Don't Cry Little Pearls! (Please Vote with Monthly Passes! Please Invest!)

Since his War God-level strength was about to be assessed, Jiang Zhe suspected he might be dragged out later to fight Lord-Tier monsters, so he changed into his "new clothes"—the SS-Tier Combat Suit the old butler had delivered early that morning.

This was currently Earth's finest craftsmanship, made from a mixture of Tridacna King's shell and A6 Azure Gold!

The combat suit resembled a suit of white porcelain armor, covered in dense dark-purple lightning-chain patterns. Jiang Zhe was quite satisfied with its cool appearance.

"No wonder it was honored as one of the 'Seven Treasures of Buddhism' in the old era..."

Front courtyard.

By the time Jiang Zhe strolled over, the place was already bustling.

Outside the gates, the scene could only be described as packed to the brim. The originally remote area near the city defense system had been completely blocked by convoy after convoy.

The household servants he encountered along the way all greeted him respectfully. They no longer called him "Young Master Zhe," instead addressing him as "Young Master Four."

The consistency of it made Jiang Zhe suspect Butler Wu had ordered everyone to change how they addressed him.

There were probably two explanations.

The fourth War God in the family aside from the old man?

Or perhaps he had always been the fourth among "Wenwu Sizhe," but now that he was a War God, they could no longer treat him like a child.

Jiang Zhe did not dwell on the form of address.

The moment he stepped into the front courtyard, he saw his younger aunt and cousin Jiang Wen leading a weather-beaten middle-aged man toward the side hall.

The man seemed to sense something and turned to meet his gaze. He nodded in greeting, forcing a smile onto his weary, weathered face.

Only then did his younger aunt and cousin Jiang Wen notice him. They waved at him in greeting before continuing to lead the middle-aged man inside. They were probably going to discuss business.

"He's strong!" The middle-aged man was full of admiration. "An exceptionally strong Psychic Master. His aura is fierce and sharp. He definitely isn't someone whose strength was forcibly raised through drugs and talent, as the outside world has guessed."

Jiang Chengcheng snorted. "Anyone spreading such rumors is simply jealous. They should think about what the Jiang Family's foundation is. How could we possibly do something so shortsighted?"

Indeed, Jiang Zhe had always followed his training plans step by step before taking any medicine.

The Jiang Family had followed this cultivation process for three generations. They could afford Jade Marrow and Dragon Blood, but there was no need to take them casually.

Even the usually steady Jiang Wen said proudly, "Other than Hong and Thunder God, no one in the world understands martial cultivation better than the Jiang Family!"

The weathered middle-aged man agreed with a sigh. "That's right. Those are two Councilors!"

"When it comes to nurturing talent, your Jiang Family might truly surpass the Two Great Martial Arts Academies..."

"Enough, let's stop talking about that. Let's discuss the transfer of assets. Mr. Wang must also be anxious to return to Kyoto and take over as Family Head, right?"

"Yes, I'm anxious—and full of mixed feelings!" The weathered middle-aged man sighed. "After being apart for so many years, who would have thought that when I returned to Kyoto, master and servant would have switched places? Heh..."

"A War God? Probably Elementary or Mid-Level?" Jiang Zhe roughly judged. "He resembles Wang Zhen somewhat. He should be Wang Zhen's second uncle, the one sent to Xixia Base City."

The main branch of the Wang Family had been replaced, so his feud with them could be considered settled for now.

"Little Zhe, what are you thinking about? Hurry over here!" Jiang Chengxiong waved at his precious son, urging him over.

His face had nearly frozen from smiling these past few days.

His father and eldest brother were both Councilors, while his son was the youngest War God. If Earthlings had a happiness index, he would undoubtedly rank first.

In the center of the courtyard stood the old man, First Uncle, and Second Uncle, along with the president of the Limit Martial Hall headquarters and an unfamiliar middle-aged man carrying an obvious Planetary Level aura.

Jiang Zhe guessed this was one of the Limit Martial Hall's Inspectors.

He looked Hanxia, leanly built, in his forties, with a mustache and a string of Buddhist beads wrapped around his wrist.

He should be the Inspector Wang who had previously made Luo Feng sign an agreement.

Jiang Zhe calmly approached them. Even Inspector Wang's oppressive, scrutinizing gaze could not stir him in the slightest.

At dawn, he had used Beast Bone Paste to strengthen himself once more. His Psychic Power had improved even more, and in terms of sheer quantity, he was already extremely close to the Apprentice Ninth-Rank threshold.

Second Uncle Jiang Chengying asked in confusion, "Little Zhe, why did you come out wearing a Combat Suit?"

"???"

Jiang Zhe was puzzled. "Wasn't I called here to have my War God title assessed? I need to go out and kill a couple of Lord-Tier monsters."

First Uncle reminded him, "Didn't you already finish hunting them? The materials are in the cold storage."

Jiang Zhe opened his mouth but said nothing further.

