217: Chapter 218 proves that a gun is fast beyond seven paces, and accurate and fast within seven paces.

"The hatch of the luan niao starship slid open silently."

Jiang Chen did not walk out alone; behind him, three 2.5-meter-tall "Chengying" model exoskeleton heavy mechs were following closely with heavy footsteps.

The metal chassis slammed onto the white jade-carved plaza of the Qingyun Sect, emitting waves of teeth-grinding thuds.

This was not a negotiation at all.

This was simply a naked display of force.

"What kind of monsters are you?! How dare you run wild in my Qingyun Sect!"

From the depths of the main hall, three more old Taoists with white hair and beards stepped through the air; each of them held different hand seals, with flying swords circling around them, looking extremely majestic.

But in Jiang Chen's eyes, this was just a group of primitives holding cold weapons who hadn't yet learned how to use a mobile phone.

"Stop yapping."

Jiang Chen rubbed his temples, and a six-barreled electromagnetic machine gun, which he jokingly called the "Gatling Bodhisattva," appeared in his hand. "I have limited patience."

"I will ask only once: hand over the usage rights to the spirit stone vein, or..."

"Shall we test the ballistics of this thing?"

Before the ancestor who had been blasted away earlier could even crawl up, the new sect leader in the lead was already furious.

He pointed his long sword, and dozens of Qingyun Sect disciples immediately launched their attack, with flying swords filling the sky like raindrops, smashing toward Jiang Chen and the others.

"Ignorant mortals! Chop them into meat paste for me!"

Those flying swords traced sharp arcs in the air, carrying a piercing whistling sound; that was the fluctuation caused by pure sword energy tearing through the air.

If it were ordinary special forces soldiers, they might truly be caught in a panic facing this kind of attack.

But for these mechs equipped with energy shields,

this was simply tickling.

"Activate energy barriers."

Jiang Chen didn't even lift his head, merely spitting out the command indifferently.

"Hum—!"

At the chests of the three mechs, azure-blue hexagonal energy fields lit up simultaneously.

The moment those flying swords collided with the shields, it was like eggs hitting granite.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

A dense sound of collisions rang out, and sparks flew everywhere.

The flying swords were deflected, flying wildly in all directions; some even broke in half on the spot, clattering to the ground.

Yet the mechs didn't even sway.

Not even a piece of the paint on them chipped off.

The disciples of the Qingyun Sect were completely dumbfounded, and the sect leader's eyeballs were about to pop out of their sockets.

"This... could this be the legendary Xuanwu Shield?!"

"Impossible! I clearly used the Demon-Breaking Sword Array! Why can't it even scrape off a layer of skin?!"

Watching this scene, Jiang Chen couldn't help but laugh out loud.

He took a step forward, his metal combat boot leaving a deep pit in the stone slab.

"Sir, times have changed."

Jiang Chen hoisted the machine gun onto his shoulder, the cold metal barrel aimed at the stone lion in the center of the main hall, not even glancing at the group of cultivators.

"You are still practicing swords, still messing around with some sword intent?"

"Do you know what the Second Law of Thermodynamics is?"

"What is high-energy kinetic impact?"

"Today, I'll teach you a lesson on what 'scientific cultivation' really is."

Without any nonsense,

he pulled the trigger directly.

"Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat—!!!"

Accompanying a suffocating mechanical roar, the six gun barrels instantly reached maximum rotation speed, even generating dark red sparks from the friction.

There were no spells.

All there was, was a pure storm of metal.

A firing rate of ten thousand rounds per minute completely dominated this space.

What erupted from the barrels were not ordinary bullets, but tungsten-core rounds that had undergone electromagnetic acceleration and possessed ultra-high armor-piercing kinetic energy.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

That was the sound of bullets tearing through stone, the sound of metal trampling over authority.

Jiang Chen's wrist moved slightly, and the tongue of fire spewing from the machine gun, like a precise chainsaw, plowed directly through the three-ton white jade stone lion.

Dust rose everywhere.

A few seconds later,

when Jiang Chen put away his gun, that majestic stone lion no longer existed.

It had turned into a pile of fine powder.

Even the heavy base slab beneath it had been blasted into a three-foot-deep trench.

The entire plaza became deathly silent.

Except for the faint white smoke emanating from the cooling gun barrels, no one dared to make a sound.

