Ji Jue sneezed again.
Puzzled, he looked up at the screen. The indoor temperature read twenty-four degrees—neither cold nor hot. "Isis, did I catch a cold?"
"Sir, are you awake?"
The Spirit of Creation coldly countered from her busy schedule. "A Chosen of the Exaltation Rank catching a cold? How on earth do those two concepts even connect? I was unaware you possessed such profound literary imagination."
"It's been so strange these past two days—I keep sneezing. Is someone talking about me?"
"Is there a possibility," the Spirit of Creation's voice grew colder still, "that this is the accumulated resentment of a miserable slave whose workload keeps skyrocketing?"
"Impossible!"
Ji Jue waved dismissively, waiting for Isis to ask why, but she didn't take the bait at all, cutting him off before he could speak: "I don't want to know why."
Ji Jue grinned, not minding in the least. "Because hasn't your workload been like this since way back?"
"Which is why, as I said, I don't want to know." A hint of numbness crept into the Spirit of Creation's voice, as if completely resigned. "Please do the world a favor and drop dead soon, sir."
"I will. Just not today."
Leaning back in his chair, Ji Jue lowered his gaze and peered out at the night through the window. Looking down from the high mountain, dots of light twinkled across Luo Island in the dark. Far out on the ocean, faint glows illuminated the distance.
It was another sea of stars.
Today's Seven Cities had shed its former decline and decay, sparkling in the darkness. More and more lights flared up from the shadows, illuminating the murk.
"So beautiful," Ji Jue murmured softly, thoroughly content.
He felt the exhilaration and delight transmitting from Chixiao. The order of Tianyuan manifested from nothingness like a seed, its roots spreading into the world behind this glowing radiance, growing in silence.
In the end, those faint myriad threads converged, coiling around Chixiao and falling into Ji Jue's grasp, taking shape as an outline that bordered on illusion.
Like an unfinished prototype, gradually being filled, accumulating bit by bit, awaiting the moment it would reveal its true form.
How bizarre. He had just indulged Ling Shuo in a killing spree, even introducing the White Stag to completely rewrite the rules of Seven Cities' underworld, yet his seat of Tianyuan hadn't been shaken in the slightest. If anything, it seemed to have taken another step forward, filling in gaps and growing ever more solid.
As long as he remained within the domain of Seven Cities, Ji Jue could feel a heady exhilaration—as if authority were held firmly in his grasp, omnipotent and unrestrained. Alliance Master Minkler and Dragon Head Ling Shuo were like Ji Jue's two outstretched hands: the aboveboard and the underground, both completely within his control, operating strictly within the boundaries and rules he had established.
Feeling the aura of Tianyuan steadily converging, constantly growing and feeding back into him, it likely wouldn't be long before the first Blessing required for the Exaltation Rank fell into place naturally.
The so-called...
—[Power over Life and Death]!
Tianyuan's [Power over Life and Death], the Eternal Gate's [Anchor], and Transmutation's [Primordial Vision of the End].
These were the three Blessings pointed to by the matrix amid all the transformations following Ji Jue's advancement to the Exaltation Rank.
Strictly adhering to orthodox Mohist requirements, gritting his teeth every step of the way from the very beginning as he traversed the Evocation, Metamorphosis, and Rebirth ranks, he now held the highest-tier key to the Non-Offensive matrix in his grasp.
Just like the numerous epic achievements demanded previously, none of these final three Blessings would be a walk in the park.
The first wall he ran into was Tianyuan.
If not for his foundations in Seven Cities, Quancheng, and Tacheng, he might have been forced like every other wild Tianyuan in the modern world to figure out where to sell himself.
There was no way around it: Tianyuan relied on collectives. An artisan could shut the door and contentedly tinker before a crucible, but a Tianyuan who closed the door would suffer a slow death. The two greatest breeding grounds for Tianyuan across the entire mortal realm had long been monopolized by the Federation and the Empire. Any sprouts appearing elsewhere would be crushed by countless tangible and intangible hands.
Achieving success as a Tianyuan was far too troublesome.
Right timing, advantageous terrain, and social harmony—not a single one of the three could be lacking.
To the point that the very first hurdle every aspiring Tianyuan in this world had to face was testing into the system... Don't talk about uncut gems or grand strategies; pass the civil service exam first!
Even if you managed to squeeze across the single-plank bridge against thousands of competitors, passing was merely the start of endless rounds of screening, torment, and endurance.
Even within the Safety Bureau, rising above the rest was excruciatingly difficult.
