Chapter 249: Secret Meeting, Advanced Knowledge for Ascending to Domination
The turn of events could be said to be completely beyond Bai Fu’s expectations.
She had originally thought that after making the headlines several times in a row, there should be people coming after her next. It was about time for her to deliberately keep a low profile for a while and let others draw some firepower.
Who would have thought that before the targeting came, an invitation had arrived first.
A peace summit?
What a joke.
Given the current situation of the Taim Civilization, it was absolutely impossible for a single meeting to erase the contradictions. If negotiations could work, the various factions of the Taim Civilization wouldn’t have gone so far as to personally wage a hot war.
“Even I understand this—how could that old fox Yuan Yi, who has lived for who knows how many years, not understand? There must be something fishy about this!”
The little fox Bai Fu’s wariness immediately went to maximum.
First of all, it could be confirmed that the invitation was genuine, because if it were fake, it would be easy to verify.
So, what was Yuan Yi’s true purpose in sending out the invitations?
Was it to cooperate with other forces to lure her over and kill her, or was there some bigger scheme in play—one that wasn’t aimed at her, and she was only invited because of her current fame?
While Bai Fu was still puzzling over it, the mission prompt appeared.
【You have triggered the Hidden Quest [Secret Meeting]】
“A quest?”
Bai Fu quickly opened the quest details.
The quest requirements were extremely simple: just attend the peace summit convened by Yuan Yi.
The quest reward was 5 million XP, which seemed a bit underwhelming.
However, there were additional notes at the end of the quest—two, in fact.
Extra rewards will be given upon completing hidden objectives.
Completing the quest will have a high probability of triggering the next round of quests.
“An average reward means the act of attending the meeting carries low risk—or basically none at all.”
“The quest has a hidden objective—does that mean I need to raise someone’s favorability, or trigger some extra storyline? If it’s extra storyline, could there be danger involved?”
“The most important thing is the second note—if there’s a follow-up quest, it means this meeting itself isn’t targeting me.”
Bai Fu was starting to feel like seeing what kind of medicine Yuan Yi was selling in his gourd.
If she missed the meeting and it turned out she missed an important plotline, that would be a huge loss.
However, she didn’t reply immediately. Instead, she first contacted Yin Zhu. As the Secretary-General of the Star Pact, Yin Zhu would certainly know Yuan Yi and the Arcane Library well—she might be able to offer some useful advice.
“Funny enough, the Oathmaster also received an invitation from Yuan Yi.”
Yin Zhu’s hologram pulled out an invitation out of thin air—it was identical to the one in Bai Fu’s hand.
Then, she began talking about Yuan Yi and the Arcane Library.
“Yuan Yi was the earliest person in the Edge Worlds to become a Transcendent—so early that no one knows exactly which year he ascended. All that’s known is that he’s a very erudite man, nicknamed the ‘mobile library.’ The Arcane Library he founded is an academic research organization, structured even more loosely than the Star Pact. But it’s precisely this loose academic network that allowed him to build an enormous web of connections. He’s on good terms with Transcendents in all Three Universal Civilizations. This time, since he’s holding a peace summit, all sides will likely give him some face.”
A “face-saving” player + “arcane professor” character setting?
Bai Fu asked, “Will the Oathmaster attend this meeting?”
Yin Zhu shrugged. “The Oathmaster and Yuan Yi don’t get along too well, but since Yuan Yi personally sent the invitation, she’ll definitely go and have a look. If you want to attend the meeting, go with the Oathmaster—I’ll send a ship to pick you up.”
“Alright.”
Bai Fu agreed quickly.
With the Oathmaster, a Transcendent, present, a lot of trouble could be avoided.
After agreeing with Yin Zhu, Bai Fu informed Nilis of her decision, saying she would be away for a while but would leave Cersia and Hei Fu in Loxhid to continue guarding.
Nilis didn’t say much, as he had also received an invitation from Yuan Yi. Though he didn’t plan to go himself, he still sent his most trusted subordinate to represent him at the meeting.
A few days later—
A ship from Star Pact headquarters arrived in Loxhid. After saying goodbye to Anya and the other players, Bai Fu boarded the ship.
