Domestic Zone: You already have a system, why join a chat group?

Chapter 186 Archmage: This world is doomed!

"Oh dear, Tru! This is the third plate you've broken today! Your father is going to go bankrupt!"

In the world of Jackie Chan Adventures, at Daddy's Antique Shop, Daddy's voice boomed in the kitchen, followed by the crisp sound of a spatula hitting the edge of a pot.

"There's one more thing! Why did you add salt to this dish? You should have added sugar!"

"Excuse me, sir."

It's hard to imagine how a behemoth, 300 cm tall and weighing 300 kg, could squeeze into this two-story building, which is only about 50 square meters in area and 3.5 meters high.

His imposing figure almost filled half of the kitchen. The first "300" refers to centimeters, and the second "300" refers to kilograms. The apron strap was wrapped around his waist twice before it was barely tied. The fabric in front of his chest was stretched taut, and every button was making its last struggle. Even Ryoko could only obediently put on her white dress and white socks and admit that she was a loli in front of him.

"True, Dad, are you done yet?"

At the kitchen doorway, Xiaoyu peeked out with a look of delight, her big, bright eyes darting over.

"Only one last dish left, Xiaoyu. You can tell your friends to get ready to leave." Tru glanced at Xiaoyu by the door, skillfully tossed the wok, and replied affectionately.

He's the head chef today; the restaurant is already set with over twenty dishes, all his and his father's creations.

Well, it's mainly him; Dad's job is more about supervision and finding fault.

"Is Jackie Chan's situation alright yet?"

The old man put down the broom, put his hands behind his back, and walked out of the kitchen with Xiaoyu. They came to the front hall, looked around, and then suddenly looked up and saw Jackie Chan hanging red lanterns on a light bulb on a ladder.

The Lantern Festival in the Chinese lunar calendar is just a few days away, but he still has a lot of work to finish in District 13, so he can only take this opportunity to do some simple preparations first.

"Jackie Chan~ Are you done yet? Jade's friends are almost here!"

"It'll be ready soon, just wait a little longer."

Upon hearing this, Jackie Chan quickly hung up the last red lantern, then, with a nimble flip, landed steadily on the ladder. His movements were crisp and clean. He patted Jade's head before saying to his father, "Sheriff Black is on his way, in about—ten minutes?"

Ten minutes? About right.

Once the time was set, Xiaoyu was quite impatient. After all, it was the first time she had hosted all the group members, and it was impossible for her not to be excited.

"Be careful!" Jackie Chan felt a sense of relief as he watched Xiaoyu leave the antique shop.

Children should make more friends and do things appropriate for their age, such as reading books and playing house, instead of spending their days dealing with mafia and evil.

Xiaoyu told him that among the friends who came this time were a PhD, a Master's student, and a historian, which made him even more gratified.

This at least proves that Xiaoyu's social circle has upgraded from "gangster thugs and ancient demons" to "highly educated intellectuals".

This child is teachable!

"Snapped!"

A crisp sound rang out. Jackie Chan, who had just been hit on the head, clutched his forehead, wincing in pain. He looked at his father, puzzled. He hadn't done anything wrong, so why had he been hit again?

"Dad! Why did you hit me?"

"You must take the matter of the talismans very seriously. Although the Holy Lord has been sealed away, there is still a lot of evil in the world that has not yet appeared!" The old man said earnestly, hands on his hips.

"But, aren't Sheriff Black and the people from District 13 already looking for us? Didn't we just talk on the phone this morning?" Jackie Chan asked, puzzled.

"Huh?" Dad's eyes widened. "Are you questioning your father?"

"Hahaha—" Jackie Chan laughed awkwardly twice, his survival instinct kicking in. Before his father could retaliate further, he turned and fled, practically running away from the battlefield.

According to the rules of the antique shop legends he summarized, the most serious one is never to question or disobey your father, otherwise you will suffer both physical and mental blows.

Ten minutes later.

Jackie Chan, Uncle, and Tru stood together at the entrance of the antique shop.

A gust of wind blew by, and the crumpled newspaper rolled past the three of them.

"Strange, why hasn't Xiaoyu returned yet?" Recalling Xiaoyu's past glorious achievements, Jackie Chan frowned slightly, feeling a vague unease in his heart.

He wasn't worried that Xiaoyu would be scammed, but rather that she was about to cause trouble.

"Don't worry about Xiaoyu. She's much more capable than you now. Even if she encounters trouble, she can handle it herself. You don't need to worry about her." Looking at his good-for-nothing nephew, the old man was furious. So much time had passed, and he still hadn't noticed that Xiaoyu was extraordinary.

