Swallowed Star: Reboot

Chapter 23: Wisdom!

The overwhelming pressure released by the three councilors sent the entire city district into unrest. Monsters scattered throughout the area grew restless, gravitating toward their respective lord-level beasts, with signs of a potential beast tide beginning to form.

The three generations of the Jiang family didn't bother provoking the monsters further. After tidying up the battlefield, they quietly withdrew.

Roughly five or six kilometers away, the old man led them purposefully to a high-end apartment building over thirty stories tall. They entered the underground garage, killed the monsters that had taken over, and then descended the elevator shaft to uncover yet another hidden Jiang-family-built safe house.

Jiang Zhe couldn't help twitching at the corner of his mouth. He was completely at a loss for how to complain about his family's... peculiar tastes.

Unlike other martial artist teams who trained in the wilderness and were forced to eat and sleep in the open to make a living, the Jiang family always ensured comfort, never compromising on hardware—even during combat training.

"Xiao Zhe," the old man said, tossing him a test tube, "this tube of Jade Marrow can increase your physical attributes by 1.5 times. Go ahead and use it later."

The jade-green viscous liquid didn't cling to the glass. One milliliter—this was a standard dose.

"Grandpa, how do I use it?" Jiang Zhe asked.

"Just pull out the rubber stopper and drink it," the old man replied.

"Will a second dose still be effective?"

"The second one only adds a little. Quantitatively speaking, it's about an extra ton of punching force."

Jiang Zhe mentally calculated. A peak high-level War God had around 500 tons of punching force. Relying solely on this kind of low-grade Jade Marrow to stack up that strength… the cost was anything but cheap.

And whether the drug's effects could even scale to that level was another matter entirely.

Unable to find a good excuse, Jiang Zhe bit the bullet and asked, "Grandpa, can I have the one with three doses?"

Jiang Chengbo looked at him, clearly puzzled—Isn't that a waste?

But the old man didn't hesitate at all. He tossed another tube his way. "Here, take four doses. Is that enough?"

"That's more than enough. Four doses are plenty," Jiang Zhe replied, somewhat ashamed. He gripped the two tubes tightly and returned to his room.

Originally, the five doses of Jade Marrow were meant to be divided among the three generations and his aunt. Now, he'd claimed more than his share.

The rich get rich first, then they help the others!

Brothers and sisters, I'll drink first, but don't worry—I'll repay you with spirit herbs and Wood Crystals in the future!

After Jiang Zhe left, the old man called Jiang Chengbo over and showed him a video.

It was a recording of Jiang Zhe killing two War Gods.

He had been hiding nearby at the time and filmed it out of curiosity. But the more he rewatched it afterward, the more something felt... off.

The video lasted less than thirty seconds. After watching it, Jiang Chengbo frowned as well—something wasn't adding up.

The old man asked, "See anything strange?"

Jiang Chengbo replied, "Xiao Zhe's physical strength is only at the level of a beginner War General. At best, his spirit power might reach the peak of an advanced War General. So how did he manage to kill two mid-level War Gods that easily?"

The old man continued, "A few days ago, when you were sparring with Xiao Zhe, how much punching power did you think he had?"

After a brief pause, Jiang Chengbo estimated, "Around 10 tons, give or take 2 tons."

The old man nodded. Then, he said, "Now multiply that—10 tons of punching force, and 40 tons from the flying daggers—by 2. What do you get?"

Like a jolt of lightning through the brain!

Jiang Chengbo's eyes went wide. With that calculation, everything lined up perfectly on paper—it all suddenly made sense.

Excitedly, he asked, "Could it be that Xiao Zhe has mastered a unique spirit-user amplification technique that lets him exert double force?"

Jiang Lie: ???

His face instantly darkened, looking exactly like that old man meme staring at his phone on the subway.

My son… did you forget your brain at home today?

The old man sighed, "The strength of a Spirit Master is reflected in how many daggers they can control simultaneously!"

"Wait—how did I forget that… Dad, then what's going on with Xiao Zhe?"

The old man leaned in and said quietly, "Have you ever considered… what if there are two Xiao Zhes?"

"…Dad, what are you trying to say?"

