Missile Control Artifact

Jiang Ding noticed that three missiles in the missile swarm were exceptionally bright.

They flew in a triangular formation, now on the left, now on the right. At times, they suddenly accelerated past hundreds of missiles as though scouting for something; at other times, they slowed down and flew alongside the others, blending into the formation until nothing about them looked unusual from the outside.

In less than half a second, those sights vanished. The sky was empty, and all he could hear was the children crying loudly.

Boom!

In the distance came a fierce flash, visible even in broad daylight. A second or so later, the thunderous roar reached them, drowning out the crying, followed at last by a scorching blast of air that howled past.

"...A mere junior at the ninth level of Qi Refinement! I have roamed freely for over two hundred years..."

A faint voice drifted on the wind, so faint that it would have been completely overlooked amid the gusts if one did not pay attention. Jiang Ding, in his special state of concentration, caught a fragment of it.

The voice was intensely infectious, filled with furious resentment and unwillingness.

After that, he heard nothing more.

The air-raid siren stopped abruptly.

They waited for quite a while, but there was no further incident.

The panicked crowd gradually settled down. Many people, still shaken, used their phones to confirm that their relatives were safe. Some abandoned their vehicles and chose to walk instead, though most passengers eventually came back—walking was simply too far.

Amid the sound of horns, the frozen traffic gradually began moving again.

There were noticeably fewer people on the bus. Jiang Ding managed to take a seat beside the driver.

"That thing is called a missile control artifact."

Seeing Jiang Ding still staring into the distance, the middle-aged driver casually explained, "It can add special spells like acceleration, flight, concealment, and sharpening techniques to missiles. A cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refinement controls it while it clings to a missile, posing a certain threat even to Foundation Establishment cultivators."

"The air-raid siren stopped so quickly. That world-crossing cultivator was probably already killed. I just don't know how many people died..."

Every invasion by cultivators from beyond their world caused massive civilian casualties.

Compared to mid- and high-level cultivators, ordinary people were simply too fragile.

Jiang Ding's heart lurched. He called his mother and younger sister. Fortunately, both were far from this area and unharmed.

The driver deliberately took a long detour.

Jiang Ding only saw that the place seemed to have become a patch of ruins, with red mixed among it. He could see nothing else.

"Fortune's Home. Arriving now. Next stop, Baizi..."

Jiang Ding, his face pressed against his knees, jolted awake. He rubbed his eyes, wiped away his drool, and got off the bus in a daze.

Fortune's Home was an old residential complex that had stood for twenty years. It was property his maternal grandparents had bought when they were young. It had only seven floors—because of air-defense safety requirements, buildings without array protection generally could not exceed seven stories.

"Fairy Xiao Fei, we're the best of friends..."

When he entered the apartment and opened the door, he saw a chubby little girl with a round face watching television with rapt attention. Without even turning her head, she said, "Jiang Ding, the groceries are bought. They're in the kitchen."

"Don't call me by my name."

Ever since Jiang Yuan started middle school, she had been getting more and more rude. She had been much cuter in elementary school.

In the kitchen, Jiang Ding looked at the three lonely eggs and one tomato in the plastic bag.

"Jiang Yuan!"

Standing in front of the television, Jiang Ding was speechless. "Even embezzlement has its limits, okay? Do you take the two of us for birds?"

Their mother often worked overtime. Since Jiang Yuan's school was close to the market, she was responsible for buying groceries every day. This girl was extremely dishonest.

"Well..." Jiang Yuan's eyes wandered everywhere. "I ran into the school bully, and he took most of the grocery money."

"Very good."

Expressionless, Jiang Ding took out his phone and dialed 110. "Perfect. We can report him and have him arrested. Who was it? What was his name?"

There was no need to worry about not finding him. Aside from private places like homes and restrooms, most public areas were under the surveillance of the Banyan City Array-Spirit Computer. This was also one reason why the cultivator invasion across worlds had been resolved so quickly earlier.

Jiang Yuan's face fell, and she turned her head away. "Fine, I admit it. I used the money, along with my savings, to buy a Fairy Xiao Fei figurine."

Jiang Ding shook his head, switched his phone to the payment QR code, held it in front of her, and said nothing.

This little thing was like a pixiu—she had an insanely obsessive habit of saving money. From childhood to now, he had never seen her buy anything that cost more than ten yuan. Even a Fairy Xiao Fei figurine could not possibly make her spend her own money.