"But she's just a twelve-year-old junior high school student," Jackie Chan retorted instinctively. In his eyes, Jade would always be that little girl who needed to be taken care of.

"Being surpassed by a twelve-year-old junior high school student, if I were you, I would be very ashamed right now."

"Um, sir, Jackie Chan, Jade is back." Tru's voice rang out at the right time, interrupting the two's argument, and pointed to the intersection in the distance.

The old man looked in the direction Tru was pointing, and then he was completely taken aback.

These beings, radiating an overwhelming aura, are one thing, but why have gods, unseen for millennia, also appeared? Wait, why is there an evil god too?

By the Great Master, is the world going to end this year?

[Host has come into contact with Jackie Chan (Blue), current causal connection 0%, lottery draw *White 1, draw now?]

[Host has come into contact with the story character, Old Man (Blue). Current causal connection is 0%. Lottery draw *White 1. Draw now?]

Poor Tru, he didn't even trigger the lottery.

After feeling sorry for Tru for two seconds, Russell turned around and met his father's surprised gaze.

Huh?

"Your Majesty." Russell looked at Zhongli.

"Not bad." Zhong Li nodded slightly, his golden-brown eyes remaining calm, which was considered confirmation of Russell's guess.

They were both seen through.

Interesting. He truly deserves to be called the most powerful wizard in the world.

"Uncle Long, these are my friends. This is Russell, Brother Luo, Brother Han Li, Mr. Zhongli, and Xiao Fan—"

Among the group members who came this time, besides Russell, Zhong Li, Gu Nan, Zhuge Dali, Ye Fan, Xiao Yan, Klein, and Xu Qi'an who came on their own, many others brought their families. For example, Han Li brought Nangong Wan and Zi Ling, Zhang Xiaofan brought three lovers, Lu Mingfei and Asule brought Zhao Jiu as well, and Zhang Chulan and Feng Baobao also came.

In the end, Tong Lao did not come with him. During this time travel, Russell did not specifically try to stop the flow of time in the Tianlong World. Just as Tong Lao said, they should give each other some time.

After greeting Jackie Chan, Russell and the others arrived at the restaurant at Xiaoyu's invitation.

Jackie Chan, his father, and Tru went to District 13 to prepare the magic circle for determining the location of the talisman.

According to Xiaoyu, not long ago, the Holy Lord was born and was resealed by them. The twelve talismans, along with the Golden Rooster King's treasure, disappeared in the ruins.

According to the old man, the talismans contain the magic left by Lope and will not disappear with the disappearance of Shendu. They must still exist in some corner of the world. In order to prevent these talismans from falling into the hands of the Mafia or other people with ulterior motives, they still have to find them as soon as possible and store them in the safest warehouse in the world, District 13.

"How does it feel?" In the restaurant, next to Zhao Jiu, Lu Mingfei happily took a bite of the New Orleans chicken burger. Salad dressing squeezed out from the gaps in the bread and entered his mouth, mainly sweet and greasy.

Very good, it tastes just like the KFC I remember. Compared to those coarse flour buns from the Song Dynasty, this is simply divine food.

"It's quite novel," Zhao Jiu said with a light laugh, rubbing her temples.

To be honest, he still finds it somewhat unbelievable.

His return from the 21st century to the Song Dynasty could be barely explained by science fiction theories like time-space wormholes, but now he was sitting in the antique shop of Jackie Chan's father, not to mention the Yan Emperor on his left and the Ye Tian Emperor in front of him. This was much more exciting than the Dao Ancestor or anything like that.

After all, the Dao Ancestor is just a legend, while Emperor Ye and Emperor Yan are right before our eyes!

"Haha, the chicken soup is here!" With a laugh, Zhang Xiaofan brought out another bowl of chicken soup and placed it on the table.

It's not that Tru's cooking skills are bad, it's just that there were too many people present, and Feng Baobao has such a big appetite. Fortunately, there was the fully automatic cooking machine called "Cooking Gold and Jade" developed by the woman Zhongli brought, as well as Russell's blue and white lottery. Otherwise, even with Zhang Xiaofan's cooking skills, it would have been difficult to cope with the food of so many people in a short time.

Half an hour later, the dining table was a mess. The people, who had eaten and drunk their fill, slumped in their chairs, each with a contented look on their faces. Just as they were discussing whether to use rock-paper-scissors to decide who would wash the dishes and clean up the mess, a mysterious and grand aura suddenly descended and enveloped the entire antique shop.

"To embrace all things."

Even faster than this aura arrived was a reassuring voice and a golden shield.

The shield exudes an ancient charm, as exquisite as a work of art, yet it gives people a sense of peace of mind.

But the next moment, everyone present had a strange expression, because they had all received a gift from the world.

