Chapter Ninety-Seven: A Sudden Surge Forward

Qin Ming had been adapting to the surging power all along, and by the afternoon of the next day, Qin Yicheng came looking for him.

“Why is your phone off again?”

“Whether it’s on or off doesn’t make much difference to me. If the Extreme Martial Hall has anything urgent, Uncle Wu will come straight over. As for everything else, you old man can handle it as you please.”

“You rascal.” Qin Yicheng pointed at his son. “I just got a call. Secretary Han of Councillor Yan Hai asked me to pass along a message to you: at two o’clock this afternoon, you are to go at the appointed time to the God of War Palace to pay your respects.”

“Go and pay my respects?” Qin Ming’s brows drew together. “Dad, what exactly were the words?”

“Well, he is a councillor.”

“Dad, the last time I went to Australia, I killed five king-tier beasts. Thor was there too. If I hadn’t told him not to spread the news, I’d already be a councillor myself. As for Yan Hai? I could cut him down with a single stroke.”

“You killed king-tier beasts?” Qin Yicheng’s eyes bulged. The shock was immense, like a monstrous wave crashing through his heart, leaving him breathing hard, his face and neck flushed red.

King-tier beasts were the true threat to humanity.

Though they stood on the same level as councillors, ordinary councillors were no match for them.

And his son, only an invincible God of War, had slain five of them?

“Am I your own son, or what? Why would I lie to you?” Qin Ming said with a smile.

“Still, so many miraculous things have happened to you that killing five king-tier beasts somehow feels, somehow feels natural enough.” Qin Yicheng shook his head with a苦笑. “I never imagined it. Never imagined that you’d already grown to this extent. Now I’m finally certain our old Qin family’s ancestral grave is absolutely smoking with good fortune.”

Qin Ming laughed despite himself.

Qin Yicheng rallied himself and curled his lip. “That secretary’s tone was hard and overbearing, leaving no room for argument. He ordered me to tell you to enter the God of War Palace at two o’clock this afternoon and pay your respects, not one minute late.”

“He actually spoke to you like that?” Qin Ming was genuinely surprised. “Could it be an old fox leaning on his age, trying to throw his weight around and give me a little warning?”

One had to know, he was an invincible God of War, an idol to the masses, the inspector of the Extreme Martial Hall. Even when a councillor saw him, who would dare put on airs?

What was more, he was not yet nineteen, and already wealthier than kings.

“I was furious when I heard it too. I wanted to curse him out right then and there. After all, we belong to the Extreme Martial Hall and have nothing to fear from him. But then I thought you’re often out and about. If they came looking for trouble and made things difficult for you, I was afraid you’d suffer for it, so I held my temper,” Qin Yicheng said. “If I’d known you were on par with a councillor, I would have hung up at once.”

“From now on, we won’t fear anyone!”

“Haha, your old man can finally stand up straight and breathe easy!”

“You’ve been standing tall for ages, at least as a God of War.”

“That’s a fine thing to say.”

“Dad, let me tell you one more thing. Remember, don’t spread it around.”

“So mysterious. What is it?”

“Thor told me to call him Second Brother, and he wouldn’t let it drop if I didn’t.”

“You took a Second Brother? Wait. Thor? You call Thor Second Brother?”

“Mm.”

Qin Ming nodded and left.

Qin Yicheng stood rooted to the spot, his mind refusing for a long while to turn the corner.

Thor—the undisputed second strongest being on Earth, a presence in the hearts of martial artists akin to a god, someone Qin Yicheng himself admired beyond measure.

And yet today, his own son had said that he had acknowledged him as his Second Brother.

“Second Brother? Then wouldn’t the First Brother be...?”

Qin Yicheng shivered. His mouth stretched all the way to his ears as he jerked his neck and snorted, “Yan Hai? A councillor? Bah!”

That afternoon, at the God of War Palace.

At two o’clock, Councillor Yan Hai, his God of War secretary Hasha Si, and Li Yao all appeared in the main hall and sat down at a table.

