In the morning light of the Xiao Clan's training grounds, Xiao Zhan stared, dumbfounded, at the armed helicopter hovering in the air. The gale from its rotor blades blew his hat off, revealing new white hairs at his temples—the result of the shock he'd suffered last night when he saw Xiao Feng level three stone mountains with an antimatter bomb.
"Father, this is an AH-64 Apache from Earth." Xiao Feng operated a tablet as the missile launchers slowly unfolded. "A single Hellfire Missile is as powerful as a full-force strike from a Dou Wang, and it can precisely lock onto Dou Qi fluctuations."
Xiao Yan crouched nearby, loading ammunition into the Fire Lotus Rocket Launcher. Suddenly, he pointed at the display and cried, "Third Brother, the radar shows an unidentified flying object approaching!"
On the screen, three green dots were closing in at Mach speed. Xiao Feng's pupils contracted as he recognized the Ancient Clan's Sky-Wing Griffins—bioweapons modified with the genes of magical beasts. He raised a hand and issued an order. The helicopters instantly scattered, their onboard laser cannons weaving a web of fire through the sky.
"Warning! Energy shield at 30%!" As the mechanical voice sounded, the griffin riders hurled the Black-Rank Dou Technique Storm Blade, which sliced the laser beams into fragments. Xiao Feng sneered and pressed the red button on his tablet. "Try this—EMP Bomb."
Blue-white light flashed across the sky. The griffins cried out as their mechanical wings, built around metal skeletons, crashed to the ground. The riders stared in terror as the sheen faded from their Dou Qi swords, then were easily captured by Xiao Clan disciples with tranquilizer guns.
"So even the Ancient Clan is dabbling in biotechnology." Xiao Yan nudged the griffin wreckage with his foot. A circuit board exposed inside it was inscribed with Soul Clan runes. "Looks like Hun Dan's tentacles have long since reached into all the Ancient Clans."
Xiao Zhan picked up a fallen Dou Technique jade slip. Electric sparks still crackled across its surface. "Feng'er, do you really plan to use these... steel monsters to fight the Soul Clan? The legacy of our ancestors..."
"Tradition has to keep up with the times." Xiao Feng brought up a military satellite map of Earth, the outline of Douqi Continent flickering on the screen. "Hun Dan used system code to rewrite the rules of the world, so we have to beat him with the technology he understands. Besides—" He pointed to the other side of the training grounds, where Xiao Clan disciples were lined up to receive smartwatches. "The system's 'check-in function' works on Earth too. Yesterday, someone checked in at a convenience store and got ten Rejuvenation Pills, all of the sixth grade."
Xiao Zhan shook his head with a wry smile, then suddenly felt the ground tremble. Blue light shimmered from a distant portal, and a young man from Earth wearing sunglasses stepped out, a thermal delivery bag marked "Meituan Delivery" tucked under his arm. "Mr. Xiao Feng? Your 'Dou Sheng Burger Combo' is here. Also, the Transmigrator Alliance asked me to pass along a message—"
The young man removed his sunglasses, revealing a mechanical left eye. "Don't attract too much attention. The license for a Dual-Vector Foil strike is almost approved."
Meanwhile, inside Medusa Temple in the Snake-People Kingdom, the Amethyst Winged Lion King's roar shook dust from the vaulted ceiling. Hun Dan's consciousness clung to Medusa as she evolved. Watching her human form gradually take shape in the mirror, he ran a fingertip over the smartphone at his waist—the System Terminal he'd picked up on Earth's black market.
"Xiao Feng, you think you've already won just because you have cross-plane technology?" He chuckled at the snake pupils in the mirror. The screen showed a live feed of the Xiao Clan's armory. "Know why your system is always half a step behind mine? Because I'm the genuine, original transmigrator in this world, while you..."
The temple doors exploded open. The Seven-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python slithered in, forked tongue flicking, with an action figure Xiao Yan had bought on Earth clenched in its mouth. The base of the "Flame Emperor Battle Soul" model was engraved with Xiao Xuan's Clan Mark!
"Queen Medusa, wake up!" Xiao Yan's voice came from the action figure. It suddenly burst with golden light, jolting Hun Dan's consciousness out of her body. "Look at your own tail. Those aren't snake scales—they're code!"
Medusa jerked her head up and saw her scales turning into streams of data, ones and zeroes. Hun Dan's phantom cursed and fled toward the portal, only to be caught in a quantum trap Xiao Feng had laid in advance. It dissolved into points of light and merged with Xiao Yan's Fire Lotus.
System notification: Hun Dan's remaining consciousness has been eliminated.
The mechanical voice echoed through the temple. Medusa's pupils returned to gold. "Thank you both. But..." She stared at the action figure in Xiao Yan's hand. "Why does this thing remind me of Lord Xiao Xuan?"
By the time Xiao Feng arrived, Xiao Yan was already scrambling to explain. "It's an... artwork from Earth. Yes, artwork!" He coughed and took out the genetic stabilizer he'd brought from Earth. "Your Majesty, this potion can stabilize your human form. In exchange, would you allow the Xiao Clan to establish a portal node in the Snake-People Kingdom?"
Medusa raised an eyebrow and wound a strand of Xiao Yan's hair around her fingertip. "Agreed. But if any Xiao Clan disciple dares enter the Snake-People forbidden zone..." The Amethyst Winged Lion King behind her growled, then suddenly caught the smell of fried chicken from afar, turned around, and ran toward the portal.
"Damn, who brought a KFC family bucket over here!" Xiao Feng stared at the "Check-in Reward: Golden Crispy Chicken Recipe" in the system log and shook his head helplessly. "Xiao Yanzi, tell the logistics department that Earth takeout is banned near the portals from now on."
By the time they returned to the Xiao Clan, Gu Yuan's delegation had already arrived. The Peak Nine-Star Dou Saint stared at the drones in the sky, his beard streaming backward in the rotor wash. "Nephew Xiao, is this... a flying spirit artifact?"
"Something like that." Xiao Feng handed him a VR headset. Gu Yuan put it on and cried out in surprise—the lenses were showing Xiao Clan disciples using an electromagnetic cannon to blast Soul Clan mechanical beasts. "This is a virtual reality projection. It'll help you understand our military capabilities."
Gu Yuan took off the headset, his gaze falling on the smartphone at Xiao Zhan's waist. "Clan Chief Xiao Zhan, I have a request... Could I take a look at your son's 'system'? The Ancient Emperor Scripture in the Gu Clan keeps reporting errors lately. It says, 'Insufficient memory.'"
Xiao Feng and Xiao Yan exchanged a glance and smiled in unison. Right on cue, a system notification rang out:
Ding! Ancient Clan Chief Gu Yuan requests access to the system. "Inter-Clan Cooperation" quest triggered. Reward: Ancient Clan secret flame, Nirvana Flame ×1.
"Of course. But first..." Xiao Feng opened the Steam store page on Earth. "Before we get down to business, how about trying one of our 'cross-plane games'? The latest Battle Through the Heavens Online expansion supports Dou Qi controls."
Xiao Yan suddenly pointed toward the distant portal. A courier stood there clutching a box and shouting, "Xiao Feng! Your delivery! It's a set of blueprints from Earth to restore the Xiao Clan's ancestral home, and there's also a reminder to update from Qidian Chinese Network!"
Looking at the chaotic training grounds, Gu Yuan stroked his beard and laughed. "How interesting! Xiao Xuan once said, 'Great changes are sure to come in the future.' Looks like this is what he meant. Nephew Xiao, if you need the Gu Clan's Void Crystal Vein to make these 'chips,' just ask—but in exchange..."
He leaned closer to Xiao Feng and lowered his voice. "Could you help this old man set up a WeChat account on Earth? I hear you can snatch red envelopes on it. They're even more sought-after than Heaven-Rank pills at an auction."
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