Hearing that it concerned a fissure, Chen Chuan paid closer attention. If that was the case, it made sense for the man to seek him out.
Vegadov said, "Aside from keeping an eye on the various cults, our Federation Purist Faction has always been committed to eliminating fissures that have persisted on the continent since the old era.
"These fissures are usually hidden in remote, uninhabited places like deep mountains and borderlands. Due to ancient rituals and remnants of old-era power, they were never absorbed by Center Cities.
"Five years ago, we discovered an unclaimed fissure in Mount Misuka in Duwan State, and pollution from the other side has been seeping through into our world ever since.
"We organized a team to eliminate it as usual, but an old god may be entrenched there, and one of our comrades ended up becoming its host body."
At this point, he clenched his fist in a mix of indignation and grief.
Chen Chuan pondered this and found it understandable. Center Cities were generally built atop various fissure boundary points, but an entire city required a certain population to sustain it.
Not to mention that the Federation was vast and sparsely populated, with many Center Cities clustered together in specific regions, making it impossible to fully cover such an expansive landmass. Blind spots were inevitable.
The Federation Purist Faction's approach was very clever: it avoided direct conflict with the government, corporations, and various cults, while still eradicating the existence of fissures.
He asked, "What is the situation there now?"
Vegadov said helplessly, "We made several subsequent attempts, but none succeeded. We had no choice but to seal off the area and keep it under surveillance for now."
He looked at Chen Chuan and said, "Mr. Chen, our Federation Purist Faction also has a high-level martial artist, but he has an agreement with the state that makes it difficult for him to step forward and handle such matters openly. So when we heard about your deeds and learned that you are also a member of our Purist Faction, we wondered if we could ask you to step in and resolve this fissure."
Chen Chuan considered it briefly. If it truly was such a fissure, he was willing to step in. If nothing else, eliminating enduring fissures would slightly delay the arrival of the opposite world, thereby buying him a little more time to cultivate.
Although it was uncertain how much of a delaying effect it would have, even ten days or half a month would be beneficial to him.
As for whether it was dangerous or whether the other party was trustworthy—put simply, given his current strength, anyone wishing to target him would need at least a Throne martial artist arriving in person.
A Throne martial artist could not be deployed at whim. According to treaties signed between nations, they could only be dispatched within territories under a country's actual control, generally following the principle of reciprocity.
That was why Mr. Fan had been present during the earlier encounter with Krossar in the wilds, as well as during the arrival of that suspected Throne martial artist from Progenitor Company.
Were it not for this, the West Coast Party would have dispatched a Throne martial artist to wipe out Kawatua long ago. Great Shun would never permit the Federation to do so, and Kawatua was not under their actual control anyway.
In truth, even if such a figure truly arrived, Chen Chuan had nothing to fear. It would serve as a good opportunity to test the true strength of a Throne martial artist, and he had a feeling that he would inevitably face one sooner or later.
He said, "I need to know the exact location."
Hearing him ask this, Vegadov was instantly overjoyed. He promptly retrieved a silver metal case, reached inside, and pulled out an off-white biological insect to hand to him.
"Mr. Chen, this is a communicator independently developed by our Purist Faction. It can attach to a boundary credential. It contains our Purist Faction's archives, as well as contact information for members across the various Federation regions. If you need help anywhere, you can reach out to them."
Chen Chuan took it and placed it on his boundary credential. The little insect soon flowed like liquid, merging right into it.
He quickly noticed a new sub-module appear on the light screen projected by his boundary credential. With a shift of his consciousness, he entered the internal platform.
A map appeared before him. The location was situated in the south-central Federation; geographically speaking, it was only separated from the Tianji Sect's territory by a single state.
*This location—*
He recalled that on the map of the Throat of the Star Spirit, there seemed to be a description of this area. It appeared the old god in this place might have some connection to the First People.
Regardless of the reality, he would know once he went to see it. If it was an unconstrained, unrestrained fissure, it had to be sealed off.
At this moment, he noticed several names and contact methods on the map, which likely belonged to Purist Faction members stationed there.
Zooming out on the map, he found a string of names and contact methods for every state across the Federation—evidently the liaison personnel for each state.
Beyond that, there were markers for research laboratories and corporate logos, annotated with the equipment each could provide. The notes specified that all of it was independently developed equipment of the Federation Purist Faction, unobtainable outside.
It seemed the other party truly placed great trust in him, laying out all this information without concealment. Even if it was not everything, it was remarkably sincere.
He said, "Mr. Vegadov, there is only one issue right now. Due to the several incidents you are aware of, my travel is currently subject to certain restrictions. If I am to move across regions, I need to submit an application and report it, which might take a bit of time."
Vegadov hurried to say, "Mr. Chen, we have already considered this matter. We can provide some assistance on your behalf."
