Chen Chuan said without hesitation, "I can manage on my own."
Xiao Yuanguang showed an unsurprised expression. "If you go alone, then you must prepare thoroughly.
"The Advisory Group can custom-tailor a dedicated active conscious entity for each advisor—one belonging solely to you. This is also one of the perks of membership.
"It can coordinate with you in combat, gather and provide intelligence, serve as transport and warding protection, and even cover your retreat at critical junctures. You can modulate and configure it to your own specifications.
"The Advisory Group can also allocate you life-bonded weapons and various gear, and during your watch duty, it will supply suitable relics to let you bring your combat effectiveness into full play.
"'To do a good job, an artisan must first sharpen his tools.' In my view, Advisor Chen, there is no need to rush into standing watch. Better to use your leave to get these ready first. That is the safer course."
Chen Chuan fully agreed. He hardly believed himself invincible here and took the advice to heart at once. He expressed his sincere thanks, "Thank you, Senior Xiao. I will make preparations first."
Seeing that he was open to advice, Xiao Yuanguang felt gratified. None who served as advisors were simple figures; they were typically possessed of supreme self-confidence.
Moreover, martial artists were notoriously difficult to gauge in temperament. Sometimes, even when knowing something was to their advantage, they refused to listen to counsel. Take those two members of the Nature faction, for instance—they did whatever they pleased.
It was only because their actions were so capricious that even the entities on the other side could never figure out what they were thinking, which was why they had not run into trouble so far.
He said, "If it were ordinary combatants, they could use active conscious entities and spiritual fields to transmit experiences and memories to one another, quickly gaining an understanding of everything here.
"Yet at our level, each person's cognition and perception are completely distinct. Even between individuals of the same level, the disparities are immense.
"What one considers sound experience may be entirely inapplicable to another, or even disrupt their perception. Thus, it is best to temper oneself through personal experience and gradually familiarize oneself with the conditions."
Chen Chuan nodded slightly. Indeed, only what was forged through one's own trials was best suited to oneself. Every martial artist was different, and that was doubly true for the Dongxuan View. Individual experience held no universal validity.
Xiao Yuanguang sent across a spiritual transmission: "Advisor Chen, feel this."
Chen Chuan tuned his perception slightly and sensed a boundless, vast presence within his psyche.
Xiao Yuanguang said, "We call this entity a 'Chaotic Expanse.' Although its level is high, it possesses no conscious self. They are relatively common in the world on the other side. We can usually borrow its field to travel quickly to its vicinity, and then use it as a springboard to delve deeper into the world.
"As long as you do not take the initiative to attack such a presence, it will hardly do anything to you. It is both concealed and convenient. However, contacting a Chaotic Expanse does not mean there is no danger. One's own field cannot stay close to it for too long, or there is an extreme risk of being subsumed and assimilated into it.
"If we wish to operate freely here, our main task is to use our spirit to distinguish among the various fields, identify aberrant fiends, and either slay them or avoid them in advance. Or we might capture certain spiritual creatures to extract information from them, using that to search for whatever we require.
"Naturally, if one's spirit is powerful enough, there is no need for such methods; one can travel along the world veins directly. However, the risk in doing so is greater, and it is far easier to be detected by higher entities..."
He continuously passed on his experience to Chen Chuan. During their spiritual exchange, they had already made contact with the field of a Chaotic Expanse and arrived near it in an instant. Lingering there for only a brief moment, they leapt onward to the next Chaotic Expanse.
Chen Chuan soon realized that this entire world lacked distance in the conventional sense. Instead, there existed something akin to swirling currents and conduits. Delving deeper meant traversing and drifting along these paths, which were likely the world veins Xiao Yuanguang had mentioned.
The Chaotic Expanses seemed embedded along these veins, allowing one to travel back and forth by hitching onto their fields.
After crossing through several Chaotic Expanses in succession, the two had completely left the field of the Ring of the World. Once here, Xiao Yuanguang grew exceedingly cautious. He shared with Chen Chuan various techniques and methods for cloaking, concealment, and searching, most of which involved the manipulation of fields and spirit.
Chen Chuan also noticed the inherent advantage that the Visage of the Divine possessed in this realm; it was no wonder practitioners of the two ancient sects had historically followed that path. Yet he felt that the Visage of Man held its own unique advantage here as well, even if he could not yet fully appreciate it.
Xiao Yuanguang guided him across more than a dozen Chaotic Expanses, taking them quite a distance from the Ring of the World. Yet throughout the journey, they did not encounter any aberrant fiends that had grown formidable.
Xiao Yuanguang said, "The ones responsible for holding the watch right now should be Advisor Liu and Advisor Fang. It seems they have swept the surrounding fiends clean, leaving nothing for us to deal with. Let us head straight back."
Chen Chuan had no objections. He had not expected to gain anything on his very first venture out; today was merely an excursion to familiarize himself with the environment.
And so he returned alongside Xiao Yuanguang. Before long, they safely reentered the permanent field, then crossed back through the rift, returning before the fortress.
