I learned a great deal from Li Fuguang that made things much clearer.
For a moment, I almost thought I was listening to a history teacher's lecture.
"So the 'Evil Buddha' was just a means Daojue used to maintain internal stability?"
I asked, "Then he himself was the model for the Evil Buddha, the deity all the members believed in. Surely he wouldn't also serve as the organization's leader?"
Li Fuguang shook his head. "Although Daojue had become a demon, he didn't submit to money and power. Besides, he had built the entire organization himself, and his only purpose in founding it was to find Gongsun Jing."
"He didn't have much time to manage the organization's development and operations, so he needed a governing body to keep it running. That gave rise to the position of leader, along with protectors, elders, and all sorts of other positions, gradually forming a tightly structured administration."
"But people's hearts are hard to fathom. Humanity's greatest desires are money and power, yet Daojue had no interest in either. His will ran counter to everyone else's. As the administration's power grew and it lost its restraints, these people would develop ideas of their own. If Daojue noticed what they were thinking, he would kill the leader, put on a mask, and become the leader himself until he selected the next one."
I understood.
In the thousand-plus years since the organization's founding, it had produced quite a few people like Wu Huaqing.
Once their power began to swell, they would start looking down on everyone, even betraying their own faith.
It was just that Daojue had discovered all those who came before and secretly disposed of them one by one.
Wu Huaqing was the only one among them who could be considered a success. Since he