Though I did indeed hunt them, this assessment method still feels rather unrigorous.

"Come, Little Zhe, let me introduce you. This is Inspector Wang from the Limit Martial Hall." The old man interrupted the uncle-and-nephew staring contest.

"Mr. Wang." Jiang Zhe greeted him.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief. This time, the old man had not forced him to acknowledge some random granduncle... Damn it, his generation rank was about to sink to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

"Yes, hello. You may call me Uncle Wang. I have a very good relationship with your First Uncle, Second Uncle, and your father."

A friendly smile appeared on that mature face, which still vaguely retained the handsome features of his youth. "Your cultivation as a Psychic Master is quite impressive. I look forward to seeing you take Earth's Number One Psychic Master title."

"Huh? I don't deserve that, I really don't." Jiang Zhe responded politely.

But inwardly—

Jiang Zhe: (#-_-)\┯━┯

Jiang Zhe: There's no way I'm ever climbing the seniority ladder...

Once Jiang Zhe arrived, the group headed straight for the cold storage.

They first examined the intact corpses of the two King Level Monsters, then assembled and inspected the pile of materials taken from the Mid-Level Lord-Tier monsters.

It was clearly just a formality, rather perfunctory, and it ended quickly.

Inspector Wang had mainly come to inspect whether the old man and First Uncle had completed their punishment. Assessing Jiang Zhe with the title of "Mid-Level War God" was merely incidental.

After completing his task, he left behind two metal cases and hurriedly took his leave.

The old man instructed the butler beside him, "Old Wu, send both cases to Little Zhe's courtyard."

Jiang Zhe asked curiously, "Grandpa, what's inside the two cases?"

"Open them and see for yourself." The old man smiled. "One uses your fingerprint. The password for the other is '2247.'"

At the butler's signal, two servants carried the cases over to Jiang Zhe.

Jiang Zhe opened them one by one.

He pressed his index finger against the scanner.

Beep!

The lid sprang open, revealing a deep-blue helmet inside.

"This is a Mind-Link Helmet." The old man explained how to use the helmet and the precautions for it, then added, "Remember to log into the War God Palace at two in the afternoon."

"Mm, got it."

Jiang Zhe nodded.

His index finger swiftly entered the four digits on the other case. When he opened it, he saw four vials of golden blood inside.

"Dragon Blood? Grandpa, did you place an order?"

"Heh heh, it was free. The old 'slap you, then hand you a date' routine."

The old man said smugly, "Hong punished us openly to preserve the order he established and prevent Councilors from attacking one another. But behind the scenes, he still had to compensate us. Otherwise, he'd truly be letting down our family's library."

Seeing the confusion on his son's face, Jiang Chengxiong explained, "The year order was reestablished after the Great Nirvana, Hong and Thunder God visited our family together. They copied all the Fist Scriptures, Unique Copy notes, and so on from the library."

Afternoon, 1:50 PM.

Jiang Zhe put on the Mind Sensor helmet in his study.

He entered the Virtual Space!

Y-e-s-s-s. He was quite interested in Virtual Space.

In his Past Life, this was something only found in certain online game novels.

When those kinds of novels had been popular, who had not imagined owning a virtual helmet or gaming pod, one that could immerse them completely in a fantastical virtual world?

This was a quiet, enormous room. Jiang Zhe, dressed in a simple white robe, suddenly appeared.

A bed, swimming pool, tables and chairs, dining area, cultivation zone... The room was over a thousand square meters, its many functional areas neatly separated.

"Welcome, War God Jiang Zhe." A cold electronic voice suddenly rang out.

Jiang Zhe was not startled. He quietly listened to the beginner's guide, then looked at the two books on the table.

"War God Palace Regulations"!

"Psychic Master Fundamentals"!

Especially the latter.

Luo Feng's copy had been bought by himself, while Jiang Zhe's had been purchased by Hanxia on his behalf. Its theoretical value should be equivalent to three vials of Dragon Blood.

Jiang Zhe casually flipped through several pages, mainly looking at the eighteen secret techniques recorded within. Dream Weaver, Phantom Eye, Psychic Spike, Soul Shaker... None of them seemed difficult. If he went out and tried them simply, he could probably succeed.

After glancing at the endless sea of clouds outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, Jiang Zhe changed out of his white robe and left the room.

Third floor, corridor.

The Jiang Family elders had already been waiting for some time. Looking at the golden robes on Grandpa and First Uncle, then the white robes on Second Uncle and Old Man...

Jiang Zhe looked down at the dark-blue, modern-style Hanfu he had just changed into.

"Uh... should I go back and change?"

The old man waved a hand. "Change what? Hurry up. There are people waiting downstairs."

"Oh."

Jiang Zhe followed the main group like a husky that had wandered into a pack of wolves.

They descended the spiral staircase.

Halfway down, they encountered another group: a golden-robed Councilor accompanied by two white-robed War Gods.

The old man and First Uncle exchanged a few pleasantries with the golden-robed Councilor.

