AITAMITB Chapter 114

Although Old Sheng said not to touch her porcelain, looking at the old man’s smiling appearance, Zhao Xiaokui always felt that there was some conspiracy waiting for her.

But the spiritual senses did not indicate any imminent danger.

During the second half of the meal, Zhao Xiaokui ate thoughtfully.

Old Sheng smiled as he watched her eat absentmindedly, finishing several dishes on the table cleanly, leaving nothing but condiments like chili and parsley. His eyes became even more satisfied.

After helping Old Sheng clean up the kitchen, Zhao Xiaokui left. Once she was gone, another person knocked on the black wooden door.

Seeing the newcomer, Old Sheng smiled and said, “I knew you were coming.”

The person asked, “After meeting her, what’s your impression?”

Old Sheng replied, “She’s a good kid.”

“If there’s any flaw,” Old Sheng took down a birdcage hanging on the tree, pouring some clear water inside, “it’s probably that her ambitions are not enough.”

The person said, “It’s rare to receive such an evaluation from you.”

“Before meeting that child, I’ve thought many times about what kind of person she would be,” Old Sheng said, “You know, I’ve seen too many geniuses, prodigies who suddenly gain extraordinary power. Even I, occasionally, would become complacent, unconsciously swelling with pride, feeling superior. But if you meet that child, you’ll know she’s different.”

After a moment of silence from the newcomer, he asked, “So, does that mean she’s chosen for the God-making plan?”

Old Sheng shook his head. Just as the person was puzzled, he cryptically said, “Who said we chose her?”

She had already embarked on this path long ago.

How could one turn back?

…

While Huaxia was enthusiastically embarking on the path of national transcendence, other countries, though a bit slow to catch on, once their leaders’ brains weren’t waterlogged, basically began to catch up with Huaxia’s pace. They started revealing their own cultivation methods to the public.

After the secrets of the stone tablets were deciphered, it was no longer an extraordinary matter. Several months ago, Huaxia had “leaked” them through their own spies.

It’s not that Huaxia didn’t want to keep the secrets of the stone tablets in their hands, but the miraculous nature of the stone tablets, once deciphered, was not such a big deal. Even if they didn’t leak it, someone would eventually discover the secrets inside.

Secondly, while Huaxia had a considerable number of stone tablets, it was not all of them. A significant portion of the stone tablets unearthed from other relics were in the hands of other countries. With Huaxia’s temperament, they couldn’t simply snatch them away. It was better to leak the secrets of the stone tablets and research together.

After all, knowledge is something that is never too much.

Who knows if in some corner there might be an unparalleled martial arts manual.

However, after other countries revealed the existence of the transcendental world, the situation was not as peaceful as when Huaxia announced it. Unlike the celebratory atmosphere that persisted in Huaxia after the disclosure of the transcendental world, most other countries, once transcendental powers were brought to light, immediately fell into chaos.

Larger countries managed somewhat better, as their violent systems and local transcendental forces were stable enough to maintain surface-level peace. However, the undercurrents in the shadows became more turbulent. But for smaller nations, almost on the same day the transcendental world was revealed to the public, they were overturned, their ruling power crumbled, the royal family fled, and leaders died. Except for Huaxia, most other countries were now in a state of utter devastation.

“The Alliance of Gods, Freedom Tower, Thunder Sound Holy Land, Sacred Totem… They have all sent messages seeking help to us.”

Shi Ning entered the meeting room and gestured for her assistant to distribute the documents to everyone.

The Alliance of Gods, Freedom Tower, Thunder Sound Holy Land, Sacred Totem, and Night Walkers.

The five most powerful transcendental forces in the world today.

Except for Night Walkers, which is a national-based transcendental force, the others are all multi-national organizations.

The Alliance of Gods is a transcendental force from the European continent.

Freedom Tower is established by several countries on the North American continent.

Thunder Sound Holy Land gathers countries and organizations predominantly adhering to Buddhism.

Sacred Totem is a force formed by many tribes coming together on the African continent.

In the past, any of these forces was comparable to Night Walkers.

But now, they have all sent messages seeking help from Night Walkers.

“I believe everyone has felt something recently. The concentration of transcendental energy in the air has been continuously rising. As of today, compared to a month ago, it has increased several times. If we compare it to the concentration of transcendental energy ten years ago, it is now more than a hundred times stronger. What does this mean, I’m sure everyone is well aware.”

“During this period, all our transcendental soldiers who entered the relics have returned to their previous bases to maintain the current peace. Regarding the requests from various forces, I hope everyone can discuss whether to agree to help and, if agreed, how to provide assistance.”

Shi Ning spoke calmly, and for a moment, there was silence in the meeting room as everyone focused on reading the documents in their hands.

Transcendental forces from different countries are currently facing various troubles.

Zhao Xiaokui casually flipped through the documents and, surprisingly, the first one she saw was a request for help from the Sacred Totem.

The Sacred Totem is an organization that, compared to others, has a relatively loose structure. It consists of hundreds of tribes that worship totems, supporting each other, but not particularly united. Each tribe has its own beliefs, and they are only united due to geographical reasons, coming together to jointly resist other transcendental forces in the world.

