Twenty minutes later.
The Martial Arts Administration's council hall.
Seven men and one woman sat in the hall's chairs, exchanging glances filled with confusion.
The eight of them were the Deputy Hall Masters of the eight great martial arts academies, and they knew one another well.
Why had Inspector Shu summoned them at a time like this?
"Everyone's here, right?"
After a while, Shu Suwan emerged from behind the screen and went straight to the seat of honor. Gone was the gentleness she had shown in the courtyard; her entire person radiated a chill.
Sensing Shu Suwan's aura, the eight became even more puzzled. Who had offended Inspector Shu this time?
Although an inspector's status was beneath that of the Director and Deputy Director, inspectors controlled the power to investigate and impose discipline. In other words, they were the last people any martial arts academy wanted to offend.
"I summoned you all here over one matter. I've heard that this year's first student at Kaohe Town Martial Hall to cultivate Essence Energy was Lin Chen, yet your academies aren't willing to give him an Aperture Opening Pill slot?"
As soon as Shu Suwan said this, four people looked puzzled, while the other four suddenly understood.
The four who were puzzled did not know who Lin Chen was. The four informed Deputy Hall Masters had already been told by their instructors.
But enrollment was not under Inspector Shu's jurisdiction. What did she mean by bringing this up?
"Lord Shu, Lin Chen did come to our Clearwind Martial Arts Hall, but our slots were already full." The Deputy Hall Master of Clearwind Martial Arts Hall pondered for a moment before explaining.
"The same goes for our Mantis Martial Arts Hall."
The Deputy Hall Masters of Mantis Martial Arts Hall, Gale Martial Arts Hall, and Cloud Concealment Martial Arts Hall rose in turn to explain the situation. The other four also recalled all the student records sent by the Martial Arts Administration and remembered who Lin Chen was.
Whenever a Martial Hall student cultivated Essence Energy within a year, the Martial Hall would report it to the Martial Arts Administration, which would then distribute the information to the various martial arts academies.
They had glanced over the name Lin Chen, but it had left no deep impression. Only after hearing the four Deputy Hall Masters of Clearwind Martial Arts Hall mention him did they vaguely recall that there was such a student.
He seemed to have ranked first at some Martial Hall, but his family circumstances were merely average.
Once the Deputy Hall Masters of the other four academies recalled Lin Chen's records, everything became as clear as glass to them. They knew why the four academies of Clearwind Martial Arts Hall had refused him.
If the first student at a Martial Hall to cultivate Essence Energy had appeared in previous years, the academy would have granted him a slot even if his family was only average. After all, he represented the town's first place, and they had to preserve appearances.
But this year was different. Not only had more than eighty students cultivated Essence Energy within a year, the Director had also established rules for martial arts academy competitions. The academies would no longer look only at the top ten; resources would be allocated according to the top fifty rankings.
Before entering the ranks, a student's financial resources represented his potential to a great extent.
With Lin Chen's family circumstances, he probably would not even make the top eighty, much less the top fifty. No martial arts academy wanted to waste a slot on him.
Shu Suwan was not surprised by the explanations from the various martial arts academies. She said calmly, "The records submitted by Kaohe Town Martial Hall state that Lin Chen spent less than twenty taels to cultivate Essence Energy. His talent in martial arts is not weak. It's difficult to justify refusing to give a student like that an Aperture Opening Pill slot."
The Deputy Hall Master of Mantis Martial Arts Hall hesitated, but ultimately still spoke.
"Lord Shu, only Lin Chen himself knows how many taels he truly spent to cultivate Essence Energy. If he secretly spent money in private, there's no way to verify it. The rules at the Martial Halls in each town are lenient to begin with."
Once the Deputy Hall Master of Mantis Martial Arts Hall finished speaking, the others present showed their agreement.
Martial arts academies had never looked at how much money students spent to cultivate Essence Energy precisely because there was no way to prove it.
If an academy had to consider how many taels a student spent cultivating Essence Energy when recruiting him, it would give students an opportunity to cheat.
A student who wanted to cheat could spend less openly at the Martial Hall, then secretly take medicinal broths or eat poultry meat that replenished qi and blood in private. It was impossible for the Martial Hall to send people to watch students even when they went outside.
"Several months ago, I suggested to Lord Su that we provide monetary incentives to Martial Hall disciples. Lord Su approved wholeheartedly and has already reported it to the Raozhou Prefecture Martial Affairs Department. Yet in the information compiled by the Martial Arts Administration today, Lin Chen is the only one who received money."
Shu Suwan spoke as lightly as floating clouds, but the eight people present wore thoughtful expressions. They somewhat understood why Inspector Shu cared about Lin Chen.
Inspector Shu and Lord Su had both taken office not long ago. To a certain extent, the policy rewarding Martial Hall students represented the achievements of the two of them.
Lin Chen was the only one who had received silver so far. If he failed to obtain an Aperture Opening Pill, wouldn't Inspector Shu and Lord Su both lose face?
So that was where the problem lay!
The people in the hall fell silent all at once.
"Put that way, Lin Chen really should receive an Aperture Opening Pill slot. It's just that our academy's ten slots are already full."
"Our Mantis Martial Arts Hall is full as well. This is indeed rather difficult to handle."
The Deputy Hall Masters of the various academies changed their tune. But the problem was that their slots had truly all been given out. They could not go back on their word and ask the students who had received slots to surrender them.
Nothing like this had happened in all these years.
"Junior Sister Kong, if I remember correctly, your academy should still have a slot."
A man looked toward the only female Deputy Hall Master present.
"Our Still Water Martial Arts Hall accepts female disciples only. Although we have extra slots, we can't give one to Lin Chen."
