Glorious God Throne

In the early morning, just as the sky was brightening, an international conference was already in session. Due to time constraints and other unspoken reasons, this conference was held online. The attendees weren’t physically present but were sitting in heavily secured offices of extraordinary organizations across different countries.

“Is everyone here?” Director Chandler, who initiated this conference, looked around through the VR projection. He saw many familiar faces – heads of extraordinary organizations from other countries with authority equivalent to the Special Case Investigation Team.

The main participants were from five major political entities or countries: Yao Country, Chenxing Empire, Holy Federation, San Country, and the Island Alliance. Smaller nations without qualification to participate were represented by these major powers.

The only special participant was an envoy from the Roland Kingdom, as the main reason for this conference was closely tied to extraordinary events occurring there.

Chandler’s gaze swept across the main figures, and their affiliated powers naturally came to mind:

– Investigation Division from Yao Country

– Special Case Investigation Team from Chenxing Empire

– Haotian Temple from San Country

– Faithful Assembly from the Island Alliance

These were the major official extraordinary organizations since the revival of spiritual energy.

The Investigation Division, Special Case Investigation Team, and Faithful Assembly were established after the spiritual revival. The Faithful Assembly was jointly constructed by the Island Alliance nations, with internal mechanisms similar to a parliament.

The Sun Temple and Haotian Temple were pre-existing religious institutions in the Holy Federation and San Country respectively.

The Sun Temple held immense authority in the Holy Federation due to their unique system, effectively steering the Federation’s direction.

The Haotian Temple, while not involved in politics, commanded great respect and prestige in San Country – a nation founded by pirates, slaves, and drifters at sea. Their ancestry and inherent inferiority complex, passed down through bloodlines, led them to extremely revere the strong while refusing to acknowledge their true history.

San Country had long circulated a myth about their origins. “Hundreds of years ago, when both Eastern and Western continents fell into chaos simultaneously, refugees agreed to set sail to escape the wars, but got lost in sea fog. They endured hardships for a month, nearly destroyed by storms, drowned by tides, devoured by sea monsters, and on the brink of resorting to cannibalism when food ran out. At this moment, the Haotian God bestowed grace upon them, dispersing the fog, calming storms, making tides recede and sea monsters leave. The refugees’ ships safely arrived in new waters. Refugees from both Eastern and Western continents discovered each other’s existence and agreed to build a new nation together. Thus, San Country was born on the nine islands.”

This myth effectively concealed San Country’s humble origins, instead coating their ancestors with divine favor. The emperor and nobility even claimed themselves as divinely blessed.

Whether genuinely believed or not, the Haotian myth was widely circulated within San Country, and the Haotian Temple that worshipped the Haotian God held an extremely special status, despite lacking actual power.

For this online conference, each country sent two representatives – one primary and one deputy.

From Chenxing Empire were Special Case Investigation Team Director Chandler himself, accompanied by Princess Fina from the royal family. The commotion Joey caused in Roland Kingdom had truly frightened the life-loving old emperor, who wouldn’t let the Special Case Investigation Team handle this matter independently. Princess Fina served as the old emperor’s eyes and ears, though Chandler wasn’t privy to what interest distribution had been negotiated between the old emperor and the parliamentary cabinet.

The Investigation Division’s representation appeared similar on the surface. Chandler’s gaze swept across the VR projection to the composed elderly and young pair opposite him. Even without consulting his subordinates’ prepared materials, he could identify them at first glance – Director An Yuansheng and Investigation Division Response Team member Chu Xingrui, the latter also being a royal family member.

To his left, between him and the Investigation Division representatives, sat a middle-aged man wearing a black martial arts uniform with long hair in a high ponytail, and a beautiful young woman who appeared no more than twenty, with a cold and ethereal aura like flowing light reflected on snow.

The former was the master of San Country’s largest Kyoto Dojo and one of the country’s top martial artists, Beigong Xin.

Even before the spiritual revival, the Beigong family was a prestigious martial arts family with deep traditions. Beigong Xin was already a grandmaster undefeated in martial arts circles. After the spiritual revival and receiving the “Martial Classic” teachings, his progress became increasingly rapid. It was said he not only achieved profound internal energy cultivation but also comprehended the first realm of martial arts – “Seeing Oneself.”

However, Beigong Xin wasn’t San Country’s main representative this time. The true representative was the young woman sitting beside him, this generation’s most outstanding priestess of the Haotian Temple, Baili Zhaoxue.

Double surnames were common in San Country, with almost all nobles having them.

Although Chandler’s glance was brief and everyone was only present through VR projection, Baili Zhaoxue immediately noticed the gaze directed at her. She raised her eyes in response, her gaze carrying what seemed like a ethereal moonlight.

