Chapter 76 – Hiring Assassins!
Nine months quickly passed.
During this time, Jiang Zhe had a total of seven dreams—two of them lasting over two months, while the shortest was just over two days.
Today was November 12, Year 60. Tomorrow would be the full-month celebration of Luo Feng's child. Jiang Zhe was forcibly awakened by Orianna from the dream of cultivating the "Dormant Dragon Technique".
Fortunately, cultivation through this technique could be interrupted without backlash. Being forcibly woken up was like being roused from a deep, comfortable sleep—he might have a bit of a bad mood, but that was all. Sitting on the bed and sulking for a while usually did the trick.
Back in January? Orianna hadn't taken the Golden-Horned Beast seriously at all. She thought, there's no need to disturb the master's cultivation—I can handle it myself. Had the Golden-Horned Beast chosen to ravage the territory of Hanxia, it would've been immediately tamed into a loyal hound by Orianna's avatars commanding her universe-level slaves.
After waking up, Jiang Zhe was still a little dazed. Staring blankly for a moment, he looked at Orianna and said,
"Orianna, ask me a question—let's see if my IQ dropped."
"Alright, master. In the design diagram of the [Zichen Realm], what's the core principle behind the commonly used 'Pu Pulas chain structure' for energy conduction?"
Jiang Zhe: ???
Oh, so that's how you want to play?
I only know how to draw circuit diagrams interpreting the mysteries of the laws—why would I care about energy conduction?
Seeing the string of question marks almost visibly floating behind Jiang Zhe's head made Orianna laugh.
"Master, this is the fifth time you've asked me to test you. Your intelligence isn't dropping. What did you dream this time?"
"Mmm... I became a mindless thundercloud lifeform, drifting through the universe on instinct, splitting off sub-bodies and wandering with them through cosmic secret realms."
Orianna gently reassured, "Seven times now... It should start getting better soon."
Jiang Zhe nodded. After all, the distracting thoughts he was preparing to sever were focused on 'folly.' These dream sequences were intentionally reinforcing that aspect of foolishness.
Folly—a mind clouded and ignorant.
So all his dream protagonists were foolish and dull. Every time he woke up after synchronizing with these experiences, he couldn't help but wonder if his IQ had actually dropped.
After a while, he shook off the lingering dream state and rubbed his temples.
Just a bit longer, and I'll be ready to sever these distractions. When that happens, I won't just gain a new clone—my willpower will also improve greatly.
November 13.
Jiang Zhe attended the full-month celebration for Luo Feng's two sons. After the feast, he was about to leave when Orianna received a message from Babata—asking him to stay in Jiangnan City for a few more hours. Luo Feng would be coming to discuss something later.
That evening, aboard the C9 alloy spacecraft.
"Senior brother, I've finally perfected it. When can you help me with the soul transfer?"
"Anytime. But first, we need to go to the universe to formally secure Earth's sovereignty."
"Senior brother, you've decided to buy Earth at last?" Luo Feng was visibly excited. Only by obtaining recognition from a cosmic nation could Earth be truly safe from slave traders.
"It's not just me buying Earth—it's us."
"Huh?"
"The ownership of Earth: we'll split it fifty-fifty. I'll front the money now, and once you unlock Teacher Huyanbo's account, you can pay me back."
"Senior brother, why go to such trouble? Even if all the ownership was under your name, neither Hong, Thunder God, nor I would object."
"Luo Feng, I want you to have half of Earth because I have a condition."
"Then... senior brother, tell me."
"I want North and South America to be Jiang family territory. If something ever happens to me, you must protect Earth—and protect the Jiang family from any harm."
Having transmigrated for thirty years, Jiang Zhe was very clear on one thing:
Unlike the overly confident protagonists from his past life's novels, who never prepared any safety nets, he never dared to be so careless.
Every step he took was to secure a backup for the Jiang family. If one day he truly fell—if both his main body and second divine soul perished—then the future Hunyuan Lord, the upright, grateful Luo Feng, would be the greatest guarantee for the Jiang family's survival. No matter how you calculated it, this was a worthwhile investment.
Just like buying insurance. Maybe you'd never need it your whole life—but if that day came, it could be life-saving.
"Senior brother, I understand. If one day I... then I'll also count on you to look after the Luo family."
"Luo Feng, it's settled then—promise me this."
"Senior brother, it's a promise!"
November 14.
The four from Earth once again ventured into the universe, splitting up on the way.
Hong was taken by one of Orianna's avatars, disguised as a native slave of a backwater planet. Thunder God did the same, traveling separately.
Jiang Zhe and Luo Feng handled legitimate citizenship, then purchased ownership of Earth.
By December 2, all four had returned home.
