Jade Emperor, Come Fight Me!

This was an alien spaceship with an extremely high level of technology.

It had crashed into K’un-Lun countless years ago and accidentally merged with it.

No one knew how many years had passed. It had long been forgotten by the Kunlun People, with records surviving only in ancient texts that no one read anymore. Perhaps only the Jade Emperor and Lei Gong in all of K’un-Lun knew its secret.

Thick rock walls concealed the spaceship, turning it into one of the most important places in all of K’un-Lun:

The Ancestral Hall.

It enshrined the ancestral tablets of K’un-Lun’s forebears. More sacred and solemn than the shrine dedicated to the Iron Fists of past generations, it tolerated no desecration.

Other than the elders responsible for cleaning and guarding it, no one was allowed to enter freely—

Except, of course, the highly esteemed Iron Fist.

Old Wang had no intention of causing widespread destruction and provoking public outrage just yet. After straightening his clothes slightly, he walked inside.

The spaceship was not very large, nowhere near the size of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Sky Carrier. There could not have been many aliens who came to K’un-Lun back then; judging by its scale, there were certainly fewer than three hundred.

Carved beams and painted rafters filled the place. Rocks and wood of unknown age had concealed every trace of the spaceship, making everything look perfectly ordinary.

But as Old Wang extended his spiritual power, he easily discovered the anomaly—

There were signs of dismantling everywhere.

Clearly, after the spaceship had crashed and the aliens built K’un-Lun, they had taken away everything useful, including daily necessities, energy sources, and weapons.

Only an empty shell remained, along with things that had not been worth taking away:

Such as the engine.

Any spaceship capable of traveling vast distances through the universe necessarily possessed faster-than-light travel capabilities.

S.H.I.E.L.D.’s "Project Pegasus" sought to use the energy of the Cosmic Cube—the Space Stone—to develop a Light Speed Engine. It was most likely related to warp travel and spatial jumps.

The alien spaceship before him, however, used a Warp Engine.

It was precisely the spatial distortions caused by the Warp Engine that connected the mysterious dimension that had always existed with Kunlun Mountain, creating the present-day "K’un-Lun."

Old Wang quickly found the engine.

The massive engine was hidden inside a stone altar table, emitting extraordinarily peculiar energy fluctuations that could actually block spiritual detection.

Even with spiritual power comparable to Shou-Lao’s, Old Wang would have been completely unable to detect anything unusual about the Ancestral Hall from more than ten meters away.

Had he not measured the land with his own feet and passed through the hall, he would never have discovered it.

The spaceship itself was made of an unknown material, seemingly some corrosion-resistant polymer. Even after all these years, it had not rusted.

The engine was likewise intact—and was astonishingly still operating.

Its energy came from a colorless, lightless energy module. A module the size of a fist had somehow sustained the engine for countless years. Its technological sophistication probably far surpassed Tony Stark’s Arc Reactor.

After the spaceship crashed, many of its components had ceased functioning. It could only be converted into the Ancestral Hall for future generations to admire.

The aliens of that time lacked the ability to repair the spaceship. Then, as time passed, their civilization declined step by step until it became what it was today.

In the twenty-first century, human civilization was developing at high speed. Though it remained far from capable of faster-than-light travel, leaving Earth would not be a problem if humanity wished to do so.

Every item aboard this spaceship was a treasure of immeasurable value.

The hull, operating system, life-support system, hibernation chambers… and, of course, the most important thing: the Warp Engine.

With proper research, they would be enough to raise Earth’s technological tree by several tiers.

"What a pity. I can’t take it with me…" Old Wang shook his head.

The spaceship was too large.

The Heart of Azeroth’s internal space could naturally expand without limit, but taking the spaceship would cause too much of a commotion. Destroying the Ancestral Hall would mean becoming enemies with all of K’un-Lun—enemies locked in an undying blood feud. The Jade Emperor and Lei Gong would never allow it.

Old Wang did not want to completely fall out with K’un-Lun. The best option was to persuade the Jade Emperor and Lei Gong to send people here to study it.

"It shouldn’t be difficult…"

If they could truly repair the spaceship, it would benefit K’un-Lun as well.

Although K’un-Lun was located in an extra dimension, it was easy for truly powerful beings and civilizations on the galactic level to locate and breach. It was not secure enough.

With the spaceship, they would have another path of retreat.

Able to advance and retreat—now that was a true magical artifact.

"It was time to have a talk with the Jade Emperor."

Old Wang looked toward the Jade Emperor’s Courtyard.

At first, he had truly believed the Jade Emperor was in secluded cultivation, a time when no one was permitted to pry into him.

But Old Wang soon discovered that a strand of spiritual power would occasionally spy on him.

It was extremely well concealed.

The Old Wang from a few months ago would never have been able to detect it.

Fortunately, after the K’un-Lun martial discourse, he had digested and absorbed the essence of K’un-Lun martial arts, integrating it into his own. His physical attributes and cultivation realm had advanced further, and the spiritual power he could wield had increased as well. He now had roughly one-fiftieth of his power at his peak, allowing him to notice the anomaly.

In all of K’un-Lun, only the Jade Emperor could spy on him in such a covert manner.

Even Lei Gong was not qualified.

Shou-Lao was still an egg and could not withstand overly powerful spiritual force, so he could not do it either.

"That old bastard was actually hiding from me!"

"And spying on me too!"

"Heh heh, you forced my hand. Don’t blame me for bullying the young!"

Old Wang chuckled, took a step, and arrived above the Ancestral Hall.

"Jade Emperor, come fight me!"

He shouted and threw a punch.

At the same time, the Council of Elders.

K’un-Lun’s highest decision-making body was neither Lei Gong nor the Jade Emperor, not even Shou-Lao, but the Council of Elders.

The Jade Emperor and Shou-Lao were actually members of the elders as well, but their special status meant they were treated differently.

Forming an alliance with the Shengun Bureau was far too important a matter. Even Lei Gong could not decide it alone. He could only convene the Council of Elders and let everyone discuss it.

"That is the situation."

Lei Gong gave a rough account, then said in a deep voice, "I want to hear your opinions."

"K’un-Lun has always remained isolated from the world, preserving peace for thousands upon thousands of years. There is nothing wrong with that."

An elder surnamed Wu said, "I oppose this."

Another elder surnamed Chen immediately followed. "Times have changed. Even if we train for ten or a hundred years, we cannot withstand sniper rifles. Even if we can withstand sniper rifles, we cannot withstand laser weapons or missiles. The entire world is moving forward. K’un-Lun should not cling to the old ways."

The other elders voiced their opinions one after another.

Some agreed, some opposed it, and the argument continued without end.

Finally, Elder Wu, who held considerable status, looked at Lei Gong. "Teacher, what do you think?"

His attitude was respectful. The others fell silent as well, turning their gazes toward Lei Gong.

Other than Shou-Lao and the Jade Emperor, Lei Gong was everyone’s teacher in K’un-Lun. He had personally taught every one of them, including the Five Great Elders. His word carried more weight than those of the Five Great Elders combined.

"I agree," Lei Gong said.

Elder Wu did not understand. "Why?"

K’un-Lun revered martial arts and had always preserved its ancient traditions, no matter how the outside world developed.

Other than the Grandmaster, only the Iron Fist could open the Kunlun Gate.

Even after thousands upon thousands of years, even if the outside world underwent earth-shaking changes, K’un-Lun had always remained K’un-Lun. It had always been safe.

Why change?

"Because…"

Lei Gong was about to speak when he suddenly froze slightly and looked up in a certain direction.