The duel between Long Xiaoyao and Zhuo Shi came to an abrupt halt, but its repercussions had only just begun.
Atop West Mountain in Mingdu stood the War God Temple.
Inside the conference room,
Chen Xinjie hastily convened a meeting of the senior leadership.
Deputy Temple Master Guan Yue was there, along with thirteen of the War God Temple's eighteen War Gods-all except the four away on missions and Long Xiaoyao.
Chen Xinjie's expression was cold. "Everyone, you watched our temple's newly appointed War God Long Xiaoyao fight His Holiness Scarlet Dragon of Shrek, didn't you?"
Everyone exchanged glances and nodded.
The match had attracted enormous attention. Naturally, they had watched the livestream.
Hearing Chen Xinjie's tone, the War Gods quickly realized that Long Xiaoyao had probably stirred up trouble this time.
"This arena match was a friendly competition between our War God Temple and Shrek. However, it seems there were some incidents. What are your thoughts on this?"
Chen Xinjie asked.
None of the thirteen War Gods spoke. Long Xiaoyao belonged to the War God Temple; they ought to speak up for him.
But...
They had all heard something of Chen Xinjie's relationship with Long Yeyue, and none dared provoke him lightly.
For a time, the War Gods lowered their eyes and sat in silence.
Chen Xinjie looked at Deputy Temple Master Guan Yue beside him.
Guan Yue took the hint and immediately spoke. "Then I'll offer my views first."
"In my opinion, Comrade Long Xiaoyao may have no problems in terms of individual combat strength, but his grasp of the bigger picture is an absolute mess!"
Guan Yue's tone was intensely indignant.
He had come from Shrek himself. Seeing Red Dragon Douluo brutally beaten on a livestream broadcast across the internet had long since left a fire smoldering in his heart.
The other War Gods all turned toward Guan Yue.
"This was a friendly match between our War God Temple and Shrek! Moreover, Red Dragon Douluo Zhuo Shi is Long Xiaoyao's senior! How could Long Xiaoyao strike so viciously?!"
"How much manpower and material did our War God Temple expend arranging this match, all to improve our relationship with Shrek?"
"But this Comrade Long Xiaoyao cared only about the competition, not friendship! For the sake of personal glory, he completely disregarded the organization's broader interests!"
"He wasn't just striking Zhuo Shi. He was slapping both our War God Temple and Shrek in the face!"
The room fell silent.
The other War Gods inwardly sensed trouble.
Guan Yue had come out so agitated, immediately slapping labels on Long Xiaoyao. Clearly, he intended to take action.
Chen Xinjie looked at Guan Yue and nodded slightly.
He truly was the perfect mouthpiece!
Attacking Long Xiaoyao from the standpoint of the bigger picture would leave little ammunition for others to use against them.
Guan Yue glanced at Chen Xinjie again, and the two swiftly exchanged looks.
Then Guan Yue said, "Therefore, I recommend immediately stripping Long Xiaoyao of his position as a War God!"
"At the same time, have Long Xiaoyao visit Shrek and publicly apologize!"
"For the bigger picture, this will salvage the relationship between the War God Temple and Shrek. On a personal level, it will also temper Long Xiaoyao's character!"
As his words fell,
The other War Gods' eyes widened.
Strip him of his position as a War God?
There had never been such a fucking severe punishment in history, had there?!
Besides,
Long Xiaoyao came from the Northwest Legion and was a twenty-nine-year-old prodigious genius. Removing him would absolutely be an enormous loss for the War God Temple.
The First War God, the level-98 Bright Sun Douluo Ao Rui, frowned. "Well, Deputy Temple Master Guan, isn't this punishment a little too harsh?"
Guan Yue snorted coldly. "Without a severe punishment, how can we salvage our relationship with Shrek? How can we make Long Xiaoyao recognize his mistake?!"
Ao Rui was at a loss for words.
Although he normally respected Chen Xinjie, even Ao Rui could not stomach such an obviously excessive punishment.
The Second War God, the level-98 Emperor Sword Douluo Long Tianwu, thought for a moment before speaking as well.
"Deputy Temple Master Guan, that may be so, but Long Xiaoyao comes from the Northwest Legion, and both sides bear some blame for what happened in the arena. How can we punish only Long Xiaoyao? Is Shrek really as pure as ice and spotless as jade?!"
Guan Yue turned toward Long Tianwu. "What do you mean by that?"
Long Tianwu considered briefly, then gritted her teeth and spoke anyway.
"In my opinion, His Holiness Scarlet Dragon clearly struck heavily first. Long Xiaoyao is young and hot-blooded; it's perfectly normal for him to strike back. Moreover, Deputy Pavilion Master Long even intervened there..."
"How dare you!"
Guan Yue slammed the table in fury. "Is Deputy Pavilion Master Long Yeyue someone you have any right to criticize? You're defying your superiors!"
The Second War God Long Tianwu's eyes widened.