Among the five major forces, the Sacred Totem is considered a particularly unique one.

The reason is simple – unlike other forces that collect transcendent individuals like trading cards, the transcendent powers of the Sacred Totem can be passed down from generation to generation through totems. This method of inheritance is more stable compared to the uncertainties of other transcendental forces, making the Sacred Totem stand out among the five major forces, even though the entire organization may not be cohesive.

And the issue of seeking help this time is precisely related to this unique characteristic.

Whether it’s the parasitic entities or the consciousness of reproductive actions, after discovering the problem, Huaxia never intended to conceal it. Instead, they directly spread the information worldwide, hoping that major organizations would actively conduct self-inspection and self-screening to identify the hidden evil gods among the people.

No one wants to quietly have their fate stolen and die a tragic death, nor do they want their consciousness to be occupied by someone unrelated to them. Therefore, as soon as this news broke, it created a huge wave in the transcendental world. Countless individuals wished they could rush to Zhao Xiaokui, asking her to thoroughly check if they had any traces of being marked by evil gods from head to toe.

In such matters, there was no need for Zhao Xiaokui to step forward and speak. Long before she started capturing one parasitic entity after another, the Night Watchers had developed instruments to identify the presence of parasitic entities based on their characteristics.

Then, to their surprise, they found that almost everyone from the Sacred Totem would react to the instruments.

At first, everyone thought the instruments were faulty, considering that when they left the factory, the Huaxia side had mentioned that the evil gods were cunning and did not guarantee one hundred percent accuracy. But later, upon careful consideration, if the evil gods were cunning, shouldn’t they hide themselves well, making it completely undetectable? How come, when it came to the Sacred Totem, traces of parasitic entities could be detected in individuals?

Flipping through a couple of pages, Zhao Xiaokui figured out the reason.

She remained silent for a moment, raising her hand, and said, “I think I know what the issue is with the Sacred Totem.”

Shi Ning didn’t expect to get results so quickly. She looked at Zhao Xiaokui and said, “Tell us.”

Looking at the requests for help in the documents, Zhao Xiaokui felt somewhat speechless. She said, “Actually, the problem is simple. It lies with the totems they worship. In the memories I received, humans can create gods. They can combine their beliefs and emotions through rituals to create a pseudo-god. This pseudo-god has little effect in the early stages, but the tribes of the Sacred Totem usually have a history of hundreds or thousands of years of worship. They have long created pseudo-gods similar to evil gods. That’s why our instruments react to them.”

Shi Ning asked, “Are you saying they have been contaminated by evil gods?”

“You could say that. If they don’t give up the worship and continue to exchange energy through the totem rituals, sooner or later, they will be occupied by evil gods. And once an evil god successfully descends, others who worship the same totem are likely to become sacrifices.”

Everyone looked at each other in silence.

Who didn’t know that the strength of the Sacred Totem relied entirely on totems?

Now asking them to give up worshiping totems was undoubtedly asking them to give up their foundation. How could they possibly do that?

While others might overlook this point, Zhao Xiaokui continued, “Although our relations with the secular world and African countries are good, I disagree with assisting the Sacred Totem. It could likely entangle our people in the situation.”

Shi Ning calmly said, “Okay, everyone doesn’t need to look at the information about the Sacred Totem. I will reject their request.”

Similar incidents had occurred in previous meetings, and everyone had grown accustomed to following Zhao Xiaokui’s viewpoints or opinions after she denied certain suggestions. Initially, Zhao Xiaokui felt a bit awkward, fearing she might make a wrong decision, but as it happened more frequently, she became calmer, choosing to only review the information in the subsequent meetings without speaking.

Observing her obedient demeanor, Shi Ning couldn’t help shaking her head. Although Sheng Boming and the others hoped to nurture Zhao Xiaokui more, she didn’t seem willing to accept such cultivation. Put a little pressure on her, and she would want to run away.

After reviewing the documents, the discussion quickly began at the meeting table.

Someone suggested, “The Freedom Tower is in North America, separated from us by the Pacific Ocean. Now that no one knows how the change in the concentration of supernatural energy might affect the flight of airplanes, I don’t support supporting the Freedom Tower. Once any accidents happen, it will be too difficult to evacuate from North America.”

Shi Ning said, “Then abandon the request from the Freedom Tower. Any other opinions?”

“The Thunder Sound Holy Land has strong isolation. Our people may not gain trust when they go there, and they might not play a significant role. Since they haven’t reached a point where they can’t hold on, I think we can postpone this request for now.”

“The request from the Alliance of Gods can be considered. The relic where the Y Country descended into the real world has been visited by our people before, and the danger is not high. We can give it a try.”

After some discussion, everyone decided to accept the request from the Alliance of Gods from the European continent.

Zhao Xiaokui, while listening, began to daydream until someone mentioned her name.

She snapped back to attention, only to see Shi Ning smiling at her and saying, “So, Xiaokui, you’ll lead the team for this mission.”

Zhao Xiaokui exclaimed, “Huh?”

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