Chapter 122: May I Ask, Is There Still Fairness?

One hour earlier, at the moment Ren Ye had just left the Star Gate.

High-rank Star Gate – Great Qian Dynasty, Imperial Palace, Imperial Study.

Palace lanterns flickered, casting a warm glow over the yellow-draped desk, where wisps of sandalwood incense curled into the air, filling the room with a calming fragrance.

Emperor Jing of Great Qian, dressed in a dragon robe, lounged lazily on his throne. His left hand propped up his cheek, his expression calm.

He appeared to be around fifty years old, yet showed no signs of aging. His hair remained jet black, his posture was straight, and his handsome, refined features exuded a natural warmth and affability.

Below the steps, the leader of the Tianjian Division, the National Preceptor of Great Qian, paced back and forth in the grand hall, clad in a flowing white robe.

Even in the presence of the emperor, he carried himself with ease, his hands clasped behind his back.

“Your Majesty, the four undercover agents who returned from Qingliang Prefecture have all been ‘put to rest,’” the National Preceptor paused in his steps, turning to look at Emperor Jing. “I just performed another divination, yet I still cannot glimpse the ninth level of Princess Anping’s Tomb, nor can I deduce what connection that ‘visitor from beyond’ has with Shenzhou. The Heavenly Dao veils its will—I truly cannot unravel this mystery. Qingliang Prefecture was originally just a minor secret realm, yet its Heavenly Dao rules are so intricate… How could it possibly attract such a powerful cultivator?¹”

“If you were to face this great cultivator, what are your chances of victory?” the emperor asked, still resting his cheek on his hand.

“I cannot see them, nor divine anything about them—naturally, I have no chance of victory.” The National Preceptor shook his head slowly.

In the vast Imperial Study, only the emperor and the National Preceptor remained. The palace maids and eunuchs who usually attended them had been dismissed, waiting a full hundred meters away outside the hall.

After a long silence, Emperor Jing lifted his teacup and, after a brief pause, spoke:

“Draft an imperial edict for me. Order the Grand Marshal of Changling to muster fifty thousand troops within a day, prepare provisions and siege equipment, and immediately march on Shangyu County. At the same time, the Tianjian Division must secretly issue recruitment notices, gathering three thousand first-tier cultivators from outside forces. They will rendezvous with the fifty thousand troops at Shangyu County. Five days from now, they will launch an assault on Qingliang Prefecture, reclaim the Human Emperor Seal, and—without fail—capture alive… my dear nephew.”

“The number of troops and cultivators you are mobilizing—Your Majesty, have you sensed the Heavenly Dao principles within this minor secret realm?” the National Preceptor asked.

“…!” Emperor Jing slowly nodded.

After a moment of contemplation, the National Preceptor spoke, “Your Majesty, the Grand Marshal of Changling is a third-tier cultivator. Even if he can enter the minor secret realm of Qingliang Prefecture, he will be heavily restricted by its rules.”

“Replace him. I never intended for the Grand Marshal of Changling, Zheng Guangcai, to lead this army. Using him here would be a waste of talent.” Emperor Jing took a sip of tea, his mind swiftly scanning through the younger generation of the Great Qian Dynasty, until he locked onto a single name. “Last year, the governors of three provinces jointly recommended a certain individual to me.”

“First-tier cultivator—Zuo Xuan?” The National Preceptor smiled knowingly.

“Promote Zuo Xuan to Grand General of Changling, commanding fifty thousand troops, with his sword pointed at Qingliang Prefecture, to suppress the rebels,” Emperor Jing declared as he rose to his feet. “As for the three thousand external first-tier cultivators, they will be commanded by the four undercover agents. You select one as their supreme commander.

“In five days, the battle shall commence. By sunset, I want to hear news of our victory.”

“I obey.” The National Preceptor gave a slight bow.

As his voice fell, a soft radiance shimmered around him, and he vanished from the Imperial Study.

