Chapter 723: The Union's Chairman (II)
As a result of the previous day's domain battle, Chen Hongyu had already displayed dissatisfaction. His sudden raising of an objection immediately caught all the surrounding attention. Everyone's gaze landed on him.
Chen Hongyu stood up, a calm look on his face, "I express opposition to the proposal of making me a vice-chairman of the union."
Yang Haohan looked at him in shock, doubtfully responding, "Brother Chen, you must think it over. You represent the Spiritual Temple."
Chen Hongyu calmly explained, "I have already thought it through clearly. I only need to stay as a mere council member. This vice-chairmanship should belong to the new head of our Spiritual Temple."
"What? A new head?" Hearing such words, the whole audience were greatly alarmed. In fact, the Spiritual Temple and Knight Temple were not the same. The Spiritual Temple had always had only one head. The Spiritual Temple's head shifting was an extremely big matter for the Temple Alliance, the main point being that no one had gotten any prior notice. Chen Hongyu's announcement was just too sudden.
Chen Hongyu declared calmly, "What is strange in that? Our Spiritual Temple has always been democratically ruled, centered around a Temple Head that must have capability. My Temple's Chen Ying'er has already reached the ninth step of cultivation and has the Mythological Beast Domain, which is superior to my own. Moreover, she's the first Spiritual Saint Daughter of my Spiritual Temple, and has inherited the Temple's divine tool Spiritual Saint Robe. She couldn't be more fitting to lead my Spiritual Temple as its head. Therefore, I naturally ought to leave her this vice-chairman position. Yesterday evening, our Spiritual Temple has already given a unified approval."
Everyone seated on the rostrum could be said to have all different expressions. Long Haochen had an expression of shock, while the other heads of the Temples all cursed secretly, what a wily old fox.
How could it not be so? At the time of the Temples' Great Gathering, Chen Hongyu's play was marvellous. Not only did he harshly oppose Long Haochen, he even questioned him in the later domain battle. And upon reaching this critical juncture, he made a full turn by directly handing the Temple's ownership over to Chen Ying'er. This implied that Bright Glimmer of Hope already had two major positions in the Temple Union. In the meantime, having one of their people among the vice-chairmen meant that a situation in which the six vice-chairmen would unite to impeach Long Haochen to deprive him from the chairman position would no longer be possible. This favor was simply immeasurable.
Even Li Zhengzhi couldn't help but sigh secretly. How calculating! Chen Hongyu's sudden abdication was not only shocking, but could also gain Bright Glimmer of Hope's favor, as well a being a move to indirectly get the Knight Temple to owe him. Truly, it was a profound move.
Just after Chen Hongyu said this, he walked away from the raised stage, making a sign to Chen Ying'er while walking to the side of the Spiritual Temple in an easygoing manner.
Chen Ying'er was baffled by her grandfather's move, but had no other choice but to go up on stage at that time! Forcing herself to walk up to the rostrum under multitudinous gazes, she took Chen Hongyu's previous seat.
This instant, the Assassin Temple's Sheng Yue unhappily uttered, "This old thing, you're really taking a step ahead of me. I had the same proposal going on: our Assassin Temple's headmaster has already been replaced by Cai'er as well. There's no need for words to prove her ability. Everyone has seen her Domain of Purification, and moreover she's the god of death's inheritor, bestowed with the same Spiritual Stove of Samsara as the Scion of Samsara of that time. But she has, in some sense, already surpassed the latter. Ever since taking over this inheritance in her youth, she has already been settled as our Assassin Temple's successor. Cai'er, come up. From now on, you are the head of the Assassin Temple and, in my stead, the candidate of the Assassin Temple for vice-chairmanship."
Long Haochen was actually not so surprised about Sheng Yue's proposal, after all, it was now a long time since when Sheng Yue had expressed that he'd let Cai'er take over his position. As such, Cai'er also went up. It took just an instant for three places on the rostrum to be filled with members of Bright Glimmer of Hope.
Yang Haohan declared, "As such, we will proceed with the meeting. Is there any other objection?"
As he asked that, he didn't expect for there to really be a response.
The Warrior Temple's head Qiu Yonghao suddenly stood up, and declared, "I am also getting old and am getting no good. Under my leadership, the Warrior Temple has gotten its worst results in history out of this session of the Temples' Great Gathering. I truly have no more face left to act as Temple Head. I have already discussed this matter last evening with the rest of our representatives, and today, the seat of the head of the Warrior Temple shall be left to the younger generation. I hope that under her leadership, the Warrior Temple will have a brilliant future in the union resisting demonkind. Yuanyuan, please go up."
