"What?"
Ji Jue turned to stone on the spot.
He could understand the first half of the statement, but the crux of the matter was—kill whom?
Beigong?
He stared blankly at Jiang Tongguang, utterly bewildered. *Why the hell are you killing him?*
From start to finish, Elder Zhen had been the one stirring up trouble. How did that poor bastard Beigong end up in the crosshairs? How long had it even been since he got curb-stomped by three Grandmasters?
Did the Association really have to keep shearing wool off the same miserable sheep?
In an instant, a hundred thousand question marks popped up in Ji Jue's mind, bobbing one after another. Under Jiang Tongguang's steady gaze, he instinctively blurted out, "Then what about Kanemoto?"
When it came to sheep, herding two was no harder than herding one. Since they were going all that way anyway, it was just a matter of convenience—wouldn't the Association consider taking him out, too?
"...Impressive."
Jiang Tongguang fell silent as well. He looked at Ji Jue with a complicated expression and let out a heartfelt sigh.
*Your lineage really is... so full of harmony and brotherly love!*
At least Ye Xian had merely stormed out and severed ties with the school. Everyone had assumed Ji Jue, who seemed so respectful of teachers and the Dao, would be a bit better than her. How had he fast-forwarded straight to disciples slaying disciples and kinsmen slaughtering kinsmen?
*Oh, once someone leaves the sect, they're no longer family, so killing them is fair game, is that it?*
Still, when he recalled Ji Jue's track record—how he had sacrificed himself back in Quancheng to rescue his colleagues from Kanemoto's workshop—Jiang Tongguang could understand it a little better.
After all, falling into the hands of Stagnant Rot meant enduring every kind of torment imaginable. A monster like Kanemoto would never care about school ties. Even though Ji Jue had survived, he must have suffered immensely. Harboring a grudge was only natural.
Unfortunately, herding sheep was one thing, and killing a Grand Artificer was another entirely. The two weren't in the same ballpark at all!
Even taking down Beigong alone would require the Association's full commitment, a feat only achievable through staggering costs and sacrifices.
This wasn't a duel inside a Border Realm. It was common knowledge that an artisan's combat performance in an impromptu skirmish was worlds apart from defending a fortified position. Penetrating deep into the Profound and storming straight into Beigong's workshop was an undertaking of unimaginable difficulty. Trying to ice the cake at a time like that was pure suicide.
"I know you're eager to eradicate pests, Ji Jue, but we have to face reality."
Jiang Tongguang picked up the whiskey to pour drinks for them both. He added a double serving of ice to his own glass, downed it in one gulp, and sighed softly. "In the Association's assessment, among the three Grand Artificers of the Profound, Kanemoto ranks as the lowest threat—even lower than an ordinary sin-stricken demon."
At the end of the day, Kanemoto was merely an artisan. While "artisan" was no longer a complimentary title in this context, amidst the rabble of monstrosities in the Profound, he could remarkably be considered peaceful and upright.
He had always kept his doors shut and minded his own business. On occasion, he would teach a few students who caught his eye, and once he finished instructing them, he kicked them out without caring whether they lived or died.
He didn't give a damn what kind of hell the world turned into, and unless strictly necessary, he couldn't be bothered to intervene in anything.
Formidable though his abilities were, his broader influence and destructive fallout were the smallest by comparison!
Dealing with the most troublesome threat first and letting the lesser ones slide was the optimal strategy.
"The question is... why is the Association making a move at all?"
Ji Jue couldn't wrap his head around it and asked bluntly, "The Duel of Embers and the Profound is still ongoing. Is the Association going to be the first to flip the table? Wouldn't that be a tacit admission of inferior skill?"
"So what if it is?"
Jiang Tongguang sneered. "Do you think the Profound plays by the rules? To someone like Elder Zhen, any underhanded method is fair game to achieve his goals.
"What does the Duel of Embers and the Profound matter to them?
"Weren't they the ones who started playing dirty first?"
He offered a grave reminder: "Ji Jue, don't forget why both sides went to war in the first place."
The purpose?
What else could it be?
That Pillar of Ruin, which drew upon the ruin of the four seas to continually grow, transmuting Supreme Virtue into Great Sin.
"Is there a problem with it?" Ji Jue grew alert instantly.
"Initially, it was only a suspicion, but now we're eighty to ninety percent certain." As Jiang Tongguang spoke, his expression softened into warm approval. "Frankly, it's largely thanks to you."
One person, ten matches and ten duels, ten consecutive victories. Single-handedly triggering ten concussions of the Mutual Transmutation of Virtue and Vice within the Border Realm, etching marks into the ruin and shaking the Pillar of Great Sin.
It went even further than that; the ripples he had stirred swept across both the mortal world and the Vortex.
Those ten victories were far more important than Ji Jue had ever imagined.
