At the War God Temple,
Li Yuntian, his head covered in white hair, walked straight inside with only a secretary accompanying him.
Li Yuntian went directly to Chen Xinjie in his office.
"Speaker Li, what brings you here?"
Chen Xinjie was surprised, but did not rise from his chair. He merely said casually, "Please sit, Speaker."
He was only a speaker.
As the Sea God Douluo, Chen Xinjie did not actually think much of him.
Li Yuntian smiled but did not sit down.
"Temple Master Chen, I heard you just dismissed War God Long. Is that true?"
Chen Xinjie narrowed his eyes. "Speaker Li, who told you that?"
"Heh, Temple Master Chen, who told me isn't important. Not telling me is the real problem, isn't it?"
Chen Xinjie straightened in his seat, immediately realizing that the speaker had not come with good intentions.
Still, he wondered how this speaker already knew about something from a meeting he had only just finished.
Chen Xinjie had not expected this normally mild-mannered old speaker to have some ability after all.
"Temple Master Chen, the War God Temple is an organization established by our Sun Moon Federation for its high-level combat forces. How could you privately decide something as serious as dismissing a War God without even notifying me?!"
Chen Xinjie said, "Long Xiaoyao caused trouble in public. Dismissing him was perfectly reasonable! I merely imposed the punishment first and haven't had time to submit the paperwork."
Li Yuntian smiled. "Really? Have you not had time, or did you never intend to submit it? This War God Temple seems to have become a place where you, Chen Xinjie, alone have the final say."
"What? It seems you have an opinion on this matter, Speaker."
"Of course I do! War God Long did nothing wrong. If anyone was at fault, Shrek was at fault first! Why should the War God Temple apologize? Why should War God Long apologize!"
Chen Xinjie abruptly stood up.
He looked at Li Yuntian before him, shocked and furious.
In the past, Federation speakers had been nothing but empty shells. He, Chen Xinjie, had never thought anything of them.
He had always called the shots in the War God Temple. He had never expected this Speaker Li to dare confront him like this!
"Speaker, I call you Speaker out of respect. Without that respect, I could have you removed right now! Since when was it your place to interfere with how I run the War God Temple?!"
Li Yuntian chuckled, took out a recorder, and placed it on the desk.
"Temple Master Chen, think before you speak. I'm discussing this in accordance with Federation law. If that's your attitude, I can only take this to parliament with you."
"I wouldn't mind proposing your impeachment as temple master."
Chen Xinjie's expression immediately turned cold.
He clenched his fists, but soon relaxed them again.
Although his strength far surpassed this old speaker's, Chen Xinjie would never dare actually kill Li Yuntian.
After all, if a speaker died in the War God Temple,
not only he, but the entire Sea God Legion and War God Temple would face strict scrutiny from the Federation Parliament.
Then it would no longer be a political disagreement, but a counterterrorism matter.
Chen Xinjie said, "Then what do you want to do?"
Li Yuntian smiled. "Simple. Since you and I have different views on this matter, let people's hearts decide. Let the War God Temple hold an internal vote."
"Heh, fine!"
Chen Xinjie sneered inwardly. The War God Temple was under his sole dictatorship. No matter how many people came to judge, the result would be the same!
"Of course, there must be one condition: an anonymous vote. Whether War God Long is guilty or innocent requires the opinion of the entire War God Temple."
Chen Xinjie felt a slight tightening in his chest, but still nodded. "Fine."
Then,
Chen Xinjie immediately posted the poll in the internal group right in front of him.
Li Yuntian sat down to wait patiently.
Once the poll went out,
the War Gods, along with Yu Guanzhi and Guan Yue, were all shocked.
Chen Xinjie also sat down to await the results.
He sipped his tea with a smile.
Chen Xinjie did not believe anyone in the War God Temple would dare defy him.
Meanwhile, Li Yuntian was making calculations inwardly.
This was precisely the situation he wanted to see.
Chen Xinjie held great prestige in the War God Temple. Confronting him head-on would very likely accomplish nothing.
The anonymous vote was a probe by Li Yuntian. He wanted to see just how deep the waters within the War God Temple ran.
At the same time,
this also sent everyone in the War God Temple a signal: from now on, they had the right to express their opinions on every matter. Chen Xinjie's word would no longer be law!
In other words,
whether he could topple Chen Xinjie in one stroke was unimportant. Letting the people of the War God Temple know they could resist Chen Xinjie was more important!
Voting began.
