A New Elder Arrives

"Way too detailed!" Rina Chu said. "She must be creeped out, thinking that if someone else investigated her, they'd go this deep. That's why she asked me to buy her own intel."

"So what should we do?"

"What do you think?"

Wang Eight shook his head, looking like a complete fool.

"You really live up to your name—dumb as a turtle!"

"Just tell me what to do!"

Rina Chu thought for a moment and asked, "How much did you charge last time for the tenth day?"

"Two taels of silver."

"What?"

Wang Eight: "Was that too much?"

Rina Chu slapped him on the back of the head. "You only charged two taels? And you think that's too much?"

"Well, they're one of us..."

"Even if they're one of us, you still have to charge reasonably! Otherwise, people will get suspicious!"

"Oh... so what should we do?"

Rina Chu suddenly had an idea. "I'll just tell her that your fees depend on the person. Some people only cost two taels of silver. Others, you need a whole Mount Celestial Jade."

Wang Eight's eyes lit up, giving a thumbs up. "Brilliant! That makes our Phantom Bureau even more mysterious and unique! Rina, you're a genius!"

Rina Chu said smugly, "Of course! In the Spirit Alliance, I'm the smartest!"

That same day, Rina Chu reported back to Chloe Zhu, saying she'd gone to the Phantom Bureau, but they wanted a whole Mount Celestial Jade.

"What? Wasn't it just two taels of silver?"

"Wang Eight said the fee depends on who you're investigating. You can't charge the same for intel on the emperor as you do for a commoner, right?" Rina Chu explained.

"I'm not the emperor, though!"

"He was just giving an example."

"So, Zhang Scribe is worth two taels, but for me, it's a whole Spirit Jade Mountain, and not just any—Mount Celestial Jade?"

Rina Chu nodded.

Chloe Zhu: "..."

Rina Chu grinned.

...

Lord Charles Chang secretly invited quite a few people to treat his son, the heir.

Including the Imperial Alchemist from the National Medicine Bureau.

And even Byron White, who had vanished without a trace.

None of them could figure out what was wrong with the heir.

But Chloe Zhu cured him.

After her sworn brother, Lord Charles Chang's son, Zhao Heng, recovered, he came to the Spirit Alliance and personally delivered a plaque: Miracle Healer.

News of Chloe Zhu removing the parasite from Lord Charles Chang's son spread like wildfire.

More and more people in Four Symbols City started seeking her medical help.

And she always cured them, as if there wasn't a single difficult illness in the world she couldn't handle...

People in the Spirit Alliance started calling her, secretly and openly, by a new nickname: Young Miracle Healer.

And as time went on, Chloe Zhu's title as Young Miracle Healer became more and more famous.

Chloe thought, maybe she could take part in this year's Spirit Alchemist Qualification Exam.

With her current Spirit Master Level Four cultivation, plus the rapid progress from studying the Ten Desolations Herbal Codex, she could easily apply for Level Thirteen Spirit Alchemist—the Scribe position. (Note: There are eighteen levels in total.)

But no matter how strong her cultivation or how skilled her medicine, she had to keep it all hidden.

Otherwise, if she advanced too quickly, she'd definitely attract attention and suspicion.

So, she planned to apply for Level Ten Spirit Alchemist this year.

The annual Spirit Alchemist Qualification Exam was about to begin.

At that time, Spirit Alchemists from all over the Eastern Luo Empire would flock to the Eastern Alliance for the exam.

The Eastern Alliance started preparations a month in advance.

They even brought in a new Elder to oversee the exam affairs for the Eastern Alliance.

On this day, the Alliance Leader gathered all the Spirit Alchemists in the plaza to listen to the Elder's speech.

While waiting for the higher-ups to arrive, she overheard a few Spirit Alliance members whispering nearby: "Did you hear? Our Spirit Alliance just got a new Elder parachuted in!"