"Village Chief Sun, he is a registered disciple of our Floating Cloud Sect," Qi Li said, quickly stepping in front of Su Xuan to fabricate an identity for him when she noticed Village Chief Sun's expression change.

"Registered disciple?" Village Chief Sun narrowed his eyes, sizing Su Xuan up from head to toe. The more he looked, the stranger the young man seemed. His clothes are clearly high-end. He's wearing a shiny watch on his wrist, and even his shoes are obviously expensive... This man looks exactly like a young master from the world below!

Wearing only a pair of worn-out cloth shoes, Village Chief Sun tucked a carton of cigarettes under his arm. "Young Qi," he said, pointing at Su Xuan, "I guard the first station into the mountains, and I can't allow people from the world below to enter at will. This young man here doesn't look like he belongs in the mountains at all! He looks like he's just accompanying you on a leisurely tour!"

"He really is one of us!" Lu Dongshan chimed in. "He's been responsible for procuring resources for our sect in the world below. All told, he's been down there for five or six years, so it's only normal that you don't recognize him."

"Does he have your sect's token?" Village Chief Sun asked.

"Well..."

Qi Li and Lu Dongshan were at a loss. Su Xuan wasn't from the mountain world, let alone a registered disciple of the Floating Cloud Sect. How could he possibly have a token?

"I won't make things difficult for you, Young Qi," Village Chief Sun said. "You and your senior brother can enter the mountains first. As for him, he can enter once he has a proper identity."

"What if I insist on entering now?" Su Xuan took a step forward, his hand slipping inside his jacket.

Village Chief Sun took a step back, his eyes fixed on Su Xuan's hidden hand. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked in a low, tense voice. He looks like he's reaching for a weapon! Like a gun!

"Ah..." Su Xuan suddenly put on a roguish grin. He pulled out his phone and said to Village Chief Sun in a low voice, "Brother, I really am with the Floating Cloud Sect. If you could just help me out here, I could... send you a 'red envelope'?"

As he spoke, he glanced down at his phone screen. The signal was flickering between one and two bars.

"Er..." A corner of Village Chief Sun's mouth twitched. So he wants to bribe me!

Qi Li and Lu Dongshan didn't know whether to laugh or cry at Su Xuan's move. It seemed he had seen right through the village chief's character.

"Take a look, Brother Sun," Su Xuan said, opening his digital wallet to show his account balance.

HISS!

The moment Village Chief Sun saw the long string of zeros after the first digit, he sucked in a sharp breath. For a moment, he couldn't even count how much money was in Su Xuan's account.

Village Chief Sun's eyes flickered. After a quick look around, he took out his own phone and opened his payment QR code. He leaned in and whispered to Su Xuan, "Young man, you carry too much of the secular world's air about you, not at all like someone from the mountains. You must train hard for a few days after you get back!"

"Understood." Su Xuan smiled, scanned the QR code, and began the transfer.

Village Chief Sun spoke with hopeful anticipation, "We had heavy rains a few days ago, and one of our bridges collapsed after being flooded. We're short on funds to repair it, hehehe!"

His meaning was clear: he wanted Su Xuan to pay for the new bridge.

Hearing this, Su Xuan paused and glanced at Qi Li. Repairing a bridge must cost at least a hundred thousand, right? Isn't this old man being a bit too greedy?

Qi Li, however, understood the situation. She gave a slight shake of her head, signaling for him to proceed with the transfer.

Su Xuan pursed his lips and transferred two hundred thousand yuan directly to Village Chief Sun.

Upon receiving the money, Village Chief Sun's face lit up with a broad smile. He even proactively added Su Xuan as a friend, promising to invite him to see the new bridge once it was built and swearing he wouldn't personally touch a cent of the money.

Just then, a van pulled up, and a rough-faced man climbed out of the driver's seat.

"Are they the ones going into the mountains?" the man asked Village Chief Sun.

"Yes!" Village Chief Sun handed the carton of cigarettes from under his arm to the man. "They're friends of mine. Drive carefully on the way up."

"Got it." The man took the cigarettes and gestured for Su Xuan's group to get into the van.

Qi Li and Lu Dongshan boarded the van first. Just as Su Xuan was about to get in, the driver suddenly threw a punch at him!

Su Xuan whipped around, his palm striking out to meet the attack.

SMACK!

The fist and palm collided.

The driver's feet scraped across the ground as he staggered back several steps, a look of pure shock on his face. Su Xuan, however, remained rooted to the spot. A puff of dust billowed out from under his feet. If Butler Liu had been there, he would have recognized at once that Su Xuan had discharged the entire rebound force into the ground.

"I know you!" the driver said after steadying himself. "You're not from the mountain world at all! I've seen you in short videos online!"

Hearing this, Su Xuan grimaced. So much for being famous. It's not always a good thing, getting recognized in a backwater place like this.

"Now, now!" Having accepted Su Xuan's money, Village Chief Sun quickly moved to smooth things over. He patted the driver's shoulder and said, "He's a registered disciple of the Floating Cloud Sect who helps them acquire resources in the world below. It's getting late. You should get them on their way!"

"We have to verify his identity!" the driver insisted, refusing to back down. "We can't break the station's rules!"

"Does this count as my identity?" Su Xuan suddenly took the offensive. He lunged forward, sweeping his palm toward the man. This time, he wasn't using Ruyi Tai Chi but the Cloud Wave Palm, a skill he had comprehended from the Floating Cloud Sect's introductory manual.

As his palm shot forward, a whistling sound cut through the air!

Qi Li and Lu Dongshan watched in astonishment. When did Su Xuan learn the Cloud Wave Palm? And his form is so proficient, it's as if he's been practicing this palm art since the day he was born!

The driver's brow furrowed. He took a deep breath and thrust his own palm out to meet the attack.

BANG!

The man was knocked back again, the soles of his feet burning and the blood rushing in his chest.

Su Xuan stood tall, one hand behind his back and the other held before him. "So tell me," he said coolly, "where am I from?"

"My apologies!" The driver cupped his fists in a salute to Su Xuan and boarded the van, thoroughly humbled.

Su Xuan glanced at the stunned Village Chief Sun before getting into the vehicle himself.

Village Chief Sun watched the van drive off, muttering, "Unbelievable. How could he cultivate such a low-tier, introductory palm technique to such a terrifying degree?"

He then looked up at the massive fissure in Zhuti Mountain and whispered to himself, "He's a bit like him... but I pray he doesn't walk the same path."

The van bounced along a crater-filled dirt road, bypassing the mysterious village as it drove deeper into the mountains. From the hilltops, stray dogs watched the vehicle disappear into the distance.

Inside the van, Su Xuan watched his phone's signal drop from two bars to one, and then to nothing at all. This is it, he thought, I'm getting further and further from the world below. But this doesn't feel like a long trip. As soon as I find the medicine, I'm heading right back.

Around one or two in the morning, the van came to a stop on a mountain ridge. "This is as far as I can take you," the driver said, waking Su Xuan and the others from their sleep.

As Su Xuan woke up, a strange expression suddenly crossed his face...

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