The Jiang Family Above the Nine Heavens A Batch of Leeks

"Uncle Wang, we must recruit all 170 Soul-Forging cultivators and those 5 Celestial Origin cultivators into the Cultivator Academy. We absolutely can't let them slip away... I mean... we can't let such talents go to waste," Jiang Che said excitedly.

Although the Fatebearer Association had plenty of chosen ones, their so-called "Children of Destiny" had already been ruined by the association's rigid doctrines.

A whole group of Children of Destiny reduced to mere wage slaves!

What Jiang Che needed were high-quality "leeks" (exploitable talents)!

Of course, Jiang Che wasn’t some outright villain. Sure, he was shady... but working under him came with massive benefits!

For example, if other bosses paid you 10,000 a month, Jiang Che would give you 100,000. That was the fundamental difference.

"Don’t worry, son-in-law. The Cultivator Academy has already accepted all these prodigies and offered them generous treatment based on their talents..."

Jiang Che nodded.

"Generous treatment" just meant some mid-grade spirit stones and low-tier elixirs—things he had in endless supply!

This was the era of spiritual revival, after all. Jiang Che had read plenty of novels about spiritual resurgence, and he knew that Children of Destiny emerging at this time were anything but ordinary.

After all, Earth was the origin plane. Its essence had split into nine fragments, forming the Nine Heavens. Now that spiritual energy was returning, Earth’s Heavenly Dao was reclaiming its scattered essence, naturally giving rise to these fated individuals.

Once the two realms connected in the future, these Children of Destiny would be the ones fighting in the Nine Heavens. He had to rope them in as his personal "leeks"!

When it came to expanding his network of subordinates, Jiang Che had quite some experience.

"Son-in-law, I happen to have some documents here. Would you like to take a look?"

Wang Laiyun handed over a thick stack of files.

Jiang Che didn’t refuse. He skimmed through them briefly.

The records only covered the 170 Soul-Forging cultivators and the 5 Celestial Origin prodigies (or rather, his future "leeks").

As for the 40,000+ Foundation Establishment cultivators?

Sorry, but with China’s massive population, even if you were a one-in-ten-thousand genius, there’d still be over 40,000 of you!

It was like the college entrance exams—you might think scoring 600+ was impressive, but in the grand ranking, you’d still be outside the top 10,000.

China never lacked geniuses. To the true prodigies, being called a "genius" was just the bare minimum to meet them.

At a glance, Jiang Che noticed that all 170 Soul-Forging cultivators had names and appearances straight out of a protagonist’s playbook.

He even spotted a familiar face—Lin Yu, the guy he’d once turned into a crossdresser, was among them. This guy’s ancient martial arts had already reached the Sky-Shattering stage, and after switching to cultivation, his spiritual power had climbed to Soul-Forging.

Though, judging by appearance alone, Lin Yu had fully transitioned into looking like a woman. If not for his unmistakable name, Jiang Che might not have recognized him.

Flipping the page, Jiang Che’s eyes landed on the five "premium leeks."

The very first entry made him nearly lose it.

[Jiang Ruoxu: Young master of the Jiang family in the capital. Ancient martial arts at mid-stage Sky-Shattering, cultivation at early-stage Celestial Origin. Dual cultivator. Inheritor of the Human Emperor Scripture. Senior disciple of the Cultivator Academy...]

Dual cultivation!

After the spiritual revival, many ancient martial artists in China had abandoned their martial arts to pursue cultivation, since cultivation overpowered martial arts in the early stages. A Soul-Forging cultivator could even hold their own against a Grandmaster.

Of course, some geniuses chose to cultivate both—because why not? A Child of Destiny’s signature move was defying power gaps!

Next.

[Wang Teng: Only son of the Wang family in the capital. Mid-stage Celestial Origin cultivation. Achieved Qi Refining in 1 day, Foundation Establishment in 3, Soul-Forging in 10, and Celestial Origin in 27.]

Oh? Jiang Che’s eyes lit up. With a name like that, it was a shame he wasn’t destined to be a villain.

Clearly, such rapid progress meant he probably had a system assisting him.

But this little leek was already reserved—by Jiang Che.

[Pei Xiu: Former geography graduate student at Yanda University. Early-stage Celestial Origin cultivation.]

[Yu Chengkong: Top disciple of Wudang Sect. Skilled in swordsmanship. Mid-stage Celestial Origin cultivation.]

[Chu Yuan: Ordinary high school student. Unremarkable yet stands out. Late-stage Celestial Origin cultivation.]

Aside from the first guy, these four were all clearly packing some kind of cheat—probably each with their own unique abilities.

"Hmm... I suddenly feel like stirring up some trouble," Jiang Che mused, stroking his chin. He turned to Wang Laiyun. "Uncle Wang, get me a position as the Cultivator Academy’s dean of discipline!"

Wang Laiyun scratched his head in confusion. He really couldn’t keep up with his son-in-law’s whims.

"Xiao Che... I do have some influence in the Cultivator Association, but my reach doesn’t extend to the academy. But you could just ask your grandfather, Jiang Yunhuang. He’s the current headmaster of the Cultivator Academy. Getting you appointed as dean of discipline should be easy."

Jiang Che’s lips twitched.

So his grandfather was the academy’s headmaster all along?

Thinking about it, Jiang Yunhuang was probably the only one in China qualified for the position.

After the spiritual revival, Jiang Yunhuang’s ancient martial arts had broken through multiple realms. A month ago, he was already at the 7th stage of Sky-Shattering and had forged his own complete martial path. By now, he could probably match some lower-tier Divine Transformation experts.

Anyone else wouldn’t have the presence to keep order.

After a quick call to Jiang Yunhuang, the old man was thrilled.

"Che’er, this is perfect! If you’re willing, forget dean of discipline—I’ll hand you the headmaster position right now!"

Jiang Che felt awkward. He wasn’t actually interested in being dean—he just wanted an excuse to "guide" the Children of Destiny.

He didn’t have time to stay cooped up in the academy. Wouldn’t it be better to spend that time cultivating with his ladies?

"No need. I’m planning to head to the South Sea soon..."

"The South Sea? That place is extremely dangerous right now," Jiang Yunhuang warned. China had sent multiple unmanned submersibles to investigate, but all had lost contact.

No one knew what lurked in the deep.

Though Jiang Yunhuang’s current strength allowed him to dive tens of thousands of meters, his combat power would drop by at least 70% underwater. And with the spiritual revival, who knew what kind of monsters had emerged?

If something happened to him, what would become of his wives?

Jiang Yunhuang had grown quite content in his old age. He couldn’t afford to take risks—he had over a dozen wives waiting for him. Though they were all long-married, the spiritual revival meant they could now cultivate, extend their lifespans, and stay youthful.

At over seventy years old, he still hadn’t had his fill of life. Immortality alone was misery, but not for him.

"Oh, and Che’er, there’s something else. A few days ago, the Jiang family from the Nine Heavens sent another message!"

"???"

Jiang Che raised an eyebrow. The Jiang family from the Nine Heavens was making contact again?