Once the radiant mist emerged, it spread steadily outward, quickly enveloping the airship's entire bottom deck cabin.
Yet the light and wondrous manifestations were visible only to Chen Chuan, causing no disturbance to anyone else.
His mind stirred. It seemed the elixir pellet had once again resonated with some Xuan Sect relic kept here.
At this moment, he found himself standing inside an imposing grand hall, surrounded by bronze censers, golden cranes, ink-inscribed scriptures, and dark banners.
He could not help but rise and look toward the dais. In the center of the hall stood a circular ritual altar where four figures sat cross-legged. Below the altar stood roughly a hundred figures gathered in a circle.
High and low alike shared one common trait: all were dressed in the garb of Xuanists from the old sects.
The four atop the altar stood out conspicuously. Even seated, they gave the impression of great stature. Though the wavering radiance blurred their exact features, each radiated an ethereal, transcendent grace.
In this vision of the past, the four appeared to be speaking.
As his focus shifted upward, their voices gradually grew distinct.
The Xuanist seated at the head looked upward and said, "The Celestial Master has spoken: the demon invading from beyond the heavens has fixed its eyes upon a gap in the Mystic Ring's operation. Should it find a way through, it will slip into the breach, and the Mystic Ring will inevitably crack and tear.
"Therefore, the Celestial Master has journeyed beyond the heavens to eliminate this fiend. If he can slay it in one stroke, he may secure a hundred years of peace. Even if he cannot, merely driving it away will buy sixty years of safety.
"From the looks of it, the demon was formidable enough to escape. Sixty years hence, we will need to stand guard here once more."
A Xuanist seated to the east sighed. "The looming trend of the Calamity Heaven cannot be reversed, pressing closer with each passing day. This time we bought sixty years; next time, we might win only three to five."
The Xuanist to the south said, "Any delay is welcome. Even three to five years would afford us more time to devote to the Grand Ritual of Heavenly Return."
After they spoke a little longer, the Xuanist in the head seat seemed to receive a transmission. He paused, his tone abruptly urgent: "The Celestial Master is pursuing the demon! Fellow disciples, do your utmost to sustain the Grand Ritual of Return!"
At his words, the other three Xuanists on the dais and all the Xuanists below turned solemn. Distinct golden talismans and radiance spilled out around the altar, plunging the entire hall into a churning sea of mist and clouds.
Chen Chuan happened to be standing among the crowd below. Having listened this far, he had finally pieced together where this scene took place.
What he was seeing was most likely the Tianji Grand Hall of the Tianji Sect, and the four figures above were almost certainly the sect's four zhenren.
In that case, this cargo must contain relics passed down from the Tianji Sect, which the elixir pellet had brought to light.
At the same time, he understood the gist of what these people were doing.
The so-called "Mystic Ring" was evidently the Tianji Sect's term for the Ring of the World. According to them, the Ring of the World was constantly shifting, and precisely because of this constant motion, it could serve as a barrier protecting the world—yet within that motion lay hidden flaws.
Some entity beyond the heavens seemed to have fixed upon this flaw, seeking to infiltrate through it. Yet doing so would almost certainly damage the Ring of the World.
The Tianji Sect had likely detected the danger, prompting their Celestial Master to venture beyond the heavens to eliminate or banish the entity, preventing harm to the Ring of the World.
At first, Chen Chuan thought he was looking at an era long past, but judging by the surrounding furnishings, decor, and the clock resting in the corner, this scene had unfolded sixty years ago.
Sixty years later, in the present day, Celestial Master Lu was probably out doing the exact same thing, rather than setting up some esoteric ritual.
Chen Chuan's gaze sharpened. If so, this did not match what Delegation Leader Xie had said, or rather, what the Federation had disclosed.
He did not know whether the Federation was aware of this. If they were, then they were exploiting the Tianji Sect's absence while its master protected the Ring of the World to seize the sect's foundation. That went beyond a mere lack of honor—it was reckless disregard for an existential threat to the world.
Did Great Shun know about this? Or had something else changed after sixty years?
As he pondered, the surrounding light suddenly flickered in waves. The Xuanist at the head called out loudly, "The Celestial Master is about to return! Fellow disciples, help me steady the ritual!"
At the same time, the light above grew blindingly bright as if to swallow everyone whole, and a rift split open overhead.
Just as he looked toward the rift, the entire scene abruptly froze. In that single instant, everything around him—both people and objects—stood completely still.
He took a few glances, then turned his head as if alerted by some instinct. His eyes shifted slightly; standing there was the very Xuanist who had guided him in the method of lighting the purple lamp. Though the man's face remained indistinct, his form was unmistakable. The Xuanist gave him a nod, then turned and walked toward a certain spot.
