Ze Tian Ji

Edited by: Michyrr

Beyond the stone pillars was the Divine Avenue leading into the heart of the Li Palace.

The teachers and students of the Li Palace Academy, the Temple Seminary, and the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green lined the avenue, bowing in respect.

Chen Changsheng did not spend time reminiscing on the stories that had taken place on this Divine Avenue. He continued forward.

He climbed the long flight of steps, walked past the Hall of Pure Virtue, and finally reached the quiet and secluded hall.

The night sky was cut into the mouth of a well by the roof, just like it had always been, but there was no more wooden ladle by the pool of water, as the Green Leaf was no longer there.

An Hua prostrated in respect, her white robes blown about in the chilly night winds, as agitated as her heart.

Chen Changsheng nodded in greeting and had her rise.

An Hua walked behind him and helped him put on the Divine Robe, then spent a great deal of time making sure everything was perfect.

Chen Changsheng gazed up at that narrow window into the sky, looked up at the countless stars in the bottom of the well, and he recalled his comprehensions when he looked at the sea of stars in White Emperor City.

After some time, he looked away and said, "Let’s go."

Accompanied by the soft gurgling of water that could purify one’s heart, he walked to the deepest part of the secluded hall, to the stone wall.

The stone wall slowly parted and blazing light spilled out, along with the endless splashing of waves.

This splashing of waves was the sound of clothes chafing as one kneeled, of the excited crowd, of solemn praises to the divine.

"Paying respects to His Holiness the Pope."

Countless priests kneeled on the ground, appearing just like a tide.

Divine Crown on head and Divine Staff in hand, Chen Changsheng serenely regarded the sight before him.

Starting from that small village at the foot of Mount Han, this sort of sight had begun to appear more and more.

As it was commonly described: like a tide.

None of this was fresh to him anymore.

He had gotten used to seeing the sea of people.

And this was not his first time standing here.

He stood on the platform within the Great Hall of Light.

This place was certainly not the highest place in the Li Palace, but it was certainly the highest and most unreachable position in the continent.

This place was only ten-some stone steps from the ground, but they might as well have been countless li, and the place he stood the Divine Kingdom in the sea of stars.

As the pious praises of the divine and recitation of scripture continued, a dignified and divine atmosphere enveloped all of the Great Hall of Light.

Warm Sacred Light illuminated everything within the hall in startling detail. Even the finest sliver of darkness could not exist here.

A massive stone hall existed within the Great Hall of Light.

The images of past sages, heroes, knights, and Saints were carved on this wall. Every detail was revealed under the Sacred Light, making them seem to come to life.

The sages, heroes, knights, and Saints of the past looked down over the people of the world.

Their gazes were not ones of indifference, but contained many real emotions.

Chen Changsheng stood in front of the stone, stood within the Sacred Light.

He bore those gazes.

He gazed at the people of the world.

This sight was incomparably divine.

......

......

Chen Changsheng raised the Divine Staff.

The recitation gradually ceased and the priests slowly began to rise, again like a tide.

The Great Hall of Light suddenly turned quiet. It was even possible for everyone in the hall to hear the wisps of winds that had somehow managed to make it past the array brush against the walls.

Perhaps it was because when the Divine Staff dropped back down, the sea of people in the hall divided into two.

Linghai Zhiwang, Archbishop An Lin, Daoist Siyuan, and Hu Thirty-Two, the four Prefects of the Orthodoxy, stood on the right.

Several hundred Li Palace bishops and the bishops who had hurried back from the various Daoist churches stood behind them.

Far fewer bishops stood on the other side, and there was not a single Sacred Hall archbishop, but there were many cardinals.

The one common trait shared by these bishops was that they all had rather elderly faces.

No matter where one was, this elderly appearance signified years and seniority, and was in itself a sort of power.

The bishops of the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education were amongst this crowd. More importantly, so was everyone from the Heavenly Dao Academy, the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green, and the Temple Seminary.

Only the Li Palace Academy, over which Linghai Zhiwang wielded massive influence, stood on the right. Its principal and Su Moyu stood in the crowd, intentionally maintaining a low profile.

Zhuang Zhihuan and the three bishops heading the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education stood at the front of their crowd, making no attempts to hide their thoughts.

Chen Changsheng glanced at Zhuang Zhihuan, then he looked at a certain place outside the hall.

The Sacred Light enveloped the entire hall, and some of it fell outside as well.

A hole had been torn in the heavy darkness outside the hall, revealing a certain place.

Bishop Mei Chuan was there.

No matter how warm the Sacred Light was, it could never drive away the chill on his body.

Because he was dead.

......

......

Back then, when Chen Changsheng became Pope, he was almost immediately driven out of the capital by Shang Xingzhou.

He was the first exiled Pope.

Three years later, he returned to the Li Palace, and in the first Congregation of Light he presided over as Pope, he had to face an extremely thorny problem.

The priests of the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education, Zhuang Zhihuan, and those elderly cardinals were all looking at him.

Rage and sorrow could clearly be seen in the eyes of these bishops of the conservative faction.

Of course, they still maintained sufficient respect for Chen Changsheng, still kept their emotions under excellent restraint.

Or else Mei Chuan’s corpse would not have been outside the hall, but within the Great Hall of Light, displayed right in front of them.

Linghai Zhiwang impassively looked to that side, his eyes extremely cold and his complexion rather dark.

Since the moment he learned of what had happened in the Orthodox Academy, he had kept a close watch on the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education and these elderly priests.

He had not expected them to actually transport Mei Chuan’s corpse into the Li Palace and even display it outside the Great Hall of Light.

He took this as a naked challenge to himself. Of course, it was also a warning.

This meant that the Li Palace was not a monolithic whole.

The strength of the Orthodoxy’s conservative faction still could not be underestimated. Some people still might be supporting them from the shadows.

Linghai Zhiwang narrowed his eyes, his gaze moving back and forth between Hu Thirty-Two and Archbishop An Lin as he wondered, just which one of them is it?

Tonight was the Pope’s first Congregation of Light. For something like this to occur was a great disrespect that he could not accept.

But he knew that it was not convenient for him to do anything right now, and he certainly could not have somebody take Mei Chuan’s body away.

Too many people were watching, and a method of resolution that was too crude might cause some of the priests to lose control.

Of course, he was confident that by borrowing the Pope’s prestige and his own status, he could forcefully suppress the situation.

The problem was that the fissure would not disappear. On the contrary, it would only get deeper and deeper.

It was clear that this was not what the Pope wanted.

Linghai Zhiwang turned to Chen Changsheng, suddenly somewhat expectant.

Many bishops in the hall were seeing Chen Changsheng for the first time. They had no opinion on the struggle between the new and conservative. They were also curious, expectant.

How would the Pope resolve this matter?

Yes, it was the Holy Maiden that had killed Bishop Mei Chuan. Prince Chen Liu had played witness to the entire thing.

Everyone knew of the relationship between the Holy Maiden and the Pope. She helped His Holiness make a choice, so she naturally must have prepared a reason for His Holiness.

Logically speaking, Chen Changsheng would only need to speak this reason to resolve the entire matter.

But for some inexplicable reason, many of the priests, including Linghai Zhiwang, and even some of the conservative faction, did not want him to do this.

There was no reason or basis for this desire. Perhaps it was because the stories over the past years had long since proved that he would not do such a thing.