An online joint conference was held, and extraordinary institutions from various countries were forced to engage in a truth-telling session, exchanging and sharing information with limited scope.
After the truth-telling session ended, everyone’s reactions were:
“So, this extraordinary event was not caused by the birth of some strange object, but was orchestrated by Joey?”
“The special invitation from the Roland Kingdom, with Chandler revealing such information, although he didn’t specify exactly how he sent the invitation, is clearly indicating that he has an unusual connection with that extraordinary individual?”
“No, it was the Spirit Forgers. It’s hard to imagine that such an extraordinary path was buried in past history! The world’s last Spirit Forger, the sole adult and manager of the Artists’ Association – how should one put it? This information was quite unexpected. That mysterious and bizarre power was not an individual’s unique trait, but an entire system? It was truly difficult not to be moved…”
“Spirit Forgers were originally a power system in the Western extraordinary world. The Special Affairs Bureau now having a connection with such a powerful Spirit Forger means that the Chenxing Empire might produce a second or third Spirit Forger in the future. How enviable!”
“Indeed, the Chenxing Empire is truly prepared in advance.”
After the truth was revealed, amid praises that were unclear whether genuinely heartfelt or sarcastically veiled, Chandler unhesitatingly diverted everyone’s attention. “No, please don’t say that. Mr. Joey doesn’t seem like someone who can be easily influenced. If we want to recreate the former glory of the Western extraordinary world, we still have a long way to go…”
“Speaking of which, I’m quite envious of the East, especially Yao Country. Not only do they have a martial arts master overseeing them and receiving the ‘Martial Classic’, but everyone has a chance to step onto the once-broken extraordinary path in this era of spiritual energy revival, unlike us…” He gave a bitter smile, speaking in a helpless tone, “The Transcendence Project has gone astray, and Eastern martial arts are not suitable for us. We’ve finally discovered the remnants of the extraordinary past, yet it’s like a mirage, with the path controlled by the last remaining Spirit Forger. If Mr. Joey is unwilling to open up access, no one would have a chance.”
What was originally a statement that was three parts truth and seven parts fabrication, as Chandler spoke, he actually found it increasingly reasonable and sincere.“…Not only that, those two individuals claiming to be the Heavenly Master of Divine Calculation are extraordinary beings of no ordinary nature. They actually have the ability to penetrate the future and divine fortune and misfortune. Although I’ve never met them face to face, just consulting them once made me feel enlightened and in awe. Truly worthy of Yao Country with its long history, where powerful extraordinary beings emerge endlessly.”
He displayed a false plastic smile, hypocritically praising Yao Country. As for what he truly thought inside, it was hard to discern.
“The key point now is, according to the information from the Special Case Investigation Team, Joey possesses extremely powerful mental extraordinary abilities. He is a member of the Artists’ Association and is probably a person from nearly a hundred years ago who, for unknown reasons, was asleep until recently. The reason for his appearance is that the Artists’ Association’s collection was lost during his sleep, so he is traveling the world to find these lost collections?”
Someone spoke up, summarizing the information provided by the Special Case Investigation Team and interrupting Chandler’s seemingly sincere praise.
The speaker was the youngest present, the Moonlight Temple’s witch Baili Zhaoxue. A flicker of impatience crossed her beautiful and cold face, as if she didn’t want to waste time on tedious social niceties. Therefore, she spoke directly:
“Moreover, he is not interested in anything else. His only hobby is art, and he wants to develop the Artists’ Association. Oh, these are also the conclusions of the Special Case Investigation Team. I’m sure this must be based on extensive factual evidence.”
As Baili Zhaoxue spoke, everyone’s gaze involuntarily fell on An Yuansheng and Chu Xingri, their eyes filled with inquiry.
Extensive factual evidence? They caught the key point.
Baili Zhaoxue seemed not to have noticed any deeper meaning in her words and continued, “In any case, combining the Chenxing Empire’s intelligence, we now know that he is a Spirit Forger, the Artists’ Association is the Spirit Forgers’ Association, and developing the Artists’ Association means needing more Spirit Forgers. So his purpose can be roughly guessed – he wants to revive the nearly extinct Spirit Forger system, recruiting talented Spirit Forgers to join the Artists’ Association. So the events that happened in the Roland Royal Capital this time were not bad, but possibly a selection of talented individuals?”
Her words were very direct and clear.
Even those whose thoughts were initially unclear became lucid after her summary.
“…So, is this a good thing?” The Roland Empire’s envoy focused on this point, almost sighing in relief, “The trapped crown prince, oh, and tourists from various countries, are not in danger? That extraordinary individual’s purpose was simply to select potential Spirit Forger talents?”
“…Provided the information from the Special Case Investigation Team is accurate. Is Joey truly only interested in art and developing the Artists’ Association, without any ambitions in other areas?”
For instance, discovering that in this era of spiritual energy revival, everything is just beginning, and all extraordinary beings are weak, potentially attempting to rely on powerful forces to act recklessly and even dominate ordinary people?
The speaker cast a probing gaze toward the two from the Special Case Investigation Team.