To this day, the channels for acquiring higher-tier Tianyuan Blessings were completely locked down by both sides. Without an official establishment post, forget about getting a look—you weren't even qualified to dream of it.
Jin Wuyan had scrambled and clawed in Mid-Continent for decades, dreaming day and night of legitimizing himself and getting onto the shore, only for Lin Shouyi to casually toss the Heavenly Overseer's empowerment to Tong Shan.
It was precisely this that granted Brother Shan the key to exercising Federation authority and thereby attaining [Power over Life and Death].
Compared to the interminable wait, the entire process had taken him less than a week.
Once the application was approved, a disaster-relief responsibility agreement was handed to him for signature. He was then deployed to the disaster-relief operations on the Kunwu Plain as a special commissioner. Mobilizing vast quantities of supplies, the lives of countless people hung by a thread in his hands, acquired without breaking a sweat. It had made Ji Jue intensely envious...
Unfortunately, what made him also bound him.
The reason he could navigate so freely between the Thousand Islands and Mid-Continent right now was precisely because on the surface, he had no ties to the Federation.
Yet without signing an indenture contract and becoming one of their own, without proper title and legitimacy, even if the Federation wanted to give it to him, he wouldn't come close to touching it.
Not to mention, why would they give it to him?
Back when Ji Jue had contemplated tapping into the Safety Bureau's channels, Lu Yingyue had shot the idea down completely.
Not allowed, forbidden, impossible.
For Ji Jue, the costs far outweighed the gains.
True, the Federation released a decent quota each year, but compared to the crowd of applicants, high-tier Tianyuan Blessing slots were like a drop in the ocean.
If not for the Heavenly Overseer privilege granted by the Tacheng Operations Division, even Tong Shan would have had to wait obediently in line for seven or eight years—and even then, pray for good luck that someone with backing reaching up to heaven didn't cut in front of him.
To leap into the Federation's quagmire for a single Blessing, clawing and competing with so many people, earning it through bitter struggle only to be shackled for nothing...
As for wiping your hands and walking away after obtaining the Blessing? Pure fantasy.
Prepare to work for the Federation for the rest of your life.
The Federation wasn't a parlor you could just walk out of whenever you felt like quitting.
Be a tool for the Federation for one day, and you'd better be ready to be a tool for a lifetime. If you truly wanted to climb out, heaven knew how much effort it would cost.
Even if Haizhou's current contributions and clout were enough to exchange for and reach it, this wasn't something Warden Lu could just parcel out to him.
The four words "against the rules" easily barred any notion of getting a free ride.
"The path of Tianyuan is nothing more than arbitrary dominance and throwing your weight around," Warden Lu had remarked placidly over tea in her office back then. "Aren't you doing quite well on the coast? Surely I don't need to explain how important autonomy is."
Ji Jue understood implicitly, thoroughly banishing his short-sighted impatience.
Since he had these conditions himself, why rush frantically to seek outside help and live under someone else's thumb?
The foundation of Tianyuan he had painstakingly laid down—once assimilated by the Heavenly Overseer, he could forget about reclaiming it for the rest of his life. Living under another's roof, even the sweetest days would carry a tinge of bitterness.
One could only say the situation was steeped in black humor.
Just as the White Stag feared rules the most, what Tianyuans yearned for above all was so-called "freedom."
Yet once inside the cage, how could one break free easily? Even if the opportunity to resign lay right before them, most Tianyuans would never choose to let go.
A lifetime of painstaking effort, half a lifetime of bitter toil—the post where all their authority resided was practically dearer than life itself!
Warden Lu's meaning couldn't have been clearer. In fact, for the Warden of Haizhou to disregard an easily attainable political achievement and instead counsel him so earnestly was treatment better than even a biological son would receive.
For Ji Jue, the best path was to expand his own Tianyuan foundation as much as possible: relying on Chixiao's drive and control, developing the coast, and cultivating a Tianyuan Blessing within his own private reservations across Xinquan, Tacheng, and Seven Cities!
Grow bigger, grow stronger, and forge new glories.
In fact, this could be considered a hard benchmark for rebuilding Quancheng—what kind of Central City couldn't even produce a Tianyuan Blessing?
Having land and whether crops could grow on it were two entirely different matters!
Without a patch of land to call one's own, how could one talk of diligent plowing? If the soil was rotten, choked with venom and barren, how could towering pillars ever grow? It was difficult, yes, and troublesome, but once successful, the returns would be tenfold, a hundredfold.
Even if he ended up affiliating with the Federation in the future, the treatment would be worlds apart.
