Mystery: Chaos Path

For Xiya, the Pale Empress, this period could be described as a bolt from the blue.

Xiya simply couldn't believe that after all these years as the Pale Empress, and with the royalist faction of the Spirit Religion unified, all that remained was to subdue or eliminate Hytel, that restless old codger, to completely unify the Spirit Religion.

She even thought that if she could obtain the Death Uniqueness in the future, advancing to Sequence 0 and becoming the new Death might not be impossible.

But just when things were looking so promising, "Death" suddenly returned and issued an oracle.

Of course, Xiya didn't believe that Death had truly returned.

In her view, either Hytel had gone too far or had succeeded, and the Death Uniqueness had truly been activated by their reckless actions, becoming an existence like the Hidden Sage, or someone had mastered the Death Uniqueness and was causing trouble while wearing a disguise.

But either way, it wasn't good news for Xiya—knowing the Hidden Sage's style, the Uniqueness becoming sentient wasn't a good thing for Beyonders of this pathway, especially someone like Xiya who possessed a Sequence 1 characteristic.

And if someone had secretly mastered the Uniqueness, Xiya didn't think they would let go of the Sequence 1 characteristic she possessed; they would definitely snatch it.

Moreover, since the other party issued an oracle in the name of Death and established new rules for the Death's believers, they definitely had designs on the Spirit Religion and wanted to seize power.

So, Xiya had really been unable to sleep well during this period, worrying constantly.

Of course, if Xiya chose to be a salted fish, obediently lying flat at this time, handing over power, and surrendering the Sequence 1 characteristic, perhaps the so-called Death wouldn't do anything to her.

But firstly, that would be gambling on the other party's mercy, essentially handing over her fate to them, and as the Pale Empress, Xiya truly didn't believe that high-sequence beings of this pathway possessed such a thing as mercy.

Secondly, Xiya was unwilling to do so.

She had been the Pale Empress for so many years, only one step away from Sequence 0.

Although that one step might trap her for a lifetime, she certainly wouldn't be willing to give up so easily.

Thirdly, Xiya suspected that the "Death" who issued the oracle might have some problems with their state.

Otherwise, why wouldn't they show themselves and unify the Spirit Religion or bestow power?

Precisely because of these reasons, Xiya made a decision as soon as she learned of the oracle, labeling it as a "conspiracy by the artificial Death faction" and reassuring the members of the royalist faction who were slightly shaken by the oracle.

At the same time, she secretly began to investigate what this so-called Death was all about.

Originally, all of Xiya's actions were going smoothly.

After all, she had been managing the Spirit Religion for many years and could almost be called the de facto leader.

Although the artificial Death faction led by Hytel stubbornly resisted, the royalist faction's base was still preserved, and most of the other small factions were skeptical of the oracle and didn't choose to defect directly.

But today, Xiya collapsed as she realized that her arrangements during this period had probably been in vain.

Even among the backbone of the royalist faction, many would waver, except for those who were completely loyal to her.

And divine punishment… Xiya pursed her lips.

She still didn't think her judgment of "Death" was wrong, but now it seemed that perhaps that "Death's" state was much better than she had originally guessed.

This was undoubtedly bad news for Xiya.

A layer of gloom enveloped Xiya's eyes.

She quickly thought of something else and instructed, "…Compile a list for me, and make it quick."

Faced with her request, the subordinate naturally didn't dare to neglect it.

Soon, a list was in Xiya's hands.

"This is a list of all the members we have been able to confirm who have suffered divine punishment, but many members who are carrying out tasks outside have not been included.

They are too far away from us, and we cannot determine the situation for the time being.

But rest assured, I have already arranged for people to contact them, and I believe that this part of the list can also be compiled soon," the subordinate said meekly after handing over the list.

Xiya nodded slightly, listening to her subordinate's words, and didn't blame them for anything.

She wasn't one of those unreasonable superiors.

Xiya simply lowered her head and browsed the list, then exhaled and said, "All those who have suffered divine punishment are those who have not complied with the new rules and have done things that seriously violate the new rules."

"This even includes a member of the artificial Death faction…" Xiya put down the list and focused her gaze on her subordinate, saying, "Do you know what this means?"

The subordinate paused before replying, "The returning Death does not belong to the artificial Death faction."

"This is a conclusion that should have been reached long ago," Xiya shook her head and said coldly, "This means that this Death pays more attention to the new rules he promotes than anything else."

"…Perhaps it's just to establish authority?" the subordinate suggested a possibility.

He was Xiya's direct subordinate, so he was occasionally bolder in his speech.

"If the other party just wanted to establish authority, they wouldn't need to make any distinctions, they could just kill everyone, but the fact is that everyone suffers different degrees of divine punishment, and this difference stems from the crimes they have committed," Xiya said, pausing here, a rare hint of confusion appearing in her eyes:

"I originally thought that these so-called new rules were just an attempt by the other party to show their existence and control the Spirit Religion… But he actually cares about these rules?"

Xiya was truly confused.

After all, as a descendant of Death and the Pale Empress of the Spirit Religion, Xiya had been educated in the Byran royal family's ways since she was a child, and her indifference to life had long been ingrained in her bones, which made it even more difficult for her to understand these new rules.

"But this at least allows me to rule out one possibility…" Xiya shook her head, suppressed the doubts in her heart, and erased her previous guess that "Death" was the Uniqueness becoming sentient.

With the characteristics of the Death pathway, if it was really the Uniqueness becoming sentient, it would only be more indifferent and ruthless.

"So, who exactly is it… Night? War God?" Xiya guessed in her heart, but was surrounded by new confusion.

Because she thought of Hytel, Xiya was very clear about how loyal Hytel was to Death.

Even if the other party had created the artificial Death project, it was essentially still to revive Death.

Such a person might not be able to prevent the Night or War God from stealing the Uniqueness, but he would definitely not help them control the Spirit Religion.

And now, looking at Hytel's posture, it was obvious that he really wanted to help the new Death control the Spirit Religion.