Chapter 142

The system provided some general knowledge: for readers, the third year of high school was a very important stage. After completing their graduation exams, they would enter university, where they’d officially begin learning professional skills.

This was somewhat different from the Empire. In the Empire, children underwent ability testing at the age of twelve or thirteen. Those with abilities entered specialized academies, while ordinary children continued general education. By the time they turned eighteen and came of age, both ability users and ordinary people were expected to begin working.

The Empire didn’t place much importance on ordinary academic education. Even though ordinary people made up the majority and with aberrant domains constantly appearing, most citizens supported prioritizing resources toward ability users and fields related to those domains.

After replying to the reader with the ID “Reborn as a High-School Senior Mutant,” Ye Zheng scrolled a little further down. Suddenly, she heard a faint sound. Lifting her gaze from the screen, she looked toward the bed and then put her phone away.

Learning that the Emperor intended to keep her as a Blessed Reliquary was enough. It meant that, until he obtained what he wanted from her, he wouldn’t make any fatal moves against her for now.

But he would absolutely do everything in his power to strip her of her Saintess status just like he had done during this trial. Saintesses weren’t allowed to marry. From the moment they swore their oath, they had already dedicated their entire lives to the gods.

She needed to find an opportunity to probe Ye Fanjing. Perhaps the Emperor had revealed a fragment of his plan to him.

Once again, Ye Zheng felt fortunate that she had taken the risk to challenge Holy Verdict and manifest a miracle before all the citizens of the Empire. From now on, anyone who questioned her would essentially be challenging the authority of the God of Hope.

Relying on vague, intangible gods was only a temporary solution. The gods had never acknowledged her. She needed to expand her own strength and influence as quickly as possible—

The lie of deceiving the world and blaspheming the divine could collapse at any moment. Before that happened, she had to become an unshakable “new god.” The moment the towering shadow of the new god overshadowed the old divine statue would be the moment Saintess Ye Zheng reshaped the order of the world!

With that in mind, Ye Zheng quickly set herself a short-term goal.

Seize the 【Mother of All Things】 ability currently held by Wen Jian, find a way to restore the dragon-bodied person, and bring a complete end to the twisted Hope Project.

“Zhengzheng, why did you run over there? The doctor said you need proper rest.”

“Come back to bed quickly. I won’t disturb you.”

Shu Wan, who had been resting with her upper body leaning against the edge of the bed, hurriedly stood up. She understood her daughter well. Although Ye Zheng appeared gentle and easy to talk to, she was actually extremely stubborn and disliked others interfering with her private matters or personal space.

When she was younger and fought with Ye Di, she would get angry, throw him out of her room, lock the door, and shut everyone out completely. Her temper was as stubborn as a little calf.

　Now that she had grown up, she could casually use a few minor tricks to send her offending younger brother away to endure some hardship. There was no longer any trace of the clumsy and stubborn child she had once been. Yet Shu Wan could still see that, deep within Ye Zheng’s heart, there lived a headstrong little calf that charged forward without hesitation.

“I feel much better now. There’s no need to worry about me.”

Ye Zheng walked over to the bedside, sat down on the edge, and tilted her head slightly as she looked at Shu Wan.

“Mother, do you think I’m suited to be a Saintess?”

Shu Wan’s expression froze briefly. She carefully reached out and took Ye Zheng’s hand. Ye Zheng’s body temperature had already returned to normal, and she quietly let out a breath of relief. “Zhengzheng, in the entire Empire, there’s no one left who would dare to question your position as Saintess.”

Yesterday, Shu Wan had watched the entire process of Ye Zheng carrying out the Holy Verdict from the projection hall in the Upper District. Her tears had nearly drained every last bit of moisture from her body. If not for her worry over Ye Zheng, she might have already fainted before her daughter did.

Unconsciously, she tightened her grip around Ye Zheng’s hand. Ye Fanjing was a useless coward who had stood by and watched his daughter suffer, but she herself hadn’t done much better. Fortunately, there was still time left. She could continue arranging the original plan and give Zhengzheng a free and unrestrained coming-of-age ceremony…

“Mother, then do you think I’m suited to be… the Pope?” Ye Zheng suddenly asked.

Shu Wan, who had been immersed in her own thoughts, revealed a look of astonishment upon hearing Ye Zheng’s question. After a brief moment of intense internal deliberation, her expression gradually eased.

“Do you like that position? If you want it, then you’re suited to sit there.”

