Chapter 28: Don't Drop Your Little Pearls! (Please Vote! Please Invest!)
Since they were going to evaluate his status as a War God, Jiang Zhe figured he'd likely be sent out to fight a lord-level beast. So, he changed into his "new outfit"—an S-rank combat suit the old butler had delivered early that morning.
This suit represented the pinnacle of Earth's current technology, crafted from the Tridacna King's shell and A6 blue-gold alloy!
The whole combat suit looked like a suit of white porcelain armor, adorned with intricate dark purple lightning patterns. The cool, sleek design left Jiang Zhe very satisfied.
"No wonder it was revered as one of the 'Seven Treasures of Buddhism' in the old times…"
Front Courtyard.
By the time Jiang Zhe arrived, the place was already bustling.
The area outside the main gate—normally an isolated zone near the city's defense grid—was now packed to the brim with convoys, shoulder to shoulder like a market at peak hour.
Every servant he passed along the way greeted him respectfully. Strangely enough, none of them called him "Young Master Zhe" anymore—instead, they all referred to him as "Fourth Young Master."
The uniformity of the change made Jiang Zhe suspect that Butler Wu had orchestrated it.
There were probably two explanations:
Either he was now the fourth War God in the family, aside from the old man...
Or, as the fourth child in the family's "Wen, Wu, Si, Zhe" naming line, his rise to War God status meant he could no longer be treated as a mere kid.
Jiang Zhe didn't dwell on the title too much.
Just as he stepped into the front courtyard, he saw his aunt and cousin Jiang Wen guiding a travel-worn middle-aged man toward one of the side rooms.
Sensing something, the man turned and locked eyes with Jiang Zhe. He nodded, squeezing out a tired yet polite smile from his weathered face.
Only then did Jiang Wen and Aunt notice Jiang Zhe and wave briefly before continuing inside, likely to discuss business.
Inside the Room.
"He's strong!" the middle-aged man remarked with admiration. "A very powerful spiritual telekinesis user. Fierce and sharp—not someone who rose purely by drugs or raw talent, like the rumors claim."
Jiang Chengcheng snorted coldly. "That kind of rumor only comes from jealousy. As if our Jiang family—built on generations of martial discipline—would resort to shortcuts like that!"
Indeed, Jiang Zhe had always followed the family's strict cultivation routine before taking any supplements. The Jiang family could easily afford rare resources like marrow jade and dragon blood, but they never wasted them casually.
Even the normally reserved Jiang Wen added proudly, "Outside of Hong and Thor, no one on Earth understands martial cultivation better than our Jiang family!"
The middle-aged man sighed emotionally. "Right—those two are actual Parliament members."
"In terms of nurturing talent, your family might even surpass the top two martial halls…"
"Enough about that," Jiang Wen waved off. "Let's discuss the asset transition. Mr. Wang, I imagine you're eager to return to the capital and assume your new position as clan head?"
"Indeed… eager, and filled with emotion," Mr. Wang replied with a bitter laugh. "Years have passed since I left, and now that I return to the capital… the roles have changed."
"A War God? Probably a low- or mid-tier," Jiang Zhe thought to himself as he glanced at the man. "He looks a lot like Wang Zhen. Must be his second uncle—the one sent off to the Xixia Base City."
Now that the Wang family's leadership had shifted, the feud between them and Jiang Zhe could be considered settled.
"Xiao Zhe, what are you daydreaming about? Come over here!" Jiang Chengxiong beckoned to his son.
His smile was so wide it looked like his face might cramp.
With his father and older brother both serving as Parliament members, and his son now the youngest War God, Jiang Chengxiong was probably the happiest man on Earth.
At the center of the courtyard stood the old master, First Uncle, Second Uncle, the president of the Limit Council, and a slim, stern-looking middle-aged man exuding planetary-level pressure.
Jiang Zhe guessed this must be a Limit Martial Hall inspector.
He had the refined look of a Hanhua native—lean build, early forties, sporting a neat mustache and prayer beads around his wrist.
This should be the same "Inspector Wang" who had signed a deal with Luo Feng.
Jiang Zhe approached them calmly. Even under the inspector's oppressive gaze, he didn't flinch.
