I am Guhuoniao, not an umbrella demon, please do not disturb me.

Either all the sects, large and small, should unite to manage it together, or a more conscientious sect than the Fate Sect should be found to replace the Fate Sect and guide the people back to the right track over several decades or even hundreds of years.

Bai Qingyu felt helpless when she thought about this.

Of the two methods she could think of, the former was impossible because all sects in the world were driven by self-interest, and helping Xizhou recover and develop would bring them no benefit whatsoever. The latter was also impossible; to replace the Ming Sect, firstly, the power itself could not be smaller than the Ming Sect, otherwise it would be difficult to manage; secondly, Xizhou was poor in spiritual energy, and no major sect was willing to come.

All I can say is that Xizhou is the biggest mess.

If we take control, eliminating the Fate Cult won't be a problem. But what about the aftermath?

We can't just watch all these people starve to death; what's the point of eliminating the Ming Cult then?

If left unchecked, the people will continue to live in this hellish state.

At least now the Fate Cult won't let the people die, since the Fate Cult's development is inseparable from the people's faith.

If the Fate Cult could treat these people better and improve their lives, then even the Heavenly Sun Palace wouldn't interfere.

"What a mess."

Bai Qingyu muttered to herself, "This mess is one thing, but the real problem is that the situation in Xizhou is inextricably linked to me. It's because the phoenix these people worship is her—or rather, the previous Guhuoniao. And since the previous Guhuoniao is probably dead, this matter naturally fell on my shoulders."

Actually, we can't blame the previous Guhuoniao. She didn't expect things to develop like this. The biggest culprit is still the leader of the Fate Cult.

Therefore, the best way to resolve this matter is to start with the Fate Cult.

The simplest path would be to replace the leader of the Fate Cult, change the entire management team, and then gradually change Xizhou through the Fate Cult's influence.

The one who tied the knot must untie it. If the Ming Sect has turned Xizhou into this state, then let the Ming Sect turn Xizhou back to its original state.

So in the end, it still has to be her, the Divine Phoenix, who can take over the position after killing the leader of the Fate Sect. If the Divine Phoenix comes, then everything will fall into place naturally.

"Roche, didn't you say before that everything we see now is the result of the people's own choices?"

Bai Qingyu stopped thinking about it and instead focused her attention on Luo Qie.

"Yes, it was their own choice."

"Could you tell me what happened during that time?"

Luo Qie clearly knew something, and Bai Qingyu wanted to understand the past of Xizhou, what exactly happened to turn it into this terrible state.

He turned his head and met Bai Qingyu's gaze. Looking into Bai Qingyu's eyes, Luo Che turned back and looked straight ahead. "Okay."

On the desolate land, two figures walked on foot. Disciples of the Ming Sect often passed by. They couldn't help but be moved by Bai Qingyu's figure, but when they saw Luo Qie next to her, they were so frightened that they quickly left and dared not look any longer.

Luo Qie didn't care about the younger disciples and told Bai Qingyu about the past of Xizhou.

Xizhou has not been like this for very long, only a little over two hundred years.

When Roche was old enough to understand things, the situation in West Virginia was quite good. In terms of development, it was not much different from the outside world, and some places were even very prosperous because of trade with the central cities.

Until one day, the daughter of the Divine Phoenix descended upon Xizhou.

Because the Divine Phoenix led everyone to overcome disasters and escape ignorance and delusion, the entire Western Continent worshipped the Divine Phoenix. At that time, the Fate Cult was still very weak and could only absorb limited faith power.

Therefore, when the goddess descended, the sect was instructed to publicize it extensively.

That year, another disaster struck. The goddess descended upon Xizhou and prayed for the people of Xizhou, bringing favorable weather and abundant harvests. Before long, the people discovered that the goddess truly possessed divine power. Gradually, praying to the goddess replaced their labor, and they began to ask the goddess for anything they needed in life.

If you can get something for free, nobody will want to work.

With the goddess around, the crops in the fields don't need much tending.

Once the seeds are sown, all you have to do is wait for the harvest.

What's outrageous is that this wasn't just a few people; it happened throughout the entire Western Regions. The goddess had only been there for three years, yet the land was being abandoned piece by piece, and no one was planting or fishing for the Western Regions' specialties anymore. Trade with the Central Regions had essentially ceased.

Accustomed to this leisurely life without having to work, the people of Xizhou grew increasingly greedy over time. They had the basics of life, but what they wanted was far more than that. Everyone wanted a life of wealth and luxury, but where did the goddess get the power to do that?

The common people often say that without them, there would be no divine phoenix, and without the divine phoenix, there would be no goddess.

Isn't it normal for goddesses to serve them? Isn't it their duty?

Bai Qingyu frowned upon hearing this. The Fate Sect was pulling the strings behind the scenes, but these people were far too foolish, reminding her of the people in the small fishing village who seemed to have treated Huang in the same way.

They take the benefits from the goddess for granted. They even think, "I've already put myself in your faith, what more do you want?"

However, what Roche said next made Bai Qingyu slightly change her mind.

Because the goddess worked tirelessly day and night, this group of people accomplished a great feat.

Under the influence of the Fate Cult, they believed that the goddess no longer wanted them, so they built a huge labyrinth to imprison the goddess inside, where she could never escape.

Once the labyrinth was completed, combined with the faith of so many people, it truly imprisoned the goddess inside until she died from exhaustion.

