After returning to the villa, Chen Chuan greeted his aunt, who was watering the flowers, and went upstairs alone into his study.
He retrieved the object Teacher Xue had given him and set it on the desk.
Then he placed his hand upon it. His spiritual power instantly resonated with it, and one mental impression after another surfaced from within.
Yet it was far gentler and more orderly than when he had examined that booklet before. These were likely left behind by the martial artists who had participated in compiling the secret manual back then, consisting mostly of insights and debates regarding each stage of cultivation within the realm of Bearing the Mysterious Mechanism.
There was actually little explanation regarding cultivation techniques inside, perhaps assuming as a given that the contributors already knew the cultivation methods. What was discussed the most were various approaches to cultivation.
Reading through them, Chen Chuan could not help but feel deeply inspired, and the contents even validated his earlier thoughts.
Upon reaching the realm of the Longevity View, to break through to the next stage, the Visage of the Aberrant undoubtedly used the physical body to penetrate the mysterious mechanism, while the Visage of the Divine naturally used the spirit to smash through the barrier.
Yet when it came to the Visage of the Human, because it encompassed both, neither could be abandoned. However, owing to the limitations of the mortal body, one could only break through with one side first, and subsequently bring the other side along.
The Purist Faction's method in fact defaulted to prioritizing physical breakthroughs, using that momentum to drive spiritual power forward; this was also the case with the method from Fangsong Corporation.
There was good reason for this: it was the safest and most reliable path. If one attempted a spiritual breakthrough... well, the residual spiritual power left on that booklet had already proven the danger.
Meanwhile, the martial artists who debated this unanimously agreed that for those walking the path of the Visage of the Human, maintaining a balance between spirit and body and breaking through with both simultaneously was optimal—this was the true path that the Visage of the Human ought to follow.
If one did not do so, numerous issues would arise later. Although they could be resolved, continuing upward would often require several times more energy and effort than what practitioners of other paths had to expend.
It was not that practitioners of the Visage of the Human failed to understand this principle; the problem was that they simply could not accomplish it. It meant that one had to shatter two successive barriers—one of the spirit, one of the body—within a very short window of time.
This demanded an incomparably robust foundation from anyone attempting the breakthrough, along with an exceptionally resilient stamina to withstand external contamination. At the same time, it meant the rare cultivation resources required would inevitably be double or several times what an ordinary person would need.
Such conditions were exceedingly difficult to meet.
Reading up to this point, Chen Chuan promptly decided to take this very path.
With his current foundation, he had already surpassed theoretical limits; if even he could not walk it, no one could. If he did not choose this path, he would be letting himself down and wasting everything he had invested previously.
Even if this path consumed an immense amount of cultivation resources, that was how he had walked all along, and he had long prepared himself mentally for it.
These resources were things he could always find ways to gather.
Looking further down, the Outline did not mention whether anyone had successfully traversed this path; it merely argued that it was viable and, on that basis, deduced the subsequent specific cultivation methods.
As he read on, he could not help but admire the thinking of these martial artists. Every detail of the method and every contingency had been accounted for. They had genuinely sought to chart this path out.
Furthermore, they humbly noted toward the end that the wisdom of contemporaries was not necessarily superior to that of predecessors; if they could think of it, perhaps the ancients had already conceived it long ago.
It was just that predecessors, constrained by poor transmission of knowledge or the tendency to hoard their secrets, had failed to pass it down, or it remained gathering dust in some ancient volume to this day. They were merely adding a stroke of their own here to fill in the gaps and make up for omissions.
Moreover, although the logic had been proven, it still lacked practical execution. Thus, they hoped that posterity would approach it with prudence; if someone could truly see it through to success, it would not have wasted their efforts back then.
Chen Chuan nodded. Then he would be the one to carry on this unfinished road of his predecessors.
He lifted his hand from the relic, found a case, and carefully stored it away. There was still plenty of information inside that he could not yet perceive—likely because his realm was not high enough—so he planned to keep it on his person during this trip.
Once everything was packed away, he went up to the rooftop terrace and fed Chaoming by hand. He intended to bring Chaoming along this time as well. Even though he could fly himself, doing so was inconvenient, and Chaoming was irreplaceable when it came to long-range scouting and observation.
Having finished feeding, just as he was about to head back to flip through the booklet left by the Wilderness faction senior once more, an encrypted signal arrived on his boundary credential. He glanced at it, connected immediately, and said, "Old Feng?"
Special Commissioner Feng's voice came through, sounding rather solemn this time: "Section Chief Chen, Commissioner Cao has a matter here and says he wants to see you. Would that be convenient?"
Chen Chuan's gaze shifted slightly. The General Affairs Bureau reaching out to him out of the blue, and at this exact juncture, was probably related to this upcoming journey.
He nodded. "Sure, I happen to have time right now. Old Feng, name a place, and I'll head over."