A studio with zero autonomy facing an acquisition had no choice but to obey orders meekly, surrendering all financial and personnel authority; whether it survived or was dissolved depended entirely on the whims of the board of directors.
However, if Xinquan truly grew to the stature of a Central City, Ji Jue would be entering as a stakeholder bringing capital—serving as the first Governor, becoming a pillar of Haizhou.
He could even occupy a hereditary seat in the Federal Parliament in Midtown!
If nothing else, when meetings turned sour and fists started flying, wouldn't he be able to kick Xu Zhaoxian a couple of times in the chaos with complete legitimacy? Life was truly looking more and more promising.
[Arbitrary dominance, throwing weight around]
Warden Lu's eight words laid bare the core of the Tianyuan Path—a direct shortcut aimed at maximizing efficiency.
Just as the old saying went, "power unused expires worthless." To demonstrate the very existence of power, one couldn't let it sit gathering dust; it had to be exercised as much as possible.
During this period, Ji Jue had completely abandoned his former hands-off style of staying behind the scenes. He frequently intervened in the operations of Xinquan and Seven Cities, not only directing production and expansion along the coast, but also leveraging pervasive surveillance and management to flex his authority in every conceivable domain.
To grind proficiency, he even dug up the tasks he had previously dumped on Isis for batch processing, micro-managing them one by one. Who cared about this or that—shake things up first!
Even if there were places he couldn't mess with, wasn't tormenting the scum of the Wild Gathering just as good?
Conciliatory and nurturing on the home front, after launching a batch of long-term projects with no immediate returns in sight, he turned outward and brought down a heavy, ruthless hand...
First he went around to torment his peers in Tacheng, and then he turned around to thoroughly ravage the trash of the Thousand Islands.
Arrest who needed arresting; kill who needed killing.
Then, after burning the midnight oil for days clearing the backlog of work, the first batch of fully loaded freighters had departed through Wild Gathering channels, bound for the Northern Realm. With various affairs largely settled, Ji Jue lowered his gaze, watching the creation taking shape within the crucible.
Only after a long while did he turn back and glance at the phone beside him.
The screen lit up; the call connected.
Soon, a respectful voice answered from the other end.
"Mr. Ji."
"Are the people from Iron Hook District and Fog Veil Reef here?" Ji Jue asked.
"Yes," Ling Shuo answered. "Satria and Caruso have arrived in person, waiting on your schedule."
"How many days has it been?"
"Two days."
"Oh, doesn't sound too long."
Ji Jue remarked casually, "Let's round it out to three full days. Sounds more auspicious."
"Understood."
Ling Shuo nodded without a second thought. Once the call disconnected, he lowered the phone, waved a subordinate forward, and said, "Tell their people that in light of their sincerity, Mr. Ji is willing to carve out some time from his busy schedule. Set it for tomorrow afternoon."
Leaning back in his chair, his face buried in shadow, he offered a contemptuous sneer. "As for whether talks succeed... that will depend on their performance."
The messenger didn't dare say much upon hearing this. After cautiously stepping out the door and letting out a sigh of relief, bitterness surfaced across his face.
What a hot potato.
No reward if done well, yet a total disaster if botched.
Delivering these words might very well stir up trouble. Yet he couldn't afford to be too humble either—he had to put on an arrogant front, or else he would tarnish the Dragon Head's dignity.
But if things went out of hand, his Dragon Head might just throw him under the bus to take the blame.
Damned if he did, damned if he didn't, yet he couldn't refuse to do it.
Yet when he plucked up his courage, having rehearsed it all the way, and conveyed Ling Shuo's words, the response he received after a brief silence took him completely by surprise.
The Dragon Heads of both Wild Gathering branches nodded with total calm, saying nothing more.
Like a pool of stagnant water.
They endured it!
If another day was demanded, then they would wait another day.
Three days of waiting, extreme pressure, utter humiliation, and dismissive neglect...
They endured it all, enduring like true Tianyuans.
Even the next day, waiting in the reception room from the afternoon until dusk was falling, neither showed the slightest resentment or irritation. Both remained all smiles, seemingly filled with anticipation.
An entire afternoon of silent waiting, like a wordless torture.
Amid the never-ending ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner, every second stretched as excruciatingly long as death by a thousand cuts.
Until, from the end of the corridor, amid a flurry of footsteps, that unmistakable, low voice sounded.
Like a predator in the dark waiting for its wounded prey to bleed out, until they were taking their last gasps, before finally stepping onto its hunting grounds.
At last...
Chapter 863