The peace on the Land of the Sacred and Demonic has lasted for more than ten thousand years now.
Since more than ten thousand years ago, when the six Great Sacred Temples finally defeated the demon tribe, leading to their gradual extinction, the Temple Alliance regained control over the entire continent. After hundreds of years of expansion, the prototype of the Temple Federation was formed.
Peace is a prerequisite for development, and without wars, mankind has been living a happy and joyous life.
After a discussion among the leaders of the six Great Sacred Temples, it was decided to transform the Temple Alliance into the Temple Federation, which is composed of two main parts by the Federal Government. One part is the Sacred Legate, composed of the strong individuals from the six Great Sacred Temples, who are mainly responsible for the Federation's military and participating in major decisions. The other part is the Federal Office of Government Affairs, composed of the administrators of the 36 provinces divided by the Federation, who are mainly responsible for the daily operations of the Federation, formulating various policies and participating in major decisions. These two institutions supervise and assist each other.
The 36 Great Provinces of the Temple Federation have a certain degree of autonomy, and the administrators of the provinces are directly responsible to the Federal Office of Government Affairs. The Federal Office has a chief director and four deputy directors. To be a deputy director, one must have been an administrator of a province, while the chief director is elected from among the deputy directors. Both the provincial and Federal Offices hold elections every ten years.
The Sacred Legate is composed of 36 elderly heads of the Temples. Each of the six major temples has six spots for temple elders who are elected by the temples themselves, and these positions cannot be inherited. However, there is no term limit for the temple elders, and every ten years, the six temples will test them to confirm their ability to continue serving as elders. The six major temples internally cross-check each other to ensure fairness.
Under the joint governance of the six major temples, the Temple Federation gradually emerged from the shadow and trauma brought by the demon tribe and thrived. Ten thousand years of peace has also made the entire Federation prosperous, and its people live and work in peace and happiness.
Anno Province is located in the middle-western part of the Land of the Sacred and Demonic. Soaring Dragon City, the capital of the province, is quite famous in the Federation, not because of its highly developed economy or the strong strength of its six major temples, but because Soaring Dragon City produces handsome men and beautiful women. Hence, it's known as "East Sky Blue, West Soaring Dragon" in the federation and is a popular tourist destination in the middle-west.
In a large mansion in Soaring Dragon City, a boy who appeared to be about nine or ten years old was tiptoeing under the eaves. His agile eyes looked around occasionally, confirming that no one noticed him before crawling into a room.
The boy had smooth eyebrows, bright, round eyes, and a straight nose, but there was a smirk on his face.
Right now, another boy was fast asleep on the bed in the room he walked into. Upon close observation, the two boys looked identical.
The grinning boy slowly approached the bedside and took out a rubber ball filled with water from his clothes. He held it a foot above the sleeping boy's head.
The smile on his face became more intense, and in the next moment, he let go.
"Splat—"
"Ah—"
"Long Kongkong, I will fight you!"
The mansion gate was wide open, and Long Leilei, who was dressed in a pure white robe with an extremely serene look on his face, was escorting a tall, beautiful woman into his mansion.
"Director Hu, I will have to trouble you then. Those two boys of mine are usually very well-behaved. They've just reached the appropriate age, so we'll see which temple they can be accepted into."
The beautiful woman smiled and said, "Hall Master Long, there is no need to be polite. Your sons are certainly extraordinarily talented little geniuses, and I believe that all of the branch temples would be eager to accept them. Actually, I am very curious as to why you didn't directly let them join the priests branch temple?"
Long Leilei coughed to cover up his embarrassment, almost blurting out that my wife wouldn't allow it.
He still clearly remembered his wife stating disdainfully a few days ago: What good are priests? They can't even heal their own bodies.
"Long Kongkong, you'd better not run!"
"Pish, only turtles don't run."
Long Leilei's eyes bulged. These two little brats, if the son is a turtle, then what am I? He was just about to scold them.
"Whoosh!" A dark shadow had already reached him.
Subconsciously, Long Leilei sidestepped. Although he is a priest, his powerful spiritual strength enables him to predict such incidents.
"Smack!"
"Ouch!" The scream came from the side.
When Long Leilei turned his head, he saw a slipper sliding off Deputy Director Hu's face, leaving a black print.
"Long Dangdang—, Long Kongkong—" An angry roar echoed immediately throughout the Long mansion.
Ten minutes later.
Two identical looking boys, clutching their butts, their eyes red, bowed deeply to Deputy Director Hu who had already wiped her face clean, "Auntie, we're sorry, we were wrong."
Deputy Director Hu's mouth twitched slightly, "It's nothing, you guys didn't mean it."
Long Leilei's face was stern, about to speak, when he felt a pain on his arm. He turned his head to look at his wife, stunning as ever with a bare face, he coughed and said, "Go back to your rooms. No leaving without my permission."
Long Dangdang and Long Kongkong looked at each other. In Long Dangdang's eyes was indignation, while in Long Kongkong's eyes was defiance.
"Go!"
"Whoever doesn't dare is..."
"Get out!"
"Okay, Dad!"
Watching his two sons saunter out, Long Leilei then turned towards Deputy Director Hu with an apologetic smile on his face, "Director Hu, I'm really sorry. These two boys are usually well-behaved. I don't know what got into them today. Would you like to have anything for dinner? I'll have them prepare it."
Hu Na stood up, glanced at Ling Xue who was next to Long Leilei, forced a smile and said, "No need, no need. I won't disturb you any longer. Rest assured, I'll sort things out for the two children. I'll arrange for them to be tested at the major temples as soon as possible."
Ling Xue laughed, "Come on, Director Hu, since you're already here, at least have dinner before you go! My two brats here are counting on you."
Hu Na shook her head, "Earlier, Hall Master Long said his wife wasn't around and there was no one to cook at home, so I planned to help out. Now that his wife is back, it's no longer necessary for me to stay. I don't want to bother you. I'll take my leave." With that, she respectfully nodded at the two of them and made her way to the door.
Long Leilei was left dumbfounded, and in an instant he felt an icy killing intent erupting from his side.
"Hu Na, you... Ouch!" The next second, Long Leilei's ear was grabbed by Ling Xue.
At this moment, Hu Na who had already reached the door, curled her lips. "Cowardly man, serves you right!"
"Long Leilei, make it clear! Why would you bring a vixen home when I'm not around, huh?"
"Honey, hear me out! How dare I! You were at home resting today, don't you think I knew that? Don't listen to her nonsense! How dare I bring another woman home when you aren't around, especially with our two sons at home too."
At this point, two little heads peered inside.
Long Kongkong said, "Mom, Dad initially gave my brother and me twenty copper coins and told us to go out and play. I felt something wasn't right at that time, so we sneaked back home."
Long Dangdang added, "Turns out, Dad brought a woman home. Mom, was it right of me to throw my shoe? There can only be one mistress in our home. We're grown up now, we need to help you protect our home."
"You two little...!" Long Leilei was furious.
The two boys ran away instantly.
"Long Leilei, who are you calling a bastard? You being a bastard is fine, but you dare to defame me? I will fight you!"
"Ah--, I was wrong, my dear."
Outside the door, Long Dangdang and Long Kongkong shared a glance. Long Kongkong whispered, "He deserved being hit on the butt just now. But it seems a bit serious this time, what should we do? Should we make ourselves scarce?"
Long Dangdang gave his brother a cold look, "Let's go!"
"Whack!" As he said that, he slapped the back of his brother's head which was still damp.
"Long Dangdang, how dare you hit me? I hate it when people hit my head."
"Smack-"
"You wait and see!"
"Smack, smack!"