novelraw Chapter 133 - 131: In the End, I Still Gave Up
Chapter 133 - 131: In the End, I Still Gave Up
"I knew it!"
The Knightess’s fluffy beast ears twitched. She couldn’t help but hop a little as she clapped her hands and said:
"The benevolent are invincible... Yes, that’s it! The benevolent are invincible!"
Mivana savored the phrase, her gaze toward Westheid growing even more worshipful.
However, aside from the gullible Mivana, who believed him completely, everyone else wore a subtle expression that basically said, "Whatever you say."
It was just something said to make Mivana happy, so he didn’t care how the others felt.
Westheid waved his hand, his expression turning serious as he said:
"In three days, I’m preparing to cross the Ying River and conduct a preliminary exploration of the Fallen Land."
"!!!"
The words had barely left his lips when the cheerful atmosphere in the hall froze solid.
"Brother, what are you saying? It’s far too early to start reclaiming our land."
Even Yolanda, who desperately yearned to restore her family’s glory, thought Westheid was being too hasty.
Roy also tried to persuade him, saying:
"My lord, we haven’t even established a forward base. Our logistics aren’t fully prepared, and the new territorial administration isn’t complete."
Westheid said, "None of that is important. Those things only affect the speed at which we rebuild the territory. There has only ever been one crucial factor in reclaiming Qinghui Territory: expelling Chaos."
This wasn’t some radical assertion from Westheid; it was the plain and simple truth.
The technological level in the world of Poem of Destiny was not low. With modular construction, self-sustaining ecosystems, Floating Battleships, and Floating Cities, it was like something straight out of science fiction.
If one was truly willing to invest the resources, they could raise a city from flat ground or level mountains and fill seas with ease.
With the resources Westheid currently had on hand, accomplishing such feats would not be difficult.
Unfortunately, the Mortal World was, at its core, a metaphysical one. This was especially true when it came to Chaos, which operated on principles that defied all logic.
So-called industrial capacity, firearms and gunpowder, efficient administration... these powerful but mundane concepts were utterly meaningless in the face of Chaos.
To fight Chaos, only the blades in the hands of Transcendents were truly reliable.
"Even so, our Elite Guard hasn’t been assembled yet."
"That’s why I said this is a probe, not the beginning of a full-scale reclamation. Do we really have to wait until every single preparation is perfect before we cross the river?"
"If that were the case, I wouldn’t have come here in the first place."
Westheid let out a long sigh. He sat in the host’s seat, his expression grave.
After a long moment, he finally spoke to the group.
"I was originally thinking of building an Army of Light to retake Qinghui Territory. Sounds pretty bold, doesn’t it?"
’Hmm, the Army of Light?’
’Is he talking about *that* Army of Light? The legion-class directly blessed by the Divine Ancestor?’
"Build a Light Forged Legion and retake Qinghui Territory directly."
Westheid’s eyes were resolute as he affirmed:
"The first thing I told everyone was to build up our strength. So if you ask Yolanda, or the Regent King, or Reiya, or the Shadow Flame Duke of Yuanxi Palace, I told them all the same thing. I said we would steamroll Chaos, that we would crush Chaos with absolute power!"
"And everyone—my friends, my lover, my subordinates—they were all excited. Incredibly excited!"
"We were constantly preparing to reclaim our home, selling everything we owned to raise a full-strength Army of Light. Then we’d take back Qinghui Territory in one fell swoop—a pure, one-wave steamroll! The ideal plan was to wait until I achieved the Legendary Tier, then lead the Army of Light on a rampage through Chaos. It was totally possible!"
Everyone present nodded along. If they could truly raise one of the Radiant Holy Tree Empire’s core, elite anti-Chaos armies, retaking Qinghui Territory would be a walk in the park.
Westheid held up a finger.
"I said it would only take twenty, maybe twenty-five days—two to three weeks—to completely retake our homeland."
"Everyone thought it was amazing, but far too challenging! There could be no room for even a single mistake..."
The black-haired, purple-eyed young man gave a wry laugh, leaned back in his chair, and said slowly,
"...But in the end, I gave up on building the Light Forged Legion. I scrapped all those plans and came back to Qinghui Territory."
"Do you know why? I studied a massive amount of data on the Branch of Prosperity, and I could never bring myself to commit. What was the biggest problem? It wasn’t that I couldn’t raise an Army of Light, nor was it that I lacked the confidence to achieve the rank of Legend."
Westheid glanced around at the curious faces watching him before shaking his head.
"It’s because we’re out of time. As a descendant of the Pure Holy Spirit, I can feel it. I can feel our Holy Spirit Ancestor struggling to resist the corrosion of Chaos. Many Imperial Citizens view the Holy Spirit Ancestor of the Branch of Prosperity as a subordinate of the Celestial Gods. They think a Holy Spirit should reside with the Divine Ancestor in the Supreme Heaven."
"But that’s wrong. Utterly wrong! A Holy Spirit is, by its very nature, an innate Order Creature born from the land itself. Even after the Radiant Holy Tree underwent its Ascension, it had to leave a phantom of its Divine Power rooted in the earth, to say nothing of other Holy Spirits."
"The Pure Holy Spirit is no different. She has always been in the Purity Forest, protecting the Qinghui Clan People. She never left. It wasn’t until the Chaos Tide struck that she was forcibly dragged into a physical existence. Now, two years after our homeland fell, the only reason Chaos hasn’t crossed the Ying River is because the Pure Holy Spirit has drawn the bulk of its attention."
"This war isn’t over. In fact, it never stopped. The original goal of Chaos was to corrupt the Pure Holy Spirit!"
"M-My... My lord?! Are you saying the Pure Holy Spirit is surrounded by Chaos?!"
Roy slammed his hand on the table and shot to his feet, so furious at Westheid’s revelation that it felt like his eyes would split from their sockets. As a pure-blooded Qinghui native, his faith in the Pure Holy Spirit naturally surpassed his faith in the Imperial Divine Ancestor. Before the blessings of the Radiant Holy Tree ever reached them, the original inhabitants of the Purity Forest were already living under the Holy Spirit’s protection.
Although only one bloodline was directly blessed by the Holy Spirit, the other humans had also received her boons to varying degrees. This was why the Qinghui People were, on average, so beautiful—rivaling even the Elves.
The Elves’ Divine Ancestor, Emperor Qianlu, was similar to the Pure Holy Spirit. Both were essentially ascended Succubi. In fact, one could say the latter was of a higher purity.
The thought that his ancestor was about to be swarmed and defiled by Chaos almost made Roy faint. The pain was like that of a "Pure Love War God" watching his idol be brutally violated by a Minotaur chieftain—multiplied by a hundred!
Westheid said calmly, "That’s right. It’s happening right here, right now."
"COUGH... COUGH COUGH COUGH!!"
The refined, handsome, purple-haired man spat out a mouthful of blood on the spot, his coughs so violent they sounded like they were tearing his lungs apart.
’Good, good. This is exactly the reaction I was looking for!’
Seeing Roy, an extreme conservative from the Purity Forest, get so worked up, Westheid felt he had a good grasp of the Qinghui People’s psyche.
He immediately followed up by proposing his plan for reform.
"I have brought the Magic Tome of the Yonglan Knights with me. I know you are all attached to the traditional Glow Gatherers, but the fact remains: if we do not embrace change, we will be forced to suffer the ultimate humiliation of our Holy Spirit Ancestor’s fall!"