This time, it was Ye Zheng who looked surprised.

Shu Wan smiled faintly. Ye Zheng must think her mother wouldn’t be able to understand her. Indeed, the older her daughter grew, the harder she became to read. But the four-year-old Ye Zheng who cried over candy, the seven-year-old who quarreled and fought with her brother, the thirteen-year-old who declared she would run for Saintess, and the present Ye Zheng who was praised by tens of thousands as the Saintess—they were all still the same person at their core.

Ye Zheng lowered her head slightly and murmured, “Do you like it?”

“I don’t like it. That position comes with a great deal of trouble. But there are things I have to obtain from that position.”

【Mother of All Things】 was an ability passed down through every generation of Popes. Ye Zheng had searched extensively for any related information, yet she hadn’t found even the slightest clue about how the inheritance actually worked. Perhaps only by becoming the next Pope could she gain access to the secret of that succession and rightfully take possession of this ability.

However, becoming the Pope wasn’t something simple at all. It was far more complicated than merely eliminating the current Pope, Wen Jian.

“Mother, I’m a little tired.” After thinking things through for a while, Ye Zheng gently withdrew her hand from her mother’s grasp and carefully tucked a loose strand of hair behind Shu Wan’s temple. “You should get some proper rest too.”

Shu Wan, who had been sitting quietly at the edge of the bed, slowly rose to her feet. After offering a few soft words of advice, she walked toward the door, then suddenly paused and turned back.

“Zhengzheng, if there’s anything making you unhappy… you can always tell Mom.” 

“Whatever it is you want, you’ll definitely obtain it.”

The door closed softly with a quiet sound. Ye Zheng stared at the firmly shut door, her expression drifting for a brief moment. Had she neglected things for too long? It felt as though her mother had changed quite a bit without her noticing.

Ye Zheng quickly gathered herself and came back to her senses. She stepped out of the bedroom, unlocked her private study with a key, then moved toward the bookshelves, scanning them before selecting several volumes and placing them neatly on the desk.

These were books she had borrowed from the Church. They recorded the Church’s historical events from multiple perspectives, including detailed accounts of the lives of every important figure throughout its past.

Ye Zheng then took out a small key, opened the drawer of the desk, and pulled out the notebook she always used. She had already filled quite a number of pages with her own writing and careful analyses.

She picked up a pen and began comparing the contents of the books, extracting and recording the general information on each past Pope: their origins, notable deeds, length of tenure, and time of death… Including the current Pope, Wen Jian, there were twenty-one Popes in total, with an average tenure of twenty-five years.

After Ye Zheng finished organizing the information, she furrowed her brows and fell into thought. The most crucial first Pope actually had the least amount of concrete information preserved.

Aside from the gods granting him a divine oracle that foretold the apocalypse in five hundred years, along with a few legendary feats, there were no clear records of his origins, date of death, specific abilities, or anything else.

Qin Lu had once told her that 【Mother of All Things】 was the ability the first Pope had passed down to later generations in order to save the world. Looking at it this way, this Pope’s ability must have been 【Mother of All Things】. Judging from the name of the ability alone, Ye Zheng had reason to suspect that the “he” recorded in the history books had very likely been “she.”

Another detail was also worth considering: every Pope would convene an election meeting before their death, as if they'd already foreseen the mandate of heaven and hurriedly chosen the next successor.

It was true that people on the brink of death often had premonitions, but for every single Pope to accurately predict their own death and select the next one in advance felt somewhat strange.

Ye Zheng had once read some obscure texts that recorded history from before the descent of the strange domains. In even earlier eras, people had believed in other gods, and there had also been Churches and Popes who served those deities. Under normal circumstances, the election meeting was only held after the Pope had already passed away.

Ye Zheng guessed that this was most likely connected to the inheritance of 【Mother of All Things】, which was why each Pope had to choose a successor before dying.

She curled her fingers and tapped lightly on the desk. Her expression gradually took on a faintly playful look. 　　 

Such a precise process… could it be that the holder’s death was a necessary condition for the inheritance?

Ye Zheng went through the cause of death for every Pope. Each one had died in a very dignified manner. She recalled the previous Pope; in her memory, he had been old yet still vigorous, and she'd never heard of him suffering from any illness. He had passed away very suddenly, and then Wen Jian had taken his place.

