Chapter 666: They are finally back (II) (2/2)
A fierce argument was taking place in the meeting taking place in the Assassin Temple.
“Head Sheng Yue, I don’t believe that we should still wholeheartedly support the Knight Temple. Don’t tell me you cannot tell that the Knight Temple is already in decline?” The one speaking was an elder with a slim build, an aged face covered with wrinkles, and a bald head. No matter how one looked, he already looked like someone with one foot in the grave, who’d just fall over in front of a blowing gust. But his sharp look was as sharp and ice-cold as an eagle, visibly extremely resentful.
“Since ten years ago, the Knight Temple has not produced any new Divine Knights. Of their three Divine Knights, Yang Wenzhao will be unable to participate in this one due to being the present Alliance’s head. Long Xingyu has not even come, and what can just Long Tianying alone do? This Temples’ Great Gathering is really special and will determine the future path of the Alliance. Standing on the wrong side will very possibly cause a decline of the Alliance and greatly lower our position in the future Alliance.
“Although we also cannot take the exact opposite stance by supporting the Mage Temple, we should at least stay neutral and stop keeping the same position as in the past.”
Don’t look down on this thin looking elder: his speech shook the whole conference room immediately.
Sheng Yue sat on the first seat, and had a really heavy look. This was far from the only one of the elders from the Assasin Temple to raise an objection. He may be the head of the Assassin Temple, but these elders from their Temple were far more influential than the ones from other Temples, especially this one who just made his speech.
That was the chief elder of the Assassin Temple, Xue Zichen, the most senior, and one generation older than Sheng Yue, as well as being the representative of the oldest generation of the Assassin Temple. In strength, he was in the top tier of the Assassin Temple, reaching the second rank of the ninth step, and was close to the third rank. Calling him the cornerstone of the Assassin Temple would be no exaggeration, and as the chief elder, plenty of people supported him. Right now, the expression of his point of view created a total plot shift in this conference.
The higher-ups and greatest elders from the Assassin Temple made up a total of forty-one people, and at least half of them were swayed.
Another elder continued, “Old Xue is right. Our damage was very great in this Holy War four years ago, and the same goes for the Knight Temple. After such a long time, the Mage Temple and Spiritual Temple having sustained the least damage, their rise in power has been the quickest. And in this Alliance’s Great Gathering, I don’t think they will be able to defend their crown. We must discard this Alliance, or else how will the other Temples view us after the birth of the new Alliance? We will not only lose a powerful ally, but moreover, we will become despised by all the other Temples.
“From another point of view, if the Knight Temple hadn’t assisted us so wholeheartedly, how long do you think we would have lasted in the Holy War? Do you know how many souls of the loyal knights have been left in our walls? Don’t tell me you want to abandon our benefactor like that? I have already decided that no matter whether the Knight Temple finally defends their crown or not, our Assassin Temple will keep supporting them with its all. Even if the Knight Temple finally loses, we will at least stand in solidarity. Demonkind is our target, not internal strife. I believe whoever rules over the new Alliance, they won’t excessively oppress the other Temples.”
This was not the first time Sheng Yue had spoken these words, but the Assassin Temple still had yet to come to a unanimous reply. The Temples’ Great Gathering was nearing, so the choice of the Assassin Temple couldn’t keep being delayed. They had to come to a final decision on this day, but the sound of opposition was still just as high.
Of the Six Great Temples, the one with the least control was, without a doubt, Sheng Yue. That was due to historical reasons: after all, his teacher who used to be the previous head of the Assassin Temple had already, before dying many years ago, been contesting against Xue Zhisheng. The competitiveness between these two elders was very intense, and their gap in strength, very little. Now that Sheng Yue had lost his teacher’s support, his standing in the Assassin Temple was naturally not that great any longer. This was also why he had to ruthlessly make Cai’er integrate with the Spiritual Stove of Samsara back in those years. He hoped for his granddaughter to not become like him at the time when she would control the Assassin Temple.
As the chief of the elders’ group, Xue Zisheng suggested, “Since you are so obstinate, let us decide by vote then. As the Temple Head, your vote can count thrice, while mine as the chief of the elders can count twice. The minority shall follow the majority, so we will come to a conclusion today.”
Hearing all this, Sheng Yue felt his heart tighten. He understood that since Xue Zhisheng was suggesting such a course of action, he was already fully confident in having the large majority here supporting him. In case this decision came through, even the head of the Assassin Temple wouldn’t be able to do anything about it, and this would also greatly damage his future authority as well.
Since things had come to this, Sheng Yue was already unable to stop the voting taking place in front of him. Out of rage, he clenched his hands tightly, looking grudglingly at Xue Zhisheng.
The gloomy and cold-eyed Zhisheng gave no leeway. Despite growing very old, his authority in the Assassin Temple was still really massive.