### Chapter 1: Temple of Destiny (6)
—
The Bald Bishop, being the head honcho of the Church of Light stationed at the Temple of Destiny, naturally had a stronger devotion to the God of Light than your average believer.
When faced with the sudden bizarre phenomenon, he trembled but managed to cling to his resolve, even wanting to rally the many worshippers to kick those heretical worshippers of fake gods right out of the temple.
Unfortunately, as he flailed his arms and hollered for his followers to step up, behind him there was nothing but dead silence, as if everyone had simultaneously pulled a Houdini and vanished into thin air.
The Bald Bishop spun around, only to see his formerly obedient followers—who would normally follow his every command—now kneeling with their heads bowed like those heretics, completely ignoring his furious shouts.
Only a few of his trusted lackeys stood timidly at the edges of the crowd, their eyes darting around, unsure of what to do. After all, in such a situation, it was as if people’s hearts were driven by an unstoppable force, causing their knees to buckle without a second thought.
The Bald Bishop staggered back two steps in terror, then, like a madman, started kicking at the defector worshippers.
“You wobbly-hearted faux devotees! What you just saw and heard was nothing but a temptation from hell! If you take it to heart, you’ll never be able to accept the gift from the true God again!
Get up! You all better get up right now!”
His hysterical and crazed shouting only served to amuse the onlooking crowd.
Ah, the power of the Goddess of Destiny!
Even the most fervent followers of the Church of Light bowed their self-proclaimed noble heads and surrendered to the goddess.
At that moment, Samantha couldn’t help but get teary-eyed, shouting loudly, “I beseech you, Goddess, save the world!”
“I beseech you, Goddess, save the world!” the crowd echoed in unison.
Lin Nan calmly chimed in, “The gods can’t save everyone; only you can redeem your own destiny!
What you believe in doesn’t matter; the key thing is to understand what you truly want from this life.
If you rely solely on the gods for revelations, how are you different from sheep led to slaughter?
Only by grasping this truth can the deities serve as guiding lights on your future path.”
Samantha bowed her head earnestly and replied, “Yes.”
“Yes!” the crowd responded, enlightened.
Lin Nan then turned her cold gaze towards the Bald Bishop.
“Go back and tell your leader, first, the name ‘Temple of Destiny’ can never be changed! This will always be the place to worship the Goddess of Destiny!
Second, the followers of the Church of Light must leave the Temple of Destiny from now on! You have no right to squat here!
If you refuse, I wouldn’t mind employing some rude methods.”
The Bald Bishop was caught completely off guard by her harsh conditions. He thought they might just need to give up some space, but instead, this heretic demanded they all vacate the temple.
If that happened, wouldn’t all the efforts of the Church of Light over the past few years just go down the drain? As the local leader, he’d probably be drowned in angry spit from his superiors.
“No, this can’t be! We will never submit to heresy! The Temple of Light forever belongs to the Church of Light!”
The Bald Bishop shouted in vain, but to the crowd, he looked like a clown, utterly detestable.
His once-reliable posse of powerful Black-Clad Cultists was still firmly stuck in place, unable to break free from their icy imprisonment no matter how hard they tried.
And the majority of the regular worshippers were now intimidated by the pressure from the heretics, completely ignoring his orders.
Only a few of his trusted allies remained, but they were reluctant to make a move, fearing that the gathering heretics outside the temple would pounce on them like angry hornets and rip them to shreds.
At that point, the Bald Bishop was like a flimsy boat battling tempestuous waves, ready to sink at any moment.
Lin Nan shook her head, just about to toss him out of the temple to allow the true believers to reclaim their rightful territory, when suddenly, a few golden figures swooped in from the distance, illuminated against the encroaching night.
As soon as the Bald Bishop spotted this, it was as if he had been injected with adrenaline. “The Archbishop is coming! The Archbishop is coming!
You heretics listen up, it’s not too late to embrace the Church of Light! If you continue to follow that false god, disaster and misfortune will always accompany you!
You’ll never be forgiven by the true god in the afterlife; hell will be your only home!”
Lin Nan sighed and casually flicked her finger.
The excited Bald Bishop instantly got a bump on his forehead and fainted like a sack of potatoes. If she had known that their reinforcements would arrive so quickly, she should have dealt with him swiftly without wasting breath.
But then again, this way she gets to see what kind of tricks the higher-ups of the Church of Light really had up their sleeves.
To bring the empire under complete allegiance, the Church of Light was an obstacle that must be eliminated first; only then would the royal family settle down and listen to her suggestions.
The few clerics floating in the air, enveloped in golden light, had eyes that sparkled with electricity. Especially those previously kneeling Church of Light followers; the moment they made eye contact with the clerics, they jumped up like they just got shocked.
“Oh, sins upon sins! Unique and unparalleled deity of the world, please forgive our weakness! I’m willing to endure forty-nine days of suffering for your forgiveness.”
“I’m willing to endure forty-nine days of suffering for your forgiveness.”
…
The worshippers spoke almost in perfect unison as if they had rehearsed it.
Not just them—a new wave of wishy-washy believers, bolstered by the sight of the clerics, suddenly found their knees growing weak, completely overwhelmed.
It seems the Church of Light really had some tricks up their sleeves to grow so quickly.
Lin Nan didn’t say anything; after all, the Temple of Destiny was her turf—why should she lower herself?
Before long, the leading cleric made a buzzing sound, “Dear lady, I speak on behalf of the pope.
The Temple of Destiny can temporarily retain its name, but the Church of Light has inhabited this temple for quite some time—let’s keep the current arrangement, shall we?”
Lin Nan shot a glance at Samantha.
The latter quickly stood up and chimed in, “Your Highness, the Church of Light occupies nearly two-thirds of the space, leaving us with nothing but corners. We have tolerated this for long enough.”
Lin Nan nodded and then looked up at the clerics in the air.
“I’m sorry, but the Temple of Destiny was originally a gathering place for the followers of the Goddess. What’s with the Church of Light taking up the majority?
I can give you half a day to move all unrelated items out of here.
Since the Church of Light is so mighty, why not just build your own temple instead of squatting on ours?”
As soon as those words left her lips, several clerics began to stir, their eyes flashing with a hint of aggressive intent.
