Light Fortress

Chapter 1639 - 325: Seeing the Light

"I know you’re very disappointed in the West Continent."

"But... if you really consider yourself a ’Goddess,’ then you should venture out."

Yuan Yang said, "Trapped in the Secret Dungeon, you can do nothing."

Meng Xizhou remained calm, "Handing over the [Holy Book], at that point, I truly can do nothing."

She understood well how powerful the infectious nature of the [Holy Book] is.

Currently, the number of Holy Books possessed by the Light Church is not enough to cause upheaval... But if they get a few more pages, the situation would be different; these people will act without considering the consequences, launching a war against the Southern Continent, ultimately converting masses of believers.

Trapped in the Secret Dungeon, she indeed could do nothing.

But the one thing she could do was to guard the [Holy Book].

"All things in existence, since they exist, they are reasonable..."

Yuan Yang sighed and said, "The founder left such pages in the Forbidden Book Tower, which shows he knew one day we might use them."

"Is this what believers in light should be doing?"

Meng Xizhou said, "I have my own persistence on this matter."

Yuan Yang fell silent.

"I know I can’t persuade you."

He smiled, "So the original plan was... I would be imprisoned in the Secret Dungeon, tortured in front of you. Then Yao Jin would use my life as a bargaining chip to exchange for a page of the [Holy Book]. If you agreed, then the next threat would follow."

Meng Xizhou felt a tinge of bitterness in her heart.

She hadn’t expected that the mentor she had trusted for so many years would collude with Yao Jin in such deception.

"I know, this is very bad."

The voice from the Black Silver Secret Dungeon was deeply saddened: "But if we can successfully retrieve the remaining Holy Books, the Secret Dungeon will let you go... so I’m willing to execute this task."

"But you were exposed."

Meng Xizhou took a gentle breath, struggling to keep her voice cold: "Yao Jin totally doesn’t care about the success of this task; he’s not as concerned about the [Holy Book] as you imagined."

A brief silence ensued.

Yuan Yang laughed, "Maybe he stayed in the dark too long, he wants to stand in the light, just a little longer."

He could actually understand Yao Jin’s actions.

Twenty years ago.

The shadows cultivated by the temple were just children.

He had visited the West Sea Crossing, watching those children under Mu Xin’s guidance, struggling in cultivation, as the last rays of sunset were absorbed by the ’Divine Mountain,’ so the long nights always came early in the West Sea Crossing, these children saw little light, they all hoped to grow up sooner and reach the light-filled Light City, but unbeknownst to them, the moment they arrive at the Light City, their lives would truly be surrounded and shrouded by darkness.

Yuan Yang remembered the changes in those children’s eyes.

He knew what was hidden deep in Yao Jin’s eyes.

Having dealt day and night with the Secret Dungeon for so many years, even an ordinary person would turn into a madman.

"So, have you changed your strategy now?"

Meng Xizhou’s voice was very calm, "Or maybe... being exposed was just part of the plan?"

Yuan Yang froze.

He merely chuckled self-deprecatingly.

Some things, once destroyed, cannot be rebuilt.

After Yao Jin said those words, the decade-long mentor-student relationship was gone, which no words can make up for.

Meng Xizhou is a smart person, and her will is incredibly strong.

To protect the [Holy Book], she would never again believe a word or even a syllable from his mouth.

"Perhaps this really is a part of Yao Jin’s plan."

Yuan Yang closed his eyes, spoke bitterly, "As the Secret Dungeon mission began, my status was plummeted to the bottom, in this dark place, he altered the previous plan, deeply imprisoning me... and afterward, ’torture,’ ’interrogation,’ even ’coercion’ can be done legitimately."

The plan changed, but also did not change.

To make Meng Xizhou willingly hand over the [Holy Book], Yao Jin directly exposed Yuan Yang’s purpose.

And then things continued as before.

Only this time what was different is... Yuan Yang was no longer acting.

"..."

Meng Xizhou bit her lip.

Asking herself, if Yao Jin truly wanted to torture her mentor and use the [Holy Book] as leverage, could she remain indifferent?

Or say.

She might not care about herself, but could she completely disregard others?

Upon considering this, Meng Xizhou’s heart seemed to be pricked by a needle.

"Are you thinking about that person?"

Yuan Yang murmured softly, "The Gu Family Envoy will definitely cross over this time, before I entered the Secret Dungeon, the Five Continents Council received Gu Nanfeng’s request to cross the continent."

Ku faced the Goddess of the Secret Prison and closed her eyes.

Her ten fingers clutched tightly, slightly trembling.

...

...

The Secret Dungeon fell silent again.

Sitting on the ground, Yuan Yang lifted his head, his gaze empty, suddenly feeling unprecedentedly relaxed.

Yes, relaxed.

He lived over seventy years, considered to have lived long in the mortal realm, but in the world of Transcendents... this age doesn’t mean much, his vitality remained strong, if he peacefully recuperated in the years to come, keeping his spiritual power intact, he could effortlessly live another thirty years.

Only, the longer he stayed in the temple, the more exhausted he felt.

Long ago, it wasn’t like this.

Yuan Yang thought of his youth, back then when the temple was initially founded, the eldest brother treated him very well, he could do whatever he wished, those were the days when the world was vast, without [Deep Sea] connections, traveling anywhere required a long, long journey.

He and his brothers traveled, spreading teachings everywhere.

But... those fellow disciples, later one by one, all perished.

So it turns out that the lifespan of a Transcendent may not necessarily be longer than that of ordinary people.

