Chapter 180: The Storm!
Jiang Zhe was teleported back to his manor in the Primal Region.
At that very moment, Thunder Island was abuzz with excitement. The entire executive management of the Virtual Universe Company had just received a shocking piece of news—Jiang Zhe had successfully passed the Domain Lord-level Original Tongtian Mountain trial!
Such feats by core members are not publicly announced, but they spread rapidly among company leadership.
And since most of the upper management were Universe Venerables—with students, allies, and informants—the news quickly turned into gossip over tea and wine. Within mere days, Kings, core members of various secret realms, and even alien spies were all aware of it.
So much for confidentiality.
Virtual Universe – Executive Office
Inside one of the executive offices, three Universe Venerables were chatting idly.
They were responsible for assigning external missions to all Domain Lord-level members. In fact, they had just been preparing Luo Feng's external assignment.
A tall, thin man with compound eyes, clad in emerald battle armor, sipped from a wine glass and sighed.
"It's been a long time since our human race produced a junior who passed both the Universe-level and Domain Lord-level Original Tongtian Mountain. Judging by his trajectory, when he breaks through to the Sector Lord level, the next Tongtian Mountain challenge will be no issue either. He's likely to be another 'Ke Di'-level figure."
A bald man in a silver robe, whose face bore mysterious green runes, shook his head.
"Ke Di? No offense, but anyone with eyes can see that Jiang Zhe already surpasses Ke Di. Just think—how long has he been cultivating? From the moment he was recruited to headquarters until now, it's been barely over 200 years. And he's a native human! His civilization is only slightly more advanced than his own age! Jiang Zhe is a true, unparalleled genius."
The silver-robed man chuckled.
"It's no wonder Chaos City Lord, who rarely takes on students, personally chose him."
The admiration was unmistakable.
The third man, a short, green-haired Venerable, grunted in displeasure.
"A genius like him should be thoroughly vetted—to ensure his absolute loyalty to the company. What if he goes astray and becomes a threat?"
He sneered.
"Chaos City Lord's favoritism might end up ruining him. He won't even let us assign his external trial! This undermines the rules of the entire company."
The bald man smirked.
"If you're unhappy, go file a protest with upper management—or confront Chaos City Lord yourself. Why complain to us?"
The compound-eyed man nodded.
"Exactly. The two of us have no interest in overseeing his assignment. Offending him or trying to befriend him—it's a lose-lose. The current arrangement suits us just fine."
The silver-robed and compound-eyed men echoed each other, leaving the green-haired one simmering in frustration.
Primal Secret Realm
Phito, the previous Universe-level core leader and Jiang Zhe's senior, sighed deeply upon hearing the news.
One must learn to accept their own mediocrity.
Inspired by Jiang Zhe and Luo Feng, Phito was now considering whether to advance to Domain Lord level instead of lingering at Universe level.
Initial Secret Realm
"Jiang Zhe! Luo Feng!"
"You two damn brothers!"
"You both broke through now?! Why not earlier? Why wait until after the qualification battles?! That was supposed to be my slot! I hate you both! I hate you!!"
Moro screamed in fury inside his villa, having blocked all sound from escaping. He thrashed the furniture, a picture of helpless rage.
In contrast, Berlan and Rong Jun felt reinvigorated.
They were genuinely happy for Jiang Zhe, but the fire of ambition soon flared in their eyes.
With Luo Feng's and now Jiang Zhe's departure, two slots in the Primal Secret Realm were now vacant.
And with less than 80 years until the next qualification battle…
Their chance had come!
Heaven and Earth Secret Realm
Prince Uka of Manka Star lounged on a sofa, gently swirling a glass of crimson wine.
He murmured,
"Jiang Zhe, Luo Feng… I probably won't be able to catch up with you in this lifetime. I just hope you remember that I once offered you advice. Maybe we'll remain on good terms…"
He smirked.
"Two 'race-level' geniuses from the same primitive planet? Heh. Either there's something special about that planet, or something strange about the two of you… Even the core lines of Manka Star, Desolate God Star, August Star, and Ancestral Mother Star couldn't achieve that."