"What? Me?" Seeing the look on Qiu Yonghao's face as he watched her, Wang Yuanyuan couldn't help but feel overwhelmed for a moment.
Qiu Yonghao heaved a smile, "Who else but you could it be? Or, don't tell me you think there's someone else in our Warrior Temple's younger generation that could contend with you? I have personally watched all the efforts you have put up. The world shall be left to you youngsters." Saying that, he walked out from his original seat.
This moment, everyone on the rostrum could truly be said to be overwhelmed with shock.
Sheng Yue passed his place to Cai'er because she was originally his successor, and great-granddaughter as well. As for Chen Hongyu, although his announcement was rather more sudden, Chen Ying'er's status in the Spiritual Temple was originally already pretty much the same as Cai'er's in the Assassin Temple. But in the Warrior Temple, Qiu Yonghao could really be said to have no ties with Wang Yuanyuan, who had never returned to the Warrior Temple after becoming a Demon Hunter! Yet his firm decision of leaving her the future of the Warrior Temple's leadership at that very moment was fully unwavering.
This wasn't just a sudden idea Qiu Yonghao just had. Upon Wang Yuanyuan's return when she had come looking for him, as she showed a strength reaching the ninth step, Qiu Yonghao had already such thoughts. Wang Yuanyuan may possibly be a bit lacking compared to Long Haochen or Cai'er, but absolutely no one in the Warrior Temple could match the future her. Even in Bright Glimmer of Hope, her ranking was among the top, already being a domain-wielding powerhouse. With the addition of her original status of being part of Bright Glimmer of Hope, no one was more fitting to represent the Warrior Temple.
Qiu Yonghao had a great understanding of Wang Yuanyuan's character, and as such, he believed that after Wang Yuanyuan succeeded him as the Warrior Temple's head, she would definitely contribute to its future.
Under his gaze, Wang Yuanyuan stood, taking large strides toward the rostrum. When she arrived in front of Qiu Yonghao, she was unaware her eyes had turned reddish, "Grandpa Qiu, I..."
Qiu Yonghao heaved a smile, patting on her shoulder, "No need for words. I am not doing this for you, but for the future of our Warrior Temple. I trust that you will definitely do well." After saying that, he personally pulled his previous chair, and lightly pushed Wang Yuanyuan into it. With a weight off his mind, he walked down from the platform, heading to sit among the powerhouses of the Warrior Temple.
Such big changes actually occurred to the chairman and vice-chairmen candidacies! Yang Haohan who was taking charge of the meeting was in great shock, but despite that, the meeting had to keep going on. Fortunately, these changes did not impact the rest of the process.
The rest of the election went exceptionally smoothly. Long Haochen became the first chairman of the Temple Union without a hitch, with the vice-chairmen being Long Tianying, Li Zhengzhi, Ling Xiao, Cai'er, Chen Ying'er, and Wang Yuanyuan. Bright Glimmer of Hope actually occupied four of these major seats.
The reason why no one objected was that the proposing parties were Temple Heads, as well as because of the power Bright Glimmer of Hope had displayed in the Temples' Great Gathering. Long Haochen, Cai'er, Chen Ying'er, and Wang Yuanyuan were all domain wielding powerhouses! Being under the lead of these young powerhouses would undoubtedly have a tremondously good impact on their respective Temples.
After the chairman and vice-chairmen election came an election among the Six Great Temples for selecting thirty-six representatives, excluding from the count the chairman and vice-chairman.
It was an acceptable outcome for the Temples that Long Haochen became the first chairman of the Temple Union. As such, the rest of the meeting also proceeded without a hitch. In just two hours the whole election was completed.
Yang Haohan declared, "The election is over. The Union will now inform our citizens, attempting to make it so that within one month, all humankind is aware of the Union's foundation. Also, the Union has a lot work to be done. The integration of the Six Great Temples is the most pressing matter. Next, the first chairman of our Temple Union shall speak a few words for us."
Long Haochen nodded to Yang Haohan before sending his greetings to the rest of the Six Great Temples. Then he declared in his limpid voice, "I am honored that you elected me as your first Union Chairman. I can feel a very heavy burden on my shoulders. As Alliance Head Yang said, the election of a new Union Chairman will take place every ten years, to take over from the previous one. Perhaps the current system of our new union is not perfect yet, but I believe that it will definitely get better and better in the future."
"The most important matter after the foundation of the union is to integrate the forces of our Six Temples—to become a match for demonkind. Most of our next efforts will be concentrated on that. As your chairman, I can guarantee everyone that within the ten years of my office, I will definitely launch the counterattack against demonkind and start recovering the land that has been taken away from us. My lifetime will be devoted to leading the Union to fight against darkness, and to putting an end to the six thousand year era of darkness."
