My health recovery is incredibly fast.

"The Bloodline Research Group actually proposed holding an emergency meeting to strip Karles of his Temple membership?!" Xia Zuo clenched his fists.

His heart instantly filled with rage.

It wasn't that he particularly cherished Calles, the pureblood mage who had just joined, but rather that he remembered something Letunia had mentioned!

Two years ago, when they first attended the Two Temples Conference, the Sand Warlocks and Pyromancers proposed to restart the Bloodline Transformation Project, using artificial bloodline synthesis to further strengthen existing bloodlines and develop new ones.

At the time, Letunia told Xia Zuo to be careful of the two factions doing outrageous things in order to develop bloodline power, as they might use bloodline awakeners for cruel live experiments.

Xia Zuo asked, "Doesn't doing this violate the Temple's laws?"

Retunia's reply was:

As long as the test subject is not a member of the Temple, the law will not be violated. If the ideal test subject is a member of the Temple, then by finding a way to strip them of their Temple membership, the restrictions of the law can be bypassed.

Now, the terrible situation that Letunia described has occurred.

If the Council of the Two Temples were to strip Callus of his Temple membership, his fate would be predictable: he would be abducted in some dark corner and become a tragic experimental subject.

Who can stop all of this from happening?

Is a pure-blood mage faction acceptable? Obviously not. Even if everyone voted against it, it wouldn't make a difference.

What about the courts? No, they can't either. They only handle trials and don't participate in voting. Even if the voting is unjust or unfair, they won't interfere in the affairs of the two courts' meetings.

Can the Demon Hunter school intervene?

Xia Zuo frowned, suddenly realizing that this was a very forward-thinking and terrifying conspiracy.

After being separated from the Black Flag, Callus was only under the control of the Witcher School.

But once he became a member of the Temple and was stripped of his Temple membership, the Witcher School could not control him.

Because at this point, after going through a process to clear his name, Calles had transformed from a potential threat separated from the Otherworldly Demons into an ordinary civilian who had lost his identity and status.

Unless Callus uses demonic means to prove his connection to the demons the moment he is stripped of his temple membership, the Witcher School has no right to intervene.

But doing so would undoubtedly send him to the guillotine, directly burying his life and future, something Callus would never do.

Xia Zuo didn't want him to do that either.

This is because it is a slap in the face to the pure-blood mage faction and to Xia Zuo himself, since the proposal to grant members of the Karles Temple was put forward by Xia Zuo himself.

The intricate web of conspiracies and schemes, the profound insight into human nature—this person or organization, who orchestrated everything behind the scenes, has a crystal-clear grasp of every psychological shift of every individual at every stage.

With his cunning and profound understanding of the temple's workings, he completely manipulated Callus.

Even with the unexpected intervention of Xia Zuo, TA's plan could not be disrupted.

Christo said in an icy tone, "That damned bloodline research group..."

“No, Christo,” Shazor said firmly.

"Our enemies aren't necessarily the Bloodline Research Group, nor are they necessarily anyone from the Sand Warlock or Pyromancer factions. They could also be unlucky scapegoats, pushed to the forefront by the mastermind's factional prejudice to bear the brunt of our wrath. If we clash with the Bloodline Research Group at a meeting, we'll fall right into their trap. The mastermind will fan the flames, amplifying factional prejudice into hatred, and then using other factors to hunt down pureblood mages like us."

"The bloodline research group is also a scapegoat?" Christo muttered to herself in a daze.

Xia Zuo's words reminded her.

Once the vote passes, the bloodline research group, which openly desires the power of the pure-blood mage bloodline the most, will become the biggest beneficiary in theory and will bear all the attention and accusations from the pure-blood mage faction.

They obtained the desired bloodline power without facing repercussions from the pure-blooded mage faction—isn't this exactly what the mastermind wanted? Otherwise, why would they remain hidden behind the scenes?

"Why.."

Xia Zuo felt helpless.

"Knowing that the bloodline research group is a scapegoat is useless; it won't change the voting results."

“A Callus who has lost his status as a member of the Temple is obviously more useful than a Callus who has his status as a member of the Temple.”

“I have a bad feeling that this vote will be a one-sided one. The Temple army will no longer help us. The reward I offered is only enough to get them to help us once.”

When the goals and interests of all parties align, the combined force of voting becomes a trend and a prevailing force.

Going against the trend is a dead end; one can only go with the flow to protect oneself and find the traces of the mastermind behind the scenes from the smallest clues.

Chapter 4 Twice a Day

After gaining membership in the Temple, Karles went from being a human under top-secret protection to an ordinary member of the pure-blood mage faction.

His past deeds remain top secret, but he himself does not have the right to know such secrets.

Because he had never contributed anything to the temple, his status was very low, even lower than many alchemists who had just become high-level mages.

In this case, the participants of this meeting are no longer limited to the members of the two halls with the right to know the secrets at the top-secret level, but have become a grand meeting open to participants of all levels.

Xia Zuo already knew in his previous life that human joys and sorrows are not shared.

Especially when the number of onlookers to a tragedy increases from a dozen to hundreds, the capacity for empathy among people drops sharply, replaced by near-heartless indifference, self-righteous condemnation, and selfishness that prioritizes law and self-interest above all else.

The increased number of attendees also had another benefit for the mastermind: the pure-blood mage faction could hardly gain the approval of other temple departments through personal speeches. Every time they tried to persuade one or more departments, they could hardly avoid harming the interests of other departments, which would attract opposition.

