Mid-June.
Qin Zhong stepped out of the Sword Forest, holding an ancient sword in his hand.
Its scabbard and hilt were a seamless, dark jet-black, exuding a profound aura.
Daoist Kunhong had felt his approach long ago and was already waiting at the exit of the Sword Forest.
Qin Zhong cupped his hands in greeting.
“Senior Brother!” Kunhong returned the courtesy, his eyes burning with excitement as he stared at the sword in Qin Zhong’s hand.
“The Void-Severing Sword of the Tianshu Lineage?” Qin Zhong handed the sword to Kunhong for inspection.
“Indeed.” Kunhong unsheathed the ancient sword.
The blade was about two inches wide and three feet five inches long, with a hilt roughly six inches in length.
The entire weapon looked cast as a single piece.
Though its design was not particularly extraordinary, its material was astounding.
A dark glimmer flickered across the metal, accompanied by a faint hum that sounded like a declaration of its return to the world.
“Good!
Excellent, Junior Brother!” Daoist Kunhong stroked his beard and laughed heartily, sheathing the sword before handing it back to Qin Zhong.
“If you have matters to attend to, Junior Brother, feel free to go.
Your Senior Brother still has a few decades left in him.
Whenever you wish to return to the mountain, I will pass the position of Sect Leader to you.
When that time comes, Shushan will be in your hands.” Qin Zhong gave him a look of utter speechlessness.
“Senior Brother, it’s far too early to talk about that.
How old am I?
Just live a long life.
On this trip, let Qintan come with me.
I’ll have him bring back some things later for you and the disciples to use—I guarantee they’ll benefit your cultivation, and maybe even help you break through your realm.” “Then I thank you, Junior Brother.
When do you set off?” “The sooner, the better.
Tomorrow then.” “Good.” *** Meditating on his bed that night, Qin Zhong finally had the chance to take stock of his gains over the past half-month.
The system upgrade was far more complete than he had imagined.
After obtaining the True Explanations of both the Sword and Qi factions of Shushan from the Scripture Library, combined with the True Explanation of Taiji and the Yin-Yang Profound Mystery Sutra, these three scriptures alone allowed his system to fully parse and optimize the Immortal’s Touch.
It could only be said that Qin Zhong’s Chinese soul essence had modified his Uchiha bloodline so thoroughly that genetic templates were mere child’s play for the combination of Wenqu and Martial Sage.
Its true power only revealed itself through Chinese cultivation arts.
And so, Qin Zhong had truly embarked on the path of immortality.
First was Wenqu’s complete optimization of the three scriptures, combining with the Martial Sage to give birth to the Origin Dao Sutra.
That night, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth had surged, forming a roaring vortex.
Daoist Kunhong had knelt before the ancestors all night, praying for protection while burning bundles of incense until the entire ancestral hall was shrouded in thick white smoke.
The Divine Strength ability was fully optimized, splitting into two new abilities: Mountain Burden and Great Strength.
Mountain Burden was for bearing weight, and Great Strength was raw physical power.
The Blitz ability was fully optimized, splitting into two new abilities: Divine Stride and Transcendence Step.
Divine Stride provided super speed, while Transcendence Step allowed short-range teleportation.
And after the full optimization of Immortal’s Touch, it delivered a massive jackpot.
First was a unique technique from the Thirty-Six Heavenly Transformations: Nine-Breath Energy Absorption.
It allowed him to regenerate health and energy through breathing, boost his cultivation base, and heal injuries automatically.
Daoyin: Cultivating to grow stronger.
For example, when Qin Zhong meditated and circulated the Origin Dao Sutra, it naturally drew the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into his body to enhance his cultivation.
Ingestion: Relying on natural treasures and heavenly herbs to raise cultivation.
Bigu: Living off the wind and dew.
Because the Origin Dao Sutra incorporated the True Explanations of both Shushan’s Sword and Qi factions along with numerous Shushan sword techniques and divine abilities, his skill set now included pure sword arts: Sword Manipulation and Flying Sword.
Obtaining the Void-Severing Sword from the Sword Forest saved Qin Zhong the trouble of searching for a weapon.
