Chapter 1 Internal Strife

“Within the church, there’s actually a powerhouse who controls the Origin?”

Meng Xizhou’s eyes flashed with a strange brilliance.

In her understanding, the strongest transcendent in Xizhou these years should be High Inquisitor Jia Wei.

The Temple also had several retired elders in Sunset Mountain, all high-ranking church officials who had fought for Xizhou. They had contributed during the Northern Continent War and should also have title-level combat power… but they were too far from touching the Origin.

“There is one.”

The old man in the wooden house chuckled softly, “Not considered a member of the church, but… if he needs to act, he will.”

Meng Xizhou fell into deep thought.

Not a member of the church?

Although Meng Xizhou was still young, she knew that thirty years ago, Guang Ming City once spread its blessings widely, helping many talented transcendents free of charge. The Guang Ming Divine Seat was still in its late peak, often personally guiding those exceptionally talented young geniuses.

The most famous of these was Gu Changzhi.

Besides Gu Changzhi… there was actually another very famous figure who had studied in Guang Ming City.

“Rust Bone?”

Meng Xizhou tentatively spoke the name.

“…”

The old man in the wooden house did not respond directly. He softly comforted her, “In short, you don’t need to worry about this matter.”

“You came at the right time.”

The Guang Ming Divine Seat paused for a moment and slowly said, “I have a question.”

“A question? Asking me?”

Meng Xizhou was stunned.

“A grand, yet realistic question…”

A low voice came from the wooden house, “In my heart, you are the number one candidate to inherit the Fire Seed. But I’ve been thinking these past few days, if I really hand over the Temple to you, can you maintain absolute rationality?”

Meng Xizhou was a little puzzled.

Buzz!

The Guang Ming Bi Lei (Light Barrier) surrounding the wooden house suddenly trembled. A vast pillar of light burst from the ground beside Meng Xizhou, composed of nearly a hundred thousand strands of subtle light.

This time, Meng Xizhou saw it very clearly.

These pure lights seemed to be mixed together, but each strand was very independent.

To outsiders, it was a pillar of light.

But in her eyes, she could clearly distinguish the differences between each subtle ray of light within the pillar.

“Imagine… each strand of light here is a person.”

“Then you, holding the Guang Ming (Light) Fire Seed, holding the Temple, means holding the lives of these people.”

The Guang Ming Divine Seat’s voice became authoritative, “If one day, you need to sacrifice a small portion of people’s lives to save the majority, what would you do?”

Tens of thousands of strands of light flickered and intertwined.

Meng Xizhou looked at the pillar of light before her. She saw the changes in the “small portion” of light, a wisp of impurity filling it. If it wasn't removed quickly, the impurities would spread. These rays of light were no longer pure…

"Shira!"

Without hesitation, she brought two fingers together and slashed down at the pillar of light before her.

Because she was naturally close to the light, she could see every strand of light in the pillar clearly. So the position she chose to cut was extremely precise, and those strands of light tainted with impurities were instantly shattered.

A portion of the light pillar was cut off.

Black ash and the scent of char remained in the air.

“I understand your meaning.”

Meng Xizhou said calmly, “To me, this question is not a question… I have always believed that if you want to save the majority, you are destined to sacrifice the minority.”

“Heh…”

A satisfied laugh came from the wooden house.

…

…

By the time Meng Xizhou left Red Lake, it was already dark. Guang Ming City was now accustomed to welcoming the long night where the old day fell but the new sun did not rise.

The lake surface was a little chilly.

The small courtyard outside the Temple was crowded with "big figures."

Ba Tu had gathered the senior elders from the Elder Council, as well as the probationary elders transferred from various prefectural cities in Xizhou.

These people waited from dusk until sunset.

Although the waiting time wasn't long, impatience had already appeared in some people's eyes… On the night of Red Lake, Guang Ming City’s Grand Elder Gao Mao and High Inquisitor Jia Wei died. Meng Xizhou took control of the Temple. It seemed like everything was logical and justified, but several elders on the Elder Council were out on missions at the time. When they returned to Guang Ming City, they found that everything had changed.

This was difficult to accept.

But they had no choice but to accept it.

The only thing that could be considered fortunate was that the West Sea Crossing was still there.

Although the Guang Ming Divine Maiden had made sweeping reforms to the Temple, she had not touched the power boundary of the West Sea Crossing at the time.

But the good times didn’t last long…

The recent decree meant that this Divine Maiden was not satisfied with merely controlling the Temple.

Through Ba Tu's message, they had basically guessed that the Divine Maiden had summoned everyone here today for the sake of the "West Sea Crossing."

"Creak."

The door of the small courtyard was gently blown open by the wind.

The elders who had been waiting for a long time, as well as the Elder Council candidates, all looked up and stared in the direction the mansion door opened.

The lights in the darkness gathered and intertwined, making it extremely conspicuous.

"Everyone, sorry to keep you waiting."

Meng Xizhou walked into the small courtyard with her hands behind her back, her long skirt fluttering in the wind. She slowly stepped into the courtyard and surveyed the surroundings. In addition to Ba Tu and the eleven Temple Elder candidates, there were also five elders in the courtyard.

The current West Sea Crossing was also being divided and controlled by these five people.

“Divine Maiden, what is the purpose of summoning us here today?”

The one who spoke was Lu Suo, the fifth-ranked elder of the Temple.

