On December 3, Chen Chuan took a dedicated car out of Center City to the Southern Industrial District, where he boarded a private airship dispatched by the Fighters Council.
The airship measured over two hundred meters from bow to stern. Much like the vessel he had taken to the ocean previously, it came furnished with various recreational facilities as well as a dedicated area for him to do light training.
He had brought Chaoming along again this time. The bird was even larger now than during their time at sea, no longer able to perch upon his shoulder, so it walked beside him instead.
Once Chen Chuan was aboard, the officer in charge of the airship bowed to him and said, "Mr. Chen, we are the accompanying personnel dispatched by the Fighters Council to oversee your journey. If you have any requests, please feel free to let me know."
Chen Chuan gave a slight nod. "Thank you for your trouble."
"Wishing you a pleasant journey."
Chen Chuan entered the main cabin, set down his luggage, and took a seat. Looking out, he watched the airship ascend steadily and turn toward the west. Behind him, Center City gradually receded in his vision until it was left far behind.
His abrupt departure caught the Municipal Council somewhat off guard and puzzled them. Still, they soon reasoned that he was likely off on some assignment. After all, martial artists rarely lingered inside Center City for long, so a sudden departure was hardly unusual. Moreover, this move seemed to validate Speaker Quan's claims.
This brought them quite a bit of relief.
Meanwhile, at the Consortium representatives' residence in Bainiao District, Mr. Chi was communicating with someone over his boundary credential. "Please inform the gentleman that our target abruptly departed Center City today aboard an airship. It's still unclear where he's headed...
"The airship was likely arranged from up above, with a very high security clearance. I can't track his specific destination from here. Yes, he's very likely carrying out some state mission.
"...We originally selected an insider to plant that object near him this time, but in the end it didn't succeed... It won't be traced back to us. The operative we used was brought in from overseas and has no direct ties to the company; he didn't even know it was the company he was serving.
"...Understood. We'll hold off for now and inform the gentleman once he returns."
On the other side, the council's airship flew westward along a central route across Great Shun's territory. The journey was not unbroken. On the morning of the fourth day, the vessel touched down at an inspection station in Longyou Dao for maintenance and resupply, staying for half a day before setting out again.
Two days of flight further on, Chen Chuan looked out the porthole. The vast landscape below had turned into harsh, cold glaciers creased like folded layers, where grayish-blue and dark brown ridges occasionally peeked through beneath the blanket of snow and ice.
Further in the distance, meltwater streaming down from the snowfields had carved the terrain into fragmented, uneven expanses before converging into a mighty river. Gazing along its path, one could see a magnificent gorge far ahead. This was Mount Tianque, a renowned mountain of Great Shun's western lands, which was also home to the famed Tianjing Yangchi.
Past this point lay Mount Suojie, the furthest border of Great Shun's territory in the old era. Spanning over a thousand li, the mountain range cleaved the land into eastern and western halves, though numerous roads and tunnels had now been carved through it.
Before departing, he had reviewed some internal briefings; to connect both sides in a shorter time, large creatures from the Melded Lands had reportedly been utilized during the excavation process.
Once the airship cleared the mountains, an expansive grassland stretched out before his eyes. Meandering rivers drifted like jade ribbons across the verdant steppe, across which herds of horses galloped freely.
At that moment, his boundary credential flickered, and a member of the airship's flight crew informed him:
"Mr. Chen, up ahead is the territory of the Biesa Khanate. We will be making a brief stop at the Lake'si maintenance station for a rest. After a two-hour layover, we will proceed to our final destination, Ba'erketu Center City. Do you require anything?"
Chen Chuan indicated he needed nothing. He brewed himself a cup of tea, tapped his boundary credential to queue up a grand, soothing piece of music, and listened while admiring the magnificent scenery outside.
A dozen or so minutes later, the airship docked at the inspection station ahead, pausing at the mooring tower while communicating forward via telegram. Two hours later, it lifted off again, heading straight for its final destination: Ba'erketu Center City.
In the language of the Biesa Khanate, "Biesa" meant "mountain waters." Ba'erketu was the Khanate's sole Center City, concentrating over half the country's population.
This city had also been built during the era of the Grand Alliance. It was divided into two sections: an inner ring and an outer ring. The inner ring sat atop the Ta'erke Highlands—meaning "Grand Mountain"—where only dignitaries, religious figures, the elite class, and foreigners were permitted to enter. The outer ring was where ordinary, unranked nomads and townsfolk resided.
As the airship drew near, a grand city could be seen rising from the plains from far away. The skyscrapers were largely clustered on the highlands of the inner ring, while the periphery—though still within Center City limits—featured generally low and cluttered structures loosely aligned with the city's original layout, growing more scattered the further out one went.