“He still hasn’t come?” Yan Hai swept the room with a glance and frowned.

Across the globe, the God of War Palace controlled the grand currents of power, while the councillors controlled the God of War Palace.

Who would dare fail to take a councillor seriously?

“My lord, should I contact him again?” Hasha Si asked in a low voice.

“Mm.” Yan Hai nodded.

The God of War Palace could directly contact the outside world.

A virtual screen appeared before Hasha Si, and he dialed Qin Ming’s number, but it still did not connect.

Helpless, he called Qin Yicheng again. When the call went through, Hasha Si straightened slightly; before he could speak, a voice came from the screen.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Hasha Si, Secretary to Yan Hai. Qin Yicheng, did you not tell him? We instructed Qin Ming to come to the God of War Palace at two o’clock to pay his respects. Why is he still not here?”

“Hasha Si? Never heard of you. Yan Hai? Who’s that? He wants my son to go pay his respects? Hmph, does he really think he’s all that? Utter nonsense!”

“You...!” Hasha Si erupted in fury and was about to berate him when the other side had already hung up. His face darkened with anger.

“Qin Ming!” Yan Hai’s expression was even uglier. This was plainly an insult aimed straight at his face. He glanced at Li Yao, and his figure dispersed, leaving the God of War Palace.

Li Yao, however, sat there stunned. He could not imagine Qin Ming refusing to show Yan Hai the slightest respect.

And that Qin Yicheng had slapped him in the face directly.

“Qin Ming...” Li Yao closed his eyes, anger roiling within him. This failure had not only ruined the matter but also cost Yan Hai his dignity.

“We’ll see.”

At the Qin household.

“So satisfying!”

The instant Qin Yicheng hung up, it felt as though he had bitten into a chilled watermelon on a sweltering day. That icy, soul-deep refreshment left him soothed from the inside out.

“To scold a councillor—damn, that feels good!”

He opened a bottle of white liquor, tilted back his head, and drained it dry. Wiping his mouth, he could not help sighing. “It really was a blessing to have raised such a good son. Otherwise, how could I have this day to stand up straight at last? Should I have two more?”

Qin Ming naturally knew nothing of this, and even if he had, he would not have cared.

Whether it was Li Yao or Yan Hai, he never took them to heart.

At this moment, he was still cultivating.

That was the true thread of his life.

Once he had fully mastered his power, he began refining the remaining purple-gold ginseng. Little by little, both roots were completely absorbed, and his cultivation rose to the second planetary level.

Outside the city!

Whoosh...!

This time, there was no teleportation. He flew at full speed instead, swift as the wind and lightning, and in the blink of an eye he had arrived atop a distant mountain.

“Little Strong, what is my speed?”

Qin Ming asked.

His fighter was linked to his wristwatch. The fighter hovered overhead, recording his speed.

“Master, your speed is 3,400 meters per second.”

“Ten times the speed of sound? Not bad.”

At the second planetary level, that was quite excellent indeed.

Qin Ming thought it over. His figure vanished, and at the same instant he appeared at the foot of the mountain. He flashed repeatedly, disappearing and reappearing in rapid succession, then stopped after several times.

“The range of my teleportation has increased to two thousand meters, an increase of one thousand meters compared with the planetary level. It may not seem as fast as flight, but teleportation traverses space; with a mere thought, I can arrive. It wastes almost no time and catches people even more off guard.”

“I’ve already finished all the purple-gold ginseng.”

“The improvement from lower-grade spiritual liquid has become very slight.”

“If I want to improve quickly again...”

Qin Ming had thought of a method, but it still required careful planning.

“Another way to increase combat strength is to comprehend a domain. If I can comprehend a spatial domain, then across the whole Earth, I could contend with Hong.”

He knew very well that on Earth now, only Hong had comprehended a domain. As for Thor, he had not yet done so.

A planetary-level fighter who comprehended a domain was a genius of extraordinary caliber even by universal standards.

“And there’s also using teleportation to understand the laws of space. That is not something ordinary difficulty can describe.”

Qin Ming weighed his options.