It was as though Ji Jue had served as a medium, releasing echoes at a fixed frequency to resonate with Supreme Virtue. Ten consecutive resonances had caused the originally chaotic tides of Supreme Virtue and Great Sin to reveal their currents and direction.
Vast and intricate as the shift was, no matter how heterogenous and tangled the chaos appeared, it had finally become traceable.
Within a pitch-black labyrinth, the brief flare of a single match was enough to illuminate the path ahead and the distant horizon.
A single glimpse revealed the whole beast!
"Five hours ago, His Excellency the Plowsmith returned from beneath the Vortex, bringing back observational results. Based on the shifts within the Pillar of Ruin above and below the Vortex, it is now confirmed: this is definitely not the work of a single artisan. Its maintenance and growth do not rely purely on Elder Zhen."
Jiang Tongguang stated resolutely, "While the exact details remain unknown, our current deduction indicates that the entire Pillar of Ruin piercing through reality and the Vortex possesses a dual structure and dual functionality. What we've been looking at isn't its complete form at all!"
In other words, from the very beginning, the Profound had never intended to fight fair!
To them, winning or losing individual matches might not even matter; they wouldn't lose out either way.
Fighting on home turf offered distinct advantages, but an away team could be utterly reckless. It didn't matter how much of a mess was left behind—they wouldn't be the ones cleaning it up, so why should they care?
Planting landmines, spraying defoliants, blowing toxic gas, scorching the earth...
Naturally, they would play as dirty as humanly possible!
So now the question arose: if the achievement of Ruin did not originate entirely from Elder Zhen's hands, then while Elder Zhen and Tianlu were locked in their battle of wits, who was propping up the rest of it?
"You mean... Beigong?"
"According to our current analysis, nine times out of ten."
Jiang Tongguang nodded.
Understanding dawned on Ji Jue at once.
By the simplest process of elimination, Elder Zhen already accounted for one of the Profound's three Grand Artificers. The remaining culprit had to be either Beigong or Kanemoto.
Yet if Kanemoto had a hand in it, could Tianlu have failed to notice? They had been fellow disciples for decades and fought three life-or-death contests. If Tianlu lacked even that much discernment, he shouldn't be titled Tianlu—he should just be called an old dog!
Besides, with Kanemoto's arrogance and possessiveness, he would turn his nose up at any project handed to him by someone else. He had always run his own team and pursued his own research topics.
Even with the Evil Transmutation Cult, he maintained only limited cooperation. What right did Elder Zhen have to make him subservient, lurking in the shadows and concealing his tracks?
If it were truly him, he would have raised his banner immediately and challenged Tianlu to a duel!
Therefore, only one plausible possibility remained.
The one who had once been hooked like a gullible fish by Tianlu using Jiang Tongguang as bait, who had subsequently suffered a brutal curb-stomping by three Grandmasters and gone into hiding for years after sustaining grievous wounds, had finally returned to seek vengeance and wash away his shame!
"Sounds pretty challenging," Ji Jue remarked with feeling.
"You must understand one thing: this isn't a challenge, it's a dead end."
Jiang Tongguang cautioned him grimly, "All of this is merely deduction. It could very well be bait dangled by Elder Zhen, and the risks are ultimately unpredictable. What's more, even if you succeed, what you've done will never be known to anyone.
"The moment members of the Absolute Sentence squad put on their masks, they cease to be themselves.
"They don't even belong to the Association...
"To put it more bluntly, even if everyone involved dies, the Association will make no response. There will be no funerals if you fail, and no commendations if you succeed.
"If you fail to find any evidence, or worse, walk straight into a Profound trap, the Association will never acknowledge your mission!
"From beginning to end, this whole affair is nothing more than unauthorized action taken by me—and by you!"
"Ah, yes, I get it. I get it completely!"
Ji Jue nodded repeatedly, clicking his tongue in wonder. He had heard Lu Feng talk about this plenty of times. His big brother had carried out countless wet jobs and dirty operations for the Federation, and even after surviving to retirement, the only official recognition on paper was a generic, worthless Service Medal handed out to everyone.
As expected of the Association: embracing all rivers, absorbing all things, and collecting every bit of Tianyuan dregs from both the Federation and the Empire.
Success wasn't a revolution, but failure made you a traitor.
They had truly mastered the essence of acting without orders!
"Diving deep into the Profound this time means a certain-death outcome for everyone. Even if everything goes according to plan, the moment any unexpected variable arises, you will all be abandoned."
Jiang Tongguang drank alone, finishing his final glass. Then, he slowly pushed another small box across the table.
"This is the Hall of Serenity's confidentiality mechanism—the Dragon Palace Box."
Jiang Tongguang looked at him. "As long as you open this box, everything that happened here will be erased. Nothing will have ever existed. You will return to your hospital bed, open your eyes again, and remember nothing, as if none of this ever took place.
