Chapter 242: Leader of the Peace Religion

"Is this place the one controlled by the Peace Religion?" Outside a small town, Ieyasu looked at the bustling street before him in some wonder.

"Compared to the Imperial Capital, the people here have more sincere smiles on their faces!" Sayo said, looking at the people on the street.

"You two should just wander around here; after all, this place is one of the few rare, quiet spots in the Empire!" Lingyun said with a smile.

"What about you, Young Master?" Sayo asked.

"As for us, we have a place to go, and it wouldn't be convenient for you to follow!" Lingyun said.

"Oh, then Sayo, let's go!" Ieyasu nodded, then left in the company of Sayo.

……

In front of a house at the Peace Religion headquarters, a young man was reading a book, with several attendant-like men standing beside him. Suddenly, the man's hand, which was turning a page, paused, and then he raised his right hand and waved. The attendants present nodded and then withdrew one after another.

"Please come out, guests from the shadows!" the man said.

"As expected of the legendary Leader of the Peace Religion, to actually be able to detect our arrival!" The shadow under a large tree expanded rapidly, and a woman's soft laughter came from within.

After the shadow expanded to the size of a person, Lingqi leaped out from it, looking at the young man before her with a beaming smile.

"No, if you hadn't leaked your aura yourself, I'm afraid I wouldn't have known anyone was in that spot," the young man said, closing his book with a gentle tone.

Just as Lingqi wanted to say something more, two more people walked out from the shadows: one was Lingyun, and the other was Luo Yexi. The young man's gaze fell upon Lingyun, and his expression involuntarily turned serious.

"This person must be the Leader of the Peace Religion, right?" Lingyun said, looking at the young man.

The man, who was the Leader of the Peace Religion, nodded slightly: "May I ask who you are, sir?"

"My name is Lingyun," Lingyun said.

"So it is you, Lord Lingyun!" The Leader of the Peace Religion nodded slightly, but deep within his pupils, an unfathomable light flickered.

Lingyun's gaze fell upon the Leader of the Peace Religion. Although the aura on his body was well-concealed, Lingyun could still sense a terrifying power lurking within his body. If this power were to erupt completely, even the current Lingyun would have to avoid its edge. However, on the periphery of this power, there were heavy shackles locking it tightly, allowing only a tiny sliver to leak out. Yet it was precisely this sliver that created the Leader's healing ability. As for seeing through people's hearts and peeking into the future, that should be his innate ability!

"It seems this Leader is no ordinary character," Lingyun muttered to himself.

"I wonder what business you have, sneaking into my place?" the Leader of the Peace Religion asked softly.

"Nothing of great importance, just curious about you!" Lingyun looked the Leader up and down, a strange smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "By the way, I hear you can see the future; so, what is the future of the Peace Religion that you see?"

Upon hearing Lingyun bring this up, the Leader of the Peace Religion's face turned ugly at once. In the futures he saw, the Peace Religion was in one dire situation after another. Some involved the sect splitting and being dragged into the battle between the Revolutionary Army and the Empire, ultimately being completely destroyed. Others involved it being destroyed after the new Empire was established because it interfered with the new Empire's operations. Although fate and the future are constantly changing, the Peace Religion was always heading toward a path of destruction. Although he had the heart to save it, he did not possess enough power and could only watch it edge closer to the cliff step by step.

"Looking at your expression, it seems the future Peace Religion definitely won't have an easy time!" Lingyun said.

After pondering for a while, the Leader of the Peace Religion gave a bitter smile and bowed deeply to Lingyun: "I hope you can take action to save the innocent people in this sect!"

"Oh? Why do you think I can save this sect?" Lingyun raised an eyebrow.

"Because from beginning to end, I have never been able to see through your future; in other words, your fate has already transcended the fate-line of this world. Only you can break the fate of the Peace Religion's destruction and save those innocent people." The Leader of the Peace Religion even used honorifics. "Moreover, my power within the Peace Religion has already been hollowed out by Bolic. Even the guards beside me just now are almost all Bolic's subordinates. I have already lost the ability to command this sect!"

"But do you know what the price is?" Lingyun asked.

"The price?" The Leader of the Peace Religion was taken aback.

"The future of the Peace Religion you observed already represents the path of this sect in a sense; you could say the future you see has become the weather vane for this sect. If someone else proposed saving this sect, perhaps you wouldn't be affected. But now that you have personally said you want to save this sect, it is bound to create a violent conflict with the future you see. In such a situation, this ability of yours to foresee the future might be completely crippled!" Lingyun said slowly.

The Leader of the Peace Religion stood frozen in place, a look of struggle flashing across his face. But in the end, he said: "If it is for those innocent believers, discarding my ability is not unacceptable!"

"Indeed a quite great leader; no wonder so many people join your sect!" Lingyun said with a smile.

"This is not my merit, but the favor of many believers," the Leader of the Peace Religion said with a humble expression.

"Then just wait for my news," Lingyun nodded slightly.

The three of them did not stay here for long, as the guards beside the Leader would not let the Leader leave their sight for too long.

"Hey, Lingyun, was what you said just now true? Why would changing the fate of the Peace Religion cause that Leader to lose his ability to peek into the future?" On the street, Luo Yexi asked with some curiosity.

"Of course I was lying to him. After all, this ability is his innate talent; how could it be lost because of the future of the Peace Religion?" Lingyun spread his hands.

"Then why did you say that?" Lingqi asked.

"Because someone wants to take back the power in his body to repair themselves. After all, this power was formed from a fragment that shattered off of them back then!" Lingyun said.

If the World Consciousness of this world hadn't actively contacted him, he really wouldn't have known that there was a fragment of the World Consciousness inside this Leader. However, if that were the case, then the astonishing power within his body would make sense. Although it was only a tiny bit, it was the condensed great power of a world. At the same time, the Leader of the Peace Religion's ability to peek into the future could also be explained; with the power of the World Consciousness inside him, plus his own innate talent, it was not impossible for him to occasionally peek at the direction of the world.

Having spent quite some time with Lingyun, Busujima Saeko naturally understood who Lingyun was talking about and couldn't help but click her tongue: "It seems this Leader is no ordinary person either!"

"That's right. If this world hadn't gone wrong, perhaps this person would have become a Child of Luck in the future!" Lingyun nodded slightly. "If I'm not mistaken, at this time, the people from Night Raid and the Jaegers should have arrived in this place too. Why don't we go see their current situation?"

"Sure, I also want to see the results of the battle between the two sides!" A glimmer of interest flashed in Lingqi's eyes.

The three of them chatted and laughed as they slowly disappeared at the end of the street.