He had based his words on the facts. Zhuo Shi had clearly launched a sneak attack first, and he had deliberately avoided such insulting terms as "sneak attack," yet Guan Yue had still reacted so violently.
The Shrek glory gu truly lived up to its reputation.
Chen Xinjie also swept a dark look over Long Tianwu before speaking.
"Long Tianwu, don't forget your rank. Don't say things you have no business saying. Don't give outsiders ammunition against our War God Temple."
Long Tianwu hurriedly nodded. "Yes, Temple Master."
Sighing inwardly, Long Tianwu sat down in silence.
Both fucking temple masters sided with Shrek. He really had done his best to speak up for Long Xiaoyao.
But there really was nothing he could do. One rank higher was enough to crush a man!
Seeing even the First and Second War Gods instantly rebuffed, the other War Gods no longer dared say anything.
Anyone with eyes could tell,
Guan Yue and Chen Xinjie had clearly discussed Long Xiaoyao's punishment privately beforehand.
What could they say about something both the top leader and his second-in-command had agreed on?
They could only feel sorry for Long Xiaoyao. The young man's luck was truly terrible.
Chen Xinjie stood up.
"Good. Since no one objects, I'll adopt Temple Master Guan Yue's suggestion and hereby strip Long Xiaoyao of his position as a War God! The Eighteenth War God's seat will remain vacant for now. Once Long Xiaoyao distinguishes himself in the future, he can be rewarded again! Dismissed!"
The War Gods left the conference room.
Although the discussion had concerned Long Xiaoyao's punishment, every one of their hearts had turned cold by the meeting's end.
After all,
Long Xiaoyao was a War God just like them, yet he had been removed simply for slightly offending Shrek!
Then, in the future,
If any of them clashed with Shrek, wouldn't Chen Xinjie and Guan Yue do the same to them?!
Did these two temple masters belong to the War God Temple or Shrek?
Even their leaders spoke up for outsiders.
The War Gods' hearts had turned cold!
Meanwhile,
When Yu Guanzhi, who had finally managed to resolve the conflict in Shrek City, received Chen Xinjie's punishment order, he instantly overheated with anger.
"What?! You're stripping Brother Long of his position just like that? Chen Xinjie, you've gone too far!"
Over the phone, Chen Xinjie's tone was flat. "Not just that. Have Long Xiaoyao publicly apologize to Shrek immediately! Be quick. The bigger picture takes precedence over everything."
Yu Guanzhi drew a deep breath. "Chen Xinjie, are you doing this for the War God Temple or that old flame of yours?!"
"Insolence!"
Chen Xinjie roared, "I'm telling you to take Long Xiaoyao to apologize. That's an order!"
Click!
Chen Xinjie ended the call on his soul communicator.
"Fuck your mother!"
Furious, Yu Guanzhi lit a cigarette.
After finishing it, he sighed and walked back to the guest building.
There was nothing he could do. This was not yet the time to break with Chen Xinjie. Chen Xinjie was stronger than him and had the Sea God Legion behind him. However furious Yu Guanzhi was, he could only vent impotently.
Instead of taking the elevator, Yu Guanzhi chose to climb the guest building's stairs floor by floor.
But even that journey eventually ended. Reaching Long Xiaoyao's door, he heard Long Xiaoyao bandaging Ye Zhaolu's wounds inside.
Yu Guanzhi wiped the sweat from his forehead. After hesitating several times, he finally decided to knock.
Just then,
Li Chen approached from the side and greeted Yu Guanzhi with a smile. "Uncle Yu!"
"Hmm? Oh, it's you, Little Chen."
Yu Guanzhi forced a smile.
As the speaker's only son, Li Chen was naturally someone Yu Guanzhi knew. In fact, when Li Chen was first born, back when Li Yuntian was still only an assemblyman, Yu Guanzhi had held Li Chen himself.
"Uncle Yu, what's wrong? Why aren't you going in? You don't seem to be in a very good mood."
Slightly startled, Yu Guanzhi studied Li Chen, then chuckled.
"You're as shrewd as a monkey, just like when you were little. Your Uncle Yu has run into something, that's all."
"Have you run into some difficulty, Uncle Yu? If you need anything, I can pass a message to my dad."
Yu Guanzhi froze, then slapped his thigh.
That was right.
The War God Temple was an armed institution within the Federation. It was subject to the Federation's jurisdiction!
Removing a War God was not something the War God Temple could decide internally on its own!
"Little Chen, it's been a long time since your Uncle Yu last saw your father. Is he doing well?"
Li Chen smiled. "Uncle Yu, just say what's on your mind. I'm guessing Temple Master Chen wants War God Long to apologize to Shrek?"
Yu Guanzhi chuckled. "How did you know?"
"My dad told me. He's already gone to the War God Temple in person to discuss it. Why not wait with me, Uncle Yu? Let's not disturb Brother Long while he's picking up a girl."
Yu Guanzhi widened his eyes and nodded.
"I forgot about Speaker Li. All right, I'll wait, then."