Chapter 724: The Union's Chairman (III)
Long Haochen's speech was sonorous and resounding. His voice was not a heavy one, but it carried a feeling of firmness of spirit.
Hearing him, the powerhouses present from the Six Great Temples felt that yet another Holy War was going to take place.
After pausing, Long Haochen continued, "I am still be young, and the Union has just been setup, so I will need everyone's kind support. In the following period of time, I may not have much time to spare for handling the matters of the union, as my mates and me will have to increase our strength in the shortest time possible. The Union will be mostly handled by vice-chairman Long Tianying, vice-chairman Li Zhengzhi, vice-chairman Ling Xiao and the rest of you deputies."
The rest of the conference went without a hitch. Although Long Haochen was the chairman of the union, the most important to him was still to increase his personal strength. He and the rest of Bright Glimmer of Hope were still young, and had a far higher margin for progression.
Long Haochen had a few matters to handle next. The first was to strive for acquiring his own Divine Throne. Should he get a Divine Throne, that would not only be of great benefit for his cultivation, but also increase his prestige. Afterwards, came the issue of Haoyue's evolution.
The power of the Purplish-Gold Haoyue Sword made him realize the importance of Haoyue's evolution. The six-headed him was already so powerful that, should he evolve to an eight-headed state, his strength would be bound to increase severalfolds. When the time comes, maybe Haochen would have the ability to contend against the Demon God Emperor with Haoyue's assistance.
The meeting proceeded in a rather mild manner, and the integration of the Six Great Temples was the main issue they dealt with.
First of all, the Six Great Temples were to dispatch a batch of powerhouses to gather in the Holy City, and all train together. The allocation was four thousand warriors, a thousand knights, and five hundred each of assassins, mages, summoners, and priests.
It would be called a Union's legion, with each legion formed of, besides these seven thousand powerhouses of the Six Great Temples, an additional forty thousand for a total of close to fifty thousand.
First off, two legions would be set up, under the name of Union's First Legion, and Union's Second Legion. After going through processes of unified training and integration, they would be directly thrown into the border area, with the responsibility of guarding the rather weaker Southern Mountain Pass and Exorcist Mountain Pass.
Next, would get transferred other lots of powerhouses from the Six Great Temples for integration, until the original Temple Alliance's Six Great Temples' forces all formed entirely into the pattern of the Union's legions.
The six great forts were to be temporarily guarded just as before by the six Temples separately. After all, the six forts' forces were too deep-rooted. Although the establishment of the union was settled, they couldn't be too extreme either. It needed to go through a process of transformation, so that the first batch of practitioners of the Six Great Temples would come within one year, to slowly let the concept of Six Temples be watered down. The whole process would surely need a lot of time.
For the practitioners of the Six Great Temple as well as the masses to accept the new Union would require a long process. However, while under the premise of the demon threat's existence, this wouldn't take too long thanks to the united joint efforts of the Six Great Temples' powerhouses. As soon as the Temple Union was entirely restructured into a cohesive force, that was the time the Union planned to launch the counterattack against demonkind.
The conference having ended satisfactorily, Long Haochen immediately expressed the will to leave Holy City on the next day to travel for the Knight Temple.
Haoyue was the major reason why Long Haochen was so eager to return. After his transformation into the Purplish-Gold Haoyue Sword, his blood link with Haochen could be said to have risen to a new level, and in addition, Haochen's further progress of his strength in this period of time also affected him to some extent. So, his evolution was now on the brink of surging out, and at anytime could possibly be impossible to suppress anymore.
In his last evolution, Haoyue encountered the powerful attacks of the Lich King, so the success of his evolution was greatly a matter of luck. Also, based on the pattern of their encounters, almost all of Haoyue's evolutions had attracted the attention of enemies, which only got stronger and stronger. As this time involved a rise from six heads to eight, it would not only take even longer, but attract the attention of still stronger enemies. Long Haochen really didn't dare lower his guard at all. With just one mistake, Haoyue could get into unredeemably desperate straits.
Therefore, they had to make complete preparations, the major point being in increasing their strength. Because of Haoyue's secret classification, Long Haochen couldn't borrow the power of the Six Great Temples, and was only able to rely on their own team. As a light user, he was clearly the member whose strength it was most important to increase. If he could obtain a Divine Throne, they would have a far better grasp on the situation.
The reason why they did not immediately proceed for the Knight Temple was that they had another important matter still unresolved.
After rising to the chairman of the new union, Long Haochen's status became completely different. They no longer lived in the Knight Temple, but the highest class of the union headquarters 'dwellings.
