527 Sun God Temple
During Vaan's previous stay in the Holy Knight Empire, he had sent out an ultimatum to everyone in a position of power or status within the defeated country - they were required to surrender their personal aura cultivation methods to show their loyalty and support for their new ruler.
Those who failed to comply would be seen as holding contempt for the new monarchy and considered rebels.
Of course, Vaan had also informed them of the fate that awaited such rebels - to be burned in the radiances of his semi-divine flames.
It was an overbearing demand that could easily raise discontent and spell the doom of its tyrant ruler. Even so, the threat was very effective in producing the desired results.
More than five hundred scrolls had piled on Vaan's desk.
Throughout history, tyrant rulers have always met untimely ends. As such, overbearing demands couldn't be made of the country often - it would shake its stability with uncontrollable unrest.
However, at the start of a new monarchy, an appropriate amount of force was required to stabilize the country.
Furthermore, Vaan had a plan to fill the populace with greater satisfaction than the discontent they felt from being forced to surrender their household's aura cultivation methods.
As such, he was never concerned about the unrest that would rise from his threat.
Shortly after Vaan picked up the first aura cultivation scroll and perused its content, he quickly absorbed its information.
Ding!
<You have comprehended the mid-rank aura cultivation method of Count Regales of the Krosstoen County, Burning Sun Art>
The aura scroll didn't just contain information about the Burning Sun Art but also recorded the name and status of its original owner.
Count Regales had included such information in the scroll as proof that he had complied with the Sun God's demand.
After all, no one might have known the Burning Sun Art came from him.
Nevertheless, Vaan finished memorizing the information and placed the scroll in one corner to separate it from the unread scroll pile.
Without delay, he picked up the next scroll to read.
Ding!
<You have learned the low-rank aura cultivation method of Lord Keene, Great Flame Method>
<You have learned the high-rank aura cultivation method of Marquis Gunnar, Burning Heaven Art>
<You have learned the mid-rank aura cultivation method of Earl Bardo, Revolving Sunfire Method>
…
Vaan continued to go through the scrolls one by one until he encountered a problem.
<You have learned the high-rank aura cultivation method of Fontayne Stonehart, Nine Shifting Sun Art (flawed)>
Based on Vaan's rich accumulated knowledge of aura cultivation, he quickly understood the original Nine Shifting Sun Art would have been a high-rank aura cultivation method.
However, the version of the Nine Shifting Sun Art he received had been purposely altered to fail and inflict self-harm on its practitioner. It was just ordinary self-harm but one that damaged the meridian channels and led to crippled cultivation with prolonged practice.
Individually, the flaws wouldn't cause much harm to the body. But once they were combined, the effect would skyrocket to such a level of severity.
Evidently, the Nine Shifting Sun Art owner had insidious intentions and wanted to ruin whoever practiced the high-rank aura cultivation method.
Vaan's eyes immediately flickered with a sharp glint.
The person thought he was clever, but his petty tricks were no different from a kid showing off in front of a master.
Vaan had easily seen through the problem and intention.
But even if he regarded it as a petty trick, the person's intentions were cruel. Thus, he had zero intention of sparing the person.
Nevertheless, Vaan didn't intend to take immediate action against Fontayne Stonehart, who submitted the scroll.
There were still many scrolls to go through.
Vaan placed the flawed Nine Shifting Sun Art in a new separate pile. He continued shifting through the remaining scrolls to see how many more people had similar ideas.
Once he was done reviewing them all, dealing with his enemies all at once would be easier.
Ding!
<You have learned the high-rank aura cultivation method of the Sun God Temple, Holy Aura Scripture (flawed)>
"..."
Vaan was briefly silent after he comprehended the scroll submitted by the Sun God Temple. Still, he showed no surprise.
The Sun God Temple's influence was second only to the ruler of the Holy Knight Empire.
After all, its members were the highest authorities in the entire Sun God religion. They were the Sun God's most ardent believers and the closest to the Sun God. As such, it wasn't strange that the Sun God Temple would also pull such a trick against him.
A false, self-proclaimed Sun God like him definitely wouldn't be recognized by them.
Of course, if the Sun God Temple had made up the entire religion and were fully aware that the Sun God didn't exist, the Sun God Temple still wouldn't recognize him.
After all, his existence was a threat to their authority.
Without him, the highest authorities in the Sun God Temple could continue spewing whatever they want and claim it as the words and intentions of the Sun God to suit their agendas.
But with him around, they wouldn't be able to do that anymore.
Vaan knew he was bound to butt heads with the Sun God Temple at some point, but it was still later than he anticipated.
No one from the Sun God Temple had stepped out to denounce his proclamation or taken any action against him until now, for that matter.
The Sun God Temple was either afraid or wary of him.
However, the Sun God Temple wouldn't be able to remain silent for much longer. It didn't matter if the highest authority in the Sun God Temple didn't recognize him as the Sun God as long as everyone else did.
He would be the lie that became the truth, and Sun God Temple's truth would become the lie. The Sun God Temple would lose all credibility and followers if they chose to deny him at that point.
'Before the Sun God Temple loses all its influence, it is bound to make a much bigger move against me soon...' Vaan mused.
Of course, if the highest authorities in Sun God Temple were wise people, they would choose to surrender and acknowledge him.
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