Chapter 1 What's Going On?

"What's going on? Why is that group still approaching the Central Sanctuary? Haven't you sent anyone to stop them?"

Elemental Calendar 307, July 5th, evening.

In the center of the Holy Flame Continent, the Holy Flame Tower's sacred light pierced the sky, illuminating the already darkening city.

On the streets of the Central Sanctuary, the clergy walked back and forth in a hurry. Some of them occasionally looked up towards the eastern part of the city, their faces filled with worry.

In the heart of the Sanctuary, in a rather simple office, a Divinely Blessed One with long purple hair sat at a table, looking displeased at the other two Divinely Blessed Ones in front of him. His tone was laced with sarcasm: "I didn't expect you to be so lazy."

The other two Divinely Blessed Ones sitting at the table were a hooded figure, who remained silent, occasionally sipping tea, and another with a crown of thorns and obvious Windfolk blood, who chuckled and retorted: "Don't tell me you weren't planning to intercept them either—Lumm, I saw your subordinates leading a team of priests out to stop them last time. Our people went out and never came back, so don't pretend to be innocent."

Exposed for his bluff, the purple-haired Divinely Blessed One named Lumm remained unfazed: "In that case, Gail, Matthew, do you know why they can't return to report? According to previous observations, the only one in that team of sinners who has the strength of a newly ascended Chosen is the priest leading them, and he's not young anymore, so his potential isn't high."

"If that's all the strength they have, our team can completely arrest them according to the covenant, which states that 'large-scale team activities are not allowed without the organization or permission of the Central Sanctuary'—but in fact, everyone who goes to carry out the arrest disappears as soon as they encounter that team."

The thorn-crowned Divinely Blessed One named Matthew shook his head slightly: "To be precise, they lost contact on the way, we couldn't reach them. I personally suspect that there is a Divinely Blessed One in that team… but which old friend is doing this? What exactly does he want to do? I can't guess."

As he said this, he was truly puzzled. This Divinely Blessed One found it a little hard to understand: "More than ten thousand sinners who have been judged guilty, holding high the banner of the Lord of Judgment, shouting slogans of justice, approaching the Central Sanctuary… are they trying to say they've been wronged?"

"Absurd! Our judgments have the approval of the Lord of Judgment, they can't possibly be wrong!"

"Wouldn't you agree, Gail?"

At this moment, they both turned to look at the hooded Divinely Blessed One named Gail, who was still drinking tea.

The purple-haired Divinely Blessed One named Lumm was the current Chief High Priest of the Central Sanctuary on the Holy Flame Continent, that is, the Chief High Priest of the Lord of Fire, while the thorn-crowned Divinely Blessed One named Matthew was the Chief High Priest of the God of Wind.

"Amon. The priest leading them."

And Gail, the hooded Divinely Blessed One, the Divinely Blessed One and Chief High Priest of the Lord of Judgment, spoke this name in a low voice. His voice was a little young, but his tone was weathered: "I know that child. Thirty years ago, I was the one who stamped his appointment as a wandering adjudicator."

"I don't know if those crimes were innocent, but Amon is indeed a devout follower of the Lord of Judgment. There are few people more devout than him, and he was sent to Twilight City a few days ago to investigate possible pirate spies."

Saying this, Gail put down his teacup. A pair of green eyes could be vaguely seen from the shadows of his hood. His tone was calm: "As far as I know, the Lord of Judgment descended upon Twilight City a few days ago. That was a fact proven by hundreds of thousands of people, and not long after that, something like this happened again…"

At this point, Gail didn't continue, but his meaning was already very clear.

Even Lumm, who didn't change his expression when he heard about the pirate spies, couldn't help but gasp slightly after hearing the word "divine decree." He and Matthew exchanged glances, and then said cautiously: "Are you saying that this is very likely a divine decree in action?"

The Chief High Priest of the Lord of Judgment did not speak, but silently drank tea, indicating his attitude. The simple conference room fell silent.

But silence had to end eventually. Soon, as Lumm made up his mind, he, as the administrative Chief High Priest, said solemnly: "In any case, we must not allow this group of sinners to approach the Central Sanctuary at will—there are corresponding tribunals in various places. If they really feel wronged, they can go there, why do they have to come to the Sanctuary?"

"This time, I will lead the team myself."

No sooner said than done. Once Lumm started acting, he was quick and decisive. Matthew and Gail also rose and left the conference room.