Chen Chuan did not doubt this. The Federation Purist Faction's ability to provide a large amount of independently developed equipment was proof enough of their substantial wealth and mobilizable resources.
In the Federation, ample wealth could usually be translated into political influence.
Considering that the invitational tournament was set for a few days later and he did not need to participate, he would have free time during that period. He mentioned this to Vegadov.
Upon hearing it, Vegadov confidently promised that they would eliminate all travel obstacles before then.
After concluding their official business, Chen Chuan inquired about the various cults and martial traditions within the Federation.
He had indeed asked the right person. The Purist Faction possessed deep knowledge of the various cult organizations, with detailed intelligence on both the Primitive Sect and the New Light Cult. The sole exception was the Tianji Sect.
Vegadov said, "We don't know much about the internal situation of the Tianji Sect either, but we know they are one of the few old sects that wield upper-echelon power on Federation soil."
Chen Chuan was not surprised. The mere fact that the territory occupied by the Tianji Sect constituted one of the Federation's five major states was telling enough.
After discussing things for a while longer, he dined with Vegadov before taking his leave.
Upon returning to Red Rock Villa, an orderly informed him that items sent from his home country had arrived and were placed in his room.
Knowing these were likely the supplies delivered by the Purist Faction, he went back to his room and opened the parcel. At the very top lay a letter from Mr. Zhuan.
Sitting down, he browsed through it. It stated that after the Purist leadership learned of his actions in the Federation, they immediately decided to grant him cultivation support.
The fissures opened by these Federation cults had long existed either openly or covertly. As defilements upon Federation soil, it was virtually impossible for Great Shun's Purist Faction to reach out and touch them.
Yet he had pushed forward and eradicated two of them in succession. Such an achievement had not been matched in decades, and in the future, it was unlikely anyone else could accomplish it either.
Most importantly, he had defeated a portion of Krossar's power in an open challenge match, allowing internal members of the Purist Faction to truly recognize his strength.
Although the Purist Faction found it difficult to place full trust in talents they had not raised themselves—largely due to what had happened with Zhao Zhenye in the past—Chen Chuan had proven time and again that his stance was far more dependable than most. Over the past decade, within the Ring of the World alone, no one could rival the merits he had established. Thus, the leadership had convened a meeting specifically for this matter and decided to allocate him a share of resources.
After Mr. Zhuan's remarks came a postscript from Mr. Mask, who fiercely cursed the old fogies at the top for never offering help in times of need and only jumping on the bandwagon when things went well. He warned Chen Chuan not to assume they were acting out of kindness, saying that these resources were his due anyway, and urged him to take all the benefits without feeling the slightest gratitude toward them.
Chen Chuan smiled faintly. After reading and putting away the letter, he opened the chest to look inside. Although the quantity of resources sent by the Purist Faction was not particularly large, their quality was exceptionally high, far exceeding what he had seen before, providing him with a substantial replenishment.
Having passed the Treasury Release stage, he clearly felt that the cultivation resources he required would be vastly greater; they could no longer be measured by his previous rates of consumption.
Setting the chest aside, he retrieved the gift box he had received from Vegadov. Opening it, he found a thick book bound in parchment.
He picked it up and flipped through it. The writing inside was entirely in Yono script, and an ancient variant at that.
He activated his boundary credential's translation function and began to read.
Yono martial arts differed from Great Shun's ancient martial arts. Grounded in their religious perspective and worldview, they had formed a self-consistent theory of their own.
They mapped substances existing in nature to various parts of the human body and conducted cultivation toward "sanctification," which was often interwoven with a system of religious rituals.
Without a doubt, that crusade knight had been a religious believer in his early years, perhaps even a fanatic. The book's records were full of religious terminology. Even though the boundary credential could translate the words, the resulting translation often carried an entirely different meaning, losing the flavor of the original text.
Fortunately, he did not need to read it that way; he only needed to receive and observe the spiritual imprint preserved within.
Many people had likely browsed this book before, yet the spiritual power residing on it remained firm and abundant. With the slightest contact, it even carried an aura of sanctifying persuasion.
Ignoring these superficial layers, he looked directly into the core. As Vegadov had said, it indeed contained the man's cultivation experiences.
In truth, merely reading this was of little direct use to Chen Chuan now. He had already read the martial compendium, which explained matters with far greater depth and solidity, whereas this was merely a record left behind from personal experience, typically serving only to broaden one's knowledge and build background understanding.
However, one point caught his attention: because this ascetic of the old sect was deeply devout regarding sanctification, he had continuously walked the path of discarding the self in pursuit of the divine.
This was almost the exact opposite of the path to "Preserve the True Form, Gather the Spiritual Visage." Unsurprisingly, he had failed in the end. Yet several of his concepts and attempts sparked Chen Chuan's thinking, filling his mind with a burst of new insights in an instant.
Chapter 1205