After speaking with Luo Weina, Chen Chuan went to Delegation Leader Xie and shared his thoughts.
"Coming to us this time, aside from transferring her dojos, she probably has another motive."
Delegation Leader Xie agreed with this assessment. "It looks like a decision forced upon her, but from what I saw of the old lady, she was unhurried and composed. It was likely the result of careful deliberation. But whatever her intentions may be, this opportunity is exceptionally rare. Even if it's bait, we must take the dojos."
The intrinsic value of the dojos was only one factor. More importantly, over the past few decades, the Non-Body Style had grown immensely popular among the lower and middle classes of the Federation, and its dojos were scattered across nearly the entire nation. If Great Shun could seize control of such assets, the influence they could exert would be tremendous.
Chen Chuan said, "Leave the specifics of the transaction to the professionals. Whatever she's scheming, I'll handle any security issues."
Delegation Leader Xie nodded approvingly. Chen Chuan had proven his strength time and again along their journey. With him here, unless an entity from the absolute upper echelon intervened, there was nothing to worry about—and this matter was hardly going to escalate to that level.
Luo Weina and her assistants had been arranged into a guest room within the delegation's quarters. Once inside, the female assistant checked the room first. Finding no specialized listening devices, she walked over to the window and looked out through the one-way glass. "Master, they're still watching outside."
Luo Weina said, "Let them be."
The female assistant remained dutifully by the window, keeping a vigilant watch on the outside.
Ten minutes later, commercial negotiators from the delegation knocked on their door, and Luo Weina's business team stepped up to handle the talks.
Transferring the dojo network was not something that could be completed in a single breath, especially when it involved cross-border transactions between two nations. The entire process required multi-faceted discussions and negotiations, as well as time to push through the procedural stages.
Of course, in circumstances like these, the principals did not need to be present in person; their solicitors and relevant staff were sufficient to conduct the detailed negotiations.
To avoid attracting undue scrutiny, the ownership of the dojos was registered under Chen Chuan's name, even though the purchase was funded by Great Shun.
This primarily depended on a martial artist's personal standing. Compared to internationally renowned martial artists, Chen Chuan still lagged behind in name recognition—after all, he had only just set foot on Federation soil and had not been active on this stage for long. Even so, taking ownership of these dojos was well within his reach.
The discussions stretched on for several hours, and night soon fell. Because several procedural validations and third-party certifications were required, the process threatened to drag on until dawn.
Luo Weina showed not the slightest hint of impatience. She waited quietly, signing documents the moment they were brought over for her signature.
During this time, she attended a banquet hosted by Delegation Leader Xie. As the night deepened, the general agreement between the two teams was finalized, and the main workload concluded. All that remained was waiting for official responses from the Federation government, which did not require her personal presence. Accompanied by her assistant, she returned to her room.
Sitting down, she glanced at the delicate lady's wristwatch on her arm, then peered outside, murmuring softly, "Almost time."
***
At that very moment, atop a high-rise in the northern district of the city, an esoteric ritual team under Team Leader Lu was closely monitoring the sky through observation equipment.
Team Leader Lu waited off to one side. The rooftop perimeter was packed with members of the resistance organization, fully armed as though bracing for battle at any second.
Commissioner Qu stood upon the platform as well, his expression grave, occasionally raising his wrist to check his watch.
After a prolonged wait, one of the observers suddenly shouted in excitement, "I see it!"
Team Leader Lu hurried over at once. The observer yielded his station, pointing in a specific direction as he said excitedly, "Leader, look! That's the Sage Star, over there is the Journey Star, and here is the Fate Star. All three stars have emerged, and they are converging toward a single point. Tonight is indeed the convergence of the three stars! At this rate, the alignment will be complete in two to three hours!"
"Two to three hours..."
Team Leader Lu looked through the instruments and instructed, "Begin calculations immediately. I need the precise time!"
"No need to calculate,"
Commissioner Qu said in a deep voice. "The exact time is 10:59:48."
Team Leader Lu was caught off guard. Commissioner Qu had been asking about the convergence window earlier; how did he know the exact time now, down to the second?
Without offering further explanation, Commissioner Qu said, "Gentlemen, the opportunity we have been waiting for is upon us." He turned toward Team Leader Lu and said gravely, "Leader Lu, time is short. Begin the operation!"
"Yes!"
Knowing this was a critical juncture, Team Leader Lu reined in his thoughts, moved to the radio station, and instructed the communications officer to broadcast the operational order to resistance members inside and outside the city.