—

One incense stick’s time later, the National Preceptor stood atop the Tianjian Pavilion, setting up a divination compass, issuing orders for the Tianjian Division’s Daoists to secretly distribute recruitment notices across the capital. With generous bounties promised, they sought to gather three thousand external first-tier cultivators, preparing for the assault on Qingliang Town.

Simultaneously, he used secret methods to dispatch orders to Grand Marshal Zheng Guangcai, instructing him to swiftly assemble his troops.

…

An hour and a half after leaving the Star Gate.

Ren Ye, Tang Feng, and Xu Peng were already on a plane—and in first class, courtesy of official reimbursement. This gave all three of them a strong sense of belonging to the Vigil Keeper organization.

On the way to the airport, Ren Ye had learned that his sister and father had gone to the capital, but he had called twice, and neither of them had answered.

“Haha, don’t worry,” Xu Peng noticed Ren Ye’s concern and immediately reassured him, “Boss Yan and the chief have been personally protecting your dad and sister these past few days. With them at headquarters, nothing will go wrong.”

“Yeah, those two… are always like this. They don’t pick up calls at random times—you’d have to use brainwave communication to reach them,” Ren Ye chuckled. “Alright then, a nap and we’ll be there.”

Beside him, Tang Feng sat in the spacious first-class seat, reaching up to touch his chest. “This sudden… absence of those two shameful things still makes me feel empty somehow. I’m not used to it.”

No one responded.

Tang Feng picked up the drink the flight attendant handed him, turned to Ren Ye, and asked, “What do you think Li Yan is doing right now?”

“You miss him?!” Ren Ye, preoccupied with thoughts of the final battle, had no interest in this conversation. “If you’re missing him so much that you can’t stand it, just head to the restroom once we take off.”

“Ugh, you’re awful~!” Tang Feng rolled his eyes dramatically and crossed his legs elegantly. “Sigh, having an extra one… isn’t that comfortable either. My middle finger has nowhere to rest.”

“You’re actually insane,” Ren Ye said, exasperated.

“Hey, hey… something huge just happened.”

At that moment, Xu Peng—who rarely reacted so strongly—suddenly let out an exclamation, even cursing, “Holy shit, no way?!”

“What is it?” Ren Ye turned to see Xu Peng staring at his phone in shock. “What did you see?”

“Look at this.” Xu Peng pointed at his phone screen. “All my player social groups are blowing up.”

Ren Ye glanced at the screen, where Xu Peng’s finger scrolled through a flood of messages.

“Did you guys hear? A ton of Chaos Faction players just got assigned an SSS-tier first-tier Star Gate mission.”
“Just heard! Apparently, it’s from a Star Gate called the Great Qian Dynasty, and the issuing organization is called Tianjian Division. I heard there are actually 5,000 SSS-tier mission slots. Damn, that’s insane!”
“Stop exaggerating, there aren’t 5,000 slots. I just asked a Chaos Faction friend—there are only 3,000 slots, and Freedom Faction and Order Faction players can’t get assigned.”
“Confirmed, it’s 3,000 slots.”
“+1!”

“Hey, the person a few messages up—this is a righteous-aligned social group, and you’re out here making friends with those Chaos Faction lunatics? Group admin, I suspect he’s a spy. Can we kick him out?”
“Yeah, kick him out.”

A moment later—the group member count decreased by one.

“By the way, that Qingliang Prefecture Star Gate also has 500 SSS-tier mission slots. Do you think these two Star Gates are opposing forces? They’re probably linked in some way, right?”
“You don’t even need to think about it—this is obviously a faction war setup. Ugh, my poor Vigil Keepers faction… 500 vs. 3,000, how the hell do we win? Why is it so damn hard for justice to prevail just once?”
“Praying for the Vigil Keepers’ success. They may be a bit rigid and stubborn, but without them… there’d be no rules. Even mining would get you targeted by those lunatics.”
“Praying for the Vigil Keepers!”
“…Prayers!”
“…!”

As the messages flew by, Ren Ye, Tang Feng, and Xu Peng were left stunned.

Almost every social group was buzzing about the Great Qian Dynasty and Qingliang Prefecture Star Gates. Even international player groups were going crazy over the discussion.

