Chapter Thirteen: The Fat and the Thin Partners

“This kid is quite slick,” said Fat Song with a laugh, though a cold glint flashed in his eyes.
His hooked nose and narrowed eyes made him appear even darker in mood.
As for Su Che’s demand to “uphold justice,” to be honest, the two of them couldn’t completely ignore it. After all, their mission as members of their sect was precisely to stay here and handle various disputes among self-cultivating disciples—nothing short of “upholding justice.”
If the resolution wasn’t fair, the wronged disciples could appeal to the enforcement team, and if they still weren’t satisfied, there was an even higher authority…
In other words, if a self-cultivating disciple believed they had suffered a great injustice, they could, after paying the necessary price, have the chance to meet the highest enforcer of Tianxuan Sect—the Elder of the Punishment Hall. Though the odds were slim, no one could guarantee such a miracle wouldn’t happen.
If things reached the Elder of the Punishment Hall, there would be no need for any evidence. What kind of figure was the Elder? He possessed unfathomable divine powers. To figure out the trivial disputes among mere mortals in the Qi Cultivation stage, he only needed to glance at them to see through everything.
That would be disastrous!
Although no one is perfect, the righteous paths of immortals only allow disciples to make unintentional mistakes. Once it came to basic moral integrity, those who deliberately made mistakes would, even if they didn’t die, essentially ruin their future.
This was the way of immortal sects—deception and scheming were allowed, but those in power were by no means as easy to fool as secular law enforcement agencies. Your so-called wisdom paled in comparison to their omnipotent magic spells—like black letters on blank paper, completely exposed and transparent!
“Well then, I’ll uphold justice for you!” Fat Song said with a smile, looking like a rather amiable little fat man.
He wasn’t old either, only seventeen or eighteen. Calling him a “little fat man” wasn’t an exaggeration. But Su Che had already seen through him—he was a snake in sheep’s clothing, likely harboring extremely malicious intentions.
“Thank you, uncle,” Su Che said, trying to maintain appearances, and bowed again.
“Jiang Chen!” Fat Song turned to look at Jiang Chen and asked, “Su Che said his identity jade token is with you. What do you say?”
The intent behind this question was obvious! Jiang Chen glared hatefully at Su Che and gritted his teeth, saying, “Reporting to uncle, I never found his identity jade token. This guy is completely useless. If he can’t even keep his own identity token, who’s to blame?”

The use of the character ‘pick up’ is excellent! Fat Song gave him an approving look and nodded slightly. Losing or finding things—such trivial matters—wouldn’t draw much attention from anyone. Even if Su Che went to the enforcement team to file a complaint, no one would take such a minor issue seriously.
“Su Che,” Fat Song turned back to him and said, “If you accidentally lost something, go back to where you lost it and search carefully. You might find it.”
Su Che knew that at this point, he really had to pull out his trump card. Those two outer sect disciples must have received quite a lot from Jiang Chen to be so biased in his favor.
Very well! Su Che took out an object from his bosom—it was a smooth white jade plaque. He flipped the plaque back and forth, showing them both the characters ‘Mystery’ on the front and ‘Jade Clear’ on the back.
“Senior Jade Clear from Mystery Peak!”
Fat Song and Hook-Nosed were shocked, sitting up straight as they stared at the jade plaque in Su Che’s hand without blinking. Their earlier casual arrogance had vanished completely.
“How do you have Senior Jade Clear’s token plaque?” Fat Song seemed quite nervous.
“Senior Jade Clear is my recommender,” Su Che deliberately avoided giving further explanations. That one sentence was enough; they could imagine the implications on their own.
“You!”
Fat Song pointed at Su Che and asked coldly, “Why didn’t you say earlier? Are you trying to trick us on purpose?”
“I dare not,” Su Che bowed and said, “I just didn’t expect that such a trivial matter would require Senior Jade Clear’s token.”
His tone was humble, but it seemed to imply: If the token doesn’t work, then we’ll have to bring in Senior Jade Clear…
“Jiang Chen!”
Fat Song shouted, scaring Jiang Chen beside him.
“Senior…” Jiang Chen made a pitiful face.
“Return the item to the owner!” Fat Song’s expression was grim; his round face almost turned long.
“Senior…” Jiang Chen was unwilling to give up.
“Stop talking!” Hook-Nosed, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke. Those three words were squeezed out, each one icy cold.
“Oh.”
Jiang Chen pulled out a green jade plaque from a leather bag he carried. About the size of half a palm, it had ‘Mystery Foundation’ on the front and ‘Su Che’ on the back—this was the identity talisman for self-cultivating disciples, recording information like rank and sect contributions.
Whoosh!