"Heh… Well, it's not my problem. The secret now belongs to the Virtual Universe Company."
Star Territory of the Barbaric Cosmic Nation
In a dimensional rift corresponding to an empty region of space stood a towering divine kingdom.
This was the hidden headquarters of the Insect Race's espionage network within human territory.
It was also the very place that orchestrated the demise of Ke Di, much to the eternal hatred of Chaos City Lord.
Inside the grand temple, over ten thousand immortal Insect Race warriors lined the hall, howling with rage in response to their Queen's foul mood.
A golden-robed immortal slave, who had delivered the news, trembled in fear on the floor, terrified he might be annihilated.
"Silence!"
A soft, enchanting voice echoed through the temple. Despite its gentleness, it had a calming, hypnotic effect.
The voice whispered,
"He passed the Domain Lord-level Original Tongtian Mountain?"
"Yes, my Queen," the golden-robed immortal replied quickly, eager to please.
"According to records, his trial on Tongtian Bridge stalled at Level 12. But to pass Tongtian Mountain, one must have at least Level 16 comprehension. That means his enlightenment is likely at the level of a Marquis—or even close to a King!"
The voice grew solemn.
"And you said he's only about 200 years old?"
"He's exactly 255, my Queen. And he spent 100 of those years in Chaos City, which—due to time compression—only counts as 30 years of real cultivation. Unless he used other time acceleration methods, he's effectively only trained for under 200 years. An unrivaled genius in the entire Original Universe!"
A cold chuckle echoed through the hall.
"A talent destined to become a Universe Venerable, with a real shot at becoming a Universe Overlord… He must die!"
"He's already reached Domain Lord level. That means he'll soon be dispatched externally, right?"
"Yes, my Queen," said the golden-robed immortal.
"It is said he and Luo Feng (No. 9) will be posted to the Qianwu Universe Nation as Special Inspectors, with the task of overseeing and splitting powers from the military, commerce, and internal affairs divisions."
The Queen laughed.
"So Jiang Zhe might even lead a purge of traitors?"
"That's usually the case for such external assignments."
"Perfect. The reinforcements I requested from the hive have arrived. Time to use him as a test case. They say he's a favorite of Chaos City Lord, perhaps even to be accepted as a direct disciple? Then we'll make Chaos City Lord suffer again!"
"The universe's supreme genius? He'll soon belong to us—or be destroyed!"
Her charming, bell-like laughter echoed through the divine hall.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
From a throne bathed in golden light, beams of radiance shot out—each turning into a shimmering crystal.
These were immortal coordinate tokens—keys to planetary positions.
"Deliver these tokens to all our hidden cells within the Qianwu Universe Nation," the Queen instructed.
"Tell them to start making moves—expose a few flaws—give the Virtual Universe Company's intel department some easy wins."
The golden-robed immortal paled.
"My Queen, those intel networks took us centuries to build…"
"Fool!" the Queen thundered.
"We can rebuild those networks over centuries. But miss this chance to kill the Number One genius, and it's gone forever!"
"Get out! Now! Execute my orders immediately!"
"Yes, my Queen!"
The golden-robed immortal fled the temple in terror.
While the Insect Race mobilized, the Machine and Demon Races weren't idle either.
As the three major races bordering human territory, their rivalry was intense.
Though equal in strength on the battlefield, in covert operations, the Insect Race's "Soul Master" Queen far outshined them.
They, too, recognized Jiang Zhe's brilliance—but could do little about it.
After all, to truly kill a genius like Jiang Zhe, three conditions must be met:
Enslave his soul.
Use time acceleration to burn his lifespan.
Kill him in a zone where time reversal is impossible.
Otherwise, a Universe Master could just rewind time and retrieve him from the past—making any assassination pointless.
For the Machine and Demon Races, achieving these conditions was too costly.
And even if they tried the "time acceleration" tactic—Jiang Zhe's lifespan of 180,000 eras would leave them utterly dismayed.
Meanwhile, the center of this cosmic storm—Jiang Zhe—remained calmly cultivating in his manor within the Wu Chen Space-Time realm.
Unlike Luo Feng, who was constantly entangled in troubles and rushed breakthroughs, Jiang Zhe took his time.