Many Freedom Faction organizations also became unusually active all of a sudden.

The beginning of the confrontation meant that the resource allocation between Order and Chaos would also affect many players and factions.

“Mr. Xu, hello. The plane is about to take off. Please turn off your electronic devices.”

“Got it.” Xu Peng nodded blankly.

Ring, ring!

A phone rang. Ren Ye glanced at the caller ID and immediately answered, his tone somewhat stammering. “H-hello, Brother Huang… Have you heard?”

“So… you’ve heard as well?” Huang Wei understood what Ren Ye meant right away and confirmed, “We’ve received solid intel. Chaos Faction’s recruitment quota is indeed 3,000 players, with the recruitment site at the Tianjian Division of the Great Qian Dynasty. The mission details are still unclear, but we’ll find out soon. What is certain is that it’s related to the attack on Qingliang Prefecture. Boss Yan checked in with HQ, and they confirmed that Bell Society, Stray Dogs, Plunderers’ Alliance, and more than a dozen other organizations have begun mobilizing resources on a large scale. Even the Cult of Spiritual Enlightenment, which has been silent for a long time, is showing signs of movement.”

Earlier, Ren Ye had been somewhat skeptical about the rumors circulating in the chat groups, but now, hearing it from Huang Wei, his head felt like it was about to explode.

“Sir, you need to turn off all electronic devices,” the flight attendant reminded him again.

“Oh, right…!” Ren Ye, his face dark with worry, lowered his voice on the phone. “We’re about to take off. We should land in about two hours. We’ll talk then.”

“Alright, see you soon.”

The call ended, and Ren Ye shut off his phone.

“Bang!”

He leaned back heavily into his seat, feeling utterly exasperated. “How the hell is this fair? Does the law even exist anymore?! Five hundred against three thousand—how is that even remotely balanced? This is complete bullshit!”

“I can’t make sense of it either,” Xu Peng shook his head blankly. “With such a massive gap in the number of recruits, how are we supposed to win? Even if we had some legendary inheritance from the heavens, we’d still need at least some sliver of hope.”

Beside them, the usually whimsical Tang Feng was now staring at the cabin ceiling with a grave expression. “Why is the recruitment gap between the two sides this large?”

The five hundred vs. three thousand disparity left Ren Ye and his companions completely shaken.

What they didn’t yet realize was that Great Qian Dynasty wasn’t just secretly recruiting 3,000 first-tier supernatural beings. They were also preparing to mobilize an army of 50,000 troops to march on Qingliang Prefecture and crush Prince Huai’s rebellion.

If that piece of news reached Ren Ye and his team, they might just jump straight out of the plane.

…

Shanghai.

In a traditional teahouse with an antique charm, Li Yan glanced around at the surroundings and couldn’t help but sigh, “This place has changed a lot…!”

Not long after, a young man returned, holding a golden token engraved with the words “God of Wealth.” With a respectful posture, he reported, “Mr. Little Wolf Warrior, I have informed the higher-ups. You may proceed to Pawnshop No. 10 in the Capital. The person in charge there will be expecting you.”

“…Who’s in charge of your merchant association here? Are they around?” Li Yan asked.

“Our leader is called Shadow. She left for the Capital a few days ago. Heh, I can’t even contact her myself. She’s always shrouded in secrecy… and has quite the temper,” the young man chuckled.

“I’m currently inhabiting a corpse,” Li Yan stated matter-of-factly. “Find me an artifact capable of housing a soul and arrange an immediate flight to the Capital. I need to leave now.”

The young man furrowed his brows upon hearing this.

“What? Is it difficult?” Li Yan pressed.

“…There are likely no available commercial flights left,” the young man pondered for a moment before responding. “But it’s not a problem. Given your urgency, I can request a private business jet from our headquarters.”

Whether inside Star Gates or in the real world, the Fraudulent Merchants Association might lack many things—but money, resources, and connections were never among them.

One hour later—

The young merchant from the Fraudulent Merchants Association boarded a small business jet, carefully cradling an urn emitting a faint glow.

Their destination, the Capital.