“Ashpel.” Cleos, the ‘Weeping Sand Red Cap,’ gazed at the Violet Spiderweb covering the night sky of Azura, and tears of curse rolled down her cheeks.

“Ashpel.” Ina, the ‘Red Cicada Dame’ and a primary enemy of the Happy Family Firm before the Funeral, murmured absentmindedly.

“Ashpel.” The patriarch of the Six Heraldry looked up, wondering if it was time to proceed with the plan of changing everyone’s surname to Senhaeser.

Vamora, Modora, Fidrola, Mephila… As the Gospel Ranking was announced and the fireworks of the Spiderweb illuminated the sky, everyone in the Gospel whispered the same name.

“Ashpel.”

In the banquet hall of the Nabistin Royal Palace, the Empress rose from her throne and calmly declared the transition of power, extending her arms: “The New Empress has been born, and Ashpel will echo into the future. The Yisuo Dynasty will welcome a new Saint.”

“How is this possible…”

“Why him! How could it be him? It can’t be him! I will never accept it!”

“We can’t allow this to happen!”

“The Weaving Festival is over, and so are we…”

When the Gospel Ranking concluded, many guests were in emotional turmoil. Especially those from the families of Mercury, Roland, and Kaesrei. They had sent people to hunt down Ashe, and their bounties on him were still listed on the Gospel market!

It wasn’t just that they couldn’t acknowledge Ashe as the future Saint of Yisuo; they didn’t want to accept that they had made a mortal enemy of the soon-to-be supreme ruler of the Gospel!

It would have been understandable if they had known the consequences and acted accordingly, as it would be their own fault. But just a minute ago, those relentless in chasing Ashe were hailed as pillars of the Gospel, and in the next minute, they had become traitors who conspired to assassinate royalty!

From paradise to hell in one step; such an earth-shattering ordeal would be unbearable for anyone! Even during a market crash, there’s a circuit breaker; at worst, you’d lose your capital with leveraged investments. But now, in one careless moment, they had lost centuries of family legacy. Even Sanctuary Sorcerers, accustomed to turmoil, would break under such pressure.

As for whether offending Ashe might not lead to problems… Well, over the past few centuries, nobody has really dared to offend the First Gospel. After all, the princess stays in the Royal Palace before ascending to the throne, and once she ascends, she becomes the emperor wielding the Gospel’s power. She offends others; no one dares to offend her.

Yet, a glance at history reveals the answer: those dynasties that dared to offend the First Gospel have all become history; those famous sites that imprisoned the First Gospel are now ruins; and those rebels who tried to defy the First Gospel, their deeds didn’t even make it into the records.

The reason they feared so much is that, unlike ordinary people, the families and consortiums at the very top of the ruling class are acutely aware of the absolute dominion of the Yisuo Royal Family. If the Yisuo Royal Family can suppress their fierce competition within their respective cities, it certainly has the power to obliterate them, leading to the rapid disintegration and even complete annihilation of their families within a day!

This isn’t some paranoid delusion of the victims; the Yisuo Royal Family has actually done similar things in the past!

About three hundred years ago, a family produced a legendary sorcerer. He not only refused to enter Nabistin but also used his power to coerce and entice other families into submission, quickly expanding his influence across many cities. He assigned all important positions to his most trusted blood relatives and used pacts to aid in his rule, seemingly on the verge of breaking the “territorial limits” set by the Yisuo Royal Family.

They even built a tall tower, inviting various families to establish their prestige and trying to position themselves as the ‘Second Gospel.’

But one night, this family suddenly met its demise. The reason? Internal conflict. Because the legendary sorcerer valued ‘loyalty’ over ‘ability,’ those who believed they had made great contributions were dissatisfied, while those who were favored didn’t feel they were undeserving.

During rapid expansion, bloodline loyalty could weld together many real interests, but when the weight of those interests tipped the Balance over blood ties, the conflicts backfired tenfold.

Rebels seized the moment when the legendary sorcerer was logging into the Virtual Realm, using love to turn his daughter against him, remarkably succeeding in assassinating the legendary sorcerer. But the ensuing civil war engulfed the entire family, and nearly no one survived.

Even when looking back at this annihilated family, it was clearly their own downfall, showing no external influences. However, no one is naïve enough to think that the Yisuo Royal Family didn’t intervene-after all, it’s possible for a legendary sorcerer to be assassinated while logging into the Virtual Realm, but most sorcerers, no matter how secure they feel, would set up at least one or two defensive measures to guard against external interference before entering the Virtual Realm.

Perhaps this legendary sorcerer was simply careless or lazy that night, neglecting to set up any defenses before diving into the Virtual Realm. But such an incredible lapse in judgment is enough to send chills down the spine of anyone in retrospect.

Are the families like Mercury’s truly unassailable fortresses?

To the Yisuo Royal Family, the castles these families have been fortifying for hundreds of years are no more robust than children’s sandcastles.

The rebellious hearts of Qenna and Yvaren have been long in the making, driven not only by ambition but by fear. In fact, these two are intertwined. Once they realized that the blade of Yisuo had always been hanging over their heads, their dissatisfaction and longing were born.

So, figures like Mercury and others can’t stand idly by and watch Ashe ascend to the throne-regardless of whether Ashe intends to take revenge or not.

If Ashe seeks revenge, their deaths will be swift and formalized; if Ashe does not seek revenge, they would still live in constant fear, interpreting every minor setback as a signal of Ashe making his move, effectively torturing themselves to death with paranoia.

Ultimately, the pressure exerted by the First Gospel is immense, so immense that it shatters their rational defenses. And they simply do not possess the power to oppose the First Gospel-no matter how strong they are, could they be stronger than the Elven Dynasty or the Emberflame Dynasty?

More importantly, the Yisuo Royal Family doesn’t need these families to aid in governance. Though these sorcerer families possess certain advanced capabilities and play a crucial role in technological advancement and improving production efficiency, the Yisuo Royal Family inviting them to witness the throne succession signifies their importance.

But they are important, not indispensable.

Even if everyone here and their respective families were exterminated, Yisuo’s rule would remain as solid as a rock, with the only consequence being a temporary stagnation in production and development, which time would eventually compensate for.

The Yisuo Royal Family never interacting with the outside world is the correct approach; no one can afford the consequences of being disliked by the princess, unless…

At this point, everyone couldn’t help but glance at the main characters who had just caused a scene at the banquet.

No wonder Senhaeser and Belldate almost tore down the palace, and the Empress didn’t react at all!

Qenna and Nona don’t even need mentioning-the Gospel has repeatedly declared their sovereignty over Ashe, showing how much Ashe adores them; Yvaren, invalidated in the “Happiness Ranking,” turned to become Ashe’s secret technique, behaving like a loyal dog, as if dominated by him; and Anfel is Igor’s wife, and Igor is the madman who would overthrow the entire Gospel for Ashe’s resurrection. Moreover, Ashe also has a deep appreciation for Anfel’s daughter Leia, making Anfel practically like Ashe’s sister from another mother.

As the harem of the New Empress, what’s a little palace tearing?

“Yvaren…”

“Patriarch of the Senhaeser…”

“Esteemed Lady Belldate…”

“Guardian of Vamora’s Heraldry…”

As the guests began to show goodwill towards them, an angry voice echoed through the hall.

“The Gospel has deceived us!”

Mercury, eyes red with rage and teeth clenched, exclaimed, “The threshold for getting on the ‘Gospel Ranking’ is said to be ‘only the purest, most innocent, kindest, and most beautiful girl’-Why is Ashe on the list!? What right does he have!?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay