Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms

After the press conference, Xia Yu remembered that he still had a system lottery draw to use. When he opened it, he found the same eight identical, meaningless options as before. This time, however, the prize thrilled him: the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms. Xia Yu had been missing a means of attacking at range. Every time, he had simply used the Nine Yang Divine Skill's Internal Energy to blast his opponents with palm strikes. It was crude and wasteful, but the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms would change that. Not only was it powerful, its visual and sound effects were first-rate. The first time he tried it, he gave Tony such a fright that Tony kept calling it magic.

In truth, whether it was magic or not, it was much the same; the only difference was how energy was applied. It compressed and condensed Internal Energy into dragon-shaped force to strike a target. It had probably been modified by the system, as it actually had only two moves. One continuously unleashed streams of dragon-shaped Internal Energy to deal area damage, while the ultimate move condensed eighteen dragons into one and released them all at once.

It was better suited to dealing damage over a wide area. In terms of damage to a single point, its energy density was lower than that of the laser fired at full power by the reactor in Tony's chest. Still, Xia Yu was satisfied. Now that he had the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms, he would naturally get the Six Meridians Divine Sword someday. There was no rush.

After Xia Yu joined S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury seemed to want to win him over, or perhaps compensate him for not receiving a salary. Whatever the reason, Nick Fury generously sent Natasha to stay in Los Angeles long-term. Her official assignment was to get close to Tony Stark through Xia Yu, give an objective assessment of him, and invite him to serve as a S.H.I.E.L.D. consultant.

One thing was particularly worth mentioning. As Xia Yu remembered it, Natasha should have been sent to escort a scientist in Iran around this time (see Captain America 2 for details). She would have encountered the Winter Soldier, failed the mission, and been shot by him in the lower left abdomen. But now Natasha had not been sent on that mission. It seemed that, with Xia Yu's involvement, he had gradually begun to affect some of the less important plotlines.

Xia Yu recalled what Old Master Li had said at the firefighters' families charity gala. Although it had frightened him with the truth about this world, he had been given another life and a system. He ought to do as he pleased a little more and follow his heart.

Tony was determined to be Iron Man, so he had handed the company over to Pepper Potts to manage ahead of time. Every day, Xia Yu took Natasha to see Tony at Malibu Beach, where he guided Tony in practicing the Simplified Yijin Jing and gave Natasha her daily massage to stimulate her circulation. With Natasha's experience from countless battles and Xia Yu's guidance, Tony Stark's personal combat ability was on an entirely different level from his movie counterpart's.

While Tony devoted himself to developing the Iron Man Armor, he was also helping Xia Yu develop a suit of armor. Unlike the Mark system, Xia Yu's main requirement was the ability to fly. Designed for his fighting style and abilities, the new suit, jokingly dubbed the "men's bikini" by Tony, was also on Tony Stark's development list. Because of Xia Yu, Tony had created a file for Natasha on his server as well. It was clear that Natasha would also receive plenty of combat gadgets made by Tony Stark in the near future.

Nick Fury was delighted to hear Natasha's report, and became even more determined to bring Tony Stark into S.H.I.E.L.D. as soon as possible.

Of the two, Tony and Xia Yu, one could help Tony improve his physical condition, while the other could tailor equipment to individual needs. It was like having levels and equipment in a game; they were practically two daddies, and both had to be kept. So, with Nick Fury deliberately or otherwise giving her some leeway, Natasha finally let slip over lunch with the three of them that Howard Stark was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s founders.

Then Nick Fury made another sweeping gesture and had Coulson deliver the belongings Howard had left at S.H.I.E.L.D. As a result, Tony Stark developed the New Element before Iron Man 2 even began, and a new Arc Reactor was born.

As a result, Tony Stark became a S.H.I.E.L.D. consultant and accelerated his company's expansion into new energy. New York's Stark Tower was already on the agenda, and development of the Mark series had also sped up considerably.

These past few months had been the most comfortable days of Xia Yu's life. Natasha stayed close to him every day, and his two purchases of Stark Industries stock at rock bottom had turned his two hundred million dollars into nearly eight hundred million. He had gained both love and wealth, with money and a beautiful woman in abundance.

He believed that the Stark Expo would bring another staggering rise in the stock he held. The expo was what Xia Yu had been looking forward to most lately: first, his wealth was about to soar once more, and second, the expo also marked the beginning of Iron Man 2.

Xia Yu's shameless exploitation of Tony's troubles to speculate in stocks also gave Tony Stark an opportunity to force Xia Yu to perform as the opening guest singer at his expo.

Xia Yu had initially refused, but Tony Stark threatened him outright. If he didn't agree, Tony would withdraw his shares and personnel from Xia Yu's Herbal medicine Group, fold them into Stark Industries, and redevelop and produce the products there. He already had the formulas anyway. If Xia Yu objected, he could sue. Stark Industries' enormous legal department would show him what it meant to have no recourse.

Faced with such a blatant threat, Xia Yu had no choice but to bow his head as the god of stocks.

"You see, Xia, that's the power of capital," Natasha said.