Yan Nan was in a splendid mood as he departed from the main hall.
Throughout all these years, he could count on one hand the number of tis that he had seen through Dongfang Sansan's plots, and every single one of those occasions was a cherished moral victory.
Dongfang Sansan, you've always been the one dictating terms to , but this ti, I have the initiative!
Following Yan Nan's departure, everyone returned to their seats, and the banquet resud.
As Chen Yin returned to his seat, he set his cup down so firmly that it shattered into pieces with a loud crack.
His frustration had finally boiled over.
Feng Yun had stolen the spotlight once again.
He had been the first to speak on everyone's behalf, and upon Yan Nan's departure, he once again represented everyone in proposing a parting toast.
His had beco more unshakeable than ever in his position as the figurehead of the younger generation, and in contrast, Chen Yun's performance had been lackluster at best.
This showed everyone the gap between Chen Yun and Feng Yun, and the latter was left to drink by himself in a frustrated silence.
Chen Xue made her way over to his side, then said in a quiet voice, "Chen Yin is not to bla. Feng Yun was intentionally trying to drive a wedge between us."
Chen Yun nodded in silence. He was well aware of this, but he was still unable to suppress the resentnt that he felt for his younger brother.
A little brat like you should learn his place! Who do you think you are? If you hadn't instigated everything at the beginning, I wouldn't have been embarrassed like this!
***
anwhile, Yan Nan had already returned to the rear hall, only to discover, much to his dissatisfaction, that the other five deputy popes were drinking and playing Go.
I had to do all the work, while the five of you are here enjoying yourselves!
He cleared his throat to announce his presence, but the other five deputy popes didn't even bother to spare him a glance.
"How did it go, Brother Yan?"
"I think I've figured it out," Yan Nan harrumphed. "Do any of you know of Night Demon?"
"Yes, I do!" Bi Changhong imdiately replied.
"What do you think of him?"
"I have quite a strong impression of him," Bi Changhong replied. "He's from the One Heart Church, and I saw him during the Parasite Ascension Project..."
With that, Bi Changhong gave everyone a recount of Night Demon's feats, detailing his performance both during and after the project before concluding, "Overall, I was quite impressed with him. Not only did he display a historic level of dominance in the Parasite Ascension Project, he has very clear targets and ambitions, and he's also loyal to a fault to his master.
“Co to think of it, you're in touch with Yin Shengong, are you not, Brother Bai? Night Demon is his direct disciple."
"I was not aware of Night Demon's existence before this," Bai Jing mused.
"I'm sure Brother Xiang must be very fond of this kid," Yu Hanyan chuckled, and Xiang Beidou almost flew into a rage at this barbed remark.
Night Demon was the one who had ruined the plans that he had hatched in collusion with Bei Mingxin and Ren Zhongyuan.
In the beginning, Xiang Beidou didn't actually know anything about this, and he was only approached by Bei Mingxin over this matter once Ren Zhongyuan had completed all of the preparations to overthrow Yin Shengong.
After the plan's failure, Xiang Beidou was t with retaliation from both Yu Hanyan and Bai Jing, and even Bi Changhong had begun picking on him because he was of the opinion that Xiang Beidou had intentionally screwed him over and embarrassed him in front of everyone at the Parasite Ascension Project.
Hence, Xiang Beidou had been facing imnse pressure from all sides of late, and it was all Night Demon's fault.
"Would you believe if I told you that I truly had no such intentions, Brother Yu?" Xiang Beidou asked with a resigned sigh.
"Even if you didn't, your subordinates certainly did!" Yu Hanyan countered. "It's still your fault for not keeping your subordinates in check, so don't try to plead your innocence with !"
"That's enough!" Bi Changhong snapped with a displeased expression.
Out of the six deputy popes present, five were already aware of Night Demon's existence.
Yan Nan was being constantly nagged by his granddaughter for a piece of divine tal that she had promised to Night Demon.
Bi Changhong had seen Night Demon in person and was very impressed with the latter.
Bai Jing was Yin Shengong's most powerful backer in the main church, so by extension, Night Demon was a junior of his.
Yu Hanyan was also quite fond of Night Demon for ruining Bei Mingxin's plans.
As for Xiang Beidou, he wanted nothing more than for Night Demon to drop dead!
"I feel like I've heard the na sowhere before," Chen Gu said.
"Chen Yin just sent Night Demon a batch of cultivation resources a few days ago to try and win him over," Yan Nan said.
"Ah, that must be it then," Chen Gu mused.
Yan Nan was feeling quite intrigued. Since when had such a mysterious character erged from the younger generation?
Securing the top spot in the Parasite Ascension Project wasn't all that impressive a feat, but it was very remarkable that he had caught the attention of both Yan Beihan and Chen Yin.
