Dawnless Sovereign

The five popes had been looking quite solemn from the moment the inspector brought up the Parasite Ascension Project.

Back when they first became the popes of their respective churches, they had been brimming with confidence in their ability to do well in the project.

However, all of their confidence had been completely dashed long ago.

Over the past three hundred years, the best outcomes for the One Heart Church were sixteen top ten finishes and only a single top three finish.

Three hundred years equated to a hundred selections, so these were extremely lackluster outcomes.

To make matters even worse, the One Heart Church was already the top performer among the five southeastern churches.

The Night Demon Church came second, also with sixteen top ten finishes, but no top three finishes.

There were thirty occasions where all of the southeastern path's candidates had perished, and that the One Heart Church secured the top three finish, it had been a General tier candidate that had given it everything he had to clinch the top three spot.

On the way back, he succumbed to his internal injuries and perished, so essentially, the top three finish meant nothing.

Of course, Yin Shengong was still using this to claim superiority over the Night Demon Church.

As for the Divine Heavenly Church, the Three Saints Church, and the Church of Light, they had fared even worse.

For example, there were fifty-four occasions on which all of the candidates of the Church of Light had perished!

The Parasite Ascension Project was truly a traumatic time for them.

***

The Parasite Ascension Project was a battle royale held between all of the seeded disciples of the churches.

In that special environment, one's Five Spirit Parasite could devour the Five Spirit Parasite of those that they killed. Such an opportunity only came around once every three years, after which it would take another three years to use divine power to manufacture the Five Spirit Parasite devouring effect.

There was a cultivation base cap of the General tier for participating candidates as the Five Spirit Parasites of those beyond the General tier were unable to fuse successfully.

The top fifty finishers of each period were marked as bright future talents by the main church, and they were to emerge from tens of thousands of candidates.

The placings were decided by the number of Five Spirit Parasites devoured by one's own Five Spirit Parasite, and this factor also decided one's future position. The more Five Spirit Parasites devoured, the more people one would be able to contact with their Five Spirit Parasite.

The more contacts you had, the more connections you had, paving your path for the future.

For example, Fang Che was currently only able to contact three people with his communication jade, and when contacting Yin Shengong, he couldn't simultaneously contact someone else or receive messages from others.

However, no such restrictions applied to Yin Shengong.

If Fang Che could devour ten Five Spirit Parasites, then he would be able to choose ten people to add to his contacts list. This was how the Church of the Self-Righteous had managed to establish a communication network that spanned across the entire continent.

The likes of Yin Shengong and Kou Yifang had all previously been top ten finishers in the Parasite Ascension Project, and that had ensured them a bright future, allowing them to steadily climb their way up to their current positions.

Those who had never taken part in the project could still progress up the ranks to a certain extent, but their ceiling would be very limited.

In contrast, those who had taken part, particularly the top finishers, were always held in high regard, appointed as successors or close subordinates to all of the popes, or perhaps even being put in line for higher honors.

Hence, the Parasite Ascension Project always drew a great deal of attention from the top brass of all of the churches.

The inspector took a moment to gauge the reactions of the five popes. If they had any prodigies that were sure to do well in this edition of the project, then they would surely display some reactions of excitement or eagerness.

However, what he saw left him feeling disappointed.

Kou Yifang was averting his gaze, so he was clearly lacking in confidence.

Guan Shandu's face had turned bright red, clearly anticipating the same humiliating outcomes as previous editions.

Hai Wuliang seemed to have a bit of confidence about him, but he was a rather unreliable narrator who had a tendency to brag, so his reaction was not to be trusted.

Gu Shanfeng had a contemplative look on his face, indicating that he had already had some candidates in mind, but he was also looking far from confident.

The inspector heaved a pessimistic sigh, and he felt even more dejected as his gaze fell upon Yin Shengong, who was looking very tense, almost anxious.

Unbeknownst to him, Yin Shengong's reaction hadn't arisen from the fact that he had no suitable candidates in mind.

During the past few editions of the Parasite Ascension Project, he had assigned the deputy popes with the task of selecting candidates, and all he did was sign off on the list as a formality.

Once those candidates returned, he had also left them to be nurtured by the deputy popes.

Hence, all of them were undoubtedly far closer with Ren Zhongyuan than they were with him, and in the past, this hadn't occurred to Yin Shengong as a problem.

In any case, they were all members of the One Heart Church, so what difference did it make?

However, after being made aware of Ren Zhongyuan's ambitions by Night Demon, Yin Shengong's mindset had completely changed.