Meanwhile, Jiang Zhe got goosebumps from the way the two young white War Gods stared at him. They looked as if they were examining an alien, and they even seemed like they wanted to come over and have a taste of him...

Jiang Zhe pulled his Hanfu tighter around himself.

Boys need to protect themselves when they go out too!

The first-floor hall was enormous, filled with thousands of sofas and seats. More than a thousand people sat in small groups, drinking and chatting.

When the group came down the stairs and stepped onto the bright tiles of the first-floor hall, the entire hall suddenly darkened, and the previously soothing music stopped.

The War Gods all turned toward the staircase in unison.

Clang!

After the crisp chime, passionate, stirring music filled the hall again. The War Gods rose to their feet and applauded, offering their highest respect.

Two beams of light fell upon the old man and Jiang Chengbai.

"War God Palace welcomes two new Councilors: Mr. Jiang Lie and Mr. Jiang Chengbai!"

A grand voice rang out.

"With them, the total number of Councilors in human society has increased by two, reaching forty-nine!"

Jiang Zhe felt that number should originally have been "fifty," but a certain international friend—and unfortunate soul—had been speared to death by Grandpa a few days ago.

Suddenly, the light that had gone out over Grandpa and First Uncle shone down again, falling upon him and the two young War Gods beside him.

"War God Palace also welcomes three newly advanced War Gods: Jiang Zhe, Joline Far, and Katlan Polenas!"

The number on the hall's wall display jumped from "2671" to "2674"!

Upon hearing the names of those two young War Gods, Jiang Zhe raised an eyebrow slightly. There were actually acquaintances here.

Phantom Demon, Katlan Polenas.

A very thoughtful person... more or less neutral, perhaps. He knew how to protect himself wisely and had very little desire to make a move against Luo Feng, so he survived.

Joline Far?

A woman like a leopardess, a freckled girl. She looked heroic and striking, the kind of beauty that grew on you.

More importantly, her surname was Far—and she was from the HR Alliance.

She somewhat resembled the golden-robed Councilor leading the group. Clearly, that man was the Councilor Luo Feng had encountered, the one who controlled flames.

The three beams of light vanished, and the hall returned to normal.

Councilor Far said, "You two, come upstairs with me. The First Chairman is already waiting. There are some matters that Councilors ought to know."

Jiang Zhe's eyes flashed. He guessed what it was—most likely they were going to be told about Planetary Level, Stellar Level, Cosmic Level... and so on.

Suddenly, someone patted his shoulder twice.

Jiang Zhe turned and met Grandpa's kindly smiling face.

Jiang Zhe: ???

Grandpa, did I wake up too suddenly from my nap? Why does your smile look so suspicious?

"Little Zhe, those two are considered your peers, and they're both from the HR Alliance. Get along with them well. Communicate properly."

He patted Jiang Zhe's shoulder again, gave him a meaningful look, then left with First Uncle behind Councilor Far.

"Ahem, son, you young people should interact more."

After tossing out that line, Jiang Chengxiong also dragged Second Uncle away.

A row of question marks practically floated behind Jiang Zhe's head.

—What are you people plotting? You're really doing this? Then I'm logging out.

But someone interrupted his logout operation.

A delicate hand was extended before Jiang Zhe, accompanied by a voice as crisp as an oriole's.

"Little genius~ Let's get acquainted. My name is Joline Far. I'm twenty-five, an Elementary War God-level martial artist, and that golden-robed Councilor just now was my father."

"I'm sixteen, not little. Please use a different form of address."

Jiang Zhe took her delicate hand, gave it two light shakes, then released it.

"I'm Jiang Zhe, a Mid-Level Battle General martial artist."

Katlan beside them also stepped forward, seemingly eager to show himself off. He extended his hand and introduced himself.

"I am Katlan Polenas, an Elementary War God-level Psychic Master!"

Jiang Zhe shook his hand as well.

His expression remained ordinary, but inwardly he grumbled.

—I know, an Elementary War God-level Psychic Master. And you'll be stuck at this stage for a very long time, unable to advance even an inch, until you become an important backdrop for showing off Luo Feng's Psychic Master Talent.

But before Luo Feng, it seems you'll first become my backdrop.

After the three had gotten acquainted, Jolin winked playfully at Jiang Zhe and asked curiously, "They all say you used Psychic Master methods to kill two War Gods, one Elementary and one Mid-Level. Is that true?"

Jiang Zhe pursed his lips in a smile but did not answer.

"Hmph, even if you won't say it, I'll challenge you myself at your grandfather's advancement banquet. Don't let your big sister beat your little pearls out of you."

"Same here. I'll challenge you that day too." Katlan's eyes blazed with fighting spirit.

Jiang Zhe suddenly understood and laughed inwardly. So that's how they communicated... Grandpa, do you want me to give them a good beating and broaden their horizons?

He was rather tempted. "No need to wait until then. How about now? Let's go to the arena outside!"