As Divinely Blessed Ones, and those who could become the Chief High Priests of the Three Gods, how could they not have their own teams? Soon, under Lumm's summons, twelve priests of the Chosen rank formed a small team. Although they couldn't equip weapons, they were fully prepared with covenants and armor.

However, before Lumm, Matthew, and Gail could lead their teams to set off, they heard the announcement coming from the Sanctuary wall not far away.

"That team is here!"

A clergyman walking on the city wall noticed this scene and exclaimed: "So fast! They've already reached the middle of Dawn Plain… that's not a speed an ordinary team could have!"

Hearing this, Lumm immediately climbed the city wall. He frowned, stood at the top, and looked into the distance.

Then, he saw that the sky in the eastern part of the Sanctuary was covered with dark clouds.

A humid gale blew towards the city wall, bringing the fresh scent of rain, causing the Divinely Blessed One to be somewhat stunned.

—Boom!

A thunderous roar resounded from the distant dark clouds, and dazzling lightning snakes flashed in the rolling clouds and wind. Although it was already evening, the sun had not yet set below the horizon, and the light of the sunset still occupied the entire sky. However, dark black clouds constantly devoured the light, bringing wind and thunder while pouring down heavy rain.

"What, what's going on?"

The Divinely Blessed One's gaze could penetrate the clouds and reach the sky, and Lumm was no exception. His eyes could pass through the extremely thick moisture and the brilliance of the thunder, and see a mighty team advancing in the rain under the dark clouds.

This was a team of sinners, most of whom were disabled and shouldn't have been able to move so quickly. However, it could be seen that new limbs were growing from the stumps of those sinners who shouldn't have had feet, and dense white scales were growing around these limbs.

That was the symbol of the Blood of Judgment—the activated Blood of Judgment was probably the reason they could regenerate their limbs and why they could be close to rainwater and travel in thunderstorms.

Unlike Matthew, who was simply clicking his tongue in wonder, and Gail, who had already begun to praise the divine power of the Lord of Judgment, Lumm's heart began to feel uneasy.

—Such thick water elements, such thick clouds and rain… what's going on? Didn't those sea rebels say that the balance of the elements had been broken? Their rituals should have already been completed…

"We can't let them get close to the Sanctuary!"

Making up his mind, Lumm, who had originally just wanted to order his team to intercept them, decided that it would be safer to do it himself. He immediately got up and flew towards the dark clouds, not forgetting to shout a slogan before leaving: "The Central Sanctuary will not allow those with ulterior motives to attack!"

The Divinely Blessed One's speed was very fast. Even if it wasn't at full speed, he could easily exceed the speed of sound. Soon, he crossed more than ten kilometers and arrived under the dark clouds, in front of the team of sinners.

As the Divinely Blessed One and Chief High Priest of the Lord of Fire, Lumm, at the peak of the Divinely Blessed Ones, had mastered all the elemental powers, not just the fire element. At this time, he was worried, so he didn't plan to say a word. He was going to directly manipulate the earth element to raise earthen walls to block the team's path and force them to stop.

Vast elemental magic gathered in mid-air. As Lumm reached out, brown light flashed in mid-air, forming a rotating circular array. The earth on the ground immediately obeyed the command and began to rumble, forming a barrier of rock and earth several kilometers long and about five meters high.

However, the team didn't stop.

Lumm, who was high in the sky, displaying his power, and was about to breathe a sigh of relief, saw the gray-haired priest at the head of the team look up and glance at him.

Everyone in the team of sinners also looked up at the purple-haired Divinely Blessed One.

Then, the Chief High Priest was stunned.

For a moment, he seemed to be hallucinating.

The team walking in the thunderstorm before his eyes, the team protesting the injustice of the verdicts, denying the righteousness of the judgments, and coming for true justice and reform, the long stream of people composed of tens of thousands of people, suddenly turned into a dragon snake crawling on the ground in his eyes.

And just now, the cold dragon eyes of that dragon snake locked onto him, causing Lumm's whole body to stiffen.

"The, the Lord of Judgment…"

Could it really be a divine decree…

The Lord of Judgment, who hadn't issued any divine decrees for more than three hundred years, was actually issuing a divine decree this time? Even now, Lumm couldn't believe it.

The team of sinners didn't pay attention to Lumm's reaction and continued to move forward—it could be seen that Amon, at the head, simply took a step and directly smashed a large hole in the rock and earth barrier used to block them. Then, the entire earthen wall collapsed one after another like dominoes.

