During the time Tian Ji Han was near imminent defeat and death in his battle with Yin Na, the Mission Hall of the Heavenly Sword Sect was in an uproar over the scene of Chen Zixi beating three of the other Golden Core cultivators competing with him to accept Xiao Feng’s rescue mission to save his master.

“Don’t listen to him, Xiao Feng. You think Chen Zixi cares about anyone, much less your master?” Ling Ke said. “Perhaps you’ve heard of why no disciple of the sect dares to call Chen Zixi ‘shifu.’ He even extorted his own students! Xiao Feng, to invite this man into your rescue squad is like inviting a tiger to save a flock of sheep.”

The Golden Core cultivator Ling Ke wanted to avoid fighting Chen Zixi, another Golden Core cultivator, by persuading Xiao Feng to quickly hire him by appealing to his values and his loyalty to his master’s virtues, but he did not expect Chen Zixi to cooperate in his little “debate” and derail his momentum.

Chen Zixi, who initially seemed like a battle-crazed maniac who preferred beating into submission over arguing using reason, was calmly standing before the audience of lower-ranked sect disciples with the upright posture of a true righteous sect member.

“It looks like all of Ling Kei’s words are bouncing off of Chen Zixi, truly, ‘sticks and stones may break my bones…’!”

“Who’d imagine that the brutal Chen Zixi had such amazing self control!”

“Yeah, and who’d imagine that the so-called ‘scholarly’ Ling Ke can only resort to attacking his opponent with rumors…”

Not only did Chen Zixi win the approval of the crowd, he reduced Ling Ke to merely slandering Chen Zixi. This did not make Ling Ke look good as a righteous daoist, it made him lose face!

“You have not given a single reason why hiring you is a better decision over choosing me for the mission,” said Chen Zixi calmly, his voice gruff even when calm, as he stroked his white beard smugly.

“I will give you just two reasons why I, and only I, shall be hired for this mission. One, I have a superior Golden Core. Two, I would do anything and everything in my power to save your master, so long as I get paid.”

The crowd discussed Chen Zixi’s words immediately, their conversations so loud that Xiao Feng couldn’t think.

“Chen Zixi’s words about a ‘superior’ Golden Core…is he talking about Ji Han or Ling Ke?”

“Obviously them both, I don’t know about Master Ling Ke but Master Ji Han only had an 89% Golden Core from rushing his closed-door cultivation..”

“Well, he is an orphan after all. Materials for breakthroughs are expensive and hard to come by. Wait, then what’s the purity of Chen Zixi’s Golden Core?”

“You can’t sense it? Chen Zixi has a 94% Golden Core!”

Chen Zi Xi barely did any talking, yet the audience seemed to fill the gaps for him as Ling Ke began to feel a bead of sweat trickle down his neck.

“Correct, I have a 94% Golden Core,” Chen Zixi confirmed, much to the audience’s delight. “Brother Ling Ke, why don’t you tell us what grade your Golden Core is?”

Ling Ke felt his face grow flush with embarrassment. His impending face loss and the rowdy jeers of the crowd made him see red!

“Hurry up, we don’t have time, don’t you remember?” Shouted one person.

“Yeah, the orphan cultivators need saving!”

Xiao Feng watched the fickle audience with shy disapproval. He did not enjoy watching Ling Ke lose face, he actually felt sympathy and sorry on his behalf. The audience jeered and laughed uproariously, clearly only focused on the humbling of a Golden Sect cultivator, they couldn’t care less about Master Ji Han’s life at stake.

Ling Ke couldn’t say it, but he had no choice. There were other Core Formation stage cultivators in the Sect who had the qi sense to scan the quality of his Golden Core grade, but everyone wanted to hear it from his own mouth. The humiliation made him want to crawl back into his mother’s womb!

“N-ninety…”

“What? We can’t hear you! Speak up!”

“Ninety-two percent!”

The audience let the number run through the crowd before they chittered excitedly.

“That is still a really good Golden Core, but if we have to be objective, it’s inferior to Chen Zixi’s however you look at it.”

“Judging from how Chen Zixi handled these other Golden Cores earlier, no demon would be able to stand up to him!”

“That’s right, Chen Zixi is the best! Chen Zixi is the big boss!”

Ling Ke wanted to strangle the audience sucking up to his competition, he could barely think underneath their howls and jeering. Suddenly, Ling Ke had a moment of clarity. He just discovered the way out to salvage the damage done to his face, while also giving Xiao Feng an irresistible offer!

“Two reasons!” Ling Ke shouted. “I will give you two reasons as well, as to why you should hire me over Chen Zixi.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“One, I have many powerful and rare transportation talismans and artifacts, this means no matter how many people are in your squad, I will lend them these mounts, as well as teleportation spells that only they can use. This also means that if you hire my services, we will reach your master in mere hours! The second reason is proof of my certainty that I will get your master back no matter what: if the mission fails, or we find Master Ji Han already dead, I will give you back all of your spirit stones, and even cover your debt from taking the loan from the Mission sect if we fail the mission.”

Xiao Feng did not expect such lofty promises, and evidently neither did the audience. After just berating Ling Ke seconds ago, they were immediately impressed with such terms. Tons of cultivators began praising and kissing the butt of the Ling family.

“Considering the loan the orphan cultivator must have taken out, he’d be in debt for decades. But not only does Master Ling Ke guarantee success, he even offers to pay the orphan cultivator’s debts completely if he fails. Such magnanimity can only be expected of a cultivator from the Ling family!”

“Based on his generosity alone I would pick Ling Ke, the Ling family is just too awesome!”

