Evening.
At dusk.
The farmhouse villa stood quietly in place.
Under the afterglow of the setting sun, it shone with a golden luster.
This farm had been abandoned for some time, so the weeds had grown very tall.
And as the ground continued to sink into darkness.
The surroundings were pitch black.
Ordinary people walking in it would find it hard to notice any movement beyond a few meters.
"The young man in the villa is somewhat unusual; he almost noticed our presence."
"You're overthinking. No matter how good he is, he's just an ordinary person."
"Exactly, didn't you see that he hasn't made any moves these past few days?"
At this moment.
In this desolate grassland.
Three figures squatted down, moving slowly and cautiously, as if afraid of being discovered.
They wore black cloaks and each held a compound crossbow. In the quivers on their backs were alloy arrows, glistening with a cold light.
The compound crossbow was extremely powerful and could shoot continuously. If used for hunting in the mountains, even wild boars and bears would be killed. Its power even exceeded some small firearms and was strictly prohibited, yet the three held it in their hands.
"In my opinion, we don't need to be so cautious. What if we're discovered? Just shoot that person and be done with it."
One of them spoke, a short man with a fierce tone, seemingly devoid of concern for human life.
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
The leader frowned. "This is a sensitive time. We've been instructed from above not to cause any fatalities, or we won't be able to wrap it up nicely."
Even though their background was deep, they still had concerns, especially since this wasn't a remote mountain forest.
Killing someone would always leave traces.
Unless absolutely necessary.
They couldn't act recklessly.
"I was just saying," the man lowered his head and fell silent.
But his eyes still held a vicious gleam, like a venomous snake.
The leader didn't dwell on it, checking the time on his wrist. "According to the company's prediction, the meteor should fall around eight. Remember, you two, don't hesitate. Act immediately and take the item. The mission will be complete then."
"Understood."
They responded in unison, then asked curiously:
"Team Leader Zhao, they say many meteors are falling at different locations today. We're just one of the teams on this mission."
"That's right."
Team Leader Zhao nodded. "There should be over a hundred teams. However, some meteors will disappear due to friction when entering the atmosphere. Whether we'll be lucky enough to witness a meteor landing, who knows? If we're lucky, we won't have to worry about the rest of our lives."
This man clearly knew more, understanding how seriously the company took this mission.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have expended so many resources.
"Over a hundred teams?"
One of them exclaimed, "Who exactly is our company's boss?"
He knew that just his team alone, not to mention personnel, had equipment worth millions.
More than a hundred such teams would mean millions spent altogether.
"Mind your own business, or you won't even know how you lost your life," Team Leader Zhao warned sternly, clearly holding strong taboos and unwilling to discuss further.
After all, in layman's terms, they were merely the company's mercenaries, akin to servants in ancient times. Asking about the master's affairs could be suicidal, right?
"Yes, yes, I won't ask."
Hearing this, the man realized his mistake and dared not speak further.
The others also shrank back and then focused their minds on the front.
Of course, they didn't forget to keep an eye on the villa nearby, ready to act at the slightest sign of trouble.
Meanwhile.
In the villa.
Lu Yuan had already turned off the lights, sitting alone on the couch in the living room.
"This is the last day. If the target is a meteor, those hidden in the shadows will surely take action tonight." He looked at the completely dark sky, muttering to himself.
At this moment, Lu Yuan had determined that there were people on the farm, and their target wasn't him.
The reasoning was simple: if it were, they would have already acted.
They wouldn't wait indefinitely.
So the only explanation was the meteor from beyond the heavens.
He knew that some forces had extraordinary means, using modern technology to observe the stars.
Finding and calculating the meteor's landing site wasn't a difficult task.
The current question was.
Did that mysterious force know about the Celestial Sword Embryo?
And why, with his current abilities, couldn't he find it if they were ordinary people?
With these thoughts in mind.
Time ticked away bit by bit.
Soon enough.
Eight at night.
In the sky, the moon was bright, and the stars were radiant, as calm as always.
But after a while, the night began to brighten.
Suddenly, streaks of fire appeared, tearing through the night sky with a tremendous roar, like fighter jets roaring past, deafening.
Looking up, there were actually tens of thousands of meteors, densely packed like raindrops.
Some uninformed ordinary people.
Hastily picked up their phones to capture this moment.
The scene was somewhat beautiful, yet also terrifying.
Because most meteors would completely disappear due to atmospheric friction when entering the atmosphere.
But at that moment, some of them broke through the atmosphere, entering the stratosphere.
Among them, one meteor even fell straight down.
Though small.
The speed was rapid, and if it hit the ground, the impact force would be comparable to a small bomb.
"It's here."
At this moment, the three mysterious figures hidden in the farm's grass spoke simultaneously.
But they didn't move, clearly knowing that getting too close would pose a threat to themselves.
Boom!
Finally.
Accompanied by a loud boom.
The meteor hit the ground, exploding with firelight over dozens of meters in radius, igniting the surrounding weeds.
"It's less than a kilometer away. Move." Seeing this, the leader immediately issued the order.
Their task was simple, to recover the meteor at the first opportunity.
So when they heard the command.
Without any hesitation, they rushed out, very quickly, faster than ordinary people.
And their movements were agile, seemingly unafraid of the wildfires, charging straight in.
It turned out their clothes had unique fire-resistant and cooling effects.
Soon enough.
The team of three reached their destination.
Because of the meteor fall, a crater of several meters in diameter appeared before them.
At the center of the crater lay a steaming stone, surrounded by magma. The stone wasn't large, about the size of a football, with a pitted surface. But if you looked closely, you could see streaks of golden light flashing within.
"We're so lucky, we actually found a real meteor. Bringing it back will definitely earn a reward from the company."
Team Leader Zhao, seeing this scene, was excited. He hadn't held much hope initially.
But now it was different.
Though there were said to be a hundred teams, how many actually found a meteor?
So this time, the three of them definitely hit the jackpot.
In the future, the company would train them heavily.
The other two were also extremely happy, immediately preparing to move down and take the meteor away.
But just then, an unexpected young voice rang out.
"Gentlemen."
"Trying to take something from my place without saying hello? That's quite rude of you."