Dawnless Sovereign-Chapter 76: Pope Yins Elation

Yin Shengong was barely able to suppress his own excitement.

Under normal circumstances, the successful establishment of a branch helm would've only been a minor piece of good news to him.

Even if this branch helm were able to infiltrate the Hall of Protectionists and gain a status of legitimacy, that would still have only earned a piece of casual praise from Yin Shengong.

However, the establishment of this branch helm had come like a bout of long-awaited rainfall over a plot of parched farmland!

All of the teams that had been sent out to establish branch helms for the One Heart Church had been completely wiped out, and the church was on the verge of being demoted back to the third rank.

If that were to happen, Yin Shengong would be completely humiliated and reduced to a laughing stock for all of the other popes.

Yin Shengong had already resigned himself to such a bleak future, but Night Demon had swooped in to save the day once again!

He had established a branch helm that could rank near the top among all of the branch helms of the main church's subsidiary factions!

In fact, the only thing that separated it from a branch hall was the absence of an Emperor tier warrior at the helm!

Sure, Night Demon had pulled some strings to accomplish all of this, but such a resounding success could never come through conventional means!

Night Demon had used his identities to hatch an elaborate scheme, and everyone was dancing on the palm of his hand!

It was like he was walking a tightrope with exceptional poise and balance, performing an incredible juggling act that had everyone wrapped around his finger!

Furthermore, he had established relations to the main church through this elaborate scheme! They were only Generals who were branch lineal descendants of their clans, but they were still from the main church!

These connections all belong to Night Demon now, while Night Demon belongs to me! As expected of my disciple!

"Brilliant! You've done a brilliant job!"

He paced back and forth in his room with his communication jade clutched in his hand, eager to share the good news with someone, but he suppressed that impulsive urge.

I can't tell anyone about this branch helm! If it gets exposed, it'll be targeted by all of the other factions of the southeastern path! If Night Demon successfully carries out his plan to completion, I'm going to make a report to the main church right away, informing them of the existence of the branch helm, but I have to do so in secret!

"I knew I was right to have high hopes in you! Make sure to take full advantage of this opportunity and develop this branch helm to its full potential! Once these people from the main church leave, I'll immediately send some powerful warriors from our church to reinforce your escort agency, but prior to that, you must proceed with caution and ensure that absolutely nothing goes wrong!"

"I'm not sure I want that, Master. Right now, the people in my branch helm are terrified of me, and I made them swear vows in the name of the Heavenly Centipede Deity to be loyal to me and to follow the law, but I can't make the people that you send to my branch helm swear the same vows! What if they step out of line and expose our branch helm?"

"Nonsense! Are you saying that my subordinates aren't as reliable as yours? All of them have countless years of experience in hiding from the Hall of Protectionists and keeping a low profile! Besides, you think I'd spare them if they exposed the branch helm through their reckless actions? How dare you look down on me, you little runt!"

Despite the furious tone of Yin Shengong's message, he remained as excited and ecstatic as ever.

"I'm sorry, Master. I spoke out of line just now."

"That's fine, you can speak out of line, but do not make any mistakes in your actions! In particular, failure is not an option for this branch helm! Do you hear me?"

"Yes, Master!"

"Make sure to keep me updated on any and all developments!"

"Yes, Master!"

"And report to me if you encounter any difficulties as well!"

"Yes, Master!"

Yin Shengong put away his communication jade and made his way out of his room, feeling as light as a cloud.

"You seem to be in a great mood, Pope Yin," Master Mei remarked upon catching sight of Yin Shengong.

"I'm completely powerless to resist, so I may as well enjoy myself," Yin Shengong said with a faint smile.

"You sound like you're being raped, Pope Yin," Master Mei chortled in a suggestive manner.

Yin Shengong: "???"

"Have you come here to laugh at me, Master Mei?" he asked with a disgruntled scowl.

"Not at all. I just feel like you're keeping some secrets from me," Master Mei replied with a suspicious expression.

"No secrets here. I've simply learned to let go," Yin Shengong sighed. "Sometimes, you just have to accept your fate. I've worked so hard for so many years to finally earn my One Heart Church a promotion to the second rank, only for it to all come crashing back down again..."