“Wow, Xiao Feng would have to be an idiot not to pick Ling Ke over Chen Zixi, now.”

Chen Zixi stroked his beard, when he listened to the shifting attitude of the crowd he suddenly emanated his killing intent again.

“That was more than two reasons, was it? Sounds like you are simply desperate to prove the wealth of the Ling clan, instead of earnestly trying to save Master Ji Han with every fiber of your being!”

Chen Zixi was caught off-guard, not expecting his opponent to suddenly slander him!

“And who exactly are you promising— the audience, or Xiao Feng? In my opinion, you are more concerned with saving face than trying to fulfill the client’s wishes.”

“You-!” Ling Ke was so angry he wanted to cough blood. “You of all people have no right to be preaching about the helping of others! You obviously don’t care one bit if Tian Ji Han dies. Xiao Feng, this is the type of man who does not belong in a righteous sect at all. Mark my words: he will walk away with your money after taking too long to save your master, don’t make this lifetime mistake!”

“I never said I cared about other cultivators,” said Chen Zixi. His simple rebuttal immediately silenced the entire hall.

“Especially those with inferior Golden Cores,” continued Chen Zixi. “Not even if they’ve got some worthless “pillar disciple of virtue” title…”

Xiao Feng’s eyes flashed at Chen Zixi’s referring directly about his master.

“...but I do care about Chen Zixi! I need those spirit stones. If you offer me the mission, I will do everything within my power to save Master Ji Han before calamity strikes.”

The hall was silent, as they looked to Xiao Feng to observe his reaction.

“Xiao Feng, Ling Ke can get you to Master Ji Han faster, and even offers you a contingency plan if things go south. All reason dictates to you that Ling Ke is the better decision,” said Brother Sun Lu, who had hurried by his side along with Brother Liu Kang when the flood of other disciples came into the Mission hall.

“Aye, that Chen Zixi is not to be trusted,” said Brother Liu Kang. “He’s got no class nor honor, it’s clear that everything he said was carefully calculated, and although Ling Ke lost face, I agree with his criticism that Chen Zixi does not belong in a righteous sect.”

“Xiao Feng,” Ying Er whispered in his ear. “You should consider the consequences of angering either cultivator. Chen Zixi may be a raging tyrant, but he has almost no backing, whereas the Ling family is a powerful clan in the Heavenly Sword Sect. But sister Ying Er respects your judgment. The decision is ultimately yours. Who will you go with?”

Xiao Feng couldn’t wait any longer. With a determined look on his face, he cupped his hands and bowed toward…

“Chen Zixi! Please save my master along with my friends.”

The audience was amazed. Ling Ke’s face was ashen, before Xiao Feng observed it slowly morphing into a mask of rage and humiliation.

There was not one person in the hall that was not shocked. Chen Zixi laughed aloud in triumph, as he quickly floated over to where Xiao Feng was. His tall, white-haired figure made a shadow over Xiao Feng.

“Good! Good decision, Xiao Feng. I have only one request to ask of the client before I start the mission: that I receive the payment in advance.”

Xiao Feng’s heart sank. Some of the audience protested this request of Chen Zixi as well.

“What! He goes and makes such an outrageous demand from a poor Qi Condensation cultivator, he is shameless like a demon!”

“Aiya, but it’s too late. The orphan cultivator made his decision, when you ride a tiger it’s not easy to get off. You reap what you sow!”

To everyone’s amazement, Xiao Feng refused: “No.”

Chen Zixi’s face turned dark. The shadow of his brow was dominating and clearly in an unpleasant mood, looking as if he’d crush Xiao Feng if he opened his mouth. Xiao Feng’s teammates and the crowd held their breath, until unexpectedly Chen Zixi harrumphed and turned away.

Xiao Feng quickly followed him. As the crowd parted away to let them pass, Xiao Feng saw Ling Ke’s glare in the corner of his eye. Xiao Feng suddenly remembered Ying Er’s words, but he decided to not dwell on the consequences of offending a rich clan’s Golden cultivator. It was all in the past, he had already made his decision and could not take it back. Thus he chose to worry about the Ling family’s wrath for later.

“Alright,” said Chen Zixi. “Let’s go save the ‘pillar disciple of virtue.’” With a toss of his beard, and an arrogant flick of his robe, Chen Zixi left the hall a champion of the showdown between Golden Core cultivators of the Heavenly Sword Sect, gaining considerable respect and prestige in the eyes of the lesser ranked Sect disciples.

Xiao Feng, Brother Sun Lu, Brother Liu Kang and Ying Er quickly trailed after Chen Zixi.

When they had reached the steps outside the Mission Hall, Chen Zixi leaped and flew in the direction of the Western-most plateau of the Heavenly Sword Sect. Xiao Feng and his teammates struggled to follow him, as they took several leaps and flights to finally reach the plateau where Chen Zixi was preparing a spell.

They gathered behind the meditating figure of Chen Zixi and tried to observe what he was doing, when he spoke:

“Since I don’t own any desolate beasts or multiple mounts, this will be our only method of traveling together. I will be transferring your souls with this formation.”

“What?!” Everyone was shocked. “Transferring our souls?!”

“Souls are not to be played with,” said Brother Liu Kang in a trembling voice. “Most cultivators and especially righteous ones don’t use any techniques targeting or manipulating the soul until they’ve reached the Nascent soul stage, the only way you’d be able to get ahold of such techniques is if you’re a morally gray cultivator or…”

Brother Liu Kang’s words died in his mouth mid-sentence as he saw that Chen Zixi’s eyes were open, glaring at him with such intensity as if they dared him to finish his sentence.