Yin Shengong immediately sent a response. "You still have one month before you have to set off. Make sure to elevate your cultivation base as much as possible during that time, and also apply for at least one month of leave from the academy. Our One Heart Church will be sending 256 other Generals, some of whom are already at the ninth rank. They are all going to be your opponents." During Ren Zhongyuan's absence, Yin Shengong had gathered a list of all of the One Heart Church Generals to take part in the Parasite Ascension Project, and he also held a meeting to give them some words of encouragement. Their names had already been submitted to the main church, so Yin Shengong didn't dare to strike them down now. Hence, they could only die during the Parasite Ascension Project. Among them were several prodigies that Yin Shengong had personally discovered several years ago, and they all pledged their loyalty to him. In response, he gave them glowing praise and handsome rewards, but internally, he didn't believe them at all. Perhaps they were being genuine, but Yin Shengong was never going to be able to bring himself to fully trust them again, so he would rather have them killed than keep them around. Not a single one of Ren Zhongyuan's subordinates would be allowed to live! If any of Ren Zhongyuan's people were to emerge from the Parasite Ascension Project alive, they would be sent to the main church for further development, eventually growing into formidable foes! Hence, Yin Shengong's orders to Fang Che were very simple: "All 256 Generals of our One Heart Church must die!" Fang Che was very much taken aback by this order, but it quickly made sense to him. Yin Shengong had most likely been forced to turn to him precisely because he could no longer trust those 256 Generals, so they were presumably all Ren Zhongyuan's subordinates. Of course, he still had to feign astonishment. "I beg your pardon, Pope Yin? I have to kill our own Generals?" "But this is too difficult a task for me at my current cultivation base!" "I don't care how you do it, you must ensure that all of them die! This is your mission. Either you die, or they die." "Alright, I'll do my best." Yin Shengong was very pleased. This was what he liked most about Night Demon. He followed orders without ever asking why, and that was the type of subordinate that was most appealing to Yin Shengong. With that in mind, he decided to offer Night Demon a reward. "Is there anything you want before the Parasite Ascension Project?" "I would like a divine weapon if possible." Yin Shengong's eyes instantly widened in shock. You want a divine weapon?! Even I don't have one of those! "Piss off! Get one yourself!" After a brief pause, he sent another message. "If you can secure the top spot or a top-three finish in the Parasite Ascension Project, there's a chance that you could receive a piece of divine metal as a reward." This time, it was Fang Che's turn to be astonished. Really? The Church of the Self-Righteous would award a piece of divine metal to a mere General? "I will secure the top spot!" Yin Shengong burst into laughter upon seeing this. He was worried that Night Demon would be lacking in motivation, but that definitely wasn't a concern now. Time passed by very quickly. Mo Ganyun was progressing at a rapid rate, enjoying a meteoric rise to the pinnacle of the ninth-rank Great Grandmaster tier. Yu Zhongge and Qiu Yunshang had also reached the ninth rank, while Jing Shuanggao had reached the pinnacle of the eighth rank. Ding Jieran was lagging a little behind, but he had also reached the eighth rank. His slightly lackluster cultivation base was made up for by his sharp and destructive sword techniques, allowing him to maintain a firm edge over Jing Shuanggao. There was even one occasion when he had defeated Qiu Yunshang, claiming the fourth spot for one week. At the moment, Fang Che was still ranked number one. He wanted to take himself out of the ranking system, but that was met with vehement resistance from everyone else. Ding Jieran had thoroughly impressed everyone with his combat prowess. Not only had he completely mastered the two sword manuals given to him by Yu Zhongge, he had added in his own variations to make the techniques even more powerful. This came as a massive surprise even to Yu Zhongge himself, and it was truly a reflection of Ding Jieran's innate swordsman constitution. If it weren't for the fact that they had already grown accustomed to his battle style, perhaps even Mo Ganyun would've suffered a defeat by his hands. Hence, they had unanimously decided to make Ding Jieran their secret weapon. Over the past month, everyone had been working tirelessly, and even though Fang Che was still ahead, his advantage had been whittled down significantly. This was where the wealth of these major clans truly began to show. Mo Ganyun and the others were constantly nibbling on cultivation resources like snacks. Aside from cultivation base enhancement pills, which came with negative side-effects, they were eating everything else they could get their hands on to bolster their spirit sense and