The peaceful days at the mansion were interrupted by a familiar buzzing.
Natasha's S.H.I.E.L.D. phone was lighting up with red alerts.
She sighed, her eyes losing their soft glow and turning back into the sharp eyes of a hunter.
"Tony Stark is missing,"
Natasha said, looking at the screen.
"He was in Afghanistan for a weapon demo. His convoy was hit. No one knows if he's alive or dead. Fury wants me on a plane in an hour."
Sam stood up, his pink Qi swirling around his feet like fallen petals.
He remembered the stories from his mind—he knew exactly where Tony was.
He knew about the cave, the arc reactor, and the suit made of scrap metal.
"I'm coming with you,"
Sam said.
"Sam, it's a war zone,"
Natasha said, her voice filled with worry.
"I'm much stronger now, but S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't know you're coming. It could get messy."
"I know where he is, Natasha,"
Sam said firmly.
"And I'm not letting you go alone. Besides, a cultivator needs real combat to reach the next stage."
Natasha looked at him for a long time. She realized she couldn't stop him, and truthfully, she wanted to go on a mission with him once.
"Wait here,"
She said,
She walked to a large, silver safe in their training room.
She punched in a code and pulled out a long, wooden box wrapped in yellow silk.
She brought it to Sam and opened the lid.
Inside lay a beautiful sword. The scabbard was dark wood with silver carvings of dragons and clouds.
When Sam pulled the blade out, it sang.
The steel was folded a thousand times, showing wavy patterns like water.
"I won this at a secret auction last week,"
Natasha explained.
"It's an ancient Jian from China. The collector said it was found in a mountain cave and that no one could use it. But when I touched it, I felt it was waiting for someone."
Sam gripped the handle. The sword felt light, as if it were a part of his own arm.
As soon as he touched it, the pink Qi droplets in his Dantian began to glow.
The sword hummed in response, a faint pink light running down the edge of the blade.
"It's perfect,"
Sam whispered.
"With this, the Cherry Blossom Sword Art will be unstoppable."
They didn't take a S.H.I.E.L.D. jet. Natasha used her own money to hire a private, high-speed plane.
As they flew over the ocean, Natasha sat on Sam's lap, checking her handguns, while Sam sat with the Chinese sword across his knees, meditating.
"The Ten Rings,"
Sam said, his eyes still closed.
"That's the name of the group that has him."
The plane landed on a private strip in the middle of the hot, yellow desert.
The wind was dry and carried the smell of dust.
Sam and Natasha didn't bring many bags.
They didn't need them.
Natasha was wearing a dark tactical suit, her red hair tied back.
She looked like a professional killer, but her skin had a healthy glow that wasn't there before.
Sam wore simple black clothes, with his new Chinese sword strapped to his back.
"The S.H.I.E.L.D. teams are looking fifty miles to the north,"
Natasha said, checking her tablet.
"They think the trail is cold. How do you know they're in these mountains, Sam?"
"I can feel the energy,"
Sam said. He knew the story of Iron Man, but he could also feel a strange, buzzing energy coming from a distant cave.
It was the Arc Reactor. To a cultivator, it felt like a tiny, artificial sun.
They didn't use a jeep. They ran.
Even without using his full power, Sam moved like a ghost over the sand.
Natasha kept up easily. Her breathing was steady and deep, just like he had taught her.
She felt lighter than a feather.
As they reached the base of a rocky mountain, Sam held up his hand.
"We're here,"
He whispered.
Above them, hidden behind rocks and camo nets, were the soldiers of the Ten Rings.
They were holding heavy guns and laughing.
They had no idea that a predator was standing right below them.
"Do we do this the S.H.I.E.L.D. way or our way?"
Natasha asked. She pulled out two batons that hummed with electricity.
"Our way,"
Sam replied.
He drew his sword. The blade didn't reflect the sun; it seemed to drink the light.
A faint pink mist began to swirl around the steel.
They moved at the same time.
Natasha was a blur of black.
She leaped onto the first guard post.
She didn't use her guns.
She used her hands and feet, moving with the grace of the Blossom Heart technique.
Every strike she landed broke a bone.
The guards didn't even have time to scream before they were unconscious.
Sam walked straight toward the main gate.
"Stop!"
A guard yelled, pointing an AK-47 at him.
Sam didn't stop. He swung his sword in a wide circle.
Clang!
The bullets didn't hit him. He had sliced them in mid-air.
The pink Qi made his eyes sharp enough to see the lead moving through the sky.
With one quick step, he appeared in front of the guard.
He didn't kill him; he just tapped the man's chest with the flat of his blade.
The guard flew backward five meters and hit a wall, instantly knocked out.
Inside the cave, they heard the sound of a heavy hammer hitting metal.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
"That's him,"
Sam said.
"He's building his way out."
Suddenly, the ground shook. A loud explosion came from deep inside the tunnels.
Smoke started to pour out of the entrance.
"Sounds like the dragon is waking up,"
Natasha said, wiping a bit of dust off her suit.
She looked at Sam and smiled. She wasn't scared.
She felt excited. Being a cultivator made her feel like she finally owned her own life.
"Let's go say hello to Mr. Stark,"
Sam said.
He led the way into the dark cave, his sword glowing with a soft pink light to show the path.