News of what had transpired in West Hill kept coming into the imperial city.

The newspaper industry in the empire flourished under Andy's devoted support such that the people's pa.s.sion towards this new stuff kept rising. In Andy's opinion, newspapers had become an important tool to educate and even control the people's sentiments.

About seven to eight versions of the scandal regarding the church in West Hill were created and published in the newspapers.

Fatty could not understand why Andy insisted on writing the scandal story into seven or eight different versions.

The old skeleton smiled lightly and said, "In this world, humans have the strongest curiosity. When faced with such an interesting matter, if we merely tell this in one simple version, there will always be flaws and some smart people will see the flaws. But if we deliberately tell the story into a few different versions, then even if there are flaws, the people will be too occupied to ponder about it deeply. After all, our goal is to stir up trouble and blow things up! No matter how long they are going to debate, regardless of what's the final result, all that matters is the scandal involving the church that has left a deep impression in everybody's mind! As for the truth... Humph! There are thousands of mouths on thousands of people, and maybe a thousand mouths can come up with a million versions of the story! Haha..."

Fatty looked at the sinister smile on the old skeleton's face and reflected on his words for a moment. He then said slowly, "Old devil, n.o.body can be more sinister than you when it comes to scheming and plotting!"

Anyhow, the authority of the church was already destroyed. Under the propagation of the empire's newly emerged newspaper industry, the whole Empire seemed to be discussing this scandal which happened in the Tulip Family's fief.

The old skeleton had put in enormous efforts in arranging this matter. First of all, the influence of the church was weaker in the fief of the Tulip Family. Secondly, the Tulip Family was almost a divine existence in the hearts of the Imperials, they were an idol wors.h.i.+pped by millions of people. Now that such a scandal occurred in such a sacred place, rage would erupt as the people despised the disdainful practice of the church. They had defiled the sacred honor of the Tulip Family!

The imperial newspapers had follow-up reports almost every day.

For example, the new confessions of the arrested bishop.

Or the people's comments regarding how the greedy bishop embezzled such a huge amount of money...

And those whips and iron chains which were discovered also sparked discussion among some special groups...

Finally, one day, almost all newspapers in the empire published a report with a huge headline:

"What is actually beneath the glorious halo — holiness or darkness?"

The tone and words used in this long report were obviously to draw attention to the church! Although it was not directly stated, those who had read this report would mostly have this doubt, 'How many more such greedy conmen are there in the church? Though one bishop was caught, those who were not, were they really innocent?

'Every year, we have paid so much religious taxes. Were these really used for wors.h.i.+pping the G.o.ds? Or was it used to fatten these greedy conmen?'

All of a sudden, there was an uproar in the Empire!

The signature on this report was, of course, the chief critic and writer, Mr. Andy.

Under the setting sun, a troop slowly escorted a carriage into the imperial city.

Sitting inside the carriage were Marquis Rody and his wife, Miss Nicole of the Tulip Family, as well as his two other confidantes.

Rody had returned to the imperial city secretly under the escort of a troop of imperial guards and fifty elites from the Lightning G.o.d's Whip, officially ending his carefree days at the Westwood Province.

During this period, Rody was so annoyed being in Westwood. The church had sent some men there to request the release of the bishop. They had also demanded thorough investigations to be carried out regarding that matter to restore the honor of their religion.

Rody was strongly against such stiff demands. He had once kicked out the elder from the highest religious inst.i.tute sent by the church to the Tulip Mansion. This elder was an old rascal from the elders' council, and he had rushed here from the imperial city to specially handle this matter.

Rody replied boldly, "I'm not a believer! Your rules are useless to me! I'm only responsible towards the imperial laws! So, stop telling me what to do!"

The elder who held quite a high position in the church fumed. He almost turned against Rody on the spot. Driven by rage, he immediately gathered the two thousand Flaming Warriors stationed in West Hill City and was about to s.n.a.t.c.h those arrested by force.

But Strehl, the deputy regimental commander of the Flaming Warriors remained sensible. He arrived here earlier and had experienced the stubbornness of this Marquis Rody. It was just a waste of energy to try to influence and persuade someone who was not a believer of G.o.d.

