30: Chapter 30 Ultimatum

The night wind was biting, carrying the charred scent of blood.

High in the air, the once arrogant Old Ancestor of the Xiao Family was now hovering unsteadily, twenty meters from the rooftop, like an old bird with broken wings.

His left arm had been severed at the root, and the dark green flames at the wound were greedily licking at his flesh, emitting a teeth-gritting "hissing" sound.

What made him feel a bone-chilling cold was not the pain, but the fact that the spiritual energy within him, which had previously surged like a river, was now sluggish, as if rolling in a mud pit.

The "industrial-grade Qi-dispersing powder" mixed into the bullet was frantically destroying the foundation of the Dao he had spent a hundred years cultivating.

"Is this... the weapon of a Mortal?"

Xiao Zhantian gasped for air. In his turbid, aged eyes, the arrogance of being high above had finally faded, replaced by an emotion called "fear."

He saw it clearly.

The young man standing beneath the blue light barrier, holding that black sniper rifle—the muzzle was still emitting thin wisps of smoke, locked onto the center of his brow once again.

This time, he had no confidence in using his Protective Aura to withstand it.

As long as that young man pulled the trigger, he, Xiao Zhantian—a dignified Half-step Golden Core powerhouse—would truly die here.

Die at the hands of a Mortal without any cultivation.

"Gu Changan!"

Xiao Zhantian gritted his teeth. His voice trembled from extreme anger and fear, but he was still trying to maintain his final shred of dignity.

"If you kill me, you will be making an enemy of the entire hidden martial arts world!"

He suddenly raised his intact right hand, pointing at the pitch-black night sky, and roared with a fierce expression but a cowardly heart: "Standing behind my Xiao Family is the 'Cangyun Sect,' which has a thousand-year Legacy! That is a true Cultivator Sect! There are Golden Core powerhouses everywhere in the Sect, with Nascent Soul old monsters holding down the fort!"

"If you hurt me today, tomorrow the Cangyun Sect will trample your Bureau of Anomalies! They will slaughter your entire Gu Family, leaving not even a chicken or dog alive!"

A threat.

This was the final counterattack of the weak in a desperate situation.

In the past, as long as he brought out the signboard of the "Cangyun Sect," even the top big shots in Yanjing would have to give him some face.

But Gu Changan just listened expressionlessly.

He held the gun with one hand, the muzzle steady as a rock, while his other hand gently pressed the tactical headset on his ear.

"Cangyun Sect?"

Gu Changan sneered, and the laughter, amplified by the large loudspeaker, sounded exceptionally harsh in the night sky.

"Since you mentioned background, let's compare backgrounds."

He stepped aside, revealing the huge outdoor LED screen behind him.

The screen lit up suddenly.

It was a real-time satellite radar map of the areas surrounding Yanjing.

Densely packed, hundreds of red dots were flashing on it, and each red dot was marked with complex parameters and coordinates.

And right in the center of these red dots was the building where the Bureau of Anomalies was located, as well as Xiao Zhantian hovering in mid-air.

"See these red dots?"

Gu Changan's voice became cold and harsh, like the reading of a judgment.

"Those are three missile brigades, twelve long-range rocket battalions deployed in the garrison area around Yanjing, and two J-20 fighter jets currently circling above the clouds, loaded with live ammunition."

"Besides that."

Gu Changan looked up and tapped his finger lightly against the pitch-black zenith.

"In low Earth orbit, three hundred kilometers above the ground, there is a military synchronization satellite staring right at you."

"Its codename is 'Damocles.'"

Xiao Zhantian subconsciously looked up.

He couldn't see anything, but his keen Divine Sense felt an unprecedented palpitation.

It was as if an invisible eye was indifferently watching him, this ant.

"How many people does your so-called Cangyun Sect have? A thousand? Ten thousand?"

Gu Changan rested the stock of the gun against his shoulder again, his tone as casual as if he were chatting about daily life.

"If they are all like you, ignoring the law and trampling on rules, then let them come."

"No matter how many come, I can bury them all."

Xiao Zhantian's face was as pale as paper, his figure teetering.

The Sect deterrence he was so proud of seemed so pale and powerless in front of the steel torrent this young man displayed.

"You... you wouldn't dare!"

Xiao Zhantian was still struggling, his voice already tinged with a sob: "This is Yanjing! This is the city center! You dare to use heavy weapons? How many civilians will that affect! You will be sent to a military tribunal too!"

"Oh, about that."

A crazy arc curled at the corner of Gu Changan's mouth.

He took a red remote control out of his uniform pocket, his thumb hovering over the eye-catching red button.

"Ever heard of 'Dongfeng Express'?"

"A tactical nuclear microsurgery, with controllable yield and a kill radius of five hundred meters."

Gu Changan looked at Xiao Zhantian, a light called "truth" flashing in his eyes.

"Aren't you Cultivators most afraid of the Heavenly Tribulation?"