They weren’t actually doubting their conclusions – everyone knew that the conclusions about Joey’s character must have been based on extensive factual analysis. They simply wanted to explore the “extensive facts” that led to these conclusions.
Clearly, although Chandler had sent a special invitation, he didn’t dare guarantee what Joey’s character might do. Yet the Special Case Investigation Team claimed the other was simply a person deeply obsessed with art, at most wanting to strengthen the Artists’ Association.
What factual basis could lead to such a judgment? In places unknown to others, what kind of deep interaction did Yao Country’s Special Case Investigation Team have with that Spirit Forger? ℝ𝓪ꞐօBƐꞨ
Although they knew Yao Country would likely not reveal truly important information, they couldn’t help but probe a bit.
“Ah, how should I put it?” Chu Xingrui could naturally hear the probing in others’ words. Since they had agreed to share information and cooperate, he wasn’t narrow-minded. Having already determined what could and couldn’t be said before coming, he merely pondered for a moment before speaking candidly, “Actually, we previously had a lucky young fellow who had contact with that Spirit Forger and was even brought along for a while, fortunately learning some things. There was no formal master-disciple relationship, but a brief master-disciple-like experience. So we understand this Spirit Forger slightly better – of course, all with Mr. Joey’s permission.”
As for who that lucky one was, Chu Xingrui didn’t specify, and others understood this was information that couldn’t be disclosed.
Chu Xingrui continued, his tone sounding relaxed and pleasant. “Mr. Joey is quite frank, with no intention of concealing his origins or purpose. But due to his personality, he seems to dislike interacting with people. He probably wanted to send a friendly, mutually non-interfering signal through that young person. We received his signal and chose to respect it. Hmm, it feels like we’re long-time friends who’ve only met spiritually.”
At the end, Chu Xingrui seemed to hint at the Special Affairs Bureau director who reportedly formed a friendship with the Spirit Forger.
Normally unremarkable in the Special Case Investigation Team, Chu Xingri was surprisingly composed and even more appropriate in his response than An Yuansheng. At such moments, people would suddenly remember his royal status was not mere decoration.
He used a smiling, as-if-talking-about-a-good-friend tone to lightly describe the interactions between the two sides, blurring the details of the time, and concluded:
“Actually, ever since Director Chandler mentioned that Joey was behind this, I’ve been quite relieved. We originally thought it was an extraordinary being who had obtained a special artifact and committed a crime, and had been investigating in that direction, quite worried about the safety of the trapped people. The only thing we were missing was the key clue of Mr. Joey going to the Roland Royal Capital with the invitation. No wonder we couldn’t point in the right direction. Now that we’ve filled in this clue, I believe Miss Baili’s inference is correct.”
“—This is most likely a prelude to rebuilding the Artists’ Association. Mr. Joey is probably just wanting to screen talented individuals. Given his personality, creating such a sensation is not surprising at all.”
Anyone who had seen the live broadcast of the Cursed Painting incident would find it hard to disagree with his words. That Spirit Forger was indeed not someone who followed rules, but rather quite willful and completely unconcerned with conventional moral constraints and social order. Perhaps in his eyes, directly placing a strange magical cube in a foreign royal capital and trapping thousands of people, just to screen out talented individuals, was quite ordinary.
…Although it seemed absurd, if this were truly the case, they could indeed be more at ease.
At least they wouldn’t have to worry about receiving a terrorist organization’s call threatening government action with thousands of lives.
Moreover, wasn’t this a good opportunity?
The Spirit Forger’s lineage had already been severed, with Joey being the only one who possessed this extraordinary path, and seemingly quite difficult to approach.
If Joey chose to spread this path to more people, regardless of how many from each country would be selected or whether they could be utilized, at least this path would no longer belong to just one person. Thus, in the future, they would have more potential targets to obtain Spirit Forger powers.
—These selected individuals would be the seeds of fire. As long as they existed, they would eventually ignite more torches, reigniting the once-extinct lineage into a grand conflagration.
More importantly, since this Spirit Forger was intent on strengthening the lineage, they now had a basis for cooperation. The other party held the extraordinary inheritance, while the governments of various countries possessed abundant population resources and worldly influence.
If Joey alone sought talented individuals to inherit the Spirit Forger system and strengthen the Artists’ Association, the process would undoubtedly be extremely slow. But what if the official channels of various countries fully cooperated with him?
During this process, even if the most talented batch entered the Artists’ Association, many Spirit Forgers deemed unsuitable by the association would become each country’s power. Even the top-tier talents selected into the Artists’ Association could be courted.
—In other words, the Spirit Forgers cultivated by the Artists’ Association could completely be viewed as those cultivated for various countries.
Fundamentally, humans are social beings. People who have lived in their respective countries for so many years would hardly turn against their national interests simply by entering an extraordinary organization.
This wave of interaction was a win-win situation, and they had struck gold.
Now, they only needed to find someone who could contact Joey and convey their sincerity to this Spirit Forger.
Everyone’s gaze unanimously fell on Chandler.
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