Luo Feng stayed with his family for over ten days before seeking out Jiang Zhe, ready for the soul transfer that would raise his future potential—even at the cost of temporarily sacrificing his human identity. If it could secure immortality for his family, it was absolutely worth it.
January 1, 2061, inside the bracelet world.
"Senior brother says... at a certain level beyond immortality, one can trace back to the origin and return to their true essence."
"I'll definitely reach it!"
With firm conviction, Luo Feng merged his soul completely into the Void Tower, ramming it into the Golden-Horned Beast's nucleus.
The soul transfer had begun!
January 16, Luo Feng finished absorbing all the inherited memories.
January 17, he began nurturing his Earthling clone, and tried controlling the Golden-Horned Beast's body.
During Luo Feng's soul transfer, the others weren't idle either.
Hong and Thunder God underwent deadly trials inside the crystalline world left by the leader of the Mountain Sea Realm. The task post seeking an "Ancient Star Map of the Milky Way—Void Region" weighed heavily on their hearts, pushing them relentlessly.
As for Jiang Zhe, neither scouting parties, following fleets, nor even the Nolan family themselves concerned him—they were threats he could simply wipe out with a wave of his hand.
Even his silver-robed divine soul could access the virtual universe. Using that identity as a realm master, he contacted the emperor of the Caro Empire. For just two mixed yuan units, he could buy around two hundred universe-level slaves of the same caliber as Nolan's.
That was more than enough to make the Caro Emperor abandon his "subjects" and personally lead troops to wipe them out, all to curry favor with this unknown realm master.
Truth be told, it was overpriced. But Jiang Zhe enjoyed the sheer satisfaction of using wealth to crush problems. By offering such a generous reward, he ensured the Caro Emperor would be absolutely ruthless.
With everything in place, Jiang Zhe still didn't rush to nurture his clone.
Doing so might cause a massive disturbance. He needed to ensure that within thousands of light-years—the range that Teacher Huyanbo had altered—no one would witness such anomalies.
By 2063 at the latest, he could proceed without risk.
Caution first—always.
Putting down the sparking welding torch in his hand, Jiang Zhe peered inward at his internal world, gaze landing on the luxurious parasol atop the stone table.
Hopefully, when the time comes, this treasure I've bonded with—yet still can't use—won't display anything too shockingly conspicuous.
Then he continued studying the fundamental laws.
August 12, 2062.
In front of that illusory rainbow light, his comprehension of the laws of time advanced rapidly—he'd already grasped five profound mysteries.
Jiang Zhe figured once he had a time-talented clone, that time law tablet would become nearly obsolete.
Meanwhile, leveraging its boost to his insight, he pushed his thunder law comprehension up to forty-three mysteries.
"Master, Babata has sent word—it's done."
Jiang Zhe raised an eyebrow, set down his hot coffee, and said,
"Let's go see my junior brother. From today on, he's about to soar."
After sending her master into the bracelet world, Orianna gently shook her head.
She really couldn't see what was so special about Luo Feng—why was he worth such a huge investment from her master?
Special? Just by virtue of the heights he might reach in the future. If one day she and her master overplayed their hand and died, Luo Feng could very well pluck them from the river of time and grant them eternal life.
With the first clone of the Golden-Horned Beast successfully born, Luo Feng returned to human society. After spending more than a month with his family, he too entered the crystalline world for deadly tempering.
To be fair, the crystalline world was far more dangerous than the world of lightning. It honed people by bringing them face to face with life and death—powerful even for Jiang Zhe, who was a freakish star-level nine.
There were plenty of universe-level beasts inside. Jiang Zhe could kill them, but being surrounded by hordes would be extremely risky.
November 22, evening.
The solar system's planetary defense system was triggered. Jiang Zhe gathered Luo Feng and the others, boarding the C9-class spacecraft to confront the scouting team.
It was a silver-gray ship.
With the Ink Star detector helping to bypass its scans, they silently closed in. Once it was within visual range, they brazenly rammed straight into it.
The extra C9-grade laser cannons installed on Jiang Zhe's ship fired, tearing a hole through the enemy's inferior C-class hull.
Jiang Zhe stepped onto his Misty Shadow Shuttle and appeared in space, expanding his lightning domain. He surged through the breach and charged into the cockpit.
It all happened so fast that Bro Nolan hadn't even processed the collision.
Everywhere he looked was filled with lightning. In its midst stood a godlike figure, speaking in the universal tongue:
"Like scouting out life planets, do you? Like capturing slaves, do you?"
"The Nolan family... no longer needs to exist!"
"Orianna, notify Emperor Caro. Move now. I want Nolan's head before I send the final payment."
Three sentences, and Bro Nolan's heart turned cold.
So this life planet already had an owner...
They'd kicked an iron plate this time.
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