At that exact time, atop the observatory of Vea Center City, the Center City esoteric ritual team was likewise watching the heavens. According to A'lu's calculations, a three-star convergence was set to occur at eleven o'clock tonight.
Such astrological shifts were tightly intertwined with rituals. Since ancient times, ritual stars were believed to embody direction and power, capable of amplifying ritual effects. Center City itself was outfitted with numerous rituals, so they needed to observe and record every scrap of data.
According to their current observations, the timeline provided by A'lu appeared accurate—not only had it correctly identified the day, but even the appearance of the three stars was precise to the second.
A star rail stood beside them. As the ritual stars traversed the sky, their trajectories matched the rail's gradations perfectly.
Yet as the minutes ticked by, they began to notice something amiss. The trajectory across the star rail had started to develop a slight deviation from the predicted timeline. If this deviation persisted, by roughly eleven o'clock, the discrepancy might approach nearly a full minute.
Though it was merely a single minute, no one could say for certain whether it portended a greater issue.
Should they report it?
They hesitated. A convergence of the three stars occurred only once every three hundred years, and historical records were notoriously imprecise; there was no telling whether new circumstances might arise later to self-correct the movement along the rail. These were ritual stars, after all, and they could not be judged purely by ordinary logic.
After a brief discussion, the group decided to continue observing and recording, waiting until the deviation was certain before submitting a report to White Rock Hall.
***
At 9:10 PM, outside the Ancient Museum, a luxury sedan drove up and came to a steady halt on the plaza. A young man and woman, impeccably dressed, stepped out of the vehicle and walked toward the museum, chatting and laughing.
The museum remained open at night, and some visitors particularly preferred touring it after dark, so they were not the only patrons present.
As they passed through the checkpoint, their identification badges revealed that they were children of council members from Serranocha Center City. After verifying their identities, the security personnel opened the turnstiles, politely invited them inside, and asked whether they required a guide.
The pair seemed disinclined to let anyone intrude upon their privacy and declined at once.
The security guard bowed politely and watched them enter.
None realized that in the museum's underground freestanding vault, the crimson skull resting within had begun to emit faint ribbons of a shimmering halo. As the ritual stars drew closer together in the night sky, the relic seemed to resonate with them.
Even if someone had seen it, they likely would not have questioned it. Under the celestial influence, the museum's esoteric ritual was steadily growing stronger. Even the ritual experts responsible for maintenance and restoration would not have expected anything to go wrong under these conditions.
Crucially, the rituals of the museum and Blockade Hall were fundamentally one unified system. Under normal circumstances, with the two combined, neither an external force nor an internal captive could ever break through relying on their own power.
What they failed to realize, however, was that as the three ritual stars converged toward a single point, the resonance between the ritual and the skull was deepening. This caused the various components of the ritual to draw into mutual alignment—a shift that the powerful entities imprisoned inside Blockade Hall sensed as well. A subtle change began to take shape.
The ritual operated by setting the power of each captive against that of all the other prisoners to suppress everyone equally. Yet when all those individuals began acting in harmony, the restraints would inevitably loosen.
To use an analogy, it was as if a rhythmic tune had begun playing in the street, and most passersby could not help but fall into step with the beat.
That was precisely the situation now. Some of the captive entities sensed what was happening and actively coordinated with it; others fell into step unconsciously. Whether actively or passively, they shifted their own fields in sync with the resonance. And within that resonance, these entities swiftly realized that the shackles binding them were growing steadily weaker.
By the time the clock struck ten, even the dullest esoteric wardens inside Blockade Hall noticed the problem. Cold sweat broke out across their brows. Blockade Hall held prisoners of tremendous strength alongside non-human entities; if these beings escaped, it would mean utter catastrophe!
Yet the situation had not reached its worst just yet. Encircling Blockade Hall and the museum was a dynamic ritual designed precisely to counter such contingencies, through which they could forcibly intervene and reset the parameters.
However, due to the ritual's massive scale and complexity, the wardens could not handle it alone. They had to rely on Center City's colossal field organism—specifically its primary active conscious entity, A'lu—to perform the calculations and adjustments.
Once A'lu provided a solution, they needed only to coordinate and execute it, and the crisis could be averted.
Yet when they submitted the emergency request, A'lu returned a response that left them stunned:
"An unknowable error has occurred. Adjustments underway—"
Chapter 1140