“Looking at it this way, if I killed Wen Jian, there might be a chance I could inherit 【Mother of All Things】…”

Ye Zheng shifted her posture slightly, resting her chin against her hand. Unfortunately, this was still only her own speculation, and it lacked any solid supporting evidence. If she acted rashly and killed Wen Jian, only to lose 【Mother of All Things】 instead, that would be a loss far outweighing any possible gain.

She needed more clues.

Ye Zheng rose to her feet, her gaze sweeping slowly across the rows of bookshelves. A faint trace of disappointment flickered across her face. She had already gone through nearly every book in the Church’s collection, yet none of them contained any further valuable records.

The original clue regarding 【Mother of All Things】 had come from Teacher Qin Lu, but Qin Lu herself had said that she had no additional information.

Qin Lu… Ye Zheng’s deep black eyes suddenly lit up. That’s right, where had Qin Lu’s information come from in the first place? She was, in name, merely a member of the imperial family, yet her understanding of the Church and the secrets of the Popes far surpassed that of Ye Zheng, the Saintess.

Qin Lu was only an idle duke. She had pursued the truth on her own initiative for the sake of her late elder sister, the Empress. Compared to the Church, she had far more opportunities to interact with the imperial family.

The Hope Project and the birth of Sykes Aston both proved that the ties between the imperial family and the Church were far closer than they appeared on the surface.

If the Church held no further clues, then what if she approached the matter from the perspective of the imperial family instead?

✧✧✧✧✧

Two days later.

“Your courage is truly impressive, Ye Zheng. Do you really think that just because I helped you once, I’ve already forgotten about what happened in the Western District?”

On the elevated platform of the hunting grounds, Sykes leaned casually against the railing, his gaze fixed on the visiting Ye Zheng with clear displeasure.

Ye Zheng responded with a calm, composed smile. “Thank you, Your Highness, for being willing to investigate that matter at the time. That’s exactly why I need to remind you…”

“It would be wise to take a closer look at the subordinate who uncovered David Green’s false identity. You might find something… unexpectedly useful.”

Sykes was only one part of the Emperor’s larger scheme. The direction of his investigation must have ultimately been guided by the Emperor himself.

She didn’t mind making use of Sykes’ position to cause the Emperor a bit of trouble.

At her words, Sykes’ brows drew together tightly, and his expression darkened almost instantly. He understood the implication behind her statement. Ye Zheng was openly questioning his ability to manage the affairs within his own domain.

He stepped forward, closing the distance between them. The killing intent in his golden eyes was so intense it seemed almost tangible. “Ye Zheng, I really will kill you.”

Ye Zheng suddenly lowered her head, hiding a faint trace of mockery in her eyes, then lifted it again and looked at him with complete sincerity.

“Compared to wanting to kill me, how are your memory recovery and headaches?”

“…I no longer need your treatment. You’ve got no value left, Saintess.” 　

“Understood,” Ye Zheng replied, not at all surprised by his answer.

“Then, Your Highness, have you decided to withdraw from the Ability Tournament?”

A series of back-to-back incidents had caused the Empire’s most anticipated event to be delayed time and time again. After the Crown Prince entered the Western District, the already flustered Ability Tournament organizing committee had once more suspended the competition.

The sheer number of unexpected developments kept pushing the schedule further and further back. After some deliberation, the committee announced the revised rules just yesterday.

Under the current format, the top four teams in points would enter the same strange domain. Points would then be calculated based on individual contributions, added onto their previously accumulated scores, and the final winner would be determined that way.

In other words, the final round of the Ability Tournament was about to begin.

At the mention of the tournament, Sykes fell silent for a brief moment.

Even though the competition brought him no real benefit, as the Crown Prince he had to participate. There was no way he could allow himself to lose to a commoner brat like Pei Xi.

Someone had already leaked the details of the final round’s setup to him, and Ye Zheng’s ability happened to be exceptionally well-suited for it.

Ye Zheng observed the subtle changes in Sykes’ expression and immediately understood his answer.

“Your sources are quite well-informed,” Sykes said, casting her a dark look.

Ye Zheng smiled. The organizing committee had been eager to curry favor with the imperial family and had leaked plenty of information to Sykes. Having grown used to such preferential treatment, Sykes didn’t see anything wrong with it.

Although the committee would never take the initiative to curry favor with her, she had her own unique channels for information.

Just yesterday, a new preview of the manga had been updated on her phone.

The system had informed her that, in the original storyline, her main arc moment was about to arrive.