The Great Shun delegation was on its return journey home. Beginning half an hour ago, reports had trickled in one after another, but they were disjointed, piecemeal, and at times contradictory.
After all, the Federation had locked down information from the scene, and Great Shun had not sent an observation delegation along this time. Most of the intelligence had been relayed indirectly by operatives embedded alongside other nations' observation teams.
Because the situation on the ground was exceedingly complex and subject to heavy communications interference, conveying an accurate picture all at once proved extraordinarily difficult.
Discussing these difficult-to-verify reports held little value, so everyone simply waited for definitive word.
After a long wait, Jiang Hongzhi's assistant walked in from outside, beaming with delight. "Delegation Leader, we have word. The Federation has retreated."
The moment those words were spoken, every pair of eyes in the room instantly snapped toward him.
The assistant produced a makeshift bound document and presented it with both hands. "Here is the detailed report."
Jiang Hongzhi took the report and paged through it carefully, his face completely inscrutable.
Tu Haisheng found it almost unbelievable. While he admired Chen Chuan's courage and tenacity, he had never truly believed the young man could pull it off. Yet what was the meaning of the Federation's retreat?
Could Section Chief Chen really have stopped the Federation's operation?
Delegation Leader Xie and Deputy Delegation Leader Lu remained relatively calm. Having journeyed alongside Chen Chuan and witnessed him perform miracle after miracle, stopping the Federation might have seemed nearly impossible on paper, but their faith in him never wavered.
Chu Zhixian sat silently, his face devoid of expression, but inside he was roiling with shock and suspicion.
Had the Federation really withdrawn so easily?
Was it truly because Chen Chuan had stopped them?
Yet the moment that thought arose, he immediately dismissed it. How could that be possible?!
Chen Chuan was just one man. It was fundamentally impossible for him to thwart a Federation operation that had invested immense resources and mobilized multiple Throne martial artists.
If the news was genuine, the most likely explanation was that the Heavenly Master of the Tianji Sect had returned ahead of schedule, forcing the Federation to abandon the mission. That at least made sense.
After a while, Delegation Leader Jiang finished reading the report. Looking up to see everyone watching him, he handed it to Tu Haisheng beside him. "Take turns reading it."
Chu Zhixian was the second to read it. When he finished, his hands trembled faintly—a tell he did not even realize—and he could not resist questioning, "Can the authenticity of this intelligence be confirmed?"
The assistant turned, replying with utter gravity, "Deputy Delegation Leader Chu, this intelligence was cross-verified through multiple channels. We are certain the contents of this telegram are genuine and reliable. I can personally vouch for its authenticity."
Jiang Hongzhi asked, "Has this been transmitted back home?"
The assistant turned back and answered, "It has. Right now, the capital, the Privy Council," he paused, "and the Supreme Security Advisory Council should all have received the report. In accordance with protocol, they are likely conducting verification and review."
Jiang Hongzhi gave a quiet hum of acknowledgment.
Delegation Leader Xie finished reading the report, handed it to Deputy Delegation Leader Lu beside him, and looked up to ask, "There's no mention of Section Chief Chen's final whereabouts in here. Do we know where he is now?"
The assistant shook his head. "My apologies, Delegation Leader Xie. We don't have concrete follow-up intelligence yet, but Section Chief Chen should be safe. If he hasn't returned, he is most likely still at the Tianji Sect."
Delegation Leader Xie nodded.
Just then, the door was pushed open from outside, and Fan Zhentong walked in. Glancing around at everyone, he said, "I learned something through an old friend. The matter of the Federation government backing down before Delegation Leader Meteora of the International Investigation Delegation is more or less clear now."
Tu Haisheng asked, "Mr. Fan, what happened?"
Fan Zhentong returned to his seat and sat down, his voice grave. "From what I understand, Delegation Leader Meteora has long possessed the ability to break through the upper threshold. It's only because no one in the investigation delegation could succeed him that he held back from taking that step.
"When he learned of the Federation's assault on the Tianji Sect this time, recognizing that the safety of the Ring of the World was at stake, he went straight to the Federation Capital and demanded that the Federation call off the operation.
"His terms were simple: if the Federation refused, he would choose to break through to a higher realm right there in the Federation, and he could not guarantee whether the Federation Capital would withstand the fallout."
Upon hearing this, everyone present felt their hearts skip a beat.
The upper powers.
This was a realm they were vaguely aware of yet could never truly touch—and figures like that undoubtedly sat on the Supreme Advisory Council.
Tu Haisheng asked, "Mr. Fan, the Federation must have upper powers of their own, right? Would they just stand by and watch?"
Fan Zhentong said placidly, "Higher-level pacts are involved. Leaving those aside, in the eyes of those who wield upper power, Delegation Leader Meteora is far more qualified to speak as an equal with them."
It was much the same as how martial artists recognized and respected one another. Set nationality aside, and where no conflict of interest existed, some martial artists hardly viewed ordinary people as human beings at all. Only the presence of upper powers and various binding pacts held that tendency in check.
Deputy Delegation Leader Lu thought of something and quickly moved to hand the report to Fan Zhentong.
Fan Zhentong waved it away. "I already know." He added, "There is no need to worry about Section Chief Chen's safety. As I said before, with the tie to the Heavenly Master of the Tianji Sect, our homeland will protect him.
