174: Meeting of National Institutions (Part 1)

The Special Affairs Bureau was originally established with the primary intention of contending with evil cultivation forces such as the White Lotus Sect.

For a long time, it has silently shouldered the heavy responsibility of maintaining social stability in Great Xia, making countless efforts and contributions to this end.

Had it not been for the sudden, world-shaking Spiritual Energy Revival that completely shattered the originally stable chessboard, ordinary people might never have known that "ghosts" truly exist in this world.

I still remember when the Spiritual Energy Revival first began, about three-quarters of the ghosts captured by the Special Affairs Bureau were of the most heinous sort.

These evil ghosts had long since lost their humanity, viewing human lives as mere grass. The power over life and death was entirely in their hands, dictated solely by their own whims. Some even resorted to devouring living people to enhance their cultivation and reach higher realms.

Fortunately, the remaining quarter of the ghosts were mostly those with grievances or unfulfilled wishes. For such ghosts, as long as they hadn't harmed humans, the Special Affairs Bureau would stay true to its original purpose and choose to help them move on to reincarnation through the process of transcendence.

Even so, in the initial stages, the Special Affairs Bureau still suffered immense losses. Because ghosts are inherently unreasonable existences; once a person dies and becomes a ghost, their emotions gradually fade over time.

Especially after being tainted by blood, they no longer view the living as their own kind, but rather as lambs to be slaughtered at will.

Fortunately, the Underworld emerged like a stabilizing force, firmly suppressing the vast majority of evil ghosts and evil cultivation forces.

This significantly reduced the pressure on official agencies worldwide, allowing them to breathe a sigh of relief and gradually return to the relatively stable and peaceful state of the past.

However, the good times did not last long. Just one year later, a Spiritual Energy Storm swept across the globe. Following this storm, various types of Transcendents capable of breaking the limits of the human body began to emerge all over the world.

Although the achievements they could reach in the later stages were far inferior to those of true Cultivators, they were still enough to cause the leaders of various nations a great deal of trouble, plunging them into a period of overwhelming distress.

Once an evil ghost appeared in the world, it would usually be completely eradicated within a few hours under the dual strike of the Underworld—acting simultaneously on both the physical and soulful levels.

Furthermore, a Wandering Soul formed after death would never stay in the Mortal Realm for more than seven days. They would then be taken away by the Soul Reapers responsible for guidance, passing through the Ghost Gate Pass to the Underworld to face judgment and await reincarnation.

However, these Transcendents had no such time limit and could move freely within the Mortal Realm.

Regarding this, Shang Wan Ning truly had no time to worry about these—Transcendents.

There were still countless government affairs in the Netherworld waiting for her to handle, which was already enough to give her a splitting headache.

Unless she encountered certain evil cultivation forces that were wicked, harmful to a region, and had to be eradicated (used to train new recruits), she didn't want to expend any energy (acting like a nanny) to deal with these Transcendent matters.

[Is Girls' Love not sweet enough, or are there not enough 'affairs' to deal with!!!]

[With so many advantages, if various countries still can't solve the Transcendent problem, then let them all be destroyed together!]

In contrast, Great Xia was the most optimistic and open-minded among all nations. Relying on thousands of years of profound heritage, it faced the continuously emerging Transcendents.

Great Xia adopted an attitude of "refusing no one," even welcoming them quite warmly. Because as early as decades ago, Great Xia had already established the Special Affairs Bureau to specifically deal with special incidents. Now, it could conveniently absorb these newly appeared Transcendents as fresh blood to further strengthen itself.

One should know that in the past, most officers of the Special Affairs Bureau were elites carefully selected by the state from the military. Additionally, there were members of the younger generation from various Righteous Factions who came for experience.

Ultimately, these people with Transcendent abilities were also citizens of Great Xia, fellow brothers and sisters to everyone else. Even when facing existences like "ghosts," relatively mild physical means were used. Thus, for Transcendents who were still human, it was even less likely for things to go too far... [In the matter of recruiting Transcendents, it was mainly driven by the Transcendents' own will. For those unwilling to join...

...they only needed to register their relevant information. They could completely return to their original lives and engage in the work or activities they loved, provided they did not violate the laws and regulations of the state.

If a Transcendent harbored ill will toward society, the state, or a specific individual, the resulting harm would surely be unimaginable and incalculable.

Therefore, requiring Transcendents to register was essentially the same as ordinary citizens applying for ID cards. It was like hanging a number tag in the household registration system; in case of an accident, there would be a clear place to look for clues and respond.

Some might find such a practice uncomfortable or even somewhat inhumane, but from a broader perspective, it was undoubtedly a necessary preventive measure.

But do not forget, even if there are several more waves of Spiritual Energy Storms in the future and the emergence of Transcendents and Cultivators becomes the norm, ordinary people still make up the largest portion of the country's population right now.]

..."The government of Great Xia decisively decided to let the Special Affairs Bureau take on a series of important tasks such as supervision, recruitment, and education of Transcendents."

"Doing this is ultimately out of consideration for maintaining social stability and ensuring the safety of the lives and property of ordinary people."

"If any unexpected situation truly occurs, those who rush to the front and disregard their own lives will surely be the heroic and fearless military and Special Affairs Bureau personnel."

Lin Zhihai's gaze was firm, and his voice was as loud as a bell: "As long as one believes that Transcendents possess a basic sense of right and wrong, they should not have any objections to the reasonable arrangements of the Special Affairs Bureau."

"Because everyone knows in their hearts that such arrangements are crucial for the entire country and society."

He paused and then continued: "Those Transcendents who voluntarily choose to join the Special Affairs Bureau will receive the highest priority in resource allocation; as for those who are temporarily unwilling to join, we only require them to register their personal identity information. After a specific period of observation and regular home visits, they will be allowed to continue living in their original way."

Lin Zhihai warned with a serious expression: "Here, the Xia side hopes that the H-Country National Intelligence Service will stop maliciously spreading absurd remarks such as 'Great Xia's Transcendents have no rights of their own'."

"Otherwise, our country's Two Religions Association and the elites of the Special Affairs Bureau will very likely head to H-Country to carry out a so-called 'peaceful exchange' activity!"