Northern region of the Hua Republic. In the coastal city where Wang Sheng's family had lived for more than ten years, morning sunlight rose as usual, filtering through the gaps in the curtains and landing on a small face. The young girl, who still had traces of childlike innocence, frowned slightly and curled deeper under the blanket. "Xiaomiao, get up! Your brother has already found his way on the news again while you're still sleeping! Hahaha! Your brother is making our family proud! He even went all the way to Sakura Island!" Wang Xiaomiao threw back her blanket, a trace of irritation on her small face.  Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝔫𝔢𝔱 Brother? What brother? Ah, right, my heroic older brother who had returned alive from the Small Nether Realm. Over the past two days, her parents had been unusually elated. She had genuinely enjoyed spending time with him, too. She slowly shook off her drowsiness and reached for her phone. After switching the three-dimensional projection into a virtual screen, she opened her favorite video website and checked the trending list. Her spirits immediately lifted. The top video was titled Lightning Tribulation Descends, Heavenly Punishment Unleashed! Dami Military Base Flattened Instantly! The next three videos on the list were Battle Erupts on a Street of Sakura Island, Hua Republic Cultivators Show Their Might!; Longhu Qianzhang's First-Person Perspective, Live Coverage of Dami Military Base; and One-Man Army Forces Dami Navy to Retreat From a Naval Standoff! Eh? She had only slept for a short while, yet it felt as if a war had broken out. Are all of these connected to Big Brother? She blinked, pressed on the first video, and sat up in bed. Her small, cartoon-patterned nightdress slid slightly as she moved. Lightning tribulation raged uncontrollably. Lightning dragons fell like waterfalls, and a vast electric web formed on the ground. The attacks made their human targets seem incredibly fragile and short-circuited all modern weapons and equipment. They also blasted fortress-like buildings to pieces. Shot from afar with a high-powered lens, the video barely managed to capture the figure hovering under the storm clouds. Nevertheless, Wang Xiaomiao quickly recognized him as her brother. Halfway through the storm, Wang Sheng dove at incredible speed as thunderbolts struck freely. With a rainbow-colored flying sword swirling around him, he drilled into the ground. The lightning tribulation raged for seven to eight minutes. When the clouds gradually dispersed, three figures cautiously stepped into the now-flattened military base. Aside from the spectacular lightning, the battle was actually somewhat monotonous and dull due to the lack of strong opponents. Wang Xiaomiao watched the video again, hugging her blanket and giggling excitedly a few times. She then blushed for reasons she couldn't understand. She opened the fourth video on the list, which was a simple two-minute clip. It showed a man hovering above the sea with his hands behind his back. Before him were over ten large warships and dozens of aircraft, all seemingly frozen in place. If it were not for the faint flicker of light from the engines of the aircraft, she would have thought it was a photograph. One minute and thirty seconds into the video, the warships slowly retreated, and the aircraft turned back. Soon, all that could be heard in the background was the sea winds. The video ended abruptly. Wang Xiaomiao clenched her tiny fists and exclaimed, "Big Brother is so strong!" She opened the second video on the list as she murmured constant praise. After watching it, she fully realized several truths: Shi Qianzhang, whom her brother called a "bad influence," was astonishingly skilled with talismans. The Buddhist master who had once played games with her as a child was also surprisingly fierce. Moreover, her future sister-in-law was equally stunning in battle. Wang Xiaomiao sighed, unaware that Sakura Island's official channels had leaked three of the four most popular videos. The last video she opened was the only one that detailed everything that had transpired. Shi Qianzhang had captured it using his phone; he not only recorded but even streamed past midnight yesterday. The video opened with the ruined base and the hellish battlefield that the lightning tribulation had cleansed. To prevent the scorched ground from making the viewers uncomfortable, Shi Qianzhang kept the camera focused on himself and occasionally let Huai Jing appear in the frame. He showed a rare side of elegance while walking over the uneven ground. He also used a voice modulation device to thicken his voice, adding a measure of masculine charm. 「Greetings, viewers. This is my streaming account from two years ago. Today, I'm using it again to bring you some explosive content. 「First, let me introduce myself. I am Shi Qianzhang, a third-generation disciple of the Longu Mountains' Daoist heritage. Today, by chance, we received an 'invitation' from the Dami army, emphasis on the air quotes for invitation. 「We accompanied Brother Sheng, or should I say Daoist Master Fei Yu, ranked twelfth in the Hua Republic's Heavenly Rankings, on a trip to Sakura Island. We were also tasked to protect several of our scientists, who were supposed to attend a seminar. 「However, we discovered that in this Sakura Island city, a corrupt cultivator was forging a devilish weapon called the Blood-Dissolving Divine Sword. It absorbs human blood and souls to strengthen itself. Brother Sheng destroyed the sword in one strike. 「Afterward, the Dami army retaliated, which is what you're seeing in the footage that's now spreading like wildfire. Everyone knows that Huai Jing and I are known for our good temper. Huai Jing, why don't you come say hi? Come on, the live stream already has over ten thousand viewers!」 