My Martial Soul Was Not the Six-Winged Angel, but the Prayer Angel

As soon as the words fell, someone below the stage began to cry.

An elderly woman with graying hair pushed her way out of the crowd and dropped to her knees beneath the platform. She wailed, "My daughter was taken by that Zhao Ping! She never came back after he took her! I searched for her for so many years, but I never even found her body!"

Her entire body trembled with sobs. The commoners beside her hurriedly tried to help her up, and some of them began to tear up as well.

Yue Guan gritted his teeth and continued reading. "Second charge: Qian Wanli, master of the branch hall in the western outskirts of Star Luo City, privately raised the fees for Martial Soul awakenings. Over ten years, he illegally amassed more than one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins and drove one hundred and eleven commoners to their deaths. One-tenth of the proceeds went into the former Pope's private treasury."

"Third charge: Sun De, master of the branch hall in Xili City of the Heaven Dou Empire, colluded with local nobles to forcibly levy taxes on Soul Masters. Those who refused had their Martial Souls crippled. A total of four hundred and thirteen people were victimized. It has been verified that this man was once a member of the Pope's personal guard. Someone once stopped the former Pope's carriage to report him, only to be killed on the spot by the former Pope."

Yue Guan read them out one by one, his voice growing louder and louder, while the crying and cursing below the platform also swelled.

Someone began throwing rotten vegetables and stinking eggs onto the platform, all of them striking Qian Xunji.

Qian Xunji curled up like a dog whose tail had been stepped on, cowering there without moving.

Qian Xunji's eyes were full of disbelief. How could these people...

Ye Xunfeng never looked at him.

He merely listened as Yue Guan finished reading the final charge, then slowly rose to his feet and walked to the edge of the platform.

The crowd below instantly fell silent.

Everyone watched him. Some still had reddened eyes, some clenched their fists, some held children in their arms, and some supported the elderly.

Ye Xunfeng looked down at them and remained silent for a long time.

"Three hundred and twenty-seven complaint letters." There was compassion in his voice. "Three hundred and twenty-seven cases. Every single one was written by you. From city hall masters down to those forcibly collecting supplies in Spirit City, I am sitting here today not to cover up Spirit Hall's disgrace, but to give you an explanation."

He turned and looked at Qian Xunji, who was kneeling on the ground.

"Qian Xunji, do you admit to these charges?"

Qian Xunji raised his head, his face covered in vegetable leaves and egg yolk, looking less than human in his misery. He opened his mouth, his voice so hoarse it was nearly inaudible. "I... I didn't know... I didn't do it..."

"You didn't know?"

Ye Xunfeng suddenly smiled, and his smile was icy.

"You were the Pope. You didn't know what your subordinates were doing, or where the money they obtained went?"

Qian Xunji shut his mouth again, his body trembling even more violently.

"What you did not know, these three hundred and twenty-seven people knew. These three hundred and twenty-seven complaint letters knew. Those killed by your subordinates knew as well." Ye Xunfeng's voice suddenly turned cold. "But you no longer need to know."

He turned toward the crowd, his voice abruptly rising. "Former Pope Qian Xunji appointed inhumane men during his tenure and indulged his subordinates in corruption and oppression of the people, leaving Spirit Hall's reputation in ruins and the people filled with resentment."

"Though he did not commit these acts himself, he benefited from them."

He paused, as though giving everyone time to prepare themselves.

"He is sentenced to forty years of imprisonment! Effective immediately, he will be thrown into Spirit Hall's dungeon! No sentence reduction! No pardon! He will labor in place of punishment."

Qian Xunji's body jolted. It was as if all strength had been drained from him, and he collapsed limply to the ground.

Forty years.

He was nearly fifty years old, and his Soul Power had been crippled.

Would he still be alive forty years from now?

"As for the aforementioned letters, those unrelated to the former Pope will be fully handled by the newly established Supervision Hall."

The crowd fell silent for an instant, then erupted into earth-shaking cheers.

Some cried, some laughed, and some knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

Two guards stepped forward, lifting Qian Xunji from either side and dragging him toward the dungeon.

Qian Xunji neither struggled nor shouted. He merely lowered his head and let the guards drag him across the square, past the commoners who had once knelt before him.

Some spat on his face, while others hurled stones at him. He did not move, like a walking corpse.

As he passed a young woman, she suddenly rushed out and slapped Qian Xunji across the face. The sound rang clearly across the entire square.

"This slap is for my father!"

After shouting those words through her tears, she was pulled away by the people beside her.

A bright red handprint appeared on Qian Xunji's face, but he still did not react.

Ye Xunfeng stood atop the platform, watching Qian Xunji get dragged through the dungeon gates, watching the heavy iron doors slowly close with a dull boom.

He did not turn and leave. He simply stood there as the wind whipped his robes around him.

Yue Guan walked up behind him and quietly said something.

Ye Xunfeng did not respond.

He merely raised his head and looked at the sky. It was blue, without a single cloud.

But he had not done this to punish Qian Xunji. He wanted to completely ruin his reputation.

He wanted everyone to curse whenever they mentioned the former Pope, while he himself became the new Pope who set things right.

Ye Xunfeng looked at the elderly people below, as well as the disabled commoners, and a thought stirred in his heart.

The Wishing Angel Spirit slowly manifested behind him, while three black and six red soul rings slowly rose beneath his feet.

"Eighth Soul Skill, Dance of the Archangel's Holy Spirit." Ye Xunfeng pressed his hands together in prayer. Light slowly spread from behind him, and dense light and Life Force enveloped the entirety of Spirit City.

An Eight-Winged Angel slowly condensed in the air. Its sacred radiance made everyone in the city feel as though their bodies had been submerged in warm water.

Severed arms regrew, damaged meridians recovered, and old injuries that had lingered for years seemed to vanish in an instant.

Yet clearly, some people did not receive this blessing.

The most obvious were Yu Xiaogang and Qian Xunji. Meanwhile, those who had committed evil within the city instantly felt the sacred burning of the Angel God.

After Ye Xunfeng slowly descended to the ground, he said with a smile, "All right, go live your lives well. If you have anything that needs to be reported, bring it to the Complaint Box. The Supervision Group will handle it all. Oh, and my Martial Soul is not the Six-Winged Angel, but the Prayer Angel."

After saying that, Ye Xunfeng returned to the Pope Palace.

He did not want the Angel God to receive the benefits of what he had done.

At that moment, Bibi Dong was waiting anxiously in the Pope Palace.

"Brother Xunfeng, I... I'm pregnant." Bibi Dong's face was full of excitement.

Ye Xunfeng nodded without changing expression. "I know. Rest and recuperate properly during this time. I'll help you nurse your body back to health whenever necessary."

Bibi Dong seemed to want to say something, but after pausing, she still did not dare voice it.

After rubbing Bibi Dong's head, Ye Xunfeng returned to his seat and began arranging the matters of the Supervision Hall.

After finishing that, he took out another weathered, tattered notebook and began writing down Martial Soul theory concerning heretical and demonic paths.

Using his spiritual power to control the pen, Ye Xunfeng wrote several copies before having Ghost Douluo place them somewhere conspicuous in the library. Only Yu Xiaogang was permitted to borrow them, and Ye Xunfeng no longer concerned himself with the matter.