Kong Yinglei spread her hands. Still Water Martial Arts Hall had no precedent for accepting male disciples.
"Inspector Shu, fellow colleagues, I do have an idea."
The man who had questioned Kong Yinglei looked toward the others. After receiving Shu Suwan's permission, he said, "More than eighty students cultivated Essence Energy this year, but there are only eight female disciples. That leaves two vacant slots. Junior Sister Kong, am I right?"
"As of today, only eight female disciples have cultivated Essence Energy and registered with the academies." Kong Yinglei nodded.
"Then the matter is easy to resolve. Still Water Martial Arts Hall can give an Aperture Opening Pill slot to Lin Chen."
"Senior Brother Zhang, our Still Water Martial Arts Hall doesn't accept male disciples." Kong Yinglei frowned. Still Water Martial Arts Hall had not accepted a male disciple in more than a decade.
Zhang Songfan smiled faintly. "Lin Chen won't count as a disciple of Still Water Martial Arts Hall. He'll merely be registered under Still Water Martial Arts Hall. We only need another academy to accept Lin Chen."
Once Zhang Songfan said this, several instructors present began pondering. They were considering whether this was feasible.
"Senior Brother Zhang, although the Martial Affairs Department hasn't explicitly stipulated this, the unspoken rule is that a student who receives an Aperture Opening Pill belongs to that academy. This arrangement might be seen as buying and selling an Aperture Opening Pill slot. The Martial Affairs Department..."
Kong Yinglei suddenly stopped halfway through.
She glanced at Inspector Shu seated above them and immediately understood.
If the academies carried out this arrangement among themselves, it could be suspected of secretly buying and selling an Aperture Opening Pill slot.
But with Inspector Shu's approval, it would become an adaptive measure taken for the benefit of Poyang County's martial arts students.
Even if the Martial Affairs Department learned of it, it would say nothing.
"As long as an academy accepts Lin Chen, he can temporarily be registered under Still Water Martial Arts Hall."
Kong Yinglei no longer wasted words. Since Inspector Shu had summoned them all and a solution had now been found, they naturally had to give her this face.
This matter was not without benefits for the martial arts academy, either. After all, it would have two extra slots. One would go to Lin Chen, leaving one slot behind.
Since Inspector Shu allowed the academies to proceed this way, the remaining slot could also be given out through the same arrangement. However, if the other academies wanted that slot, they would have to offer benefits in exchange.
This was also the benefit Inspector Shu was giving Still Water Martial Arts Hall. Everyone understood without saying it aloud.
"Inspector Shu, the reason we didn't accept Lin Chen earlier was that our academy had no Aperture Opening Pill slots left. We think highly of Lin Chen, and now that there's a solution, our Mantis Martial Arts Hall is willing to accept him."
"Although Lin Chen hasn't come to Seven Stars Martial Arts Academy, our academy can accept him as well."
"Why is your Seven Stars Martial Arts Academy joining in? Can Lin Chen even afford Secret Medicine?"
"If our Seven Stars Martial Arts Academy can't, then can your Quaking Mountain Martial Arts Academy? If Lin Chen went to your academy, he'd probably be beaten to death because he couldn't afford medicine to treat his injuries."
"Lin Chen is better suited to our Iron Blood Martial Arts Academy. Don't forget that he comes from Lakeside Village. Lord Jiang came from Lakeside Village back in the day."
"So what if he came from Lakeside Village? Your Iron Blood Martial Arts Academy claims to value students from Lakeside Village so highly, but after Lord Jiang, I haven't seen your academy recruit another student from there."
The Deputy Hall Masters of the seven academies instantly began arguing. Since accepting Lin Chen would no longer consume one of their academy's Aperture Opening Pill slots, he suddenly became highly sought after.
If Lin Chen managed to make a name for himself, the academy would have picked up a formidable student for free. If he failed to accomplish anything, the academy would suffer no loss.
Listening to the instructors argue, Shu Suwan knew perfectly well why they were acting this way.
For one thing, they wanted to pick up a bargain. After all, they would not have to spend an Aperture Opening Pill. For another, they were giving her face, ensuring that the atmosphere did not become too awkwardly quiet.
"Inspector Shu, the first academy Lin Chen visited was Clearwind Martial Arts Hall, so he presumably favors our academy. Moreover, his instructor at the Martial Hall, Yu Yongnian, also came from our Clearwind Martial Arts Hall. Clearwind Martial Arts Hall is willing to accept Lin Chen. While he is registered under Still Water Martial Arts Hall, Clearwind Martial Arts Hall will cover his expenses at the Martial Hall."
The Deputy Hall Master of Clearwind Martial Arts Hall, Qi He, pondered for a moment before stating his terms.
He saw the situation clearly. When the other academies spoke, Inspector Shu's expression had not changed, clearly indicating that they were not the academies she thought Lin Chen should attend.
Considering that Lin Chen's first visit had been to Clearwind Martial Arts Hall, and that his instructor, Yu Yongnian, had also come from Clearwind Martial Arts Hall, it was obvious that Inspector Shu believed Lin Chen suited Clearwind Martial Arts Hall.
Since that was the case, if he remained silent, wouldn't he be failing to give Inspector Shu face?
After Qi He spoke, a smile appeared on Shu Suwan's face. "Good. Then Clearwind Martial Arts Hall and Still Water Martial Arts Hall can discuss the specifics of how to proceed."
Shu Suwan settled the matter with one decisive strike. Clearwind Martial Arts Hall was indeed the academy best suited to Lin Chen. As for whether Lin Chen would feel awkward about returning to an academy that had previously rejected him, that was not something she needed to consider.
Those who studied martial arts did not necessarily have to be broad-minded, but people who were narrow-minded and obsessed with dead ends would certainly never go far.
Before you continue