Master Gu looked at the burly man in front of him, whose face was blooming like a chrysanthemum, his smile even brighter than sunlight, and was momentarily stunned.
This is that Fan Jin, Supervisor Fan?
He almost didn’t recognize him...
Mo Hua also smiled and said, "Supervisor Fan, it’s been a long time."
"It’s been a long time, it’s really been a long time." Supervisor Fan replied cheerfully. Then he bent his tall frame and made an inviting gesture, "Young Master, Master Gu, please come inside."
"Thank you, Supervisor Fan," Mo Hua said with a smile.
"No need, no need."
Supervisor Fan led the two of them into the inner hall. Once they were seated, he called out, "Someone come in."
The Enforcement Leader from earlier walked over.
The Enforcement Leader hesitated for a moment, then asked quietly, "Supervisor, is it... the top shelf tea? Last time Master Gu came..."
Fan Jin shot him a glare that told him to shut up, and whispered, "Even better than that."
The Enforcement Leader muttered, "I don’t think... there’s anything better left..."
Fan Jin’s old face flushed red, anger bubbling up inside him again.
This blockhead’s brain must be made of elm wood.
With a subordinate like this, there’s no way to improve at all.
"Above that, there’s a little box, in the box there’s a jade casket..."
The Enforcement Leader nodded, then suddenly froze. "Isn’t that the Court Leader’s private stash...?"
If it weren’t for these important guests, Fan Jin would’ve kicked him by now.
"Just go get it, less chatter, more moving, alright?"
The Enforcement Leader saw that Fan Jin really seemed upset this time, so he didn’t dare dawdle, quickly said, "Yes, sir," and ran off to secretly fetch the tea.
Fan Jin let out a sigh. When he turned his head, he saw Mo Hua’s pair of clear, wide eyes staring right at him, and couldn’t help but flush in embarrassment, forcing a smile as he said:
"This remote backwater, all the people I can hire are a bit dense. Please don’t laugh, Young Master."
"You’re too modest, Supervisor Fan," Mo Hua said curiously. "But, you’re actually serving me the Court Leader’s tea—if your Court Leader finds out, won’t he blame you?"
"Oh come on," Fan Jin laughed, "if the Court Leader found out his tea was used to serve Young Master Mo, he’d be thrilled, not upset."
Fan Jin was well aware of just how important this young Master was.
A prodigy of the Eight Great Gates, the Taixu Gate’s little monster.
The moment Fan Jin heard the name Mo Hua, he’d already guessed.
He’d eventually gone through countless channels to confirm it—and he was right!
At the Proving Dao Conference, he, with a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivation, swept the Four Sects, outshined the Eight Gates, suppressed thousands of Qianxue Sects, and became the unrivaled "Formation Leader." ṛ𝓪ΝꝊβĚŞ
Originally, Fan Jin didn’t know the first thing about Formations, nor did he care about the Formation Competition.
But there was no helping it—a Formation Leader at Foundation Building Middle Stage was just too much of a "freak," freakish enough that even him, an out-of-the-way, unconcerned Supervisor in Solitary Mountain City, had heard of Mo Hua’s name.
A figure like that, drinking the Court Leader’s tea.
If the Court Leader went around bragging, he’d have stories to tell for three years straight.
He wouldn’t be upset—he might even thank him.
After a while, the tea arrived. The tea was a bright jade color, with a rich fragrance—to be sure, it was excellent tea.
Mo Hua took a sip and nodded.
Fan Jin studied his expression, saw Mo Hua nod in approval, and finally breathed a sigh of relief. His smile grew even broader:
"Young Master and Master Gu, may I ask what brings you here today?"
Mo Hua glanced at Master Gu, then answered, "Master Gu and I took a trip to Solitary Mountain, and on our way back, we found some traces—looked like they were left by a tomb robber. Thinking something about this is fishy, we came to the Taoist Court to inform you, Supervisor Fan."
"Tomb robbing?" Fan Jin was a little stunned.
"Supervisor Fan, you hadn’t seen anything like that earlier?"
"No," Fan Jin shook his head, confused, muttering in his mind, "What kind of idiot would rob tombs in a godforsaken place like Solitary Mountain... must have rocks in their head..."
Of course, with Mo Hua bringing it up, he didn’t dare brush it off, and immediately assured him, "Don’t worry, Young Master, I will rigorously investigate this myself to keep an eye out for any lowlifes up to no good." .
Mo Hua nodded, lowered his head to take a sip, savoring the sweet aftertaste as the tea slid down his throat, feeling his mood brighten a little.
But when he looked up, he noticed Fan Jin was gulping down his tea like a cow chomping peonies—on the surface calm, but his Divine Soul was uneasy, as if there was some agitation within him.
Mo Hua’s thoughts flickered, so he asked, "Supervisor Fan, is the matter of your promotion not going well?"
Supervisor Fan started, surprised: "How did you notice that?"
Mo Hua took another sip of tea, but said nothing.
Supervisor Fan didn’t press further, just sighed, "To tell you the truth, Young Master, things really... haven’t gone smoothly lately."
Mo Hua asked, "Last time in the campaign against the Demon Sect, didn’t Supervisor Fan earn quite a bit of merit?"
A large portion of the Demon Sect’s intelligence had been "leaked" to the Taoist Court by Mo Hua after digging it up with Thunder Magnetism.
Mo Hua also knew all about the Taoist Court’s plans.
In the campaign to annihilate the Demon Sect, while Supervisor Fan didn’t make any great achievements, he worked hard and never shied away from tough jobs. Even if they were minor accomplishments, adding them up was still a good amount.
Mo Hua had roughly calculated it—with Supervisor Fan working so hard, his merits, while maybe not enough to get him straight up to Fifth Grade Qianxue Taoist Court, should be enough for a promotion to Fourth-grade, or at least a parallel transfer to a slightly richer Third-Grade State Boundary post—there shouldn’t be any problem.
Fan Jin had been frustrated, stuck here in Solitary Mountain City with no one to talk to. So, since the topic came up, he poured out his troubles to Mo Hua like beans spilling from a bag:
"Not gonna lie, Young Master, my merit really should be enough. I even went and consulted Supervisor Gu—Supervisor Gu said that by the Taoist Court’s regulations, under normal circumstances, there shouldn’t be any problem at all. Even if I don’t get promoted, I should at least get a lateral transfer."
"I was really happy, so I just stayed home waiting for good news. But who’d expect—the process dragged on and on, and in the end, I got stuck by some higher-up—they said I lack experience, need further assessment, goddammit..."