The sect leader, who had been clamoring just moments ago, now had his mouth wide open, staring at the pile of powder on the ground, as if his soul had been sucked out of him.

His flying sword was trembling.

His legs were also trembling.

He could never have imagined that so-called cultivation would be so... vulnerable in the face of this series of metal storms capable of leveling a mountain.

"What? Do you still not see clearly?"

Jiang Chen walked up to the stunned sect leader and looked down at him.

He extended a finger and poked the sect leader's expensive Taoist robe, his tone revealing a kind of extremely bored indifference:

"Beyond seven steps, a flying sword might be fast."

"But within seven steps, my Gatling is accurate and fast."

"Now, shall we talk about the spirit stone vein issue, or shall we plow the ground again?"

That high-and-mighty sect leader looked at Jiang Chen's eyes, which didn't take him seriously at all, and then at the gun barrel that hadn't fully cooled yet.

His psychological defenses shattered completely at this moment.

"Thump!"

Amidst the horrified gazes of all the disciples, this sect leader who had ruled for a thousand miles and would turn people into pills at the slightest disagreement, actually knelt directly before Jiang Chen.

He discarded the flying sword that symbolized his cultivation and status, supported himself with his hands on the ground, and pressed his forehead against the cold stone slab, his voice humble to the extreme:

"Im... Immortal!"

"It is we who were blind!"

"From now on, everything in the Qingyun Sect, including the spirit stone mines and the immortal herbs all over the mountain, is all yours!"

"I beg the Immortal... to spare my life!"

Jiang Chen looked at this scene and sighed helplessly.

Why is each villain more cowardly than the last?

He had prepared three types of torture that he hadn't even used yet, and they had already surrendered?

How is this even fun?

"Get up."

Jiang Chen waved his hand, too lazy to look at this group of so-called "cultivators."

"Don't call me Immortal, it's tacky."

He turned to look at this lush spirit mining area, his eyes flashing with a light called "infrastructure development":

"Call me Boss from now on."

"Also, stop practicing swords all day long."

"Since you've joined Chenxing Technology, we must have new rules."

He patted the mech shield in his hand, his tone unquestionable:

"Starting tomorrow, all disciples will go down to the mines to dig coal... no, dig spirit stones."

"Whoever digs more will earn the qualification to repair the exoskeletons."

"Do you understand?"

The disciples looked at each other; although they didn't understand what "exoskeletons" were, seeing the "Immortal" who had just blasted the stone lion to pieces with one shot still watching them like a tiger, they could only kowtow in unison:

"Understood! Thank you, Boss!!!"

Jiang Chen nodded with satisfaction.

This is the correct rhythm for making things happen.

Just then...

At this moment.

The mobile phone in his pocket, which was specifically used to connect to the Wasteland, vibrated again without warning.

Jiang Wanqiu.

She sent another message.

Jiang Chen's heart stirred slightly, and he tapped the screen.

This time, there was no selfie of the Empress, nor was there a murderous declaration of war.

Instead, it was a photo.

A photo that made Jiang Chen frown, and even made Academician Chen Shuyin, who had been standing on the side without speaking, turn extremely pale instantly.

In the deepest part of the Wasteland ruins.

Among the pile of excavated alien warship wreckage, a gray metal nameplate lay quietly.

It was imprinted with a logo, a logo Jiang Chen knew all too well.

That was—

[Earth, Tianhai City, Longguo Academy of Sciences, Laboratory No. 1.]

That was Academician Chen Shuyin's exclusive serial number.

"Jiang Chen."

Academician Chen Shuyin's voice was trembling; she pointed at the nameplate, her eyes filled with horror:

"If this thing really is a ruin from tens of thousands of years ago..."

"Then why..."

"Would it have my laboratory's code on it?"

This was no longer a simple cultivation face-slapping story.

This f*cking is—

A time loop?

Or has Earth's civilization actually been destroyed countless times already?

Jiang Chen looked at the nameplate, feeling a chill run down his spine.

"It looks like..."

He narrowed his eyes and said softly to the camera:

"This so-called 'Wasteland' is even... dirtier than I imagined."

"I'm afraid we've dug up a... secret skeleton."

"Get ready."

Jiang Chen tossed the phone to Zhao Gang. "Since someone has dug a pit at our feet, don't blame me for turning this place upside down."

"Next stop."

"Back to the Wasteland!"

"I'm going to see exactly how many unspeakable secrets are behind this!"