Having taken the relic, Wan Yunshan rushed excitedly out of the airship cabin, then leaped down from the terrace along the side. High-altitude air currents rushed inside in an instant, setting the surrounding furnishings rattling.
The adjutant hurried forward to shut the cabin door tight, and quiet immediately returned to the cabin.
Xue Shou looked toward Chen Chuan and asked, "Trainee Chen, have you broken through your limit?"
Chen Chuan nodded. "It was all thanks to Teacher Xue's guidance."
Xue Shou chuckled. "That was entirely your own cultivation. At most, I merely provided a little guidance."
"It was more than that," Chen Chuan said earnestly. "When I faced danger earlier, Teacher Xue also gave me further pointers and even imparted unique techniques. Only because of that was this student able to break through more smoothly."
Hearing this, Xue Shou felt a slight stir of emotion and nodded.
Earlier, he had sent a wisp of spiritual power purely to shield Chen Chuan and help him avoid danger. However, that wisp of spirit had no connection to his true body; unless it returned and merged back into him, he had no knowledge of the specific details of what had occurred.
Yet since Chen Chuan had put it that way, he could roughly guess the situation. Spiritual power shared the exact same will and behavioral pattern as his own person; whatever his spiritual power had done there was precisely what he would have done had he been present in person.
Beside them, Yao Zhiyi remarked, "Mr. Xue guided him well, bringing another martial artist to Jibei Dao's Center City. Supervisor Chen played a major role in this operation—Wei Guochan was beaten to death by Supervisor Chen alone."
Xue Shou could not help feeling surprised. Having taught Chen Chuan, he was clear on his fundamental circumstances. He had anticipated that Chen Chuan would eventually become a martial artist, but to match Wei Guochan immediately after achieving that realm and even defeat him in battle was no simple feat.
Still, it was not entirely beyond reason. He had confronted Wei Guochan before and had a general understanding of the man's strength. Had Center City not been unsuitable for an all-out battle, he was confident he could have taken Wei Guochan down right then. Given the foundation Chen Chuan had demonstrated in the past, he indeed stood a chance of winning after breaking through.
What was unusual was that Chen Chuan had ended up facing this person in the first place.
He asked, "Did someone intervene in this?"
Yao Zhiyi said in a deep voice, "It was the person I mentioned to you earlier, Mr. Xue—Zhao Zhenye, the defector from the Purist Faction. He did indeed appear this time."
He briefly explained the situation back then and added, "If Supervisor Chen hadn't broken through his limits in the nick of time and successfully intercepted Wei Guochan, Wei Guochan might very well have made off with the relic."
Xue Shou smiled faintly. "Actually, even if he had taken the relic back, the final outcome wouldn't have been any different."
Yao Zhiyi nodded slowly.
Zhao Zhenye had been injured; facing both of them, he could only hold out for a short while, and once Wei Guochan secured the relic, he would certainly have retreated. And since Gai Shuhe had fled ahead of time, Wei Guochan would have returned only to face a siege by the three of them, which would have meant certain death.
Even if Gai Shuhe had chosen to stay, the two of them still had little chance of victory against the three of them. In that case, the result would likely have been cutting down both of them, or at the very least finishing off one.
Yao Zhiyi said heavily, "With Zhao Zhenye remaining in the Confluence, he poses a constant threat. In the past, he showed no clear stance, so we could afford to leave him alone for the time being. But now that he has stepped forward to obstruct us, it means he has chosen a side. We can no longer pretend not to see him."
Xue Shou smiled faintly. "Since he is a traitor to the Purist Faction, the people of the Purist Faction should find a way to deal with him."
"Let's hope so. This Zhao Zhenye is no simple figure."
Yao Zhiyi's expression was grave. Having fought the man, he knew that if Zhao Zhenye were at full strength, their chances of victory against him would not be high.
Chen Chuan's gaze was calm and deep. As one of the main leaders of the Purist Faction's Jibei Dao branch, and now having broken through to the Fourth Limit, Zhao Zhenye was a problem he would have to face moving forward.
Xue Shou glanced outside. "I need to take my leave first." He smiled and said, "Gentlemen, I'll see you in Center City."
With that, he vanished from his seat.
Chen Chuan looked at the empty seat, musing to himself that Teacher Xue might very well follow the path Principal Yao had described—the Visage of the Divine.
Seeing Xue Shou depart, Yao Zhiyi picked up his teacup, took two sips, then pulled an object out from under his coat and tossed it to Chen Chuan.
Chen Chuan caught it cleanly. Looking closely, it resembled the flesh of a grape, fairly pliable on the surface, with a few stems and veins attached.
"Principal, what is this?"
Yao Zhiyi said, "I saw that bird-lizard of yours. It was bred using Secret Snake Cult techniques and later modified with certain mutated tissues, wasn't it?"
Chen Chuan nodded. "Principal Yao has sharp eyes."
Yao Zhiyi gestured toward the object in Chen Chuan's hand. "This was given to me by the Biological Research Institute above. It can remedy the congenital deficiencies of such modified organisms. I don't keep any proper modified creatures around me these days, so keeping it is useless to me. I might as well give it to you."
Chen Chuan did not refuse. An item like this was indeed useful for Chaoming, and he could find a way to repay the favor later rather than declining now. "Thank you, Principal."
