Chapter 94: Bribe Money

Zhen Zhen wasn’t annoyed by Su Che’s reckless behavior; instead, she admired his bold and daring personality, which was somewhat similar to her own. Besides, the Red Flame Dharma Wheel was something she had discarded herself, so she didn’t take it to heart. As a disciple at the mid-stage of the Foundation Establishment phase, one should at least use top-quality spiritual artifacts.

Moreover, Su Che wasn’t wrong—using so many Earth-Diving Pills during the day must have been extremely costly for him. At market price, it was at least a loss of thousands of spirit stones.

So, Zhen Zhen nodded and said, “If Brother Su hadn’t mentioned it, I might have forgotten. I do indeed need to make up for the loss you’ve suffered. Using the Red Flame Dharma Wheel as compensation seems quite reasonable to me.”

She then took out a small porcelain bottle from her Qiankun Bag and said, “I didn’t bring many valuable items on this trip. These three ‘Great Completion Pills’ are eighth-grade spiritual pills. In the future, if you face the Foundation Establishment phase, taking them together with Foundation Establishment Pills can increase your success rate by 10%.”

Fei Yun immediately stepped forward to take the bottle, then handed it to Su Che, whispering, “Pills that can increase the success rate of Foundation Establishment are extremely rare and impossible to buy in the market. Senior Sister obtained six from our master and gave three to Senior Sister Zhen Lan for her Foundation Establishment journey. These three are now yours at a discount…”

Su Che nodded slightly and quickly stored the pills, feeling delighted. “Not bad, not bad. These three Great Completion Pills are the real treasure of today. After all, as long as one has enough spirit stones, they can buy artifacts and spiritual artifacts in the market. But it’s pills like these—so rare—that are the true treasures.”

Yet, despite his joy, Su Che still found it strange. How could Zhen Zhen be willing to give him such a valuable thing?

Just as he was wondering, Zhen Zhen herself provided the answer…

“Brother Su, are these three Great Completion Pills satisfactory to you?”

Lying half on the ground, Zhen Zhen asked this question. Seeing Su Che nod, she added, “Since you’re satisfied, I beg of you—after returning to the mountain temple, don’t mention today’s incident to anyone, okay?”

“No problem,” Su Che agreed readily. Only then did he realize that all her actions were meant to keep him quiet.

Today’s events were undoubtedly extremely dangerous and embarrassing for Zhen Zhen. She had set out to capture Su Che, only to accidentally encounter a demonic cultivator. Not only was she severely injured, but her magical treasures were also stolen. Fortunately, Su Che repaid her kindness, saving her life…
Such a dramatic and ironic incident—if it became known—would surely make Zhen Zhen a laughingstock in the Tianxuan Sect. She would lose all face, face reprimand from her master, and might even leave a poor impression on the sect leader.
Su Che believed this was the real reason he stayed, not some so-called act of protection.
Of course, for Su Che, it didn’t matter. He wasn’t the kind to spread rumors behind others. Even if she didn’t offer any bribes, he wouldn’t go around spreading such stories. After all, he hadn’t defeated her through real skill, so there was nothing to boast about.
Next, the three left the chaotic battlefield and headed to another mountain. Su Che dug a simple cave, where Zhen Zhen and Fei Yun went in to recover, while Su Che symbolically stayed outside.
This mountain area was only a little over a thousand li from the Tianxuan Sect. In fact, few external demonic cultivators passed by here. Encountering that bald man during the day could only be attributed to Zhen Zhen’s bad luck—stumbling into him despite such a slim chance.
The night passed peacefully, with no one causing trouble. Early the next morning, Su Che called into the cave, “It’s dawn. I’m leaving.”
Then he mounted his flying sword and flew away, leaving no chance for them to make further requests.
By the time Fei Yun rushed out of the cave, he had already flown far away. The young woman could only sigh sadly, “He really has a heart of stone…”
…
Su Che flew for over ten li before landing again. He put down his flying sword and took out the “Red Flame Dharma Wheel.” After getting a brief grasp of it, he was able to control it properly.
He soared into the sky once more. After flying for a while, Su Che confirmed that Zhen Zhen was right—the Red Flame Dharma Wheel was indeed an excellent magical artifact. Its offensive and defensive capabilities were still unknown, but as a flying tool, it was more than twice as fast as his previous top-grade sword.
In the Immortal Prison, Lao He had already counted the gains from the previous day. Leaving aside trivial items, the most valuable items were:

