Bam!
Chen Fu stepped backward, light as air, in three swift moves. With a snap of his toes, he lifted two arcs of crescent moonlight, triggering his light firearm—shots rang out, and lead bullets flashed through the shimring arcs, falling like stars and moons crashing down toward Kui Zhao!
Stars steal the soul, the moon locks your fate!
Lingxu Battle Technique, "Stars Fall, Moon Collapses!"
Blood-red armor shimred around Kui Zhao as he twisted away from the bullets, both hands shaped like wolf claws, like an eagle’s beak—a re touch scattered the moonlight arcs. He stomped down hard with both feet, transforming into a wolf lunging beneath the moon, leaping at Chen Fu!
Lingxu Battle Technique used to be one of the rare ways the weak "could defeat the strong," even a veteran Martial Artist who’d trained for years could be killed by a youngster who had only practiced Lingxu for a few years.
"Because tis have changed."
Back in the day, Lingxu Battle Technique required sharp weaponry to boost its damage, but now its standard armant was firearms. In recent years, many Lingxu users even rged gun-firing skills into the technique—resulting in a dramatic spike in combat effectiveness, earning Lingxu Battle Technique the reputation of "the strongest technique under Grandmaster."
"You co for , you die by my hand—what’s there more to say?"
Similarly, the Feihua Battle Technique focused on ranged sharpshooting. However, Feihua required elite equipnt and high natural talent. Only a handful ever achieved the "within a thousand paces, ten paces out—any target, guaranteed death" Feihua Ace status. Most Feihuas wound up in the Border Army, fighting barbarians, so it never caught the lilight.
Lingxu practitioners, though, were everywhere—directly squeezing the living space of other Martial Artists. "Tis progressed, and the others did too, but guns were an enormous pain. Except for high-level swordsn who could deflect bullets, everyone else could only dodge."
Block bullets? If you were fully armored, maybe. But fighters rarely went into battle clad head to toe.
"Light Armor was ant to absorb energy blasts, not real bullets—it could stop a blade cut, but not a supersonic armor-piercing round."
Add to that Lingxu’s two main features: high-speed movent and rapid directional changes, all while attacking on the run. "Even closing the gap isn’t easy for other fighters."
So the best way to deal with a Lingxu gunman was—
Bam!
Kui Zhao broke off his concealed "Wolf Devour Blood Claw" and rolled to escape Chen Fu’s gunfire, ntally counting:
Two.
Exactly, the best strategy was to bait out and waste all his bullets—then keep so much pressure on him he couldn’t reload!
"Once he runs dry, the Lingxu user is just a high-jumping pigeon, that’s all!"
Even though the Saint’s Relic could be unsealed at any mont and the clock ticked, Kui Zhao dared not force a breakthrough—gunfighters were too big a threat. He had to settle Chen Fu first. He might despise Chen Fu as a person, but never underestimated his skills.
Kui Zhao suddenly veered away, putting distance between himself and Chen Fu. Chen Fu thought of using the chance to reload, when he saw Kui Zhao attacking the rest of Squad One!
Bam! Bam!
Four.
Kui Zhao twisted violently to dodge two shots, flicked an arm, and unleashed a blood-red energy crack that tore through the sky, leaving five claw marks—
Wolf Eagle Fist Secret: Wolf Devour!
Forced to dodge, Chen Fu used a six-step Lingxu sidestep to avoid the blow, only to find himself backed against a wall, as Kui Zhao, wrapped in blood aura, lunged like a ravenous wolf!
Still, getting cornered was nothing new for a jumpy Lingxu fighter—if your enemy expected an easy kill, all they’d get is a violent counterattack amidst the carnage!
Chen Fu slamd off the wall, arcing midair, and fired three shots down. Each bullet landed on the route Kui Zhao had to take, forcing him to abandon his airborne attack, scraping his feet downward to launch a black moon arc, locking off Chen Fu’s escape!
Lingxu Battle Technique: "Black Tri-Star!"
Seven.
Kui Zhao naturally prioritized dodging the bullets, using Light Armor to tank the black moon blast, but this widened the distance again between him and Chen Fu.
Chen Fu seized the mont and tried to reload—only to feel sudden dread, a life-threatening sense of crisis, and instinctively rolled away.
Bam!
A bullet hit where he’d just been. From the corner of his eye, he saw the battle had changed: Squad One’s movent was being compressed, clustered in the bushes, practically pinned by Kui Zhao’s n!