Votes supporting Chen Xinjie's ruling instantly took the lead, quickly reaching five or six among the eighteen War Gods.
But,
immediately afterward, Chen Xinjie's expression gradually froze.
The first opposing vote had appeared.
Yu Guanzhi had cast it.
After the first opposing vote appeared, the opposition count, which had remained at zero, suddenly sprang up, gaining several votes in an instant.
And after a few minutes passed,
what enraged Chen Xinjie was that
the opposing votes had reached half the total!
In other words, at least half of the War God Temple's eighteen War Gods opposed his punishment!
Looking at the voting results, Li Yuntian smiled. "Temple Master Chen, do you see?
"As speaker, I now declare that War God Long's punishment is rescinded! If there are any objections, we can hold another meeting to discuss them."
With that,
Li Yuntian walked straight out.
Once they were outside,
his secretary marveled, "Speaker, you're truly incredible. This is the first time anyone has dared challenge Temple Master Chen's decision!"
"Heh. This is only the beginning."
Li Yuntian walked toward the entrance.
The outcome had actually exceeded his expectations. Originally, Li Yuntian had not been confident about this matter. He had only hoped to tear open a breach and prepare for Chen Xinjie's subsequent dismissal.
He had not expected this.
It seemed Chen Xinjie's usual tyranny was even worse than he had imagined. So many of the eighteen War Gods were already dissatisfied with Chen Xinjie.
This was a good thing.
It meant he might be able to remove Chen Xinjie ahead of schedule!
Meanwhile, inside the office,
seeing the voting results, Chen Xinjie furiously crushed his communicator in his hand!
"Rebellion!"
"These people are rebelling! They dare disobey my orders!"
Chen Xinjie roared.
Long Xiaoyao had clashed with his Long Yeyue in public, yet these War Gods had actually refused to take his side!
But Chen Xinjie did not know that
the other War Gods now had their own thoughts on the matter.
After all,
if he dismissed Long Xiaoyao today, Chen Xinjie could dismiss them at will tomorrow!
They were not fighting for power for Long Xiaoyao at all. Fundamentally, they were doing it for themselves!
In Shrek City,
Yu Guanzhi laughed uproariously at the sight.
"An anonymous vote-what a great method! From now on, I think all major decisions in the War God Temple can be handled this way!"
Yu Guanzhi had completely relaxed.
This was the first time they had challenged Chen Xinjie's orders.
Yu Guanzhi believed that, after this, Chen Xinjie's authority would be greatly weakened. Only then could reforms in the War God Temple begin!
"Xiao Chen, we owe this to your father. I'll return to Mingdu with you tomorrow and go home with you. I really must thank him properly this time!"
Li Chen smiled, nodded, and walked away.
As he passed Long Xiaoyao's room, he saw that inside,
Long Xiaoyao was enthusiastically showing off his backflips, constantly spreading his tail feathers before Ye Zhaolu.
Li Chen chuckled. Long Xiaoyao had reincarnated as Jiahao.
And the next moment,
Li Chen discovered that the Soul Power inside him had abruptly risen another three levels!
Hmm, looks like their relationship has taken another step forward.
Li Chen was inwardly satisfied.
Sure enough, there was really no such thing as pursuing women. Any girl you could win over had essentially liked you from the start.
If she liked you, she would like you even if you were Jiahao.
If she did not like you, no display of sincerity would help.
And just as Li Chen walked downstairs,
a woman approached with a young girl and stopped him.
"Wait, what's your name?"
"Me?" Surprised, Li Chen looked over the two people before him.
To his surprise, he discovered that
the young girl beside this woman was actually Gu Yue!
Wait, then this woman is... Leng Yaozhu?!
"My name is Li Chen. May I ask who you are, Senior?"
Li Chen spoke with his lips twitching.
Leng Yaozhu smiled and said,
"Li Chen? You're Speaker Li's son? Hmm, you've grown so big already."
"Let me introduce myself. I'm Leng Yaozhu, deputy pagoda master of the Spirit Pagoda. You can call me Auntie. Li Chen, why does your martial soul's presence feel a little familiar? Could you show it to me?"
Li Chen was inwardly startled.
Oh no, could Leng Yaozhu have sensed my second martial soul, the Bright Phoenix?
At that moment,
Gu Yue, beside Leng Yaozhu, was even more shocked than Li Chen.
This brat! This brat is that Darkness Holy Dragon King cub?!
Gu Yue and Li Chen stared at each other.