In the small courtyard today, everyone was vaguely divided into two factions. One part was the Elder Council candidates whose list had not yet been finalized… Most of these people came from various prefectural cities at Meng Xizhou’s summons. They had only recently settled in Guang Ming City. Before the Red Lake Incident, they had already cooperated with the Meng family. In a sense, they were considered confidants cultivated by Meng Xizhou.

Guang Ming City was currently in dire need of manpower.

So Meng Xizhou transferred them here… The only regret was that these candidates were somewhat weak.

The other group was the official elders who had been living in the Temple for quite some time.

“Everyone should know what I want to do.”

Meng Xizhou smiled and came to the banyan tree in the small courtyard.

She had deliberately asked Ba Tu to choose this mansion… Gu Nanfeng had lived in this small courtyard when he crossed the West Sea back then.

She lifted her skirt and sat down, smiling, “Regarding the West Sea Crossing ban, who agrees and who opposes?”

The small courtyard was silent.

Everyone looked at each other.

Even the Elder Council candidates who had come at Meng Xizhou’s summons did not expect the Divine Maiden’s style to be so direct, decisive, and ruthless.

The storm of the West Sea Crossing ban had been churning beneath Guang Ming City for some time.

They thought that by summoning everyone today, the Divine Maiden would solve the problem in a gentle way.

But…

She just asked directly?

What was she doing? She was putting the issue on the table!

“I object.”

The Fifth Elder Lu Suo, who had greeted Meng Xizhou with a smile earlier, now had a smile that had disappeared. He looked at the young woman before him expressionlessly.

Lu Suo was a staunch supporter of Gao Mao.

At the same time, he was also the behind-the-scenes supporter who had thrown Meng Xizhou into the secret prison.

After the Red Lake Incident, Meng Xizhou had too many things to do. She did not immediately deal with those who had sided with Gao Mao… If she killed all these people, Guang Ming City would have no one to use. So she gave the Temple elders a period of buffer and reflection.

Today, the time had come.

“You object?”

Meng Xizhou stared at this Temple Fifth Elder.

“The meaning of the West Sea Crossing is to spread the faith of Guang Ming City to every corner of the world.”

Lu Suo asked, word by word, “Spreading the dogma is a clear law encouraged by the Guang Ming Divine Seat. Are you issuing a ban to go against the Divine Seat?”

“I just met the Divine Seat.”

Meng Xizhou said calmly, “He supports all my decisions.”

Lu Suo smiled, “If that’s the case, then let the Divine Seat issue an edict, and we will definitely cooperate unconditionally.”

Meng Xizhou lowered her eyes and smiled silently.

An edict…

Naturally, there would be none.

During that conversation on the other side of Red Lake, the Guang Ming Divine Seat’s meaning was already very clear. Regarding the chaos within the Temple, he unconditionally supported Meng Xizhou, but the specific details needed to be handled by Meng Xizhou herself. If she couldn’t handle even this small matter, then how could she be qualified to be the successor of the Guang Ming Fire Seed?

“There is no edict. From today onwards, every word I say represents the will of the Guang Ming Divine Seat.”

Meng Xizhou raised her head, her tone calm.

The small courtyard was so quiet that a pin could be heard dropping.

Lu Suo asked again with a smile, "On what basis?"

As soon as the words fell, Meng Xizhou extended two fingers and gently pointed at the man across the small courtyard.

The darkness was instantly torn apart by streamers of light, and countless fireflies rose from the ground. The thousands of branches and leaves of the banyan tree and the hundreds of millions of fragments of grass were all transformed into light at this moment.

And these lights were transformed into swords.

In an instant.

The entire small courtyard was swallowed by overwhelming blazing light, and the elders and candidates all exclaimed in shock.

In their understanding, Meng Xizhou was just a Divine Maiden who had obtained a divine scroll and then been trapped in a secret prison for six years.

To put it nicely, a Divine Maiden.

To put it bluntly… after being trapped in a secret prison for six years, even a genius would become useless.

But such a useless person, acting casually, was two Great Accomplishment Domains stacked together. This kind of terrifying lethality was simply not something a Fourth Order could unleash!

"Shira!"

The crisp sound of tearing paper rang out in the long night.

Facing this endless holy light, Lu Suo only had time to raise his arms to block it. He also summoned his title domain…

It was a pity.

The majestic holy light connected into a sword, directly shattering his domain, and then hundreds of light swords pierced through his body.

Finally, Meng Xizhou waved her sleeve.

This mighty radiance dissipated in the small courtyard.

Lu Suo maintained the posture of standing with his arms around him. His brow, seven orifices, and skin all began to ooze blood.

He stared blankly at the gentle woman shrouded in soft light, his eyes full of disbelief.

There was nothing turbulent in Meng Xizhou’s eyes.

It was as if killing an elder was just an insignificant matter, not worth her looking at, nor worth her pitying in the slightest.

A strong wind blew through the courtyard, and grass clippings floated up with the wind.

The figure standing stiffly in the wind fell heavily, and a pool of blood spread and flowed, eventually gathering at Meng Xizhou’s feet. She did not lower her head, and wisps of light condensed into a barrier, isolating the blood.

"Everyone, let's be frank. Some time ago, I asked you to stop the West Sea Crossing from sending undercover agents abroad. After a while, I will thoroughly investigate the shadow spies in Guang Ming City."

Meng Xizhou said calmly, "I want Guang Ming City to restore its former clarity and tranquility, and I also want every church citizen to live under the sun."

"Who agrees and who opposes?"