The Pope was a saint.
He only needed to say one word and there would be millions of believers of the Orthodoxy willing to die for him.
Chen Chang Sheng didn't know what the Pope's first words were.
He was a bit nervous.
Then he heard three words.
"Come … come … come."
The Pope beckoned to him, indicating for him to enter the hall.
It was like a farmer calling his chick, or a grandfather teasing his grandson.
Chen Chang Sheng stared blankly, then followed the stone steps into the hall, standing by the Pope's side.
The Pope was right in front of him, this fact made him incomparably nervous.
Even though he had seen many important figures after coming to the Capital, some of them even being legends, he still found it hard to control his emotions.
After all, this tall and thin old man was the Pope.
The Pope, while watering the Green Leaf potted plant, pointed at a chair and said: "Sit."
His voice was very gentle, his demeanor very casual.
Chen Chang Sheng sat on the chair, feeling as if he was sitting on pins and needles, his entire body felt uncomfortable, yet he didn't dare to move.
"Be more casual." The Pope looked at his appearance, smiled and said: "I know you have many questions in your heart, to save some time, I'll speak first. If there's anything you don't understand, or if there's anything you want to ask, you can directly ask me. If it's convenient for me to answer, I'll naturally answer you."
Finishing this sentence, his hand left the wooden ladle, smiled and said: "I'll speak first and answer afterwards, it'll take about two hundred breaths of time, I think you can still endure it."
Chen Chang Sheng knew that the Pope was referring to his current sitting posture being very difficult, he couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed, respectfully nodding his head.
Without any preamble, without any foreshadowing, the Pope began his own narration.
"Your teacher is called Taoist Ji, he also has another identity, he was once the principal of the Orthodox Academy, which is also my senior. You don't need to look at me like that, I'm very sure that he only has these two identities, because the most likely third identity was already eliminated by me and the Empress a while ago. "
"In other words, you are my martial nephew. There has always been a saying outside the Li Palace that Tianhai Ya'er is my successor, but that is not true. I do not have a true successor, so in other words, you are the only successor of our sect, so it is only natural that I look after you. "
"I have a grudge against your master, a huge grudge. I killed him once, but I didn't expect him to survive. I'm already so old now, and I can't be bothered to kill him again. Besides, just because he made a mistake doesn't mean that you are also in the wrong. You shouldn't be the one to bear the responsibility."
"He agreed to let you enter the capital to break off the engagement. He did not deliberately conceal the name of Daoist Ji, which means that he did not intend to hide it from us. In fact, I think that he wanted me to look after you. But you entering the Orthodox Academy was truly just a coincidence. Letting you enter the Tong Palace was because I had Mo Yu take you there. "
"Why can I make her move? Because I am the Pope. "
"Staying in the Tong Palace for a night can avoid the storm of the Ivy League gathering. With the Bureau of Traditional Education watching, entering the Three Grades in the Grand Examination isn't too difficult. But I didn't think that you would get to know Princess Luo Luo, and even become her teacher. I didn't think that the stagnant Orthodox Academy would actually be able to cause such a huge commotion. I didn't think that you would be able to leave the Tong Palace, face the storm of the Li Mountain Sword Sect at the Ivy League gathering, break into Ethereal Opening at the Grand Examination, and actually obtain first upon the First Banner. "
Saying this, His Holiness paused for a moment, looked at him lovingly and said: "What I didn't think of the most, and what I should have thought of the most, is that since you are the only successor of our sect, why would you need my care, or my arrangements? Not bad, this child of yours is truly not bad. "
The palace hall was silent.
From the moment His Holiness spoke his first words, Chen Chang Sheng's mouth had been wide open due to shock, and had never closed it again.
Orthodox Academy had always been under the care of the Bureau of Traditional Education. At the very beginning, including him, many people thought that this was a silent protest by the Orthodoxy's conservative faction towards His Holiness and the Divine Queen, as well as some sort of symbolic declaration. It wasn't until the battle for the Grand Examination, when the Tower of Purging Dust was rained several times and His Holiness personally crowned him with the laurel, did people realise that this wasn't an internal affair of the Orthodoxy, but rather a declaration made by the Orthodoxy to the Divine Queen and the Zhou Dynasty.
From that moment on, Chen Chang Sheng had many guesses as to why His Holiness valued him so much. He was very sure that this value had something to do with his master, but no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't have imagined that the extremely unremarkable middle-aged Taoist in Xi Ning Village's old temple was actually His Holiness' senior, the last principal of Orthodox Academy that had been reduced to ruins over ten years ago!
"If you have anything to ask, then start asking."
His Holiness picked up a handkerchief from the table and wiped his hands, casually saying this.
Before this conversation had started, according to Chen Chang Sheng's imagination, for an important figure like His Holiness, his words would definitely be shrouded in mist, his words cryptic and profound, hiding countless deep meanings. He would need to be carefully pondered, in order to comprehend the truth. Who would have thought that His Holiness would so simply and cleanly explain everything, the bright moon and cool breeze felt refreshed, all the questions he had on the divine avenue had all been answered.
