Chapter 105: Buying Drones

  In contrast to the free trade zone, where shops had wide?open entrances, the Armory District on the third underground level had no “storefronts” at all. Instead, it consisted of rows upon rows of warehouses sealed by steel gates.

  In front of each warehouse, which bore a distinct signboard, stood a watery, mirror?like screen. A few attendants waited nearby to provide expnations.

  If one wished to make a purchase, they would simply tap the desired weapon on the screen and pay. Once back in a Safe Zone, a puppet would deliver the purchased armaments.

  On closer inspection, one could see a pale golden talisman restriction at the entrance of each warehouse door. It looked extremely dangerous, and even the Sword Spirit warned against approaching it.

  “That is the ‘Seven Mansions Arcane?Law Restriction’ of the Northern Yin Taixuan lineage. Before a cultivator reaches the seventh yer of Qi Refining Purple Mansion and develops Divine Consciousness, coming too close will scatter their soul and cloud their thoughts. Even after reaching the seventh yer but before Foundation Establishment, their soul remains unstable and it’s hard to muster spiritual power, so they can’t exert more than half their full strength.”

  The Sword Spirit spoke in a tone of considerable surprise: “The Northern Yin Talisman lineage is extremely ancient, dating back to the Dao Sect era. Since time immemorial, it has belonged to the authentic esoteric tradition. I never expected to see it here in the Tianyuan Realm.”

  “This method of selling is actually quite safe, keeping buyers and weapons separated at all times. It prevents someone from buying on the spot and then immediately using it, essentially stopping them from ‘turning the soup back into its original ingredients.’” An Jing also realized that the bck market must have experienced numerous serious incidents before adopting this approach.

  No doubt, yers upon yers of bloody lessons y behind these talisman?based Law Restrictions.

  There were fewer visitors to the Armory District, and most seemed to be in a hurry, leaving immediately after selecting their weapons from the screens.

  An Jing, however, had the leisure to browse slowly and take his time.

  He first arrived at a storefront bearing the “Lonely Peak Dawning Sun” emblem and activated the screen interface.

  A dazzling array of weapons, equipment, and Magical Artifacts and talismans immediately appeared. An Jing already had a pn, so he filtered out most of the melee weapons and spirit machinery he didn’t need, selecting only “drones.”

  In an instant, the product list shrank drastically.

  “Lonely Peak Dawning Sun” referred to “Shouyang Mountain.” It was the emblem of the Shouyang Mountain Group, one of the three major corporate giants permanently stationed in Xuanye City.

  Outside of his cultivation, An Jing had studied a rge amount of the Tianyuan Realm’s history. He knew that 【Shouyang Mountain Feng Cn】 was one of the four remaining Primordial Spirit Inheritances in this world. The Shouyang Mountain Group, founded by them, was involved in virtually everything—from top?level cultivation techniques and major military affairs to restaurants, entertainment media, mining, agriculture, forestry, and husbandry.

  Under the Shouyang emblem, there was also the silhouette of a halberd, signifying that this store belonged to “Jinge Industries,” a subsidiary of the Shouyang Mountain Group.

  Jinge Industries was characterized by its “bold, heavy, straightforward, and unadorned” style.

  All the drones on An Jing’s list were heavy firepower rigs. Those equipped only with a machine gun were mere child’s py; the true heavyweights were the ten?barreled rocket drones and the Five Thunder Magnetic Light Cannon drones.

  Among all the Jinge Industries drones that An Jing could access with his non?member account, the most astonishing was a gigantic war drone called “Fme Dragon Guard.”

  It measured a full twelve meters in length and eight meters in width, practically a flying formation disc. It was loaded with the “Six Yang Weapon?Melting Technique,” which could channel scorching yang fire powerful enough to reduce several city blocks to molten rubble. In its presence, sinborn demons would be no different from skewers of char?grilled beef.

  “Three hundred forty thousand merit points? Weaponry really is the fastest way to make money.” Seeing the price, An Jing clicked his tongue. The purchasing power of merit points was staggering—other machine?gun?type drones cost only one hundred seventy?five merit points each (ammunition being the biggest expense), and even a Five Thunder Magnetic Light Cannon model ran only about one thousand five hundred fifty merit points.

