by <unknown>
Jin Xinyue seemed to have been installed with powerful magnetic units all over her body, distracting everyone's eyes from the monument to herself.
Naturally, it was because of the shocking exposure.
However, Jin Xinyue responded calmly and comfortingly. Her smile toward the supporters and her grievance when she faced the monument in silence were equally impeccable.
She seemed to be at the center of a superstorm. The suspicions and attacks of the outside world did not seem to bother her at all.
Whoever saw her face would inevitably doubt whether the exposure on the Spiritual Nexus was true or merely hearsay and a groundless setup, no matter how much they had believed the letter from Moonfall before.
In the press conference after the memorial ceremony, when one of the reporters suddenly raised the sharp question to Jin Xinyue in violation of the theme of memorial, Jin Xinyue's delicate makeup and perfect countenance were not affected at all. She simply replied with five short words.
"Rumors end at the wise."
Her 'perfectness' was not in the least reduced until after the dinner when the big shots met in private.
It was a very secret private club that belonged to one of the top ten super sects in the New Federation.
Sitting in front of Jin Xinyue were three white-haired old men with daunting auras and obvious fury. They were the leaders of three top ten sects in the entire seven Sectors of the federation.
They were the literal 'big shots' of the federation. Two of their sects were from the Heaven's Origin Sector, and the last one was from the Flying Star Sector. All the sects boasted a history of more than five hundred years. They were deeply rooted and among the most traditional and powerful organizations.
During the rapid development in the golden years of the New Federation in the past century, the sects had further expanded thanks to the trend and grown into super behemoths that spanned seven Sectors and could barely be destroyed!
A hundred years ago, for the survival of the demon race, for the Blood Demon Sector to get rid of the shadow of 'failed world' and become a regular world on equal terms with the other six Sectors, and for all the demons to break the shackles and turn into true citizens of the federation sooner, Jin Xinyue had visited the sects that those big shots belonged to and cooperated with them. Or rather, she had been 'exploited' and 'taken advantage of' by the big shots willingly!
With the help of the almost infinite resources under Jin Xinyue's control, the sects that the big shots belonged to performed better during the fierce competitions. Their rank grew higher and higher in the top five hundred sects of the federation. Today, they had dwarfed almost all other traditional sects.
Even 'Li Yao's group', a new force in the past hundred years, had their shadow behind it, too.
At the very least, Jin Xinyue, a notable warrior of Li Yao's group, could not have risen to power in the first place without their help.
[ol][li data-annotation-id="e2601dc2-ea17-418f-9ae0-89be3f630ae0"]The "yue" in "Jin Xinyue" means "moon".[/ol]
Chapter 1677: Li Yao's Snake Beauty |
They were the largest funders who supported Jin Xinyue in her campaign for the Speaker. None of the Speakers of the federation in past decades had ever been elected without their support. Therefore, while Jin Xinyue could turn a blind eye to the heckling reporter, she could not pretend that she did not see their fury.
"How did it end like this?" Of the three big shots, Leader Zhao, who was sitting on the left, knocked the ground of black marble with his club and said solemnly, "Did you do it or not? Why were we not informed of such a great event beforehand? How are you going to clean up the mess?"
"Jin Xinyue, do you have any idea what you are doing?" On the right, Leader Pang, who weighed at least two hundred kilograms and looked like a huge mountain at distance, burst into fury before Leader Zhao finished. "Everybody knows that the big sects of the core worlds have wagered everything on you and supported you without sparing anything! The financial market is a mess because of your scandal now. Do you know how much our sects have lost in this one trading day? The money vaporized in the market today is enough to produce several main-force warships!"
"Jin Xinyue, this whole time, we have always had absolute faith in you and provided all the support you needed without asking about what you do." Sitting in the middle, Leader Tong, who was as short as a child but had a rather gloomy face, clenched the arm of his chair so hard that it was screeching. "It was because we thought you were a smart person. A smart person knows what to do and what not to do. They never extend their hands to the things they should not do, however many benefits there seem to be, because they know they will be caught the moment they act!
