Chapter 43: Visitors from the Capital

Ten days after the prison transport vehicle explosion, inside the Environmental Sanitation Bureau building.

"...In the end, that member of the Peach Blossom Spring died under the Immeasurable True Fire. According to satellite imagery, this fire was indeed unleashed by the cultivator named 'Zhou Qing'—that is the entire sequence of events."

In the conference room, Lu Zhenhai, with gauze taped to his head, sat behind a long table, recounting the story in a low voice.

"After the escaped Peach Blossom Spring member was killed, our branch office contacted all neighboring county and municipal units. We conducted a comprehensive search of the entire region around Liangzhou and found no further traces of the Peach Blossom Spring."

"Synthesizing all information, we believe that matters related to the Peach Blossom Spring within the Liangzhou area have been preliminarily settled. We will continue to monitor the situation, dispatching squads for 24-hour patrols, and will act immediately upon discovering any anomalies."

The account concluded there. He sat at the table, quietly observing the two men in suits sitting across from him.

The battle on the highway had left behind a number of aftereffects, neither large nor small.

The "not large" part was that citizens in nearby counties were almost entirely unaware of it, sparing the bureau the trouble of large-scale memory wiping. At most, they only needed to repair the bombed highway; compared to the infrastructure capabilities mastered by the Environmental Sanitation Bureau, this workload was basically negligible.

The "not small" part was that this incident had attracted the attention of the Beijing headquarters. On the night the report was submitted, the headquarters established a task force overnight to analyze and discuss the event.

The result of that discussion was the two special "guests" sitting before him.

"So, can we conclude that in this Peach Blossom Spring incident, it was that Zhou Qing who turned the tide single-handedly, demonstrating power that transcends regional management levels?"

The man on the left spoke. His voice was not loud, but Lu Zhenhai was well aware of the weight of those words.

They did not just come from the lips of the commissioner before him, but from the Beijing headquarters, representing the headquarters' stance on the matter.

"We believe that is the case."

Lu Zhenhai nodded. "In just the few times we witnessed it personally, the abilities he displayed likely already exceed the threshold for a Nascent Soul-stage cultivator, and his strategic value is immeasurable. The launch center has video footage of the scene, which can corroborate this claim."

The strength displayed by that Peach Blossom Spring member was by no means comparable to an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator. Considering that wicked devouring technique, the threat level was bordering on the Deity Transformation stage—a point even the elders of the Jiuli Sect had acknowledged.

Yet, such an entity was casually killed in seconds when faced with Zhou Qing.

Across the entirety of China, there were fewer than ten cultivators capable of such a feat. Even with his seniority, Lu Zhenhai felt a bit overwhelmed when faced with such a hot potato.

If Zhou Qing’s importance could be recognized by the state, then from this point on, the eyes upon him would no longer come solely from the Liangzhou branch, but from the true national-level authorities. With that backing, the branch’s operations would become much easier.

It was precisely for this reason that during this conversation, he had been vigorously playing up the man's terrifying nature, employing every rhetorical device at his disposal while respecting the facts, to the point where he felt a bit ashamed himself.

Question Jiuli, understand Jiuli, become Jiuli.

The two headquarters commissioners exchanged glances, then picked up another file from the table and began to flip through it slowly.

"We have pulled the dossier on this 'Zhou Qing.' Among them, the earliest file is the evil cultivator attack incident, and the confirmed starting point of the investigation was the Jizu Sect investigation at Mount Baiyun... This series of archives spans two months."

"In these two months, to what extent has the branch office's negotiation with him progressed?"

Lu Zhenhai’s expression stiffened slightly. This sounded like a casual question, but its actual implication was an inquiry into accountability.

For a subject of such value, the branch had spent two months without reaching a fixed agreement. With the process stalled, as the director, he was undoubtedly the primary person responsible.

"Due to the appearance of the Peach Blossom Spring, the branch entered a state of emergency, and the turnover of task workflows changed accordingly. There were indeed some communication issues."

He expressed his stance vaguely, using retreat as a means of advancement: "However, as it stands, that person has no interest in joining the system. And although the Jiuli Sect has been confirmed to be associated with him, it cannot be considered his sect, at least for now."

"If we want to make new progress, we need to further excavate his background. This will likely involve many issues regarding the history of cultivation, and I hope the headquarters can provide support."

Researching the history of the cultivation world was never simple.

Compared to the mundane world, most sects were unwilling to make their histories public, let alone bring out secret treasures as artifacts. This greatly reduced the room for literary and archaeological research. Not to mention laypeople, even the ancient cultivators themselves were not necessarily fully knowledgeable about history.

