Dawnless Sovereign

"I recall that Master Bei has the support of Xiang Beidou, the deputy pope of our main church and the ninth-ranked warrior on the Cloud Weapon Archive. Pope Xiang is truly an extraordinary man," Yin Shengong mused with a look of admiration and longing in his eyes.

"Indeed. Deputy Pope Xiang truly possesses power worthy of his lofty status," Mu Linyuan replied in an extremely careful manner.

Yin Shengong had referred to Xiang Beidou as Pope Xiang, but Mu Linyuan made sure to put particular emphasis on the prefix of "deputy."

It was only a single word, but it made a world of difference.

"Master Bei is Deputy Pope Xiang's disciple, right?" Yin Shengong asked.

"Not quite. Deputy Pope Xiang was Master Bei's granduncle-master back when they were both part of the Heavenly Blood Demon Sect," Mu Linyuan corrected. "As for Deputy Pope Ren Zhongyuan, he's the disciple of Master Bei's junior sister, so he's technically Master Bei's nephew-disciple."

"Ah, yes. Now that you mention it, it's all coming back to me," Yin Shengong mused.

"The Heavenly Blood Demon Sect was wiped out because one of its members killed someone that they couldn't afford to kill. At the time, one of the three leading figures of the Guardians, Ning Xuejian, had personally descended upon the sect and erased it from existence overnight.

“By the time Master Duan arrived on the scene, Ning Xuejian was already gone, and our Church of the Self-Righteous fought a fierce battle against the Guardians over this matter. Deputy Pope Xiang and Deputy Pope Ren are both among the few survivors of the Heavenly Blood Demon Sect. I heard that out of tens of thousands of sect members, only fewer than a hundred survived."

Mu Linyuan delivered a very detailed recollection of events, and Yin Shengong listened patiently without interruption.

"If there were only fewer than a hundred survivors, then they must be a very close-knit group," Yin Shengong remarked with a smile.

"Indeed. The survivors of such a major calamity will naturally tend to band together and look out for one another. That's why Master Bei invited all of us for a drink for Deputy Pope Ren's sake."

"Looks like Deputy Pope Ren has some powerful backers."

"He can't compare with you in that regard, Pope Yin. I heard that your patriarch is about to rise to fourth spot soon. If he rises any further beyond that point, then he'll truly be standing at the pinnacle of this world!"

"That's true, but there are too many people in our branch, so our patriarch may not be able to spare any attention for me. Deputy Pope Ren is much closer with Deputy Pope Xiang than I am with our patriarch."

"You're far too modest, Pope Yin. From what I've heard, our patriarch is very fond of you. In fact, that's common knowledge in the main church, and it's a clear testament to your outstanding power."

"Outstanding, eh? Those who stand out tend to be picked off first, isn't that right?"

"I beg to differ, Pope Yin!" Mu Linyuan hurriedly said. "Only those who stand out but are lacking in a solid foundation are the ones that end up being picked off. In contrast, you have the backing of countless seniors, not least of which is our patriarch, so you have nothing to worry about."

"We can't just rely on our patriarch for protection, we also have to live up to his high hopes and be worthy of his protection, isn't that right?"

"Of course! I will do everything in my power to live up to the high hopes that you and our patriarch have for me!"

"Bei Mingxin has been promoted to altar master, yet our patriarch has already remained stagnant in the fifth spot for many years. Don't you think he wants to climb up the ranks as well?"

"I'm sure he does."

"If our patriarch wants to climb to the fourth spot, then surely Deputy Pope Xiang also wants to climb to seventh. However, this is not just a matter of wishful thinking. Instead, someone has to give them a hand, isn't that right?"

Mu Linyuan didn't dare to respond.

Yin Shengong continued pacing for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Can I trust you, Old Man Mu?"

Mu Linyuan immediately rose to his feet as he declared, "You have my undying loyalty, Pope Yin!"

Yin Shengong fell silent again, and his mind was racing as he compared Ren Zhongyuan's recent actions to how he had behaved five years ago, ten years ago, fifty years ago, a hundred years ago...

The more he thought about it, the more dismayed he became.

"If Deputy Pope Xiang wants to rise up the ranks, he's going to need support, so it would be immensely helpful to him if Ren Zhongyuan could take my place as the pope of the One Heart Church. Clearly, Ren Zhongyuan also wants the same thing."

At this point, Yin Shengong was convinced that Ren Zhongyuan was planning to usurp his position.