Old Feng immediately sent an address over.
Chen Chuan checked it and saw that the location was in Shenwei District. "I'll be there within an hour."
After ending the call, he went downstairs, changed his clothes, and drove out alone in an ordinary car.
Forty-some minutes later, he reached the agreed-upon location: a botanical garden in Shenwei District. Its most distinctive feature was a suspended floral walkway—a boardwalk woven from vines, surrounded by multicolored blooms that flourished in perpetual spring.
He had never been here before. After purchasing a ticket and entering, Special Commissioner Feng shook hands with him and led the way forward, bringing him to a VIP reception area filled with a fresh, delicate floral fragrance.
A few tourists were scattered about. Though they appeared natural on the surface, their mental demeanor suggested they were disguised General Affairs Bureau operatives.
Commissioner Cao was waiting there. Seeing Chen Chuan approach, he came forward to shake his hand. "Section Chief Chen, thank you for making the trip. The situation this time is rather unusual. An officer from our bureau wishes to meet with you."
He paused. "Regarding the delegation."
Chen Chuan's eyes flickered slightly, and he nodded. "Then let us meet."
Commissioner Cao stepped aside with an inviting gesture and led the way. Chen Chuan followed him inward, walking thirty or forty meters along a pathway until they reached an impeccably trimmed hedge wall. Two women who looked like mother and daughter stood there.
The elder of the two was a gentle middle-aged woman, stoutly built with a plump face, not quite fifty years old. Her clothing was plain, and her hair was simply pinned up with a faded hairpin, making her look just like an ordinary housewife from a working-class background.
In contrast, the woman beside her had far more presence. In her twenties, clad in professional attire, she wore exquisite and tasteful jewelry and polished makeup, exuding the aura of an elite professional from head to toe.
Commissioner Cao stepped outside at this point, leaving them room to talk.
The middle-aged woman stepped forward, offered her hand proactively, and said with a smile, "Hello, Committee Member Chen."
Chen Chuan shook her hand. In a soft, gentle voice, she said, "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tao Huiya. I will be joining the delegation this time, traveling to the Linakes Federation as an ordinary member. This is my cover."
She pulled a commemorative photograph from her pocket, showing a middle-aged married couple. "I will be traveling as his wife," she said.
Chen Chuan glanced at it. The photograph was set in a stone pavilion beside a cliff. The man had his arm around Tao Huiya's shoulders; he was tall and lean, smiling, but his bearing suggested he was a scholar, likely holding an official post as well. However, Chen Chuan had never seen him before, so he was probably not an official from Jibei Dao.
"What do you need me to do?" he asked.
Tao Huiya said, "One of our deployed comrades in the Federation has lost contact. We suspect he encountered danger and went underground. The intelligence in his possession is critically important, but someone without sufficient clearance cannot earn his trust. That is why I am going in person to handle the handover."
Though Chen Chuan did not know her exact rank, even Commissioner Cao was subordinate to her; she was clearly a senior official within the General Affairs Bureau. If someone of her stature had to go in person, the importance of the intelligence spoke for itself.
Tao Huiya continued, "Within the delegation, only the head, the deputy heads, and you, Committee Member Chen, know my true identity. But I am merely an ordinary person. If by any chance I am unable to bring the intelligence back, I will have to rely on you."
Chen Chuan looked at her. Seeing the calm openness in her gaze, he nodded and said, "Understood."
Tao Huiya gave a gentle smile. Speaking softly, she said, "There is one more thing. Someone within the delegation also intends to leak vital intelligence to the Federation this time. We are not yet certain who it is and are currently screening suspects. But if trouble arises, we must ensure this person is kept firmly under our control. The only people we can fully trust right now are Head Xie and you, Committee Member Chen. In particular, several members are martial artists. Once the mole is uncovered, we will need your martial assistance."
She tapped her boundary credential, sending a document to him over an encrypted channel. "These are the core personnel confirmed for this delegation, including their background dossiers. You may take a look, Committee Member Chen."
Chen Chuan reviewed it. The head of the delegation was Xie Xinmin, Vice Minister of the Foreign Affairs Department, whose official rank was one grade above his own. There were two deputy heads, both officials from key ministries in the capital, each accompanied by a confidential secretary. Aside from himself, three other martial artists were taking part in the journey—two from the capital, while the third came from a regional district. Like him, they had all been personally invited by the Linakes Federation.
The man in the photograph was among them as well: a linguistics expert from Haidong Dao employed by the government.
He might genuinely be Tao Huiya's husband, since the Federation would certainly vet the identity of every single individual and might even suspect certain members of belonging to the General Affairs Bureau. Fabricating a cover on short notice was clearly unfeasible.
After reviewing it completely, he said calmly to her, "In this matter, no matter who you uncover, I can guarantee they will be brought under control immediately."
Chapter 1054