He was in no hurry to return home and had already planned to have Bermington teleport him back to Earth using Divine Kingdom travel.
His teacher, the Holy Spirit King, had already stationed two female King-level slaves on Earth—making it easy to obtain a direct coordinate token.
Luo Feng, not wanting to suffer through a long starship ride, was waiting to hitch a ride with him.
On the fourth day after Jiang Zhe passed the Domain Lord-level Tongtian Mountain trial, the long-delayed appointment finally arrived.
Orianna woke Jiang Zhe from his cultivation.
"Master, you have mail."
A holographic screen appeared, displaying a decree from the Virtual Universe Company.
"From this day forward, you are hereby appointed as Special Military Commissioner of the Qianwu Division.
You are granted full investigative and supervisory authority over one of the three major departments—the Military Division.
You will also command 50 Legions of the Universe Army—equal in rank to a King-level general.
You may even initiate a military campaign…
But be warned: you must report your actions afterward. If your reasons are insufficient, you will be imprisoned in a Sector Prison for a period."
Jiang Zhe grimaced.
"What the hell is this? Who gave me this terrible job?"
A military commissioner?
The Qianwu Universe Nation's Universe Army had 100 legions, jointly controlled by the nation and the Virtual Universe Company.
By law, half of each nation's army had to be co-managed by either the Company or the Giant Axe Arena.
Each legion was led by a Marquis Immortal and included:
1 Immortal God
100 Sector Lords
1,000 Domain Lords
10,000 Universe-level fighters.
Jiang Zhe did the math and nearly choked.
"So I have to manage 50 Marquis Immortals, 5,000 Immortal commanders, and countless small fry?"
He rubbed his temples.
"Give me enough time, and I could kill 50 King Immortals one by one. But now I have to play politics and supervise them?"
"Anna, I bet they'll feel insulted by having a mere Domain Lord above them. They'll probably try to sabotage me."
Orianna grinned.
"Master, merge forms! Blast them into submission!"
Jiang Zhe glared at her.
"Anna, those outside immortals aren't as dumb as Deep Abyss Dukes. They're masters of the laws and can burn their divine bodies for a thousandfold boost. They can be troublesome."
Not much trouble—but trouble nonetheless.
After all, his Bloodblade Saber was more savage than the Femod Venom.
Orianna teased,
"Just kidding. But we need to show them strength. The Military Division isn't as slick as Commerce or Internal Affairs. Better to send a warning shot early on."
Jiang Zhe nodded.
"We'll see. Let's play it by ear. Start prepping for the return trip."
He emailed Bermington to gather the escort troops.
Then sent another to Luo Feng, telling him to rendezvous.
He reviewed his recent training:
Comprehending Thunder and Earth Laws with the goal of mastering them.
Most importantly: cultivating "Mystic Crystal Nine-Refinement Body" to enhance physical amplification.
His Silver-Clad Clone was a warrior-type soul body—heavily dependent on amplification.
The standard 9x amplification was nowhere near enough.
But thanks to his unique physique, once he completed each refinement stage, his silver-clad clone could replicate it instantly—no materials needed.
So for six months, he focused on refining D-grade thunder treasures and training the Nine-Refinement Body.
While others struggled, Jiang Zhe had his Conqueror innate technique to cheat the system.
Using "Primordial Essence Crystals" from the Abyss World, he rapidly advanced.
"In the short term, I perfected the Sixth Refinement, made some progress in the Seventh. My amplification rose from 9x to around 20x."
Fifth Refinement: 9x
Sixth Refinement: 18x
Seventh Refinement: 36x
Jiang Zhe smirked.
"For my silver clone, this is more than enough."
Suddenly, Orianna said,
"Master, your teacher—the Holy Spirit King—has arrived at the manor."
Jiang Zhe stood up immediately.
"Quick! Anna, let's go greet him."
---
Thanks "Ethan Epifanie" for supporting us on patreon
[A/N: Want to read more chapters in advance?
Check out my Patreon at "DigitalToons" for early access and exclusive content!
You can read 100+ chapters there in advance.
```And consistent chapter update everyday , 2 chapters every day
``` ]