Master Mei couldn't help but heave a forlorn sigh, seemingly feeling very sympathetic to Yin Shengong.

"Is that not fate?" Yin Shengong asked. "Fate has played such a cruel joke on me. If it was all destined to come crashing down around me anyway, then don't put me on that pedestal in the first place! Losing everything after only just getting a taste of what it's like at the summit is even more painful than not ever reaching the summit at all!"

"How about I have a drink with you tonight to help you take your mind off things?" Master Mei offered.

"Sure, why not?" Yin Shengong replied with a wry smile. "Now that I've accepted my fate, I feel as if a massive burden has been lifted from my shoulders, and I don't want to do anything anymore..."

That was how he had felt over the past few days, but it certainly wasn't what he was feeling now!

"I know how you feel, Pope Yin. There have been many occasions in the past when I've felt the same way, and... What can I say? It's just a part of life. It's often the case that the more you want something, the more elusive it becomes. Life is always full of ups and downs and twists and turns."

"Indeed," Yin Shengong agreed with a sullen nod.

That night, Yin Shengong invited Master Mei and the three inspectors from the main church for a drink, with Mu Linyuan, Qian Sanjiang, and Hou Fang also present.

Yin Shengong spent the entire night lamenting his own misfortune, while everyone else offered up words of consolation.

Mu Linyuan's trio found this very strange, so they spoke as little as they could throughout the night and focused mostly on drinking.

Yin Shengong had never been one to wear his heart on his sleeve like this. Perhaps his expression would betray his dejected mood, but he would never pour out his heart and soul like this.

There had to be a reason for this. In fact, the three elders had a feeling that Yin Shengong may have received some piece of fantastic news, and he was only putting on an act right now.

"To become a second-rank church... That was my dream!" Yin Shengong sighed in a defeated voice before downing a cup of wine in one go. "I had to fight tooth and nail just to get this promotion, and it's about to be taken away from me! How do other popes manage to elevate their churches to the first rank? It's completely unimaginable to me!"

Mu Linyuan's trio exchanged a glance with one another upon hearing this.

Pope Yin is already aiming for first-rank church status? It sounds like the piece of good news that he received is even better than we thought!

Even though they were able to see straight through Yin Shengong's facade, they still maintained dejected facades of their own as they drank in feigned frustration.

"It's all so infuriating! What choice do we have but to drown our sorrows?"

"Don't be disheartened, Pope Yin. We'll still have chances in the future. As long as we don't give up, we can achieve great things together!"

"That's right! Fate may be determined to bring us down sometimes, but we have to always have the resolve to get back up again!"

The three sly old foxes were playing along splendidly with Yin Shengong's act, and the inspectors from the main church were none the wiser.

Finally, Master Mei and the others went back to their living quarters to rest, and the three elders immediately gathered around Yin Shengong with expectant grins.

"So? What's the good news, Pope Yin?"

"Good news? Our church is about to be demoted, and I'm about to be reduced to a laughing stock to the entire world! What good news could possibly come out of this situation?" Yin Shengong sighed in a sullen voice.

"Ah, yes, yes, we understand, Pope Yin," the three elders grinned.

"If you understand, then get out of here! I'm going to drown my sorrows by myself a little longer."

The three elders exchanged a knowing glance with one another before promptly departing.

"Ha! He's still trying to hide it from us, even though it's already written all over his face!"

"Whatever has happened, it seems that our situation must've taken a significant turn for the better."

"Even though we can't go anywhere under the supervision of the inspectors, Pope Yin has taken this time to thoroughly comb through all of the halls of our church. As a result, we have less people now, but the overall combat prowess of all of the halls has improved significantly."

"I suppose that's a piece of good news in itself. Once the inspectors leave, our One Heart Church should be able to take another step forward. Pope Yin mentioned first-rank churches earlier, so that must be where his ambitions lie."

"All of the hall masters are currently working their butts off! Pope Yin has set them cultivation progression targets, and I'm sure they don't want to find out what awaits them if they fail to meet those targets."

"But none of that explains why Pope Yin is so happy!"

"Night Demon must've buttered him up real good!"

"I feel like there's more to it than that..."