He had known Ren Zhongyuan for several centuries, and he was certain that his suspicions weren't unwarranted.

An alarmed look appeared on Mu Linyuan's face upon hearing this, but he then quickly composed himself as a look of resolve appeared in his eyes.

"What do you need me to do, Pope Yin? Say it and it shall be done!"

Yin Shengong gave a pleased nod as he instructed, "Don't do anything over the top for now. Continue observing him and..."

Mu Linyuan listened intently to Yin Shengong's instructions, then said, "I assure you that I'm not doubting your judgment, Pope Yin, but this is an extremely important matter that could shake the foundation of our church. Are you sure Ren Zhongyuan truly has intentions to usurp your position?"

Yin Shengong pondered the question carefully before giving a measured response. "I'm 70% sure."

"I see."

"You can go now."

Mu Linyuan departed.

Following his departure, Yin Shengong summoned a few more of his most trusted subordinates one after another before delegating some instructions to them as well.

He then made an ostentatious appearance at the headquarters and even promoted several warriors of the Battle Hall, seemingly in a very good mood. However, his mood then took a drastic turn, and he executed a church member for seemingly no reason.

After that, he departed with his personal maidservant, and he instructed her to cook up some soup, while he entered the secret chamber in his study.

Once there, he pulled out his communication jade and sent a message to Fang Che: "You have my authority to make decisions on your own."

Fang Che fell into deep thought upon receiving this message.

There was definitely more to it than met the eye.

The meaning of the message was very clear: "If anything comes up in the future, you can make decisions on your own without consulting me."

Could it be that Yin Shengong suspects me? Given my current status, I'm in no position to be making my own decisions!

Clearly, Yin Shengong wasn't actually giving him the authority to make his own decisions, so there had to be some hidden meaning in this message.

He looked back through the previous messages, and there was a clear conclusion to their previous correspondence, thereby making this message even more peculiar as it had come completely out of the blue.

After some thought, Fang Che decided that Yin Shengong most likely wasn't actually suspecting him. Otherwise, given Yin Shengong's personality, he would've already had him killed by Qian Sanjiang or someone else.

In that case, what could this message possibly mean?

Fang Che carefully pondered the matter for a long while before sending what he deemed to be a flawless response.

"I wouldn't dare, Pope Yin! In fact, your words have left me feeling very uneasy. Throughout my life, I've never been able to make my own decisions. As a child, I always followed the instructions of my seniors, and now, I am fully dedicated to serving you.

“I do not think myself capable of making my own decisions, and given my lowly status, I am unable to take responsibility for any of my actions. Prior to my master's departure, he warned me to disturb you as little as possible, but my heart simply does not feel at ease if I do not report my actions to you, so please forgive me."

A cold smile appeared on Yin Shengong's face upon seeing this.

Fang Che's response was the one that he most wanted to see, and whenever he sent the same message to others, the response was generally always the same as Fang Che's.

The only difference was that Fang Che was displaying even more unease due to his young age and lowly status.

However, Ren Zhongyuan's response to this same message had been completely different.

At the time, Ren Zhongyuan had only responded with a single word: "Sure."

Yin Shengong hadn't thought anything of it at the time, but the more he thought about it now, the more unsettled he felt.

What kind of response is that? Even if he's not going to respond with something like "I wouldn't dare," at the very least, it should be something like "Yes, Pope Yin," not a casual "Sure." Does he already see himself as my equal?

Yin Shengong began to scroll through his past messages with Ren Zhongyuan one by one, becoming more and more enraged with each message that he read.

There are so many things that he only reported to me after already taking action! The warning signs have been around for a long time, I just haven't noticed them! Even if Ren Zhongyuan doesn't have ambitions of usurping my position, I still have some housecleaning to do in order to regain full control over the One Heart Church and undermine him. If he does harbor such ambitions, then I will strike him down where he stands!

With his mind made up, Yin Shengong scrolled through his past messages with Fang Che for comparison, and the more he saw, the more he realized that this was how an obedient and respectful subordinate was supposed to communicate with their superior.

Even so, I still can't afford to grow complacent when it comes to Night Demon. I can't allow him to grow into a second Ren Zhongyuan.

***

Meanwhile, Fang Che was still feeling rather uneasy, unable to figure out why Yin Shengong felt the need to send him such an enigmatic message.

The only thing that he was certain of was that his response was definitely flawless.

Even if there's some type of trouble afoot, I should've done enough to ensure that I don't get swept up in it.