It whisked her away at high speed to rendezvous with the massive vessel carrying the Oathmaster.
Massive.
Not just big—colossal.
From afar, Bai Fu roughly estimated that the ship, named the “Oath,” was at least forty to fifty kilometers long. Its design was incredibly imposing, exuding a grand, monumental feel.
“Wow… that’s got to cost at least in the nine-figure range, right?”
Bai Fu was envious, but not surprised.
If the Origin Consortium could build an entire City of Knowledge just to show off its grandeur, then the Oathmaster, as a Transcendent, even if not adept at business, wouldn’t be poorer than the Origin Consortium.
“I’ve heard that the planet-sized battleships built by the Three Universal Civilizations are at least several thousand kilometers long. The Rebirth Empire’s world-famous ‘Light of Apocalypse’ is over a million kilometers long—dozens of times larger than the superweapons in the Halo series. Creations like that may be the real reason why the Three Universal Civilizations have remained unshakable for so long.”
A Transcendent could fight incredibly well—single-handedly making a star cluster-level civilization tremble, like a walking god of destruction.
But the requirements for becoming a Transcendent were far too stringent. Once a Transcendent died, the time and material cost to cultivate another was far higher than building a new “Light of Apocalypse.” And in terms of raw destructive power, the Light of Apocalypse was no weaker than most Transcendents.
“One day, I’m going to build a Holy City of Bai Fu hundreds or even thousands of times bigger than the City of Knowledge!”
Bai Fu walked through a long corridor, guided by robots, and arrived at the Simoon Garden aboard the Oath.
Unlike the industrial “macho” style of its exterior, the inside of the Oath was filled with a scholarly elegance reminiscent of Jiangnan’s watery towns.
It was said that this was the Oathmaster’s way of remembering his homeland.
“Long time no see.”
When she saw Bai Fu, the Oathmaster stood up. A smile spread across her face, showing no hint of aloofness.
Bai Fu quickly greeted her.
She was still grateful to the Oathmaster—if it weren’t for him lending her the 【Heart of the Virtual Realm】, she would have suffered a lot more losses when facing the Secret Tower.
“There’s no need to be so formal with me. Thanks to you, Fei Ye was able to successfully advance to Calamity-level. By the way, those Undying Ones you sent over are really useful. With their help, I’ve managed to fix all the bad habits in my combat moves over the past few years. Unfortunately, no one in the Star Pact can give me proper sparring now, so I still don’t know how much stronger I’ve actually become.”
The Oathmaster was in high spirits, his small fists swinging with vigor. Bai Fu quietly took a few steps back, afraid he might get overexcited and drag her into a sparring match.
As she stepped back, she threw a Psionic Vision at him—unfortunately, the returned data, apart from name and level, was all question marks.
"Main Class total level: 212—very high, but not high among Transcendents. No wonder the Oathmaster would suffer losses when fighting Yuan Yi and Rufas."
From then on, Bai Fu no longer spoke up on her own; only the Oathmaster kept going on and on.
"That old thing Yuan Yi—he didn’t hold a peace summit earlier, didn’t hold it later, but chose to hold it now, when the Taim Civilization has already started fighting. It’s probably just for show, to let the world see, while in reality, he surely has ulterior motives."
"Forget it—whether or not he has bad intentions, I’m not planning to interfere in the Taim Civilization’s affairs anyway."
"Once we get there, I’ll find him and have a fight. Just right to test the results of my training during this period."
"Yin Zhu, where are we now?"
"Why is it so slow? How much money do I still have in my bank account? Fine—once we get back, upgrade the engines of this lousy ship for me."
Bai Fu: "…"
This was the first time she realized the Oathmaster could talk so much. It was truly impressive that Yin Zhu could still manage the Star Pact so well from top to bottom.
Before, she had thought Fei Ye was like a mini-Oathmaster—both equally battle-hungry—but now it seemed Fei Ye’s personality was far better.
…
The Arcane Library’s headquarters was located slightly far from the Taim Civilization’s borders, separated by six entire star clusters.
