Tony never expected that after being gone for half a month, Qin Zhong had switched classes—ditching the warrior build to try cultivation.
Over the past few days, Tony had spent his time building four suits of armor.
He kept one for himself and, per Qin Zhong’s request, installed JARVIS in the remaining three, stationing them at the farm, Parker’s house, and Kagome’s house.
To make them easy to put on, he had even gone through the trouble of digging a basement for each location and installing automated deployment systems.
Only then did he start designing Qin Zhong’s armor.
He had only finished half of it—improving a few features based on his own recent test runs—when Qin Zhong returned and announced he was cultivating.
Although Tony was thrilled about the new serum Qin Zhong gave him, missing out on sharing his shiny new toy left him a little sore.
Qin Zhong didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Make me a suit anyway.
I want something flashy, a limited edition to distinguish me from you.
Something I can play around with and then keep as a collectible, then wear to your parties in the future, okay?
Whenever you make a more advanced model, keep the same style and build me another.
I’m collecting them all.” That instantly perked Tony up.
That could work—Tony admitted he hadn’t thought of that.
To the outside world, Miniature Reactor technology was worth billions.
But when it came to Qin Zhong, Tony would have happily handed over the patent rights on a silver platter.
Before he invented the reactor, Stark Industries had plenty of lucrative divisions outside weapons; giving this away wouldn’t impact the playboy’s luxurious lifestyle in the slightest.
So gifting a reactor-powered suit to Qin Zhong as a collector’s item was completely fine.
With the complete gene serum, Tony was far more relaxed.
Who knew?
Once Qin’s faction grew strong enough in the future, people might end up saying, “Don’t bring gifts for the holidays unless it’s Iron Man armor.” *The Ultra Family is pretty cool.
No reason I can’t build an Iron Man Family,* Tony thought.
*Starting with the Tiga Qin Zhong edition.* Of course, every version except Qin Zhong’s would be heavily restricted.
Thanks to Qin Zhong, the insurgents in Afghanistan and the Middle East got a few days of peace.
Setting aside the other briefcase, Qin Zhong opened another spatial portal, reached in, and pulled out a slightly larger jade bottle, handing it to Qingtan, who had been waiting patiently nearby.
“Qingtan, take this.
Call your master first and ask him to pick you up at the airport.
Once you see him, hand it directly to Senior Brother Kunhong and tell him to head to Mount Wudang to consult with the Daoist Master on how to use them.” Inside were pills Qin Zhong had refined using his medical abilities, combining gene modules with world spiritual energy.
After all, the Chinese weren’t keen on injections as a method of enhancement; it would calcify their mindset and rob them of their idealistic spiritual power.
At best, their cultivation would permanently stagnate—since they viewed foreign inventions as mere external distractions—and at worst, it could induce inner demons.
Pills were a completely different story.
A potent elixir would only make them feel favored by destiny, bolstering their spiritual conviction and making breakthroughs much easier for ancient martial artists or cultivators.
For instance, Qin Zhong had named these the Yellow Sprout Pills.
Taking a single pill could propel a practitioner straight to peak Innate Realm, granting them a real shot at Foundation Establishment.
In truth, the fundamental effect was similar to the gene serum, except for the addition of world spiritual energy, which greatly aided cultivation techniques.
Qin Zhong, possessing the Digest Technique, had tried one himself first.
The effect on him was minimal—since he had already reached Foundation Establishment, Innate-level pills did little for him.
However, if word of this got out, the Acquired and Innate cultivators back home would go wild.
The promise of Foundation Establishment meant the realm of Terrestrial Immortals.
Seeing Qingtan’s flushed face and resolute, do-or-die expression after hearing the pill’s name and effects, Qin Zhong knew just how momentous the Yellow Sprout Pill sounded to him.
For that exact reason, Qin Zhong had to give the Yellow Sprout Pills a clear, legitimate paper trail rather than sending them through a portal.