"Besides, Delegation Leader Meteora seems to hold Section Chief Chen in high regard as well, even taking the initiative to grant him an official standing this time."
Thinking on this, everyone nodded in agreement. Once Delegation Leader Meteora broke through the threshold, combined with the Heavenly Master of the Tianji Sect, there would likely be two wielders of upper power endorsing Chen Chuan. Back home, the authorities would certainly weigh those relationships with the utmost care.
When considered from that angle, Section Chief Chen had unwittingly grown into a pivotal figure whom every major faction had to treat with serious consideration.
As for Chu Zhixian, the muscles in his face were taut as he struggled to maintain a natural expression. But his hands resting on his knees were trembling faintly, uncontrollable even when clenched into tight fists.
Meanwhile, more intelligence continued to leak out from within the Federation through various channels.
The Abion Strait Coalition, the Palanio Faith Region, the Noros Theocracy, the Chiluojiaduo Confederation, the Sanmawojia Continental Association, and others all received word of this battle. And among all the reports, Chen Chuan's name was mentioned time and again.
The International Martial Artists Council drastically raised Chen Chuan's influence score, vaulting him into the world's top five before he even knew it had happened.
At that very moment, having followed Heavenly Master Lu out of the rift, Chen Chuan arrived within the Tianji Great Hall.
The structures here had all been reinforced by esoteric rituals, but even so, following the recent battle, many places were inevitably damaged or collapsed.
As Heavenly Master Lu walked along, the broken debris floated up of its own accord and returned to its original place, without missing even the smallest grain of stone.
By the time they came to a halt inside the great hall, the entire space was restored as if brand-new.
Gao Xu and Long Xian showed no surprise, having evidently witnessed such methods before.
After Heavenly Master Lu took the seat of honor, he invited Chen Chuan to sit, smiling warmly as he said, "That the Tianji Sect could weather this calamity is owed entirely to the honored guest's strength."
Chen Chuan said, "I previously spoke of this with Zhenren Gao Xu. I came to your sect merely because I understood what the Heavenly Master was undertaking, and I was unwilling to see your sect attacked from both front and rear while resisting an entity from the world beyond. Furthermore, I came seeking a breakthrough of my own. Your sect has no need to thank me."
Heavenly Master Lu chuckled. "That the honored guest seeks no reward and maintains such clarity of purpose is truly rare. Yet you bore that sliver of heavenly destiny, saving our entire sect from the brink of ruin. As the head of the Tianji Sect, how could I turn a blind eye to your righteous deed?"
With that, he flicked his horsetail whisk. "Our sect will surely offer a fitting recompense. Please, honored guest, do not decline."
Seeing him speak with such resolve, Chen Chuan did not stand on ceremony. He nodded and said, "In that case, I accept."
Heavenly Master Lu laughed heartily and nodded repeatedly.
Then Chen Chuan had a thought. Looking at Heavenly Master Lu, he asked, "I have a question, if Heavenly Master Lu would be willing to enlighten me."
"Speak freely," Heavenly Master Lu replied.
Chen Chuan asked, "Did the Heavenly Master know long ago about this upheaval that befell the Tianji Sect?"
Heavenly Master Lu sighed with wistful melancholy. "One could say I knew, or that I did not. As early as sixty years ago, I divined that after centuries of shifts and permutations, the sect's celestial mechanism had long grown tangled and chaotic, woven through countless threads, and was bound to bring about a calamity.
"Though I could have found ways to delay or evade it, unless it was expunged, when the appointed day of tribulation arrived, it would remain unavoidable. Yet this tribulation could not be eliminated by my hand, for I myself am bound within the heavenly mechanism; my intervention would only have caused it to worsen.
"Nor was this tribulation confined to the realms beyond—it was fated to fall within our world as well. When forces struck simultaneously from inside and out, the peril was bound to be immense. Thus, I had no choice but to journey beyond the heavens to combat the demons and seek a way to break the calamity."
At this, Zhenren Long Xian could not resist saying indignantly, "That wretched Ming! While the Heavenly Master sought a way through the tribulation, he stirred up treachery in secret and summoned external demons, nearly destroying our Tianji Sect!"
Zhenren Chonghua remained silent.
Heavenly Master Lu shook his head with a deep sigh. "Among all of you, Ming was the one whose cultivation was most harmoniously attuned to our Tianji arts. When he divined his own destiny back then, he saw that his personal celestial fortune was intertwined with that of the sect, and within it, he glimpsed the sect's tribulation. After weighing his thoughts, he took the initiative to become the bearer of that tribulation."
Long Xian froze in astonishment. "Does the Heavenly Master mean that Senior Brother Ming wasn't..."
Heavenly Master Lu said, "The Ming of that day was not the Ming of later days. He foresaw that he might fall into the tribulation, yet he willingly entered the fray himself. Though he never spoke of it to me, I understood his intentions, and so I let him be.
"Had his tribulation succeeded, our Tianji Sect would no longer exist. But if he failed to overcome it, our sect could endure. And this time, with the honored guest's aid, we have fortunately survived."
Hearing this, Chonghua, Gao Xu, and Long Xian wore complicated expressions.
Just as Heavenly Master Lu said, whether Ming's original intentions were for himself or for others, whether born of good or evil, what he had truly thought back then—no one could say for certain now, except Ming himself.
Chapter 1331