Chapter 196 — The First Church

Seeing the occasional townsfolk enter the Church of the God of Holy Light while thanking the lord, she said in a low voice: "Progenitor, do you mean to place divine authority under your own control?"

"I have no interest in grasping any divine authority, but I dislike being grasped by it even more," Gao Yang said mildly. "A church is a good thing—divine arts, holy water, holy relics, and battlefield chaplains are all good things. But if these things have their own system and their own will, then that is not so good."

"Many nobles are wary of the Church's overgrowth, but no one has ever thought to 'frame' it in this way," Heidi said, a thoughtful look coming over her face. "Using explicit law to stipulate that all religious activities must have the lord's approval; using a ceremonial, concrete act to show everyone whom to obey when the lord and the gods are placed side by side; and all the while, you display the lord's support for the Church throughout the process... Progenitor, your conduct is always unexpected."

But Gao Yang shook his head. "It isn't that no one has thought of using law and hard power to restrain the Church, Heidi. Clever men are not limited to me—they simply lacked the conditions. We are fortunate: the Southern Region is a land laid waste, set back many years, where many things can be built from zero. And Wright is a 'true believer' genuinely devoted to the way of the Holy Light rather than to scheming, which is why I could lay this foundation. But in the central and northern regions, where the Church's power is already deeply rooted, I could never do this at all—just as you can see the deeper meaning in my actions, those shrewd bishops would see it too."

Heidi was taken aback for a moment, and had to admit that Gao Yang saw this matter very clearly. But she was curious about something else: "If you were in such a place, what would you do?"

"Simple—just have a bigger fist than theirs," Gao Yang said with a smile. "Sometimes problems that can't be solved with brains are actually the simplest of all. Just compare fists."

Rebecca had been listening nearby as Heidi and Gao Yang discussed matters. She had not understood a single word of the first half, but she understood Gao Yang's last sentence perfectly, and agreed with it wholeheartedly: "The Progenitor is right! If you can beat them, it's not a problem!"

Gao Yang cast a helpless glance at the iron-headed girl. "Could you listen to the whole thing? I stressed that you use your brains before comparing fists!"

Heidi was just about to add a scolding of her own when an Amber popped out from somewhere: "She did use her brains—then found hers weren't enough..."

Before the disgrace of all living things could get beaten, Gao Yang himself pressed a hand down on the other's head. "If you don't go poke at someone for a couple of lines every day, your skin starts itching, does it? By the way, what are you doing here? I thought you didn't like places like the Church of the Shining Stars?"

"I came to watch the fun—let go of me, hey, let go!" Amber struggled mightily under Gao Yang's hand, and finally simply escaped his grip with a shadow shift. "I'm telling you, this priest actually gives me a not-bad feeling. He's not like those Holy Light priests I've met before, the ones that make your skin crawl..."

Gao Yang knew this half-elf well. Only after the other had finished babbling did he ask: "Besides watching the fun, you must have other business, no?"

"Tch, an old cured meat and still sharp-eyed as a torch..." Amber curled her lip, then, before getting beaten again, rattled off quickly: "Piyun's looking for you—says there's been a breakthrough in the research on mass-producing druid potions!"