Chapter 5: The Art of Breaking the Law
The siren wail of the Federation Peacekeepers cut through the humid night air of the Undercity.
Jiang Chen stood in the center of what used to be a sewer tunnel. Now, it looked more like a volcanic crater. The ceiling was gone, revealing the smoggy night sky. The stone walls were glowing a dull, angry red, dripping molten slag into the steaming mud.
"Oops," Feng Xi whispered, covering her mouth with both hands. She looked at the devastation with wide, innocent eyes. "I think I used the 'Medium' setting instead of 'Mini'."
"You lack control," Mo You critiqued, stepping gracefully over a puddle of liquid rock. "A true predator kills the target, not the architecture. You have alerted the authorities. How annoying."
Jiang Chen checked his datapad.
[Status: Wanted Level Rising]
[Detection: 4 High-Speed A-Rank Signatures approaching.]
"Uncle Li," Jiang Chen spoke into his comms earpiece. "Bring the car around. We're leaving. Now."
"Young Master!" Uncle Li's voice cracked over the line. "There are drones everywhere! The Federation Response Team is blocking the street! They think a S-Rank monster broke out!"
"Technically," Jiang Chen glanced at Feng Xi, "they aren't wrong."
Before they could move, four figures dropped from the hole in the ceiling, landing in a perfect square formation around them. They wore the heavy, blue-steel exoskeleton armor of the Federation Enforcers.
The leader, a towering man with a scar running through his left eyebrow, stepped forward. His armor hummed with electricity.
"Hands where I can see them!" the Captain barked, leveling a heavy pulse rifle at Jiang Chen. "This is a restricted zone! Identify yourselves and the... entity... that caused this explosion!"
Jiang Chen didn't raise his hands. He simply dusted a speck of ash off his silk lapel.
"Captain," Jiang Chen said smoothly. "My name is Jiang Chen. I believe my family pays your salary."
The Captain paused. He zoomed in with his helmet visor. "Jiang Chen? The... the sickly son of Warlord Jiang?"
He looked at the boy standing amidst the magma. He looked at the two women—one radiating a terrifying cold, the other glowing with residual heat. This didn't look like a sickly boy.
"This is a crime scene, Jiang Chen," the Captain growled, though he lowered the rifle slightly. "Unauthorized use of S-Class magic in a residential zone. Destruction of Federation property. I don't care who your father is. You're coming with us."
Mo You's eyes narrowed. The shadows around her feet began to writhe. "He threatens the Sovereign. Shall I remove his head?"
"No," Jiang Chen commanded. "We are trying not to be criminals today."
Jiang Chen took a step toward the Captain. As he did, he decided to test his new reward.
'Grandmist Perception. Activate.'
[Skill Activated.]
The world shifted.
The colors drained from Jiang Chen's vision, replaced by a wireframe grid of purple lines. He saw everything. He saw the structural weakness in the remaining sewer walls. He saw the flow of mana in the Enforcers' armor.
And he saw the Captain.
Inside the Captain's body, Jiang Chen saw a bright blue network of mana veins. But right near the heart, there was a jagged, black scar. A blockage.
[Target Analysis: Captain Lei]
[Rank: A- (Stalled)]
[Condition: Shattered Meridian (Thoracic 4). Mana leakage 30%.]
[Prognosis: Death by Mana Deviation within 2 years.]
Jiang Chen smiled. It was the smile of a predator finding a exposed throat.
"Captain Lei, is it?" Jiang Chen asked softly.
The Captain stiffened. "How do you know my name?"
"I know a lot of things," Jiang Chen walked closer, ignoring the other guards raising their weapons. "Like how you've been stuck at A-Rank for five years. That injury from the Frost Giant raid never healed, did it? Every time you channel lightning, it feels like glass shards in your chest."
Captain Lei's face went pale behind his visor. "That's... that's classified medical data."
"It's fatal," Jiang Chen continued, stopping inches from the armored man. "The Federation doctors told you to retire. But you can't. You have debts. So you keep popping pain suppressors and praying your heart doesn't explode."
Jiang Chen reached out and tapped the chest plate of the Captain's armor.
"I can fix it."
The silence in the tunnel was heavier than the gravity.
"What?" Lei whispered.
"My guardian," Jiang Chen gestured to Feng Xi. "She specializes in Yang restoration. She can burn that scar out of your meridian in ten seconds. You'd be back to peak condition. Maybe even break through to S-Rank."
Lei's breathing hitched. S-Rank. It was the dream of every hunter. "You... you're bribing a federal officer?"
"I'm offering a transaction," Jiang Chen corrected. "This was a training accident. My family will pay for the tunnel repairs. You file the report as a 'Gas Leak Combustion'. In exchange, you get your life back."