Once aboard the train, each poured a cup of tea and sat sipping slowly.
Xiao Yuanguang said, "Tianshu and the upper-echelon forces of other nations intercept high-energy intruders to prevent them from breaching or colliding with the Ring of the World. But the realm is vast, and there are always fiends that slip through.
"We serve as the second line of defense, responsible for eliminating these slip-through entities or intercepting them outside, keeping them from touching the Ring of the World as much as possible, as that would expand the rift.
"The third line of defense is that permanent rift. Below that is the fortress zone where we are. It operates like successive layers of filtration, screening out external impurities."
Chen Chuan thought to himself that according to hints veiledly dropped by the Tianji Sect, there was actually another line of defense farther out.
The Xuan Patriarchs of the Xuan Sect, the Chan Venerables of the Chan Sect, and perhaps even certain saints were likely locked in resistance out there. As for the specifics, he did not know; perhaps he would only learn the truth once he broke through into the upper realm.
At this point, he asked, "Senior Xiao, besides the one you mentioned earlier, have any other advisors become entities of the other side in the past?"
Xiao Yuanguang let out a soft sigh and said, "Yes. Ten years ago, an advisor turned into a fiend of the other side.
"However, he was entirely on his own at the time, so we never could determine whether he fell by accident or defected willingly.
"He understood us well and was privy to many pieces of internal intelligence. After he became a fiend, the alert level was raised several grades. So, Advisor Chen, do be as careful as possible."
Chen Chuan nodded.
After traveling for over ten minutes, the train reached the end of the tunnel, where it was time for them to part ways.
Xiao Yuanguang and Chen Chuan exchanged contact information. Xiao then said, "Advisor Chen, if you have any questions, feel free to ask me anytime."
Chen Chuan said, "Whenever there is something I do not understand, I will be sure to consult Senior."
Xiao Yuanguang nodded with pleasure, then took his leave and boarded his dedicated car to return to his own field space.
After Xiao left, Chen Chuan got into his own dedicated car. As the vehicle set off, he reflected that Advisor Xiao truly deserved to be addressed as a senior. Xiao had taken the initiative to pass on practical experience right from the start; had Chen Chuan relied solely on himself, he could have consulted records, but that would never have been as direct and intuitive as this.
Chen Chuan did notice that some of Xiao Yuanguang's terms of address inadvertently preserved old habits, which was very likely related to his background.
Still, those were trivial details. So long as they stood on the same side, even those of the Convergence faction could fight side by side.
With those thoughts settled, he checked his boundary credential and conscious entity. As he had suspected from the beginning, Kaiyang—much like the active conscious entities of the Ministry of National Security—could host a dedicated sub-service tailored exclusively for him.
Yet Kaiyang was, after all, the Advisory Group's shared conscious cluster, with control held in the hands of the entire Advisory Group. It was therefore preferable to employ an independent active consciousness.
He communicated with Kaiyang, who replied that as long as he submitted his specifications, it could modulate and configure one for him.
This kind of active conscious entity incorporated Da Shun's most advanced technology, each requiring immense resources to construct. In theoretical grade, even the active conscious entities guarding the five central cities could not compare to it; only members of the Supreme Security Advisory Group were eligible to be equipped with one.
Chen Chuan considered the matter, then filled out his requirements. Kaiyang replied that the modulation would be completed within two months, at which point he could take delivery; should any new thoughts arise in the interim, he could reach out at any time.
With that, the matter of an active conscious entity was settled.
He thought it over and decided to apply for relics a little later.
Advisors could specify what kind of relic they required, and the Advisory Group could temporarily provide it, or allow an exchange with a relic of equal grade.
He had previously obtained two relics from Emperor Wenguang. One was reasonably manageable, simply having a limited number of uses per year; the other, however, demanded the consumption of first- or second-class relics when activated—conditions that were far too exacting.
Thus, he intended to turn in the latter to trade for something more suitable.
As for weapons and equipment, he currently had the Xuejun Saber and that life-bonded weapon, which were sufficient for his needs. Still, since the Advisory Group allocated them, there was no reason to refuse; but there was no rush, so he set the matter aside for now.
Aside from all this, there was one matter he had kept in mind. Since Kaiyang's database was comprehensive, this was the perfect opportunity to inquire. He spoke, "Kaiyang, look up the 'Ascending Ladder' for me."
He had not forgotten that back when he was in the Weiya Continent, when Ryan was preaching the Ascending Ladder to him, Ryan had mentioned that Da Shun harbored a similar organization. Now that Chen Chuan stood at the highest reaches of Da Shun's arena of power, he wanted to see whether such an organization truly existed here—and if so, who the participants were.
From what he could see, minor domestic happenings aside, major developments in Da Shun could never escape the channels of the Advisory Group. If nothing could be found, it would be almost certain that members of the Advisory Group were involved.
Kaiyang answered, "Advisor Chen, please wait a moment."
Chapter 1480