"You know the importance of this election. This is not just the competition between you and Ding Lingdang but also the competition between the three core worlds and the four new worlds! A war will soon come. Whoever leads the federation to a glorious triumph as the 'wartime leader' will be the real dominator of the federation!
"If we win the election and the war, the position of the three core worlds will be unshakable in the Star Glory Federation. Even if more Sectors join the federation in the future, they will have to follow the order established by the core worlds and the rules of the game made by the ancient sects passed on from the age of the Old Federation!
"This is where our interests and your interests lie!
"But Ding Lingdang is different. She is a highly dangerous woman and not a player of the game at all. She does not appreciate the significance of the old older but wants to replace the forces and rules passed on from the Old Federation with her new worlds and new rules!
"If Ding Lingdang wins the election and defeats the Black Wind Fleet, she will be a rising sun, and the power of the new worlds will be greatly enhanced. The core worlds will never have things our way again!
"Do you understand the consequences at all? Don't forget that the Blood Demon Sector is one of the core worlds, too!"
On the opposite side of the three furious big shots, Jin Xinyue was sitting elegantly on an unsoiled hassock and making tea meticulously.
Because today was the memorial day of the Uranian Ring War, Jin Xinyue was in particularly pure and clean dressing. Not only was her black suit devoid of any adornments, she had even replaced the Rising Dragon of the Nine Stars emblem that she usually wore as a brooch with a black-and-white one. She also put on a thin, black veil over her face and did not take it off even during their meeting.
With her dressing, she looked as if she was enshrouded by dark mist that would never disperse. It was impossible to tell her real appearance at all, much less figure out what was on her mind.
Faced with the sharp criticism and warning of the three big shots, Jin Xinyue did not panic at all. She washed her hands, warmed the cup, put the tea leaves into the pot, soaked them in water, covered the pot, and later distributed the tea. Every procedure was immaculate. Even the most skilled specialist in tea ceremony could not have found anything inappropriate.
Jin Xinyue served three cups of fragrant 'Purple Spring Dragon' to the big shots respectfully before she went back to her own seat and unhurriedly replied, "It is exactly because of the significance of the election that I was forced to resort to this strategy…"
"Were you?" The three big shots were even more exasperated. "Do you know how much trouble your 'strategy' has brought us?"
Smiling, Jin Xinyue poured herself a cup of gold tea and sent it to her lips. But instead of drinking it up, she merely smelled the steam rising from the cup. "Three leaders, please do not be anxious. What we have right now is just groundless gossip. Why are you so panicked? If the online exposure of such a level can be believed, I can expose hundreds of scandals for each member of the parliament at any moment, and the parliament will surely be empty tomorrow.
"The bottom line is, rest assured, leaders. I'll take care of the issue. Nothing will go wrong."
"Something has already gone wrong!" the impulsive Leader Pang a
nnounced angrily. "If the exposure is to be believed, you should've resolved all the problems on Firefly neatly. But the truth is that they took care of everything on their own and even grew suspicious of you! Let's put aside whether or not it is the right thing to do, but was that the best you could do?"
"You are playing with fire," Leader Tong said with a gloomy face. "It's easy to start a fire but difficult to put out one. With everything coming to this point, you'd better address the issue properly without leaving any trace behind. 'Moonfall' must be found, too!
"Remember, we absolutely do not want to see you act recklessly on your own anymore! In any case, the core worlds must win the election, or—"
Halfway through his speech, Leader Tong suddenly bulged his eyes and lost the ability to talk.
Leader Zhao and Leader Tang were also frozen, unable to move anymore, when they just raised their teacups!
It was because boundless killing intent was suddenly unleashed from Jin Xinyue at that moment, which crawled out of her black veil and black suit like ten thousand black vipers, wriggling, slithering, and constraining them like soggy black chains!
The pupils of the three leaders were immediately constricted to the minimum.