The Yin-Yang Profound Mystery Sutra granted an ability called Astral Intuition—an ability even more advanced than Spider-Sense, allowing him to divine fortune and avoid danger.
Furthermore, Wenqu’s function of parsing genetic modules, combined with his accumulated reading of biological texts, unexpectedly unlocked Talisman Water and Healing Arts.
This was far more convenient than genetic serums.
All in all, this trip to China was a massive upgrade for Qin Zhong; he had truly established his foundation.
As a Chinese person, Qin Zhong naturally recognized that these were all techniques among the Seventy-Two Earthly Transformations.
He wasn’t sure whether it was the limit of the universe itself or his own talent that fell short, but regarding the Thirty-Six Heavenly Transformations that involved universal laws, he had only obtained Nine-Breath Energy Absorption, which was still just self-enhancement.
Compared to Kamar-Taj’s portals, Qin Zhong much preferred Ground-Shrinking Golden Light—moving anywhere instantly with a single thought.
That was the gold standard for spatial teleportation, unlike portals that required opening and closing gateway rings.
Unfortunately, even though Qin Zhong had already learned to cast Kamar-Taj portals, he still hadn’t comprehended Ground-Shrinking Golden Light.
Since he didn’t have it now, it meant the Thirty-Six Heavenly Transformations were truly not a great fit for him, so he could only drop it.
At least portals were convenient enough.
In terms of raw combat power, the current Qin Zhong was roughly on par with the Hulk or Thor tier.
Ancient One was out of the question for now—he couldn’t beat her yet.
Odin, who was in the same tier as Ancient One, was also out of reach.
In fact, Qin Zhong suspected that if he went to Mount Wudang, he might be flattened into the dirt by the Daoist Master who gifted him the book.
Can’t afford to provoke them, can’t afford to provoke them.
Qin Zhong spent the night carving the True Explanation of the Origin Dao Sutra into a jade slip and made a duplicate.
The next morning, he found Senior Brother Kunhong and gave one copy to him to remain as Shushan’s heritage.
He also asked Kunhong to send the other copy to Mount Wudang for the Daoist Master.
As for Ancient One, he would give her a copy whenever he met her next.
As for whether anyone could actually cultivate the Seventy-Two Earthly Transformations after reading it, Qin Zhong had no idea.
After all, there was only one Wenqu in existence right now, and the Origin Dao Sutra was exceptionally difficult.
Mastering it was even harder, and Qin Zhong wasn’t even sure if future generations would have anyone capable of cultivating it at all.
With matters concluded, Qin Zhong bade farewell to Daoist Kunhong.
He opened a portal, took Qintan—who was carrying a cloth travel pack—and promised to send him back in three days.
Moments later, they appeared at the Parker house.
First, he picked up Little Spidey and, under the boy’s delighted gaze, dragged him outside to train him in Bajiquan.
By the time Little Spidey finished his training with a tearful face, Aunt May happened to call them for breakfast.
When Uncle Ben and Aunt May woke up, they had heard Little Spidey practicing his punches and saw Qintan sitting in the living room drinking tea, so they naturally knew Qin Zhong had returned.
After breakfast, Uncle Ben went to work.
Qin Zhong said goodbye to Aunt May and took Qintan to school.
On the way, Qin Zhong asked Qintan if he wanted to look around and offered to give him money to buy gifts to bring back, but Qintan declined.
He was a fairly traditional cultivator, and Shushan lacked nothing.
Qin Zhong could only leave it at that.
When they arrived near the school, Qin Zhong saw Natasha leaning against a car chatting with Kagome.
Qin Zhong waved from afar, and moments later, Kagome latched onto him like a koala.
After a lengthy round of playful banter, he finally managed to comfort her.
Kagome the koala greeted Natasha and obediently ran off to class, giving Qin Zhong time to talk with Natasha about recent events.
Natasha felt a bit spooked.
Only half a month had passed, yet the aura Qin Zhong gave off felt completely different.
In the past, Qin Zhong had been easygoing and nonchalant.
Although he placed immense pressure on her, Natasha could still remain calm enough to speak with him.
Now that he had returned, before Qin Zhong even opened his mouth, simply walking toward her with his contact lenses removed—his blood-red eyes fixed on her—she didn’t even dare to move her feet.
