Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

All gazes were focused on the highest point of the Great Hall of Light.

Seeing the Pope with Mu Jiushi standing next to him, the crowd was filled with a deep unease.

Given the solemnity of the affair, the Pope's announcement naturally had to do with the coup of the Mausoleum of Books. Many people had even already thought of Chen Changsheng's name.

The mood was very tense and uneasy. Nobody noticed two people walking in from the side path into the hall.

Linghai Zhiwang and Daoist Siyuan, two Prefects of the Orthodoxy. On that night, they had been personally sealed by the Pope and jailed in the Dao Prison. Why had they suddenly appeared now?

In just three days, they had both greatly thinned, their faces pale and devoid of blood.

They made their way through the crowd towards the front of the great hall. Finally, people took notice of their presence and gasped.

Gradually, the cries of alarm increased.

Linghai Zhiwang and Daoist Siyuan once more stood at the very front of the Great Hall of Light.

Archbishop An Lin revealed a look of shock while Zhuang Zhihuan's eyes slightly narrowed. Only Mao Qiuyu and the archbishop known as Daoist Baishi were unmoved. They had probably known of this matter in advance.

The great hall was awash in light. Mu Jiushi stood on the high platform at the place where the light was greatest, so her sight was somewhat affected. Moreover, even someone with her background could not help but feel nervous when thinking about what the Pope was on the verge of announcing. She did not notice the cries of alarm from the crowd and its momentary unrest.

In the next moment, she would become the successor of the Orthodoxy, the future Pope.

The current Pope glanced at her, his eyes brimming with compassion and love.

She somewhat bashfully smiled, but she was actually extremely calm and also a little excited, anticipating those words.

"Archbishop of the Hall of Announcements, Mu Jiushi, has gravely violated the laws of the church, presumptuously prying at the Heavenly Dao. How should she be punished?"

Cries of shock and murmurs of discussion rolled through the Great Hall of Light like a surging wave.

The Orthodoxy will soon welcome the first female Pope; of course people will be shocked, Mu Jiushi thought, a reserved smile on her face.

Suddenly, her expression changed, her complexion turning extremely pale.

Because it was only now that she clearly heard the Pope's voice.

Gravely violating the laws of the church? Presumptuously prying at the Heavenly Dao?

Was the matter the Pope supposed to announce not conferring upon me the title of next Pope?

How could this be!

What's going on here!

Mu Jiushi was absolutely dumbfounded, suddenly turning her head to look at the Pope.

What she saw was still that elderly face, those two eyes brimming with compassion and love.

That compassion and love were not for her.

She could clearly tell.

She was furious.

"Why do you want to punish me!" she coldly said to the Pope.

She looked down at the crowd below the high platform, harshly yelling, "Who dares to punish me?"

The crowd was silent. Those priests who were qualified to attend the Offering of Light were all important figures of the Orthodoxy. They were all well aware of the background of the mysterious Archbishop of the Hall of Announcements. They also knew just what her existence meant for the great undertaking that was the Orthodoxy's existence in the new millennium. However, their silence now did not signal their unease. It was because the Pope's question had not been aimed at them.

The halls of the Orthodoxy each had their own role. The Hall of Drifting Clouds was responsible for punishments, and the Archbishop of the Hall of Drifting Clouds was already present.

Linghai Zhiwang looked to Mu Jiushi, gloomy flames of resentment burning in his eyes. "Thirty strikes of the staff, destroy her cultivation, and expel her from the Orthodoxy."

This was a statutory law of the church and any person in the hall would be able to recite it. However, when they heard these three statements, they all felt a bone-piercing cold.

It had already been six hundred years since such a harsh punishment had been carried out on an archbishop of the Orthodoxy at Mu Jiushi's level.

Seeing Linghai Zhiwang's eyes, Mu Jiushi felt her body turning abnormally cold.

She knew that she could no longer remain. With a grunt, she turned and drifted out of the hall.

She believed that as long as she could leave the Great Hall of Light, Shang Xingzhou would be able to protect her. The position of Pope was now naught but froth and shadow, but there was always hope in the future.

However, just as she floated off the high platform, she realized that she had lost control over her body and heavily crashed to the floor.

Linghai Zhiwang brought several cardinals of the Hall of Drifting Clouds and expressionlessly reached her side.

……

……

Indistinct and terrifying ripples of Qi emanated from deep within the pure and holy light, as well as Mu Jiushi's furious roars. In the end, she represented the Great Western Continent, so after Linghai Zhiwang received Mao Qiuyu's suggestion, he temporarily put off the thirty strikes of the staff with the excuse that the Divine Staff was not present. But destroying her cultivation…this was still a frightening matter and required enduring an unimaginable pain and torture.

The Pope did not hear it, so everyone in the hall did not hear it. All was quiet as a sleeping ocean.

With the assistance of Mao Qiuyu and Daoist Baishi, the Pope descended from the high platform and arrived amongst the priests.

He gazed at these people that had served him for several hundred years and said, "Three days ago, I said that I was about to die."

Mournful sobs arose from the crowd.

