Chapter 662 (1/2)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Sui Xiong felt that for a god, a church was not only a tool for preaching; it was also an embodiment of his ideas.

Perhaps, from a strategic point of view and proceeding from practical interests, a god should encourage or at least acquiesce to a variety of ideas, as well as different factions to co-exist within his church. And gods who owned very powerful churches, like the God of War, Wenner, and the Goddess of Wealth, Manissy, all did as such. But Sui Xiong did not want such a church.

What he wanted was a church that was relatively purer and full of vitality and fighting spirit. In his church, everyone might have different ideas, but their fundamental life philosophy and goal would basically remain consistently alike.

He knew that what he had in mind might be a little too idealistic and unrealistic. To establish such an organization, even if he had the support of a real god, it still wouldn’t be easy. He felt that if it was because he did not have enough conditions, then he could forget about it. But since he was a powerful god who could know what his followers were thinking, he could always empower the clergymen according to the degree to which their ideas conformed to his. Then there would be no reason for him to carry out his ideas.

It was true that doing so would reduce the number of devoted followers and the number of clergymen. But as the saying went, “Troops are valued for their quality, not their number,” so just one high-level clergyman could be much more powerful than 100 low-level clergymen put together. A temple presided by an outstanding bishop would be much more valuable than ten altars manned by capricious leaders.

At least, that was what he thought.

So after careful consideration, a few days later, he proceeded to issue another divination, urging his followers, especially those who were clergymen, to study their teachings well enough to find the contrast between their own teachings and life. This way, they could reflect on whether they had the tendency towards secularization or vulgarization, and thereafter purify their minds.

For those clergymen who “clung onto their desires in the mortal world,” he did not criticize them, but instead, he set up a new department within his church and got them more engaged in dealing with society and with the matters that required softer and more flexible approaches.

In this regard, he received a lot of support and suggestions from the God of Law, Law Brans.

The God of Law, Law Brans, was often called the “Master of Justice.” He was not the master god of a god system, so technically speaking, he could not be called “Master So-and-so,” but the things that he had done, especially for the Sacred Warriors under his command, had won him such prestige.

The Sacred Warriors under the God of Law consisted of a group of rigid fuddy-duddies. They respected and protected the dignity of the law and would do everything to maintain the regular order of society. Under most situations, they protected the small and weak, limited the powerful and authoritative, and maintained order in favor of the lower to middle classes. But if necessary, they would attack those people who resisted violently in order to help the rulers maintain social order.

If the “Nine Great Camps” system was used to evaluate this, the Sacred Warriors of the God of Law would most likely belong to the two camps of the Order of Good and the Order of Neutrality. More would fall under the former, but there would still be many falling under the latter.

Unlike churches such as those of the Goddess of Wealth and the God of War, the system that the Church of the God of Law was much purer. From bishops to priests to Sacred Warriors, they strictly observed and adhered to the teachings of the God of Law, even the slightest detail on a specific operation would require a temporary prayer to obtain a consultation.

Such an inflexible and unprogressive approach naturally greatly reduced the efficiency of work, so much so that the clergymen of the God of Law were often derided for being “blockheads,” having “heads full of stones,” and so on. But there was no denying that such a stubborn, to the extent of being rigid, style had earned them the trust of the society as a whole. Everyone knew that the clergymen of the God of Law were absolutely disciplined—even if there was a rule that they did not agree with, they would only choose to leave or persuade the relevant rule-maker. They would never make a move to fight against the rules.