Over an hour later.

  Yagyu Chihaya finally arrived beside Xia Li with the goods.

  Because many items Xia Li purchased had customized modifications, they needed weapon technicians at the local distribution warehouse to modify them before shipping.

  As one of the distribution points, Yagyu Chihaya naturally had phase shipping channels from various manufacturers—no need to go out and collect goods.

  "Xia Li, your items."

  Yagyu Chihaya had now changed into a black qipao. Her personal style had shifted again.

  This time she carried an air of bold elegance, making Xia Li think of Republican-era female spies.

  She snapped her fingers. Many briefcases flew out from her phase ring and landed on the floor.

  Xia Li walked forward and began inspecting the goods.

  What he'd prepared for Lin Ye wasn't bad—all standard Golden Core-level weapons, retail prices starting from seven or eight thousand each, better than what he currently used.

  But the highlight was what he'd prepared for himself.

  Xia Li looked at two gold-gleaming briefcases. Without asking, he knew they must contain his blade and gun.

  "Why so elaborate with the packaging? Gold-plated?"

  Xia Li walked up and knocked twice on the briefcase, but the texture and returning sound seemed off.

  "Wait... not gold-plated... solid gold?"

  Solid gold briefcases—now that was something. Though precious metals from the old days weren't valuable anymore, and the electronics industry had found better conductive metals than gold...

  But gold as a symbol of honor and nobility from the past now had collectible value exceeding practical value. Prices remained considerable.

  "Not everyone's a sucker like you willing to overpay. The gap between standard and top specs is generally only around fifteen percent. Even with personal ability amplification, the difference between standard and top specs is at most thirty percent."

  "But that thirty percent costs at least fifty percent more. So treating suckers like you to gold packaging to make you happy is normal."

  After Yagyu Chihaya's explanation, Xia Li wasn't angry. Instead, he smiled at her.

  "A greedy corporate citizen knows how to help people save money?"

  "You asked for honesty—I'm just telling the truth. Of course, if you think it's worth it, you can ignore me."

  "To me, converting spirit stones into combat power is worth it. Even with some conversion loss, hoarding them is useless anyway."

  "Who says hoarding is useless? Asset levels are very important!"

  "To you people, certainly very important."

  He was now a Telekinesis Society member with legal immunity. Others couldn't acquire him anymore, so asset levels had become purely an offensive tool for him now.

  Better to convert them into something practical. Asset levels were useless on the other side anyway.

  Bending down, Xia Li opened the first gold briefcase. Inside lay an entirely black blade. Xia Li gripped it and drew.

  The blade was completely black too, not reflecting any light. Even when illuminated in darkness, it wouldn't become conspicuous.

  He coated the blade with telekinesis.

  Adding his own vitality and prosthetic arm strength.

  Xia Li casually slashed...

  A sonic boom sounded—"shhh"—and the blade's cutting trajectory actually sparked electrical arcs.

  "Wait... Night Cutter is an anti-spirit-energy weapon. How did you..."

  "I used telekinesis."

  After speaking, Xia Li sheathed the blade. An anti-spirit-energy weapon enhanced with telekinesis could now be described as a "Dao cultivator killer."

  If enemies lacked martial and soul-path methods, once he closed in, he'd chop them like cabbages.

  Worth noting, characters were actually engraved on the blade.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  One character: "Li."

  Representing that he was this blade's master, inheriting his reputation from now on.

  Opening the other briefcase, inside was naturally the Sirius revolver. The grip also bore an engraved character—"Li."

  This revolver was slightly larger than revolvers in Xia Li's memory. It felt quite heavy in hand—the materials must be very solid.

  Its appearance was very vintage, carrying none of the traces of modern weapons. Silver-white body with a wooden grip.

  Though the grip was wooden, it was crafted from the heartwood of a Nascent Soul-level tree demon—hardness no less than King Steel. Held in hand, it felt warm. He could even sense the internal components and organs-like parts faintly pulsing.

  This was a "living" handgun.

  Its internal structure was extremely precise and complex—Xia Li couldn't understand it anyway.

  "Chihaya, six bullets."

  "Here. Spirit Bullet Magnums—one spirit stone for two. Remember to pay later."

  "Yeah, yeah."

  After receiving the bullets, Xia Li opened the cylinder and used telekinesis to precisely load six bullets into it.

  Then...

  Xia Li slapped the cylinder shut with his palm. The cylinder rotated once, completing the chamber load.

  "Hold on, let me set up the targets."

  Yagyu Chihaya pulled Xia Li out of the reception room to the basement's open area.

  Several human-shaped targets had been set up in the distance.

  "These targets are made of five-centimeter-thick Star Steel with a hardness value of six. Many Golden Core defensive arts plus force field shields generally only reach hardness four to five."

  "These targets are nearly equivalent to standard Nascent Soul-level defensive strength."

  "And this thing in your hand... its minimum damage strength is four point five."

  In other words...

  A hit to vital points could take out a Golden Core cultivator in one shot.

  "Let me try."

  Xia Li raised the gun and cocked the hammer with his thumb.

  Pulled the trigger—fired!

  The recoil wasn't bad, absorbed by the intricate internal structure. But the gunshot was excessively loud.

  Absolutely thunderous!

  The bullet struck the distant target with an explosion-like boom. The impact point was visibly dented.

  Xia Li continued testing. The second shot could punch through the dented spot. By the time Xia Li fired the fifth bullet, Yagyu Chihaya's hand suddenly pressed down on his gun.

  "Xia Li, the sixth bullet is this revolver's biggest selling point. The first five bullets are all energy accumulation."

  "Don't miss this final shot, or the neighbors will complain I'm demolishing their foundation."

  "Got it."

  Xia Li aimed at another intact target.

  Cocked the hammer, pulled the trigger!

  A bullet trailing blue flame shot out. Upon hitting the target, a blue flame flash-explosion occurred, directly shattering and blasting apart that target.

  "Sirius—what a Sirius!"

  Sirius was a blue supergiant star, and this handgun's sixth accumulated shot produced an effect like a blue supergiant's eruption.

  The weapon's namer clearly had taste—this must have been designed by a legendary firearms master.

  "Now that you've got new armaments, what's next? Going back to the danger zones?"

  "Not for now. I'm heading back for a while."

  "Huh? I already planned your next steps..."

  "No rush."

  Xia Li needed to return to the other side—mainly to earn spirit stones, and also to prepare for advancing to Golden Core.

  His cultivation strength was starting to fall behind his armament level.