After wrapping up his exchange with Zhenguan, Chen Chuan took numerous photographs around Ba'erketu Center City with his camera, then headed straight to the airship mooring point, preparing to return to Jibei Dao.
By now, his identity had likely been exposed. Detailed intelligence had probably already reached the intelligence chiefs of various nations, which was bound to draw tremendous attention. Remaining here any longer would be unwise.
As he stepped aboard the airship, he had one more piece of luggage in hand than when he arrived—a gift bag from Zhenguan. He hadn't had time to inspect it yet and intended to look through it during the flight back.
Once he was settled into his seat in the cabin, the mission's team leader stepped forward, bowed slightly, and said, "Mr. Chen, we've already transmitted the telegram back. The airship has completed its maintenance checks, and all pre-flight preparations are done. Shall we depart now?"
Chen Chuan said, "Let's go."
The team leader nodded and turned back to make arrangements. Every member of the accompanying staff, himself included, held immense admiration for Chen Chuan on this trip.
As members of the Martial Council, they had frequently escorted other martial artists and made plenty of trips abroad. Yet whenever international affairs were involved, matters were usually tangled and notoriously difficult to resolve.
And somewhat counterintuitively, when martial artists traveled to handle such affairs, they rarely resorted to force.
Martial artists generally seemed to cherish their own lives and bodies; if they could avoid fighting, they would never lift a finger lightly—both at home and abroad. It was the diplomats and intelligence officers who were kept busiest, while martial force served merely as an insurance policy and a deterrent. That tended to drag things out, and the crew had mentally prepared themselves for a lengthy stay this time.
Yet the outcome had defied all expectations. In less than two days—including travel time to and fro—Chen Chuan had settled everything completely without leaving behind messy complications. The team leader had truly never witnessed such astonishing efficiency before.
Perhaps an outsider might think this was par for the course, but they could clearly sense that this man was markedly different from other martial artists. He seemed to harbor no aversion to using force, and throughout the process he had demonstrated superb strength and decisive resolve. Bringing down two opposing martial artists was proof enough.
The team leader could not help but sigh inwardly. In certain situations, this truly was the most direct and effective approach, yet hardly anyone ever dared use it.
He walked briskly back. Writing today's report would be invigorating, far from the numbing routine of filling out boilerplate templates in the past.
After leaving the mooring tower, the airship began its slow ascent. Chen Chuan withdrew his gaze from outside. On the way here, the surrounding scenery had still felt novel, but now it all seemed monotonous.
He pulled the gift bag over, stripped away the outer packaging, unzipped it, and took out the items one by one, laying them on the table.
Taking up the most space was a table-covering felt mat, handcrafted from Melded Lands wool through pressing and fulling. Decorated with hand embroidery, it featured vivid, beautifully designed patterns of irises and lotus blossoms.
There were two sets of traditional ceremonial garments from the Biesa Khanate—one for men and one for women—complete with shoes, hats, gloves, and scarves. These were standard diplomatic gifts for the Biesa Khanate. Every piece was hand-stitched to master craftsmanship, making them delightful collector's items even if never worn.
Next, he brought out a jar of milky-white sweet dew that gave off an enticing aroma. Remarkably, it was a high-energy nutritional beverage produced in the Melded Lands.
The Melded Lands could yield very little for Ba'erketu Center City in the first place, barely enough for their own cultivation, so offering this to him showed plenty of sincerity.
Aside from these, there was an assortment of souvenirs: strings of gemstone beads, crafted knots, gold and silver trinkets, and so on. Lastly, he discovered... a relic?
Somewhat surprised, he picked it up to examine it.
The item was a small golden sphere riddled with fine pores, suspended inside a small silver censer by an openwork circular silver mount. It diffused a soothing, delightful fragrance.
Attached thoughtfully to it was a small tag noting its grade and exact function.
He picked it up to read. It was a Grade Four relic. Its function: whenever the user undertook any task, simply lighting this censer would boost their success rate and efficiency.
It seemed ordinary at first glance, but the "undertaking a task" mentioned here made no distinction between handling official business and cultivating esoteric techniques, nor did it vary based on the difficulty of one's cultivation. It granted this beneficial state indiscriminately across all endeavors, which made it extraordinary.
Still, one could tell it was an expendable item; once exhausted, it would be gone. Even so, it remained a fine treasure.
Speaking of relics, he now had three on hand. One was the spine gifted by Talu, and another was the shell-like relic Yang Yuncheng had given him in the Melded Lands. Neither was of much use to him anymore.
The spine could manifest a certain monster that allowed the user to train and gain benefits through combat, but it could no longer withstand his power; the slightest burst of force would forcefully eject him from the space. The shell-like relic had once restored his physical stamina and mental exhaustion, but it was useless to him now.
