Everyone turned to discover Enforcement Altar Master Bei Mingxin racing onto the scene. "Subordinate Bei Mingxin pays his respects to Deputy Pope Bi." Bi Changhong clearly already knew the purpose of Bei Mingxin's visit, but he still played along, asking, "What is it?" "I have something that I must report. As the pope of the One Heart Church, Yin Shengong has been completely shirking his responsibilities, performing none of the duties expected of a pope. Deputy Pope Ren Zhongyuan has been forced to carry the load in his stead! “As an example, 256 of the 257 One Heart Church representatives that took part in this edition of the Parasite Ascension Project had been nurtured by Ren Zhongyuan! Yin Shengong is unfit to continue as the pope of the One Heart Church!" Bei Mingxin and Ren Zhongyuan had no idea who the only remaining General of the One Heart Church, and the announcer hadn't announced his name, so they naturally thought it had to have been one of the 256. The probability of it being the only General loyal to Yin Shengong was astronomically low. "Is that true, Yin Shengong?" Bi Changhong asked. Yin Shengong could immediately tell that Bi Changhong had been tipped off in advance, which meant that even he was on Ren Zhongyuan's side! This made sense, considering Yin Shengong's most powerful backer was the fourth-in-line deputy pope of the main church, someone that posed the most direct threat to Bi Changhong's position. However, Yin Shengong was completely unfazed, knowing that he had already won the battle. "With all due respect, I must defend myself and deny Master Bei's accusations," Yin Shengong said. "Having said that, it's true that I assigned the task of training 256 of our One Heart Church's 257 Generals to Ren Zhongyuan, while I nurtured only a single one!" "What right do you have to deny Bei Mingxin's accusations then?" Bi Changhong snapped. However, before he had a chance to continue, Yin Shengong interjected, "I have taken a quantity over quality approach, deciding to dedicate all of my time and effort to nurturing what I believed to be the brightest prospect by far, and it's paid off! That is the one General that I nurtured! He secured the top spot for our One Heart Church!" Bi Changhong was stumped, turning to Bei Mingxin with a look that said: "Hold on, this wasn't part of the script!" Bei Mingxin was also stumped, and he turned his gaze to Fang Che, who steadily met his gaze. "You're a General of the One Heart Church, are you not?" Bei Mingxin asked. "Yin Shengong, Pope Yin!" Fang Che replied without any hesitation. In that instant, Yin Shengong felt as if his heart had melted into a puddle, and tears were beginning to well up in his eyes once again. "Nonsense!" Bei Mingxin yelled. "All of the Generals of the One Heart Church were nurtured by Ren Zhongyuan! Where did you come from?!" "I am Pope Yin's disciple!" Fang Che loudly declared. "Pope Yin has been nurturing me in secret this entire time, and I am just as indebted to him as I am my birth parents! I will never betray Pope Yin under any circumstances!" His voice rang out like rumbling thunder, clearly audible to everyone present. It suddenly all made sense. It was no wonder that he had put on such a dominant performance, given that he was Yin Shengong's secret disciple. Bei Mingxin was at a complete loss for what to do. Internally, he was cursing Ren Zhongyuan for his incompetence. Not only had he embarrassed himself in front of everyone, he had drawn the ire of Bi Changhong as well! He fought to maintain his composure as he asked, "What evidence do you have to prove that you're Yin Shengong's disciple?" Fang Che was silent for a moment, as if he had made some type of important decision, then replied, "This was meant to be a closely guarded secret of mine, but I have no choice but to reveal it for Pope Yin's sake! I always use the saber in battle, but my true primary weapon is actually the sword! I have been taught the full set of Seven Blood Spirit Swords by my master! Will that suffice as evidence?" Bei Mingxin was completely rooted to the spot. The evidence was undeniable! In contrast, Yin Shengong felt as if he were on cloud nine! He was thoroughly reveling in Bei Mingxin's humiliation, but as the sly old fox he was, he knew that couldn't take things too far. Now that the truth was out, it was time to give Bei Mingxin a way out. "You're always at the main church, so it's understandable that you don't know every detail about the inner workings of our One Heart Church, Master Bei." Bei Mingxin immediately latched onto the olive branch offered by Yin Shengong, replying, "Indeed, it seems I was too rash." With that, he gave Yin Shengong a smile and a nod before departing. All the while, Bi Changhong was watching him with a hostile expression. Did he rope me into this just to embarrass me in front of everyone? Sly old bastard! "Please take your seat, Pope Yin!" the announcer requested. Yin Shengong took a long glance at Fang Che, then took his rightful seat at the very center. He felt like a new emperor at his inauguration ceremony. Everyone was still reeling from the fact that the One