185: Chapter 185 Times have changed, sir

The sky was split in two.

One half was the rolling sea of crimson fire behind Zhu Yan, the heat distorting vision, as if even the clouds were ignited, exuding an overbearing Aura capable of scorching the heavens and boiling the seas.

The other half was the deathly silence before the mountain gate of the Heavenly River Sword Sect.

Only that strange man, clad in heavy silver-gray armor, carrying a 'coffin' battery pack, and holding a long black tube, stood quietly in the dust and smoke, like a piece of cold, temperatureless profound ice.

"Putting on a show!"

Zhu Yan floated in mid-air, looking down at Ye Guyun, contempt practically overflowing from his eyes.

In his view, a Cultivator should look like a Cultivator.

This fellow who wrapped himself in an iron can and didn't even dare to show his face must have a Dao Heart shattered, afraid to meet anyone.

"Ye Guyun, since you refuse to draw your sword, then I will force you to!"

Zhu Yan roared, raising the giant sword burning with fierce flames in his hand.

"Blazing Fire Sect Secret Art — Nine Revolutions Flame Dragon Art!"

As he roared, the sea of fire behind him began to churn violently.

Countless complex runes lit up around him, and he chanted incantations, every syllable resonating with the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

"Heaven and Earth, Primordial Chaos... Fire God commands, heed my call..."

This was an ancient and powerful casting prelude.

Although it took a bit longer, the power was immense.

A flame giant dragon, a hundred feet long, slowly took shape above his head.

Its scales were condensed from materialized Spiritual Fire, and as its whiskers drifted, even the Void Realm emitted a sizzling, scorching sound.

"What terrifying pressure!"

Among the guarding Tianhe Disciples, a few newly admitted ones couldn't help but feel their legs go weak. This was the instinctual suppression from a high-level Cultivator.

"What are you panicking about!"

Zhang Yuan, wearing an insulating suit, slapped the back of his head, then calmly took out a... stopwatch.

"Record: Target casting prelude time... Three seconds have passed."

"Tsk tsk tsk, too slow. Three seconds is enough time for me to stick the cable into his mouth twice."

As for Ye Guyun, the person involved, he remained motionless.

But the blue-purple light in his eyes behind the mask was flashing wildly.

In his field of vision (the System auxiliary interface granted by Li Mo), Zhu Yan was no longer a person, but a three-dimensional model marked with countless red lines.

[Target Locked.]

[Environmental Parameters: Temperature 45℃, obvious updraft.]

[Distance Correction: 1198 meters.]

[Ballistic Calculation: Considering reduced air density due to hot air, reduced resistance, recommend lowering firing elevation by 0.02 degrees.]

Ye Guyun did not chant any Spell.

He was just silently doing math problems in his mind.

"The prelude is too long; it's full of flaws."

Ye Guyun's voice came through the mask, cold as a machine.

"Also, you are too noisy."

At this moment, Zhu Yan's Spell was finally ready. The flame giant dragon let out a long roar that shook the nine heavens.

"Die! Flame Dragon..."

"Break."

Ye Guyun's finger gently pulled the trigger.

There was no fluctuation of Spiritual Qi.

Nor were there any brilliant light and shadow special effects.

There was only an extremely dull, short sound, yet one that felt like a heavy hammer striking everyone's heart:

"Bang!"

In that instant,

Heaven and earth seemed to freeze.

Immediately following, a white line almost imperceptible to the naked eye shot out from the long black tube.

Because the speed was too fast, it even left a straight, vacuum channel in the air.

3 Mach.

That is, three times the speed of sound.

This meant that by the time the sound reached Zhu Yan's ears, the attack was already over.

In the sky, Zhu Yan, who was about to swing his sword to command the Flame Dragon to pounce, suddenly felt a chill in his lower body.

The feeling was very strange.

It was as if... someone had used an invisible pair of scissors, extremely precisely and gently, to snip the red thread of his fate.

But when he looked down.

It wasn't the red thread that was cut.

It was his belt.

His high-grade Magic Treasure belt, woven from thousand-year Fire Silkworm thread and claimed to be impervious to water and fire, now had a neat circular gap in the middle.

The metal buckle that was fastened tightly was gone—or rather, it had been instantly melted and carried away by the high temperature of the tungsten steel projectile.

"Clatter."

Under the effect of gravity, Zhu Yan's loose crimson Daoist robe pants slid smoothly down to his ankles.

Revealing the pair of... red underpants embroidered with two mandarin ducks inside.

It was his birth year red underpants, sewn by his mother, quite childish.

But at this moment of confrontation between two armies under the gaze of all, this childishness seemed exceptionally...