Chen Fu made a snap call and spun, firing a shot at Kui Zhao’s n. Sure, they’d dodge, but even a missed shot created a gap for Squad One to regroup and fight back!
Eight.
"Pointless."
By this point, Kui Zhao had already doubled back, his hands spinning with threatening blood-red energy. He pushed within seven steps of Chen Fu, slashing both hands down—energy crackling, slicing the air, becoming long blades that split heaven and earth apart!
Sima Clan Wolf Eagle Fist: Earth Split!
Chen Fu ducked aside, but noticed Kui Zhao’s second blade coming at a very odd angle—not tracking him, nor anticipating where he’d dodge—slicing far from either path...
"Wait, what?!"
Chen Fu craned his neck and saw the blood blade cutting into the bushes where Squad One was hiding. Zhou Guangshi, unprepared, got his left shoulder torn open and crashed down screaming!
The rest of the squad were driven out of cover, exposed to Kui Zhao’s gunn!
The battle shifted in an instant, but Chen Fu remained cold and focused, firing again at Kui Zhao’s n, buying ti for his team to strike back!
Nine!
Now Kui Zhao closed to within three steps, right hand flashing—blood-red energy sliced re inches away, a second from ripping out Chen Fu’s throat!
But Chen Fu didn’t back down—he surged forward, swinging his right leg high to kick a crescent moon arc directly into Kui Zhao!
"Lingxu Battle Technique may lack stopping power, but that doesn’t an it’s harmless!"
The crescent arc lasted less than half a second before Kui Zhao’s blood energy tore it apart, but Chen Fu found his chance!
He raised his gun, aiming straight at Kui Zhao’s heart—at this range, barely a few feet, Kui Zhao didn’t even have ti to dodge!
This was the real way to fight with Lingxu Battle Technique and a light firearm—use your movent to create an opening, then strike dead-on from a distance where dodging is impossible!
Bam!
Ten!
But the instant Chen Fu pulled the trigger, Kui Zhao’s left hand flickered with a bloodied claw—not aid to kill, just to cover Chen Fu’s line of fire!
Clang!
Chen Fu saw his bullet bounce off the blood-red claw, eyes wide in shock!
He’d heard stories of certain swordmasters deflecting bullets from Lingxu gunn with energy slashes, but it was basically a legend—he’d never seen anyone knock away his shot in real life!
But tonight, he saw it happen!
And Kui Zhao hadn’t even used a sword, just caught the instant Chen Fu fired, blasting his bullet aside with a surge of energy!
"Ten bullets, you’re empty. You’re dead."
Kui Zhao’s voice was deathly cold—fear gone—he attacked Chen Fu with full force!
The Statistical Departnt’s firearms held only ten bullets. When he batted away Chen Fu’s tenth shot, he killed Chen Fu’s last hope as well.
"That so?"
Still backpedaling, Chen Fu steadied his aim on Kui Zhao’s head, inwardly unafraid.
Kui Zhao ignored his fake bravado—blood-red light already grazing Chen Fu’s body. And just then, a murderous shiver tingled the back of Kui Zhao’s neck—
Chen Fu’s light firearm—still had a bullet!
Yes, Chen Fu’s gun wasn’t a departnt-issue sidearm. The departnt’s guns were all standard, agents weren’t permitted to carry others, but each man’s sidearm was fixed and assigned, giving Chen Fu so wiggle room.
He’d found a Statistical Departnt armorer, slipped him so bribery, and got his own gun fitted with an extra round in the chamber. Normally, it didn’t matter—one bullet wouldn’t turn the tide, and reloading was no big deal.
But for a Lingxu user like Chen Fu, it was everything.
One extra round, one more kill. One more life spared or lost.
And even better: it misled enemies who knew the guns inside out—like now, when Kui Zhao charged in, thinking he was out of ammo, that one shot ant Chen Fu’s perfect counterattack!
Bam!
Eleven!
Blood blossod.
Kui Zhao twisted, blocking the bullet with his hand.
The shot drilled through his palm, skewing its trajectory. At the sa mont, Kui Zhao turned his head, and the bullet grazed his cheek, tearing off a chunk of flesh and laying his gumbone bare.
"Not bad at all," he said, wheezing. It sounded like a ghost’s moan echoing up from hell.
Chen Fu staggered backward, springing off the wall, but he couldn’t shoot any more for space to move.
Kui Zhao grabbed Chen Fu’s leg, wolf talon claws punching through his body and yanking out his intestines.
"But I really can’t stand it when people jump around in front of ."