If outsiders believed the pills originated from Shushan, it would draw unnecessary trouble to the sect.
Bringing them in through proper channels sent a clear message to any schemers back home: these came from Qin Zhong, who was overseas.
If anyone wanted them, they could come find him directly.
Anyone below Foundation Establishment couldn’t take a single punch from Qin Zhong.
Anyone *at* Foundation Establishment who tried entering the country would find the Ancient One stopping by for a friendly chat.
Or they could head to Mount Wudang to challenge the Daoist Master himself—and weigh their chances of coming back alive.
This spared Shushan from any chaos caused by the pills.
As for why he didn’t give every Shushan disciple a pill, it wasn’t that he couldn’t afford to.
Spiritual energy was merciless, unlike pure genetic modification.
“Heaven and Earth are ruthless; they treat all creation as straw dogs.” The principle couldn’t be ignored.
With spiritual energy involved, anyone without sufficient aptitude would literally explode if they took it.
That was why he left it to Senior Brother Kunhong and the Wudang Daoist Master to select suitable candidates, and even then, a grandmaster would need to stand guard during ingestion.
When Senior Brother Kunhong had praised Qin Zhong’s rare physical potential, it was because Qin Zhong had been at peak Acquired Realm, just one step shy of Innate.
An eighteen-year-old at peak Acquired Realm was a top contender even in China.
True geniuses were scarce nowadays, especially after the severe disruption during the great catastrophe decades ago.
Qingtan was an ideal candidate.
As the pillar of Shushan’s current generation of disciples, his talent was exceptional.
A single pill could save him decades of grueling cultivation, potentially allowing him to achieve Foundation Establishment around the age of forty.
Naturally, with Qin Zhong supplying the pills and Senior Brother Kunhong backing them, talented Shushan disciples would certainly get their fair share.
It wasn’t a one-time batch anyway—Qin Zhong could make more whenever he had free time, something the Wudang Daoist Master would surely understand.
After accepting Qingtan’s formal bow of gratitude, Qin Zhong didn’t detain him.
He had Tony arrange a chartered flight to send him back.
Otherwise, he worried Qingtan would try to fly all the way home carrying his sword and fail airport security.
Qin Zhong had expected these matters to take two or three days, but thanks to Tony’s foresight in setting up the lab early, everything was resolved quickly.
Super-wealth really was convenient sometimes.
“By the way, while I was gone for half a month, how did things go with Charles?” Qin Zhong remembered to ask.
“How else could it go?
New York State made a very generous offer, and Charles is one of us.
Aside from a few sectors off-limits due to special reasons, I plan to put most of the pie in New York.” “No need,” Qin Zhong said, shaking his head.
“Talk to Charles later.
Just make sure the investment volume is enough to guarantee his steady rise next year.
As for the rest, follow your own plan.
Stark Industries is a global enterprise; when entering new energy, New York State shouldn’t hoard the whole pie.
Spread it out, boost the economy in other regions, and prepare for the future.” Qin Zhong was mostly keeping New York’s future in mind.
Truth be told, starting this year, there would be minor incidents, building up to 2012—an absolute clusterfuck of superhuman battles.
When those fights broke out, a blow to the east would wreck a Stark factory; a strike to the west would demolish a Stark office; a hit to the south would collapse a Stark lab; a blast to the north would smash a Stark dormitory; and right in the middle of New York sat Stark Tower.
Money didn’t grow on trees, and seeing it destroyed like that hurt his wallet too.
After all, Qin Zhong had dividends in the company.
Besides, Charles’s ambitions extended far beyond New York State.
Down the line, he would need the backing of Qin’s faction to drive public opinion across the nation, so spreading operations everywhere was essential.
Tony signaled his understanding and, with Qin Zhong’s help, injected the serum.
Once it was done, Qin Zhong left Tony alone to adjust to his new strength and headed off to pick up Kagome from school.
The driver’s license he had asked Kagome to get through Aunt Tina before leaving had long since arrived at the Parker home.