At this time, Matthew and Gail also arrived. They had also obviously experienced the hallucination of the crawling dragon snake. The former was simply surprised, while the latter, the Judgment Chief High Priest Gail, even had a hint of joy in his shock: "It really is our Lord's team!"

For a moment, the three didn't know whether they should continue to stop them or just watch—Matthew and Gail didn't really care, since they weren't the current administrative Chief High Priest in charge of the Sanctuary. Lumm didn't know what to do either. He vaguely felt that something was wrong, but he didn't dare to attack or retreat.

Lightning flashed before his eyes, and the blazing light illuminated the dim world. The purple-haired Divinely Blessed One hesitated and stayed where he was.

Just as he couldn't make a decision.

Suddenly, an incomparably bright light, like the sun, rose from behind Lumm, shining brightly on his back, stretching his shadow far, far forward.

A warm aura emerged.

"What?!"

Noticing the extremely familiar aura, Lumm turned his head in shock. He looked behind him, and then slowly opened his mouth, his eyes blank.

Because he saw that a scarlet golden sun was rising from the Dawn Holy Mountain, emitting sacred light, just like the divine descent that had occurred here hundreds of years ago.

"Boom!"

At this moment, in the dark clouds, above the tumbling rainwater, azure-purple lightning suddenly exploded, slashing across the sky.

Immediately, the light of the lightning and the light of the sun lit up at the same time. They slowly approached each other in the high sky, and the three Divinely Blessed Ones and the team of sinners were sandwiched in between, watching them approach each other.

It could be vaguely seen that a huge dragon snake phantom was churning in the clouds, and the lightning outlined its shape.

"Lightning and Fire!"

"It's the Lord! The Lord of Judgment!"

"Lord… my Lord?!"

Immediately, Matthew and Gail shouted excitedly, while Lumm's tone was completely different from the two Divinely Blessed Ones. His voice was filled with some fear and a strong sense of disbelief: "You, you've awakened?!"

The Lord of Fire, who had been silent for more than two hundred years, had actually reappeared because of this small team of sinners?!

Immediately, Lumm trembled. Whether the team of sinners had come to appeal for grievances was simply a trivial matter. Facing the sacred radiance, his heart was filled with fear.

If the Lord discovered everything he had done, then he…

Just as the mighty scarlet golden light swept across the world, Lumm felt an extremely obvious warm gaze. It was the Lord of Fire's gaze, which made him feel as if his body and mind were being seen through. At the same time, it made his mouth dry.

However, the Lord of Fire only glanced at Lumm and then sighed.

Then, a voice filled with disappointment resounded in the heart of this Chief High Priest of the Lord of Fire.

[You dare not face the Lord of Judgment's team and show your courage, nor do you dare to retreat and admit your mistakes to me.]

[Lumm, my Divinely Blessed One, for the past two hundred years, you have been coveting power and strength—but where is your cultivation? Where is your path? Where is your heart?]

[You want my power, I don't care at all. As long as you have courage, even if you abandon my path, you are a tyrant. As long as you have the determination to ascend to godhood in the end and maintain order, everything doesn't matter… but you don't have that courage.]

"My Lord…"

Feeling that all his disguises had been seen through in an instant, Lumm's legs weakened and he fell directly from the sky, kneeling on the ground—but the Lord of Fire didn't respond to this.

Because there were more important things to do.

At this moment, in the center of the Holy Flame Continent, on the Dawn Plain in the evening, black dark clouds and scarlet golden sunset each occupied half of the sky, lightning and fire faced each other in the high sky, clouds and gales swirled in the sky and on the earth, and the light of the evening sunset dyed the edge of the horizon into a golden color.

A swift wind, like a knife, swept across the earth, and clouds and mist streaked across the earth and sky at the same time. Two figures faced each other from a distance above the clouds, the boy with a sun crown and the black-haired youth meeting again after hundreds of years, just like when they parted on the Dawn Holy Mountain in the past.

The light on the horizon gradually dimmed, the sunset was burning, emitting its last bit of heat before night fell.

Vast spiritual power and elemental power surged around both of them, forming large swaths of light streams and phantom magic arrays. Azure-purple spiritual light and scarlet golden magic power connected at the intersection of clouds and light, forming distinct light streams.

As the sun was about to set, it seemed as if two more suns had appeared in the gradually darkening world.