Of course, it was different when she was spending Jiang Ding's money. Then she was generous and lavish indeed.

The two stared at each other for a full three minutes.

"Jiang Ding!"

Jiang Yuan was indignant, but in the end, she had no choice but to concede and scan the code to transfer the money.

Ding! 25.4 yuan!

Ignoring her bared teeth and flailing claws, Jiang Ding added a little more money and ordered two deliveries. He warned, "If you go this far again, I'll report you to Mom and have your grocery-buying privileges taken away. If Mom doesn't want her son to be malnourished all day, she'll agree."

"Got it."

Jiang Yuan answered unwillingly.

Jiang Ding got up and went to the kitchen. He washed the last remaining tomato, set it on the cutting board, and placed his hand on the sword hilt.

Clang!

A snow-bright flash of sword light burst forth. It flickered three times in succession, then another three times, before returning to its sheath.

"Not bad!"

Jiang Ding spread open the tomato, which still retained its spherical shape. There were seven slices in all, each perfectly even in thickness. He nodded in satisfaction, then sighed. "I still need to cut it through the middle before it can go into the pan. That's not something the Body Tempering Realm can achieve with a single sword strike—it goes beyond the fundamental laws of mechanical motion... If only I had true qi."

Come to think of it, although he ranked near the bottom in every subject from language arts to mathematics, his swordsmanship was quite good. He was even stronger than the Inner Qi Realm martial artists in his class. According to his teacher, if he worked hard for a few more years, he might even touch the threshold of comprehending "intent."

Sadly, it was useless as tits on a bull.

No matter how high his swordsmanship was, a burst from an assault rifle would drop him. If that firepower was not enough, one could simply bring out a heavy machine gun and sweep the area with a curtain of bullets. Even Qi Refinement cultivators would have to temporarily circle around and take cover.

The main purpose of the cold weapon elective was to cultivate one's temperament and understand the combat methods of the Immortal Sect's enemies beyond their world.

"Jiang Ding, did you wash your sword?" Jiang Yuan shouted. "When you practice swordsmanship, it gets covered in dust and sweat. You may be able to eat that, but I can't!"

"Don't worry. The sword I used for practice today was the school-issued one."

Soon, a perfectly ordinary plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes came out of the pan and was placed on the dining table.

Jiang Yuan was still watching her Fairy Xiao Fei. Jiang Ding, meanwhile, sat on the sofa with his eyes closed, resting. The black sword sheath lay across his knees as he silently pondered the Fledgling Eagle Takes Flight Sword Art.

This cultivation method was broad and profound. It appeared to be merely a sword art, but in truth it encompassed everything: the principles of cultivation method talismans from language arts, the principles of arrays and array inscriptions from mathematics and physics, the skeleton and muscles of the human body from biology, and the internal meridians, flesh, and blood structures of spirit beasts and demon beasts. The better one was at the related subjects, the deeper one's comprehension of swordsmanship became.

"Um, Jiang Ding..."

"Speak."

Jiang Ding did not open his eyes.

"Dad contacted me today. He just asked whether I was studying properly and whether I was healthy and things like that... Should I reply to him?"

"Either way is fine. Do whatever you want. Just don't tell Mom."

Jiang Ding looked at the conflicted Jiang Yuan, then closed his eyes again.

Not long after Jiang Yuan was born, Jiang Ding's father had divorced their mother. From then on, their mother had brought the two of them here, to her own home.

Back then, Jiang Ding had cried for his father almost every day. But as he grew older, he gradually mentioned him less and less.

Over the years, through relatives such as his uncle, he had made some guesses about why his parents divorced.

Back then, his father, who had been childhood sweethearts with their mother from elementary school through middle school, high school, university, and marriage, should have cheated on her. It seemed he had even secretly fathered a child slightly older than Jiang Ding.

Knock, knock, knock!

At the seventh-floor window, a palm-sized white bird pecked lightly at the glass with its sharp beak—one heavy knock, then two light ones. A pale yellow bag was clutched in its claws.

"Mr. Jiang, your delivery has arrived. Please sign for it. Spirit Cuisine House thanks you for your patronage."

"Mm."

Jiang Ding rose, opened the window, pulled a receipt from beneath the little bird's belly, wrote his name on it, stuffed it back, and took the delivery bag from its claws.

"Spirit Cuisine House welcomes your next visit."

The white bird flapped its wings and flew into the distance.

After eating, washing the dishes, and finishing the day's homework with Jiang Yuan, Jiang Yuan arranged to play with her classmates while Jiang Ding returned to his room.