Moreover... he carefully advised the elder who was dizzy with anger, "We only have two thousand Flaming Warriors here, but they have thousands of imperial guards! To say the least of it, if a fight really breaks out, hehe... they are imperial guards, representing the empire's royal family..."

Although this was not pleasant to hear and was also somewhat frustrating, it managed to cool down the elder. After all, for one to be able to climb to such a high position, he was definitely not a fool. He was just angered by this young marquis whose att.i.tude was ignorant. When he calmed down, it immediately dawned on him that this Marquis Rody was deliberately looking for trouble!

Since tough methods were not effective, then he would try a softer approach.

But Rody was not going to give him any more chance. He hid behind closed doors, refusing to see any guests. So what if you were the elder of the church? The gate of the Tulip Mansion was locked, and the Imperial Guards and the Lightning G.o.d's Whip were guarding outside. Even if the pope came here, they would most probably ignore him too!

The imperial guards would only obey the emperor, and the Lightning G.o.d's Whip would only obey the Duke of the Tulip Family or Miss Nicole!

The church had also attempted a prompt change of strategy. Initially, they requested for defending themselves, but most probably due to the great pressure from public opinion in the imperial city, in the end, they requested to immediately execute the heinous bishop who 'blasphemed against G.o.d and betrayed the church's trust'! This action was equivalent to admitting their crime, but as long as it could immediately put an end to this matter, it was better having done that than letting the situation s...o...b..lled.

But Rody continued to ignore them. He merely gave a simple reply, "Investigations are ongoing as the case is complicated!" And he drove them off afterward.

The church, of course, had some foundations to be able to operate steadily in the empire over the years. Many of the imperial officials were believers of the religion. Since they could not settle the problem privately, then they would try to use other ways, for example, to pressure this young Marquis via official channels. Of course, right now, n.o.body within the officials' circles would dare to offend this young Marquis Rody whose future was boundless. But to move him with affection and entice him with the promise of gain was an eternal practice within the official circles.

Rody's stand was way too firm!

Especially in the fief of the Tulip Family!

When Rody first came back from the war in the northwest, there was a rebellion among the local consuls. He seized the opportunity to make a clean sweep of the whole Tulip's fief. The original power structure was basically swept out, and currently, those who remained in the Tulip's fief were absolutely loyal to the Tulip Family. Some of the officials were even retired military officers from the Lightning G.o.d's Whip who had followed the duke in the northwestern war.

There was no room to maneuver for the church's official power when faced with these people.

Hence, after dealing with them for some time, Rody received a secret letter from Old Skeleton, and he left the fief with his men back to the imperial city.

Once the carriage entered the imperial city, Rody could sense something different even though it was already evening.

The previously common sight of clergymen walking in the streets of the imperial city in small groups had disappeared. It seemed like there were basically no clergymen walking in the streets anymore. Even when, occasionally, one or two general laborers wearing the uniform of the church were spotted, they all bowed their heads and scurried by.

Rody went back straight to his Marquis residence and brought his guards to the palace to meet Old Skeleton.

In the royal martial arts field within the palace, everyone was prohibited from entering. A group of imperial guards could be seen from afar guarding the outside. Rody entered alone, and all the guards saluted him with bows when they saw him.

When the heavy door was pushed open, a roar came from within, and a chilling light came straight at his face.

Rody acted mostly out of reflex. He unsheathed his scimitar with lightning speed to ward off the attack, and a crisp sound of metal clinking was heard. His opponent grunted and retreated two steps, the sword in her hand broke into two pieces.

Rody did not feel any better. The person who ambushed him had great strength. After he hastily warded off the attack, he could feel a gush of energy rampaging in his chest. His arm felt numb and he too grunted. It was due to the fact that his Dragon Spell Scimitar was a magical weapon that he was able to break his opponent's sword.

Once Rulan managed to get to her feet, she glared at Rody and sneered, "Rody boy, your skills are indeed excellent. Old Fatty said I won't be able to harm you with this strike!"