Yao Zhiyi said, "You are the second person from Jibei Dao's Wuyi to become a martial artist in decades. Once we return, I will submit your information to the capital. Someone will likely seek you out later, and your post may be adjusted to grant you a new appointment."
He sighed with emotion. "Once you become a martial artist, many things can no longer stay as they were in the past. You must be prepared."
Chen Chuan nodded. He understood this very well. Given the destructive power of a martial artist, the government would never treat one the same as an ordinary third limit fighter.
He thought for a moment and asked, "Principal Yao, how are things over at the Ring of the World?"
Yao Zhiyi replied, "The word we put out publicly is that the breach will be sealed by the end of the year. In reality, it will be completed by November at the latest, or by the end of this month at the earliest. Otherwise, Little Wan wouldn't have been able to return so quickly."
Chen Chuan gave an acknowledging sound. The breach in the Ring of the World had tied up much of Jibei Dao's forces and spawned countless incidents, turning this place into a focal point for all of Great Shun and the international stage alike, but it had also brought numerous opportunities.
He had a feeling that if he hadn't stepped into the Fourth Limit at this very moment, trying again after the Ring of the World was sealed might have proved vastly more difficult.
At that moment, he heard the whirring of propellers from outside, along with the increasingly distinct rattle of machine guns and roar of artillery. Glancing out the porthole, he saw former imperial house airships retreating in the distance. Every now and then, one would suddenly burst into flames and plummet from the sky.
On the ground below, massive formations of former imperial house troops were in full rout, dense masses of soldiers and horses fleeing frantically in panic amidst the artillery fire.
High above, Great Shun airships trailed behind them, spraying machine-gun fire. The enemy soldiers were driven and slaughtered at will, with scarcely anyone turning back to resist.
It seemed that without a martial artist like Wei Guochan presiding over them, the entire army's morale had utterly collapsed. Yet even fighting to the death would have been futile, only making it easier for Great Shun's forces to encircle and annihilate them. With two martial artists, Wan Yunshan and Xue Shou, holding down the battle lines, the other side had no chance of turning the tables.
Yao Zhiyi watched for a while, feeling deeply moved. "This old man has guarded this place for so many years and witnessed the sacrifice of countless souls. Now that victory has been won in a single stroke, large-scale warfare should rarely occur here again barring exceptional circumstances.
"However..."
His expression grew solemn. "The Confluence isn't the only thing we have to deal with. Supervisor Chen, given your post, you should be well aware of the Municipal Council's stance, shouldn't you?"
Chen Chuan said, "I am well aware, and I've experienced their methods firsthand."
Yao Zhiyi's tone turned chillingly dark. "On one hand, those people are backed by Center City's various corporations; on the other, they secretly collude with the former imperial house. The former imperial house also understands that their existence works to its benefit, so there is a tacit understanding between them beneath the surface.
"Because of that, whenever we tried to deal with one side, the other would step in to obstruct us, leaving us entangled in all directions—pushing down on one end only for the other to pop right back up. Now that we have routed the former imperial house's army in Jibei Dao, we can concentrate fully on dealing with the Municipal Council."
Chen Chuan pondered for a moment and asked, "Principal, there shouldn't be any martial artists in the Municipal Council, right?"
"They indeed have no martial artists," Yao Zhiyi said heavily. "However, they possess an active conscious entity that incorporates an immense amount of biotechnology. Its technological level is exceptionally high, essentially on par with Hongfu's. Furthermore, over the years, they have poured continuous resources into it, and we strongly suspect they may have also received support in the form of mutated organisms from the former imperial house.
"This active consciousness has never revealed itself publicly, and we currently lack detailed information, making it difficult to assess its strength. On multiple occasions, the Government Affairs Hall has raised security concerns demanding that this active conscious entity undergo testing and evaluation, but the Municipal Council has done everything possible to obstruct those efforts, dragging things out to this day.
"Once the news of your ascension to martial artist spreads back, it is bound to cause widespread panic—especially among those in the Municipal Council. Even putting aside the matter of the former imperial house, your very existence has shattered the delicate balance they worked so desperately to maintain."
Chen Chuan said, "Principal, Senior Wan also graduated from our Wuyi, didn't he?"
"That was different," Yao Zhiyi replied. "Little Wan joined the military after graduating, and he only achieved his breakthrough more than a decade after leaving the academy. By then, he had already been transferred to guard the Ring of the World, and his files were completely sealed. In the years that followed, he never once returned to Jibei Dao, which is why no one noticed in advance when we had him transferred back this time."
He looked at Chen Chuan. "The Municipal Council will certainly do everything in its power to send you away."
Chen Chuan said calmly, "That isn't up to them to decide."
Yao Zhiyi nodded in agreement. "Violence is the foundation of all things. Opposing factions will only sit down to negotiate terms when they both harbor misgivings about each other. Without sufficient martial force in hand, no matter how loudly you speak, no one will listen. They understand this principle as well, so they may well seek to enlist outside help. No, not 'may well'—they certainly will."
Chen Chuan agreed with this assessment. He knew full well that neither the Syndicate nor the Linakes Federation likely wished to see Center City fall entirely under the Great Shun government's control. Aside from them, there should also be an entity inside Center City that had slipped through the Ring of the World; it was just unknown where it was currently hiding.
Chapter 772