The jade talisman carried Jiang Chen’s deep hatred and shot angrily at Su Che. Unfortunately, Su Che was still at the Physical Training stage, while such a move posed no challenge to him who was already at the Qi Cultivation first level. Easily catching his jade talisman, Su Che bowed again to Song the Fat Man and the Man with a Hooked Nose, saying in a solemn voice, “Thank you, uncle. I take my leave.” The term “uncle” was merely to avoid giving them an opportunity to exploit etiquette rules; soon, he would be on equal footing with them. Watching Su Che leave, Song the Fat Man and the Man with a Hooked Nose exchanged glances, seemingly sharing some thoughts. “Uncle, is that Yu Qing still that powerful?” Jiang Chen persistently asked. “More than that!” Song the Fat Man wanted to slap him but held back, after all, he had already taken the benefits Jiang Chen had offered. “Yu Qing from Xuanji Peak is a standout on the Inner Sect Disciples’ Ranking. At just 25 years old, he has reached the highest level of the Qi Cultivation tenth stage and is considered one of the ten most likely to become a true disciple within five years.” “Ah!” Jiang Chen was stunned and took a long time before saying, “I’m very familiar with Su Che’s background. When did he get such powerful backers?” “You ask me? Who else can I ask?” Finally losing his patience, Song the Fat Man raised his hand and slapped him on the back of the head. It didn’t hurt much, but Jiang Chen collapsed like a deflated balloon, murmuring, “What should I do? He won’t spare me. I’m dead…” “Hmph, not necessarily,” Song the Fat Man smirked faintly. “Ah?” Jiang Chen perked up, grabbed Song the Fat Man’s wrist, and pleaded, “Uncle, please save me! I still have a hundred spirit stones and am willing to give them all to you two uncles as a gift.” “A hundred isn’t enough…” Song the Fat Man chuckled. “You need to write us an IOU. At least five hundred spirit stones. You can repay this amount in installments from your future contributions to the sect. How about that?” “Okay, okay!” Jiang Chen didn’t care about such things anymore; he just wanted to save his life first. Song the Fat Man and the Man with a Hooked Nose exchanged another glance—one with a sly smile, the other with narrowed eyes… These two partners, the fat one a smiling tiger and the thin one a gloomy man, had a communication style that others couldn’t fathom at all. … Su Che left Weiran Residence and first went to the Inner Affairs Hall in the city. He handed in two spirit herbs, earning 600 contribution points plus an additional reward of 150 lower-grade spirit stones. The contribution points required to enter the sect were 1,000. He already had over 500 from his identity jade talisman, and with another 600, it would definitely be enough. As for the remaining seven spirit herbs, he could exchange them for contribution points later if needed.

At the first level of Qi training, one needs 1,000 contribution points. With both conditions met, becoming an outer disciple should not be a problem. There is still one final hurdle, namely the basic combat assessment, to prove that one truly possesses fighting ability and is not just an incompetent fool. To take the entrance assessment, one must go to the ‘Chengxian Hall’, which is also located within Xuanji City. However, Su Che did not head to the Chengxian Hall immediately. Instead, he left the city, took the jade plaque—a token from Taoist Yu Qing—and went to the outer edge of the Tianxuanzong mountain range, where he found one of the entrances to the mountains.