Of course, considering the longevity of cultivators, directly asking those who witnessed historical events was also a method.

But setting aside the fact that historical data obtained this way would inevitably be influenced by the cultivator's subjective stance, just finding these long-lived masters and getting them to speak was a problem capable of stumping anyone.

Faced with this, the headquarters, which possessed the resources of the nation’s cultivators, was naturally the most capable of solving the puzzle.

"We have recorded the situation and will submit it to the relevant leadership for a ruling upon our return."

The Beijing commissioner closed his notebook and pressed the off button on the recorder at his side. As the indicator light on the pen went out, Lu Zhenhai’s expression relaxed, and he let out a sigh of relief.

Regardless of what the final ruling from headquarters might be, at least the message had been delivered. How they chose to rule would now depend on the headquarters' attitude.

"By the way, Director Lu, there is one more thing that needs to be confirmed."

Before leaving, the commissioner turned back and asked, "Has the connection with the Yizhou Heavenly Mystery Institute been handled?"

In the Environmental Sanitation Bureau’s original plan, the Peach Blossom Spring member who triggered the highway incident was to be escorted to Yizhou for investigation by personnel from the Heavenly Mystery Institute.

However, in the end, the prisoner originally slated for Yizhou had literally turned to ash, and the other survivors in the hands of the bureau had all been killed by soul-extraction, so the plan had to change accordingly.

"We have already reported it to them." Lu Zhenhai breathed a sigh of relief. "Moving forward, we will continue to look for clues related to the Peach Blossom Spring. If we discover anything, we will contact the Heavenly Mystery Institute immediately."

...

"Speaking of which, why does this stuff always have to be sent to the Heavenly Mystery Institute?"

In the Super-Research Institute office, Qin Jiajia asked in confusion: "Is there something special about that place?"

As she spoke, she carefully held the chess piece in her hand. It looked like it had been carved from marble, with the character "General" (Shuai) inscribed on it. Despite the passage of a thousand years, the character seemed to show no signs of wear.

According to Cheng Xiaomeng, this piece was confirmed to belong to "Yuan Tiangang," and following protocol, it should be sent to the Heavenly Mystery Institute for screening.

She had been at the Super-Research Institute for over half a month and was familiar with their many rules and procedures, but this was the only thing that puzzled her.

Whenever artifacts involving major events or important figures were found, or when the Super-Research Institute could not uncover the source of certain materials, a copy had to be made and sent to that unit called the Celestial Phenomenon Observation and Secret Inspection Institute.

Back when she worked at the Environmental Sanitation Bureau, she had only vaguely heard that it was an institute responsible for intelligence work. But once she actually started working, she found that this unit was ubiquitous within the supernatural system. Everything, big or small, eventually passed through them. They were absolutely worthy of the saying, "When in doubt, go to the Heavenly Mystery Institute."

"There are too many special things about it." Cheng Xiaomeng, standing beside her, lowered her head to think. "Let me think how to explain it... Tell me, do you know about the Art of Change (Yi Shu)?"

Qin Jiajia nodded; she had seen this term in the introductory manual.

The Art of Change was a very special cultivation practice that required extremely high talent and compatibility, appearing in only one out of every three thousand cultivators on average.

This practice did not cultivate spiritual power, but focused solely on the soul. Therefore, the combat power of practitioners of the Art of Change was often far lower than that of normal cultivators of the same realm. In a one-on-one situation, they could hardly defeat an opponent even one major realm lower than themselves.

Listening to this description alone, it seemed like a purely foolish practice, but it also held irreplaceable value.

The first was lifespan; those who practiced the Art of Change mostly lived far longer than cultivators of the same realm. Those with deep attainments could even have nearly twice the lifespan of a normal cultivator at the same level.

The second, and most important part, was the efficacy of the Art of Change itself—

Divination, observing fortune and misfortune, peering into the future, and deducing the patterns of all things.

In any era, this was a rare skill that people would fight to the death for. Consequently, even though practitioners of the Art of Change had no specific combat capability, countless people were always willing to provide them with assistance in exchange for their service.

It was also because of this special cultivation method that, from ancient times to the present, these practitioners had been the most elusive existences in the cultivation world. They mostly did not practice in fixed sects, but were scattered across every corner of the human world. Many even disguised themselves as mortals to enter the imperial court, performing the duties of a state diviner—this was the origin of the "prophets" often seen in historical records.

"And the Heavenly Mystery Institute is a unit composed of these practitioners of the Art of Change."