Cold sweat drenched her back.
She felt as if a colossal mountain were slowly collapsing toward her, and there was nowhere to hide.
Qin Zhong snapped his fingers, pulling Natasha’s attention back.
“Stop staring, Natasha.
Tell me what big events have happened lately.” Natasha gasped heavily for air; she had forgotten to breathe just now.
“Qin Zhong…
you’ve gotten stronger.” Qin Zhong shrugged.
“Nothing too major.
Tony built his armor, and then he’s been flying all over the place.
He seems obsessed with wiping out terrorists—he even flew to Afghanistan three times in a single day once.
Then in early June, he announced his identity, letting the whole world know he’s Iron Man.
Stark Industries’ stock price is about to blow through the roof.” Ugh, the playboy’s resentment.
Qin Zhong understood.
“What about Nick Fury?
Did he give up on his Avengers Initiative?” “Oh, he went to see Tony in person and proposed the plan, but I don’t know the specifics.
I’m currently on a mission and haven’t gone back to SHIELD.” Qin Zhong thought about it.
He would probably need to ask Tony his thoughts in person.
If Tony wanted to join, he should join early—the earlier he joined, the earlier he’d have a voice.
Plus, facing special events early would help Tony grow and upgrade his suit.
There was no need to be afraid now; Qin Zhong could at least back him up.
He pulled out his phone and called Tony.
Once connected, he heard what sounded like firecrackers exploding in the background.
“Hello?
Tony?” “Qin Zhong?
Long time no see!
Are you back in New York?
JARVIS, initiate automatic mode.” Hearing that, Qin Zhong was instantly speechlessly annoyed.
“Don’t you sleep?
Out fighting in the crack of dawn?” “Hey, I was bored!
Just wanted to get some morning exercise, and I happened to spot a group committing armed robbery, so I handled them on the way.” “Fine.
Come back early, I have something to talk to you about.” “Sure thing.” Qin Zhong hung up, thought for a moment, and motioned for Natasha to reach out her hand.
“Let me check your pulse.” Natasha was bewildered.
“What?
I’m fine.” “Hmm, this pulse of yours…
it’s incredible.
I’m worried you might turn into a man one of these days.” If she didn’t know she couldn’t beat Qin Zhong, Natasha would have snapped his neck right then and there.
Why bring up someone’s deepest trauma out of nowhere?
“It can be cured.” Natasha suddenly felt Qin Zhong was the most wonderful person in the world.
“It can be cured?” “Yeah.
Do you want it cured or not?” Natasha was beating up a mental doll of Qin Zhong in her head.
*Do I want it cured?
Of course I want it cured!* “Cure it.” “Alright.
Give me a couple of days to study it.
The current stuff isn’t quite suitable, so I’ll adjust the formula.” Natasha was visibly thrilled.
Then Qin Zhong, having nothing better to do, began putting on a dramatic act.
“Antonia Dreykov—the little girl you thought you blew up—isn’t dead, you know.
Word is she’s being modified.” “Dreykov—your enemy—isn’t dead either.
Living large and free.” “Yelena—your sister—seems to be in that place too.” “Tsk, tsk.
The little girl calls out every day about how her big sister abandoned her.
So pitiful.” “Where was that again?
Red Room Headquarters, right?
Melina—your undercover foster mother—seems to be there too.
Have you heard of that place?” “Alexei—your undercover foster father—seems to be locked up in a Siberian Gulag.
Natasha, do you know that place?” “Natasha?” “Natasha?” Natasha snapped out of a roaring buzz in her ears.
She saw Qin Zhong’s lips moving, but she could barely hear what he was saying.
She grabbed Qin Zhong’s hand tightly, opening her mouth to say something, but after trying for a long time, not a single word came to her mind.
She could only open her mouth like a mute, uttering helpless, choked gasps.
In the distance, Hawkeye noticed something was wrong.
Disregarding stealth, he immediately revealed himself and rushed over.
Seeing Natasha in this state, he instantly drew his bow.
Seeing this, Natasha immediately stepped into Hawkeye’s line of sight, blocking his shot.
“Save me…
and I’ll give you my life.”