Chapter 11: The King of Purgatory
The peak of the Central Mountain was gone. In its place was a flat, smoking plateau of molten rock and glass.
The massive Shadow Dragon, formed from Mo You's essence, hovered above the destruction, its wings casting a pall of darkness over the trembling survivors.
Jiang Chen jumped down from the dragon's head, landing softly on the scorched earth. Feng Xi floated down beside him, her golden dress fluttering, looking like a goddess inspecting a particularly messy garden.
"A bit dusty," Feng Xi commented, waving her hand. A gentle breeze of solar wind swept the smoke away, revealing the terrified faces of the remaining students.
There were only fifty of them left—the core elites of the Luo, Bai, and Ye clans. They were huddled behind energy shields that were cracking under the sheer pressure of Jiang Chen's presence.
Luo Tian stood at the front. His armor was battered, his helmet gone, revealing a face twisted by fear and disbelief.
"You..." Luo Tian's voice shook. "That dragon... that's not a summon. That's a calamity! The examiners will disqualify you! You can't use S-Rank power in a student exam!"
Jiang Chen walked forward. The students parted like the Red Sea, terrified to even make eye contact.
"Disqualify me?" Jiang Chen laughed softly. "Luo Tian, look at the sky."
Luo Tian looked up.
The drone cameras were still buzzing. But they weren't broadcasting warnings. They were broadcasting silence. The examiners hadn't stopped the fight. They hadn't intervened.
"Why..." Luo Tian whispered. "Why aren't they stopping you?"
"Because the world has changed while we were on this island," Jiang Chen said, stopping five meters from him. "My father is watching. And right now, no one in the Global Alliance dares to tell his son to stop."
Jiang Chen planted Nightfall into the ground. He didn't need a weapon for this.
"I gave you a chance at the harbor," Jiang Chen said. "I told you to run. I told you to build a fortress. Is this it? Is this the best the Luo Clan can do?"
Luo Tian's fear turned into a cornered, rabid desperation.
"Don't look down on me!" Luo Tian screamed. He reached into his armor and pulled out a crimson pill pulsating with vile energy.
"Blood Burn Pill!"
"No! Young Master!" A Luo clan retainer shouted from the back. "That pill burns your lifespan! You'll die in ten years!"
Luo Tian didn't care. He swallowed it.
BOOM.
Red lightning exploded from his body. His veins bulged, turning black. His muscles tore and expanded. His A-Rank aura spiked, pushing forcibly into the Pseudo-S Rank.
"I am a genius!" Luo Tian roared, his voice distorted. "I am the future! I will not be stepped on by a cripple!"
He charged.
The speed was incredible. He broke the sound barrier, his spear aimed directly at Jiang Chen's heart.
"Die!"
Mo You yawned in the background. She didn't even lift a finger.
Jiang Chen didn't dodge. He simply raised his right hand.
CLANG.
The sound of metal hitting absolute immovability echoed across the plateau.
Jiang Chen had caught the spear tip. With his bare hand.
The red lightning crackled against Jiang Chen's skin, but it fizzled out upon touching the purple Grandmist aura.
"Pseudo-S Rank?" Jiang Chen looked unimpressed. "My wife opens pickle jars with more force than this."
"Impossible!" Luo Tian strained, his face purple, trying to push the spear forward. It wouldn't budge a millimeter. "Let go!"
"Okay."
Jiang Chen let go.
Then he slapped him.
CRACK.
It wasn't a normal slap. It was a backhand infused with the physical strength of a Human-Dragon hybrid.
Luo Tian's helmet shattered. His jaw shattered. He spun in the air three times before crashing face-first into the ground, skidding for twenty meters.
Silence.
The "Genius" of the Luo Clan lay twitching in the dirt, his Blood Burn aura extinguished instantly.
Jiang Chen walked over to him. He placed a boot on Luo Tian's chest.
"You wanted to break my legs?" Jiang Chen asked.
CRUNCH.
He stepped down. Luo Tian's right femur snapped like a dry twig.
"ARGHHHH!" Luo Tian screamed, waking up from the pain, his eyes rolling back.
"You wanted to cripple my cultivation?"
Jiang Chen knelt down. He placed his glowing purple hand over Luo Tian's dantian—the energy core of a cultivator.
"No... please..." Luo Tian wept, blood bubbling from his mouth. "I surrender! I give up! My father will pay you billions! Don't take my cultivation!"
Jiang Chen looked into his eyes. There was no mercy in the purple void.
"Your father can't save you," Jiang Chen whispered. "Welcome to the life of a cripple."
[Grandmist Art: Mana Dissolution.]
Jiang Chen pushed.
POP.
A sound like a deflating balloon came from Luo Tian's stomach. The red mana leaked out, dissipating into the air. Luo Tian's eyes went dead. He went limp.
He wasn't dead. But he would never cast a spell again. He was now exactly what he had mocked Jiang Chen for being: a useless mortal.
Jiang Chen stood up and looked at the remaining students.
"Anyone else want to be a hero?"
The students dropped their weapons. They fell to their knees, heads touching the dirt.
"We surrender!"
"Please spare us, Sovereign!"
"We were forced by Luo Tian!"
Jiang Chen looked at his watch.
[Time Remaining: 00:00]
[Exam Concluded.]
[Final Scoreboard]
1. Jiang Chen: 52,400 Points.
2. Bai Ling: 800 Points.
3. Ye Kuang: 0 Points (Eliminated).
...
A giant holographic projection appeared in the sky above the island. The face of the Head Examiner appeared. He looked pale, sweating profusely.