Such keen observation and perception… Despite her young age, she could participate as a primary representative and seemingly controlled the power in Haotian Temple. This must have required a combination of ability, bloodline, and talent.

With this thought, Chandler’s calm gaze passed over the two representatives from the Faithful Assembly and moved to the Sun Temple representatives on his right. The first thing that caught his eye was a crimson robe.

Chandler’s pupils contracted slightly.

The Cardinal Archbishop! The second-in-command only below the Pope!

He instinctively glanced at the person’s face.

Unfortunately, their face was concealed by a mask bearing the sun deity’s pattern, which aligned with the style of certain clergy within the Sun Temple and particularly with the traditions of past Cardinal Archbishops.

Almost immediately, an image surfaced in Chandler’s mind of someone who had been a dominant figure when he was still a minor official.

That person had been incredibly capable, making indelible contributions to the Sun Temple’s growth to its current prominence.

Over a decade ago, the Holy Federation’s government presence wasn’t as weak as today. The cabinet then had been intent on weakening the Sun Temple and seizing authority, yet they suffered defeat after defeat under that person’s strategies. Though appearing to stand equal with the Sun Temple, they had actually been thoroughly suppressed and were about to completely surrender their authority.

Unfortunately, ten years ago, just as the cabinet was at its lowest and the Sun Temple’s authority at its peak, that key figure suddenly resigned from the Cardinal Archbishop position and vanished without a trace—a mysterious fire that claimed his entire family had broken his spirit, making him completely weary of power struggles.

According to Chandler’s knowledge, there were many rumors about this incident, most suggesting it was orchestrated by high-ranking cabinet members. Some conspiracy theorists believed it was done by internal Sun Temple members, with the Pope of that time being a major suspect.

When the Sun Temple’s authority reached its peak, that person’s prestige had also reached its zenith. Not everyone within the Sun Temple wanted to see this, so it wouldn’t be surprising if someone targeted his family to bring down this ambitious man.

Shortly after, the cabinet official’s private crimes were exposed one by one, sending him to prison with no chance of seeing daylight again. His followers also fell from grace, leading many to believe the first theory was true and viewing it all as revenge from a certain individual.

That person was the former Cardinal Archbishop, Arnosi.

This man, who had nearly single-handedly changed the Holy Federation’s political landscape, was someone Chandler had never met but had seen in many historical recordings. The deep red Cardinal robe and sun deity-patterned mask were his trademark.

Thus, seeing this distinctive attire suddenly appear before him almost made him think that legendary figure had returned, though this was obviously impossible.

As Chandler’s thoughts settled, he withdrew his gaze from the current Cardinal Archbishop. After confirming everyone’s presence, he spoke first as the convener. “Everyone present needs no introduction to each other. Before we begin, I believe we should reach a consensus about the purpose of this joint conference—”

At this point, he lightly tapped the table, his expression serious.

“To resolve the cube incident in Roland Kingdom’s capital and rescue the thousands trapped inside, especially tourists and guests from various countries. We cannot stand by while they face danger in Roland Kingdom without offering assistance.”

The mentioned Roland Kingdom envoy displayed a weak and innocent smile, eagerly raising his hand to speak. “Roland Kingdom is willing to cooperate!” After all, their crown prince was among those trapped, not to mention people from so many other countries were also confined…

Others either nodded or spoke up, reaching consensus on this matter without objection.

“In that case, our first task is to exchange intelligence and information. This is the foundation of cooperation between nations,” Baili Zhaoxue, with her cold demeanor, cut straight to the point. “Otherwise, this conference would be meaningless, and cooperation would be impossible.”

She raised her eyes toward Chandler, speaking with certainty. “Since Chenxing Empire initiated this joint conference first, you must possess some crucial intelligence, correct? For instance, the cause of this incident?”

Sharp indeed… Chandler didn’t hide anything. He had been put in this position by his “good friend” – though this friendship was rather heavy and troublesome, upon reflection, it wasn’t without opportunity. Right now, he probably understood the cause of everything better than anyone else, and possessing information unknown to others often meant having the initiative.

Although he didn’t intend to trade this information for benefits, revealing it would subject him to undue pressure for sending the invitation that brought Joey to Roland Kingdom. However, it would also cement his “friendship” with this powerful Spirit Forger. He would become the bridge connecting others to Joey.

—This was his most important bargaining chip.

Understanding the gains and losses involved, Chandler took the initiative to organize this conference, determined to turn crisis into opportunity and seize this rare chance.

Under everyone’s gaze, he nodded frankly, “That’s correct, I know roughly what caused this incident.”

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