Once he returned to the One Heart Church, he had to pick off these prodigies one by one so that they couldn't be used against him by Ren Zhongyuan.

To further compound his woes, the next Parasite Ascension Project was already imminent, yet he had no suitable Generals to send.

Three years ago, the roster had already been finalized, and all of the Generals that were going to take part in this edition of the Parasite Ascension Project had been gathered in the Enforcement Hall and the Battle Hall for training.

The problem was that Ren Zhongyuan was responsible for overseeing both halls.

With that in mind, Yin Shengong was internally kicking himself.

He had served as pope of the One Heart Church for several centuries, yet he now found himself in an awkward predicament where he had no trustworthy prodigies at his disposal!

Ren Zhongyuan had been serving him for over three hundred years, and in the beginning, he had been loyal to a fault, almost like a son to Yin Shengong.

Throughout the vast majority of those three centuries, Ren Zhongyuan had served him like an obedient dog, yet now, that dog was ready to turn around and bite its master.

He had to suck up to me for several hundred years to earn this opportunity. Honestly, I don't think I would be able to do that. Even if Ren Zhongyuan had managed to successfully overthrow me, it definitely won't have been down to luck. However, now that I've been alerted to your ambitions, all of your previous efforts are for nought!

While it was true that uncovering Ren Zhongyuan's ambitions had allowed him to dodge an arrow, the problem at hand still remained.

I have to somehow find a trustworthy prodigy that can excel in the Parasite Ascension Project before the first day of next year. It's already August now, so I only have less than five months left...

Yin Shengong's thoughts immediately went to Night Demon.

He's only a second-rank Lesser Grandmaster right now, will he be able to make it in time? Even if he manages to reach the General Tier by then, he'll only be a first or second-rank General at most, which is still far off from the Generals training under Ren Zhongyuan.

With that in mind, Yin Shengong was feeling a little lost, and that was why he was looking even more concerned than the other four popes.

Hai Wuliang's mood was lifted a little upon catching sight of Yin Shengong's expression, and he sneered, "You seem very concerned about something, Pope Yin. Do you want to tell everyone about it so we can help you out?"

"How about you worry about yourself?" Yin Shengong snapped. "If your Night Demon Church fails again during this edition of the Parasite Ascension Project, I'd say there's a good chance you're getting replaced!"

An enraged look appeared on Hai Wuliang's face, but he held his tongue as he didn't want to further sour his image in the eyes of the inspector.

"I don't care how you do it, but this time, our southeastern path must secure a top three spot!"

The inspector turned a threatening gaze to Yin Shengong as he continued, "Pope Yin, I recall you telling me three years ago that you had some fine seeds that would be sure to do well. I hope that wasn't a joke."

I did say that, but that was three years ago! I didn't know Ren Zhongyuan was a traitorous scoundrel back then! Those seeds are all Ren Zhongyuan's people! I don't have anyone! If one of our seeds secures a top three spot, then I'll be digging my own grave!

However, Yin Shengong naturally couldn't reveal his concerns, so he could only put up a strong front as he declared, "I won't let you down, esteemed inspector!"

Shortly thereafter, the meeting drew to a conclusion, and Yin Shengong promptly departed, feeling as if a dark cloud were looming over him.

He didn't even bid farewell to the other popes, and Kou Yifang and Guan Shandu had been meaning to approach him for a chat after the meeting, but they were left staring at each other with dazed expressions.

"Did you guys see the look on Yin Shengong's face? He looked like a pathetic husband that had been cucked! He's definitely not prepared!" Hai Wuliang cackled.

The other popes didn't share in his schadenfreude.

"You should be worrying about yourself, Pope Hai! At least Pope Yin has a top three finish under his belt! Do you?"

"Just you wait! I'm going to get my people to kill all of your seeds!" Hai Wuliang raged, then stormed away in an unceremonious departure.

The remaining three popes quickly parted ways as well.

Yin Shengong descended into a forest, and Mu Linyuan and Hou Fang immediately emerged from the undergrowth in a wraith-like manner.

"How did it go, Pope Yin?"

Ever since he found out about Ren Zhongyuan's insubordination, Ren Zhongyuan made sure to never go out alone.

In addition to his personal guards, Mu Linyuan and Hou Fang were also always hiding nearby, all to ensure that Ren Zhongyuan never had an opportunity to strike.

"Very badly, I'm afraid," Yin Shengong replied with tightly furrowed brows. "The main problem is the Parasite Ascension Project. The next edition is imminent, but I have no one to use!"