A person, no matter how fiercely their flame burns, only lasts for a short moment.

"...Ah."

Yuan Yang shifted his position, lying completely on the cold, dark floor of the secret dungeon. He gazed into the deep black above, letting out a long, sorrowful sigh.

When did it all start?

Everything began to change.

It seems to have started with that war in the North Continent... After the fall of the Red Emperor, the Northern War ended. This should have been something to be happy about, but the Senior Brother was not. Later, he realized that the Light Temple had "placed bets" during that war; they just bet wrong. The young girl from the Lin Family not only defeated the proud Red Emperor but also successfully melted the seed of the war.

In that war, many people died in Light City, people who would never own names of their own.

Among them were those close and familiar brothers who had spread the teachings together.

The secret of the Church funding the Red Emperor must be preserved.

The bodies of those people were also burned.

After destroying these secrets, the Meng family and the Lin Family arranged a marriage. Instead, this war made the relationship between Light City and the Lin Family better — because the West Continent dispatched a large number of believers to heal refugees during the war.

As long as the Northern War ended.

No matter who won, they would express gratitude.

The Light Church saved the lives of many of their citizens.

The relationship between Light City and the Lin Family remained intimate. The Senior Brother even cheerfully attended the new emperor’s enthronement ceremony, presenting a grand gift. That day, Yuan Yang was alone in the cemetery of Light City, where it was empty, as those who followed the Senior Brother north to participate in the war had died, not even a single bone brought back.

From that day on, Yuan Yang began to feel that the Senior Brother was a stranger.

The healing from the West Continent was fake, the congratulation for the new emperor’s enthronement was also fake.

During the War of Blights, these believers spread their faith across the land of the North Continent, conducting many shameful deeds... The mastermind behind these was the Senior Brother. If the Red Emperor ultimately won, the Light Church would have claimed one-fifth of the Northern Continent as their land of faith, but the Red Emperor was defeated.

The Empress from the Lin Family, after melting the war seed, became unprecedentedly strong.

The Light Temple simply couldn’t sign such an unequal treaty.

He once rushed over in anger to question.

But this matter eventually ended without resolution.

The Senior Brother said he had a severe illness and needed the fresh blood of the "Undead."

And Lord Divine, similarly injured, required a large amount of belief... The Northern War was a family affair of the Lin Family, the West Continent didn’t instigate the issue, just profited from it. Without doing so, he would die.

Lord Divine might as well.

From that day on, Yuan Yang embarked on a path towards darkness, personally collecting "Undying Blood" for the Senior Brother, and to spread the faith, disseminated the Spiritual Method used by the church to train believers.

The first person he contacted was Tonezaka Shozaburo.

Years later, lying in the secret dungeon, Yuan Yang recalled these past events, realizing that he had been walking in darkness for a long, long time.

This is a path with no turning back once started.

And in these long twenty-plus years, he only saw a different kind of hope in the Light Goddess’s body, cultivating Meng Xizhou, supporting the Meng family, knowing full well that Meng Xiao was the "Undead" the Senior Brother needed, yet still gave his full support, helping the latter ascend to the position of Saint Heir... Only in this way could he avoid the fate of being "drained of blood."

But in the end.

This ray of light was still blocked by the darkness in his own heart.

Yuan Yang quietly watched the top.

He actually knew where the Senior Brother’s "illness" and Lord Divine’s "injuries" came from, what they originated from.

It’s just that the Senior Brother never mentioned it, nor did he bring it up.

The most proud achievement of the Light Church in nearly a century is the "outright defeat" of the Netherworld King. If people knew that the Temple Grand Elder had been devoured by half, and the Light God’s Seat also paid a painful price, then this victory would lose its significance.

They wanted a great victory, not a tragic one.

They wanted to tell the world that light must crush evils.

But doing so... is it truly good?

Yuan Yang only knew that today’s temple was no longer the same as it was back then.

As Meng Xizhou said, this place supposed to be where brilliance lit the world, yet there was not a bit of light to be seen.

If given a chance to choose again.

Go back to that time.

Perhaps he would make a different choice...

Seventy years of foolish growth, the Senior Brother criticized him for being stubborn in his ways, dull-witted, acting without consideration, and unwilling to adapt.

He wished he were truly like that.

"Little Meng..."

Yuan Yang with closed eyes, after uttering this, hesitated for a long time.

In the end, he didn’t reveal the truth about the battle with the Netherworld King back then.

At the core, he was just a cowardly person.

Back then, when the temple waged war against the Netherworld King, he didn’t dare charge personally, facing the ominous disaster.

Later, when the Senior Brother went astray, he didn’t dare to threaten him with his own life to bring him back.

And later... when his own disciple was imprisoned in the secret dungeon for upholding justice, he didn’t dare to rescue him, instead taking a deceitful path.

Up until now, even with the firm determination to risk everything, he ultimately didn’t dare to reveal the false glory of the Light Temple, let Meng Xizhou see the scars of the church.

In this utterly quiet darkness, he finally saw his own cowardly, hypocritical face.

It’s so detestable.

He thought he held firm principles, but looking back, every single action he took in this life walked contrary paths.

No wonder he was so weary, weary to the extreme.

What an absurd thing it was, yet after his plan was exposed by Yao Jin, he instead felt infinitely relieved...

"Little Meng ah—"

Yuan Yang reached out two fingers, gently pressed them on his brow.

What he left in the secret dungeon in the end, was only a long sigh filled with endless regret.

"When you get out, go and see the light."