"You still have a chance to back out, Ji Jue."
"Why would I back out?"
Ji Jue countered without a second thought. Then, he pushed the box right back.
"Count me in," he said.
Why bother with so much mumbo-jumbo? Wasn't it just an academic symposium?
*Don't get in the way of me exchanging scholarship and advancing together with an industry peer!*
*Go take it up with my Dissociation Art!*
***
The doors to the Hall of Serenity shut once more. In the stillness, only Jiang Tongguang remained, drinking by himself. After uncorking another bottle of aged liquor, he suddenly asked, "Sure you won't have some? It's quite a waste."
"I'll pass. I have another meeting shortly; I need to keep a clear head."
Gustav's voice echoed out. At the other end of the long table, the Director-General's figure materialized. Calm and silent, he raised his teacup, having witnessed the entire exchange from start to finish.
Jiang Tongguang looked over. "Are you sure you don't want to ask a few questions about the Stagnant Rot matters?"
"Ask what? What would I do after finding out? Better not to ask at all."
"What about the Council?"
"I'll vouch for it," Gustav said. "If there are questions, let them come to me. All this petty squabbling ends with me."
Jiang Tongguang burst into laughter and sighed softly. "Learning to follow closely in Grandmaster Tianlu's footsteps—you've gotten smarter, Old Gu."
"..."
Gustav remained silent for a long time, then sighed faintly. "As an artisan, it's only natural to chase after Tianlu. But where, exactly, is His Excellency Tianlu heading?"
"Are you afraid?"
"A little. I've gotten used to it."
"You're getting old, Gustav."
"Yeah."
Gustav leaned back against his chair and closed his eyes tiredly. "Before becoming Director-General, every day I thought about forging bold reforms, hacking through problems with sweeping strokes.
"Yet after sitting in this seat, I've come to understand Delong a bit... For him, perhaps he already did the absolute best he could, didn't he?"
Even if, over all these years, the only label people quietly pinned on him was incompetence.
*Yet is incompetence really so bad?*
*What lies behind that incompetence?*
Anyone who sat in this seat would come to understand the position and power of the Ring of Taiyi—it was not a matter of being incapable of doing anything, but of there being nothing one *couldn't* do!
It felt as though one could meddle in every affair under the sun, with countless matters awaiting a single word of judgment. But what came after that? What followed next? What would happen in the future? Could any of it truly be controlled?
And so fear crept in, panic took hold, and one fell into bewildered hesitation.
Sometimes, even with seventy percent certainty, one had to worry about the remaining thirty.
Rather than risk plunging into the abyss, one would rather preserve the present.
"Hesitating back and forth, treading on thin ice, trembling with fear, jumping at every shadow."
Gustav chuckled self-deprecatingly. "In the end, you look back only to realize that, without noticing, you've ground to a halt in the very same spot...
"Turning into a Director-General, doing what a Director-General ought to do, and doing nothing beyond that.
"Those who hoped I could keep pressing forward have gradually begun to leave me behind."
"Do you regret it?"
Jiang Tongguang glanced over. "Why not just step down after this term? Four or five years will flash by in the blink of an eye. Wouldn't it be better to refocus on your own path after that?"
"If not me, then who?"
Gustav countered, "Replace me with whom? Who could do better? Aside from me, who else is more suitable?"
"Even if you're left standing in place?"
"Standing in place is fine, too."
Gustav lowered his gaze, staring at his reflection in the tea. After a long pause, he gave a smile of relief. "Even if I can't keep up, it doesn't matter. If I stay in place, more people will be able to surpass me and keep moving forward. Isn't that a fine thought as well?"
Within the cup, ripples stirred across the amber tea, blurring the eyes in the reflection.
For some reason, what surged back into his memory was a fleeting, breathtaking glimpse from the past.
On that day inside the Tower of Myriad Transformations, the young man who had piloted his own handmade rocket, cheering as he soared into the cosmos.
Careless of others' scrutiny, heedless of those lofty, high-and-mighty calculations—so free, unrestrained, and radiant.
Once everything was within his grasp, he had looked back to gaze down upon all creation once again.
That look in his eyes...
Contemptuous of everything, yet bearing no hatred toward the world.
Disgusted by all, yet still carrying a certain passion and heartfelt love.
Just like a flame.
Yet a flame like that had actually made the Gustav of that day feel jealous.
A sliver of jealousy that had made even himself feel ashamed!
Only then had he understood what he had cast aside and forgotten in his pursuit of everything before him now.
Yet he did not regret it.
As a Director, he didn't believe in the promises of any artisan. But he was willing to believe in eyes like those.
Perhaps he would remain standing in place.
Still, that was fine.
There were young men like him who could continue striding toward the future.
Chapter 808