After hesitating for a moment, Jiang Ding opened a drawer.

A broken crimson sword tip appeared before his eyes. It was only the size of two fingers, exceptionally small. Its broken edge was jagged and uneven, as though it had been violently snapped apart by sheer force.

"Could this be a fragment of a magic treasure?"

Jiang Ding pinched the broken sword tip between two fingers. It felt warm and soft like jade, unlike metal.

He had picked it up at a bus stop three days ago, and it had not been by accident—while still at school, his soul had suddenly trembled, and he had fiercely sensed that something immensely important, something linked to him by blood, had appeared somewhere.

Following that feeling, he had eventually found it beneath a bus stop sign.

The moment he touched the broken sword tip, an instinct surfaced, telling Jiang Ding that it was called [Red...]. As long as he willed it, it could take its host across worlds to another world.

Jiang Ding's first reaction to such a heaven-defying opportunity had been disbelief.

There was precedent. More than eight hundred years ago, a Nascent Soul Cultivator from beyond their world had lost both his Nascent Soul and body in a war, escaping with only a remnant soul. He disguised himself as an old grandfather and lurked within the sea of consciousness of Canghai True Lord, who had then been merely a minor Qi Refinement cultivator.

The young Canghai True Lord had nearly been possessed, allowing an enemy to infiltrate the Immortal Sect's confidential departments and steal its secrets.

He had scored 137 in Ideological and Moral Education.

Without any delay, he went straight to the city library overseen by the Banyan City Array-Spirit Computer and used his once-a-year student authorization for a comprehensive physical examination.

The Banyan City Array-Spirit Computer was a branch spirit of the Central Array-Spirit Computer, and its database was connected to the main body. Its perspective was virtually equivalent to that of a Spirit Transformation great master. If there were any clues, it would certainly be able to detect them.

The examination results showed no problems whatsoever.

"I'll gamble on it."

Jiang Ding's mind settled, and he muttered, "Even if there is a problem, it would be one capable of deceiving a Spirit Transformation great master. A game between figures like that surely wouldn't erupt within a mere hundred years, right? That would be far too lacking in grandeur."

"Besides, this is only wild speculation on my part. The odds are overwhelming that no great master would be bored enough to scheme against an ordinary person like me."

Having made up his mind, Jiang Ding did not delay. He picked up a cardboard box half a person tall, took his ID card and medical insurance card, and rented a room at a hotel near Rong City First Hospital.

Rong City First Hospital was Rong City's best public hospital. It had extensive experience treating knife wounds, gunshot wounds, and poisoning. So long as one's head had not been blown apart on the spot, even severed limbs, shattered legs, or a ruptured heart could be saved.

With student medical insurance, the price was not too difficult to bear.

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Ding did not cross worlds immediately. Instead, he opened the cardboard box.

These items had cost all the New Year money he had saved since childhood, along with the money his mother had given him after he entered his senior year of high school to support his martial arts training and supplements. In total, it was a little over twenty thousand yuan.

A camouflage uniform, including shoes, and a pair of transparent tactical gloves.

Produced by the Luban Military Technology Company, it was made from bulletproof materials and could deform to fit the human body. At maximum strength, it could withstand more than two close-range pistol shots, equivalent to the full-force attack of an early Inner Qi martial artist wielding a sharp weapon.

A tactical panoramic helmet.

It was spherical, like a glass basketball. It could protect against poison, provide oxygen for an hour, withstand several full-force attacks from a peak Inner Qi martial artist without taking any damage, connect to drone vision and a communications module, and receive commands from superiors. It was one of the standard pieces of equipment for Immortal Sect infantry in combat.

If he found the helmet too cumbersome, the seller had also included a pair of contact lenses. They could carry a communications module and connect to drone vision, though they offered no protection whatsoever.

There were also four rotary-wing drones. Their flight altitude was two thousand meters, and they came equipped with high-definition cameras and miniature sensing radar. They could clearly observe the movements of people and animals within five kilometers on the ground. If the target did not conceal their aura, they could even roughly sense the target's strength.

He was armed to the teeth.

Finally, his pockets were stuffed with a pile of common medicines such as cold medicine and Yunnan Baiyao, while against his chest was the Heavenly King Life-Saving Elixir that his mother had bought with half a year's salary when he was little.

"That'll do."

Jiang Ding gritted his teeth and activated the broken sword tip. In an instant, heaven and earth spun around him.