Strictly speaking, this small city isn’t actually inside the Central Domain—it’s still located within the Imperial Region.
The city’s permanent population isn’t large—no more than ten thousand—and most residents are outsiders from other regions.
As soon as Ian Song’s group entered the city, a crowd came rushing up to greet them.
"Need help fast-tracking Temporary Identity Tokens? We can do it for you!"
"We can get your Temporary Identity Tokens in just three days!"
"If you need Temporary Identity Tokens, talk to me—Brother Joe! I’ll give you a discount!"
............
Watching these agents hawking Temporary Identity Tokens, Ian couldn’t help but think of the car-inspection fixers back in his Main World. Turns out, every world has people who know how to work the system for a profit.
Ian raised his hand, and the agents—who’d been about to keep pitching—instinctively fell silent.
Ian asked, "How long does it usually take to get a Temporary Identity Token processed?"
"If you apply on your own, it’ll take at least a month. If you go through us, it could be as quick as three days—or at worst, ten days to half a month!" one agent jumped in.
Another agent added, "The officials at the Empire’s Household Registry Bureau are famous for being lazy and having black hearts. If you don’t grease their palms, getting them to work is like asking for their lives!"
"That’s right! I heard about someone who got dragged out for half a year just to get a Temporary Identity Token. And remember, the validity period starts from the application date—so the longer they delay, the less time you actually get to stay in the Central Domain!"
With that, the agents started chattering away, spilling the inside scoop to Ian’s group about all the twists and turns in the Household Registry Bureau. According to them, every official in there has connections.
If you play by the rules and follow the official process, they’ll drag out your Temporary Identity Token application forever. Why? Because they want a cut.
As for why agents can get Temporary Identity Tokens done fast—it’s because they pay ‘taxes’ to the officials, and get a commission from every bribe.
The Central Empire charges one million taels of gold per Temporary Identity Token, but the agency fee is another two hundred thousand taels. Pretty steep, honestly.
With prices that high, ordinary martial artists are basically locked out of the Central Domain.
Even most Core Formation Stage cultivators can barely scrape together a million taels of gold.
Gold means nothing to Ian—so to save time, he decided to use an agent.
"Brother Joe, right? Let’s go find an inn and talk this over slowly."
Ian said to the burly, bearded man who’d introduced himself as Brother Joe.
"Sure thing, Young Master. This way, please!"
Brother Joe was overjoyed—if he could close this deal, he’d be looking at at least a hundred thousand taels of gold in profit.
Once they were seated at the inn, Ian didn’t wait for Brother Joe to start his sales pitch. He simply said, "If you can get the Temporary Identity Tokens in three days, I’ll pay 250,000 taels each. Two days, 300,000 each. One day, 500,000 each. And if you can get them today, I’ll pay a million per token!"
"Ah!"
Hearing Ian’s offer, Brother Joe couldn’t help but cry out, inwardly shouting that he’d struck gold.
After a quick discussion and collecting a 500,000-tael deposit, Brother Joe hurried off, returning about an hour later.
"Young Master Chu, I’ve got good news! I’ve smoothed things out with the Household Registry Bureau’s deputy director. If you follow me now, Deputy Director Wayne will personally handle your Temporary Identity Tokens!"
"Brother Joe, you really do have skills!"
Ian praised him.
"Not at all—it’s all thanks to the 500,000 taels Young Master Chu gave me!" Brother Joe said meaningfully. To open up connections with Deputy Director Wayne, he’d not only spent all the deposit, but even chipped in 200,000 of his own.
But if he could get Temporary Identity Tokens for all seven in Ian’s group, after paying Wayne and covering expenses, he’d still net over a million taels in profit.
The meeting wasn’t at the Household Registry Bureau, but at Deputy Director Wayne’s private residence in the small city.
According to Brother Joe, Deputy Director Wayne only stays here on duty; most of the time, he’s back in the Central Domain.
"Greetings, Director Wayne! This is Young Master Chu and his friends!"
Brother Joe bowed to a pale, chubby middle-aged man lounging in a chair with a teacup.
Deputy Director Wayne lazily lifted his eyes, slowly swept his gaze over Ian’s group, and when he saw Lena Wei and especially Rosie Ning’s faces, his eyes narrowed, a faint greedy glint flashing through them.
"Greetings, Director Wayne!"
Ian cupped his fist in salute.
"Mm."
Deputy Director Wayne grunted, not even bothering to offer Ian’s group a seat. Instead, he picked up his tea and sipped it with relish.
Brother Joe, embarrassed, forced a smile and said, "Director Wayne, about that matter...?"
"You can leave now. I’ll handle things personally with them."
Deputy Director Wayne glanced at Brother Joe and spoke coolly.
At that, Brother Joe’s face turned ugly. Clearly, Deputy Director Wayne was planning to cut him out and pocket the entire agency fee. But as an ordinary man, even knowing he was being cheated, there was nothing he could do.
"Still here?"
Deputy Director Wayne’s expression turned cold.
"Yes, yes, I’ll take my leave!" Brother Joe cursed Wayne in his heart, bowed, and left with a look of defeat.
"You’re here for Temporary Identity Tokens?"
Deputy Director Wayne looked at Ian with a sly smile, pretending not to know.
"That’s right," Ian nodded.
"So, how much are you offering?" Wayne pressed.
Ian replied, "If you can get them today, I’ll pay a million taels per token!"
"A million taels and you expect same-day delivery? You’re too naive!" Wayne sneered.
Ian’s brows lifted slightly. "Oh? And what price did you have in mind, Director Wayne?"
Wayne smiled and raised one finger. "Ten million!"
Ian laughed. "Fine—if you can get us Temporary Identity Tokens today, I’ll pay ten million taels!"
But Wayne shook his head mockingly. "No, you misunderstood. I meant ten million taels per token."
"Why don’t you just go rob people?"
Wes Wei couldn’t help but speak up.
Deputy Director Wayne’s face darkened. "What if I am robbing you? Take it or leave it. If you walk away today, you can forget about ever getting Temporary Identity Tokens!"
"Are you threatening us?"
Wes Wei shouted angrily.
"That’s right—I am threatening you!" Wayne declared proudly.
Wes Wei was left speechless.
"Fine. I accept your terms."
At that moment, Ian spoke up again.
Everyone else looked shocked. They hadn’t expected their Young Master to agree to such outrageous terms.