At the Mexican wrestling tournament, the announcer was delivering an impassioned opening speech while the two wrestlers in the ring were already geared up and ready to go.
One was the famous, undefeated legend, El Toro Fuerte, and the other was Jackie Chan, who had been unexpectedly dragged into the ring.
This world possessed an incredibly strong corrective force. Even with Zenith's initial interference, the rest of the story had completely returned to its original track.
Down in the audience, Jade had already started arguing with El Toro Fuerte's little fanboy, Paco, over who was stronger between Uncle Jackie and El Toro.
"El Toro Fuerte is the strongest!"
"Nonsense, Jackie is!"
Who was stronger could only be decided in a fight. Before Jackie could even react, he was hit squarely by El Toro Fuerte's flying tackle.
Zenith's modded Ox Talisman had a different effect than the original; it was tied to the user's experience level.
In Minecraft, levels weren't tied to combat power but were simply used as a resource for enchanting. Naturally, the higher the level, the better the enchantments.
In the Talisman mod, the Ox Talisman's damage used the user's level as a baseline, manifesting that level into raw physical power. The maximum damage scaled exponentially according to the Fibonacci sequence.
The terrifying part was that at level 30, the user could shatter bedrock with their bare hands. Even at level 0, they still received a Strength X buff.
That equated to a premium 275% percentage boost. Placed on someone like El Toro Fuerte, whose base stats were already impressive, the result was absolutely horrifying.
Without a doubt, the bare-handed Jackie was knocked out cold on the spot. Jade lost this round, and it would be the only time she ever did.
Zenith sat next to Jade, and Serie sat next to Zenith. The two of them held buckets of popcorn, watching the performance in the ring.
For this kind of fight, Zenith was just watching for fun, but Serie was analyzing the intricacies. Of course, she wasn't looking at the physical brawl; Serie was observing the clash of Qi between them. Relying on her tens of thousands of years of magical cultivation, Serie had already figured out a few tricks.
"El Toro Fuerte has flattened Jackie Chan." Zenith said this using Hak Fu's signature tone, then turned his head to look at Jade. "I bet things will turn around within an hour. What do you think, Jade?"
Jade, of course, was standing to watch. Startled, she jumped to her feet. "You're that weirdo from the shop earlier!"
In good times, rely on Jackie; in hard times, rely on Uncle; in desperate times, rely on Jade.
Sister Jade was always reliable, a fact that was already beginning to show. It was worth noting that Uncle, who would become an overpowered main DPS later on, was currently still playing support.
In Jade's impression, Zenith didn't really seem like a bad guy. She just remembered him being followed by a group of bodyguards in uniform.
Very cool!
For a little girl her age, cool and handsome people and things were still very appealing.
Jade wasn't some weak, delicate character. By this point, she had already started learning martial arts from Jackie.
Raising an eyebrow, Jade ignored the dispersing crowd and stayed put, waiting for Jackie to wake up.
She spoke to Zenith, "Are you saying Jackie is going to win it back?"
"Jackie will tell you himself. So, how about it? Want to make that bet?"
Zenith saying this actually made Jade a bit wary. "What kind of bet?"
She swiftly struck a few standard martial arts poses. "Let me tell you, I'm not someone to mess with, so don't get any funny ideas!"
Serie burst out laughing beside them, then turned her head and looked away.
That laugh actually made Jade blush with embarrassment. Zenith didn't continue teasing the kid. "How about this: when you grow up, you come work for me for a while?"
Adult Jade was practically a time-traveling supercop. Zenith's SPW Foundation didn't hire child labor, but the future Sister Jade was absolutely worth recruiting.
There was a theory that the talismans had compatibility. For example, Jackie had high affinity with the Rabbit Talisman, Viper with the Snake Talisman, and Captain Black with the Dragon Talisman.
Jade, on the other hand, had a 100% compatibility rate with all the talismans, not to mention she supposedly harbored the power of an ancient holy warrior within her.
SSR, a standard SSR!
From abilities to combat power, to her values and character, everything was top-tier!
"Alright, you're on," Jade nodded.
It wasn't long before Jackie groggily woke up, only to see Zenith and Serie playing a multiplayer video game together, with Jade cheering them on from the sidelines.
"Sister Serie, crush him!"
Visibly pleased by the encouragement, Serie happily executed a flawless 1v3 sweep against Zenith in their 3v3 fighting game, angering Zenith so much that he decided never to play this game again.
The vigilance Jackie had initially felt instantly crumbled. He facepalmed and looked at Zenith. "It's not right to make kids play video games!"
"It's about balancing work and play," Zenith said, handing the controller to Jade. However, seeing that Jackie was awake, she immediately ditched the game and ran over to him.
El Toro Fuerte was Paco's idol, but wasn't Jackie also Jade's idol?
Sure enough, after Jackie explained the situation with the Ox Talisman to Jade, her expression instantly lit up with excitement.
"We have to get the Ox Talisman before the Dark Hand does; it's too dangerous. Please, help me keep an eye on Jade."
*Wait, you're handing me the epic-tier quest of 'keeping an eye on Jade' right off the bat? Do you really trust me that much?*
Keeping an eye on Jade was impossible. More often than not, things would go horribly wrong without her. Just like this time—if Jade wasn't around, the original plot would end with the Ox Talisman being taken and Jackie being captured by the Dark Hand.
As expected, Zenith and Serie didn't intervene, opting instead to watch from high up in the sky.
Jackie was knocked out by an elbow from his teammate-griefing ally, El Toro Fuerte, whose mask was then removed by the Shadowkhan ninjas summoned by Shendu using a special ninja tool.
The invincible Jade was about to save the day.
First, she had to rally their only remaining combatant, El Toro Fuerte. The big guy, having lost his cheat item, was currently sulking in depression, but Jade used the words Jackie had taught her to snap him out of it.
A wise man seeks power from within; only a fool seeks it from without.
Then came the crowd-pleasing team battle phase. The Dark Hand thugs tied Jackie to a plane, preparing to take both him and the talisman back to their lair.
That was when Jade showed up with El Toro Fuerte, charging into the cabin and brawling with the Dark Hand.
At that moment, the plane prepared for takeoff, and the cabin doors slowly closed. However, no one noticed that Jackie was still dangling from the plane by a rope, having failed to get inside in time.
All in all, after a series of unfortunate adventures—Jackie being dragged by the plane, his ropes coming loose in mid-air, and the plane making an emergency landing—Super Jackie successfully touched down, and the invincible Jade snatched back the Ox Talisman.
"A standard 'justice always prevails' ending," Zenith said, spreading his hands. "In a way, the forces of good are currently in a weakened state, so the Qi will naturally lean toward the righteous side."
Serie waved her hand, indicating she could see it for herself. Looking at the current trend, the righteous Qi would slowly accumulate until it reached a tipping point of imbalance, at which point the dark Qi would erupt in a counterattack.
When that time came, who won and who lost would depend entirely on their own skills.
The ending was a happy one for all. Jackie and Jade said their goodbyes to El Toro Fuerte and Paco, then boarded a plane back to the United States.
Holding the talisman in his hand, Jackie frowned, feeling like something wasn't quite right.
The talisman's power was genuine, but the luster of the engraving felt a bit strange, almost as if there was a sticker layered on top of it.
Carefully picking at it with his finger, his nail caught a curled edge on the talisman, and he gave it a hard peel.
"..."
"..."
The pixelated face of a Minecraft cow sat squarely in the center of the talisman, its art style completely identical to that of the derpy chicken.