Earlier that morning, he had used beast bone ointment to reinforce his body, significantly boosting his spiritual power. In terms of sheer quantity, he was now close to reaching Tier 9 Apprentice level.
Second Uncle Jiang Chengying asked in confusion, "Xiao Zhe, why are you wearing a combat suit?"
"???"
Jiang Zhe was puzzled. "Aren't we doing a War God qualification test? Don't I need to go kill a couple of lord-level beasts?"
First Uncle chuckled. "Didn't you already kill them and store the materials in the cold vault?"
Jiang Zhe opened his mouth, then fell silent.
Technically, yes, he did hunt them himself—but somehow this evaluation process felt… a little too lax.
"Come here, Xiao Zhe, let me introduce you. This is Inspector Wang from the Limit Martial Hall," the old master said, interrupting the awkward silence.
"Mr. Wang," Jiang Zhe greeted politely.
Relieved he wasn't being forced to call this one some absurd great-uncle title… Otherwise, he'd have to start ranking relatives from the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
"Mhm, nice to meet you. You can call me Uncle Wang," the man replied with a kind smile. "I'm good friends with your father and uncles."
Then, his gaze sharpened slightly. "Your spiritual cultivation is quite impressive. I look forward to the day you take the title of Earth's top spiritual master."
"Haha, I wouldn't dare," Jiang Zhe replied modestly.
But in his head…
Jiang Zhe: (#-_-)\┯━┯
Great… Looks like my seniority will never recover…
The group headed to the cold storage.
First, they examined the corpses of the two king-level beasts. Then, they checked the materials from a mid-tier lord-level creature.
It was clearly just a formality—no one was trying very hard.
Inspector Wang was really here to confirm that the family had fulfilled their penalty requirements. Jiang Zhe's War God title—Mid-tier War God—was approved along the way.
Once everything was done, he handed over two metal crates and promptly excused himself.
The old master turned to the butler. "Old Wu, have these two boxes delivered to Xiao Zhe's courtyard."
Jiang Zhe was curious. "Grandpa, what's in them?"
"You'll see. One opens with your fingerprint, the other with the code '2247.'"
At the butler's signal, two servants placed the boxes in front of him.
Jiang Zhe opened the first with his fingerprint.
Beep!
The lid sprang open, revealing a deep blue helmet.
"That's a neural interface helmet," the old master explained, listing its functions and precautions. "At 2:00 p.m., remember to log into War God Palace."
"Got it."
Jiang Zhe nodded.
He keyed in "2247" on the second box and opened it—inside were four vials of shimmering golden blood.
"Dragon blood? Grandpa, you ordered this?"
"Nope—free gift. The old 'slap you once, feed you candy' tactic."
The old master grinned. "Hong punishes us publicly to maintain order, but he has to compensate us in secret. Otherwise, he'd be unworthy of the scrolls in our archive."
Seeing his son's puzzled face, Jiang Chengxiong added, "After the Great Cataclysm, when a new order was established, Hong and Thor personally visited our family and copied all the martial scrolls and notes from our archive."
1:50 PM
In the study, Jiang Zhe put on the neural interface helmet.
Connecting to virtual space!
Yes! He was genuinely excited—this was the kind of thing people only saw in online gaming novels back in his previous life.
A giant, quiet room appeared around him as he materialized, dressed in a simple white robe.
There was a bed, pool, desk, dining area, and a training zone—all part of a space that exceeded a thousand square meters, neatly divided into functional zones.
"Welcome, War God Jiang Zhe," a cold electronic voice announced.
Jiang Zhe remained unfazed, listening quietly to the tutorial before glancing at the desk where two books lay.
"War God Palace Regulations"
"Fundamentals of Spiritual Telekinesis"
The second one especially caught his attention.
Luo Feng had to buy his copy, but Jiang Zhe's version came as a special order from Hanhua—worth at least as much as three vials of dragon blood.
He flipped through a few pages, focusing on the 18 mental techniques it recorded: Dream Fog, Illusion Eye, Mental Spike, Soulquake…
None of them looked particularly difficult. He figured with a bit of practice, he'd be able to master them quickly.
