The air grew thin as the armored convoy wound its way up the "Dragon's Spine," a private mountain pass that didn't appear on any GPS. At the peak sat the Azure Manor, a sprawling fortress of traditional wood and modern glass that served as the ancestral seat of the Lu Family.
Inside the convoy, Lu Chen stared out the window. Beside him, Lu Han was checking the magazine of a sleek, black sidearm, while Lu Xinyi was applying a fresh coat of blood-red lipstick.
"The Twelve Elders are already inside," Xinyi said, her voice unusually somber. "They've heard about your 'server room cleaning' stunt with Lu Feng. Half of them think you're a genius; the other half think you're a liability who attracts too much attention."
"Attention is only a problem for those who can't handle the light," Lu Chen replied.
The Hall of Judgment
The doors to the Grand Hall were twenty feet tall, carved from solid obsidian. As Lu Chen entered, the heavy thud of the doors closing behind him echoed like a casket shutting.
Twelve elderly men and women sat in a semi-circle on raised platforms. In the center, sitting on a simple bamboo chair, was a man who looked like a withered leaf—Lu Tianlong, the Patriarch and Lu Chen's grandfather. Despite his frail appearance, his eyes held the sharpness of a hawk.
"Lu Chen," one of the Elders, a man with a long white beard known as Elder Seventh, barked. "You returned to the city and, within forty-eight hours, you triggered a global financial freeze, bankrupted a shipping dynasty, and threatened a fellow heir. Do you think the poverty trial was a game of revenge?"
Lu Chen walked to the center of the room. He didn't bow. He didn't kneel. He stood like a pillar.
"The trial was to teach me the value of resources," Lu Chen said, his voice carrying effortlessly through the hall. "I learned that a mop is a tool, and so is a billion dollars. I used both to clean up what was dirty. Is that not the Lu way?"
"Arrogance!" another Elder hissed. "Lu Feng has increased the family's influence in the digital sector. You? You've only made enemies."
The Surprise Challenger
Suddenly, a side door opened. Lu Feng walked in, looking smug. He wasn't alone. Behind him was a man in a high-collared military uniform—General Mu, the head of the provincial defense force.
"Grandfather, Elders," Lu Feng bowed deeply. "While my cousin Chen was busy playing king of the hospital, I was securing something far more valuable. General Mu has agreed to grant the Lu Family exclusive rights to the new lithium mines in the North—on the condition that I am named the Primary Successor."
The room erupted in whispers. Lithium was the "new gold." This deal would secure the family's wealth for another century.
Lu Feng looked at Lu Chen, a triumphant sneer on his lips. "What do you have, Chen? A sapphire? A few scrubbed floors?"
The Grandfather's Silence
The Patriarch, Lu Tianlong, finally spoke. His voice was a dry rasp. "Chen... do you have a counter-offer? Or has your cousin truly outpaced you?"
Lu Chen reached into his pocket. He didn't pull out a contract or a phone. He pulled out a small, rusted iron key—the key to the basement apartment he had lived in for three years.
"General Mu," Lu Chen said, turning to the military man. "How is your daughter's heart condition?"
The General froze. his face went pale. "How... how do you know about that? It's a state secret."
"It was a state secret," Lu Chen said. "Until I bought the Swiss laboratory that holds the only patent for the synthetic valve she needs to survive. I didn't buy it an hour ago. I bought it six months ago, using the pennies I saved from my janitor's salary and a series of high-frequency micro-trades I ran from a library computer."
Lu Chen tossed the iron key onto the table in front of his grandfather.
"I don't need to 'secure rights' from the General," Lu Chen continued. "The General's daughter is currently being treated in my hospital, by my doctors, using my technology. The General isn't here to support Lu Feng. He's here because he's waiting for my permission to take his daughter home."
The silence in the hall was deafening. Lu Feng's face turned from smug to terrified. He had brought a contract to a knife fight; Lu Chen had brought the world.
General Mu bowed his head toward Lu Chen, ignoring Lu Feng entirely. "Young Master Lu... the mines are yours. My loyalty is to the man who saved my bloodline."
The Verdict
The Patriarch let out a dry, rattling laugh. He stood up, leaning on his cane.
"Twelve Elders," the old man said, his eyes gleaming. "Lu Feng brought us a deal. But Lu Chen... Lu Chen brought us a General. He survived the mud, and he used that mud to bury his enemies before they even knew the war had started."
The Patriarch pointed his cane at Lu Chen.
"The first seat of the Jade Tower is yours, Chen. But remember—the higher you sit, the more people want to see you fall. Your next trial isn't the family. It's the G7 Circle—the seven families who actually run the world's shadow banks. They've noticed you."
Lu Chen picked up his rusted key. "Let them look. I've spent three years looking up at people. It's time they learned how it feels to look up at me."