At this moment, the two high-ranking members of the Church were feeling extremely complicated. This was not something that could be described as being in a dilemma or being afraid of hurting the innocent. If they had to put it into words, their hearts were so tangled that they wanted to smash their heads under the feet of the statue of God and kill themselves.
On one side was Saint Joel, who had completed the path of ascension and was worshipped by the Church as a role model. His image was engraved on every dome mural in the Church, and he was still devout to this day. On the other side was an imaginary existence in the Void that was listed as the most extreme of darkness and evil for thousands of years.
Before this, neither the Pope nor the Chief Judge believed that anything could survive in a place like that. The so-called existence in the Void was just a hypothesis. But now, the truth was right before their eyes. Not only did that bastard escape, but it was also living a good life. Was it really that easy? At the same time, he used that forbidden power, which was incomparably powerful.
Now that this guy was with Saint Joel, the situation was so complicated that the two elders, who had gone through countless political struggles and conflicts of interest, could not think of a solution.
"But … Hope's actions after he escaped are really hard to read. At least, he doesn't look like a bad guy," the Pope said awkwardly. He had thought of this before, but he did not dare to delve too deeply into it. Those who used that dark power were the most detestable heretics. Everyone had the right to punish them. It was written in the Church's scriptures. Now, you're saying that he's not evil and that he's a good person? What does the scriptures count for?
"Now … that's the only way we can think about it." The Chief Judge pondered for a moment, then came up with a conjecture. "I think that's what happened. Saint Joel successfully ascended, but the True God gave him a new mission, which was to reform the evil beings in the Void. And now, he has accomplished this mission with flying colors. That Hope must be an example of how he succeeded in reforming the Void."
"This … How many people do you think can accept this? The ultimate goal of ascension is to enter the darkest place in the Church's scriptures and join forces with those villains? "the Pope asked helplessly.
"But this is the only explanation that can explain these contradictions. If you don't accept it, are you questioning the records of the scriptures? Or are you questioning the nature of ascension? "the Chief Judge asked aggressively.
"However, as you said, such a far-fetched statement will cause a lot of negative effects. Therefore, we should keep this matter a secret and try not to let others know. It's best to pretend that nothing happened. If Hope divulges this secret, we'll use this excuse to defend ourselves, "the Chief Judge said.
"So you're saying that no matter what, we can only let that Hope continue to get away with it? Do evil? "The Pope asked, a little displeased.
"Didn't you see what he did after he escaped?" The Chief Judge, who was supposed to hate evil and hate Baiyi to the core, had no choice but to whitewash Baiyi's actions in order to convince himself. "Think back to what he did! Even this time, he had accomplished an earth-shattering feat! Without him, the evil plan of Godsfall would have succeeded, and we would have suffered great losses!
"Even if we don't talk about this incident and his connection with Saint Joel, it's almost impossible for us to deal with him based on the reputation and reputation that he has accumulated through his previous actions. You have to know that even our Church has his admirers, not to mention ordinary people."
Justice was always in the hearts of men. When justice and dogma were at odds, it was always difficult to choose. For now, the Chief Judge could only stand on the side of justice.
The Pope could not refute the Chief Judge's words. To be honest, before learning of Hope's true identity, the Pope had always thought of him as a righteous and righteous hero. Now, however, something like this had happened …
"That's all we can do for now, but we can't let our guard down completely. We'll leave him alone for now, but we'll have to keep an eye on him, and we'll have to make sure we keep a low profile. Also, there's something else I'm worried about. What does this guy think of us?" The Pope had no choice but to give up on his dogma.
"Judging from his relationship with Saint Joel, I'm sure he doesn't see us as enemies. I'm guessing he's afraid of us. That's probably why he didn't want to reveal his identity," the Chief Judge speculated.
"That's for the best," the Pope replied in a low voice. The two of them had finished their conversation, so there was no need for further discussion.
Baiyi, who was far away in Arfin City, had no idea that the Church's opinion of him had changed so much that he did not know whether to laugh or cry. However, he did not care too much about the Church's attitude toward him. Now that he was certain that the news had been kept under wraps, even though he could not further increase his already high reputation, he was glad to have some peace and quiet. That way, he could focus on managing the affairs of the academy.
The students, who were on vacation, were still very interested in their new academy. Even Little Mia had been asking about the progress of the academy. She even said with a hopeful look on her face, "When the semester officially starts, it'll be very lively, won't it? It'll be like a festival … Ugh … Mr. Hope, why did you cover my mouth all of a sudden? "
My dear little ancestor, can't we just stop talking about festivals and whatnot? I've been working so hard for this academy for so long. Do you think it's easy for me? Baiyi did not know whether to laugh or cry.
However, Mia's wish of having more students and a more lively atmosphere was probably not going to come true. After a series of discussions among the Voidwalkers, they had decided that the academy would go the route of elite education.
Of course, there would be an extremely difficult entrance exam, which would filter out a lot of people. The tuition fee was set at 1,000 gold coins a year, and that did not include food, lodging, and other expenses.
This kind of expenditure was slightly higher than the average cost of other elite academies. At the very least, only middle-class and upper-class families could afford it. Ordinary families would not be able to afford it.
But then again, Baiyi took a look at the list of professors in charge of each academy. The most important faculty was the First Walker of the Void, the Sage-Emperor of the Magi, the greatest Emperor of the Rohlserlian Empire. The second in charge was the Great Sage of the Unmovable Great Sage, the Great Sage of the Doors of Conundrum.
