Chapter 658 - 9: Refinement Cultivation

As Chen Chuan was returning to Yangzhi City, a luxury car driving from Central City arrived and stopped in front of the Administrative Affairs Hall.

Three men stepped out of the car. One of them, wearing sunglasses, looked up at the administrative building, its style still stuck several decades in the past, with a look of disdain.

After looking for a moment, the three men walked toward the building.

Inside the Civil Affairs Chief’s office, Zhu Xian was handling official business when his secretary came in and whispered a few words in his ear. His brow furrowed. "Are you sure?" he asked.

The secretary nodded. "They’re carrying a letter of introduction from Councilor Shao of the Central City Council." As he spoke, he took out the letter and placed it on the desk.

Zhu Xian thought for a moment, capped his fountain pen, and leaned back in his chair. "They’re not here to cause trouble, are they?"

"Only three of them came," the secretary said. "It doesn’t look like they’re here for trouble."

Zhu Xian stared at the letter of introduction. He didn’t touch it. Instead, he dismissed his secretary, then reached out, picked up a separate telephone on his desk, and dialed a number.

After a long wait, the call connected. He immediately stood up and said deferentially, "Sir, it’s me."

An old voice came from the other end. "Ah, Xiaozhu. What is it? Have you run into some trouble?"

Zhu Xian said, "Teacher, there is something your student doesn’t understand and would like to ask for your guidance. It’s like this..."

About ten minutes later, the secretary was called back in. Zhu Xian instructed him, "Have our people cooperate with them. Assign someone to accompany them, and if they want to go out, find a way to protect them."

The secretary asked, "Mayor, should we notify the Patrol Bureau?"

Zhu Xian thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No. Just use the Administrative Affairs Hall’s security detail."

The secretary nodded and went out to make the arrangements.

Around eleven in the morning, Chen Chuan returned to Yangzhi City. The Headquarter had replied last night, confirming they had taken over the case, so he no longer needed to worry about any reversals.

Just then, the telegraph operator said, "Chief, a telegram from the bureau." He handed over a decoded message.

Chen Chuan took it and glanced at it. He initially thought it was about a matter at the bureau, but upon reading, he saw it was actually the Administrative Affairs Hall looking for him, and in the name of Civil Affairs Chief Zhu Xian. They couldn’t find him yesterday, so the Processing Bureau was relaying the message.

He considered it for a moment, then had the car change course and head toward the Administrative Affairs Hall in South City.

Around noon, he arrived at the Administrative Affairs Hall. After he got out of the car, Zhu Xian’s secretary personally came to greet him and explained, "This time, some people from Central City are here to see you. They have a letter of introduction from a certain councilor. We couldn’t really ask for details."

Chen Chuan understood the implication: the visitors had a powerful background, so Mayor Zhu had no choice but to cooperate fully.

’From Central City...’

’Who would be looking for me at a time like this?’

He followed the secretary into a spacious reception room where Mayor Zhu was speaking with three men dressed in foreign-style suits. The atmosphere seemed quite amicable.

Seeing him enter, the mayor stood up with a smile. "Manager Chen has arrived." He said to Chen Chuan, "Manager Chen, these three gentlemen are here to discuss an important matter with you. I still have official business to attend to, so I won’t disturb you any longer. Please, talk amongst yourselves." After saying this, he smiled apologetically at the group and left.

After he left, one of the men stood up and extended his hand. "Hello, Manager Chen. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ji Xinmin, an officer of the Refinement Sect. These two are my colleagues from the Sect." The two men behind him nodded at Chen Chuan.

Chen Chuan’s interest was piqued. He shook the man’s hand. "The Refinement Sect?"

He could tell that all three were Third Limit Fighters. Ji Xinmin, in particular, had clearly cultivated Spiritual Power; his strength was not to be underestimated.

Ji Xinmin smiled. "Yes, the Refinement Sect. Oh, I wonder if Manager Chen has heard of us?"

"I have not," Chen Chuan said. "But I have encountered a few Fighting Schools in the past."

"It seems Manager Chen doesn’t know much about us, then." Ji Xinmin released his hand and said with a smile, "Why don’t we sit and have a long chat?"

Chen Chuan nodded and sat down in a nearby seat.

Ji Xinmin also returned to his original seat. Maintaining a polite smile, he said:

"Manager Chen, although our Refinement Sect is a Fighting School, we are quite different from the common, folk schools you may be familiar with. To join us, one must be an elite, a manager in a government department or a large corporation, just like yourself."

He said meaningfully, "The primary condition for joining our School is to possess a certain position and status. And our Refinement Sect is spread throughout Dashun Country; we have members in every Central City, and even in the Capital."

