Three days passed. The Shattered Jaw Canyon was no longer a quiet wilderness; it was a construction site.
The ten mining drones, affectionately named "Spiders" by the terrified laborers, worked ceaselessly. The pile of raw spirit crystals grew higher by the hour. The System's energy reserves had surpassed 50,000 EU.
On the flat plateau outside the cave, Jiang Chen stood with his arms crossed, watching his "army."
"Steady!" Old Wu shouted, trying to mimic a drill sergeant. "Hold the... the boom-sticks level!"
The seventeen ex-bandits stood in a ragged line. They held their Type-56 assault rifles awkwardly, like they were holding fragile porcelain. They were used to swinging sabers, feeling the weight of the kill. These hollow metal tubes felt fake.
"Li," Jiang Chen called out. "You're flinching."
Li, the young bandit, jumped. "Your Highness! It's just... the noise. It hurts."
"It is the sound of power," Jiang Chen said. "Get used to—"
Hummmmmm.
A high-pitched vibration cut through the air, drowning out the drone of the mining spiders.
Jiang Chen looked up. The System's radar overlay flashed red.
[Aerial Anomaly Detected.][Target Velocity: 120 km/h.][Energy Signature: Qi Condensation Stage 8.]
A streak of white light descended from the clouds. It wasn't a bird. It was a small, open-decked flying boat, carved from white jade, glowing with runes.
It hovered for a moment, then descended rapidly, landing in the snow with a soft thump fifty meters from the cave entrance.
The bandits panicked. "Immortals! It's a Spirit Boat!"
"Hold your ground!" Jiang Chen's voice was amplified, booming over the commotion. "Safety off. Fingers on the trigger guard. Do not fire until I command."
Three figures stepped off the boat.
They were young—two men and a woman—dressed in pristine white robes embroidered with blue cloud patterns. Their skin was flawless, their hair perfectly coiffed despite the wind. They looked at the muddy, shivering bandits with the same expression a human looks at a cockroach.
The leader, a handsome man with a jade sword strapped to his back, scanned the area. His eyes widened when he saw the mechanical spiders gnawing at the mountain.
"Senior Brother Zhao," the woman whispered. "Look. Mechanical puppets mining a Spirit Vein! They must be ancient artifacts!"
"Indeed," Zhao nodded, greed flashing in his eyes. "To think a backwater like this hid such treasures. The master will be pleased."
He finally turned his gaze to Jiang Chen. He sensed no Qi from the Prince. Just a mortal in a strange black suit.
"You," Zhao said, his voice projecting effortlessly. "I am Zhao Feng of the White Cloud Sect. We detected a disturbance in the Earth Qi here. It seems you have stumbled upon a Spirit Vein that belongs to our Sect."
"Belongs to you?" Jiang Chen raised an eyebrow. "I've been here three days. I haven't seen any deeds."
Zhao laughed. It was a cold, sharp sound. "Everything under the heavens belongs to the strong, mortal. You have defiled this holy ground with your filth."
He took a step forward. "Leave the puppets. Leave the vein. Crawl away, and I might show mercy and only cut out your tongues so you cannot speak of this place."
The bandits trembled. This was a Cultivator of the Great Sects. To defy him was death. Li's rifle barrel was shaking violently.
Jiang Chen didn't move. He analyzed the threat.
[Target Analysis: 3 Hostiles.][Defensive Capability: Qi Barriers (Estimated durability: 500 damage points).][Weapons: Flying Swords.]
"I offer a counter-proposal," Jiang Chen said. "Leave now. Take your boat. And I won't turn you into fertilizer."
Zhao's face darkened. "Courting death!"
He flicked his finger. The jade sword on his back unsheathed itself with a ringing shing, hovering in the air. It glowed with lethal blue light.
"Kill the ants," Zhao commanded.
"FIRE!" Jiang Chen roared.
The bandits, terrified out of their minds, did the only thing their muscle memory allowed. They squeezed the triggers.
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
The sound was apocalyptic. Seventeen AK-47s opened up simultaneously.
The cultivators had expected arrows. Maybe a clumsy spear throw. They were not ready for supersonic lead.
Zhao reacted instinctively, his Qi flaring to create a glowing blue dome around the three of them.
PING-PING-PING-CRACK!
The bullets hammered the barrier like hail. A cultivator's shield could stop an arrow easily. It could stop a sword strike. But physics is cruel.
Each 7.62x39mm bullet carried 2,000 joules of energy. Seventeen rifles. Ten rounds per second each. That was 340,000 joules of kinetic energy impacting the shield every second.
"What—?!" Zhao's eyes bulged. He could feel his Qi draining at a torrential rate. The barrier rippled violently, spiderweb fractures appearing instantly. "Hold! Hold the—"
SHATTER.
The blue dome burst like glass.
The "Rain of Lead" didn't stop.
The woman screamed as three bullets punched through her chest, shredding her silk robes and the heart beneath. She fell backward, dead before she hit the snow.
The second male disciple tried to summon a talisman, but a bullet took his hand off at the wrist. Another struck his throat.
Zhao, the strongest, managed to deflect a few rounds with his flying sword, the blade moving like a blur. But he couldn't block them all.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
One in the thigh. One in the stomach. One in the shoulder.
His concentration broke. The flying sword clattered to the ground.
"CEASE FIRE!" Jiang Chen shouted.
The roaring stopped. The canyon echoed with the ringing in the bandits' ears. Smoke drifted from the barrels of the guns.
Li stared at the rifle in his hands, then at the carnage. The "Immortals"... were hamburger meat. Their pristine white robes were soaked in red.
Jiang Chen walked over to Zhao. The cultivator was on his knees, coughing blood, clutching his stomach. He looked up at Jiang Chen with pure, unadulterated horror.
"Demon..." Zhao gurgled. "What... sorcery..."
Jiang Chen pulled his M1911 (now reloaded with printed ammo) and pointed it at Zhao's forehead.
"Industrialization," Jiang Chen said.
BANG.
[Combat Encounter Resolved.][Loot Available: 3 Low-Grade Storage Bags, 1 Spirit Boat (Damaged), 3 Flying Swords.]
Jiang Chen turned to his stunned troops.
"Reload!" he barked. "And strip the bodies. We have a war to plan."