Socially dead (embarrassing).

Silence.

A deathly silence.

Even the imposing Flame Dragon seemed to freeze due to its master's embarrassment; the fire in the dragon's eyes flickered twice, showing an impulse to cover its face.

"Pfft—"

Below, Zhang Yuan was the first to lose control, spitting out while covering his mouth.

Immediately following was a wave of earth-shattering laughter.

"Hahahaha! Red underpants! And they're mandarin ducks playing in the water!"

"Is this the taste of the Blazing Fire Sect's Chief Disciple? Truly 'fiery' taste!"

"Senior Brother Ye's shot is divine! This is what's called—Precision Poverty Relief (Pants Removal)!"

In the sky, Zhu Yan stared blankly at his own thighs, his mind a blank slate.

He, the dignified Golden Core Great Perfection stage Cultivator, the future Sect Master of the Blazing Fire Sect.

He was actually stripped in full view of everyone?

"Aaaahhhh!!!"

A shame even more terrifying than before instantly rushed to the top of his head.

Zhu Yan's face flushed so red he could almost bleed; he frantically pulled up his pants, staring at Ye Guyun below with bloodshot eyes.

"I will kill you!!!"

"I will tear you to pieces!!!"

He went mad.

All thoughts of the Sect mission, of probing for weaknesses, were thrown to the back of his mind.

He now had only one thought: burn that iron can that caused his social death to ashes!

"Flame Dragon World Annihilation! Explode for me!"

Zhu Yan burned his vital blood regardless of the cost; the flame giant dragon let out a mournful cry and directly self-destructed, turning into a sky full of fire rain meteors that covered the entire Heavenly River Sword Sect's mountain gate area indiscriminately.

This was a desperate fighting style.

...

Scripture Pavilion, Second Floor.

Li Mo watched the scene on the water mirror, shook his head, and gently sipped his tea.

"Sir, the times have changed."

He spoke to the air, as if addressing the still-frenzied Zhu Yan.

"The battles of the past were about trading blows, countering moves as they came."

"The battles of today are called—Beyond Visual Range Strikes."

"You don't even know where I am, you haven't even seen my sword, and your pants are already gone."

"This is the value of science."

Li Mo put down his teacup and pressed a communication talisman (actually a simple walkie-talkie Formation Plate) on the table.

"Fellow Student Ye, have you had enough fun?"

"The opponent is already enraged by shame. Don't waste time; test the stability of the 'Rapid Fire Mode'."

"Remember, don't kill anyone. After all, they are neighbors; if you damage anything, you'll have to pay medical fees."

"Aim... at their Magic Treasures."

...

In front of the mountain gate.

Facing the sky full of falling fire rain meteors, Ye Guyun did not retreat half a step.

He heard his teacher's voice in his ear.

"Received."

Ye Guyun took a deep breath.

He reached out and pressed a spot on the armor on his chest.

"Click."

With a crisp sound of mechanical interlocking, the giant 'coffin' battery pack behind him suddenly lit up with a dangerous red light.

The previously blue arcs instantly turned dark red.

That was... the color of the Red Lotus Karmic Fire Thunder.

It was the mutated Heavenly Tribulation that Zhang Yuan had captured with a kite yesterday.

"In the past, one sword strike would leave me bedridden for half a day."

Ye Guyun's voice was low, carrying a hint of fanaticism.

"But now..."

"I have an entire Thunder Pool backing me up."

"Maximum power output."

"Rate of Fire Mode: Gatling."

Buzz—!!!

The black long tube in his hand began to spin wildly.

It wasn't the gun barrel spinning, but the surrounding magnetic field coils switching at extreme speed.

The next second.

Da da da da da da da da—!!!

A terrifying roar tore through the firmament.

This was no longer single-shot firing.

This was a metal storm.

Countless tungsten steel projectiles the size of a fingernail, driven by the violent energy of the 'Red Lotus Karmic Fire Thunder,' wrapped in dark red lightning, poured towards the sky at a rate of thirty rounds per second.

Every projectile was three times the speed of sound.

Every projectile carried 'Armor Piercing,' 'Penetration,' and 'Dual Lightning and Fire Explosion' physical + magic hybrid damage.

The fire rain meteors in the sky were directly blown apart by this dense barrage mid-air before they could even fall!

Bang bang bang bang!

Balls of fire exploded in the air, like grand fireworks.

But the barrage did not stop.

They pierced through the sea of fire and headed straight for the Blazing Fire Sect's fleet of flying boats.

"Clang clang clang clang!"

Dense metallic impact sounds rang out.

