Sheng Wu left before the ceremony was over.
As the head of the Star Gate Infrastructure Office, he should have been in the front row at an event of this scale.
But he was a "Non-believer." He had no god to praise or worship.
He had sworn loyalty to the Myriad Heavens Divine Kingdoms and accepted the gods' scrutiny and trials. Still, at a solemn religious occasion like this, he chose to sit quietly at the back, letting his tall, aging frame disappear into a shadowed corner. That was reasonable enough.
Sheng Wu didn't mind.
He made his way slowly down the corridor when someone called from behind him:
"Director Sheng... sir, you're going the wrong way. The banquet hall is that way."
It was Ise Jia, the deputy head of the Star Gate Infrastructure Office and the secular representative at the ceremony. The fact that he had managed to slip out now was the real surprise.
"I'm going to my office to get something. Since you're out here, Shan Long High Priest must be..."
"Blessing everyone and answering their questions." Ise Jia hurried a few steps to walk beside Sheng Wu. "I didn't see you in there just now, sir."
Sheng Wu pointed a finger at himself, then gestured toward Ise Jia. "Different positions."
They had discussed his status as a "Non-believer" beforehand. Ise Jia had said nothing then, but now he spoke in earnest. "Under the Divine Kingdoms, changing one's faith is the difficult part. Going from no faith to faith isn't hard..."
"And what would change if I found faith? The Sky Abyss Remnant Tribe Disposal Law still stands. My treatment wouldn't change. At my age, I'd rather avoid the trouble."
"How can faith be weighed in terms of trouble?"
"Ah, I misspoke. Forgive me."
"Not at