Come to think of it, in my past life, I had crossed paths with the chief master of the Starrealm Knights a few times. We'd even had a pleasant conversation once.
He'd earnestly told me things like, "Young people shouldn't be so hotheaded," "Bending your back will make your future smoother," "There's no connection between bowing your head and your dignity," "People have to learn to make peace with themselves. They have to learn to let themselves off the hook," and "Even the emperor bows his head sometimes."
I had to admit, there was a bit of a paternalistic air to it, but when it came from the Grand Astrologer, it suddenly sounded like the life wisdom of a kind, honest elder. Right?
Old Mr. Norddos had even told me that if I just couldn't come to terms with things, didn't want to work alongside my "enemies" in the Starrealm Knights, and wasn't willing to be the empress's hired muscle in the Imperial Army, I could always join the Starrealm Knights as a very promising psychic charlatan: little work, plenty of money.
He'd never hidden his identity from me, but Yu Lian still found it hard to imagine that this utterly unremarkable man, with his whole body steeped in the stale air of an office worker just waiting for retirement, was in fact the most experienced and mysterious demigod in the Galactic Empire.
But then again, for a psychic who'd reached such a level, suppressing his presence until he seemed utterly ordinary, without a hint of presence or menace, was far harder than projecting his aura ten meters out.
I had to admit that in my past life, the Grand Astrologer of the Starrealm Knights and I hadn't had any direct conflict of interest. To me, he really had been