Chen Changsheng replied, "I have never thought of placing South Stream Temple in danger."
"Your Holiness, I understand Your Holiness. Three years ago, I am confident that Your Holiness would never have done this, but just as I said before, time can change many things."
Huai Ren sighed, "The Your Holiness of three years is already different. If so many people had not died that night in the mountains, if Linghai Zhiwang had not gone to the Mount Song Army headquarters, if Your Holiness had not gone to Wenshui City, if Your Holiness had not stood at my side, I might have believed Your Holiness, but not now. “
"The entire continent knows what Your Holiness wants to do.
"From the Mount Song Army headquarters to Wenshui City, Your Holiness wanted to win over the venerable Daoist and the Imperial Court's reinforcements from outside the capital. Your Holiness even succeeded in changing the Tang clan's attitude, so how could Your Holiness let Holy Maiden Peak go?
"Did Your Holiness ever wonder why everyone knew what Your Holiness wanted to do, but the venerable Daoist did not stop Your Holiness? Because he did not need to care, because when you attempted to chop off those arms of his, his gaze had already fallen here several years ago, on Holy Maiden Peak, which should have been Your Holiness's strongest external aid. "
Chen Changsheng calmly listened, saying nothing.
"A student rebelled and failed in one hundred years. Even if Your Holiness persisted to the end, the human world would split and the demons would take advantage of the chaos to invade the south. At that time, how would Your Holiness face the destitute and miserable believers, how would Your Holiness face the bones by the side of the road, how would Your Holiness face the generations of Popes of the Orthodoxy? Give up. In the capital, I spoke with the venerable Daoist. He promised me that as long as Your Holiness is willing to give up the position of Pope, you can cultivate as you please in South Stream Temple or Mount Li. Your safety will be guaranteed. "
Huai Ren looked at him with the gaze of a senior looking at a junior, wanting to hear the answer she was waiting for.
Chen Changsheng calmly replied, "I cannot agree to this request."
Huai Ren appeared somewhat disappointed and said, "Why must you go against your own teacher?"
From the moment he carried the Tianhai Divine Empress down from the Mausoleum of Books three years ago, this was a question that many people wanted to know the answer to.
Linghai Zhiwang, Daoist Siyuan, the Cong Province Army headquarters, and even the Mount Li Sword Sect all had reasons to be wary and even hostile to the Imperial Court and Shang Xingzhou, but he did not.
Whether it was from the perspective of history, or from the perspective of the common people or the officials, Shang Xingzhou did not have much to criticize.
Before and after the coup of the Mausoleum of Books, he had used very formidable methods, but anyone who wanted to accomplish great things would do the same.
He had indeed used Zhou Tong, but when Zhou Tong died, he had issued an imperial edict, listing out more than ten of Zhou Tong's crimes.
If a war was to break out between them, Chen Chang Sheng couldn't say that he was standing on the side of justice no matter what.
Back then, he had said to his martial uncle the Pope that his teacher would not let him live, so he had to oppose him.
Now, with the passage of time, many things had changed, but he knew that this matter had not changed.
The battle that night in the snowy mountains and the ruined lake garden were the clearest evidence.
If it was just this reason, then he had no right, much less the right, to drag the entire Orthodoxy, the Mount Song Army headquarters, the Cong Province Army headquarters, the Tang clan, the Mount Li Sword Sect, Holy Maiden Peak, and even the entire continent into this assuredly bitter war. Just as Huai Ren had said, even if he was the Pope, the most powerful person on the continent.
Chen Chang Sheng was naturally not willing to see this sight.
But he knew that if he did not want this sight to truly occur, he had to prepare himself for it to truly occur.
Retreat and compromise could not obtain true peace. It was surrender. This was a truth that the humans and demons had only arrived at after so many years of war, and it now seemed that many people had forgotten it.
He was now the Pope, so he had to bear the corresponding responsibility for the Orthodoxy and even the entire human world.
"If that's what everyone thinks of me, then everyone is wrong."
In the distant plains, the lines drawn by the Tong River grew darker and darker. Chen Changsheng looked in that direction and calmly said, "I didn't do these things because I wanted to obtain supreme power, nor was it because I wanted to kill him for my own safety. Even though he wanted me dead so many times, I still didn't want to kill him. It was not because he was my master, but because I knew, just as you said, that if I wanted to kill him, the entire continent would fall into chaos. I did these things only to ensure that the Orthodoxy had the ability to contend against the Imperial Court. "
Huai Ren asked, "This being the case, why does Sir still want the Orthodoxy to contend against the Imperial Court?"
Chen Chang Sheng replied, "Martial Uncle once said to me, kind-hearted people need to be even more vigilant … vigilance requires the corresponding ability, or else it will become a joke."
Huai Ren understood what he meant and sighed.
"Holy Maiden Peak is far away in the south, but the Li Palace is in the capital, very close to the Imperial Palace. We must bear this responsibility, just like when the Tianhai Divine Empress was in power. If not for Martial Uncle, no one knows how many roofs would have been flipped over by the tides of tyranny, how many innocent lives would have been lost."
Chen Chang Sheng continued, "The current Imperial Court needs a power that can keep it in check, and the venerable Master needs an existence that can threaten him, or else the Imperial Court will act recklessly and Master will become a monster. Martial Uncle chose me to be Pope precisely because he knew that only I could lead the people of the Orthodoxy and play this role well."
Huai Ren said, "But Sir's current actions are no longer just vigilance. It's more like you're preparing to start a war."
"The Mount Song Army headquarters and the Tang clan are still only vigilance, or perhaps warning."
Chen Chang Sheng continued, "If the Imperial Court and Master cannot correct their mistakes, I and the Orthodoxy will correct them for them."
Huai Ren asked, "Sir's so-called correction is to kill and seize power?"
Chen Chang Sheng replied, "Killing is because people like Ning Shiwei, Zhu Ye, and Tianhai Zhanyi deserve to die. The Tang Second Master colluded with the demons, so he deserves to die even more. Seizing power is because the Orthodoxy needs this power. More importantly, the Imperial Court and Master have already proven that the people they chose do not have the right to wield this power."
Huai Ren looked into his eyes and asked, "Then what if the Imperial Court continues to make mistakes? What if the venerable Daoist insists on these methods? "
Chen Chang Sheng was quiet for a very short while, then said, "Then I can only think of a way to overthrow his Imperial Court."
Huai Ren softly sighed. "In the end, we still return to this cruel old path."
Chen Chang Sheng said, "Different paths might lead to the same destination, but the reasons for embarking on this journey are different."
Huai Ren asked, "If the final result is the same, is the reason important?"
"There is a great difference between killing in self-defense and killing and robbing. This is very important. I must believe that I am correct."
Chen Chang Sheng said something that he had not said in three years. "Because I cultivate the Dao of following my heart."
The sun had already set behind the mountains, but the vast sky of stars had still not completely revealed their true appearance. The mountains of the south welcomed their darkest hour.
The flowering trees by the cliff gently swayed in the wind, seemingly surprised at why the scene had become so quiet.
After some time, Huai Ren softly said, "This is the Dao that Sir cultivates, Sir's war. Is it really necessary to drag in Holy Maiden Peak, which has been quiet for so many years?"
Chen Chang Sheng replied, "I believe that this is a matter that Yourong and the disciples of South Stream Temple should decide."
… …
… …
(This chapter is very important. I wish everyone a happy holiday and a slow growth. Tonight, we will go out to drink. Today is the end of this chapter.)
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