It's fair to say that securing a vote on the spot is as difficult as attempting deep meditation for the first time.

Most importantly, the bloodline research group, as the initiator of this emergency meeting, was both a voter and a moderator, and had the right to decide who spoke and who remained silent under the guise of maintaining order in the meeting.

This meeting was the darkest and most oppressive one Xia Zuo had ever experienced.

The countless glass balls placed on the red down cushions were like long, sharpened knives, each one making no attempt to conceal its sharpness and ruthlessness, its tips neatly piercing the hearts of every member of the pure-blood mage faction.

Xia Zuo glanced around the venue.

Having not met any members of the Witcher school, Rexor also did not reply to the Bloodline Message.

Xia Zuo could sense that the bald head was not in the natural world, but should be in the Gray Corner sub-plane.

Without the powerful support of the Demon Hunter School, the already one-sided situation became even more dire.

"Shazo." Letunia turned to the young, pale-faced pureblood mage beside her. "Do you need me to go on stage later? You don't look well..."

“I’m fine, Letunia.” Xia Zuo smiled slightly. “This is the first time I’ve faced so much pressure. I think I’ll get used to it soon.”

"I believe you can do it."

Letunia said:

"All departments unite to besiege the pure-blood mage camp and make sure Kales is expelled... This kind of scene is rare. To be honest, I've been a member of the Temple for over two thousand years, and how many times have I seen such a scene? Definitely no more than three times."

Xia Zuo glanced at the glass spheres in front of him, a cold smile appearing on his face as he said with self-mockery:

"Yes, it's a very rare sight."

"But it has probably happened many times in human history. Even if it only happens once every 500 years, it has been repeated no less than 40 times in the past tens of thousands of years. It is hard to imagine that so many years have passed and humanity has not changed at all."

“We live and think as individuals, but make decisions as a group. We can sacrifice any individual simply because the one being sacrificed is not ourselves, and we can stand by indifferently.”

Letunia sighed silently and said nothing.

Krestor and the others next to Shazo also fell silent.

Xia Zuo thought for a moment and asked his companions, "If I choose not to speak later, can you accept that?"

He originally intended to argue with the bloodline research team, but now he thinks it's better to save his energy for investigating the mastermind behind it all.

The dejected expressions of the pure-blooded mage faction were very deceptive and could completely conceal the fact that Xia Zuo had already realized that there was a mastermind behind it all.

Skip the speaking session and just glare angrily at the entire room; there's no need to waste your breath arguing with the bloodline research team.

After thinking for a moment, Letunia and the others nodded in response.

“Okay, it’s settled then.” Xia Zuo sat up straight and looked directly at the bloodline research group sitting opposite him.

The Bloodline Research Group is a very interesting research department.

Its initiators were fire mages and sand mages, and its initial members were mainly members of these two bloodline factions, with an initial number of no more than 30 people.

But today, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call the Bloodline Research Group the Bloodline Research Department.

Their numbers have risen to over 500, a mixed bag of members. Fire mages and sand mages have become a minority, with the majority being alchemists, tower scholars, and warriors transferred from various departments of the temple.

A large number of people means complex and diverse interpersonal relationships.

The Bloodline Research Group's every move involves many departments and has potential connections with more than three-quarters of the departments in the entire Temple, making it a typical example of a large and powerful group.

The head of the Bloodline Research Group is the fire mage Tauventsett, a burly man with red hair, wearing a smart black belted robe with his thick, powerful arms exposed outside the short sleeves. His solid muscles make it hard to associate him with a warlock.

But this seemingly burly man became the leader of the bloodline research group, in charge of hundreds of alchemists under his command.

Tauvinsett relied on his own abilities.

Pyromancers live off fire, or more precisely, they sustain their lives with the energy of fire.

Once the blood concentration reaches 70% or higher, the fire mage's blood will boil and burn, burning away flesh, bones, hair, and all internal organs.

In this flame that burns life, the fire mage can either be reborn from the ashes, forming an energy body based on fire energy, or they can only turn into ashes and be scattered by the wind.

Tauvinsett has already completed this step.

The muscle mass and human skin we see now are merely alchemical shells made of biomimetic alchemical materials. Inside his body are only constantly flickering flames and various alchemical devices that mimic human activities, such as an alchemical generator that emits human voices.

To some extent, Chazo had met Tauwenset.

On the day Shazor went to the Arcane Grove for the test, arranged by Rexor, the large fireball that appeared as the [Furnace Body] was controlled by Tauvinset and the other fire mages.

Tauvinsett may have remembered Chazor at that time, or may have investigated Chazor's past.

Facing Xia Zuo's resentful gaze, Towinset responded with a gentle smile and a nod, both elegant and composed, exuding an air of complete confidence.

After the person on the podium finished speaking, the speaker transformed back into a glass ball and flew back to their cushion.

Tauvinsett stood up and walked from his seat to the podium.

Xia Zuo sat in his chair, raised his right hand, and made a gesture of refusal with his fingers together. "We choose to skip the speaking session."

“Well then…” Tauvinsett looked around the room, “let’s begin the vote. Please complete your votes within five minutes, and we will tally the results shortly.”

"Clang! Clang!" The all-metal doors of the venue were knocked on.

This is someone applying to enter midway.

Tauvinsett's gaze lingered subtly on the empty seats of the Witcher School.

The all-metal gate slowly opened under the control of the elemental servants, and Rexor walked in with a stern expression.