Chapter 208: First Saint – Xisi

Saint Xisi???

Xisi, who had just been striding confidently, suddenly froze in place.

He stared blankly at the State Church Priest shouting holy words from a height in the distance, while around his feet were desert dwellers whose daily lives were filled with despair.

In their hopeless existence, the desert dwellers were savoring the few, rare moments that could soothe their emotions.

And the first holy proclamation the priests intoned was, under these circumstances, indeed especially fitting!

"Saint Xisi suffers all suffering for the multitude."

"Saint Xisi bears the wounds for the multitude."

"It is because of Saint Xisi that you exist today, that you survive."

The priest spoke passionately, but to Xisi it sounded embarrassingly cringe‑worthy, sending gooseflesh over his skin.

At the same time, staring at the pit‑like present that was nowhere near a 30K, Xisi could only be speechless, wondering if he really had to say it that way—if it's because of him they exist today, would that make him a great sinner?

Although the desert dwellers wore faces of devotion, enjoying peace of soul, and finally found a bit of comfort in someone of higher status who suffered even more than they did.

Because, according to the Holy Record, Xisi must share everyone's suffering, which is essentially living worse than himself.

And as for whether this mindset is truly devout......

A bunch of people who can't even finish a meal—how can you expect them to have any affection for the Empire? How much love could they have for the Empire's high officials and legends?

If the church didn't hand out starch at random every day, they could at least hear who's worse off; otherwise, everyone would rather lie on their own ground and nap.

Only Xisi, unable to hold back, waited until the evangelizing process finally reached the starch distribution; while the crowd scrambled for it, Xisi slipped in from the other side, following the priest holding the Holy Record, to the church doorway.

"May I borrow the Holy Record for a look."

Xisi asked outright, and the priest—who still preferred the holy words over starch—was taken aback; he turned back excitedly, thinking Xisi had left Nest City, that his self‑exiled preaching finally received a response.

But when he turned and saw the face that met his eyes, the priest was briefly stunned, then his whole body snapped upright.

At the same time he reached out, trembling, pointing at Xisi:

"Y‑you‑you…"

The priest didn't finish; after a few 'you's, his eyes went black and he collapsed, dead from extreme excitement.

Xisi stared wordlessly at the priest lying outside the door, confirming he was fine, then picked up the Holy Record, intending to see what the current 40K had become.

The first line, 'Saint Xisi before you', had already shown Xisi its power.

Turning the page, the second page did not bear Luojia's name as expected, but was still signed 'National Church'.

"Where is Luojia?"

After flipping a few more pages without seeing Luojia's name, Xisi reluctantly gave up the search.

Instead, he tried to piece together, through the Holy Record's contents, what had happened over the years.

Quickly, as Xisi kept reading, the fragments in the Holy Record gradually clarified the rough history, and his brows grew ever tighter.

"The Emperor still sits upon the Golden Throne."

"The Empire's loyal legions still number only nine."

"Kiriman remains the Imperial Regent at present......"

"Why does this feel like nothing has changed?"

"Where is Luojia? The Whisperer? The Thousand Sons?"

After pondering for a while, Xisi carefully reread the entire Holy Record, confirming that Magnus's name appeared several times, and finally let out a slight sigh of relief.

"The fact that Magnus's name appears in the Holy Record at least proves the Great Rebellion was indeed different."

Xisi muttered to himself as he closed the Holy Record, and as his gaze left it, the priest who had fainted earlier had, at some point, already awakened.

The priest, still stunned and trembling on the ground, looked at Xisi, unsure how to speak.

Seeing the other awake, Xisi, whose knowledge from the Holy Record was incomplete, crouched down and gave the priest a serious look.

The priest, under Xisi's close stare, became even more agitated.

If Xisi didn't appear as a normal human now and hadn't shown any spiritual power, the priest would already have knelt.

The priest's trembling was all that remained, but Xisi's next question turned the priest's complexion pale.

"What exactly happened after the Great Rebellion?"

Great Rebellion?

What Great Rebellion?

Can you just say that casually?

The priest shivered; though low‑rank priests know little, as part of the National Church's origin they have at least a basic grasp of major events.

For example, the Empire once experienced a Great Rebellion, and many rebel legions were later expunged.

The priest swallowed dryly, his face growing more anxious.

Only when Xisi's impatience made him frown did the priest answer shakily:

"The Great Rebellion was just like that: the rebel forces were annihilated, and the Empire claimed another victory."

The priest didn't know much, but hearing that the Great Rebellion still erupted and the Emperor still sat on the Golden Throne, Xisi wondered whether Luojia, upon returning, had not stopped Helusu?

"What about Luojia? The one who wrote the Holy Record for you."

"And his Whisperer, where did they go?"

Xisi kept asking, and hearing these heretical words—terms that, once known, would be repeatedly eradicated by the Judgment Court—came out unreservedly from the 'person' before him.

Although the priest still hesitated, even doubted, he stared blankly at Xisi, then the limp body on the ground straightened into a kneel.

Regardless of what Xisi truly was, the fact that this kid could speak so freely forced the priest to kneel before him first.

"I don't know who Luojia is, nor the Whisperer, but there was indeed a legion; after they finished Terra, they seemed to have sparked the Great Rebellion, and later were forced by the High Lords into a penance expedition, and their whereabouts are unknown."

It's still half‑understood, but the core pieces of information were conveyed.

With a look that said 'this makes sense', Xisi's expression returned to normal; not that the High Lords were that foolish—one could imagine it was mostly the Four Gods clashing with the Emperor, the Emperor unable to fully alter the timeline, thus yielding the Whisperer to become a neutral faction.

"It's reasonable for the neutral to hold that view, but with the loyalist faction's strength increasing so much, hasn't the Emperor's decisive battle with Helusu changed at all?"

Xisi couldn't yet get an answer to this question from a tiny priest; he simply exhaled, stood up, glanced at the unchanged 40K Nest City around him, and asked the final question.

Xisi stood upright, stared seriously at the priest at his feet who was already about to bow in worship, then spoke each word with a pause:

"Then… what am I in the history of the National Church?"

Xisi was curious, and the priest, hearing Xisi finally ask this question and naturally say "I," could no longer bother with doubt or hesitation; he strained to support his trembling body and forcefully pushed open the great church doors behind him!

Light poured in from outside the doors, and the glass on both sides of the church ceiling cast dazzling colored beams.

Xisi followed the light with his gaze, then looked at the scene at the far end of the church, his eyes gradually opening.

It was still the statue of the Emperor, but among the many "saints" beside the Emperor, the foremost Imperial First Saint…

…was Xisi!