"After I die, I will pass on the position of Pope to Chen Changsheng," the Pope declared.

His expression was very calm as he spoke, just as if he was commenting that the Hall of Pure Virtue should be renovated or that the pigeons of the left park of the Li Palace might have been somewhat overfed.

After the battle of the Bridge of Helplessness, the Pope had bestowed the Divine Staff that symbolized the power of the Orthodoxy to Chen Changsheng. Everyone had understood what that meant. Now, he confirmed it once more.

This represented an irresistible will and august majesty. The entire Orthodoxy would be willing to sacrifice it all to protect these words, all the way until Chen Changsheng ascended to the seat of Pope.

With Mao Qiuyu and Daoist Baishi at their head, all the bishops, priests, teachers, students, and Orthodoxy cavalry kneeled to the ground like a tide.

Daoist Siyuan kneeled, Linghai Zhiwang kneeled. All gradually grew serene, then pious as the crowd began to sing Daoist odes, praising the starry sky and virtue.

Light burst from within the hall.

……

……

"Old man Yin, my royal father won't let you go! My older sister will definitely take vengeance for me!"

From the distance came Mu Jiushi's faint roars of anger. These gradually dissolved into sobs, and then gradually drew further away until they were no more.

This mysterious princess of the Great Western Continent, this once-Prefect of the Orthodoxy, was expelled from the Li Palace and would probably never have a chance to step into it again.

The Pope was watering his plant.

The Green Leaf within the pot only had three leaves left. They seemed rather weary, but they still had life. After the dust was wiped away, they had regained much of their spirit.

"Why?" Shang Xingzhou asked, no emotion in his voice.

"Earlier, you asked me, why should I let Chen Changsheng be Pope?" The Pope raised his head and calmly answered, "Because I want him to be Pope."

Shang Xingzhou was rather surprised by his answer, his gaze seeming to slightly sink.

This was absolutely not the junior brother he had known for almost one thousand years.

"Senior Brother, you said that you came to visit me today to discuss the successor to your teachings…but the Orthodoxy was not taught by you."

The Pope placed the wet towel by the pool and took out a dry towel to wipe the beads of water off his hands. "If one insisted on saying someone taught it, then this is my Orthodoxy."

Shang Xingzhou confirmed that his conclusion was not wrong.

Today's Pope was no longer that Yin of the past one thousand years. Why?

He impassively noted, "So for the sake of your emotions, you completely disregarded the state of humanity, the future of the Orthodoxy."

The Pope did not respond for a moment, then said, "On that night, the Empress said in the Mausoleum of Books that I was trapped by the words 'benefit of mankind'. This was correct. In the past, perhaps I really might have taken back the Divine Staff from Chen Changsheng for the state of humanity, the future of the Orthodoxy. Then, just as you desired, I would have conferred the title of next Pope on that girl."

Shang Xingzhou asked, "Why do you find it impossible to do now?"

"It's still that same reason. I am old, about to die. I still have to live a few days the way I want to live them," the Pope calmly declared.

When a person was on the verge of death, they naturally had the right to act somewhat more indulgently. They did not need to look upon the world with compassion. They could act somewhat more freely, not needing to think about the state of humanity. They could be somewhat more short-sighted, not needing to think about the future of the Orthodoxy.

He was the Pope and the Orthodoxy was his, not anyone else's. If he wanted Chen Changsheng to be the next Pope, no one else could think about sitting on that throne.

This was a very persuasive argument.

Shang Xingzhou stared at him for a very long time. Suddenly, he said, "He was raised by me. Even if you want him to be Pope, he won't do it."

The Pope replied, "I will give the Orthodoxy to him. As for if he wants it or not, that's his own matter to consider."

Shang Xingzhou closed his eyes, then opened them once more, only apathy visible within them. "A dead person cannot be Pope."

The Pope's expression did not change. "You want to kill him?"

Shang Xingzhou emotionlessly noted, "Even if he was a small pup, one still feels a little sentimental after raising it for so many years. How could I bear personally killing him?"

The Pope said, "I was always confused as to how your teachings could produce a student like Chen Changsheng. Now I understand, Chen Changsheng was never taught by you in the first place."

Shang Xingzhou answered, "Everything of his comes from me, of course he was taught by me."

The Pope calmly asked him, "If he was truly taught by you, how could you not know just how powerful he is when confronting death?"

Shang Xingzhou narrowed his eyes.

……

……

The library of the Orthodox Academy.

"I was raised by him."

Chen Changsheng continued, "When I want to understand him, I can understand him very well. I know that three days ago when I brought the body of the Divine Empress out of the Mausoleum of Books, he intentionally wanted to leave a tail for this matter to make trouble. Even if my martial uncle, the Pope, continued to protect me, there would still be people like you who would use this matter to come and kill me."

Eunuch Lin nodded. "Correct: if I did not come to the Orthodox Academy, someone else would."

Chen Changsheng replied, "But there's a problem."

Eunuch Lin raised his brow. "What problem?"

Chen Changsheng raised the sword in his hand and calmly answered, "Can you actually kill me?"