After leaving the plaza, Chen Chuan got into the private car Fan Zhentong had brought to receive him, which set off toward the interior of Zhongjing.
The crowd watched the two depart. Peng Jinghui stood there in silence, while several members of the Esoteric Cult Examination Bureau behind him looked at him with a degree of sympathy.
Just moments ago, word had reached them that he had been temporarily suspended.
Anyone could see he had deliberately been pushed forward as a pawn, waiting for trouble so they could shove him into the pit while washing their hands of the matter.
Fortunately, that person seemed disinclined to pursue it; otherwise, his future would likely have ended very badly.
Together with the others present, they gazed after the departing car, their eyes filled with awe. The Supreme Security Advisory Group—entering that place meant standing, without question, at the very pinnacle of Great Shun's power.
Inside the car, Fan Zhentong said, "The authority of the domestic Martial Artists Council comes from the authorization of the advisory group.
"However, the council is also a member of the World Martial Artists Council, and national councils exchange commissioners with one another, so they inevitably come under international influence at times.
"Through such procedures and frameworks, martial artists from smaller nations can be coerced and regulated by major powers. As a great power, Great Shun is likewise a beneficiary, but we cannot entirely avoid feeling the impact on occasion either."
Chen Chuan said, "Mr. Fan, are you saying Councilor Peng's arrival was influenced by international forces?"
Fan Zhentong said, "There are certainly domestic forces at work as well, but in this instance, they mostly just fanned the flames. There are no clear handles to seize upon. Of course, an investigation could be carried out if desired, but that depends on your personal stance, Advisor Chen.
"If you wish to pursue it to the end, a batch of people can be cleared out, but as long as the institution remains, the interest groups behind it will remain, and fundamentally nothing will change.
"As an organization overseeing fighters, what is most useful to a martial artist is their system of rituals. Advancing step by step to the highest tier yields certain benefits.
"That is useful for ordinary people, but of little use to us. Once you hold your inauguration ceremony, Advisor Chen, the benefits you receive will be far greater, without needing to go through any of those ritual steps."
As he spoke, he reached into the refrigerator beside him, took out a chilled bottle misting with cold air, poured a glass, and handed it to Chen Chuan. "Jade Pot Heart, a new beverage from the advisory group's service agency. Give it a try."
Chen Chuan accepted it and took a sip. Instantly, a refreshing, crisp chill seeped through his entire body.
Yet that was only incidental; he could sense his spirit faintly invigorated, gaining a slight, subtle elevation.
This was extraordinary. At his current realm, making even the slightest gain was exceedingly difficult, yet this drink had accomplished it. Unsurprisingly, its ingredients had to have come from beyond the heavens.
Fan Zhentong poured a glass for himself and drank, though by his manner, the item seemed fairly ordinary, nothing especially rare.
He continued, "Advisor Chen, when you were reluctant to return earlier, the advisory group decided not to announce the roster of incoming advisors in advance, if only to save face.
"Consequently, many people likely had no idea about your situation, which gave certain parties room to probe and maneuver."
Chen Chuan had originally been wondering how the advisory group planned to handle this.
Because he had been designated directly by Tianshu, publishing the list openly would have clashed with the candidates previously recommended from within the advisory group, inevitably prompting speculation and questions. Now it seemed simple enough: the advisory group had simply chosen not to announce it at all.
Though this deviated from past practice, no one could question the advisory group's actions, and so the issue was skirted.
He asked, "Did no one question it?"
"Of course there were questions," Fan Zhentong said. "Two advisors from the Nature faction have been constantly challenging the decision.
"However, the Five-Member Advisory Panel agreed to this approach, so in the end the voices of those two were suppressed."
Chen Chuan pondered this. It was likely done to protect the advisory group's face and overall interests, and evidently represented the consensus of most advisors, or at least the panel members.
Still, once he arrived, there would certainly be no cozy mutual accommodation.
Those who held conflicting views and did not stand on the same side would have to be purged as soon as possible; after all, time was running short.
At this point, Chen Chuan recalled what Fan Zhentong had said earlier and asked, "Mr. Fan, you mentioned earlier that nothing can constrain us, that only we ourselves can. But if there are no constraints whatsoever, while some might behave, there are others I cannot trust."
Fan Zhentong replied, "Like you, I do not trust them either. But while none of the advisors need to answer to those below, they must answer to those above. If we do not act according to the rules set from above, or if our actions become too extreme, Tianshu will naturally correct our conduct.
"Within Great Shun's entire political system, one of our duties is to act as Tianshu's proxies in the world. This way, Tianshu does not need to communicate directly with the Executive Government; whenever something arises, it only needs to convey its intentions to the advisory group. And if there is any problem with us, or if anyone acts in a way that damages the overarching situation, those above can see it and directly correct it."