The goddess is dead, what should we do?

The Fate Cult resurfaced, continuing to bewitch the people, claiming that although the goddess was dead, her power had been inherited by someone else, namely the next goddess.

Through the people's election, each city selected a goddess, and then these nearly twenty girls were all placed in the maze. Only one person could come out of the maze. Whoever could come out would become the next goddess, and whoever could not would never come out.

A new goddess appeared and lived in the most prosperous city in the Western Continent, where she was worshipped.

But mortals are mortals after all; they can't gain great power just by navigating a maze.

The people discovered that the goddess seemed to be less effective.

Their quality of life has declined drastically, and some people have starved to death.

Without land and no longer able to hunt, they were rendered useless by the goddess within a few years. Much of their remaining grain was bought up by the sect, and the money used to buy the grain became worthless, as silver could not be eaten.

The new goddess has no divine power, and the Fate Cult has started promoting the Divine Phoenix again.

The goddesses are all daughters of the Divine Phoenix, so it goes without saying how powerful the Divine Phoenix is.

They were already extremely hungry, and after believing in the Divine Phoenix, the sect brought them food.

At this point, the entire Western Regions began to develop rapidly in the direction it is today.

The days of obtaining food without labor are over. What's worse, they've become accustomed to this way of life. When they have no food, they are forced to eat what is brought to them by their servants. They are so weak from hunger that they can easily stomach even the dark, mushy food.

Instead of returning to the days when hard work brought food, they were put back into captivity at this critical moment.

But people aren't stupid; they can always tell whether life is good or bad.

They dared not vent their anger on the Fate Cult, nor on the Divine Phoenix, for fear of starving themselves. So their only target was that poor goddess.

According to Roche, one day he saw a man with a tattered cloak covering his face break into the goddess's room.

Since then, he has seen men breaking into the goddess's house every day. They are all men, the oldest being fifty or sixty years old, and the youngest being ten or so.

Sometimes she can even meet four or five men in one night.

"and then?"

Bai Qingyu felt extremely conflicted.

"And then, the goddess died." Roche adjusted his hat, so that Bai Qingyu could only see the lower half of his face. "They could insult their own goddess just by putting a tattered cloth over their heads."

"They worship gods while blaspheming them in the most cruel ways."

Bai Qingyu could tell that Luo Qie's tone was noticeably different, filled with more resentment.

She suddenly thought of something.

"Who is the goddess to you...?"

After hearing this, Roche paused for a moment, then said, "She is my mother."

Bai Qingyu hadn't expected this either, and quickly said, "I'm sorry..."

"It's alright, I've already taken my revenge, I guess."

The topic ended there, and Roche stopped talking, as did Bai Qingyu.

She could hardly believe that such a vast territory as Xizhou could have become like this. If it were just one or two cities, she wouldn't say anything, but the problem was that all of the dozen or so cities in Xizhou had done the same thing, and the labyrinth where the goddess was imprisoned was also built by them together.

To reiterate, the fact that the Fate Cult is behind this is simply outrageous.

This was especially true for these two goddesses.

What Bai Qingyu didn't know was that the first goddess in the labyrinth was still alive.

Her name is Mikoto.

Please vote for me, sob sob sob.

Volume 1: Chapter 112 Each with Their Own Calculations

After arriving in Xizhou, they were still quite far from Xishan. Bai Qingyu and Luo Qie were already moving at a considerable speed, but at this rate, it would still take at least ten days to arrive. The main problem was that Bai Qingyu was slow on foot; if he transformed into his true form, he could fly there in less than half a day.

Another day passed, during which Bai Qingyu did not speak to Luo Qie again.

Roche kept his head down, most of his face was covered by his straw hat, so his expression was not visible.

Bai Qingyu didn't know what kind of mentality Luo Qie had when he joined the Fate Cult. He knew that everything that happened in Xizhou was absolutely related to the Fate Cult. In other words, the Fate Cult was almost like an enemy to Luo Qie. His mother had indirectly died at the hands of the Fate Cult.

A day later, Bai Qingyu finally couldn't help but ask, "Don't you hate the Fate Cult?"

"I don't hate."

"why."

"Because, without them, I would starve to death."

"..."

Bai Qingyu remained silent, not expecting Luo Qie's answer to be so straightforward.

Before Bai Qingyu could speak again, Luo Qie suddenly took off his bamboo hat, revealing an ordinary face but with incredibly sharp eyes. "Lord Divine Phoenix, this is all I can do to see you off. Take care."

"Ok?"

Before Bai Qingyu could react to Luo Qie's meaning, she saw five figures flying rapidly toward her, clearly heading straight for her.

These five people are not weak. Compared to Roche, they are much weaker, but they can still be considered experts if they are out in the world.

"What, you're not planning to come back with me?" Bai Qingyu glanced sideways.

"No, I want to walk back the rest of the way." Roche held his straw hat in one hand and silently continued walking forward. His left arm was empty; he had cut it off a few days ago and it had never been reattached.

I have to say, traveling with this guy these days has been quite enjoyable.

I don't like free bodyguards.

This guy doesn't like to talk nonsense, doesn't care about anything, and won't get involved. He's like a transparent person. But when he encounters villains or cultivators and demons with malicious intentions, he can be really ruthless, clean and efficient, and never drags his feet.