They were the purest admin-type Cultivators and more than two hundred years old. Too busy taking care of the affairs of their sects day and night, they had been greatly worn out, and their soul was not nearly as strong as before.
Jin Xinyue, on the other hand, was a 'saintess' educated by the Pantheon of Demons of the Blood Demon Sector more than a hundred years ago. She was the most delicate slaughtering machine!
After she pledged loyalty to the federation and joined the Secret Sword Bureau, she had led the 'Dim Moon Squad' in the most mysterious and unpredictable battlefields.
In recent decades, especially after she was nominated as a minister, she had begun to change her image and always showed up in public as a gentle, elegant, and harmless woman. She had not really fought anyone in decades.
After such a long time, even the big shots who supported Jin Xinyue to power had forgotten what a terrifying person the 'weak woman' hiding in the black mist was and took her for a puppet that they could rub and shape however they saw fit!
The three admin-type old Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, suppressed by Jin Xinyue, a new Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator talented in both management and battle, were not even able to blink.
The teacups in their hands were the only things that were still emitting hot air.
"Let me repeat myself. Please listen carefully, leaders. This is just another minor issue that I will take care of."
Jin Xinyue let go of her hands. The teapot floated and swirled in midair softly.
She took off the black veil over her face, revealing a calm expression with a perfect smile, like a viper that craned its neck out of the black mist and hissed at the three big shots.
"Also, one other thing. I'm rather curious. What can do you even if I fail to handle it well? In less than one month, are you going to replace me with someone else to compete with Ding Lingdang, drawing a line with me? Tsk, tsk, tsk. Why have I never heard about such an extraordinary candidate in your pocket?
"I've never disappointed you in the past hundred years. The 'Magnificent Expanse' case eighty years ago, the things regarding the monopolization of the mines on the Great Peace Planet, and the political struggles before and after the 'Bill of Rights for General Equality'. Did we ever not return with trophies?
"In the past century, based on what did your sects rise in the top five hundred sects of the federation and defeat so many seemingly unassailable corporations? Was it not because our mutual trust in each other?
"Hehe. We have been in the same boat for too long. If I fall because of the scandal, are you going to gain anything? If they can track the insurgency on Firefly back to me, why can't they track you down from me and expose all our deals from the past hundred years?
"Leaders, and my dear uncles, don't you agree?"
Jin Xinyue sipped the tea and moaned in great satisfaction. Then, she made a gesture casually, loosening the pressure on the three of them.
The three big shots shuddered at the same time, their back soaked in cold sweat.
They looked at Jin Xinyue in disbelief and then at each other in bewilderment. Their faces were twisting in agony.
"We—we really shouldn't have trusted you. We shouldn't have trusted you from the very beginning. It was you who volunteered to come to us. It was you—" The fat on Leader Pang's face was trembling hard as he screamed. "I knew that you were not up to anything good! Those who are not my people always think differently from me! They always do!"
"Leader Pang, your words sound rather racist to me." Jin Xinyue walked behind the three big shots and smiled.
Although the three big shots had all regained their ability to move, they did not dare move at all for some reason. They did not even have the courage to look back.
"Hehe. I swore an oath to my master a hundred years ago that I would become the Speaker of the Star Glory Federation one day, at whatever cost and through whatever methods!" Jin Xinyue's smile was gradually gone, replaced by coldness and ruthlessness. She said, one word after another, "Therefore, just rest assured, I will never be defeated by Ding Lingdang. Never!
"You don't have to do anything except trust me and support me without reserve. Devote all your resources and strength to me, and we are going to win the war side by side!"
Pa!
As she spoke the last syllable, Jin Xinyue firmly patted Leader Pang's shoulder. Leader Pang and his companions could not help but shudder again.
Jin Xinyue bent down and leaned next to Leader Pang's ear from behind, asking in a soft voice, "We will most certainly win, won't we, Uncle Pang?"
Leader Pang struggled to swallow and nodded uncontrollably. "…Yes, we will."