Looking out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the endless sea of clouds, Jiang Zhe changed into a modern-style indigo Hanfu and stepped out.
Third Floor Hallway.
The Jiang family elders were already waiting. Grandpa and First Uncle wore golden robes. Second Uncle and Dad wore white ones.
Jiang Zhe looked down at his own outfit.
"Uh… should I go change?"
The old master waved it off. "No need. Hurry up, people are waiting downstairs."
"Oh."
Jiang Zhe followed behind them like a husky that had wandered into a wolf pack.
First Floor Grand Hall.
The space was massive, filled with thousands of sofas. Hundreds of War Gods sat in clusters, sipping wine and chatting.
The moment their group stepped onto the glossy floor tiles, the entire hall dimmed. The gentle music stopped.
All eyes turned to the stairway.
Ding!
With a clear chime, the music resumed—this time upbeat and triumphant. Applause erupted as the War Gods rose to show their respect.
Two spotlights illuminated Grandpa and First Uncle.
"War God Palace welcomes two new Parliament members—Mr. Jiang Lie and Mr. Jiang Chengbo!"
A thunderous voice echoed across the hall.
"This brings the total number of Parliament members to 49!"
Jiang Zhe guessed it was supposed to be 50—until one unlucky "international friend" got speared by Grandpa a few days ago.
Then, the lights shifted again—this time falling on Jiang Zhe and two others.
"War God Palace also welcomes three new War Gods: Jiang Zhe, Joline Faer, and Katelan Bolanis!"
The number on the display wall jumped from 2671 to 2674!
Jiang Zhe raised an eyebrow—those two names were familiar.
Katelan Bolanis, aka "Phantom Demon," was clever and pragmatic. She had no desire to provoke Luo Feng and managed to stay alive.
Joline Faer, a strikingly bold young woman with freckles and sharp features, clearly inherited her looks from the fire-controlling Parliament member who had escorted her here.
The spotlights faded, and everything returned to normal.
Faer turned to her companions. "You two, follow me. The First Speaker is waiting. There are things we Parliament members need to know."
Jiang Zhe's eyes lit up—he guessed it would be about the planetary, stellar, and cosmic power tiers.
Suddenly, he felt two pats on the shoulder.
Turning, he met Grandpa's mischievous smile.
Jiang Zhe: ???
Did I wake up from my nap too hard? Why does Grandpa look so shady?
"Xiao Zhe, those two girls are your peers in the HR Alliance. Get to know them, communicate well."
He gave Jiang Zhe a meaningful look and turned away with First Uncle.
"Son, you young people should mingle," Dad added, dragging Second Uncle along with him.
Jiang Zhe was left speechless.
What the hell are you guys up to? Trying to set me up like this? Fine. I'm logging off.
Just as he was about to quit, someone interrupted.
A slender hand reached out to him, and a bright, clear voice rang in his ears.
"Hey genius~ Let's get to know each other. I'm Joline Faer, 25, a low-tier War God martial artist. The man in the gold robe is my father."
"I'm 16. That's not too young. Try a different title."
Jiang Zhe shook her hand briefly before letting go.
"I'm Jiang Zhe, mid-tier War God."
Katelan immediately stepped up, eager to show off.
"I'm Katelan Bolanis, low-tier War God spiritual telekinetic user!"
Jiang Zhe shook her hand too, keeping a neutral face—but mentally:
Yes, I know. And you're going to be stuck at that level for a long time… Until you serve as the perfect comparison for Luo Feng's rise.
But before you can be his background character—you'll be mine first.
After the introductions, Joline winked playfully.
"People say you used spiritual telekinesis to kill two War Gods—one low-tier, one mid-tier. Is that true?"
Jiang Zhe simply smiled without answering.
"Hmph. Even if you won't say, I'll find out at your grandfather's promotion banquet. I'll challenge you myself. Just don't cry when big sis beats the pearls out of you."
"Same here," Katelan added, her eyes burning with fighting spirit. "I'll challenge you that day too!"
Jiang Zhe chuckled internally.
So that's what Grandpa meant by "communicate well." You want me to give them a good thrashing to put them in their place, huh?
Getting excited, he said, "Why wait till then? We can go out to the arena right now!"