Therefore, despite the Oath’s great speed, it still took nine days to arrive at the famed Arcane Star in the Edge Worlds.
Bai Fu didn’t rush into Arcane Star immediately. Instead, she first placed a Prophet Mark in its outer orbit so she could escape quickly in case of trouble. Then she waited a while longer for Nilis’s trusted aide to arrive, before entering Arcane Star together with him.
Because the peace summit was about to be held, Arcane Star had become exceptionally lively.
Amid the bizarre and colorful buildings, ships from all over the stars flew back and forth without rest. Under the guidance of crimson energy beams, all these ships ultimately converged on a giant conical building standing upon the vast plains.
【Arcane Library】
Bai Fu looked it up online.
That building was the true Arcane Library, said to hold vast amounts of knowledge on Esper powers and human body research—a holy land for Espers and Body Cultivators alike.
Among the three Transcendent-level powers of the Edge Worlds, the Arcane Library had the largest number of Dominations and Calamity-levels under its name, all drawn by the knowledge mastered by Yuan Yi.
"Officer Will, Saintess Bai Fu, thank you for accepting the invitation and coming all this way across billions of miles to Arcane Star for this summit. Your contributions to peace are seen and remembered by all."
Suddenly, a group of robed figures appeared before Bai Fu.
"Connor, Captain of the Arcane Library’s ground patrol team—upper Calamity-level strength."
Nilis’s trusted aide, Will, introduced the current situation to Bai Fu over a private communication channel.
Bai Fu smiled and nodded in greeting—neither distant nor overly warm.
She had come this time only to see what exactly this [Secret Meeting] quest was about. She didn’t intend to meddle in other matters. Helping Nilis had already earned her plenty of enemies—she didn’t want to get dragged into even more trouble for no reason.
Under Connor’s lead, Bai Fu and Will arrived at the venue.
There were still two days left before the official start of the summit, yet the hall was already quite crowded.
People gathered in small clusters of twos and threes, forming distinct groups. Judging from the atmosphere, forget negotiating peace—if they didn’t start fighting on the spot, it would already be good.
Bai Fu looked around but didn’t see the Oathmaster or Yin Zhu. It seemed Transcendents and Dominations had their own private areas for interaction.
After glancing about for a bit, Bai Fu chose a spot with fewer people and stood there, planning to head to her guest room after a short while.
At that moment, three people suddenly approached from afar.
Will quickly warned, "People from List—leading them is Calvin, upper Calamity-level."
Bai Fu narrowed her eyes. They came with ill intent!
Sure enough, before they even got close, Calvin wore a fake smile and said, "I thought you wouldn’t dare to come."
Will’s expression didn’t change. "Why wouldn’t I dare? As for you—when your master was branded a national traitor, you didn’t even stay by List’s side to comfort him?"
Calvin sneered. "You win a few battles by exploiting information gaps, and you think you’re invincible? Will, you were inferior to me before, and you still are. As for you…"
His gaze landed on Bai Fu.
"The only real saintess is a dead saintess, you—"
"Shh." Bai Fu raised a finger and waggled it. "Useless talk proves nothing. Only by defeating me head-on on the battlefield can you prove your strength. Otherwise, the harsher your words now, the more you make yourself look like a clown. As a soldier, do you not even understand that?"
Calvin’s face stiffened.
Bai Fu added, "If you’re not convinced, you can issue a challenge right now. I absolutely won’t refuse."
Calvin’s expression darkened further.
Challenge?
He’d have to be brain-dead to challenge Bai Fu here.
If Yuan Yi was holding a peace summit here, and he started by picking a fight with Bai Fu, Yuan Yi wouldn’t just not tear him apart—he’d probably toss him straight out.
Fine—consider your quick tongue stealing my lines.
Calvin was left speechless. Continuing to provoke her would only make him seem like a petty clown.
Just as he was about to leave, he saw several people from the Arcane Library walk out of a side door of the venue, heading directly toward him and Bai Fu.
Crap.
Had his earlier mockery been overheard and offended Yuan Yi?
Calvin tensed up immediately, his mind racing to think of a countermeasure.
