Chapter 3: The Diet of Goddesses
The sleek, armored limousine of the Jiang Clan glided through the magnetic levitation lanes of Neo-Shanghai. Outside the tinted windows, the city was a blur of neon lights and holographic advertisements, but inside, the atmosphere was thick enough to cut with a knife.
Uncle Li, the veteran butler who had served the Jiang family for thirty years, was driving. His knuckles were white on the steering wheel. He was an awakening veteran himself—a respectable C-Rank Earth Mage—but right now, he felt like a rabbit locked in a cage with two apex predators.
In the spacious back cabin, Jiang Chen sat in the middle.
To his left, Mo You (The Abyssal Dragon) sat with her legs crossed, staring out the window with an expression of utter boredom. Every few seconds, she would tap a manicured black fingernail against the leather seat, and the leather would instantly age, cracking and turning to dust.
To his right, Feng Xi (The Solar Phoenix) was poking the mini-fridge.
"This box is cold," Feng Xi announced, her golden eyes wide with curiosity. "Is this where you trap the winter spirits?"
"It's a refrigerator," Jiang Chen said, massaging his temples. "It keeps drinks cold. Please stop poking it, you're melting the door."
"Fascinating," Feng Xi murmured. Her finger was glowing with a soft, golden light. Where she touched the metal, it wasn't just melting; it was transmuting into liquid gold. "Your world is so fragile. Everything breaks when I touch it."
"That's because you are emitting the heat of a star, you walking lightbulb," Mo You drawled without looking away from the window. "Suppress your aura, or you will kill the driver. His heart rate is already at 160."
Uncle Li let out a small whimper from the front seat.
Jiang Chen sighed. "Uncle Li, eyes on the road. ignore them."
"Y-Yes, Young Master," Li stammered. "But... the seat... it's turning into gold..."
Jiang Chen ignored the property damage and focused on the notification hovering in his vision.
[Status Window]
Name: Jiang Chen
Race: Grandmist Human (Awakened)
Rank: A (Progress to S: 1%)
Physique: Grandmist Sovereign Body (Tier 1: Stabilized)
[Linked Entities]
* Mo You (The End): Hunger Level - Critical.
* Feng Xi (The Beginning): Hunger Level - Critical.
"Okay," Jiang Chen said, leaning back. "Let's talk. The System says you two are starving. What exactly do you eat? Please don't say 'souls' or 'planets'."
Mo You finally turned her head. Her purple eyes bore into him. "In my true form, I consume the entropy of dying stars. However, in this restricted human shell... I require high-density energy. Void Crystals. Dark Matter Cores. Or perhaps the heart of a Dragon King."
Jiang Chen blinked. "We don't have those. The best we have are Monster Cores from the Dungeons."
"Trash," Mo You spat. "Flavorless rocks."
"And you?" Jiang Chen looked at Feng Xi.
The Phoenix smiled brightly, pulling a bottle of vintage champagne from the now-melted fridge. She bit the top of the glass bottle off—glass and all—and chewed it crunchily. "Oh, I'm easier! I feed on purity. Sunstones, Holy Water, or Fire Essence. Though, this 'Champagne' liquid has a funny taste. It tastes like... rotting grapes."
"That's literally what it is," Jiang Chen said.
"Disgusting," Feng Xi beamed, drinking the whole bottle in one gulp. "Another!"
Jiang Chen rubbed his face. He had gone from being a cripple to being the babysitter of two high-maintenance cosmic entities. But he couldn't complain. As the car sped along, he flexed his hand.
Power.
Real, tangible power coursed through his veins. The Grandmist energy wasn't like mana; it was heavier, denser. He felt like he could punch through the armored door of the car without trying.
"We are arriving, Young Master," Uncle Li announced, his voice shaky. "The... The Patriarch is waiting at the gate."
Jiang Chen stiffened.
The Jiang Estate was a fortress. And standing right in the center of the driveway, flanked by two rows of elite guards, was Jiang Wu.
The car stopped. Uncle Li scrambled out to open the door, but Mo You beat him to it. She kicked the door open—literally ripping it off its hinges—and stepped out onto the gravel.
"Small territory," she critiqued, looking at the sprawling mansion that cost billions of credits. "Hardly fit for a dog kennel."
Feng Xi hopped out next, radiating light. "Oh, hush, Sister. It has a rustic charm! Look at those tiny guards. They're shaking! How adorable."
Jiang Chen stepped out last. He adjusted his jacket, standing straight. For the first time in his life, he didn't need the kinetic armor. He didn't need a cane. He walked onto the pavement, his footsteps firm and heavy.
Jiang Wu stood ten meters away. The God of War's face was unreadable, but his eyes were locked on the two women.
"Father," Jiang Chen said, breaking the silence.
Jiang Wu didn't answer immediately. He took a step forward.
BOOM.
An invisible pressure slammed down on the driveway. It was the Patriarch's SS-Rank Aura. Usually, he suppressed it around his son, but today, he let it loose. It was a test. A wave of killing intent that would force a normal C-Rank to their knees instantly.
The guards flinched. Uncle Li collapsed by the car.
Jiang Chen didn't move.
The Grandmist energy inside him didn't even react to the pressure. It was like a breeze hitting a mountain. To Jiang Chen, his father's "god-like" aura felt... thin. Weak.
"Is that all?" Jiang Chen asked quietly.
Jiang Wu's eyes widened a fraction.
But his action had consequences.
"Insolence," Mo You whispered.
To the Abyssal Dragon, an SS-Rank human releasing killing intent toward her Sovereign was a declaration of war.
Shadows erupted from beneath Mo You's feet. The daylight in the courtyard vanished instantly. A cold, skeletal hand of darkness materialized out of thin air, grasping toward Jiang Wu's throat.