  However, the “Fme Dragon Guard” was no longer just a Magical Artifact. Fully inscribed with the entire “Six Yang Weapon?Melting Technique,” it went beyond a mere “mystical art” and became a higher?order “w,” cssifying it as a Spiritual Artifact. It was precious enough to serve as a family heirloom, so the price soared by two full orders of magnitude.

  It was truly impressive, but it wasn’t what An Jing needed—and it was far too expensive.

  “If I don’t find a better drone ter, I can just buy a machine?gun drone and strafe the sinborn demon. That should at least disrupt its focus.”

  Making a mental note, An Jing moved on to the next storefront.

  This time, he visited another Primordial Spirit Inheritance, the 【Luofu Mountain Chen Cn】 under the Luofu Group’s “Beixia Company.” Their armaments were characterized by the slogan “Riding the wind and commanding qi, as ethereal as the glow of rosy clouds.”

  The drones listed were either high?speed, lightly armored reconnaissance types or “Phantom Drones” capable of stealth. Most carried no weaponry, designed instead for infiltration and surveilnce… To be honest, they suited An Jing’s needs quite well.

  Without a karmic Divine Ability tracking him, if An Jing truly achieved stealth, he could completely escape the pursuit of the Demonic Sect and the Heavenly Demons. The only question was the stealth technique’s potency—if it proved insufficient, the Heavenly Demons might see through it, rendering it pointless.

  In any case, An Jing made a note of the Phantom Drones and moved on.

  It had to be said that the bck market’s stock was abundant, with each armory brand showcasing its own unique style.

  “Crimson Bze Field” specialized in self?destructing drones and crawling puppets, while “Triadic Jade Void” offered drones capable of casting group buffs, such as healing, body fortification, toxin removal, and curse dispelling.

  “Seven Treasures” produced drones with multiple functionalities, switchable via various modules. “Sanjiu” produced drones that could interfere with the Divine Soul.

  Upon seeing the self?destructing drones, An Jing asked the attendant in shock, “You actually sell these? And they’re so cheap? Only fifty merit points per unit? Aren’t you worried about gangs using them for assassinations?”

  “Honored customer, you must be joking. Without a weapons permit, how could anyone activate a drone within a Safe Zone, let alone enable its weapon systems?”

  The attendant remained polite, showing no disdain even though An Jing was clearly a “barbarian,” and patiently expined, “Armed drones are generally used by frontier expansion cultivators to explore the wilderness, supplementing their combat capabilities and meeting other needs. They can’t take off in urban centers, let alone Safe Zones.”

  “Even for tribes out in the wilderness, we recommend buying a few self?destructing drones. They’re extremely effective against slower demonic beasts. They contain ‘Scarlet Fme Yang Thunder,’ which can melt through most fiendish creatures’ outer shells, surpassing the armor?penetrating power of the Spiritlight Guns most wilderness tribes favor…”

  —Exactly what I need. Sinborn demon, just you wait!

  The attendant’s ceaseless expnations left An Jing impressed. He added a Scarlet Fme Yang Thunder drone to his shopping list and asked, “Aside from that, do you have any drones designed for reconnaissance?”

  “Reconnaissance…” The attendant pondered. “Are you looking for a drone to scout a fixed area, or something that can move continuously? Do you need broad, low?resolution coverage or a more detailed, localized sweep? And how long do you need it to loiter?”

  An Jing listed his requirements one by one. Before long, under the attendant’s recommendation, he found the drone that perfectly matched his needs.

  Called “Six?Qi Lotus Ptform,” it was shaped like a green lotus. The main body was a mother unit, only about two palms in size, capable of releasing six smaller sub?units that could hover in pce and gather intelligence from multiple angles.

  Additionally, the mother unit could manipute the air in an area to create a massive explosion of sound and a shock wave that repelled anything nearby. The sub?units would then resonate, emitting weaker noise to disrupt perception.

  It clearly met An Jing’s requirements, able to gather information and divert the attention of the Heavenly Demons or the Demonic Sect in a pinch.

  Most crucially, this drone was on sale!

  Originally priced at four hundred eighty, it was now three hundred twenty, plus a spare set of sub?units worth sixty merit points—absolutely free! Who could pass that up?

  (End of Chapter)

  aeterism