Chen Fu saw Kui Zhao’s hands gripping his right leg—his mind went blank. Suddenly he rembered a story Brother Qian told him. There once was a footless bird, always flying, and the mont it touched ground was the mont it died...
"Ahhhhhhh!"
Flesh split, bone fractured.
Kui Zhao ripped Chen Fu’s leg clean off—white bone and raw, red at glistening under the harsh lights.
He hurled Chen Fu to the slaughterhouse doorway.
The screaming stopped abruptly, blood clogging his throat. Chen Fu’s forehead broke out in a cold sweat from the agony, but the pain didn’t make him black out—if anything, it sharpened his senses.
He saw it with utter clarity—the bodies of Zhou Guangshi, Elly, and the others scattered in the grass. While he fought Kui Zhao, Kui Zhao’s n had slaughtered the whole squad.
And he, he could do nothing.
"He began this fight, and now they were dead for it..."
"Shining bright was useless—useless, yet he shone anyway."
Kui Zhao glanced at the dark slaughterhouse, not hurrying to enter. Instead, he started stanching the bleeding from his face and hand, making a crude attempt at first aid, "If they’d kept obeying, I might’ve had trouble dealing with them. But since they dared to fight back, they saved a lot of hassle... casualties?"
"Two dead."
Kui Zhao nodded, "Handle the bodies, then catch up."
His n set the corpses aside, then drew bayonets and slashed each throat to make sure they were dead.
They looked at the still-breathing Chen Fu, asking, "Want it quick, or want it pretty?"
Chen Fu gave a bitter laugh, pointing at his severed leg. They nodded, raised a bayonet, and drove it for his throat—
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Four flashes of light burst forth in fury.
Kui Zhao had just pushed open the heavy slaughterhouse door, but paused, turning to see all his n felled. They weren’t dead yet, but with shattered necks and windpipes, it wouldn’t be long.
And the one who did it—
—was soone he rather despised.
Le Yuxin glanced at Kui Zhao’s shadowed face, then crouched to gently cradle Chen Fu’s head, checking his wounds. The rage and grief inside Le Yuxin nearly blotted out the world. "Why did you..."
When Le Yuxin arrived at the southern garrison, he was ordered to help with firefighting and defense. "But Le Yuxin still managed to track down ’Blue Fla’ and saw it was just a fake, realizing that tonight’s operation was compromised."
"Because Le Yuxin had seen that ’Blue Fla’ before."
There were more than a dozen like him.
Blue Fla had recruited all these body doubles into the Statistics Departnt’s new team. Le Yuxin had naively believed they just loved cosplay—never guessing they were fodder for a Clone Technique ritual!
So Le Yuxin slipped away from the garrison, rushing back to the slaughterhouse. He understood the stakes, but could do little—yet with the Saint’s Relic in play, a truly ga-changing artifact, his only mission now was to ensure it was unsealed by White Night’s people!
But when he returned, he found only enemy and corpses.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Chen Fu hacked up foul blood, suddenly gripping Le Yuxin’s shirt, his voice squeezed from the deepest folds of his soul. "You... were... right...?"
"What—you just hang in there, I’ll get the dical Officer—"
But Chen Fu just repeated, "Were... you... right...?"
Staring into Chen Fu’s shining, hopeful eyes, Le Yuxin understood everything at last—including how things had co to this.
Le Yuxin trembled, biting his lip so hard he drew blood, his vision blurring.
He exhaled hard, nodding with grim resolve, "I was right. My orders were right. I never make mistakes."
"Cough! Cough!"
Chen Fu spat up blood and bits of organ, a faint bright smile curling at his lips.
The one with sothing left to say had nothing left to say.
But the one with nothing to say still spoke aloud.
"Qian Yuliu, shouldn’t you be helping Blue Fla with the uprising?" Kui Zhao asked coolly, "Why did you co back?"
"My goal was the sa as yours."
Le Yuxin laid Chen Fu’s body aside, "But now, I have another goal."
"A goal to kill."
Kui Zhao snorted, "You shouldn’t have co back to die."
"I won’t die," Le Yuxin dropped into a Biting Battle Technique stance, "but you—won’t die easy."
Sothing strange glinted in his eyes, "You probably don’t know this, but killing is easy for . But this ti, I don’t just want to kill you—I want to do it myself."
"Oh?" Kui Zhao sneered, "With just you?"
"Maybe not before, but now... I can."
Inside, Le Yuxin silently recited,
System, allocate stat points.
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