He paused here for a moment before continuing, "We have learned of Manager Chen’s past deeds and accomplishments. A high-ranking member of our sect admires you greatly. After some discussion, we feel that you are qualified to join us, which is why we were specially sent to meet with you."

At this point, one of the men behind him spoke up. "Actually, there was some debate among the higher-ups about letting Manager Chen join. Our Refinement Sect has always had strict requirements for every new member, so we were sent to evaluate you first before making a final decision."

The other man added, "Take Jibei Dao Central City for example. In the past three years, only one person has joined us. We are not at liberty to disclose their position or name, but the merits they earned in the Merging Land were no less than yours, Manager Chen, and they were solid achievements, with no embellishment whatsoever."

Ji Xinmin waited for the other two to finish before smiling and saying, "This is a rare opportunity, Manager Chen. Your past accomplishments are outstanding, and your record is impressive. But you need to understand that the world has its own way of operating. Often, things written on paper are useless; they cannot be converted into anything tangible."

"However, our Refinement Sect has the power to make it a reality."

He stopped talking again, watching Chen Chuan with a smile to give the latter time to think.

He believed that with the information Chen Chuan had received upon entering, combined with his introduction just now, he should be able to understand the weight of his words.

Chen Chuan now felt as if he had run into something like the old Mutual Aid Association. Although these men’s words were polite, and they kept talking about offering him help, they were all full of the Pride that came with ’giving you an opportunity.’ That high-and-mighty sense of charity was practically overflowing. He looked up and said, "I think I understand."

Ji Xinmin smiled. "So, is Manager Chen interested in joining our School? Hmm, to be clear, this is just an inquiry. To actually join us, you would still need to undergo a certain evaluation."

Chen Chuan calmly replied to the three of them, "If this is the only reason the three of you came today, then I’m sorry. I can tell you unequivocally that I have no interest whatsoever in joining your esteemed sect."

Hearing his rejection, Ji Xinmin was taken aback for a moment. But he didn’t show any displeasure. Instead, he chuckled. "Mr. Chen, you probably don’t know enough about our Refinement Sect yet. We understand. Our visit today was a bit sudden. It’s alright..."

He took out a Name Card and placed it on the desk.

"Manager Chen, if you need our help in the future, please don’t hesitate to ask. We will find a way to help you. It seems you have other matters to attend to, so we won’t disturb you any longer. We’ll take our leave now."

He stood up and shook Chen Chuan’s hand amicably. It seemed that even after being rejected to his face, there was no unpleasantness between them.

Only after the three of them were outside did the smile on Ji Xinmin’s face finally vanish.

One of the men behind him wore an unsurprised expression and sneered, "I told you. This guy became an Investigation Chief before he was even twenty. He’s riding high right now. A young man like that won’t know how difficult the road ahead is until he suffers a setback."

"But what can you do? Someone up top values him," Ji Xinmin said nonchalantly. "We had to make the trip first, just to show we did our part."

"What’s next?"

Ji Xinmin said, "Since the higher-ups gave us this task, we must complete it, of course. But there’s no need to be hasty. We’ll go back and make some arrangements. He’ll come to understand."

It wasn’t the first time they had encountered someone unwilling to join. They had plenty of experience dealing with people like that.

They would use the Refinement Sect’s extensive network to suppress him in various ways.

For example, the simplest method was to pull some strings and have him transferred out of Jibei Dao to another Central City. This would sever him from his original network. Then, they would assign him to some obscure post, give him no opportunities, and provide him with no cultivation resources.

Most people would cave after enduring for a while or after a few of their schemes. Even if a few tough nuts held out, they would eventually fade into obscurity over time, at which point they would no longer be worth paying attention to.

Of course, if he were a true talent, other Schools might try to recruit him in the meantime, but that was precisely the purpose of their visit today.

To avoid vicious competition, there was an unwritten rule among the Schools: once a person was targeted by one School, others would not interfere.

And they had checked: Chen Chuan had no background with any School, nor had he ever joined one. They could easily use the School’s vast network to control and manipulate him.

At that moment, one of the men looked around and said with disgust, "Let’s get out of here. I don’t want to spend another second in this place."

Compared to Central City, Yangzhi City was backwards in almost every way. The feeling was only intensified by the large number of buildings from the Great Expansion era that were still preserved in the city.

His words clearly met with the unanimous agreement of the other two. The three of them quickened their pace and soon left the area.

After the three men left, Chen Chuan didn’t even glance at the Name Card left on the desk as he walked out of the reception room.

He had just stepped into the hallway when he saw Zhu Xian’s secretary waiting there. Seeing him emerge, the secretary approached, gave a polite bow, and said, "Manager Chen, the Mayor would like to see you."