cultivation foundations. They were receiving batches of cultivation resources from their clans virtually every second day, and even though Ding Jieran didn't have the support of a major clan, he had also been progressing rapidly thanks to the resources supplied by the academy. To their astonishment, Fang Che was still able to progress faster than them, even though he wasn't eating anything. "I'm so envious of Boss. I can't even conceive how someone's aptitude can be this good!" Yu Zhongge sighed. "Same," Mo Ganyun sighed. "Even though we're not that far off from him in terms of cultivation base, he still dominates us in battle, which means that even if we manage to draw level with him in cultivation base, we'll still be no match for him!" "You're probably gonna have to keep your title of Red Heavenly Lord for at least a few more years," Jing Shuanggao said with a sympathetic expression. "That would be the best-case scenario. What I'm worried about is that I may have to wear this headband for life!" "Honestly, that's a very real possibility," Qiu Yunshang said. "Then again, it's not a bad title. Who wouldn't want to reach the cultivation tier of Heavenly Lord?" "Why don't you take the title from me then?" Mo Ganyun snapped. "You can all have Heavenly Lord titles," Fang Che suggested. "Yu Zhongge can be the Rain Heavenly Lord, Qiu Yunshang can be the Cloud Heavenly Lord..."[1] "No! Please, Boss! It's still too early for that!" Qiu Yunshang and Yu Zhongge wailed. However, Mo Ganyun had already taken inspiration, and he chimed in, "That's a great idea! Jing Shuanggao will be the Well Heavenly Lord, Ding Jieran will be the Sword Heavenly Lord, and Boss, you can be the Complete Heavenly Lord!"[2] "I'm talking about your five-man team, don't lump me in as well!" Fang Che protested. "I like Rain Heavenly Lord, Cloud Heavenly Lord, and Sword Heavenly Lord. As for Well Heavenly Lord, that's lackluster. Let's go with Shadow Heavenly Lord instead." Everyone collectively nodded in agreement with this suggestion. Jing Shuanggao had very little presence in the group. He had a good personality and was quite outgoing, but for some reason, he never attracted much attention, just like a shadow, so this title fit him perfectly. "Ding Jieran should be called the Mute Heavenly Lord," Yu Zhongge jibed. "I speak sometimes!" Yu Zhongge scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "Yep, you say like three words a day!" Qiu Yunshang erupted into laughter upon hearing this. "I don't even say three words a day when I'm with other people!" Ding Jieran protested. "These titles aren't bad, but it feels very awkward to refer to ourselves as Heavenly Lords so early," Yu Zhongge sighed. "If other people hear about this, we'll be made into huge laughing stocks!" "They'll be inside titles for now then," Fang Che said. "All of us are aiming for the Heavenly Lord tier, so this will serve as a reminder for us not to slack off." "You're right, Boss. In that case, I will be the Rain Heavenly Lord from now on," Yu Zhongge said, then turned to everyone else with a wry smile as he implored, "Please don't call me that when other people are around. I don't think I could survive the embarrassment..." "Same for me," everyone replied with wry smiles of their own. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the ɴovel(ꜰ)ɪre.nᴇt However, their eyes were all glowing as they envisioned themselves as Heavenly Lords standing at the pinnacle of the world someday. Li Changkong and the others were observing in secret, and a mischievous look surfaced in their eyes as they hatched a diabolical plan. Several days later, it was time for registration, and the rosters were to be submitted for confirmation. Fifth-years: Wu Zhibing, Jun Hefang... First years: Red Heavenly Lord Mo Ganyun, Rain Heavenly Lord Yu Zhongge, Cloud Heavenly Lord Qiu Yunshang, Sword Heavenly Lord Ding Jieran, Shadow Heavenly Lord Jing Shuanggao. The five boys were squirming with embarrassment on the drill grounds, while Fang Che was chortling with mirth. Even the inexpressive Ding Jieran was flushed with embarrassment, and that was a very rare sight that Fang Che was determined to savor. "Assistant Dean Huang submitted the names without consulting with anyone else, so this has nothing to do with me," Li Changkong said with an innocent expression. "Now that the rosters have been finalized, it's too late to change anything." Huang Yifan rolled his eyes in a disgruntled display, but didn't say anything. Even though the four of them had hatched this plot together, he was the one who had submitted the final rosters, so he had to take the blame. It seemed like ever since he came to White Cloud Warrior Academy, he had done nothing but take the blame for others or serve as a glorified thug! I'm supposed to be a high-level supervisor! How did things become ?! 1. The Yu in Yu Zhongge's name and the Yun in Qiu Yunshang's name translate to rain and cloud, respectively. ☜ 2. The Jing in Jing Shuanggao and the Che in Fang Che translate to well and complete, respectively. Ding Jieran being Sword Heavenly Lord is self-explanatory. ☜