"Chengbo, just follow my line of reasoning carefully," the old man continued.

"Think about his insane spiritual potential, his inhuman control over power, his absurd cultivation speed with genetic energy, and how little he practices channeling techniques—but still has so much time to refine genetic force…"

Then the old man made a bold hypothesis:

"What if Xiao Zhe's everything is just twice that of a normal person? Wouldn't all those anomalies seem perfectly reasonable?"

"At minimum, double. The exact multiplier is still unknown."

"And he usually only displays the baseline—one unit—of ability."

If Jiang Zhe had heard his grandfather's deduction, he would've clapped in admiration: You really are a blind cat that stumbled on a dead mouse.

The old man concluded, "If that's the case, then the amount of cultivation resources Xiao Zhe needs should also be two to several times more than average!"

Jiang Chengbo finally understood.

So that explained why Jiang Zhe needed extra Jade Marrow—if there were two of him, then naturally he'd need double the food to feel full.

And gradually, Jiang Chengbo also realized his father's real motive.

"Dad, I didn't take issue with Xiao Zhe taking extra resources—you don't need to convince me."

"No, Chengbo, I'm not making this up. This is my honest deduction."

"I know, Dad, I understand," Jiang Chengbo waved his hand. "Let's keep this between us. Not a single word to a fourth person."

With that, he deleted the video of Jiang Zhe's kill.

The old man stroked his stubbly chin. Though it felt a bit like a case of overthinking it, at least they'd cleared the air. There would be no grudges between father, son, and grandson.

Still, he sighed inwardly: Being the head of a large family… is no easy job!

But it wasn't long before a new thought popped into his mind—

Where on earth am I going to find a suitable wife for Xiao Zhe? His excellent bloodline must not go to waste!

---

Meanwhile, unaware of the conversation outside, Jiang Zhe had already downed the three-dose Jade Marrow the moment he returned to his room.

You really have to admit—the older, the wiser!

Just from tiny behavioral details, the old man managed to deduce Jiang Zhe might have a special ability that doubles everything.

And just as he predicted—having double genetic structure meant needing double the resources to sustain it.

If one could gain double the strength, spirit, and even lifespan with only a single unit of cultivation resources—wouldn't that just be a cosmic cheat?

Now, back to the Jade Marrow.

It had a thick bitterness to it, ice-cold going down, and slid straight into his stomach like swallowing an entire glass of ice water under the scorching summer sun.

Only magnified tenfold.

Jiang Zhe could feel the Jade Marrow rapidly breaking down in his gut, releasing thread-like icy energy that spread into his spine's bone marrow and quickly circulated through his entire body.

From bone, to muscle, to skin—his whole body felt like it was radiating cold air.

The chill nearly knocked him out. His face turned pale as a sheet.

Within each cell, the genetic material began to transform under the surge of energy—discarding useless sequences and enhancing functional genes.

Waste cells and impurities were flushed out, forming a layer of grime on his skin.

This deep-level transformation impacted his entire system: tendons, bones, membranes, muscles, skin, and internal organs were all undergoing astounding changes!

As his physique evolved, the spiritual force in his core also expanded. The dark-golden sphere inside him spewed thick clouds of mist.

When the mist reached a certain density, it began to condense into droplets.

One drop.

Two drops.

Three drops…

This—was the mark of a Spirit Master stepping into the War God realm!

---

By 2 a.m., the transformation triggered by the Jade Marrow finally concluded.

Given the rough conditions of the wilderness zone, Jiang Zhe had no choice but to wet a towel with drinking water to wipe off the grime from his skin. He resolved to take a proper bath in the sea at dawn.

Once he'd cleaned up, he went to the hall, adjusted the generator to max output, and entered the training room to test his strength.

A heavy punch slammed into the force gauge.

Jiang Zhe immediately looked at the display.

A bright red number flashed across the screen—35,025 kg!

"High-level War General?"

"No—divide by 2. That's about 17,500 kg, or 17.5 tons!"

"My theoretical realm is just above the threshold of mid-level War General—apprentice level five. But my actual combat power is way beyond that!"

He's about to start popping pills soon, then it's straight to War God, planetary level, then unraveling the secrets of the alchemy furnace—and off to space!