Ye Wen was seething with the urge to spin around and slap that woman hiding behind the statue right back up Mount Olympus!

"Ask me what? Do you think I'd possibly know?" Athena's voice echoed in his mind. This was one of those special divine abilities Olympian gods wielded—similar to transmitting whispers directly into someone's ears without letting others overhear. "Don't worry, when Hephaestus forged these Golden Armors, he specifically enhanced the connection with me. As long as you wear this set, finding my reincarnation won't be particularly difficult!"

"What exactly does that mean? Why can't you just clearly tell me where to find it?" Ye Wen hated unnecessary complications. Sure Athena claimed the Golden Armor would guide him, but he still preferred straightforward answers.

Besides, even with the armor's guidance, wasn't he still required to go running around searching? He had better things to do than wander aimlessly—he wasn't busy per se, just irritated that such trivial matters demanded so much of his time!

"No, this is all part of the fun!" Originally according to Ye Wen's expectations, Athena's reincarnation shouldn't have been born into a mortal family. Instead it should manifest directly as an infant right here at the statue's base in front of Athena's goddess form. The high priest with the oracle would arrive beforehand to await her birth, then take the child back and raise it while teaching proper manners and knowledge—though honestly those teachings were almost unnecessary since as the child matured naturally, Athena's consciousness within its body would awaken gradually until complete dominance.

In other words, even if this girl developed her own personality during growth, once Athena's memories awakened they'd be quietly overwritten. No need for special training programs. Yet considering the body itself was Athena's physical vessel incarnated into a mortal form, such circumstances were forgivable enough. But now it seemed Athena intended to reincarnate directly into an ordinary household?

"Have you considered that doing this might be unfair to certain people?" If Athena proceeded, she'd essentially seize someone else's soul and occupy their body. While Ye Wen had done something similar himself, he'd inherited a corpse on the brink of death without much sense of guilt. But Athena was about to violently appropriate the life rights of an infant just born into this world—even though he knew Olympian gods never truly regarded mortals as equals...

Yet neither did Ye Wen have the authority to criticize these gods, since his own idea had been to treat life like a game. It felt hypocritical now—like he'd brutally dismembered someone while another party wept "How pitiful!" But compared to directly killing a being, at least he could console himself with "There's still hope for them..." and maintain some semblance of moral integrity.

"If I hadn't existed, these people would never have had a child in their lifetime!" Athena declared triumphantly as if accomplishing something monumental. "Though obtaining a child doesn't necessarily mean this family will achieve happiness..." With that cryptic statement fading away, the goddess's voice gradually disappeared—apparently she'd already departed from Sanctuary.

After ending the conversation, Ye Wen cast one more glance at the towering statue several dozens of meters high before muttering curses in his mind "Always causing trouble!"

Turning back around, the sight of High Priest's wrinkled elderly face with age spots crawling across it made Ye Wen's cheeks twitch involuntarily. The old man needed attendants to support him while walking—remarkable that he'd managed to remain respectfully bowing and standing by as long as he had.

Now Ye Wen was fully armored in golden scales covering his entire body, wearing the Taurus constellation helmet with its hidden faceplate activated—only the lower half of his face remained visible through this illusionary veil perpetually displaying a warm smile.

"Let's leave first. Tell me about any suitable candidates currently at Sanctuary who could be trained as Saints." Scanning around and noticing these people all deferred to him completely, Ye Wen decided against pretense and directly assumed authority.

When the old priest shifted his gaze toward Zhang Ling behind him, Ye Wen casually announced "She's my servant!" The statement immediately made several priests—whose subtle glances had already betrayed their curiosity—suddenly understand with expressions of "Ah! That explains it!" They quickly averted their gazes from Zhang Ling though lingering glances exchanged among themselves hinted at other implications.

"These guys..."

Long aware that ordinary people claiming divine servitude often engaged in shady practices secretly, Ye Wen hadn't expected even Athena's personally selected priesthood managing Sanctuary to be infected similarly—especially considering how many of the high-ranking positions they occupied based on just this brief observation.

In mere moments he'd deciphered Sanctuary's current structure. After Athena descended her oracle, several nations primarily worshipping her had pooled resources by gathering their most revered priests to oversee construction while contributing funds and labor forces necessary for building. These priests held status comparable to monarchs in their original countries, ruling their territories like emperors with absolute authority.

They enjoyed unrestricted privileges and profited immensely from Sanctuary's construction—besides gaining reputation through divine association, they could siphon massive sums since nations contributed enormous amounts of gold required by Athena's oracle. Even minor embezzlement would yield staggering profits. Additionally, large groups of robust slaves gathered here formed another valuable asset, either to be divided later or sold directly on the market.

Yet Athena wasn't a fool—she had explicitly stated from the beginning that the Pope position would be selected by her divine messenger rather than through self-election among these "virtuous elders". This constraint kept them somewhat cautious. Currently Sanctuary's hierarchy featured High Priest at the top, followed by twenty-four priests managing affairs while leaving Pope's seat vacant with Athena clearly declaring key departments should be staffed by Golden Saints—such as Libra overseeing judicial and weapon divisions.

Until now an Easterner had been sent to supervise them—naturally these divine messengers harbored resentment. How to handle this situation would depend on Ye Wen and Sheng Gongbao's strategies.

Ye Wen ensured martial authority while Sheng Gongbao...

"Undoubtedly Athena chose a perfect companion for the role! That Sheng Gongbao is an absolute master at persuasion!" Led by High Priest, Ye Wen walked alongside him with Yu Wentuo, Zhang Ling, and Sheng Gongbao following behind before the priests.