"We just—"
He opened his mouth and only got out three words before realizing that the Arcane Library members walked right past him.
Calvin: "…"
They hadn’t even glanced at him. Turns out they weren’t coming for him at all—making him the self-important clown for real.
Calvin’s face flushed deep red.
Even so, he didn’t leave, wanting to hear why the Arcane Library had come for Bai Fu.
"Saintess Bai Fu, the Administrator has sent us to deliver you a gift."
"A gift?"
Bai Fu—and everyone else in the hall—was stunned. None had expected things to turn out like this.
Dozens of gazes focused on the Arcane Library member’s hand, watching as he pulled out a miniature encrypted data storage device.
"Inside is psionic advancement knowledge collected by the Administrator—it should be enough to make your path to becoming a Domination at least half easier."
Huh?
Bai Fu’s pupils narrowed slightly.
【Data Storage Device Containing Domination-level Psionic Advancement Knowledge】
This line appeared before her eyes.
She had only come to gather some intel—she had never expected to receive such a grand gift. What exactly was Yuan Yi playing at?
A trap, or something else?
For a moment, Bai Fu didn’t quite dare to accept it.
The Arcane Library representative smiled. “This is a gift that requires no return. Saintess Bai Fu, please rest assured in accepting it. The Administrator has no other intention—he simply appreciates your talent. Over the years, the Administrator has sponsored many psionicists. You are not the first, nor will you be the last.”
After thinking it over, Bai Fu accepted the advancement knowledge.
If she refused it here, the next time she wanted similar advancement knowledge, she might have to purchase it from a universe-level civilization—and that path was not an easy one.
“Please help me thank the Administrator.”
The Arcane Library representative nodded with a smile. “I will convey it to the Administrator. Saintess Bai Fu, we will not disturb you further. May you have a pleasant day.”
With that, the group turned and left.
As soon as they were gone, murmurs immediately spread through the venue.
Calvin felt as though something was lodged in his throat, suffocating him.
Bai Fu—actually favored by both the Oathmaster and the Arcane Library’s Administrator?
To them, this was an utterly terrible turn of events. Perhaps they would need to eliminate Bai Fu as soon as possible—if they delayed, it might become impossible to keep her in check.
Having obtained the advancement knowledge, Bai Fu didn’t linger in the hall. After saying farewell to Will, she hurried back to her guest room.
Once inside, she couldn’t wait to use her communicator to read the data from the storage device.
【Discovered Path of the Apostle (Domination-level Psionic Advancement Knowledge). Read?】
Read!
The progress bar began to climb slowly.
…
At the same time—
Top floor of the Arcane Library.
Yuan Yi received the report from his subordinates that the gift had been delivered.
La Nie, who had been puzzled for a long time, could no longer hold it in. He admitted that Bai Fu’s talent was indeed excellent, and her record outstanding—but he truly could not understand why his teacher valued her so highly.
“Very curious, are you?”
La Nie nodded firmly.
Yuan Yi smiled. “That’s because you’ve yet to reach that level. But it won’t be long—in a few years, even if I don’t tell you, you’ll understand. I value Bai Fu not only because her talent is extraordinary, but also because she might be a Seeker.”
“A Seeker?”
La Nie was puzzled, but Yuan Yi had no intention of explaining further. He changed the topic.
“Has everyone who received an invitation arrived?”
La Nie straightened. “Rufas and the Supernova Battle Group haven’t arrived yet, but according to their recent message, they’re close.”
Yuan Yi rose and walked to the massive floor-to-ceiling window.
“Let me see up close whose body the Ten Saints Council has parasitized.”
The main purpose of this meeting was to identify who had colluded with the Ten Saints Council.
The Ten Saints Council was the mortal enemy of his own organization—or rather, the mortal enemy of most forces. Its members were a group of lunatics; some so insane they sought to destroy the world and drag everyone to die together.
Once he sensed that the Ten Saints Council might have entered the Edge Worlds, his vigilance shot up.
One does not allow the Ten Saints Council to sleep peacefully beside one’s bed.
If it wasn’t the Ten Saints Council, it couldn’t be any other unfathomable force either—after all, he had his own objectives.