Rody smiled reluctantly. His strength was recovering too slowly. So far, he had only recovered up to the level of a Sacred Swordsman. As for Domain Power, that was certainly far beyond reach now. Although Rody was frustrated, he knew that the Divine Primordial Spirit that he swallowed was something extraordinary. For his strength to recover completely, perhaps it was not something that he could achieve in a short period of time.

Clap, clap, clap! A series of clapping rang out. Fatty Sky stood at a corner of the martial arts field and beamed at Rody. He then shouted, "Good boy, it's good to see that you did not embarra.s.s me!"

Rulan pondered for a while and shouted, "Fatty! I still cannot defeat him! Let's continue training!"

Rody pulled himself together and finally managed to suppress the energy rampaging in his body.

The old skeleton sat on a chair clad in an imperial robe, crossing his legs without much care for his image. His eyes were drawn to the center of the field where weapons clattered and a male and a female fatty started fighting again. He glanced at Rody from the corner of his eyes and waved to him, "Young man, you're back?"

Rody walked towards him and smiled bitterly, "You gave me a lot of trouble again. The elder from the church stopped me at the entrance of the Tulip Mansion every day in West Hill. If I don't come back soon, one day, I will be so annoyed I will chop him up!"

Andy beamed and looked at Rody. He suddenly whispered, "Then chop him up!"

"Why? Is it time to strike now?" Rody shot a glance at him.

Andy sighed, "I've already given orders to investigate the religious taxation within the entire empire. Since yesterday, all the territories of the Radiant Empire have stopped collecting religious taxes!"

Rody gasped, "By doing this, wouldn't the financial source of the church have been cut off? Will the Pope agree?"

"He cannot disagree!" Andy sneered, "Unless he is confident enough to turn against us right now and start an internal war!"

Rody thought about it and answered, "It is quite impossible for them to start a war. Currently, the empire's military forces are very powerful, whereas the Flaming Warriors are scattered. Our Lightning G.o.d's Whip was just reorganized after the war, so the soldiers are absolutely loyal. Also, the army's morale is at its peak right now. On the other hand, the atmosphere within the church is most probably not so united."

Andy snickered, "After this scandal blew up, the loyalty of the previously devoted believers within the empire has plunged greatly. I guess the situation is the same in other places. From what I've heard, even within the Flaming Warriors, their morale has become somewhat unstable, too. If war breaks out, those warriors would probably think twice about whether is it worth it to sacrifice themselves for such a despicable, corrupted religion. Hence, the pope will definitely not dare to start a war! He has no confidence!"

Rody pondered and frowned, "But now that you've instigated this matter, what exactly do you want to do next?"

The old skeleton mumbled, "Rody, do you know? Man's faith in G.o.d is nothing but a spiritual sustenance. Man needs guidance, an idol, to seek solace within their hearts. Religions are merely providing the people with such satisfaction in their soul," he paused and continued with a smile, "So it is impossible to let religion disappear completely. What I'm thinking of is..."

His eyes squinted and his smile deepened, "To create a new religion to replace the current religion of G.o.d!"

When met with Rody's puzzled look, the old skeleton smiled and continued, "The Empire has been wors.h.i.+pping the G.o.ds for centuries. Such foundation cannot be completely uprooted by you and me. So, I do not want to waste my energy doing such useless thing! What I mean is, I want to let everyone understand that, G.o.ds do exist, and we do need to have faith in the almighty G.o.ds, but the current church does not represent the G.o.ds! We can guide the people to think that the church has betrayed the teachings of G.o.d! They have fallen to such an extent that their existence is blasphemy against the G.o.ds! They are not worthy of being the servants of G.o.d anymore! So, I want to create a new religion in the empire, to replace the church!"

Rody seemed to understand now. He whispered, "So you mean..."

The old skeleton stood up and clapped his hands smilingly, "What I mean is, to create a new idol for people to wors.h.i.+p! To create a new G.o.d for the ma.s.ses to believe in! And it happens that we have an exceptional condition! We already have an extremely glorious treasure!"

Speaking of this, Old Skeleton's smile became evil. He whispered, "Young man, are you interested in becoming a G.o.d for once? Duke of the Tulip Family... my almighty 'G.o.d of War'?"