Even if he had no use for them, his squad members could still benefit. Once he returned, he planned to draw upon Fumu's field resources to train the squad and help them elevate their strength.
After tidying up his belongings, he poured himself a cup of the sweet dew and began reviewing the two battles from earlier. How to put it? He felt both men lacked combat experience.
Not that they had never fought anyone before—every martial artist had certainly gone through countless clashes and battles before stepping into the Fourth Limit. What he meant was that neither of them had likely clashed much against martial artists of their own caliber.
He hadn't been a martial artist for very long, and strictly speaking, he hadn't fought many peers either. But he had Fourth Limit martial artist lives on his hands—an experience neither of them possessed.
This was only natural. First, as martial artists of a small nation, they couldn't afford to provoke excessive conflict with others. Even knowing full well that killing a counterpart yielded benefits, they had never dared act on it. Moreover, supplies in the Biesa Khanate were scarce; the life energy available was hardly enough for daily cultivation, leaving none to spare for spars and contests.
In truth, both men possessed decent power. Compared to Wei Guochan, whom he had killed, they were only slightly behind in foundation—a gap created entirely by inadequate supplies. Yet because the two from the Biesa Khanate lacked experience fighting at their own tier, if they were to fight Wei Guochan, Chen Chuan was certain Wei Guochan would win.
However, had the two possessed combat experience, the table might have turned, as both had cultivated their Visage of the Aberrant to a considerably deep stage.
He raised the sweet dew and took a sip. Old Brother Hu Kan's view was spot-on: to maintain peak form and keen combat instincts, continuous fighting was the best way—unless one reached the stage of the "Longevity View," which allowed one to lock in one's peak.
And that was precisely the stage he would be pursuing from now on.
Two days later, the airship arrived at the Longyou Dao maintenance station they had stopped at on the journey out. Chen Chuan disembarked temporarily to hand over the jade fragments he had retrieved to the state personnel who came to receive them. The agent shook his hand solemnly, expressed his gratitude, and hurried away.
Over the past two days, Chen Chuan had examined the pieces as well. Aside from their unusual material, he hadn't sensed anything special about them. He guessed there was either a specific method to use them or they only functioned once gathered in full. In any case, that was no longer his concern.
He stayed here for another day because the mission allowance promised to him by the state was to be disbursed by Longyou Center City, requiring him to wait.
However, as a martial artist, entering Longyou Center City required filing an official application, an administrative process that could take several days and waste too much time. Thus, he simply waited at the airship without going anywhere else. Once a designated courier delivered the goods, he departed immediately on his return journey.
Four days later, he was back in Jibei Dao Center City.
His return immediately triggered reactions from various factions.
The Municipal Council in particular grew inexplicably tense; Chen Chuan was someone who had posed a very real, lethal threat to them.
The two councilors who had taken part in ordering the attack were no more. Although the others had felt fortunate at the time that those two could be pushed out as scapegoats, in hindsight, they couldn't help wondering whether the same fate might one day befall them.
In the representative residence of the Syndicate in White Bird District, Mr. Chi received the news as well. He immediately picked up the receiver to contact his liaison.
"Inform the gentleman that that person has returned. Please let him know we will keep a close watch and monitor his movements."
"Do you know what he went out to do this time?"
Mr. Chi said, "No word yet. It likely involved a state mission, so information doesn't leak easily. We should know in a few days."
Where a martial artist went was never easy to conceal, especially given the substantial ripples it caused. Concrete details were bound to surface after some time.
For now, this was all they could do. Higher-ups hadn't given instructions on what to do next, and he had no leads of his own.
After entering the city, the airship touched down at the mooring tower of Chen Chuan's residence in Golden Maple Garden, Weiguang District.
Chen Chuan shook hands with the accompanying staff to bid them farewell, then disembarked and headed straight into the mansion.
He took a shower first, changed into fresh clothes, brewed a cup of tea to unwind, brought up his boundary credential to reply to messages from acquaintances, and watched the Fringe Channel and some entertainment programs for a while before finally checking on the status of the Defense Department.
Internally, the Defense Department had reshuffled the duties of several deputy directors according to his instructions. Deputy Director Lü was currently detained due to his prior record of betraying the Disposal Bureau.
The other two do-nothing deputy directors had already been transferred away, and replacements had been slated for both. One was Luo Xiucheng, formerly a deputy director of the Disposal Bureau, whose new post was a promotion. The other was a military affairs officer reassigned from the Defense Office, who had not yet assumed duty.
In truth, these individuals would be the ones actually managing daily operations. As a martial artist, higher authorities didn't demand that he handle specific tasks; in fact, they were pleased to see him remain aloof from administrative affairs.
However, a message arrived from Fumu informing him that the Jibei Dao Decision-Making Group meeting would convene late this month and reminding him to attend when the time came.
……
……
Chapter 834