Although the topmost floor of the former Temple Alliance's administrative area was the smallest one, it was still over a thousand square meters in size.
It should now be called the union chairman's administrative floor. The whole area was cut up into a lot of regions: large offices, lounges, an area specialized for cultivating, a library, and botanic areas. Although there were no lavish decorations, that was still an elegant design overall. Let alone for just Long Haochen, even their whole Demon Hunt Squad found that space to be extremely large.
"Let's all rest here for this evening. We will depart for the Knight Temple tomorrow in the morning." Long Haochen announced to the group.
Han Yu asked, "Is it okay not to wait for your chairman seal to be made first, chairman?"
Long Haochen forced a bitter smile, "Just keep calling me Captain. It feels awkward to hear you call me chairman. Bright Glimmer of Hope's original team of seven got the chairman position, three vice-chairmen seats, and the other three became council members. As for Zhang Fangfang, Yang Wenzhao and Duan Yi, they took council spots for the Knight Temple, visibly preparing ahead of time for the sake of getting their future successors ready."
One could say that this Temples' Great Gathering's greatest winner was the Knight Temple. Although Haochen had become the union's chairman in his status as captain of Bright Glimmer of Hope, in the end he was also a knight! His grandfather and father were all leading figures of the Knight Temple, Divine Knights. With that, his relationship with the Knight Temple couldn't possibly diminish with time.
Also, Long Haochen aside, his team's Han Yu, Zhang Fangfang, Yang Wenzhao and Duan Yi were all extraordinary powerhouses of the younger generation, Han Yu and Zhang Fangfang having both broken through to the ninth step of cultivation, and Yang Wenzhao and Duan Yi, the peak of the eighth step. Even by their strength alone, they were qualified to be designated council members from the Knight Temple. After all, they were still so young.
Originally, the Mage Temple's greatest advantage over the Knight Temple was the latter's didn't have enough up-and-coming talent to replace the older generation, but this session proved that this point of view was to be entirely reviewed. The appearance of five great younger knights to smoothly take over from the older generation, raised expectations for their future. Long Tianying and Yang Haohan were rather low-key in the conference, in which the Knight Temple was once again the greatest winner. The new union could really be said to have prepared a perfect layout to convince the other Temples.
The other ones all smiled in reaction to Long Haochen's words. Looking at each other, they still had quite eerie feelings, unused to such new statuses. But they all knew without a doubt that their positions and duties within the union had become completely different after going through the Temples' Great Gathering as well as this conference. In particular, Long Haochen was already shouldering the heavy responsibility of leading humankind to destroy all demonkind.
Long Haochen declared to Zhang Fangfang, Yang Wenzhao, and Duan Yi, "Brothers Zhang, Yang, Duan. The three of you have been following Bright Glimmer of Hope for some time already. After going through the gathering, you can be considered a part of our team. As such you will also be subjected to Bright Glimmer of Hope's rules. Our Demon Hunt Squad has always followed the rule of equally splitting our contributions. Now that we are back, please hand over your contribution points."
All three were in faint shock: Long Haochen's demand was very simple, but, as it seemed a bit out of place considering his broad character, all three had quite strange feelings. But they did not give it much thought, and all took out their contribution points to transfer them to Long Haochen's contribution tile.
In fact, these three all used to be Demon Hunt Squad Captains. Although the contribution points they had piled up over the years couldn't compare to the count of Bright Glimmer of Hope's members, that was still no small count.
Chen Ying'er pouted in reaction, "You can't bully them, Captain."
Long Haochen had a grin, saying no more. Instead, Lin Xin let out a laugh, "How come it seems like the little hen is spreading her wings, now she's defending her man."
Chen Ying'er replied in great anger, "You're the hen. Has-drugs-bro, are you in for a beating? Forgot about the time you got beaten up 'til you were all swollen?"
Lin Xin let out a snort, "I don't remember such a thing."
Cai'er was already standing, just at Haochen's side, "So, are we going now?" She had seen through Long Haochen's intention, and only she knew what purpose he had when recovering the contribution points of the three of them.
Long Haochen nodded, "We are going now. We'll be leaving tomorrow at dawn, so let's take care of these matters asap. It's already noon, but we should have enough time."
Chen Ying'er looked at Long Haochen with a teary face, "What are you talking about Boss? We are done with the conference, so what more is there for us to do?"
He smiled in response, "There is a place we have not visited for a long time, and it should be quite relaxing. Let's go now."
The bald priest Sima Xian's eyes suddenly lit, "I know, the Demon Hunt Squads' Transaction Center!"
Long Haochen showed Sima Xian his thumbs up, "Smart. Time to go now."