CHAPTER 33: THE CRUELTY OF NIGHT DEMON

"I've taken what you told me fully onboard, Master. This may be a little disrespectful for me to say, but I don't even regard the members of the likes of the Divine Heavenly Church and the Night Demon as humans. If I can use them as stepping stones without excessive risk to myself, then I will."

"You're right," Sun Yuan said with a nod of approval.

After that, Fang Che took the Divine Spirit Pill under Sun Yuan's supervision, following which the latter taught him to use his newly obtained communication jade.

"Pope Yin has awarded you five hundred church merit points. You can check your balance in your communication jade."

After that, Sun Yuan pulled out a jade slip, which contained various secret signals and symbols of the One Heart Church.

He pressed the jade slip against Fang Che's forehead, injecting the information that it contained directly into his mind.

It was a clear and peaceful night.

This was the time of day where spirit qi was most abundant, and Sun Yuan looked on with immense satisfaction as Fang Che mastered the Blood Incineration Technique.

He felt as if his disciple had grown up into a man.

From here onward, Fang Che's safety would no longer be a pressing concern, and he was certain that his disciple would surpass his own status in the church in the near future.

"I'm not against you selling other people out when necessary, as long as you ensure that no one finds out!" Sun Yuan warned.

"I understand."

Internally, Fang Che couldn't help but scoff at the two-faced nature of these church members.

However, just because he despised the way that they did things didn't mean that he wouldn't use their own underhanded tactics against them.

In fact, he was eager to sell out as many of his ''allies" as possible, and it certainly wasn't going to weigh on his conscience at all.

Fang Che knew that he had taken the all-important first step in the One Heart Church.

The most difficult part of every journey was always the first step, so he had just overcome a significant hurdle.

***

Later that night, Sun Yuan had already departed.

After some thought, Fang Che pulled out his communication jade to send a message to Yin Shengong.

"Pope Yin, Subordinate Fang Che has an important matter to report."

After a brief moment of hesitation, he replaced "Fang Che" with "Night Demon" before sending the message.

Yin Shengong had assigned him the codename of Night Demon, so he would be remiss not to use it.

He was sure that Yin Shengong would get a kick out of seeing the words "Subordinate Night Demon."

Sure enough, Yin Shengong instantly began chortling with mirth upon seeing this.

One of the main reasons why he had given Fang Che this communication jade and allowed him to communicate directly with him was for those exact words!

He had already been waiting for a message from Fang Che for an entire afternoon, and it had finally arrived!

Yin Shengong felt as if he could see Pope Hai Wuliang of the Night Demon Church kneeling down before him, referring to himself as "Subordinate Night Demon."

Just the mere thought sent Yin Shengong into another fit of mirth, and he chortled, "What's wrong, Night Demon? Aren't you always going against me? Why are you suddenly kneeling down and calling yourself my subordinate?"

He was chortling so loudly that even the guards outside could hear him, and they couldn't help but wonder what had gotten him so amused.

Despite his amusement, his reply was very cold and aloof: "What is it?"

He made sure to sit up particularly straight and put on an authoritative display while sending the message, as if the pope of the Night Demon Church were truly kneeling before him at this very moment.

"Night Demon is eternally grateful for the rewards bestowed upon him. From this day forth, Night Demon will be your most loyal servant and most staunch supporter."

This message of gratitude was completely superfluous, and Yin Shengong would've been displeased to have received this message from anyone else, but this was an exception.

Fang Che could tell from the speed with which Yin Shengong had replied to his message that the latter had to be over the moon!

Hence, he immediately sent a message pledging his loyalty to sweeten the deal.

Who else can provide you with such immense satisfaction? Only me, Night Demon!

Sure enough, Yin Shengong's response came right away: "As long as you serve me with loyalty and diligence, you will continue to be rewarded. Now, tell me what it is that you have to report."

Fang Che raised an eyebrow upon seeing this.

Yin Shengong had gone out of his way to write "serve me with loyalty," and Fang Che could already picture the mental image in his mind of the pope of the Night Demon Church kneeling down to lick the bottom of his boot.