Then there was the Martial Arts Department. The one who monopolized the title of the Sword Saint and left behind the legend of destroying an army with a single sword strike. The Swordsman who did not fall into depravity in the Void and continued to study martial arts and Earth's culture. Then there was the Assassin who was the most perfect assassin in history.
Then there was the Soul Armature Department. The inventor of the Soul Armature, the Pioneer, and the Soul Armature Practitioner who loved little animals. The Alchemy Department had the Heretic Alchemist who blew up the barrier between realms. The Divine Department had the Holy Paladin, Hantae, and the solitary Saint Joel of the Abyss. The Engineering Department had the most talented engineer in the history of the Blacksmiths Association.
Other than these famous names, there was also the Swindler, the Successful Businessman, the Barbarian Gourmet, the fairy-like Big Sister, the Adorable Assassin, and so on.
Finally, there was the Fifth Walker of the Void, the new Emperor of the Rohlserlian Empire, the Church's good friend, the Guardian of the Weak, the Teacher of Beautiful Girls, and the Great Sage of Salvation, Sir Hope.
All in all, aside from Nydore, who was in charge of the Archery Department, who was too young, the rest of the academy's faculty was unprecedented. Even Nydore, who had inherited the Caudillo Butterfly Bow, was the cream of the crop.
A thousand gold coins a year was a bargain. It was so cheap that Baiyi could not help but wonder why he was so kind.
Still, no matter how affordable the price was, there were still very few people who could afford it. The reason why Baiyi chose to start with the middle and upper class of society was because of the purpose of Baiyi's school. Other than the normal preaching, he also wanted to spread the word about the existence of the Voidwalkers. This group of people had a greater say in the matter, and they would be able to influence more areas in the future. It was easier for them to guide the public opinion.
As for the common people, Baiyi did not completely give up on them. Every year, the academy would set a quota for free tuition. As long as one could meet Baiyi's standards during the entrance exam, they would be exempted from tuition fees. Furthermore, they would receive a generous monthly allowance. This was a special measure to attract the most talented and talented students.
Other than that, Baiyi also had a series of plans for the common people. However, it was not time to put them into action yet, so he decided to put them aside for now.
Also, considering the existence of the foxes, the owl, the sunflower, and Mordred, Baiyi would consider recruiting them if he could find suitable students from other races. Although they might not have the money, he could still use them for other purposes.
In short, the future that the academy had planned out would be bright. Now, all that was left was to wait for the project to be completed. Then, they could start recruiting.
"But before that, shouldn't we hurry up and decide on the name of the academy?" The Archmage asked in the Void. "We've been discussing this for months, haven't we? My student, I know that you have not learned a thing or two from me when it comes to naming things, so just listen to me and use the name that I've designed. "
The Archmage came up with two names. One was Astra House, which sounded like an organization on the moon, and the other one was Rohlserlian Royal Academy. Well, neither of them was as good as the Archmage was at naming things, so naturally, Baiyi would not use any of them.
As for the names that the others suggested, none of them made sense. After much thought, Baiyi concluded that Hope Academy was the best option.
The Void debated the name of the academy for a long time. Summer and autumn had passed, and the project was nearing completion, but when the time came for the signboard to be customized, the Voidwalkers still had not come up with a concrete plan.
Baiyi's life had been peaceful for the past few months, and so had his students. He did not force them to go on adventures, nor did he spend the holidays with them. Instead, he would find an excuse to open the Book of Servitude into a small pocket dimension. Inside the pocket dimension, there was nothing but darkness. Then, he would hide inside the pocket dimension and play games with his friends. This was how he celebrated the holidays.
After three experiments, Baiyi had proven that this method was effective in avoiding the Festival Destroyer's strange trait. Fortunately, there were not that many festivals in the world, or else Baiyi would have gone crazy.
In the past few months, aside from attending classes, keeping an eye on the progress of the project, and taking care of the Fairies, Baiyi spent most of his time on academic research, especially the optimization of the Pseudo-Descent Secret Technique. Since it would require several Voidwalkers to descend at the same time, each of them would have to attend class separately.
The process went smoothly. When the War God lifted the restriction on Baiyi's power, he had smuggled a lot of his consciousness into the real world. The Lich Walker's soul dismantling and reconstructing went smoothly as well. After repeated research, Baiyi's consciousness was now able to support ten Voidwalkers in class at the same time.
This was only for classes and daily activities. When it came to combat, Baiyi had finally found a better use for the Divine Energy Crystal he had acquired. He connected the crystal to the Voidwalkers' armor, and the crystal would serve as a power source for the Voidwalkers' combat needs.
In the end, Baiyi let go of his stubbornness and chose the Lich Walker's suggestion. In just a short time, he had punished many of the criminals on the wanted list. Using the Lich Walker's method, he emptied their souls and created even more empty souls.
However, Baiyi did not dare to do too many of these things. Firstly, it was not easy to find such scumbags, and Baiyi did not have the time to collect their souls. Secondly, the Lich Walker's necromantic sorcery was a taboo, and using too much of it would be discovered.
Therefore, after going through so much trouble, the souls he finally harvested were only enough for two Walkers to fight in their peak state. The number was a little small, but there was nothing he could do about it. If he wanted to contain more power and execute more complicated moves, he would need more empty souls.
Of course, this should be enough. With Baiyi's real body, very few people could withstand the combined attacks of three Voidwalkers. With this, the academy would no longer have to worry about its own combat power. With three Voidwalkers, the academy would be a force to be reckoned with.
Just like that, Baiyi and his family welcomed winter peacefully. The girls changed into their new winter dresses, and they looked forward to the completion of the academy.
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