Qin Zhong picked a convertible at random from Tony’s garage and drove straight to the school.
Natasha was exceptionally professional.
When Qin Zhong arrived, she and Kagome were walking out together, having clearly found a way to infiltrate the school for close-quarters protection.
Qin Zhong waved to Kagome from the car, handed her the flowers from the passenger seat, and received a sweet kiss in return.
When he asked where Natasha was staying, Kagome pinched his cheek and turned his head toward her.
“Natasha is staying with me.” Qin Zhong chuckled helplessly and pretended to bite her fingers.
Kagome quickly pulled her hand back with a laugh and swatted his arm.
Qin Zhong then handed the briefcase from the back seat to Natasha.
“Kagome and I are grabbing dinner.
Take this back first, and we’ll talk once I get home.” With that, he drove off with Kagome.
He called Uncle Ben to say he and Kagome were eating out.
Aunt May wouldn’t hold dinner for them, though she complained that Qin Zhong had gone wild over the vacation and was never home anymore.
Qin Zhong was speechless.
*When I’m home, you complain that I’m cluttering the place up and doing nothing.* Since it was still early, Qin Zhong took Kagome shopping before finding a spot for a romantic candlelight dinner.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and being deeply in love, they exchanged endless sweet nothings.
They didn’t cross any ultimate boundaries, as Qin Zhong was still fairly traditional at heart.
Later that evening, back at Kagome’s house, Qin Zhong checked the suit deployment rig Tony had delivered.
It had only been installed a few days ago.
Nothing out of the ordinary had happened, and after Kagome tried it once out of curiosity, she had covered it with a sheet to keep off the dust.
When he had asked for the suit, he hadn’t known Kagome possessed magic talent, nor had Natasha been assigned to protect her yet.
Now, it really was left to gather dust in the basement.
Speaking of magic talent, Qin Zhong pulled out the Sling Ring.
The magical metal gifted by Master Ancient One was still at the Parker residence, and since he hadn’t visited Kamar-Taj to study magic yet, he hadn’t forged a custom ring.
He had to make do with the Sling Ring for now, intending to forge a single ring later as an engagement ring for Kagome.
With the Nine Breaths Respiration running, the Dao Scripture of the Origin continuously enhanced his cultivation.
As he spent more time practicing and deepening his comprehension of the scripture, Qin Zhong had unconsciously unlocked over half of the Seventy-Two Earthly Transformations despite having returned only recently.
One technique was called Pellet Illusion, an illusion-based ability.
Qin Zhong wasn’t surprised to gain it so early, given that his dual-cultivation foundation stemmed from a refined variant of the Uchiha bloodline.
It was perfect for opening Kagome’s energetic gateways.
As Master Ancient One had explained, one first had to recognize that the universe extended far beyond three dimensions.
Qin Zhong was much gentler than the Ancient One, and Kagome was far more receptive to mystical concepts than a cynical old hand like Strange.
He handed the Sling Ring to Kagome and walked her through opening portals a few times, teaching her to focus her mind to direct the magic.
Master Ancient One truly had an exceptional eye.
Kagome produced sparks on her very first try, and by her fifth attempt, she opened a portal directly to her room at Northon Farm.
Teaching her proved rewarding for Qin Zhong as well, unlocking a new technique: Pocket Space.
In layman’s terms, it was a portable dimensional space, though the Pocket Space transformation was far higher in tier than ordinary spatial storage.
A master didn’t need any external medium to open it—which was true for Qin Zhong, who had mastered it the moment he gained enlightenment.
Now that he had it, Qin Zhong opened a spatial gate and gathered various important items to dump into his newly created space.
Take the Void-Severing Sword, for instance: it had been kept in his room at the Parker house, requiring him to open a portal every time he wanted to use or store it.
With Pocket Space, it was infinitely more convenient.
A simple wave of his hand was all it took to summon it.
It made things so much easier.