Chapter Eleven: Inside Xuanji City

As the name implies, Xuanji City exists to supply the Tianxuan Sect with novice disciples. The city’s permanent population is nearly two million, of which at least 80% are self-training disciples with temporary registrations.

With such a large number of self-training disciples living in one city, services like shops, inns, and taverns are essential. However, every property in Xuanji City belongs to the Tianxuan Sect and is never sold to outsiders.

In other words, to rent a house in Xuanji City for long-term residence, money or goods are not enough—what matters is the sect’s contribution points. It’s not expensive at all; as long as one doesn’t slack off and completes a few low-risk sect tasks, it’s not hard to afford the rent.

After entering the city, Su Che followed his memory to find the residence he “rented.”

The residence was quite large, covering over an acre, with four bedrooms, as well as a living room, kitchen, and toilet. The front yard was also spacious enough to allow free movement when practicing martial arts.

Of course, such a large residence wasn’t meant for just Su Che alone—it would be a waste. The four bedrooms meant four people sharing it, with each person only needing two sect contribution points per month.

The man who killed Su Che’s predecessor in the Blood Curtain Mountains also lived here. After living together for over two years and getting to know each other well, their relationship had become quite close, which made it possible for them to form a team and venture into dangerous places in search of opportunities.

Unexpectedly, just because of a rare herb, that man killed him without caring about their past friendship.

That man’s name was Jiang Chen. Su Che wanted to find him—whether to avenge himself or not was aside for now—but he must retrieve his identity jade token first.

Fighting among sect members is prohibited in Xuanji City. To resolve grudges, there are only two options: either wait patiently for the other party to leave the city and look for an opportunity in the wilderness, or report the matter to the city’s law enforcement team and request them to punish the other party according to sect rules. Of course, this requires sufficient evidence; otherwise, it’s difficult to convict them.

It’s never too late to take revenge. Whether there’s evidence or not, Su Che didn’t intend to rely on others to avenge himself.

He would kill Jiang Chen to honor the spirit of that 14-year-old boy!

In the valley, Jiang Chen ambushed Su Che and stole his identity jade token. This token represented a self-training disciple’s temporary identity and also contained over 500 sect contribution points accumulated over three years.

While it was possible to replace the lost identity jade token, unfortunately, all the original contribution points would be reset after replacement.

Everyone understood that this was also a form of punishment. Who made you so incompetent that you could even lose something as important as an identity jade talisman? What else could you do?

In the courtyard, a young man dressed in martial arts attire was practicing boxing. Though only thirteen years old, he had been practicing martial arts for many years. He had broad shoulders, a sturdy build, and a robust frame. Just by looking at his back, without seeing his childlike face, one might think he was a fully grown, burly man.

As soon as Su Che stepped into the courtyard, the boy froze, his eyes widening like those of an ox. Pointing at Su Che, he stammered, “Senior Su, you… you’re not…”

“You think I’m dead?” Su Che smiled slightly and casually closed the courtyard gate.

“Yes, that’s right,” the burly boy nodded vigorously. “Senior Jiang said you were taken away by the monsters in the Blood Curtain Mountains and died on the spot…”

Su Che sneered and glanced at the wooden door of one of the bedrooms, asking, “Where’s Jiang Chen?”

“Senior Jiang moved away two days ago.”

“Moved away?” Su Che frowned slightly. After thinking for a moment, he asked again, “Where’s Senior Wang?”

“Senior Wang is meditating inside,” the burly boy pointed to another bedroom.

“Good.” Su Che gave him a firm pat on the shoulder. “Hutou, keep practicing your boxing. I’ll go talk to Senior Wang.”

“Oh.”

The burly boy nodded simply, clearly an honest person with a somewhat dull personality.

Upon reaching the door of Senior Wang’s bedroom, Su Che knocked and called out, “Senior Wang, sorry to disturb you.”

“Who is it? Su Che?”

An exclamation came from inside immediately, clearly showing great surprise at Su Che’s voice.

In the blink of an eye, the door opened. It was also a young man, thinner in build with slightly darker skin. His expression appeared much more mature compared to Hutou, who was practicing boxing.

“That’s great, Junior Su! You’re safe!”

“I’m not safe. I almost died,” Su Che shook his head, deliberately showing anger. “I never expected that ‘Jiang Chen’ is such a heartless and treacherous scoundrel!”

“What?”

Senior Wang was even more shocked. But being a mature young man, he quickly reacted, grabbed Su Che’s wrist, and whispered, “Come in and talk.”

Entering the house and sitting down, Su Che recounted the whole story of how Jiang Chen had schemed against him. Of course, it couldn’t be called “reviving through a corpse’s body” — rather, he had been seriously injured. Fortunately, he was saved by Uncle Yu Qing, an inner disciple of Xuanji Peak, which allowed him to survive the crisis. As a result of this misfortune, he was blessed — eating bear flesh for several days, which enabled him to condense true energy and officially enter the first level of Qi cultivation…

“Ah, so that’s how it is…”
Senior Brother Wang’s expression changed throughout the story. At first, he felt concern, then envy, and finally he sighed, “I never thought he was such a despicable person. Nor did I expect that you, junior brother, have such good fortune — not only have you condensed true energy, but you’ve also won Uncle Yu Qing’s approval. Truly, those who survive great disasters will surely enjoy good fortune later!”

Su Che nodded slightly and fell silent for a moment…

Senior Brother Wang was also 14 years old, just one month older than him. With only two months left before the deadline for reaching 15 years old in terms of bone age, his inner pressure and sense of urgency need hardly be described. Hearing that Daoist Yu Qing was willing to act as Su Che’s recommendation for entry naturally filled him with envy.

With Daoist Yu Qing’s recommendation, Su Che could not only become an outer disciple but also gain a patron within Tianxuan Sect. The status of an inner disciple was far beyond that of an outer disciple.

It’s no exaggeration to say that in a super sect like Tianxuan Sect, the importance of an inner disciple could even exceed that of twenty outer disciples combined.

“Senior Brother Wang, I need to find Jiang Chen and get back my identity talisman.” After a short pause, Su Che said, “Revenge can wait. The top priority is to become an outer disciple, so as not to worry too much.”

“That’s exactly right,” Senior Brother Wang said with approval. “Once you become a full-fledged disciple, dealing with him will be a piece of cake.”

However, he shook his head slightly and changed his tone. “I thought so too. That kid just moved away quietly without giving any extra explanations. It turns out he made a fortune and is feeling guilty… Yesterday, someone told me they saw him hanging around with some outer disciples, seemingly clinging to someone’s favor… Junior Brother Su, you need to hurry up, or that kid might get ahead of you.”

What Senior Brother Wang meant was that they must not let Jiang Chen take the lead. If he became an outer disciple first and gathered too many connections, it would be much harder to deal with him later.

Su Che nodded in agreement and asked, “Senior Brother Wang, where do you think I should look for him?”

“Go check out ‘Weiran Ju’. Someone saw him there yesterday.”

“Okay, Senior Wang, I’ll go find him now. We can talk again later.” Su Che stood up. Before leaving, he thought for a moment and added, “Senior, don’t be too anxious. You still have two months left. If I become an outer disciple, I’ll definitely find a way to help you.”
“Thank you, junior brother.” Senior Wang quickly stood up, bowed, and reminded him, “Be careful. Be patient when necessary, and don’t act on impulse.”
“I understand.”
Su Che nodded and turned to leave.