"THE EXAM IS OVER!" The Examiner shouted, his voice cracking. "The Winner is... Jiang Chen! All transport ships are inbound! Please... please stop destroying the island!"
Scene: The Return
The transport ships landed on the plateau. But Jiang Chen didn't board them.
"Husband," Mo You said, looking at the cramped military shuttle with disdain. "I refuse to sit in a tin can with these sweaty mortals."
"Agreed," Feng Xi nodded. "We have a perfectly good Dragon!"
Jiang Chen smiled. "Let's go home in style."
He grabbed his wives. They leaped back onto the massive Shadow Dragon.
With a roar that scattered the clouds, the Dragon ascended, leaving the stunned examiners and traumatized students behind. They flew across the ocean, breaking the sound barrier, heading straight for the mainland.
Scene: Neo-Shanghai Spaceport
The atmosphere at the Spaceport was heavy.
Usually, parents waited with flowers. Today, the entire port was surrounded by the Crimson Guard—the elite personal army of the Jiang Clan.
Thousands of civilians and reporters were held back by energy barriers.
"Why is the army here?"
"Didn't you hear? Warlord Jiang and Lady Lin evolved! They are both EX-Rank now!"
"They are here to welcome the Prince!"
Suddenly, the radar towers began to spin frantically.
"Unidentified S-Rank Flying Object approaching! Speed Mach 5!"
The clouds over the harbor parted.
The Shadow Dragon descended. It was so massive it blocked the sun. It circled the harbor once, its roar shattering the glass in the terminal windows, before landing in the center of the VIP tarmac.
The Dragon dissipated into black mist.
Three figures stood there.
Jiang Chen, flanked by Mo You and Feng Xi.
Before Jiang Chen could even take a step, the crowd erupted. But it wasn't the sound of cheering.
It was the sound of armor clattering.
Ten thousand Crimson Guards slammed their fists against their chest plates in unison.
"HAIL THE YOUNG MASTER!"
The shout shook the ground.
And then, walking through the ranks of the soldiers, came two figures.
Jiang Wu. The God of War. He wasn't walking; he was floating an inch off the ground, wrapped in a faint golden aura that warped the light around him.
Lin Xi. The Ice Empress. She looked regal, her white hair flowing in a wind that didn't exist, snowflakes forming at her feet with every step.
Jiang Chen walked toward them. He stopped in front of his parents.
The last time they met, Jiang Chen was a disappointment. A C-Rank failure destined for the mines.
Now, they stood eye-to-eye.
Jiang Wu looked at his son. He looked at the Dragon and Phoenix wives. He felt the resonance in his own blood—the Trinity Origin calling out to him.
Jiang Wu didn't speak. He simply opened his arms.
Jiang Chen smiled. He stepped forward and hugged his father.
"I'm back, Dad."
"Welcome home, Son," Jiang Wu's voice was thick with emotion. He pulled back, gripping Jiang Chen's shoulders. "You have shaken the world today."
Lin Xi stepped forward, tears in her eyes. She hugged Jiang Chen tight, freezing his clothes slightly with her uncontrollable EX-Rank cold. "My baby... you're safe. And you're... married?"
Lin Xi looked at Mo You and Feng Xi.
Feng Xi beamed and curtsied perfectly. "Hello, Mother-in-Law! I am Feng Xi. I like shiny things and desserts!"
Mo You nodded respectfully, though her eyes remained sharp. "I am Mo You. I protect the Sovereign."
Lin Xi laughed, a beautiful, tinkling sound. "A Dragon and a Phoenix. Only my son could achieve such a match."
Jiang Wu turned to the massive crowd of reporters and cameras. He raised his hand.
The silence was absolute.
"Look closely!" Jiang Wu roared, pointing at his son. "This is the 'Cripple' you mocked! This is the 'Glass Prince'!"
"Today, the Jiang Clan declares a new era!"
"From this moment on, Neo-Shanghai is under our protection. The Three Great Families are no more. There is only the Jiang Clan."
Jiang Wu's eyes glowed gold.
"Any clan that has a problem with my son... can come talk to me."
Scene: The Shadow of the Future
Later that night, the celebration at the Jiang Estate was legendary. The entire city was lit up with fireworks.
But in the shadows of the Undercity, things were moving.
In a dark, damp room deep beneath the sewers, a hooded figure watched the broadcast of Jiang Chen's return. The figure's skin was grey, and his eyes were vertical slits.
He wasn't human.
"Grandmist..." the figure hissed, his tongue forked. "The signal was correct. The Origin has returned to Earth."
He tapped a communication crystal that pulsed with a vile green light.
"Commander. We have found the Vessel. But... he has bonded with the Traitor Dragon and the False Phoenix."
A deep, distorted voice replied from the crystal, sounding like grinding metal.
"The invasion timetable is moved up. Initiate Protocol: God Slayer."
"We must kill the fledgling before he learns what he truly is. If the Grandmist fully awakens... the Void will be consumed."
The crystal went dark.
The figure stood up, pulling a jagged dagger made of bone from his belt.
"The war begins."
[System Notification]
[Arc 1 Completed: The Awakening]
[Rewards Calculated...]
[Rank Up: S-Rank -> SS-Rank (Pseudo)]
[New Feature Unlocked: Grandmist Territory Building.]
[Quest Added: Survive the First Wave.]
Jiang Chen stood on his balcony, holding a glass of wine. Mo You was asleep on his bed, exhausted from the day. Feng Xi was raiding the kitchen downstairs.
He looked at the moon. For a split second, he thought he saw a crack in it.
"Why do I feel like the tutorial just ended?" he muttered, sipping his wine.
He smiled, his eyes glowing purple.
"Bring it on."