Morning at the gates of Jiangcheng University.
Five identical black Rolls-Royce Phantoms sat in a silent line, the lead car carrying a license plate so legendary that even traffic cops would pretend not to see it: Jiang A·00001.
Shen Qingqiu stood beside the car, dressed in a simple teal cheongsam that hugged her waist like it had been painted on. She checked her watch again and again, anxiety flickering across her otherwise flawless face.
Students gathered nearby, whispers spreading like wildfire.
"Isn't that Shen Qingqiu, CEO of Shen Group? Who's she waiting for—the mayor?"
"Forget the mayor. Even the governor wouldn't get this treatment. She's gotta be waiting for someone from our school."
Right then, Jiang Che strolled out from inside campus, a single-strap backpack slung over one shoulder, looking like he'd just rolled out of bed.
Shen Qingqiu's eyes lit up. She started toward him—only to see him wave casually and keep walking… straight past her toward the lecture hall.
"Mr. Jiang!" she called.
He stopped, turned around, and said calmly, "Morning, Miss Shen. I've got two mock finals this morning—pretty important. Whatever it is, we'll talk after I'm done."
Shen Qingqiu froze. Behind her, her bodyguard A-Long nearly popped a blood vessel.
"Mr. Jiang, the old master's situation is urgent! The Supernatural Bureau already sealed off Wolong Temple. And you're… taking exams?!"
"Exams are a rite of passage," Jiang Che said with a straight face. "Cultivating the mind is still cultivation."
Inside his mind, Laozi was laughing. "Nice move, kid. Playing hard to get. A Daoist heir should carry himself like this—unbothered by praise or pressure. Besides, the evil energy at Wolong Temple hasn't fully erupted yet. Let them bake in the sun a bit. Builds character."
Shen Qingqiu inhaled slowly, forcing herself to calm down. She gave a faint, helpless smile.
"Then I'll wait here for your victorious return, Mr. Jiang."
Not far away, Su Qing had just entered the campus. She watched in disbelief as the man she once tossed aside like garbage made the mighty Shen family's princess wait under the blazing sun. Regret and absurdity twisted her stomach so badly she nearly fainted.
Inside the Exam Hall
Jiang Che sat in the last row, spinning a cheap two-dollar pen between his fingers.
The proctor was the infamous Professor Wang—nicknamed "The Extinction Nun" by students. She glanced at Jiang Che and snorted.
"Some people think getting famous outside school makes them special. In my classroom, cheating equals expulsion."
Jiang Che just smiled.
The moment the test papers hit the desks, he activated the microscopic mode of his dual pupils. In his vision, complex structural mechanics formulas stopped looking like dull letters—they became flowing lines, almost alive.
"Kid, this stuff is kindergarten level," Laozi scoffed. "You really need divine sense for this?"
"Ancestor, this is called being thorough," Jiang Che replied mentally. "I want to test my brain's new processing speed."
His pen flew across the page—scratch scratch scratch—the sound loud in the silent room.
Sitting in front of him was one of Lin Zihao's former lackeys. Ever since the Lin family collapsed, the guy both feared and hated Jiang Che. Now he quietly pulled a cheat sheet from his pocket, planning to toss it at Jiang Che's feet and shout "cheater."
The paper barely left his hand before Jiang Che flicked a finger. A thread-thin stream of qi struck the guy's wrist.
"Ah—!"
The lackey yelped as the cheat sheet flew… straight into his own mouth.
"What's going on here?" Professor Wang walked over.
"N-nothing…" he stammered, sweating and shaking.
At that moment, Jiang Che stood up and slapped his completed exam onto the desk with effortless flair.
"Finished."
Professor Wang checked the clock, frowning. "Jiang Che, it's only been twenty minutes! This is a provincial-level exam—are you giving up?"
She glanced down at the paper—and froze.
The handwriting was sharp and precise, strokes carrying an almost intimidating energy. The hardest bonus problems were solved with solutions so clean they looked like textbook examples—no, better than textbooks.
"This… this approach…" she whispered, pushing up her glasses in shock.
Jiang Che didn't wait for praise. One hand in his pocket, he walked out under the stunned stares of his classmates—like he was leaving a casual coffee shop instead of a battlefield.
Back at the School Gate
Shen Qingqiu was still waiting.
The moment Jiang Che stepped outside, all five Rolls-Royce doors opened at once. Twenty black-suited bodyguards bowed in unison.
"Welcome, Mr. Jiang!"
The shout echoed across the street. Pedestrians stopped dead to watch.
Shen Qingqiu personally opened the rear door for him. In that moment, she wasn't a business empress—just a respectful apprentice greeting her master.
"How'd the test go?" she asked softly, a faint fragrance following her words.
"Pretty good," Jiang Che said as he slid into the spacious backseat. "Probably full marks."
The convoy roared off.
Inside the car, Shen Qingqiu sat with her hands folded neatly on her knees, uncharacteristically nervous.
"Mr. Jiang, Wolong Temple is more complicated than we thought." She handed him a classified file. "Three senior agents from the Supernatural Investigation Bureau entered last night—and vanished. The area within ten miles is under lockdown. They even used high-frequency sonic scanners… nothing."
Jiang Che flipped through blurry photos. The temple was wrapped in a faint purple haze. The Buddha statues looked like they were smiling… but in a way that felt deeply wrong.
"Those 'ability users' are amateurs who barely scratched the surface," Jiang Che said coldly. "They think it's a magnetic anomaly. In reality, the Buddha's golden body has been corrupted by yin-evil energy. It's formed a Life-Death Boundary."
"A… Life-Death Boundary?" Shen Qingqiu blinked, confused.
"In simple terms," he said, turning toward her, eyes deep and sharp, "that place no longer belongs to the human world."
He studied her face for a moment. "The pure yin energy in your body's gotten heavier lately. You've been feeling cold in your lower abdomen when you sleep, haven't you?"
Her cheeks flushed slightly. She nodded.
"That's the formation in the Shen ancestral estate draining your vitality." Jiang Che suddenly raised his hand and tapped her forehead lightly. "Don't move. I'm teaching you a breathing technique from the Longevity Sutra. Once we enter the temple, stay close. If I tell you not to open your eyes—don't look at the Buddha statues. Understood?"
Warmth spread from his fingertip into her skin. Shen Qingqiu's heart skipped uncontrollably. For a fleeting moment, she felt that even if hell itself lay ahead, as long as she followed this man… she'd be safe.
Thirty Minutes Later — Foot of Wolong Mountain
Dozens of off-road vehicles with special license plates blocked the road. Men and women in advanced tactical suits gathered at the checkpoint, bristling with high-tech gear.
"Stop! Military jurisdiction ahead. No entry!"
A buzz-cut man with a powerful aura stepped forward—Deputy Captain of the Supernatural Investigation Bureau, codename Storm.
Jiang Che stepped out of the car and walked straight toward the mist-covered temple gate without even glancing at him.
"Kid, didn't you hear me?" Storm barked, reaching out to grab Jiang Che's shoulder. A swirling current of energy gathered in his palm.
Jiang Che didn't turn around. His body shifted slightly.
BOOM!
Storm felt like he'd slammed into a mountain. He flew backward and crashed into an armored vehicle with a thunderous impact.
"I told you," Jiang Che said calmly, hands behind his back as he stood before the temple gate. "You can't get in."
The dense purple mist suddenly moved—like it was alive—splitting open to reveal a straight path.
"But I can."
He walked forward into the fog, steps steady and unhurried. Shen Qingqiu hurried after him.
Behind them, the mist slowly closed again, swallowing the entrance and leaving the onlookers frozen in stunned silence.