t know whether to feel proud or ashad of his obsession, and now there was no need for her to put on the usual restraint of the Vermilion Bird before him; she was willing.
But at that mont, Vermilion Bird didn’t gratify his wishes. Underneath the mask, her phoenix eyes shifted as she suddenly said, “I don’t believe you. If it were soone else, you could probably be just as happy…”
With the sound of her voice, the seemingly powerless delicate hand suddenly lunged out: “Like her?”
An “Ouch!” was heard, as San Niang, who seed to have been snatched from nowhere, appeared.
She had secretly snuck in, ready to enjoy the spectacle of Vermilion Bird serving with her mouth, but caught off guard, she couldn’t withstand Vermilion Bird’s distant grasp. Swept up like riding on clouds, she fell onto the platform.
“Uh… what a coincidence, you’re here too…” San Niang carefully stepped back. “I was just passing by; you guys continue, continue…”
This ti even Zhao Changhe couldn’t hold back and pulled her back: “Did you enjoy setting up this morning with that out-of-context video edit? Xuanwu Venerable, what should be your punishnt?”
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