Clouds and mist passed by the sides of the gods. On the ground, led by Amon, the entire team of sinners looked up, surprised, at the top of the sky. The same was true of the three Divinely Blessed Ones and the Central Sanctuary not far away. All the clergy, while still doing their work, turned their gazes in one direction.

Yishar came to the city wall and looked far away at his Lord, as well as the figure that appeared in the lightning in the distance. This Divinely Blessed One couldn't help but look stunned.

"That is… the Lord's teacher?"

Su Zhou looked remotely at the gray-haired god in the distance, the boy who had followed him in the past, experiencing reincarnation and eternal calamity. Now, he wore a crown and a classical robe. Although his appearance was exactly the same as in the past, both his temperament and his heart were very different, appearing sacred and solemn.

And Elias stared intently at his teacher who had left for hundreds of years and had now returned. He was as young as he had been hundreds of years ago, but compared to the fierceness of the past, the youth at this time was even more grand and majestic. He had been like a solitary peak in the past, tall and precipitous, able to touch the top of the sky, but he was far from being like a mountain range now, stretching out and able to hold up a world and the sky.

Three hundred and sixty-two years ago, right here, the Lord of Fire and the Lord of Wind relied on the city of Nesser left over from the previous era as their foundation and created the first Central Sanctuary.

A young god made a vow to the people here. He wore a crown and his eyes were bright.

[I will make a covenant with you. The people of Wind and Fire will enjoy peace and happiness here. As long as you keep my covenant, I can make everyone in this world equal and free from oppression.]

[My people, I am making a covenant here with all of you. I will wholeheartedly lead you on the path to happiness, and you should also abide by my way.]

Three hundred and seven years ago, at the end of the Record of Separation, the first Holy Flame Tower stood tall on the earth, vying with the sun for glory, and its sacred light shone upon the world.

And under the Holy Flame Tower, two gods discussed the future path of this world.

[The covenant is everything that should be done. As long as you abide by it, everyone is a good person. In this way, even if you leave the world to explore the path ahead, and I stay in the realm to maintain the world, even if 'God' no longer appears, the human world can still maintain order.]

[The Judgment Dragon condensed from the soul of the earth can replace us as an arbiter. It is the symbol of the human heart and will lead everyone to justice.] The god in the form of a boy said so. Although he was a little tired at this time, he was full of confidence.

[But is the human heart really trustworthy?] Another tall god said so, with some doubts.

[Isn't it precisely because it is not trustworthy that we make a covenant?]

Under the light of the Holy Flame Tower, the two gods parted, and the people of Wind and Fire separated amidst farewell songs. The Elemental Calendar was established.

The young god stood on the holy mountain, overlooking this land. He was full of ambition.

The wind swept, and now, azure-purple dragon eyes and gray divine eyes met.

The youth could see from the other's eyes hundreds of years of persistence and determination, a choice that had been verified countless times and would never be changed even after countless sacrifices.

And the god could see the flames burning in the youth's eyes, an undying desire and fighting spirit, not even he could escape the burning flame of questioning.

One hundred and thirty-seven years ago, in the Central Sanctuary, the lightning of judgment suddenly struck down. It was the first time he had missed and failed to punish a 'sinner,' but instead ignited the flames of rebellion.

"Lord, Lord, why?! Why did you abandon me?!"

Shocked, painful, and mixed with endless sadness and despair, the voice resounded in the Sanctuary.

Amidst the crisscrossing lightning, when the awakened god returned from outside the world, what he saw was the fire of betrayal, a devastated holy city, and countless bewildered and at a loss clergy.

Trust was shattered, and suspicion arose in the cracks of order.

[Could it be that the human heart really cannot be trusted?]

The question that had been lingering for a long time still lingered in his heart.

And at this moment, the wills of the two gods met in the clouds.

"My Lord, forgive, please forgive me…"

The purple-haired Divinely Blessed One trembled under this immense impact. Lumm trembled and crawled on the ground, not caring about the muddy rainwater around him.

He had originally thought that as a Divinely Blessed One at his peak, he might only be one step away from becoming a god—perhaps that was indeed the case, but Lumm found that he had forgotten that his god had been a god for hundreds of years, even before the Elemental Calendar was created. How could his power be something that someone like him, who couldn't even find the path to godhood, could窥视?

Realizing this, his heart was filled with shame and fear, to the point that he couldn't lift his head.

—Elias.

—Mr. Su Zhou.