"When the Lightning Tribulation strikes, it's a near-death experience."

"Do you know what the temperature at the center of an atomic bomb explosion is?"

Gu Changan answered his own question: "It is one hundred million degrees Celsius."

"That is the temperature of the sun's core, the ultimate of physics, the man-made supreme Heavenly Dao."

"As long as I press this button, in thirty seconds, a missile carrying a tactical nuclear warhead will detonate right here."

"Guess whether your Half-step Golden Core can withstand this 'nuclear peace' strike?"

A madman!

This was a complete and utter madman!

Xiao Zhantian looked at that red button, and his psychological defenses completely collapsed.

Cultivation is for longevity, not for seeking death!

Facing this kind of unreasonable modern technology, facing this ruthless person who threw nuclear bombs like firecrackers, all his pride and all his confidence shattered into dust at this moment.

"Don't... don't press it!"

Xiao Zhantian screamed, no longer caring about the dignity of an Old Ancestor or the image of a high-level expert.

He retracted the Protective Aura beneath his feet, and his whole body hit the cement floor of the rooftop with a heavy "thud" like a stone.

Even though his broken arm caused him excruciating pain, he didn't dare to stand up at all.

Under the gaze of everyone.

This peerless Half-step Golden Core expert was trembling as he squatted on the ground, hands covering his head, burying his face in his crotch.

The posture was so standard it made people feel pity.

"I'm landing! I'm covering my head! I surrender!"

"Team Leader Gu... no, Grandpa Gu! Don't press it! Please don't press it! I don't want to die!"

A generation of Grandmasters, dignity swept away.

The wind on the rooftop seemed to have paused for a moment.

Gu Changan looked at Xiao Zhantian, who was squatting on the ground like an old dog, and a trace of disdain flashed in his eyes.

He casually threw the "nuclear button" to Chen Xiaobei next to him.

Chen Xiaobei caught it in a flurry, and when he looked closely.

Isn't this fucking air conditioner remote control?

It even had a label saying "26 degrees cooling" on it.

But at this moment, no one cared about this detail.

"Arrest him."

Gu Changan spat out two words indifferently.

The Special Police, who had long been lying in ambush in the corridor, swarmed up.

They were not holding ordinary handcuffs, but [Shoulder Blade Locking Shackles] specially customized by Gu Changan from the System.

This thing was forged from high-strength alloy, engraved with dense spirit-suppressing runes, and two thick, long spikes pierced directly through the shoulder blades, which could completely lock the spiritual energy circulation route of a Cultivator.

"Click! Click!"

Two teeth-gritting metal closing sounds.

"Ah—!"

Xiao Zhantian let out a scream, his whole body instantly limp like mud, like a plucked rooster, and he was pressed firmly to the ground by two Special Police, one on the left and one on the right.

From this moment on, he was no longer a high-and-mighty Cultivator, but a prisoner with the code name "Prisoner 001."

Gu Changan walked in his military boots, step by step, to in front of Xiao Zhantian.

Those polished leather shoes stopped in front of Xiao Zhantian's blood-stained face.

He looked down at this once arrogant old man, his voice calm but carrying irresistible majesty.

"Old Mr. Xiao, remember today's lesson."

"Don't fly around in the sky in the future; it's easy to be shot down as an unidentified flying object."

Gu Changan bent down, reached out, and patted Xiao Zhantian's pale old face, like an elder lecturing a disobedient Junior.

"Also, those disciples and grandchildren of yours, those Family parasites who are still dreaming of being 'above others'."

"Don't be in a hurry."

"I will visit them one by one and invite them to the Bureau for tea."

After speaking, Gu Changan straightened up and waved his hand.

"Take him away, lock him in the special containment area, twenty-four-hour bright light exposure, don't let him sleep."

Watching Xiao Zhantian's back being dragged away like a dead dog, the familiar mechanical sound rang in Gu Changan's mind.

[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for successfully capturing the S+ rank villain character: Xiao Zhantian (Half-step Golden Core Stage).]

[This law enforcement action rating: Perfect.]

[Obtained huge Merit Points: 50,000 points.]

[Reward: High-Energy Particle Binding Net (Cultivator-trapping Version).]

[Triggered additional reward: Obtained "Ancient Qi Refining Manual · Complete Version" (including Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul full set of cultivation diagrams).]

[Note: This Cultivation Technique has been improved by the System, eliminating the risk of Qi Deviation, suitable for large-scale promotion, and can be used as a radio gymnastics textbook for the whole nation to strengthen their bodies.]

Gu Changan raised an eyebrow.

Nationwide cultivation?

Radio gymnastics?

He looked at the thread-bound ancient book that appeared out of thin air in his hand, and a playful smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

If this thing were handed over to the country, allowing 1.4 billion people to develop a sense of Qi...

Then what superiority could those so-called hidden Sects and so-called Cultivator Families have?

You want to show off?

Sorry, the auntie selling pancakes downstairs is already at the third level of Qi Refining.