While Yin Shengong was clearly still in a good mood, Fang Che cut straight to the chase: "Pope Yin, I sold out the Divine Heavenly Church's Ximen Clan to White Cloud Warrior Academy."

Yin Shengong was far slower to respond this time, and Fang Che was growing a little anxious.

After seeing Fang Che's message, Yin Shengong's eyes instantly lit up as he slammed his desk and yelled, "Brilliant! He really is destined for great things! As expected of a prospect that's managed to impress even the Heavenly Centipede Deity to display such decisiveness and brutality at such a young age!"

Yin Shengong was very pleased with Fang Che.

This was a textbook example of how a member of the Church of the Self-Righteous was supposed to conduct themselves!

After taking a moment to compose himself, Yin Shengong asked: "Why?"

I have to keep my messages concise so he doesn't realize how happy I am right now.

"I killed Ximen Xuri, so the Ximen Clan would surely come after me, and there's a very good chance they'll implore the Divine Heavenly Church to do the same. I don't possess the power to defend myself, so I had to strike preemptively in order to ensure my own safety."

"Brilliant!" Yin Shengong exclaimed once again. "That's exactly the answer I wanted to hear!"

He had sold out the entire Ximen Clan just because there was a chance that they could pose a threat to him. It was the selfish attitude of all for one that everyone in the Church of the Self-Righteous should aspire toward!

"That's your only reason?"

Yin Shengong was trying to feign displeasure in order to exert some pressure on Fang Che.

"There's another reason as well. The people in the academy have a negative impression of me after what I did with the Su Clan in Green Wave City, and I was worried that the academy would deprive me of resources if I didn't present myself in a better light. Hence, I sold out the Ximen Clan to curry favor with them."

Fang Che was putting on a candid display, and sure enough, Yin Shengong was even more pleased by his sincerity.

"What do you plan to do from here?"

"I am prepared to sell out Ding Jieran and Huo Churan's clans as well if necessary. I answer only to you and the One Heart Church, and I'm willing to sell out anyone else."

Once again, this was a very candid and honest answer from Fang Che.

"Brilliant!" Yin Shengong exclaimed for a third time.

They were already members of a terrorist church, what was the point in holding onto things like morality?

He immediately began to draft up a response: "On principle, all of us fall under the umbrella of the Church of the Self-Righteous. We are to help one another as allies, and selling out one's allies is considered strictly taboo in our church. This is a first-time offense from you, so I won't hand down any punishment."

Yin Shengong read over the message, but wasn't satisfied with it.

Hence, he added: "A stern punishment will be handed down if you repeat such a transgression!"

Fang Che immediately smiled upon receiving this message.

On the surface, it appeared that Yin Shengong was admonishing him in this message, but the devil was in the details.

Everyone knew that saying that something that couldn't be done "on principle" was essentially an admission that it was permissible.

As for the use of the words "strictly taboo," taboos were just like rules, things to be broken for the brave.

Furthermore, no punishment was going to be handed down just because this was a "first-time offense," so what would it matter if he did it a second time?

As for the final "A stern punishment will be handed down if you repeat such a transgression," that could basically be translated into: "Keep it up! Our One Heart Church has your back!"

Fang Che felt like his interpretation of the message was exactly how Yin Shengong had meant for it to be interpreted.

Hence, Fang Che immediately replied, "Sorry to cause trouble for you, Pope Yin. Subordinate Night Demon is eternally grateful for everything that you have done, and I hope to be able to truly share your burden someday."

Yin Shengong was very pleased with this response. He could tell that Fang Che had perfectly understood the hidden meanings in his messages.

However, even though the Ximen Clan's days were numbered, surely the Divine Heavenly Church wasn't just going to accept Ximen Xuri's death.

The problem was that Night Demon couldn't be exposed, nor could it be revealed that Night Demon had been given personal authorization by him to hunt down the seeded prodigies of the other three churches.

What should I do here?

After some thought, Yin Shengong sent another message to test Fang Che.

"What do you plan to do about the potential retaliation from the Divine Heavenly Church?"