"Fantastic." Jin Xinyue's frozen face immediately melted, and the sunniest smile beamed out. "Alright. I must go back to my ministry for a meeting. You just take your time to enjoy the tea here. The tea leaves named 'Purple Spring Dragon' are rare enough even in the Forest Ocean Sector where they are grown. It would be a shame if they are wasted."
Chapter 1678: The War Between Two Women |
Jin Xinyue left the secret room with a series of chuckles, leaving the three big shots of noble sects who had been dominating the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector since the age of the Old Federation staring at each other in silence and feeling the coldness that was emitting from the deepest part from their bones.
…
A long, black, bulletproof shuttle quietly ascended to the top of the private club and moved toward the plaza of the Ministry of Equality and Development like a ghost.
However, Jin Xinyue was not on the shuttle.
It was not until five minutes later that another seemingly plain shuttle flew out of a parking lot not far away from the private club toward the industrial district in the northeast of the capital city.
After zigzagging for half an hour, the shuttle slowly landed in an empty, rusted, and forsaken warehouse that was soon to be rebuilt.
When she got out of the shuttle, Jin Xinyue felt particularly cold. She put on a thick, black leather coat made from the hide of a Horned Camel.
Kada. Kada. Kada.
She walked through the warehouse that was entirely empty. Her high-heeled boots clicked on the ground, uttering crisp and hollow sounds.
When she was about to reach the end of the warehouse, Jin Xinyue stopped and completely took off her black veil, revealing a pale, delicate face.
Opposite her, deep inside the warehouse, Ding Lingdang in a dark red training suit strutted straight toward her and stopped three meters away from her.
For two Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, it was certainly not a friendly distance.
Ding Lingdang and Jin Xinyue, perhaps the two most dangerous women in the Star Glory Federation, confronted each other in silence, three meters away from each other.
>
Huala! Huala! Huala!
The warehouse could not withstand their raging spiritual energy anymore despite its spaciousness. The broken windows around were all vibrating crazily and screaming in devastating noises.
"Masteress, I did not expect that you would ask me to meet you in such a place." Jin Xinyue put on a vague smile. "You and I are both celebrities right now and sort of… competitors. If the media learn of our meeting, it will be more than breaking news; it will be a superstorm.
"However, on second thought, how many years has it been since we last had a sincere conversation face to face after master left? Oh. We have never done this before?"
"Cut the nonsense." Ding Lingdang went to the topic directly. "Are you responsible for the insurgency of the Immortal Cultivators on Firefly? Did Lu Qingchen work for you? Have you been supporting the CFIA in secret?"
Jin Xinyue seemed to have foreseen that Ding Lingdang would ask her those questions. She opened her hands and said, "Masteress, you choose to believe such groundless gossip?"
"It is exactly because I don't that I have come to you!" Ding Lingdang stepped forward again, shortening the distance between them to two meters. "Jin Xinyue, look me in the eyes and give a straight answer to the question just now! If you dare look me in the eyes and say that you didn't do any of that, I will believe you!"
Jin Xinyue looked at Ding Lingdang's eyes, but the infinite brilliance in them quickly forced her to look away. She continued smiling. "Masteress, when you are truly elected as the Supreme Speaker of the Star Glory Federation, of course, I will tell you everything I know, and all the secrets will be disclosed to you. But right now, a lot of things are still classified at the highest level. I cannot tell you, and you are not qualified to hear them!"
Ding Lingdang sniffed. "So, is the exposure from 'Moonfall' all true?"
"As the minister of the Ministry of Equality and Development and the president of the Dim Moon Fund, I cannot say a word to you," Jin Xinyue said. "However, since you are my masteress, if this is just a private, casual chitchat between a masteress and a disciple, I would like to discuss one thing with you. Assuming that the leader of an intelligence agency—let's call her Jin Xinyue—in a nonexistent country—let's call it the Star Glory Federation—really did those things, so what? Is there a problem?
