As the Federation airships gradually made their return flight, Roberts woke from his slumber in the central cabin of the vessel.
Having taken medication beforehand, he had slept soundly. He deeply admired a politician from the classical era of the Nuoyue people who could sleep peacefully even at the height of war.
He was especially fond of the famous maxim, "What lies beyond my control brings no distress to my mind." Leave professional matters to professionals; once every arrangement had been made in advance, all one had to do was await the outcome.
He sat up in bed and pulled the call bell. A young maid entered from outside, gently wiping his face with a warm, steam-scented towel while administering a light head massage. Once his morning drowsiness had faded, she shaved his face and finally brought out skincare cream, working it repeatedly into his skin.
Five minutes later, feeling thoroughly refreshed, he got up and went to the washroom to rinse off. By the time he walked out, his discarded garments had already been taken away, and freshly pressed, folded clothes were neatly arranged on the wardrobe. Outside, gentle classical music played at just the right moment.
He picked up the spectacles resting on the shelf, wiped the lenses with his own hands, put them on, and checked the time. Exactly nine o'clock. A full hour and a half had passed since he laid down to sleep.
Brimming with energy, he walked out of the inner quarters. The veiled beauty was still sitting there, engrossed in trimming her fingernails, as if she had not moved an inch.
He walked over and sat down, picking up the invigorating drink the maid had prepared and taking a sip.
"How did it go? Did we take it?"
He recalled that when he went to sleep, the airships were heading toward Tianji Peak. Given the armed strength and high caliber of the personnel involved, everything should have been wrapped up by now if executed properly.
Stopping what she was doing, the beautiful woman handed him a report resting beside her and tossed out, "See for yourself." With that, as though having fulfilled her duty, she went back to her own business.
Roberts paid no mind to her attitude. Taking the report, he glanced through it, then suddenly snapped upright, his eyes widening in shock. He read it carefully from beginning to end once more.
Taking off his spectacles, he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and put them back on. With a rather dark expression, he asked, "How could they retreat on their own authority without my approval?"
The beautiful woman glanced at him sideways. "You delegated authority to them beforehand, didn't you? And you said not to disturb you for anything."
Roberts walked over to the recording device and said to the active conscious entity, "Did you record what I just said?"
The active conscious entity replied, "Mr. Roberts, I have recorded it."
Roberts emphasized, "That was the first sentence I uttered upon learning the news."
"Yes, that was the first thing you said after waking. It has been officially logged."
The beautiful woman's hand paused slightly before she continued with an impassive expression.
Roberts switched off the recording device and began pacing back and forth across the room. All he cared about now was how to salvage his political career. As for the personnel killed or wounded, he did not care in the slightest.
"Durant..."
Before long, an idea came to him, and his pacing came to a halt. He had a good relationship with Durant, and it was Roberts who had acted as the go-between for Durant to become the Consul's personal advisor. As long as Durant was willing to step forward and voluntarily shoulder all the blame for this failure, Roberts would remain unscathed.
If he was safe, the Consul was safe, and the current Executive Administration could hold onto its seat.
Would Durant agree? As long as the terms were generous enough, he would—and those were terms that could only be offered if they remained in power. Durant surely understood that if a new Consul took office, such terms would never be granted.
Their cooperation would only become more seamless than before.
Besides, as a Throne martial artist, as long as Durant's strength remained intact, nothing would truly happen to him. After all, his combat power was concrete and undeniable; no one could strip it away.
At that moment, an assistant knocked on the door and said, "Sir, a telegram from the Consul."
Roberts immediately walked over, opened the door, took the telegram, and read through it. Waving it in his hand, he said to the beautiful woman, "We think alike."
He instructed the assistant, "Send a telegram to the Consul shortly saying I will find a way to persuade Mr. Durant."
He told the assistant to wait a moment, then returned to put on his suit and overcoat while the waiting maid stepped up to assist him. Remembering something, he asked the beautiful woman, "What about the foreign delegations and observers?"
The woman took out a small compact mirror to check her reflection. "They all left, of course. Since they lost, why would they stay?"
Roberts's movements paused. He said to her, "The Federation did not lose."
"Hmm?" She looked at him in confusion.
"Yes, the Federation did not lose," Roberts said, turning to his assistant with great gravity. "Inform the Consul that this operation effectively thwarted the Tianji Sect's expansionist ambitions and fulfilled our intended strategic objectives. Throughout the entire operation, the Celestial Master of the Tianji Sect never dared to show his face. Therefore, all nations should clearly see that we have achieved a great victory—a victory belonging to the Federation."
The beautiful woman gave a hum of amusement, deliberately poking holes: "And what about the fallen martial artists?"
Roberts asked casually, "Who died?"
"Crossal?"
Roberts shrugged. "We successfully weakened the power of the West Coast Faction." Saying this, he put on his wristwatch and fastened his cuff links.