Even though Yan Beihan appeared rather careless on the surface, Yan Nan knew better than anyone what her personality was like, and the fact that she had taken such a strong liking to Night Demon indicated that there was definitely sothing special about the latter.
"What do you think of Night Demon as a future prospect?"
The question had been posed by Yan Nan to Bi Changhong.
"I think he has a bright future ahead. He's not lacking in aptitude, combat prowess, or bloodlust, and from what I heard, he was nurtured by Yin Shengong from a young age, so Yin Shengong has his absolute loyalty and devotion.
“However, he's also a little reckless and doesn't really seem to consider the consequences of his actions. He's also quite green and inexperienced and doesn't have much of an eye for the bigger picture, but that's only to be expected."
"None of these are major flaws," Chen Gu said. "All of those things will co with ti, and as a mber of a subsidiary church, it would be strange if he didn't have these shortcomings."
"It sounds like he's a fine prospect then," Yan Nan remarked.
"Indeed, but he's been making a lot of waves of late, and it's yet to be seen whether he'll even survive for much longer," Bi Changhong chuckled.
"What do you an?" Yan Nan asked.
"During the Parasite Ascension Project, he was killing everyone, even people from the main church. Many of the main church's clans had victims that died at his hands, and even though seeking retribution for events that transpired during the Parasite Ascension Project is forbidden, many people still went after him in secret. Right now, he doesn't even dare to show his face for fear of being killed, so he's beco a mystery to everyone."
"No wonder even Dongfang Sansan is interested in him," Chen Gu mused. "If I were him, I would also make Night Demon my primary target. It's extraordinary that he was able to put on such a dominant performance during the Parasite Ascension Project as a re subsidiary church mber, and if the right opportunities co his way, it's really difficult to say what future heights he could reach. It makes sense for Dongfang Sansan to want to nip him in the bud while he's still young."
"I recall that Duan Xiyang also ca up from the bottom like Night Demon is doing now," Bi Changhong remarked. "However, Duan Xiyang was always a known quantity, whereas Night Demon could be anyone right now. For all we know, he could even have infiltrated the Guardians!"
All of the deputy popes' eyes instantly lit up at this notion, and it had beco clear to them that Dongfang Sansan's objective for proposing these friendly matches was to uncover Night Demon's identity.
Once he figured out who Night Demon was, Night Demon would be as good as dead.
"In that case, I think we should accept the challenge, but simply not send Night Demon as one of our representatives," Yan Nan proposed.
The other five popes imdiately nodded in agreent. By withholding Night Demon, they would be the ones to benefit from these friendly matches.
Outside of Night Demon, all of the other prominent prodigies of the Church of the Self-Righteous were already known to the Guardians, while many of the young prodigies among the Guardians were still a secret to the main church.
Hence, they could take advantage of Dongfang Sansan's plan for their own benefit, and Yan Nan was ecstatic at the idea.
Never had he imagined that he would be able to get one over Dongfang Sansan soday!
In the end, it was decided that they would agree to Dongfang Sansan's proposal.
With the decision made, the six deputy popes moved onto other topics of discussion.
"I've had a look at the reports, and it seems like the One Heart Church has excelled in the mission of establishing branch helms," Yan Nan said. "The assessnt teams have already been sent out, and if the One Heart Church has indeed established the best branch helm out of everyone, then I'll get Yin Shengong to co and personally see at the headquarters for a reward."
"Isn't that overkill, Brother Yan?" Xiang Beidou opposed. "I don't think it's worth going to such great lengths for a re Night Demon. Right now, he's only a Warlord at the very most, and his ceiling is going to be limited by the lack of resources in the subsidiary churches. Is it really worth doing all of this just for a Warlord?"
"That's not the point!" Yan Nan harrumphed. "Sure, in our eyes, even a Sage King isn't anything special, let alone a Warlord. However, the fact that Night Demon has drawn even Dongfang Sansan's attention ans that we also need to keep an eye on him."
"Brother Yan is right," Bi Changhong agreed with a smile. "Just a few days ago, I heard that Night Demon killed so Protectionists in the southeast, and Dongfang Sansan imdiately personally issued orders for everyone in the southeast to be mobilized and hunt down Night Demon."
"That's nothing but a ruse," Xiang Beidou scoffed. "He's just using this as an excuse to kill more of the people that we sent down to the southeast."
"Even so, the exact order that he issued was to have Night Demon killed, which ans that he at least knows of Night Demon, and I think that's sufficient reason for us to pay more attention to Night Demon as well," Bai Jing said.
The six deputy popes were grinning from ear to ear with satisfaction, clearly very pleased to have finally trumped their bitter rival for once.
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