Joe Di was just about to study the vital energy fluctuations within the fragment of the magical artifact when his divine sense swept over Frank Pang, who was pacing anxiously at the door like an ant on a hot pan. Joe had no choice but to put away the fragment and open the door.
"Joe Di, you haven’t come out all day. I was worried something happened to you." Standing at the doorway, Frank Pang breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Joe Di emerge.
"Come on, let’s get something to eat." Joe Di hadn’t cultivated all day, busy refining the kitchen knife in his hand, and he was already feeling hungry.
"Here, this is for you. It’s our academy’s identification card." Frank Pang quickly handed Joe Di a small jade token.
Joe Di had just put away the jade token when he saw a thin, middle-aged man walking toward him.
"Good afternoon, Principal." Upon seeing the middle-aged man, Frank Pang quickly greeted him.
It turned out this was Master Thomas Zeng, the principal of Celestia Martial Academy. Joe Di had heard of him—a congenital powerhouse, rumored to be one of the top ten experts on Celestia.
"Principal Zeng." Joe Di was still at Celestia Martial Academy these past two days, so he greeted him as well.
Master Thomas Zeng nodded, then said to Frank Pang, "You go ahead. I need to discuss something with Joe Di."
Frank Pang gave Joe Di a look, then quickly turned and went downstairs. He wasn’t surprised that Master Zeng was seeking Joe Di out. After all, Joe Di had gotten into Elite Class Five through connections, so it was only natural that he’d know Master Zeng.
Joe Di had no choice but to bring Master Thomas Zeng into his room. Master Zeng glanced at the Celestial Cleaver at Joe Di’s waist, smiled, and said, “You must have found that in the warehouse, right?”
“That’s right. I gave those Three Jade Slips to Eddie in exchange for this cleaver. Well, I needed a favor, so I had to be prepared to take a loss.” Joe Di smiled.
Master Zeng laughed heartily. “A loss? Not necessarily. If you could spend fifty billion to buy those three jade slips that others thought were useless, it means this cleaver you’ve chosen must have something special.”
Joe Di neither confirmed nor denied, choosing not to respond to Master Zeng’s comment.
Seeing Joe Di remain silent, Master Zeng could only continue, “I’m here to apologize to you.”
“Apologize to me?” Joe Di looked at Master Zeng in confusion. He hadn’t had any dealings with Master Zeng before; in fact, this was the first time he’d ever met him.
Master Zeng smiled slightly. “My daughter tricked you out of a blade technique with a secondary auction ticket.”
"So you’re Violet Zane’s father." Joe Di finally understood, then said, "That was a fair trade between us. There was no trickery involved."
"If I’m not mistaken, you’re at the Earth Grade cultivation level, right?" Master Zeng didn’t dwell on the previous topic and instead brought up Joe Di’s cultivation.
Earth Grade? Joe Di thought to himself—even if you’re Master Zeng, I’m confident I could defeat you. It seemed Eddie hadn’t revealed his true strength to Master Zeng. Both Master Zeng and Eddie were members of the Earth Federation, but even within the federation, things weren’t always unified.
Seeing that Joe Di still didn’t reveal his cultivation level, Master Zeng didn’t mind. “Are you interested in joining the Earth Federation?”
“No interest.” This time, Joe Di refused Master Zeng’s offer without hesitation.
Master Zeng was stunned. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. Anyone else would have jumped at the chance to join the Earth Federation—how could he refuse?
“Principal Zeng, if there’s nothing else, I’m going to get something to eat.” Joe Di stood up. He didn’t have a good impression of Violet Zane, and since Master Zeng was her father, he didn’t want to get too involved.
Master Zeng looked a bit embarrassed. He stood up as well and said, “Well, an old friend asked me to request something from you.”
What could I possibly help him with?
“Here’s the situation: Benson Ji from Beijing has a grandson named Stanley Ji. Years ago…”
Before Master Zeng could finish, Joe Di understood and waved his hand. "Principal Zeng, you must be mistaken. I went to ask Sophie Ji from the Ji Family for help, but she said I was a fraud and turned me down outright."
"Sophie Ji has long regretted it. Now she waits every day at your residence at the Beijing Martial Academy, and she’s grown so thin from remorse that she’s hardly recognizable." Master Zeng wasn’t too concerned about Joe Di’s cultivation, but he was truly amazed by Joe Di’s medical skills.
What amazed him wasn’t that Joe Di had healed patients sent to the morgue, nor that he cured Miles Hu’s son. What truly shocked him was that Joe Di could easily reattach two severed wrists without any surgical equipment.
Joe Di’s killing of the impostor in Diana Hurst City and the forced registration of over a hundred billion—since the victims didn’t cooperate, the investigation only concluded today. The breakthrough came when Joe Di killed three people at the Di Pharmaceuticals board meeting, and his large bag exposed him; he’d once carried that same bag in Diana Hurst City.
"I’m not short on money now, so I can’t help him." Joe Di wasn’t the type to do favors for nothing; he believed in fair trade. Since I came to you for a deal and you turned me down, my problem is solved, so don’t come looking for me again.
"As long as you’re willing to help, Benson Ji and I can settle your issues at Di Pharmaceuticals. Don’t think you’re safe just because you’re here—Celia Xiu has real power behind her, and it’s not impossible for her to have you locked down in Celestia Plaza."
After saying this, Master Zeng hesitated before adding, “I’m not threatening you; I’m just stating the facts. With your strength, you’d never break through the laser walls of Celestia Grand Plaza and escape the experts there. Trading the Three Jade Slips with Eddie was a smart move—otherwise, Eddie alone could easily subdue you.”
Joe Di sneered inwardly. Eddie wants to subdue him? Keep dreaming.
Still, Master Zeng had a point—being trapped in Celestia Plaza would indeed be disadvantageous for him.
"Aside from cleaning up the aftermath, Benson Ji will help strengthen Di Pharmaceuticals. I also have two friends—Echo Young at Yanda Martial Arts Department and Felix Yu at Northlake Martial Arts Academy. I’d like them to study at Celestia Martial Academy in the future." Joe Di weighed his options and spoke.
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It was absolutely impossible for him to go to Earth and treat Stanley Ji. However, he did have a top-grade Antidote Pill; giving one to Master Zeng would suffice.
"Alright, deal." Master Zeng replied immediately. "So, when are you returning to Earth?"
Joe Di looked at Master Zeng as if he were a fool. “Returning to Earth is out of the question. I have an Antidote Pill here—take it back to Stanley Ji.”
“A pill?” Master Zeng watched as Joe Di rummaged through his bag, repeating in disbelief.
If Stanley Ji’s poisoning could be solved with a single pill, why would it have dragged on until now?
Joe Di had already found the pill and stuffed it into Master Zeng’s hand. “If I say it works, it works. If there’s no deal, then we go our separate ways.”
Sensing Joe Di’s firmness, Master Zeng could only put the pill away. “Alright.”
After sending Master Zeng off, Joe Di just hoped that nothing unexpected would happen in the next two days.
...
For the rest of the time, except for going out to eat, Joe Di stayed in his room studying the Magical Relic Fragment.
Within this palm-sized Magical Relic Fragment, Joe Di could clearly sense a trace of vitality—a sign of life. Yet he couldn’t pinpoint where the life was hiding. With his current abilities, he simply couldn’t break open the fragment.
Jade Yu, the instructor for Elite Class Five, had no fondness for this newcomer Joe Di. The fact that he didn’t attend class actually made things easier for her.