And after a long gaze, Su Zhou, who had clearly understood Elias's situation from the other's eyes, chuckled. One person and one god slowly descended from the clouds, restraining their spiritual power and divine light, descending to the ground like mortals.

"Elias, long time no see."

Su Zhou smiled and looked at the god who was still in the form of a boy—after merging with the Fire Soul, Elias's essence was no longer an ordinary human, but had sublimated into a tangible elemental spirit, in charge of the fire elemental power of the Tartadis world. So, even time could not leave any traces on him.

But even seeing a familiar person, the youth didn't forget his purpose. Even while smiling, Su Zhou still opened his mouth without hesitation: "Originally, we should have had a good chat, and I would have liked to know how you spent these hundreds of years—but I can see determination and steadfastness in your eyes, which is completely different from you hundreds of years ago."

"And, I also know that you are curious about why I brought such a team here—so let's put those gentle topics aside and get straight to the point."

[Okay, Mr. Su, my teacher.]

And the God of Fire smiled gently, He looked at the team of sinners not far away, and then sighed softly: [I knew it when you brought such a group of people here, you must be here to blame me.]

However, to Elias's surprise, Su Zhou shook his head.

"Blame? No, Elias, what you have done is not that bad."

Su Zhou said so, his tone was peaceful: "In fact, what you have done is already very good—and according to what I have seen and heard in the current Tartadis world, I even have to praise you, because you have indeed allowed the vast majority of people to have enough food and live a happy life, from nothing to something, in just over three hundred years."

[Then, teacher, you are…]

Although he didn't hear the blame he had expected, Elias didn't feel happy, He was a little puzzled and couldn't help but ask: [Why are you here this time?]

"For innovation."

The youth replied so.

[Innovation?]

And the god asked so.

Turning his head, Su Zhou looked around at all the 'sinners'. He could see faces that were eager for justice and hoping for righteousness to come, including white-haired elders and teenagers.

Staring at these faces, Su Zhou turned his head again and looked at Elias, he said calmly: "The operation of the world has its own laws, and existence itself is reasonable. If I want to blame something reasonable, blame your precepts, it means that I have a correct answer."

"My arrival is not to blame you, because I don't have a perfect blueprint in my heart. I know very well that I can't do that—Elias, I won't lie. Since you think I am your teacher, then I will speak to you frankly."

Saying this, Su Zhou's tone became solemn and cold, he said in a deep voice: "My arrival is to destroy some things."

"Of course, I don't want to destroy your order—what I want to destroy is the old system in this Firefolk and Windfolk society that hinders people from developing towards 'better'."

"My purpose is to allow everyone to live better than before and to obtain a broader future than before!"

[Teacher, what do you mean…]

Hearing this, Elias was slightly stunned. He glanced at the sinners behind Su Zhou and vaguely knew what Su Zhou meant, but He was still a little puzzled: [What you say you want to destroy, could it be…]

And Su Zhou nodded.

"That's right, it's your covenant and judgment."

At this time, the youth had his hands behind his back, he said calmly: "Elias, your covenant is too strict, to the point that people have blurred the line between morality and law."

"The law is the lowest morality, and morality is the lowest bottom line—but you use the law to forcibly regulate morality, causing morality to become the law itself, which also leads to the vast majority of ordinary people who should only be morally condemned being subjected to compulsory legal punishment."

"And the most terrifying thing is that the God of Judgment you use for punishment and adjudication is essentially just a tool for multi-person tyranny… This is what I must destroy."

Facing the Lord of Fire, who still had a puzzled expression, Su Zhou shook his head slightly and sighed—even though many ordinary people behind him began to whisper after hearing these words, not understanding why the Lord of Judgment wanted to belittle himself, he didn't care.

Reaching out his hand, Su Zhou pointed to the team of sinners.

"Don't understand? Then listen—these are all victims of your covenant and judgment, and no one is willing to speak for them, but they have clearly suffered sins that they shouldn't have suffered."

"Elias, listen to the voice of the people."

[Okay.]

Without hesitation, Elias, who was already wondering what was going on with the team of sinners, turned his head and looked at them.

The people didn't speak, they just turned their gazes, either eager or numb, towards the god.

The lines of faith intertwined, and the powerful soul fluctuations allowed Him to hear the voices of everyone.

—Because of the drought, the teenager who had been displaced and lost his home came to an empty farm when he was about to starve to death and ate some of the stored food.

