Chapter 215

Li Wei was the Xuanjiao Ambassador, and his status in the imperial court and the Guiyuan Sect was very high.

When his sedan chair stopped in front of the God Temple gate, he was immediately welcomed in by the Shendian attendants.

The Shendian had a total of eighteen floors.

On the first floor hall stood a god statue about three stories high.

The image of the Guiyuan Great God was a man wearing a gold crown, white robes, with gentle and kind eyebrows and eyes.

Different from the statues outside, the god statue here was carved more exquisitely and meticulously.

Under the reflection of the candlelight, the statue was shining with gold and was luxurious all over.

Lin Qingyue saw at a glance that it was not gold-plated paint, but made of pure gold!

Around the god statue was attached powerful and rich spiritual energy, seemingly evil but not evil, a god but not a god.

Lao Gui looked up and examined it, but when his gaze met the god statue, he felt a powerful sense of oppression suddenly shroud him.

The god statue's eyes clearly hadn't moved, but for a moment, Lao Gui felt that he had been seen through, and a sense of fear suddenly arose in his heart.

Could it be that there really are gods in this world?

"Don't be afraid, that is just a sculpture, just added some power to interfere with people's thoughts. You don't have to look at it."

Under the interference of this power, people who enter this place will feel the solemnity and spiritual power of the god. Those who believe will believe even more firmly. Those who don't believe will also be deterred and slowly start to believe.

However, Lin Qingyue clearly knew that this was just a trick, which had long been used up in the Immortal Cultivation World back then.

When Lin Qingyue first started, she acted chivalrously and was also carved into a statue and offered on the altar by others.

But she had very few believers, the biggest reason being that her god statue had not been blessed with power. After being worshipped for a period of time, people slowly forgot about it.

Unlike those hypocrites, who had so many means to seize the trust of mortals.

Lao Gui's cultivation was not strong enough, so he would be interfered with.

Although Dongfang Qi also had some cultivation, he had been practicing for a short time, and his foundation was not deep enough.

Lin Qingyue was afraid that he would be interfered with, and was about to warn him.

But she saw that he was already looking at the god statue intently, without any feeling of being affected, his eyes only revealing a bit of contempt: "Bluffing, and you dare to call yourself a god?"

Lin Qingyue was somewhat surprised: "The power covered on that god statue is very strong, are you not affected at all?"

Dongfang Qi shook his head: "It seems to have no effect on me."

At this moment, an attendant wearing white divine robes came over and said: "Ambassador Li, the Bishop invites you."

While speaking, he also looked at the followers behind "Li Wei."

Lao Gui wanted to take Dongfang Qi and Lin Qingyue to the upper floors, and asked: "These two are my confidants, can they follow me to meet the Archbishop?"

The God Servant said: "The Archbishop only said to see Ambassador Li, others are not allowed to enter without a summons!"

Lao Gui wanted to argue, but saw Lin Qingyue secretly shaking her head to signal.

So, Lao Gui said: "You wait for me here, don't run around, so as not to offend the god."

"Yes!" Lin Qingyue and Dongfang Qi answered obediently.

Lao Gui, wearing Li Wei's body, was led by the Shendian attendant and walked all the way up the stairs to the sixth floor.

The sixth floor was where the Archbishop received subordinates daily.

As soon as Lao Gui stepped onto the sixth floor, he felt the feeling of the floor under his feet was very special.

He looked down and was surprised: this entire floor, from the main hall to the corridor, and to the floors of the various rooms connected, was all paved with gold bricks!

The golden ground, reflecting dazzling light, deeply stung Lao Gui's heart.

Along the way, the people of Guifang Kingdom were struggling, and the people were mostly ragged and starving.

But here? Expensive gold was stepped on at will.

Clearly they were all in the same country, clearly under the same sky, but the Shendian and the folk were split as if they were two completely different worlds.

And the Bishop of the Shendian was sitting on a chair embedded with gems and agate at this moment. Even the golden nanmu table in front of him was wrapped in gold and inlaid with pearls.

Several beautiful girls of fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing light and revealing gauze skirts, surrounded the Bishop to knead his legs and beat his back.

"Li Wei, it is so late, and you still come to seek an audience. What for?"

Lao Gui suppressed the indignation in his heart, knelt down and kowtowed to salute: "Reporting to the Archbishop, this official just received news. The Feng Kingdom and Qi Guo have successively started to mobilize troops and are coming toward our Guifang Kingdom."

"Just for this?" The man on the luxurious high seat sneered with disdain.

He was unhurried, drank a sip of red wine handed by a beauty, and said: "The three major dynasties of the Central Plains, Qi, Feng, and Chu, will sooner or later be in our pockets. Originally I wanted to slow down and move troops against them later. I didn't expect them to be unable to sit still first."

Li Wei said again: "Should this matter be reported to the Holy One early? So that we can make preparations early? And the matter of conscription, should it also be prepared? Our country's east borders the Feng Kingdom, and there are not many border guards, in case..."

"No need to worry. We have the god's protection, divine soldiers to assist, and we will win every battle! Even if the Central Plains dynasties unite to invade, there is nothing to fear."

"As for the Holy One..." the Bishop said with disdain, "Our noble Holy One has recently been practicing wholeheartedly according to the cultivation secret manual I sent him, and has no time to deal with government affairs. There is no need to inform him of everything."

"Li Wei, do you have anything else? Why hasn't the errand entrusted to you been handled well?"

Lao Gui knew he was referring to the matter of collecting boys and girls before. Originally, the people had been gathered, and they should have been sent tonight.

But this so-called Shendian was clearly a fire pit.

When Lao Gui took over Li Wei's body, he naturally would not send those children into the fire pit again.

"This official is just about to report this matter to you, sir. Originally, 40 boys and girls had been gathered, but just at noon today, this official found that seven or eight of the children repeatedly had symptoms of high fever and aversion to cold. After asking a doctor to check, it is preliminarily suspected to be malaria."

"For the safety of the Shendian, this official had to temporarily isolate those dozens of children in a place and observe them for a few days. If they are all healthy, then send them to the Shendian."

Commoners are like ants, not worth pitying, let alone those who carry infectious diseases.

Sure enough, the Bishop's eyebrows frowned immediately upon hearing this: "What bad luck. Fine, let this matter be delayed for a few days. But if it is really malaria, don't be soft-hearted, kill them if you have to. You should understand the severity of this."

"This official understands!"

The Bishop's attitude, Lao Gui had already predicted.

"Retreat."

Lao Gui wanted to delay for some more time, but the Bishop was already hugging the maid beside him and heading to the back hall.

The attendant was also urging: "Ambassador Li, please return!"

Lao Gui had no choice but to retreat.

Returning to the first floor, he saw Lin Qingyue and Dongfang Qi coming up to meet him.

The three exchanged glances, and then left the Shendian together.

Until they returned to the Li Mansion and dismissed the outsiders, the three began to speak.

Lao Gui first detailed the situation of meeting the Archbishop tonight.

"I followed your instructions and said that the Feng Kingdom and Qi Guo might mobilize troops against Guifang. But the Archbishop didn't show any tension at all, and his tone was full of confidence. As if he was convinced that even if they fought, Guifang Kingdom would win."

"But all these years, Guifang Kingdom has been fighting wars everywhere, and building God Palaces extensively, the national treasury must be empty. Our country's people are struggling, and after years of war, the men are withered. And the three Central Plains countries are richer and have stronger troops."

"I really don't understand, why does the Archbishop have the confidence to win the war? And what does the divine soldier he mentioned refer to?"