Tony led Sam and Steve out of the living room and into a massive, glowing glass room.
It was the high-tech greenhouse.
Inside, rows of magical plants hummed with pure, rich energy.
The air smelled fresh and sweet.
Sam walked quietly among the plants, carefully picking the brightest and strongest herbs.
He sat cross-legged on the floor in the center of the room.
He raised his hand, and his warm, pink Golden Core fire appeared, floating gently in the air.
He tossed the herbs into the fire, melting them down into pure liquid energy.
Creating a Longevity Pill was not a simple task.
In the natural world, it was actually a massive taboo.
Life and death were strict rules.
Everyone gets old, and everyone eventually dies.
Making a dying, elderly person young and healthy again was breaking the absolute laws of the universe.
But Sam didn't care.
As a Cultivator, his entire existence was a path that went directly against heaven.
Stealing life from the universe, changing fate, and defying the rules was exactly what cultivation was all about.
As the liquid in the fire slowly formed into a perfectly round, glowing pill, the world outside reacted.
The bright blue sky over New York City suddenly turned pitch black.
Thick, heavy clouds swirled violently right above Stark Tower.
*RUMBLE!*
Fierce, crackling red lightning flashed deep inside the dark clouds.
The air in the room grew heavy and hard to breathe.
Steve looked out the large glass windows, his blue eyes wide with shock.
He instinctively raised his arms, ready for a fight.
"What is happening out there?"
Steve asked, looking at the unnatural storm.
"Is it an attack?"
"It is Heavenly Retribution,"
Sam answered calmly, never taking his eyes off the floating fire.
"The heavens are angry that I am breaking the rules of life and death. The sky is going to send down a lightning strike to destroy the pill before it finishes."
Steve tensed up.
He was ready to protect Sam with his own body if he had to.
But Tony didn't look scared at all.
Tony walked over to the window. He put his hands in his pockets and looked up at the angry, swirling red storm.
A cocky, confident smirk spread across Tony's face.
"JARVIS,"
Tony called out.
"Yes, Sir?"
The AI's polite voice echoed through the greenhouse.
"The sky is getting a little too loud for my taste,"
Tony grinned.
"Activate the Heavenly Destroyer Protocol."
"Right away, Sir. Rerouting Arc Reactor power. Deploying Qi-enhanced defense cannons."
Suddenly, hidden metal panels all across the roof of Stark Tower slid open.
Massive, high-tech cannons rose into the air, glowing with bright blue energy mixed with the Qi Tony had fed into the building's grid.
They aimed straight up at the angry heavens.
Standing on a small table right next to Tony was Little D, the tiny wooden puppet.
She had tagged along in Sam's pocket.
Little D looked out the window at the dark, rumbling sky.
Then, she looked up at the massive cannons Tony was controlling.
Her blue, glowing eyes widened with pure fascination.
"Incredible,"
Little D said in her soft, polite voice.
She reached into her tiny black robe and pulled out a very small notebook and a tiny pencil.
She started writing furiously.
"Lesson of the day,"
Little D muttered to herself, her wooden face completely serious.
"How to shoot the sky with big guns. How to destroy heaven."
Tony let out a loud laugh. He reached down and gently patted the little puppet's wooden head.
"That's exactly right, Little D,"
Tony smiled proudly.
"If heaven tries to ruin our hard work, we just blast it right back into space."
BOOM!
The entire tower shook slightly. The massive cannons on the roof fired at the exact same time.
Thick, blinding beams of blue energy shot straight up into the dark, angry sky.
The beams hit the heavy black clouds with a loud, thunderous crash.
The pure power of Tony's arc reactors, mixed with his focused Qi, was incredible.
It blew a giant hole right through the center of the storm.
The red lightning scattered, and bright sunlight peeked through the gap for just a second.
But the heavens were stubborn. The universe did not like being pushed around by a mortal machine.
The dark clouds quickly swirled faster.
They tried to gather together again, pulling in more dark energy.
They grew thicker and angrier, ready to drop a massive bolt of red lightning to destroy Sam's work.
Tony just kept his hands in his pockets. His smirk didn't fade at all.
"Keep firing, JARVIS,"
Tony ordered smoothly.
"Do not give it a chance to breathe."
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The cannons shot again, and again, and again.
Every time the red lightning tried to form, Tony's bright blue beams blasted the clouds apart.
The sky over New York City became a loud, flashing battlefield between ancient, angry magic and modern human technology.
Steve watched from the window with wide eyes.
He was completely speechless.
During his time in the war, brave men fought with rifles, grenades, and tanks.
Now, Howard Stark's son was casually standing in a living room, literally fighting the sky—and he was winning.
Little D clapped her tiny wooden hands together every time a cannon fired.
She cheered happily as the dark clouds were blown to pieces.
Down on the floor, Sam stayed completely calm.
The loud explosions outside did not distract him at all. His mind was clear.
His focus was only on the pink fire floating in his hand.
The liquid energy in the fire spun faster and faster.
All the rich life and power from the magical herbs squeezed tightly together into one single point.
With a soft, chiming sound, the pink fire vanished.
In the center of Sam's open palm rested a perfectly round, softly glowing green pill.
The moment it was finished, the whole room instantly smelled like fresh rain and blooming spring flowers.
Just breathing the air made Steve feel lighter.
The Longevity Pill was successfully created.
High above the tower, the broken dark clouds finally gave up.
They realized they had lost the battle.
The storm slowly melted away, leaving the bright blue sky peaceful and quiet once again.
The metal panels on the roof closed, hiding the cannons away.
Sam slowly stood up. He held the tiny, glowing green pill between his fingers. It looked like a flawless emerald.
He looked over at Steve.
"The medicine is ready, Captain,"
Sam smiled softly, his deep eyes full of promise.
"Let's go get your girl."
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