Because Senior Fang Zhuoying, whom he had come to visit, did not reside in the inner ring, the airship docked at an anchorage on the perimeter. Airships could be seen taking off and landing frequently in the surrounding sky, many of them luxurious vessels.
Though Chen Chuan's airship was large, it carried no obvious insignia, and its exterior fittings appeared ordinary enough that it did not stand out among the surrounding craft.
Such precautions were necessary. Aside from seeking someone out, he also bore a mission on this trip; drawing attention to himself ahead of time would not do.
After disembarking, he found a security team hired for him by the council waiting there. This was a mandatory procedure for foreigners arriving here, even those from Great Shun. Beyond their protective role, these guards helped visitors avoid a tremendous amount of hassle.
Chen Chuan was quite satisfied with this arrangement. He did not harbor the arrogant belief that being a martial artist meant handling everything through brute force alone. If a convenient, low-cost method existed to avoid trouble, he would naturally choose it.
Here, he transferred to an off-road vehicle and put on a pair of augmented reality glasses. These were essentially a stripped-down version of a boundary credential; beyond displaying simulated scenes, they possessed only basic communication and visual feed transmission functions. Although his mental strength was already sufficient to receive and capture any external information he needed, there was no reason to exert himself unnecessarily when tools were readily available.
Of course, this limitation applied only to the outer ring. Once in the inner ring, the boundary credential he had brought from Great Shun could be used without impediment.
Entering the city from the periphery, the first thing to meet his eyes was a crowded market. Neon illusions played across the buildings on either side, while a wall of clamorous noise blended with various rhythmic tunes, creating a chaotic din.
Nearly everyone passing along the street was equipped with implants, and even the livestock had undergone implant modifications to some degree. He spotted a cat whose fur glowed in iridescent colors, standing as large as a grown human; by comparison, Chaoming looked entirely ordinary here.
The bazaar bustled with a wide variety of goods. Glancing around, he saw traditional handicrafts such as exquisite felt carpets, finely carved woodwork, and traditional silver ornaments, alongside functional implants, rudimentary biochemical prosthetics, and even biological tissues ostensibly harvested from the Melded Lands. It gave off an eclectic feeling of the new and old eras colliding.
Heading deeper into the city, the buildings grew taller and vehicles became more numerous. Most were modified off-road vehicles carrying armed operatives equipped with firearms and heavy cybernetic implants. Upon spotting Chen Chuan's convoy, however, they steered clear. Even so, faint gunfire could be heard in the distance, occasionally punctuated by a detonation or two.
The martial arts gym opened by that senior was located inside the largest bozhang outside the city and enjoyed great renown locally, so the off-road vehicle drove straight there.
After driving for over fifty minutes, the accompanying team leader said to him, "Mr. Chen, Chiyun Bozhang is right ahead. We will stop there and wait outside. The armed team we hired operates in twenty-four-hour shifts on standby. If you need anything, Mr. Chen, feel free to call on us at any time."
Chen Chuan nodded. Looking ahead, he saw that a bozhang was an architectural structure reminiscent of a tent: oval-shaped on the inside, smooth on the outside like an egg, with four sail-like corners sweeping down from the top of the structure to the ground like the four corners of a tent. Its lines were sleek, minimal, and remarkably striking.
He told Chaoming to wait there for now. Stepping out of the vehicle, he adjusted his scarf, picked up his luggage, and walked toward the entrance of the bozhang.
He had already sent a telegram in advance of his visit, so when he stated his purpose to the staff at the door, they were exceedingly warm and welcoming, promptly ushering him inside.
Inside, the space opened up into a series of partitioned combat arenas of varying sizes. The area was very spacious. Not far away, dozens of burly, well-built women were grappling and throwing each other onto thick felt mats, their thunderous shouts punctuating the dull thuds of bodies being slammed into the floor.
Just a glance told Chen Chuan that this was a technique relying on grappling and physical impact to train mutated tissues and temper muscle and bone—the equivalent of Great Shun's jin stances.
The difference was that jin stances mobilized mutated tissues through rhythmic breathing and deliberate bodily motions, whereas this method substituted grappling and physical clash for that process, allowing trainees to feel out and discover the breath rhythms suited to themselves through combat. Neither method could be called superior to the other; they merely reached the same destination by different paths.
The fighters were flushed, breathing heavily, their heads steaming and sweat pooling on the ground. Every so often, they stepped off the mat to replenish themselves with nutrition paste and water, while attendants massaged and slapped down their muscles before they rested briefly and returned to the fray.
Such grueling intensity weeded people out with ruthless efficiency; likely only those truly cut out for this fighting style could endure it.
Even though he merely glanced over before walking past, keeping his field reined in, his passage radiated an invisible pressure that made the hairs stand up on the necks of those around him. Goosebumps prickled over their skin, and without realizing it, they all ground to a halt, staring blankly at his retreating back as he walked deeper inside.
Chapter 827