Akhtawa untied the bindings around himself, solemnly brought out a carefully wrapped object from within, and cupped it forward with reverent care.
Chen Chuan looked down. It was a scroll of greenish-yellow bamboo slips tied with crimson silk cords. Its style struck him as faintly familiar.
Did it seem to be a Xuan Sect scripture?
Seeing the other man offer it, he reached out and took it. Unrolling it, he saw densely packed golden-red seal script covering the bamboo slips.
A thought stirred in his mind. *Golden Seal Script?*
The ink had been compounded by a martial artist from their own blood and cinnabar mixed with other materials. The red was indeed cinnabar, but the gold was the blood itself.
Golden blood was precisely an anomaly manifested by certain martial artists of the Dongxuan View, especially deep practitioners of the old faith whose cultivation had reached profound depths.
He asked about its origins. Akhtawa replied that the priest who had presided over his Blood-Drinking Rite had bestowed it upon him, saying it had been left behind by a Xuanist from the Eastern Continent long ago. It was of immense antiquity, having been passed down for more than thirty generations within that priest's lineage alone.
Chen Chuan nodded slightly. Then it had most likely been left by a Xuanist who had journeyed to the Ying Continent in ages past.
In ancient times, the Ying Continent had some contact with the outside world, though most in the Eastern Continent looked down upon this distant realm.
Primarily, native martial artists were placed under imperial rule, and their homeland possessed vast tracts of developed Melded Lands. Acquiring resources was relatively easy, with plenty yet to be fully exploited. Even if they wished to expand their borders, ample territory lay all around them where governance could easily be established; there was simply no need to cross the vast oceans to venture elsewhere.
Yet while state actions were absent, individual and religious undertakings were hardly rare.
In the early days of conflict between the Xuan and Chan Sects, the Xuan Sect had found itself at a disadvantage for a time. Back then, some among their ranks indeed fled abroad, and some might well have reached the Ying Continent.
His gaze lingered on the bamboo slips for a moment longer. Though he could not fully decipher the seal script, the glyph structures and brushstrokes confirmed it was genuinely an archaic relic.
If his guess was correct, it dated back to the period of the Xuan Sect's decline some fourteen to fifteen hundred years ago. Back then, Chan temples dotted the Eastern Continent from north to south. Under such pressure, the Xuan Sect would inevitably have sought to branch out and establish lineages elsewhere, much like the Chan Sect's subsequent voyage eastward across the sea.
Such an item could not have been written by just anyone; the author had to be a high-ranking Xuan Sect master. Beyond the sect's liturgical rituals, it demanded immense personal cultivation, and only masters of high merit possessed sufficient inner secrets of the Xuan Sect.
Sensing it briefly with his spirit, he confirmed that simply placing it beside oneself during cultivation would confer a blessing and help resist the erosion of alienation. It was truly an exceptional treasure.
However, for someone who had never practiced Xuan Sect arts, it was likely of little use—nothing more than an incomprehensible celestial script to flip through.
Akhtawa likely understood only a fraction of its true nature, knowing merely that it was an extraordinary object, which was why he had presented it.
Moreover, with a slight shake of his hand, faint golden phantom figures drifted softly from its surface, resembling the talismans used to bind ancient abominations. If used skillfully, they could protect him, though doing so would treat the scroll as an expendable item, eventually exhausting its miraculous power.
He did not mind in the slightest; things written down were meant to be used, so when the time came, he would employ it without hesitation or regret.
Having finished inspecting it, he set the scroll down and said, "Mr. Akhtawa, your gift is indeed magnificent, and I am quite intrigued by it, so I shall accept it. If you ever require anything in the future, you may come to me. Within the limits of my ability, I will offer you my aid."
He knew that beyond expressing gratitude, Akhtawa also wished to establish a personal relationship and rapport with him.
Akhtawa indeed harbored such intentions, but what he valued was not merely Chen Chuan's present standing, but even more so his future. He had heard of Chen Chuan's renown; for such a formidable martial artist to be so young meant he would inevitably rise to the upper echelons of Great Shun. Cultivating ties beforehand was certainly the right course.
Akhtawa said, "There is currently a matter on which I hope to receive your support, Mr. Chen."
Chen Chuan asked, "What matter?"
Akhtawa spoke with earnest gravity: "I have ordered a batch of puppet escorts from the Progenitor Company. These escorts have a rather vital role to play. However, they may not enjoy the trust of Kawatua's upper ranks, and getting them accepted presents some difficulty."
Though Chen Chuan had entanglements with the Progenitor Company, he was not averse to using their products. If a tool was good, anyone could use it, and so could he.
Furthermore, strictly speaking, the Progenitor Company did not stand purely on the Federation's side. If Kawatua clashed with the Federation and Great Shun could not intervene in time, the Progenitor Company was the sole corporate entity capable of bypassing the law to supply armaments.
He understood Akhtawa's reservations. Kawatua had only just undergone its reform and remained deeply sensitive to anything originating from the Federation. Employing goods from the Progenitor Company might send the wrong signal or spark unrealistic illusions among certain people. The items might be sound, but timing was everything—unless they were an immediate, pressing necessity.