Chen Chuan hummed in acknowledgment; now he understood. The advisory group's seats were recommended from below, yet their power came directly from above.
Power derived from martial might, which placed the advisory group unmistakably at the summit of the entire nation, and resources inevitably converged upon them.
In this way, there was indeed no need for them to do anything out of line, as what they needed was already in their hands. Instead, as vested beneficiaries, they needed to stabilize everything as much as possible, preventing the status quo from being broken.
Fan Zhentong then briefly explained the advisory group's situation:
"Following the founding of the state, the advisory group initially had only five members, all appointed from above. Later, the roster gradually expanded.
"The greatest changes occurred over the past thirty years. To cope with the increasingly imminent Great Impact, membership was expanded several times. Today, there are sixteen advisor members, plus the Five-Member Advisory Panel.
"Among these advisors, aside from those hailing from the Five Great Schools, there are representatives from state-owned enterprises, the military, and Wuyi Academy. Occasionally, there are advisors from minor schools as well, though that is uncommon."
He explained that because each advisor essentially represented a corresponding faction, their interests differed and were sometimes even contradictory.
To maintain efficiency and unify consensus, the Five-Member Advisory Panel had been selected to mediate internal and external affairs that the advisory group could not resolve.
At this point, another question occurred to Chen Chuan. He said, "Since Great Shun possesses such power, it should have been able to utterly crush the former imperial household. Why not deal with them earlier and secure sufficient time for development?"
Fan Zhentong replied, "Setting aside tangled interests and the international situation to speak solely of the advisory group, to put it simply, this is the nation's ultimate force, the cornerstone of national stability, and the reserve strength for facing the international situation and the Ring of the World.
"They owe an obligation not only to the nation, but also to the world. When they were first established, they faced the newly erected Ring of the World. When they take the field as a collective, it means the nations of the world have reached a critical juncture of life and death.
"After the collapse of the Grand Alliance, under the restraint of the upper-realm powers, this obligation was retained. Thus, one or two of them might act, but as a whole, they will not readily mobilize.
"Furthermore, this is not even the advisory group's primary task."
"Primary task?"
Fan Zhentong said in a deep voice, "The advisory group's primary task is to break through as quickly as possible and become part of the upper-realm power.
"Either break through oneself as quickly as possible, or dedicate oneself to cultivating and supporting individuals of potential.
"In the current situation, nothing is more important than this.
"The reason everyone is not expected to achieve this goal is that breaking through to the upper realm is exceptionally difficult. Even for martial artists of the Mystic Profundity View like us, though we stand at the peak of martial artists, the probability of breaking through remains very low."
Here, his tone turned solemn. "Even with ample resources, it remains the same.
"A simple failure is relatively straightforward—nothing more than death, disappearance, or a severe loss of strength. But some may be seduced by the other side, subsequently becoming fiends of the other side.
"Therefore, even for advisors, before formally preparing to break through to the upper realm, the advisory group conducts an evaluation. If someone lacks sufficient strength, willpower, or foundation, in theory they are generally not permitted to make the attempt before conditions are ripe."
Chen Chuan asked, "In theory?"
"Yes, only in theory. Because those above encourage every advisor to try. Even if you turn into a fiend, one more or one less makes little difference to the other side; but if you succeed, even one additional upper-realm power represents a substantive enhancement for us."
Hearing this, Chen Chuan fell into thought for a moment before looking up to ask, "Mr. Fan, according to the data I have seen, the nation's number of martial artists has increased rather slowly over the past ten-odd years. Factor in casualties, and the overall total might even have declined?"
Fan Zhentong said, "That is mainly a statistical matter. Most of Great Shun's martial artists come from the Five Great Schools, Wuyi, the military, state-owned enterprises, and similar cultivation pipelines. But those who, like you, left Wuyi and became martial artists purely through their own cultivation—those are the truly rare ones. Past public figures only counted that portion of people.
"This is a matter of national security. Whether a nation is powerful or not is directly tied to its number of martial artists, something not easily disclosed to the public."
Chen Chuan nodded. That was reasonable. At least when he was in Jibei Dao, he had no access to the true figures, let alone martial artists secretly cultivated by private enterprises and factions.
In truth, he could sense that with the approach of the Great Impact, talented individuals were appearing in greater numbers. If only for that reason, nations and corporations would certainly do everything they could to increase their martial artists, though control over martial artists would tighten accordingly.
Just then, another thought occurred to him. He looked up and asked, "Mr. Fan, do many of the current advisory group members possess secret diagram bloodlines?"
Chapter 1473