"And the other martial artists?"
The beautiful woman leaned half against the armrest of the sofa, resting her fingers against her forehead, seemingly keen to see how he would explain them away.
"Through this operation, we successfully struck and weakened certain megacorporations and cult organizations," Roberts stated without hesitation.
"So only the Federation emerged as the victor?"
"Only the Federation emerged as the victor!"
Roberts was utterly certain of this. Now fully dressed, he stretched his limbs twice and said, "I'll be away for a while to handle some business." With a wave of his hand, he led his assistant out.
***
Meanwhile, at Tianji Peak, Valchi saw that the battle had ended and all the airships were withdrawing. With no more amusement to be had, he let out a loud whoop, and the colossal cinnabar bird beat its wings and took flight into the sky.
As if receiving a command, the vast flock of birds dispersed in all directions.
On the other side, Emperor Capa offered Chen Chuan a courteous smile from a distance, performed an elegant hand gesture, and turned to depart. A beam of radiant light surged away, quickly vanishing into the distant sky.
Seeing that everyone was leaving, Chen Chuan felt no need to enter the fissure again. He had intended to leave directly, but Gao Xu urgently implored him to stay.
"Honored guest, you came to our aid and helped our Tianji Sect weather this calamity. If we were to let you leave just like this, the Celestial Master would certainly reproach us upon his return. Furthermore, Ming still has a wisp of divine qi remaining in the Tianji Plate, and there is no telling what schemes he may have left behind. We hope you can lend us your aid once more."
Chen Chuan considered the matter. Given Ming's conduct, there truly was no telling what might happen, so this was not purely an excuse. He nodded, accepted Gao Xu's invitation, and followed him into the fissure.
Once inside, he looked around and found the airspace here remarkably vast. Beneath his feet stood a circular platform, and some distance away, jade pillars floated in midair, covered in golden talismans. Rings of shimmering light flickered around them, shifting and transforming at every moment.
Directly overhead was an opening resembling the mouth of a well, through which the glittering other world could be seen. Being there gave him the distinct impression of standing at the bottom of a well shaft.
Gao Xu explained, "That is the Pufang Mirror, responsible for maintaining the esoteric ritual. It also serves as a portal to peer into the Calamity Heaven beyond."
Chen Chuan nodded. Long Xian came forward to greet him as well, looking even warmer and more eager than before.
Yet before they could exchange more than a couple of sentences, all three suddenly sensed something and looked up together.
There, at the aperture of the Pufang Mirror, an enormous eye had appeared at some unknown moment. It was staring down at them, rolling twice in its socket.
Gao Xu's expression changed abruptly. He quickly performed a divination, then blanched. "Not good! This is an otherworldly demon drawn here by the divine qi Ming left behind!"
Long Xian's expression hardened as well.
Gao Xu looked grim. Unless something unforeseen had occurred, this was very likely Ming's contingency plan.
Turning to Chen Chuan, he said apologetically, "Our deepest apologies, honored guest. We intended to entertain you properly, but that is impossible now. This is a matter for our Tianji Sect, and we should resolve it ourselves. Please withdraw from this place for the time being."
Chen Chuan said earnestly, "Zhenren Gao Xu, when you invited me just now, you mentioned you might need my help against whatever methods Ming left behind. Now that something has truly appeared, I naturally cannot simply walk away. Furthermore, while I am not a disciple of the Tianji Sect, I am a member of the Purist Faction. When it comes to otherworldly entities that are very likely trying to infiltrate our world, I will not stand idly by."
"The Purist Faction?"
Both men were taken aback, but Gao Xu immediately recalled something and asked, "Honored guest, did you visit our sect previously? Did you stay at Wangdong Rock for a time?"
Chen Chuan nodded slightly, making no attempt to conceal it. "I even received some benefits from your esteemed sect back then."
"I see."
Gao Xu sighed with emotion. "It seems you truly share a karmic bond with our Tianji Sect. In that case..." His expression turned solemn, and he bowed respectfully to Chen Chuan. "Then we must trouble you, honored guest."
Long Xian chimed in rather anxiously, "Senior Brother, whatever we have to say can wait until later. We must first guard against this thing before us!"
Gao Xu nodded.
By this point, the massive eye had vanished without a trace, and the originally bright opening overhead had suddenly turned pitch-black, as if smothered by something.
Though Chen Chuan could see nothing with his eyes, in his spiritual perception, he felt an indescribable, colossal entity circling and slithering outside the breach in the esoteric ritual.
Right at that moment, the entire airspace created by the ritual shook violently, as if the thing had slammed into it. Every jade pillar vibrated, and the talismans upon them blazed with beams of golden light.
Long Xian was startled. "Senior Brother, this demon possesses tremendous power!"
"No," Gao Xu said, looking upward with a grim countenance. "That was merely a probe. It hasn't even begun to exert its strength."
Chapter 1328