Only God

Xilan looked around the Palace sternly, and everyone was shocked by his gaze, then they all laughed. What right did this heretic have to look at us with such a manner?

As the saying goes, when you are weak, even threats become laughable.

Some Nobles even laughed out loud without restraint, eventually turning away and covering their mouths as hard as they could.

After the laughter in the hall gradually subsided, Xilan spoke again:

"No, this is not fair."

The King asked:

"What is unfair about it?"

Xilan closed his eyes again and did not answer directly. Instead, he asked in return:

"I would like to ask you, do True Believers consider their path the way to Heaven?"

The Archbishop glanced at him coldly and replied:

"Of course it is, not only the way to Heaven but also the path of truth."

Xilan, still with his eyes closed, said:

"Since it is the path of truth, the way to Heaven, then what must be done?"

The Archbishop answered without hesitation:

"Justice, doing good, and worshiping God."

The Archbishop knew that the questions asked by the Envoy were the doctrines of the Church from tens of thousands of years ago, at its very beginning.

As an Archbishop, he naturally would not lie about the doctrines, even if he knew that Xilan might be luring him into a trap. He was curious to see what the Envoy intended to say.

"So, if they treat you with injustice, should you treat them with injustice in return?"

Xilan asked coldly,

"This is certainly not justice."

At these words, everyone in the Palace was slightly taken aback; some Priests touched their foreheads and fell into thought, while some reckless Nobles clenched their fists in anger.

The King was also startled by these words. He did not think too deeply, but just glanced at the Archbishop.

It seemed the Archbishop was well-prepared; with an unchanged expression, he said:

"It seems you are quite familiar with our True Religion's doctrines,

then, do you not know that 'God is not moral; God is absurd?'"

Xilan nodded, indicating that he had indeed heard of it.

Thus, the Archbishop continued:

"Given that,

how can you say that God's justice and what you consider justice are the same?"

Hearing the Archbishop's words, the King nodded trustfully, and the people in the hall began to recover from their astonishment. Some Priests exhaled a sigh of relief—they could see that the Envoy had come prepared and was using the doctrines of the True Religion to challenge them, but how could he possibly compare to the Archbishop steeped in theology for many years?

"You are right, God is not moral; God is absurd."

Xilan nodded.

At this, an air of confusion filled the room. The reason was simple: the Envoy's voice was too calm, and there was no rebuttal, causing several Nobles to wonder if the Envoy was conceding his argument to the Archbishop.

"The justice of God and what we consider justice indeed differ,"

Suddenly, Xilan said:

"However, they are not without commonalities."

The Archbishop stared intently at Xilan, his brow furrowing slightly.

For some reason, the King on the throne also tensed up.

Xilan took a deep breath and slowly said:

"What is God's justice? No one can say for certain, but this does not mean that God's justice diverges from what we consider just.

Why do I say this?

Take, for example, God's salvation. When someone averts disaster and saves another from destruction, isn't that what we consider salvation?

And when the end times come, if God averts disaster and saves us from destruction, without a doubt, He has saved us.

You see, both acts of salvation are so similar, can you still say that God's salvation and what we consider salvation diverge?

If they truly diverged, then God should destroy us and consider what we view as destruction 'salvation.'"

Xilan opened his eyes, and after his words fell, his gaze once again swept across the entire Palace.

For some reason, everyone's heartbeat simultaneously slowed down a beat, the Envoy seemed like he was scrutinizing their souls.

The Archbishop, in his field of expertise, had been publicly refuted and his face turned rage-red,

he bellowed:

"Seducer of souls, you arrogant heretic!"

Those Nobles who had almost been persuaded, were jolted awake by this shout, looking at Xilan with fury, wishing they could tear the Envoy apart in the name of God.

Yet Xilan remained undaunted and said:

"How so, Archbishop, why are you so furious?

Could it be that you really regard the justice of God as something that goes against us?

If so, I see you more as a heretic."

The Archbishop was enraged, he marched down the steps in front of the throne, raised his staff to strike the Envoy.

Yet every blow missed its target, just as it was about to land, the seemingly frail Envoy dodged each strike by a hair's breadth, and in the end, it was the Archbishop who stumbled and fell to the ground.

Xilan hurried over and helped him up, kindly dusting the dirt off his clothes.

This scene was so strange that everyone in the room was stunned, unsure of what to say.

The Archbishop was panting heavily, with his hand on his staff restrained, his face red, both angry and embarrassed.

"Your Majesty, it was he who provoked me!"

The Archbishop turned his head and said hastily:

"He also slandered our doctrine and blasphemed against God!"

The King immediately stood up, seeing an opportunity to expel the blasphemous Envoy and prevent him from undermining the morale of the Kingdom.

He said with disapproval:

"Heretic, please leave! As the Archbishop said, you have slandered our doctrine, blasphemed against God. I too am angered by this, and if it weren't for our manners, you would have already been pushed to the gallows."

Facing the King's anger, Xilan replied without changing his expression:

"You are mistaken, your Majesty, I am not a heretic, I too am a baptized True Believer, if I were not a True Believer, how would I know so much about the doctrine? How could I refute the Archbishop?

Could it be that you think that the learned Archbishop would be speechlessly refuted by a heretic, resorting to fisticuffs?"

His words left the Palace in utter silence, the King was flustered, the Archbishop's face turned white rapidly, waves of frustrations surging within him, and in that moment, they were both caught in a dilemma.

If they considered the Envoy not a True Believer, then the Archbishop who had been refuted by a heretic to the point of violence had complete lost face, but if they believed the Envoy was a True Believer, they had no reason to expel him so rudely.

Hence, the King had no choice but to sit back down.

At that moment, Xilan also let go of the Archbishop, he looked around at everyone and continued to ask:

"Do you acknowledge God as the King of Kings?"

Though reluctant, in front of such a crowd, it was improper to make a gesture of blasphemy against the faith, so they nodded.

The Archbishop gripped his staff, glaring at Xilan with hatred.

"Since that's the case, then the esteemed Kings and Nuca Bulu are all His subjects,"

Xilan said.

No one dared to deny his words, for to do so would be to deny the Scriptures, to blaspheme the faith.

"Then, would a King like to see, one of his subjects killing another subject at will?"

Xilan countered.

Before anyone could react, the Archbishop hastily retorted:

"For the cause of God, of course we can do this!

Must we wait until they endanger God's cause before taking action? They are the enemies of God."

The Archbishop's words somewhat eased the rising tension among the people, yes, they were engaged in a righteous cause.

But faced with the Archbishop's rebuttal, Xilan simply smiled.

Seeing Xilan's smile, everyone's hearts once again tensely rose.

Despite their reluctance to admit it, their emotions were all swayed by the Envoy, as if at his whim.

"Enemies of God?

Do you think, mere mortals can be deemed as enemies of God?

No, God has no enemies.

It is you who have underestimated God's almightiness!"