A top-grade spiritual artifact: a white jade ring; a first-class spiritual artifact: a flying sword; a first-class spiritual artifact: a blood-colored demon knife; a first-class spiritual artifact: the Flag of Ten Thousand Ghosts; a middle-class spiritual artifact: the Blood Cloud Banner; three eighth-grade pills, “Great Completion Pills”; seven seventh-grade pills, “Fierce Evil Pills”… Hundreds of pills of grades below fifth grade, but like the seventh-grade “Fierce Evil Pills,” they were all demonic pills from that bald man and completely unsuitable for orthodox cultivators to use—only suitable to be sold when the chance arose. He also obtained over seven thousand spirit stones, found in the bald man’s Qiankun Bag. Adding to this, the low-grade spiritual artifact, the Purple Gold Hammer, obtained from Fat Song half a year ago, brought the total number of spiritual artifacts of various grades to six. Once Su Che reached the Foundation Establishment stage, he wouldn’t lack spiritual artifacts to use. However, the Flag of Ten Thousand Ghosts and the Blood Cloud Banner had too strong demonic energy, so as a disciple of Tianxuan Sect, Su Che definitely shouldn’t use them. They could be sold on the black market or exchanged for other items. Overall, although he was chased desperately by Zhen Zhen the previous day, his gains later were extremely substantial, quickly making up for both material and mental losses. In just one and a half hours, Su Che flew two thousand li and arrived in Dongping County of the Great Xia Kingdom. Only after truly becoming a cultivator did Su Che realize that various countries in the mortal world were actually supported or controlled by some cultivation sects. The Great Xia Kingdom was one of the vassal states of Tianxuan Sect, required to pay large amounts of tribute to it every year. Thus, whenever demons and monsters caused trouble in the human world, the Great Xia Kingdom would send people to report to Tianxuan Sect, ensuring timely resolution. Such matters became sect tasks assigned by Tianxuan Sect to its many disciples. This time, the task of “evil ghosts harming people” that Su Che had to complete was undoubtedly the most terrifying disaster for the people of Dongping County. But for cultivators, it was just three deaths and five disappearances—nothing serious. Even if there were indeed evil ghosts, they weren’t particularly powerful. Indeed, relying on his experience as a constable, Su Che solved the case of evil ghosts harming people on the very night he arrived in Dongping County. Not only that, but he also captured the evil ghost and imprisoned it in the Immortal Prison. Later, Lao He discovered that the aura characteristics of this evil ghost were exactly the same as those of the hundreds of evil ghosts sealed in the Bald Man’s Flag of Ten Thousand Ghosts, as if they were all created from the same template.

Su Che inferred that, very likely, the bald man had stayed in the vicinity of Dongping County for some time. Perhaps after a fight with someone, one evil ghost was lost from the Wan Gui Fan, and he then wandered to Dongping County to cause trouble among the people… Whether this inference was true or not no longer mattered. In any case, the evil ghost had been captured, and the bald man had disappeared without a trace—so the matter had reached a conclusion. After an afternoon, Su Che returned to Tianxuan Sect.

On Xuanji Peak, in the Teaching Hall, Su Che met Elder Lin again and successfully handed in his task.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

Elder Lin took out a spiritual talisman seal and stamped three bright red “Excellent” marks on Su Che’s assessment certificate in succession.

Potential Assessment: Promoted to the later stage of Qi Training at the age of sixteen, with great fortune and diligence, hence rated as Excellent!

Sect Contribution: The sect contribution value has already reached over 8,000, far exceeding the required 5,000, hence rated as Excellent!

Task Assessment: The task was completed beyond expectations, hence rated as Excellent!

These three “Excellent” ratings once again proved the saying “It’s easier to get things done when you have connections.” Out of respect for Linglong, Yuqing, and the Elder of the Medicine Garden, Elder Lin truly went out of his way to make things easy for Su Che.

Especially the last rating, “Completed the task beyond expectations,” made Su Che feel somewhat ashamed, as the task was actually too easy—just a short outing, and it was effortlessly done.

“Su Che, do you know?” Elder Lin said meaningfully, “To get three ‘Excellent’ ratings from me is by no means easy…”

“But the disciple managed to get them very easily,” Su Che said obediently, bowing deeply. “I will always remember Elder Lin’s kindness and never forget it.”

“Mm.”

Elder Lin nodded in satisfaction and handed over the assessment certificate. “Congratulations, you have become an inner disciple of our sect. Today, you will be able to meet your master.”

“Master? Venerable Xuanji?”

Su Che’s heart trembled. For a moment, he couldn’t tell whether he should feel joy or worry…