From the statue platform to Goddess Hall then onward to Pope's Palace—still in its foundation stage though several massive columns had been erected—the unfinished structure already hinted at future grandeur. High Priest's milky eyes lingered briefly on this sight as Ye Wen silently mused "Athena assigned me a thankless job..." Yet when glancing back, Sheng Gongbao had already mingled with the priests chatting nonsense while subtly extracting information about Sanctuary's situation through his rambling—though it might also be the priests deliberately leaking or misdirecting him. Whatever method used didn't concern Ye Wen. These power struggles could be left to Sheng Gongbao; he preferred direct solutions: obey or leave, no obedience? Simply execute a couple as warning!

Why exert unnecessary effort when he had such leverage?

"Still seeing how much pleasure Sheng Gongbao derives from this—let him continue for now. After all there are decades remaining before the sacred war begins, if he fails to resolve things by then I'll just conduct a massive purge!"

Passing through Pope's Palace, an almost endless staircase loomed ahead. The priests' faces darkened at the sight while some hesitated toward a group of muscular young men in one corner. Ye Wen strode forward normally until noticing these people's reactions and turning to notice that other group.

The youths all displayed impressive musculature with heights around 190 cm, clad only in minimal fabric covering lower halves and flat sandals. Every six to eight men shared a sedan chair-like device. Seeing priests repeatedly exchanging glances between these chairs and themselves, Ye Wen immediately understood their dilemma: with such frail bodies these old men would collapse before reaching Golden Taurus Temple, let alone Goddess Hall—so those strongmen likely served as their bearers.

"Heh," Ye Wen descended without a word, watching how the priests reacted—to follow him or take immediate seats in sedan chairs? Either choice would leave them agonizing over their decision for ages. By the time Ye Wen nearly reached staircase's end with only High Priest still accompanying him (the old man had made a quick decision to accompany Ye Wen directly), among twenty-four priests eight had already boarded sedans, followed shamelessly by others. Zhang Ling roughly counted and whispered through transmitting technique "Master, there are only nineteen sedan chairs!"

Continuing his walk while calculating mentally Ye Wen noted "Nineteen chairs: one for High Priest himself, eighteen shared by remaining twenty-four priests—so six more should be relatively strong enough to climb Goddess Hall unaided?" Yet this didn't make sense as several healthy priests would presumably stay in Goddess Hall.

Passing through unfinished Zodiac Temples and pausing at Libra Temple he told Yu Wentuo "This will be your residence..." Glancing at roofless structure, Yu Wentuo merely sighed while High Priest interjected "Both of your accommodations have been arranged. Until these palaces are completed you'll temporarily stay below the mountain." Speaking breathlessly from exertion as his stamina clearly reached limit here.

Yet Ye Wen continued striding forward until arriving at foot of mountain where eighteen out of nineteen sedan chairs were occupied—only remaining seat belonged to this decrepit old man nearly melted into pulp by fatigue.

"Still useful, this old fool..."

A quick palm strike sent true qi surging through High Priest's body. The elder suddenly felt a warm current circling internally before revitalizing completely though still weak—he was no longer dying on the spot however. This single display left High Priest awestruck: "Indeed this goddess's messenger must be divine, such miraculous abilities surely belong to gods themselves—perhaps this great one is actually an Olympian deity?" With that realization he secretly cursed those eighteen who had shamelessly ridden in sedan chairs while their superior walked—an outrageous disrespect within Sanctuary's strict hierarchy.

Though Ye Wen didn't execute them immediately he cast a "you know what to do" glance toward High Priest before entering his assigned palace with Zhang Ling and others, ignoring further priestly affairs until nightfall when High Priest returned with news "Those men have already returned to where they should be."

Ye Wen said nothing as he removed helmet revealing an entirely different facial structure distinct from Westerners. The elder's eyes briefly widened in shock before quickly averting his gaze pretending not to notice anything unusual.

"Tomorrow, announce the official Saint selection process for Sanctuary. Construction... accelerate if possible; if not wait until training begins naturally." High Priest looked puzzled at connection between Saints' training and construction.

Ye Wen explained "An apprentice saint can individually carry a four-man circumference stone column all the way to summit when fully trained. Once this system normalizes, won't these troublesome massive stones become beneficial rather than burdensome?" This clarification made High Priest understand both key importance of saints' extraordinary power (especially since they were ordinary humans not half-divine heroes with godly blood) and crucial implications for Sanctuary's future.

"Once saints are selected training will be entrusted to Libra. I'll depart to locate goddess's reincarnation while during this period Sanctuary operations will remain under your supervision with Master Sheng assisting from side." With that Ye Wen produced a drawn parchment—though High Priest didn't see where it had come from, he dared not inquire further.

"Manufacture shoulder armor and mask with attached cape according to this design then deliver it directly to Master Sheng." The drawing depicted full face-covering metal masks, elaborately shaped helmets, and heavy armored pauldrons with capes covering entire bodies—this was Ye Wen's designed equipment for Sheng Gongbao: maintaining mystique while concealing his distinctly non-local appearance.

Sheng Gongbao had no objections since working as an Olympian subordinate felt somewhat beneath him anyway given his previous status among heavenly armies. So when next day young men observed these supposed goddess messengers, Zhang Ling was the only one revealing her face—everyone else remained hidden behind masks and veils.

Some non-Athena followers couldn't help but mutter "So divine messengers really are things to be ashamed of?"

...

Waking from a dream only to find oneself made sect leader? Sounds fortunate until realizing it's an opium den.

With all the perks of reincarnation, one still gets handed copies of and.

Ding Yi—armed with hope and ambition—begins his rather different yet chaotic cultivation journey.