Thus he asked, "Is Mr. Akhtawa placing such emphasis on these puppet armaments because they serve some specific purpose?"
Akhtawa's expression turned solemn. "Mr. Chen, it is like this: these puppets are not meant to bolster Kawatua's armed forces. They serve a far more vital purpose.
"Kawatua has great potential, but I know the resources of the holy land remain untapped. These puppets are intended precisely to allow us to access the resources of the Melded Lands. Only when these resources are tapped and utilized can Kawatua truly achieve self-renewal."
Chen Chuan looked at him. "You know what lies within the holy land?"
Akhtawa did not conceal anything. "A little."
He said in a low voice, "The old priest who conducted my rite told me this as well. He had once been a priest of the Grand Temple of Hatikan. He spoke to me of the holy land: within it are seven sacred gates, distributed across the Life Plateau. Only by opening them simultaneously and stationing sentries at each can the Sacred Tree gradually draw closer to us, allowing the power of the holy land to be harnessed.
"In the past, various dynasties would dispatch Divine Guards and even demigods to this ancestral ground. They would take an oath to guard the portals until they ultimately returned to the Sacred Tree. The resources obtained from within were used either to nurture holy land warriors or traded with dynasties in exchange for the construction and maintenance of temples.
"Yet as ages elapsed and new dynasties arose, they grew unwilling to send Divine Guards and demigods to the temples. Consequently, the seven portals gradually closed. The priests of Kawatua also ceased speaking of such matters to outsiders.
"Before the old priest passed away, he shared this secret with me. He said that if the opportunity ever ripened, I should open the Seven Sacred Gates; but if no chance arose, or if the holy land fell to the Federation, I was to keep the secret buried until the end of the world."
Chen Chuan pondered for a moment, then asked, "The old priest was originally a priest of the Hatikan Temple?"
Akhtawa nodded.
Chen Chuan gave an acknowledging hum. He knew that since ancient times, Kawatua had possessed resident garrison priests—ascetic recluses who were the true clergy of this place.
Only when the dynasties collapsed did remnants of the Quezatec people, leveraging their proximity to the temples, flee here for sanctuary. The Quezatec priests merged with some of the original temple clergy, giving rise to modern Kawatua.
Yet some high-ranking priests had departed; they were likely the ones who truly held the holy land's secrets, and that might well be why the Sacred Tree had remained unreachable.
He said, "Mr. Akhtawa, you intend to use puppet armaments to replace the former Divine Guards—is that correct?"
"Yes."
Akhtawa made no attempt to hide his intentions.
"Divine Guards would be the ideal choice. Without them, ordinary people could theoretically serve as substitutes, but ordinary mortals cannot withstand the incursions from the world on the other side. Only combatants can be used. Yet such harm is virtually irreversible, and it would consume wave after wave of lives.
"We First People already have very few combatants, and we cannot bear such attrition. Therefore, Progenitor security puppets are the best solution. These puppets were developed specifically to operate within the Melded Lands; they possess strong resistance against incursions, feel no fear of death, and are exceptionally obedient. Paired with a small number of combatants, they will be enough to hold the portals."
Chen Chuan asked, "Have you mentioned this to the High Priestess?"
Akhtawa said, "I have spoken with her, and I also consulted the Grand Chieftain's adviser, but they are uncertain of Great Shun's position."
Pausing briefly, he added, "When I came out, the High Priestess told me that Kawatua is willing to share the benefits with our allies."
Chen Chuan understood. This was an intimation that once the holy land was tapped, a portion of the resources would be offered in exchange for Great Shun's backing.
This was a good sign, showing that Kawatua had moved past its old paradigm of unilaterally receiving aid.
Thus he voiced his stance: "Personally, I support this." He added, "Mr. Akhtawa, once I have discussed this with the members of the delegation, we will provide you with a reply. We would gladly see Kawatua develop the capacity to sustain itself."
Hearing him say this, Akhtawa knew the matter was practically assured. He felt deeply fortunate to have encountered a martial artist who was both immensely powerful and open-minded. Such figures were exceptionally rare, as martial artists were generally headstrong and fixated—for it was their obsession that made them strong.
Yet he could sense that Chen Chuan was perhaps the exact opposite: it was precisely because he was strong that he had no need for stubborn obsession.
With the business settled, he troubled Chen Chuan no further, rising to take his leave.
After he left, Chen Chuan nodded to himself. Beyond his strength, Akhtawa possessed intellect and lacked dogmatism; furthermore, he had undoubtedly received Great Shun's backing in the past.
With such a man present, Kawatua's security could rest easy for the time being. Gathering multiple martial artists of the Longevity View realm was no simple feat; word would inevitably leak out, allowing them to prepare in advance.
Yet the seven sacred gates Akhtawa had mentioned suddenly brought to mind the seven desires of the Primitive Sect. He wondered if there was any connection between the two.
Lacking further information, he did not dwell on the thought. Now that a guardian was stationed here, he decided to delay no longer and prepared to set off.
Chapter 1247