At the same time, Feng Xi's eyes flared with golden fire. "You dare suppress my Contractor?"
The temperature spiked to 4,000 degrees. The gravel around them turned into lava.
"Stop!" Jiang Chen shouted.
[Command: Law of Suppression.]
The purple aura flared from Jiang Chen's body. "Down! Both of you!"
The shadows vanished instantly. The heat dissipated. Mo You and Feng Xi froze, their attacks halted mid-air by the absolute command of the Grandmist. They looked annoyed, but they stepped back, flanking Jiang Chen like obedient bodyguards.
Jiang Wu was standing still. A single drop of sweat rolled down his temple.
He had faced Demon Kings. He had fought in the Dimension Wars. But for a split second, when that shadow hand moved, he had felt death. Absolute, unavoidable death.
He looked at his son. Really looked at him. The frail, dying boy was gone. In his place was someone... dangerous.
"C-Rank?" Jiang Wu said, his voice hoarse. "You call that C-Rank, Chen'er?"
Jiang Chen stepped forward, meeting his father's gaze. "The machine malfunctioned, Father. I told the referee. These are just... Spirit Guardians. A rare mutation of the Summoner class."
"Spirit Guardians," Jiang Wu repeated. He wasn't stupid. No Spirit Guardian could almost decapitate an SS-Rank Warlord in the blink of an eye. "And you? You're standing in my aura."
"I feel better," Jiang Chen said simply. "Much better."
Jiang Wu stared at him for a long, agonizing minute. Then, the corner of his mouth twitched. It wasn't quite a smile, but it was close.
"Good," Jiang Wu said. "The Elders are waiting in the main hall. They want to discuss your... 'failure.' They want to send you to the mines."
Jiang Wu turned around, his cape swirling. "Go inside. Introduce them to your... Guardians. I want to see the looks on their faces."
Scene: Jiang Chen's Private Quarters
An hour later, the "introduction" was over.
It hadn't been a meeting; it had been a massacre of pride. The Elders, who had prepared speeches about Jiang Chen's incompetence, had been silenced the moment Mo You walked into the room and accidentally crushed the mahogany conference table by leaning on it.
When they tried to check Jiang Chen's cultivation, Feng Xi had politely informed them that if they touched him, she would incinerate their ancestors' spirits.
They had retreated quickly. Jiang Chen was now officially the "Heir Apparent," pending a re-evaluation of his rank.
Now, safe in his soundproofed room, Jiang Chen collapsed onto his bed.
"Exhausting," he groaned. "Politics is more tiring than dying."
"Your clan is weak," Mo You said, inspecting his bookshelf. She pulled out a book, and it instantly aged into dust in her hands. She scowled. "Everything here is made of wet tissue paper."
"I'm hungry!" Feng Xi flopped onto the bed next to him, bouncing happily. "Master, you promised food! I refrained from eating that rude old man with the white beard, but I am empty!"
Jiang Chen sat up. "I don't have Star Cores, Feng Xi. I have credits. I can order... I don't know, diamonds? Do you eat diamonds?"
"Low quality carbon," Mo You scoffed. "Useless."
Jiang Chen sighed. "Then what do I do? If I can't feed you, will you unsummon?"
"No," Feng Xi rolled onto her stomach, kicking her legs in the air. "We are bound to your soul. If we starve, we just go into hibernation. But if we eat... we can give you presents!"
"Presents?"
"The cycle of elements," Feng Xi explained, pointing a finger at the potted plant in the corner of the room. It was a rare Blue Moon Orchid, worth about 50,000 credits. It was struggling to grow.
"Watch."
Feng Xi blew a small breath of golden mist toward the plant.
Whoosh.
The plant didn't just grow. It exploded with life. The stem thickened into a trunk. The blue flowers multiplied, glowing with intense mana. In seconds, the small potted plant had become a Spirit Tree.
[Item Analysis]
Name: Celestial Moon Tree
Grade: S-Rank Material
Value: Estimated 500 Million Credits.
Jiang Chen's jaw dropped. S-Rank materials were priceless. Wars were fought over them. And she just... breathed on a houseplant?
"It's the Creation Law," Feng Xi giggled. "I take in energy, and I breathe out Life. If you feed me fire or light, I can grow herbs, purify metals, or create healing elixirs!"
Jiang Chen turned slowly to Mo You. "And you? What do you do?"
Mo You smirked. It was a dark, dangerous expression.
She held out her hand. "Give me something. Anything."
Jiang Chen grabbed a heavy iron paperweight from his desk and tossed it to her.
Mo You caught it. Her hand engulfed it in black shadow. There was no sound, just a compression of space. When she opened her hand, the iron was gone. In its place was a tiny, pulsing black crystal.
[Item Analysis]
Name: Condensed Void Iron
Grade: SS-Rank Metal
Properties: Indestructible. Can cut through space.
"I compress," Mo You said. "I take matter, strip away the impurities of existence, and leave only the absolute core. This is the hardest metal on your planet now."
Jiang Chen looked at the S-Rank Tree. Then at the SS-Rank Metal.
He started to laugh.
He had been worried about being sent to the mines?
"We don't need the family fortune," Jiang Chen whispered, a grin spreading across his face. "We are going to buy the whole damn planet."
He looked at his two dangerous, beautiful, and very hungry summons.
"Get in the car," Jiang Chen commanded, jumping off the bed. "We're going to the Hunter's Market. I'm going to buy every Fire Stone and Dark Ore they have."
"Shopping?" Feng Xi's eyes lit up. "Does that involve eating?"
"Oh yes," Jiang Chen opened the door. "Tonight, you feast. And tomorrow... tomorrow we level up."