He didn't know what else he wanted to ask, until he remembered the few details in His Holiness' words, he said with a serious expression: "You said that my master made a mistake, what mistake?"
His Holiness said: "That year, he went against the Orthodoxy's Great Radiance Assembly's decision, supporting the Chen Royal Clan in opposing the Divine Queen, bringing the entire Orthodox Academy and even more people into that abyss."
The citizens of the Zhou Dynasty supporting the Chen Royal Clan was a matter of course, what mistake was there? Chen Chang Sheng said without hesitation: "That's not a mistake."
"At that time, only the Divine Queen's ascension to the throne could stabilize the government, otherwise, the Zhou Dynasty would be divided, the flames of war would be incessant, and the demon race would take advantage of the situation to invade the South. No matter if the starting point or goal of a choice was correct or not, in the eyes of us old people, as long as it affects the overall situation of humanity against the demon race, then it's a mistake."
The Pope looked at him and calmly said, "It has already been several hundred years since that war. For a child your age, there are very few people who have seen the demons with their own eyes, and it is even more difficult to imagine the tragic scene of the continent. If you knew, then you would believe that our decision was correct."
Chen Chang Sheng was young, but he was never one to be easily convinced, he directly asked: "Then what about now? You and the Divine Queen are gradually drifting apart, aren't you afraid of affecting the overall situation against the demon race? "
"I've known the Divine Queen for several hundred years, I know what kind of person she is, therefore, I have no objections to her ruling the Zhou Dynasty, the problem is, no one can live forever, the entire continent must consider how the human world will live after her."
His Holiness seemed to have thought of something, his expression became a little emotional, he slowly said: "If the Tian Hai family can produce a second Divine Queen, then what harm is there in replacing the Royal Chen family? The problem is, the Tian Hai family can't produce a second Divine Queen, then the Royal Chen family must eventually return to their position. "
Chen Chang Sheng listened to these words and was silent for a long time, he then asked: "Even so, I still don't understand, how did my master guess that you would change your mind?"
"Your master agreed to let you come to the capital to cancel the marriage, because he wanted to use your existence to tell me that he is still alive, and also to remind me, that you are the only successor of our school."
His Holiness repeated what he said before, he said: "No matter if I change my mind or not, I still have to take care of you, otherwise wouldn't the inheritance be broken? Your master is the person who understands me the most in the world, so regarding this point, your master understands it better than anyone else. "
Chen Chang Sheng's expression was a little confused, until now, he still couldn't connect the middle aged Taoist in the old temple of Xi Ning Village with the famous principal of the Tradition Academy. Then he thought of something, His Holiness said that taking care of him was to continue the inheritance of their school, but he came from the Heavenly Academy and his master came from the Tradition Academy, how did they become the same school? Which sect did they belong to?
He uttered the question.
"Heavenly Academy, Temple Seminary, Tradition Academy, Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green, Li Palace College ….. besides Star Picking Academy, the Six Ivies of the capital are the places where the Orthodoxy trains the next generation, and the only people who practiced the orthodoxy in the past were me and your master, the so-called inheritance naturally refers to the inheritance of the Orthodoxy."
His Holiness looked at him and calmly said: "That year, your master almost broke the inheritance of the Orthodoxy, now you have the responsibility to continue this inheritance."
Hearing this, Chen Chang Sheng's face instantly paled, he couldn't say anything for a long time.
This didn't mean that his mental state was too weak, the main thing was that this news was too shocking.
The sole successor of the Orthodoxy?
No matter who it was, to suddenly know that they had the possibility of becoming the next Pope, they would be shocked speechless, even the craziest Painted Armor Xiao Zhang was no exception.
Not to mention that Chen Chang Sheng was only a fifteen year old youth.
The hall was silent, the wooden ladle floated in the air, slightly tilted, constantly pouring water into the basin, the water was like silver, the green leaves in the basin slightly trembled, a few sparkling and translucent droplets of water could be seen on the surface.
After an unknown amount of time, he awoke from his shock, looked towards His Holiness and asked: "This shouldn't be something that I need to consider in the near future, right?"
His voice was very dry and hoarse, somewhat unpleasant to hear, it was clearly caused by nervousness.
"Mei Li Sha and I were worried that the pressure we put on you would be too great, that you might collapse before you matured, but now it seems that we were worrying too much."
His Holiness quietly looked at him, his two eyes were calm and deep, as if they could see through everything. Chen Chang Sheng felt that all the secrets of his body and soul had nowhere to hide, this feeling made him very uncomfortable, fortunately, in the next moment, His Holiness shifted his gaze, extended his hand into the air and grasped the ladle.
Two hundred breaths of time had passed, the water in the ladle had been emptied, the question-and-answer session concluded.
It was time for Chen Chang Sheng to leave, but he didn't want to leave, he had previously found that he had no questions to ask, but now he remembered, there were still many things that he wanted to know.
For example, the Mausoleum of Books, for example, the Garden of Zhou, for example, the stars.
For example … the Orthodoxy.
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