Heart Church had claimed the top spot. Yin Shengong had been a perpetual kneeler, yet all of a sudden, the middle seat was his! "Hard work really can beat talent if talent doesn't work hard," someone mused. Everyone around him hurriedly distanced themselves for fear that his idiocy could be a contagious condition. This text is hosted at NoveIꜰire.net "All kneeling popes, kowtow!" the announcer ordered. The popes of the Night Demon Church, the Church of Light, the Divine Heavenly Church, the Ice Demon Church, the Moon Demon Church... All of them were forced to kowtow to Yin Shengong and the others, feeling intense humiliation course through their veins. All of the other popes were standing behind the kneeling popes, cupping their fists as they extended deep bows. They had to remain in that position until further notice, and Yin Shengong was having to purse his lips with all his might to prevent a wide grin from spreading across his face. There were so many arrogant individuals that normally wouldn't even bother to spare him a greeting, yet they were now kneeling and kowtowing to him. That thought almost pushed him over the edge, and his face was contorted into a very twisted expression as he clung onto his disintegrating poker face for dear life. "The top ten Generals may step onto the stage and bow to their respective popes!" The tenth-place General from the Fire Demon Church stepped onto the stage, then knelt down to his pope as he greeted, "Subordinate Zhou Yunshen pays his respects to Pope Liu!" "You may stand!" Liu Qianyang said with a wide smile. "Zhou Yunshen has claimed 520 Five Spirit Parasites over the course of the Parasite Ascension Project. According to the rules, the tenth-place finisher will have his tally doubled, so his final tally is 1,040!" the announcer declared A streak of black light flew out of the black box in the announcer's hand before entering the Five Spirit Parasite within Zhou Yunshen's body. "Additionally, Zhou Yunshen will receive one Wood Spirit Pill, one Bone Spirit Pill, a specially crafted sword from the main church..." Zhou Yunshen accepted his reward before departing, and after him came the other top-ten finishers in ascending order. Finally, it was Fang Che's turn. He strode directly toward Yin Shengong, who was looking at him with nothing short of a benevolent expression. He was like a father who had worked all his life to raise his son, and his efforts had finally culminated in his son securing the top spot in the imperial examination. "Subordinate Night Demon pays his respects to Pope Yin! May your youth and health remain eternal!" Fang Che's voice rang out like rumbling thunder, and everyone present couldn't help but feel envious of Yin Shengong. However, something then occurred to them. Hold on a second... Night Demon? The kneeling Hai Wuliang couldn't help but raise his head to glower at Yin Shengong with seething fury, internally cursing Yin Shengong and all of his ancestors! "Please accept his kowtow from Subordinate Night Demon!" Fang Che loudly declared, and Hai Wuliang was so enraged that he felt like his chest was about to explode! "Good boy, Night Demon. You may stand," Yin Shengong said in a benevolent voice. Hai Wuliang: "......" It sounded like someone was grinding their teeth. All of the popes, regardless of whether they were standing, sitting, or kneeling, were sneaking glances of gleeful schadenfreude at Hai Wuliang. All of a sudden, even the ones that were kneeling weren't feeling so bad about themselves. "Over the course of the Parasite Ascension Project, Night Demon has claimed... 31,463 Five Spirit Parasites!" Everyone was given a massive fright by this number, including all of the spectators, popes, and surviving Generals, many of whom were unable to suppress the urge to cuss out loud. Even the high-and-mighty Bi Changhong turned to stare at Fang Che, his expressionless facade instantly crumbling. For a final tally of over thirty thousand, he had to have personally killed at least six to seven thousand people! Never in the history of the Parasite Ascension Project had anyone even come close to such a staggering number! Even Fang Che himself was stunned. Is there a mistake? I didn't kill that many people! "According to the rules, the reward must be capped at a hundred thousand, so Night Demon will finish with a total of precisely one hundred thousand!" All of the spectators had erupted into chatter. Compared with those who had finished below him, Night Demon seemed to have gotten the short end of the stick. Everyone else had received ascending onefold, twofold, threefold, boosts. As the top finisher, Fang Che should've received a tenfold boost to his tally, yet his tally only just barely tripled. "Night Demon's final tally has exceeded the imposed cap, so all of his other rewards will be doubled," the announcer continued. "Normally, he the top finisher would've received three tierless Dao Realm Spirit Pills, one divine composite sword, and a vial of ten recovery Cloud Spirit Pills fit for consumption for all warriors at or below the Sovereign tier. As aforementioned, those rewards will all be doubled."