A helicopter took off its flight from one of the peaks of the Kunyu mountain range. Mark was looking down at the ruined structures where a middle-aged fellow was standing there, "Well, I have already established a spiritual connection with him. That was enough. Of course, until I formally establish the sect and raise a private army, I need to visit him regularly. His current loyal is standing at only 23%. It wasn't enough. I cannot give a reason to this guy could just severe the contract.
Hmm, now that I think about it, Lan Ju should be better off here. It will not only let me protect my identity from Lan Jingyi but he won't be able to come in between us.
Anyway, let's not think too much about it. You have a lot of work to do, Mark."
Soon, the helicopter disappeared from Lan Ju's sight and he went back to the graveyard, continuing to sweep at a snail's pace, once again.
Once the helicopter hit a certain height and continued to fly straight toward its destination, Mark opened the inventory to proceed with the upgrading.
With over 177k credit limit waiting for me to spend and another 108 thousand credits in his account excluding these 150k credits he received recently, Mark felt rich enough to splurge around. And he chose the defense system to spend those credits on.
"Okay, here we go."
*Ding! 1000 credits were deducted. Missile Defense System-I was successfully upgraded to Missile Defense System-II.
As he clicked on the upgrade, the image on the screen was changed. Previously, it was like five 80mm mortars clustered together in a pentagon shape. Now, those guns were neatly arranged together in two lines, five on the top and five on the bottom.
"Okay, silver grade. Now, next to gold…"
Mark went on with upgrading until he can no longer do it.
*Ding! 4000 credits were deducted. Missile Defense System-II was successfully upgraded to Missile Defense System-III.
*Ding! 20000 credits were deducted. Missile Defense System-III was successfully upgraded to Missile Defense System-IV.
*Ding! You unlocked the X-2 missile.
*Ding! 120,000 credits were deducted. Missile Defense System-IV was successfully upgraded to Missile Defense System-V.
*Ding! You unlocked the X-3 missile.
*Ding! Insufficient credits.
"Hmm, the next upgrade needs a whooping 840k credits. It will take a while to amass them again but I guess I should be satisfied with its current state."
**
Missile defense system – V (bound)
Grade: Diamond (max: God)
Weapon type: Mounted
Missile type: X-1, X-2, X-3
Launchers: 3 (Type-1, Type-2, Type-3)
Number of missiles per launcher: 20
Missile length: 3 meters
Missile weight: 50 kg (X-1), 90 kg (X-2), 160 kg (X-3)
Warhead type: Fragmentation
Max. Range of fire: 120 km (100% accuracy)
Absolute range: 200 km (20% accuracy)
Max. Speed of missile: mach 3.8
Target lock: Yes (only ether attacks)
Blast radius: 20 meters (X-1), 50 meters (X-2), 130 meters (X-3)
Storage chamber: Yes
Description: A missile defense system that can be used as an offense or defense, according to the situation. Moving at supersonic speed, X-3 could potentially obliterate all targets below 7-circle in a blink of an eye.
Upgrade >>> 840,000 credits.
SKILLS:
Active:
Single-target Ether missile: Shoot a concentrated beam of ether energy from one of the launchers at different attack powers. Cost: (Type-1: 100k EP, Type-2: 1m EP, Type-3: 10m EP)
Multi-target ether missile: Shoot 20 concentrated beams of ether energy from one of the launchers at once with each containing 120% attack power of the user. Cost: 30% ether energy.
All-out Attack: Bombard the enemies with the 60 energy attacks from all of the launchers at the same with an attack power of 200% of the user (max stat-9.9). Cost: 50% of maximum ether energy. CD: 0 seconds
Invincible dome: Create an invincible barrier with a maximum of 50 meters of radius and block all types of attacks as long as they don't exceed stat 7.5. Cost: 10% of maximum ether energy per second. CD: 0 seconds
Passive:
Auto attack (Deactivated): When the defensive mode is switched on, the missile defense system will automatically use the missiles in the storage chamber and intercept all types of attacks that are aimed at its owner. Cost: none. CD: 0 seconds.
**
"Good. It's worth spending 145k credits on this item."
Mark let out a satisfactory smile upon reading the details of the new missile defense system. "Once the Kunyu bandits start the war, I should set this weapon at the Lushan peak and attack from far away using those skills. With Lan Ju around, first of all, no one would dare to come there, and secondly, energy attacks will make it impossible for the enemies to trace it back to me.
With this, I can easily achieve my target. Now, all I need to do is to wait until that fatty merchant makes the visit. Hopefully, I get my weekly shipment from Zheng Ha. So far, only 25000 of those lead bullets were manufactured. I have a long way to go but with 72000 tungsten bullets that I painstakingly saved until now, Prince Feng would be able to hold on until I take out the big ones.
Anyway, the hidden quest is finished. Now, I should focus on acquiring the second spirit path. Let's hope that the upcoming expo turns into a success. Hmm, I should contact Lan Jing to drag an envoy to the expo.
Then, there's the Western Moon kingdom. Didn't Prime Minister Zhu Jianhong give me the communication talisman to contact him? It would be too much work to give a formal invitation. Let's just invite him through the message.
Hmm, who else is there? The major noble clans and sects. Some of them have enmity with me but business is business. I can atleast put my displeasure aside as long as the money flows in.
Let's ask the assistance of the imperial family to send the message to everyone. Even if some fool tries something funny, I would be able to take care of it. After all, I still have the peak strength potion with me."
After sending a message to Alina that he was returning home, Mark closed his eyes and took a nap while Allen calmly piloted the vehicle.
***
Heaven Pavilion, Yuan Clan compound, Northern Yuan Province;
The Heaven Pavilion is a building, located in the lush gardens of the Yuan clan compound. It is usually a location where the public meetings between the elders of the Yuan clan occur.
Because of its huge open space, the rest of the clan members also get an opportunity to witness the meeting between these higher-ups that have authority.
And other times, the clan leader/patriarch would also give judgments to the sinners of the clan.
One can say that it is similar to that of a courtroom of the Imperial Palace except that it is strictly exclusive to the clan members.
As the strongest clan in the Phoenix Empire, Yuan Clan has about 27 elders of which everyone is in a 6-circle. There are three grand elders with 7-circle realm cultivation with one of them at peak stage.
So, it shouldn't be a surprise that the meetings would go on for a long time because of the varied opinions of elders belonging to different factions.
However, at the moment, everyone including those three mighty grand elders just silently stood in their places as they stared at the 20-odd-year-old young man who walked into the pavilion and took the seat, where Patriarch was supposed to sit.
It was only after he sat that everyone also took their seats.
"Let's begin," said the young man with a patch on one of his eyes as he let out a devilish smile.