The camera turned, showing a bald head and several blurred, burnt corpses on the ground. 「Amitabha. Greetings, viewers. I am Huai Jing.」 「Hehe. Huai Jing is very handsome, isn't he? Certainly not as handsome as me, though! Hahaha! 「Now, back to business. Though I am gentle-tempered, Brother Sheng hates corruption and cannot tolerate injustice. The enemy sought to kill us. Naturally, we hit them right back. 「The chat keeps asking who Brother Sheng is. Is this your first time seeing his heavenly tribulation?」 Shi Qianzhang laughed. 「 Look around. Brother Sheng's attack caused all this. He then went underground and used voice transmission to tell us to follow and witness the Dami Empire's crimes for ourselves. 「In my opinion, good things should be shared with everyone. Everyone always says that the Dami Empire is conducting dangerous experiments, but no one can ever seem to find any proof. Today, we will reveal exactly what secrets this military base has been hiding. 「If any presidents or prime ministers from other countries are in the live stream, send some Mount Fudo and globe emotes! Oh, right. Let me switch to Sakura Island's language. Ahem! 「To the Sakura Island company overseeing this live stream, don't even think about shutting it down. Since we have nothing better to do, we don't mind taking a closer look around your country as well. 「Enough talk. The facilities on the surface aren't that interesting. Let's head straight to the underground elevator.」 As the camera rotated, over ten figures in white lab coats ran out from an elevator. Huai Jing quickly leaped forward. The Buddhist light in his hands spread like chains, binding the researchers in place. In front of the live audience, Shi Qianzhang and Huai Jing began rifling through the researchers' documents and hard drives. Shi Qiangzhang even took out his Crane-Spirit Treasure Pouch and collected all ten-plus storage devices and over ten phones. The researchers shouted curses in Gelan. A Tai Chi diagram over ten meters in diameter appeared and pressed them to the ground, preventing them from moving. Mu Wanxuan appeared gracefully on screen. The three entered the downward-moving elevator together. What followed was a truly eye-opening scene. After descending about sixty meters, they reached the underground research facility. The elevator doors opened to a floor covered in bodies. They were all extremely muscular and over two meters tall, making them look like human towers. Their necks had been slit open; one thin cut had killed them all. The footage showed them for only two seconds before they were pixelated. Wang Xiaomiao instinctively hugged her knees. As a middle school girl who had barely seen a horror movie, it was almost too much for her to handle. The group continued forward, revealing a sci-fi-like underground area. However, it was far from the "harmonious beauty" that one would expect from a sci-fi film. The underground facility was riddled with the Jialington Group's logo. Moreover, it was divided into three levels. The first level housed living quarters and conventional weapons research labs, which had new weapon designs on display. Huai Jing carefully collected these valuable discoveries during the live stream. The second level focused on the study of modified humans. Several foreigners were confined in transparent rooms, each modified to different degrees. Their miserable state revealed the cruelty of the experiments. The third level was the core of the underground facility. It was also the Dami Empire's most hidden secret. Fortunately, the alloy doors had been cut open just enough for one person to pass. The third level was divided into three main labs. The first focused on a gene fusion project. They found over ten young Sakura Island girls in it, all of whom were pregnant. In the same lab's cold storage, they discovered a large number of "samples," making Shi Qianzhang gag a few times. Someone was clearly trying to figure out, on a genetic level, the reason only the Hua Republic people and a few Sakura Islanders could cultivate using the Daoist path. They also seemed to be studying how to modify other races who could not use Daoist techniques or universal cultivation methods. The research had long crossed moral boundaries, effectively turning Sakura Island into a testing ground for the Dami Empire. Wang Xiaomiao's face turned pale as she watched. Luckily, the second lab focused on the Blood-Dissolving Divine Sword, showing how seriously they took the devilish swords. The trio also found two additional devilish swords. This was pure luck. Considering the Dami Empire had many military bases on Sakura Island, they never expected to find a core Jialington Group research lab in the only one they had raided. The third lab's research focused on the Hua Republic's cultivators. In it, they found the bodies of the six Special Warfare Unit soldiers who had gone missing in the snowy plains. While Shi Qianzhang was streaming the third lab, he captured Wang Sheng lifting a body from a chemical solution. The sword cultivator placed it on the floor, covered it with a white cloth, and bowed respectfully. Shi Qianzhang cursed, and the video cut off abruptly. Out of respect for the deceased and to avoid offending the viewers, he had ended the stream. "Big Brother…" Wang Xiaomiao bit her lip softly. She remained lost in thought for some time. Eventually, she heard someone announce themselves from the living room. They sounded a bit tired. "Dad, Mom, we're home!" Wang Xiaomiao threw off the covers, jumped down from the bed barefoot, and opened the door. She found her brother slouched on the sofa and her future sister-in-law walking in from the balcony. It was as if they had jumped straight out of the video.