[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces":3,"chapter-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-337":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Dragon of a Thousand Faces",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2269983,4431,"Chapter 337: Self-Restraint","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-337",337,"\u003Cp>“She agreed to act as your mole?” Dainya was surprised; Victonia had this kind of ability?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not just her—her dolls too.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Dolls?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“She can turn them into living beings. Her power is unique—those creations are more like fragments of her soul. Any normal person doing this would be dead already, but the parts she splits off actually regenerate.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To create life out of nothing—or even a whole Zuqun  by herself—just imagining it made the sheer absurdity of this power clear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps she isn’t strong enough yet. But if those “fragments” grow, she alone becomes an army—even a Zuqun .\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En felt a strange sense of satisfaction, like drawing a random card and pulling an ultra-rare SSR.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You can’t say that exactly. She has tremendous potential—perhaps from the start, she was the sole heir to the Heroic Soul.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only current limitation to Victonia’s ability to create fragments is that the “newcomers” cannot stray too far from her, or they gradually lose vitality and sink back into slumber.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En tested it—the covert operation might actually work. She could specify the direction of transformation, like turning a doll into a living person from a fairy tale.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm, could she turn living people into dolls? Seems she might actually be able to.” Li En remembered the jars in the shop—inside were shrunken thugs, locked up after causing trouble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After some thought, Li En shook his head and dropped the idea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He vaguely realized that even if Victonia weren’t chosen by the Heroic Soul, she was destined to rise—being able to “digest” the Heroic Soul’s legacy and turn it into nourishment for her own growth was proof enough of her potential.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her seemingly unambitious, even timid personality would be a weakness for other careers, but for an alchemist—who thrives on accumulation and time—it might be her greatest advantage: bluntly put, alchemy is a career where the longer you study, the stronger you become. Her dislike of stirring up trouble could very well let her outlast everyone and reach the pinnacle of the world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“She agrees with me. It seems that once the new church is established, going idle won’t be realistic—I don’t have the energy to manage its growth. Looks like I’ll need to plant some moles inside.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>History has proven that religious personnel corrupt at an astonishing rate. Once a church reaches a certain scale, corrupt individuals will likely outnumber the devout.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even true divine churches have slightly better outcomes, but only marginally. Absolute power, wealth, and strength in hand—even kings and emperors must show respect or even reverence. One misstep could lead to total downfall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The gods’ “observation” is limited, and often they don’t care whether their earthly priests remain “pure.” Since they’re merely “tools” for spreading faith, they naturally care only about effectiveness—whether the faith and doctrine are spread better.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, the bizarre phenomenon depicted in some literary works is real: the lower ranks remain cheaply pious while the upper echelons grow corrupt. It could truly happen—only perhaps the lower ranks haven’t been corrupted yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I don’t expect them to stay pure forever, nor do I expect them to differ fundamentally from other churches. I only hope that during my lifetime—Li En Sudar’s lifetime—they remain controllable, useful tools.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En never tested human nature, nor did he expect those originally pure to resist corruption from time and greed—the answer was obvious: of course they’d rot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Human nature isn’t worth testing at all. Only a tiny handful of saints endure the trials of time and desire—and the fact they’re called saints proves how rare they are.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Institutions like churches and nobility, with almost no constraints, inevitably rot over time. Purity and integrity are the anomalies; corruption is the norm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En planned to plant moles—just enough to ensure ten years, no, twenty years of positive development.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That shouldn’t be hard. New small groups, at least in their early stages, are still quite pure.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En didn’t rely entirely on Victonia and her little companions—he had another candidate in mind.\u003C\u002Fp>",669,"2026-06-19T21:45:42.084Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","e93273f341302b6df4dcb2f8cfaedc1b97dc5b7077a6ef2f800094bad6c01034","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-338","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-336",362,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-cover.jpg"]