Jiang Chen leaned in. "Or, you can arrest me. My father will bail me out in an hour, and you will die in two years, alone and in pain. Your choice, Captain."
Mo You smirked in the background. 'Manipulative. I like it.'
Captain Lei looked at Jiang Chen. He looked at the impossible heat radiating from Feng Xi. He swallowed hard.
"Stand down," Lei ordered his men.
"Sir?"
"I said stand down! It's a gas leak! Secure the perimeter and keep the civilians back!"
Lei turned to Jiang Chen, taking off his helmet. His eyes were desperate. "When?"
"Come to the Jiang Estate tomorrow," Jiang Chen turned around, signaling his summons to follow. "Use the service entrance. Don't be late."
As they walked away toward the waiting limousine, Feng Xi leaned over to Jiang Chen.
"Master," she whispered. "Can I really fix him?"
"Can you?"
"Oh, easily! It's just a little ice scar. One breath of fire and poof!" She snapped her fingers.
"Good," Jiang Chen slid into the back seat of the car. "Because we just bought the loyalty of a Federation Captain for free."
Scene: The Jiang Estate - The Next Morning
The sun rose over Neo-Shanghai, casting long shadows over the training grounds of the Jiang Estate.
Jiang Chen sat cross-legged on a meditation mat in the center of the private courtyard. He wasn't sleeping. He was cultivating.
For the first time in his life, mana didn't hurt.
With the Grandmist Sovereign Body stabilized, he felt the ambient energy of the world rushing into him like water into a whirlpool.
[Cultivation Progress: A+ (18%)]
"Young Master."
Jiang Chen opened his eyes. His pupils flashed with a purple hue before returning to normal. Uncle Li stood at the edge of the courtyard, holding a gold-leafed envelope.
"The invitation arrived."
Jiang Chen stood up, stretching. His bones popped—a healthy sound, not a brittle one. He took the envelope. It was heavy, embossed with the crest of a Dragon curled around a Sword.
The Imperial University.
"The Selection Exam," Jiang Chen murmured.
"It is in three days," Uncle Li said nervously. "The Patriarch says you must attend. The Luo Clan has already publicly announced that Luo Tian will be aiming for the 'Freshman King' title. If you don't show up..."
"They'll say the Jiang Clan is afraid," Jiang Chen finished.
He opened the envelope. Inside was a registration card.
[Candidate: Jiang Chen]
[Rank on File: C (Pending Update)]
[Note: Physical Assessment Required.]
"Luo Tian..." Jiang Chen tapped the card against his chin.
The memory of the Awakening Ceremony played in his mind. The way Luo Tian had shoved him. The sneer. The threat to break his bones.
"Uncle Li," Jiang Chen asked. "What is the format of this year's exam?"
"It is a 'Survival Royale'," Uncle Li explained. "All candidates are dropped into an artificial island dungeon. The last one standing, or the one with the most points, wins."
"A lawless zone," Jiang Chen smiled. "Perfect."
"Young Master, be careful," Uncle Li warned. "Luo Tian isn't alone. He has formed an alliance with the scions of the Bai and Ye families. They are targeting you. They have... orders to ensure you don't leave the island."
"Orders to kill?"
"Orders to 'accidentally' cripple you permanently."
Jiang Chen crushed the envelope in his hand. Purple energy crackled, turning the gold paper into dust.
From the shadows of the porch, Mo You stepped out. She was wearing a modern black trench coat she had demanded Jiang Chen buy online.
"They want to hunt the Sovereign?" Mo You asked, a cruel amusement in her voice.
Feng Xi popped her head out of the kitchen window, munching on a gold bar she had raided from the family vault. "Can we eat them?"
"No eating the students," Jiang Chen said automatically.
He looked at the dust falling from his hand.
"However," Jiang Chen's eyes turned cold. "If they want a Survival Royale, I'll give them one."
He turned to his summons.
"Mo You, Feng Xi. We have three days."
"Three days for what?" Feng Xi asked.
"To train," Jiang Chen said. "I have the mana. I have the rank. But I don't know how to fight. You two are going to teach me."
Mo You's eyes lit up. "Combat training? With a mortal body? Oh, this will be painful."
"I expect nothing less," Jiang Chen walked to the weapon rack and picked up a practice sword. "Break me, and then build me back up. Because when I step onto that island... I don't want to just win."
He looked at the skyline of the city.
"I want to remind them why the Jiang Clan ruled this city for three hundred years."
[New Quest: The Dragon Gate]
[Objective: Place 1st in the Imperial University Entrance Exam.]
[Optional Objective: Humiliate Luo Tian.]
[Reward: Grandmist Body Tier 2 Unseal.]
"Let's begin."