Chen Chuan moved his eyes, then stepped forward to follow. The surrounding light flickered erratically, and the scenery soon began to splinter and fragment.
After roughly twenty paces, the Xuanist stopped, his back to Chen Chuan, and pointed toward a spot.
Chen Chuan was about to walk up and look closely, but right at that moment, the dense, radiant mist suddenly dispersed, and the surroundings vanished in an instant.
He found himself still standing in the airship's cabin. Pausing for a second, he looked where the Xuanist had pointed and spotted an unsealed book box.
He recalled the few locations Fan Zhentong had mentioned; this item was not among them. It barely had any protective measures, clearly not considered an object of particular importance.
Chen Chuan reached out and lifted the lid, revealing a series of folded manuscript booklets.
This time he did not use his hands. Instead, he fixed his gaze upon them; the booklets floated out of the box, their folded pages opening leaf by leaf before his eyes.
Lines of text ran across the accordion folds, but what first caught his eye was the faint ink wash illustration looming behind the words. If he was not mistaken, it was a section of the *Illustration of Mystic Spirits Battling Demons*, highlighting one of the founding patriarchs of the Xuan Sect.
Since this was likely an item from the Tianji Sect, he surmised that the figure was probably the patriarch revered by their sect.
In the painting, the patriarch held a horsetail whisk that transformed into whorls of cloud. Trapped within them were demons—every one identical—seeming desperate to flee yet entirely unable to break free.
After studying it for a moment, he examined the calligraphy. It was written in an archaic seal script of the Xuan Sect. Had he not previously visited Emperor Ying's secret vault and studied numerous esoteric tomes from that era, he would have found it utterly unintelligible.
Looking closer now, he saw that it was actually a set of observational logs, primarily recording the Tianji Sect's observations of the Ring of the World, along with personal inferences made by the scribes.
Browsing through the rest of the booklets one by one, he found that the entries came from various hands. Evidently, more than one person had been responsible for observing and recording back then, a process that spanned over a decade.
Taken together, every single entry pointed to the fact that the Ring of the World possessed flaws amidst its constant shifts, and all recommended finding ways to mend them.
Judging by the dates recorded within, the earliest entries mostly dated back eighty-three years, not long after the Ring of the World had been established. The final entry dated back sixty-two years.
If so, the Tianji Sect's Celestial Master had probably realized that an entity from beyond the heavens had discovered this flaw, prompting him to go and intercept it.
This matched and corroborated the scene he had just witnessed.
Still, he did not accept it outright. He had to consider that the elixir pellet had been given to him by that nameless Xuanist, and the evidence had been pointed out by that same figure. Coming entirely from within the Tianji Sect, there was no guarantee that what he had seen was true.
After pondering for a while, he tapped his boundary credential and said, "Mr. Fan, I have a few questions I'd like to ask in person."
"Wait for me a moment."
A moment later, he saw Fan Zhentong walking down from above.
Chen Chuan could clearly sense that Fan Zhentong was still standing watch on the top deck; the figure before him had to be an avatar limb he had split off.
"Section Chief Chen, what is the matter?"
Chen Chuan said, "Mr. Fan, I want to ask about the Federation's operation this time. I honestly don't know much about the insider details. I heard that a zhenren from the Tianji Sect disclosed internal sect matters to the Federation. Do you know what he said specifically?"
Fan Zhentong replied, "Section Chief Chen, I can tell you what I know—you've earned the right to hear it. Besides, the Federation has likely already shared the specific intelligence with other nations and the Consortium. If they know, you certainly can too."
He paused, then continued, "According to Zhenren Ming, disciples of the Tianji Sect initially act based on heavenly guidance. Once their cultivation reaches a profound level, they can divine favorable opportunities for themselves and act accordingly, calculating and suppressing all variables to ultimately achieve their ends.
"It's hard to tell how much of that is true, so there's no need to dwell on it. He claims that as long as the old Celestial Master is driven off and his fellow disciples suppressed, he can rely on the Tianji Sect's resources to claim the seat of Celestial Master for himself.
"Furthermore, he swore a solemn vow to the Federation: as long as the Federation aids him, once the deed is done, he will formally incorporate Weishu Continent into the Federation. Beyond paying taxes to the Federation, he will remove all restrictions on commercial ventures by companies from the Federation and nations worldwide seeking to enter Weishu Continent.
"However, we didn't just take the Federation's word for it. I spoke with him personally and applied certain methods of discernment, and I can confirm with reasonable certainty that his promise is genuine."
Chen Chuan asked further, "I heard from Delegation Leader Xie that Celestial Master Lu went to the world on the other side this time to reinforce the Tianji Sect's ritual. Did this Zhenren Ming offer any specific details regarding that?"
Chapter 1289