Qin Jiajia was stunned by the answer. Considering that the birth of such a cultivator was practically like winning the lottery, the fact that they could form an entire unit was a testament to the Chinese government’s resource integration capabilities, which were truly beyond imagination.

Even so, she still had one unresolved question.

"If that's the case, why do we always have to go to the trouble of sending things to them in Yizhou, instead of just having those practitioners come here?"

"Those people at the Heavenly Mystery Institute are incredibly arrogant. Unless the central government issues a direct order, ordinary people can't summon them—that's one reason."

"As for the other reason..."

Cheng Xiaomeng said, suddenly changing the subject: "Haven't you been asking why we value that 'Yuan Tiangang' so much? You've read a lot of Tang Dynasty materials during this time; you must have seen the legends about him in history, right?"

Qin Jiajia gave an affirmative response. The Great Tang Dynasty was all-encompassing, with countless talented and strange people recorded. Among them, the space dedicated to "Yuan Tiangang" was truly outstanding.

In historical records, his birth and death were unknown. He suddenly appeared in the Yizhou region of the mundane world during the Daye era of the Sui Dynasty and became famous for his physiognomy, accurately predicting the fate of many important figures. Because of his god-like calculations, there was a folk saying that he was a reincarnation of the Tiangang Wisdom Star, so some also called him Yuan Tiangang.

In the eighth year of the Zhenguan reign, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, heard of his reputation and personally stepped forward to invite him into the palace to observe the physiognomy of his officials.

First, he looked at Cen Wenben, the then-Secretariat Drafter. Yuan Tiangang said, "Your halls of learning are well-developed, your eyebrows cover your eyes, your literary talent shakes the world, and there is a bone on your head, but you have not yet reached greatness. If you attain the third rank, I fear it will be a sign of shortened life." In the eighteenth year of Zhenguan, Cen Wenben was promoted to Secretariat Chancellor, reaching the third rank, and died of a sudden illness the following year.

Afterwards, the Imperial Censor Zhang Xingcheng and Ma Zhou came to seek his reading. Yuan Tiangang gave another prophecy, saying Ma Zhou "will be unimaginably wealthy... but I fear he is not long for this world." Later, Ma Zhou did indeed reach the position of Secretariat Chancellor and concurrent Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, dying at the age of forty-eight. As for Zhang Xingcheng, he was judged to "attain high office late, but will eventually occupy the seat of a chancellor." He later indeed became the Right Vice-Director of the Department of State Affairs at the age of 64, reaching the rank of chancellor.

Stories like these filled over a thousand words in the official history, each word marking the man’s god-like foresight. In folk records, the legends about him were as numerous as the stars, the most famous of which was the "Tui Bei Tu" (Push Back Chart) co-authored with his colleague Li Chunfeng.

In legend, the "Tui Bei Tu" was a miraculous book of the human world, accurately calculating the national fortune of the Great Tang Dynasty for a hundred years, including a prophecy that shook the past and present.

*The dynasty passes for three generations, Wu replaces Li and rises.*

But all of this remained confined to legend.

After all, at the same time the "Tui Bei Tu" was completed, Yuan Tiangang himself disappeared. Most people believed he died of old age and even built a tomb for him outside Chang'an.

However, besides this, there was also a saying that he had returned from the human world to the immortal realm, silently guarding the fortune of the Great Tang from behind the scenes, ensuring the dynasty would not decline for a hundred years.

And standing today, from a supernatural perspective, there was no doubt behind this.

"These legends might have some exaggerated parts, but from a supernatural perspective, Yuan Tiangang was undoubtedly a top-tier practitioner of the Art of Change. The depth of his attainments was rare even in the cultivation world."

Cheng Xiaomeng said, "And it was precisely because his prowess in this area was so monstrous that both the immortal and mortal worlds called him 'the demon of the generation, Yuan Tiangang.' Even now, he is still regarded as one of the peaks in the field of the Art of Change for the past millennium; calling him the greatest person of the past and present would not be an exaggeration."

"He is indeed a legendary figure." Qin Jiajia nodded. "But I still don't quite understand what this has to do with us going to the Heavenly Mystery Institute..."

As soon as she spoke, she realized something was wrong. A bold guess appeared in her mind, causing her to choke on her remaining words.

And what Cheng Xiaomeng said next confirmed her conjecture.

"Because he is currently in Yizhou, at the Heavenly Mystery Institute."

"In the field of the Art of Change, without a doubt, he is the strongest cultivator within China with the highest strategic value—no one else comes close."