Zhu Yan discovered in horror that the giant sword in his hand was like something made of paper in the face of this terrifying rain of bullets.

Every projectile that hit the sword body would chip off a piece.

In less than a breath's time.

His proud high-grade Magic Treasure giant sword... broke.

It wasn't just his sword.

The flying boats behind him, the protective shields of the Disciples, all suffered devastating blows.

"My shield shattered!"

"My Flying Sword was riddled with holes!"

"What kind of hidden weapon is this? It's too fast! We can't block it at all!"

The Blazing Fire Sect Disciples cried out in agony.

They desperately realized that their Spiritual Power shields were completely useless against those projectiles carrying dark red lightning. It was pure kinetic energy, combined with the magic-breaking attribute of a high-tier Heavenly Tribulation, that directly turned their defenses into honeycomb briquettes.

But just as Li Mo instructed.

Ye Guyun did not kill anyone.

His marksmanship, corrected by the 【Electromagnetic Control】 attribute, was terrifyingly accurate.

He only shot Magic Treasures.

Only the flying boats' power cores.

Only... the belts.

Three breaths later.

The gunfire abruptly stopped.

Because the barrel was already red-hot, emitting wisps of smoke.

And the scene in the sky was already tragic to look at.

The Blazing Fire Sect's fleet of flying boats now looked as if they had been gnawed by a swarm of wasps, riddled with holes.

Their power cores were blown up, and the boats plummeted downward, spewing black smoke.

And those Blazing Fire Sect Disciples...

They were still suspended in mid-air (after all, they were Cultivators and could fly).

But all the Magic Treasures in their hands had turned into scrap metal fragments.

Most importantly...

Everyone's pants were half-dropped.

Revealing a uniform square formation of bright red underpants.

Zhu Yan held the broken sword handle, staring blankly at the silver-gray iron man below.

His worldview was shattered.

His proud Nine Revolutions Flame Dragon Art hadn't even broken through the opponent's defense.

And the opponent, standing still without moving an inch, had used nothing but a fire poker to instantly obliterate the Blazing Fire Sect's decades of foundation (Magic Treasures) with rapid fire.

"This... this is... science?"

Zhu Yan's voice trembled.

Ye Guyun below slowly lowered the overheating launcher.

At this moment, the 'coffin' behind him was still emitting terrifying heat, surrounded by residual arcs, like a mecha war god that had just slaughtered a deity.

He looked up, peering through the mask, and coldly glanced at the square formation of red underpants in the sky.

"Now, do you understand?"

Ye Guyun pointed to the group of Junior Brothers behind him holding megaphones, notebooks, and various strange instruments.

"We are not playing with mud."

"We are... setting the rules."

"Scram."

It was just one word.

Yet it held more deterrence than the rain of bullets from before.

Zhu Yan trembled all over; his last shred of dignity was crushed by this single word.

"Go! Hurry up and go!"

He didn't even bother to pull up his pants; he grabbed the broken sword and led a group of Junior Brothers also holding up their pants, driving the black-smoking flying boats, fleeing in disarray.

Their retreating figures were as panicked as dogs.

...

"We won!"

"Senior Brother Ye is mighty!"

"Long live Scientific Cultivation!"

"Emperor Newton has manifested!"

An earth-shattering cheer erupted before the mountain gate of the Heavenly River Sword Sect.

Disciples rushed forward and tossed the still-steaming Ye Guyun high into the air (though they almost failed to catch him because the armor was too heavy).

Zhang Yuan was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes; he furiously recorded in his little notebook:

"Combat Data: 'Red Lotus Karmic Fire Thunder' as energy source, stability is good! But the barrel's heat resistance is insufficient; recommend using 'Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron' for the next generation product's barrel!"

"Also, the opponent's red underpants material is quite good; it wasn't even shot to pieces. Recommend purchasing a batch back for insulating gloves!"

Scripture Pavilion, Second Floor.

Li Mo watched this scene and nodded with satisfaction.

"Very good."

"With this battle, the name of the Heavenly River Sword Sect's 'Scientific Cultivation' has been established."

"Next..."

His gaze turned towards the direction of Dan Ding Peak.

"We have military deterrence."

"It's time to work on some 'civil engineering projects'."

"I wonder how Junior Sister Liu is doing with the purification of that batch of 'Nitroglycerin'... oh no, 'High-Energy Spiritual Fluid'?"

Li Mo picked up the spring and autumn brush and heavily ticked off an item in the "Tianhe Development Plan" on the table.

[Phase One: Electromagnetic Deterrence (Completed)]

[Phase Two: Chemical Revolution (Initiated)]

"Cultivation World, are you prepared to welcome... the baptism of industrialization?"