Afterwards, he was caught by the returning farmer and judged guilty of theft for taking it without asking. Because he was too scared, he tried to escape, which was regarded as resisting law enforcement, and his legs were cut off.

—The old man who liked to drink, lived in a mountain village. He brewed his own土酒 (tǔjiǔ, homemade liquor) and drank it alone. The rich aroma attracted several adventurers who liked to drink. They exchanged drinks and drank together, but all the others were poisoned and fell down.

In the test, the old man's tǔjiǔ was judged to have certain toxicity because it contained some mountain herbs, which could indeed lead to poisoning in people who were not suitable. Therefore, he was confusedly put in jail for 'intentionally making poison and causing loss' and branded with a mark of shame.

—The woman who lived by washing clothes for others, because of her beautiful appearance, caused the women in the same city to be jealous and worried. Once, someone claimed that there were stolen goods in the clothes she had sent to wash. The temple, which had no way to judge whether this was true, sent her to the judgment seat.

Without evidence, unfounded suspicion and jealousy turned into malice. The Lord of Judgment responded to that black faith and made a judgment, and the priests who judged her guilty carelessly determined that she was a thief and cut off her hands.

—An old hunter…

One real and true voice after another echoed in the god's ears.

Why? Why? Why can this also be considered a crime? Even if it is a crime, why is it so serious that one has to cut off one's hands and feet?

Listening to the unwilling and confused voices in everyone's hearts, listening to the silent roars and cries that came from their souls.

The god was silent.

[It's actually… like this.]

He lowered his head and muttered to himself. Elias shook his head slightly, his tone filled with disbelief and pain: [I had originally thought that it wouldn't be so perfect… but I didn't expect…]

[This, this is indeed wrong.]

And Su Zhou looked at the other party.

"I have no right to say anything, Elias, not to mention anything else, just like Old Chuck."

"What did he do wrong when he was deliberately kept in the dark? Even if he did do something wrong, what unforgivable crime did he commit when he was kept in the dark, that he had to have his hands cut off? Why did you set such a heavy punishment?"

"Your covenant is wrong."

[…Because strict punishments can make people abide by the covenant in the fastest way, and… I don't think anyone will commit crimes at all, so no matter how heavy the punishment is, it has nothing to do with ordinary people who abide by the precepts.]

The God of Fire sighed, extricating Himself from the voices of the crowd. He already knew that what His teacher had said was right. These sinners were indeed innocent, and the suffering they had suffered was entirely due to problems in His covenant and errors in the judgment mechanism.

However, hearing Su Zhou's questioning, He couldn't help but shake His head: [But teacher, humans are inherently such creatures. Most humans are free. When they are hungry, they want to eat, and the more delicious it is, the more they eat. When they are thirsty, they want to drink, and the more delicious it is, the more they drink. Men like beautiful women, women like handsome men, and people get angry when they encounter ideas that are different from their own. These are all instinctive desires—which are the roots of most evils.]

[In order to resist these things that can lead people into evil and onto the wrong path, I established the covenant and used the code and the God of Judgment to restrain them. In this way, most people do love each other—my covenant may have problems, but it is definitely not 'wrong'. It can only be said that there are loopholes.]

After speaking, Elias didn't expect that Su Zhou would directly nod His head in agreement, saying: "What you said is indeed right, Elias. It is indeed a first-class good method to teach people morality through laws and precepts, from nothing to something."

"At the beginning of the new era, your covenant was indeed correct. I agree with you on this point—but systems also need to be innovated. The code of laws a hundred years ago is not suitable for a hundred years later, and the code of laws of the feudal era is not suitable for the prosperous modern era."

"The future must never be a simple repetition of the past, but more than three hundred years have passed, Elias, and your code of laws is still exactly the same as before. Your progress is just a simple repetition."

The wind swept through the clouds, and the thunder stopped. Except for the scattered sound of rain, everything was silent.

The three Divinely Blessed Ones, as well as Yishar who had arrived not far away, had heard the conversation between the two 'gods' and were shocked by it—both Su Zhou calling the Lord of Fire by His name 'Elias' and the Lord of Fire calling the Lord of Judgment 'teacher' were messages that had never been heard before.

No one had ever imagined that the Lord of Judgment was actually the teacher of the Lord of Fire.

Moreover, what they were discussing was the foundation of the Sanctuary, the covenant that all the priests had to recite!

[But teacher, I have developed and progressed!]