In the terms of the cultivation world, it's called the Dao Fruit; in their more familiar terms, it's called a divine office.

"Uh, what are you?" Klein clicked his tongue and asked tentatively.

Zhongli raised his hand, palm facing up, and a golden light emerged from his palm. Although the light was like the midday sun, it was not dazzling. Instead, it exuded a sense of calm and solidity, like the earth itself.

In the light, a seal appeared and disappeared, its body square with a knob on top, its entire body exuding a profound and peaceful aura of primordial yellow.

"It seems to be a goddess Houtu." Zhongli looked at the mark, lowered his eyes and said, his voice carrying a hint of surprise that he himself had not expected. The laws of this world would give him a divine position related to the earth.

Russell also conjured a purple seal, which was slightly rounder than Zhongli's square seal. Its color was deep purple, almost black, and the Big Dipper was faintly visible on its surface. The starlight flowed with a kind of awe-inspiring righteousness that suppressed all evil and cleansed the universe: "This seems to be the True Martial Emperor."

The God of the North, the Demon-Subduing Celestial Venerable, controls wind and rain, and suppresses evil spirits.

"Is this... Pure Yang?" As he spoke, Zhang Xiaofan conjured a small, pale golden sword. The sword was small and exquisite, but the blade exuded a righteous aura of slaying demons and eliminating evil. At the hilt was a lotus bud about to bloom, with the petals slightly open, and pure energy overflowing.

This is not surprising. He is a descendant of Chunyang, and it is perfectly reasonable and legal for him to get involved with Chunyang now.

"Fei-zai, what about you? Dragon King?" Klein turned to look at Lu Mingfei, who shrugged and took out a dragon pearl that was entirely golden: "There's no need for us to ask."

Following these four, the other group members also summoned their respective fruit positions in turn.

For example, Xiao Yan's God of Fire, Ye Fan's God of War, and Xu Qi'an's Arhat Body are all perfectly compatible with their own nature.

"So, why am I an evil god, and a Klein-type?" After asking around and finding that everyone was a positive character, Klein looked at the illusory miniature octopus in his hand in despair, his tone breaking down.

The octopus was only the size of a palm, its entire body ethereal, with translucent tentacles swaying gently between his fingers. It seemed harmless, yet it exuded an inexplicable and eerie aura that sent chills down one's spine.

"Tch—" Han Li glanced at the eerie white bone banner in his hand without saying a word.

Clearly, he and Klein were both categorized as belonging to the demonic path in the world's classification.

He suspected the world was against him; he had clearly retired from crime.

The underground base in District 13 was bathed in cold, white light.

Upon entering the room prepared by Sheriff Black, the old man, who had been in a hurry on the way, carefully took out a palm-sized wooden sculpture from the cloth bag he carried with him.

The statue depicts an elderly man sitting cross-legged, with a simple and kind face, surrounded by a faint aura of spirituality.

The old man placed the statue steadily on the altar in the center of the secret room, then took out three incense sticks, lit them, held them with both hands, and respectfully bowed three times before inserting the incense into the incense burner. Wisps of smoke slowly rose and swirled around the statue.

Jackie Chan stood to the side, watching his father's series of devout actions with a puzzled look on his face. He couldn't help but step forward and ask, "Dad, what are you doing? Aren't we supposed to be setting up a magic array and finding the location of the talismans? Why are you suddenly worshipping the Grand Master?"

"The matter of talismans is certainly important, but there are still some things that Father doesn't understand and needs the guidance of the Grand Master."

After kicking Jackie Chan and other unrelated people out of the room, the old man sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, straightened his back, placed his hands on his knees, and gently touched his thumbs and forefingers together, forming a meditation mudra.

Communicating with the divine requires letting go of all bodily senses. In meditation, his breathing gradually slowed down, and his consciousness detached from the four walls of the room, passing through the layers of reinforced concrete in the 13th District, through the clouds above San Francisco, through the atmosphere, and slowly ascending towards a dimension that he could not speak of but could only perceive.

Soon, the old man's consciousness stopped in a chaotic void, without up or down, left or right, without past or future, only an endless fog between gray and white.

"Grand Master," the old man called out in his mind.

In the void, a light flickered slightly, like a candle flame swaying in the wind in the distance. It was faint, but it definitely existed. The old man was overjoyed and quickly transformed everything he had seen at the entrance of the antique shop into his thoughts, pushing them toward the direction of that candle flame.

Grand Master: "————"

After a moment's hesitation, when the old man came to his senses again, his consciousness had returned to his body. What he saw was the same smoke rising from the cigarette, but something was different.

His connection with the Grand Master was severed.

In his last fragment of consciousness, he seemed to see the archmage utter a question mark.

But what does this mean?