Regarding Su Zhou's accusation on this point, Elias obviously had different opinions, He raised His head, seemingly wanting to refute, but was interrupted by Su Zhou: "Yes, that's right, from the initial version of the covenant to now, you have updated a total of seventeen books, seventeen precepts—I have read all of them."

"But, my student, you are still just making people know more precepts on the basis of the already numerous precepts, without truly innovating people's thoughts."

[Innovating… people's thoughts?] The God of Fire's voice was somewhat茫然(mángrán, at a loss).

"Yes, innovating thoughts."

Su Zhou said calmly. Without knowing when, a covenant had already appeared in his hand. He opened the iron-bound thick book, flipped through the pages, and said in a淡然(dànrán, indifferent) tone: "The people of this world do not steal or rob because the law does not allow it—your precepts have always been on this. You have written almost all the crimes on it."

"Not to mention the point that you will definitely add new precepts in the future with the progress of society… if from now on, the covenant no longer restricts crime, then does this mean that all your people will immediately go to steal and rob?"

[…]

Hearing this, Elias fell into silence, He understood some of what Su Zhou meant.

"Right, you also know that there are still a large number of people who will not do this, because they don't need to, there is no need, they don't want to."

Seeing that the other party had begun to understand, Su Zhou smiled, then closed the covenant and sent it back to his personal space. He said淡然(dànrán, calmly): "In their hearts, they have already obtained more and better things because of precepts, education, and people's thoughts—that is what is called morality. This noble thing is what you should popularize next."

"If you don't try to fill the hearts of more people with morality, to the point where even if the law doesn't prohibit it, they still won't commit crimes, then your covenant cannot be called 'innovation'. No matter how many new precepts are added, turning the thickness of the covenant from seventeen books into twenty-seven or one hundred and twenty-seven books, it cannot be considered progress. It can only be considered a simple repetition."

"True progress must never be a simple repetition of the past." Once again repeating this sentence, it seemed as if there was light burning in Su Zhou's eyes. He declared, word by word: "It is precisely because of this that there will be judgments like Old Chuck, and there will be no one to stop Chief Priest Edmond's肆意妄为(sìyì wàngwéi, unbridled actions)!"

"If even one priest has morality in his heart, and not just the law, then he will question such a judgment!"

Su Zhou's voice震荡天地(zhèndàng tiāndì, shook the heavens and the earth), to the point that even the many clergy in the Sanctuary could hear it clearly. At first, they still had some微词(wēicí, complaints), thinking that the Lord of Judgment's accusations were quite武断(wǔduàn, arbitrary)… but in the end, everyone fell silent.

[Mr.…]

At this time, Elias seemed to want to say something, but Su Zhou, who could roughly hear a little of the other party's inner thoughts by virtue of His No Thought Heart, directly replied before the other party could open his mouth: "You are wrong again, Elias, innovation is not that simple."

"To give an example, if, in your covenant, it is not only not restricting crime, but encouraging everyone to rob, steal, and kill at will—how many of your people do you think would奉尊神之名(fèngzūn shénzhīmíng, in the name of God) to kill?"

Seeing the expression on the God of Fire's face, which had completely fallen into沉思(chénsī, contemplation), Su Zhou smiled.

"I can tell you with certainty that some people will really do this—but at the same time, there will also be people who not only don't do this, but also strongly oppose it. They will resist your wrong law, overthrow you, innovate you, and build a completely new and truly just law on the old ruins!"

—Passive compliance. Active compliance. Active resistance.

—Accepting compulsory laws to do good deeds. Doing good deeds without compulsion. Questioning what is not good.

—That is, precepts, morality, and questioning.

"True progress requires questioning, the destruction of certain old things, and the re-establishment of new things, not just adding more laws and adding more covenants."

"This is true progress and innovation—this is what I will bring to you."

To this, Elias was silent for a long time.

Afterwards, He sighed long, and then laughed自嘲(zìcháo, self-deprecatingly): [Indeed, that's how it is.]

[In the past I… really was just repeating the same thing.]

"In addition to this, there are still many problems in this world."

At this time, Su Zhou didn't have the intention of showing mercy. He looked at the God of Fire, who had already begun to admit His mistakes. Although his heart was full of appreciation, he didn't stop talking.

"Elias, people's bloodlines can inherit many things, but only acquired morality cannot be inherited. Education, training, practical work, and experience are so important to a person, but I haven