Forge a path to success.

Chapter 133 Gun and Sword Feud: A Deadly Battle in a Second (Part 1)

After setting up the trap, Shakes went to the sniping position.

He lay prone on the ground, using a support frame to secure the strange blade. Three bullets lay upright beside him: one had brown sand floating in its casing, another had a bullet head that looked like gold, and the last bullet was nothing but gray, the "death bullet" that had killed the stone demon.

He loaded the three bullets into the Holy Lance one by one. This was all the fighting force he had prepared for this duel, and also the bottom line for the duel.

The snake's speed and reaction time were too fast; a single shot was wishful thinking. Therefore, he prepared three bullets. This number allowed him to adjust the order of shots and devise different tactics depending on the situation. These three shots also represented his estimated time limit. The moment the bullets ran out would be the moment of victory or defeat; either the enemy would die by gunfire, or he would perish by sword.

He took a deep breath after the bloody holy lance. His movements were neither fast nor slow; he wasn't in a state of flow, letting his mind wander. He looked down at the crowds on the street through the scope.

A short man with large ears... possessing an exceptionally keen sense of smell and hearing, and his specially trained arms gleaming with a metallic sheen...

One shot is enough to kill.

An Ascended disguised as a small-time vendor... with the eyes of a Foundation Establishment member, always ready to draw the gun at his waist...

One shot is enough to kill.

A race unlike humans, with the heads of beasts. Young people secretly harboring malevolent relics, seeking demonic power. Foolish pirates manipulated by others. This one too. This one too…

One shot is enough to kill.

Hell is a boring world.

The path to ascension, other races, relics—there are countless ways to gain power. Power can be gained through limb transplants, by finding treasures, through heartfelt emotions, or by praying to those in high positions for alms.

So much time... sweat... opportunity... something I craved day and night in agony...

In hell, it only takes a day to get it.

Everywhere you look, there are people with power. On this obscure, dusty island, a few mediocre individuals can easily kill former elites and humiliate geniuses. People are accustomed to the existence of power, and everyone tacitly accepts the rules of this world. That's why hell is so utterly boring.

Blood ties and relics cannot conceal the ordinariness of one's true nature.

Everywhere there are weak people with power.

"Power" is not something easily obtained. In the real world where the living are active, power is a treasure that can only be acquired by paying a price ten thousand times, a hundred million times. It requires possessing talent one in a billion, exerting effort surpassing that of billions, and receiving guidance from an equally rare group of strong individuals. It requires adventure, struggle, and surviving on the edge of life and death. Only in this way can one obtain power…

To receive such a negligible, insignificant amount of power!
The mercenary, renowned as a sharpshooter, had killed over a thousand people in his lifetime. Had he been lucky enough to survive that rainy night and continue working, firing, and killing, that number might have doubled.

—It's not even comparable to a missile in war.

This serpent, hailed as a monster, has mastered all known martial arts techniques in the world. It has slain ferocious beasts, soldiers, assassins, and has even destroyed military weapons.

—In the face of technology and the masses, it is no different from an ordinary snake.

Such are the rules of the world; individual force cannot change anything. It cannot influence the overall trend. The little power that one has painstakingly acquired is practically meaningless in the vastness of the world.

I understand this better than anyone. I know the truth better than anyone. Even so…

Or do we indifferently go against the tide?

To embark on a dead end that is incomprehensible, unacknowledged, and meaningless.

Forward. Forward against the resistance of the entire world. Amidst the omnipresent mockery, clutch at the last vestige of strength you have…

Use it to make your own voice heard.

Use it to take control of your life.

That kind of person is the strong one!
It has nothing to do with point mass. It has nothing to do with force. Strength and weakness are the essence of life. Those who were strong in the past will never be reduced to mediocre beings in hell.

They have their own style. They have their own principles. They won't flee like rats, nor will they harbor any cowardly thoughts. Even if thrown into a crowd like this, they will definitely stand out conspicuously...

You can see it at a glance!
"—"

Then Shax saw it. A man who could never be killed with a single shot.

He walked against the flow of people, maintaining his own pace. He completely ignored the surprised glances, the amused laughter, the whispers and noise of the surroundings, displaying an indifference to others and his environment. He stretched out his softly armored tentacles. He swung his fiery red fist.

Clad in full-body armor of pure Xuan Qi, he walked through the city in the attire of an ancient warrior. He made no attempt to hide or conceal himself, walking openly and proudly in the sunlight.

Tell his enemy, I am right here!

"what."

He couldn't help but laugh, folding the talisman he was about to take out back into his hand. He had miscalculated once again; he had intended to use the talisman to find the snake lurking among the crowd, but the sacrificial snake had no intention of hiding itself. He walked down the street like a warrior, facing his enemy, ready for a fight to the death.

That's how it should be; duels between the strong should be straightforward. Tricks, superiority, inferiority, gains and losses... let's not concern ourselves with those trivial and uninteresting details.

Sword drawn, spear drawn, with all their might—

We'll risk our lives to decide the victor!

The sniper pulled the trigger, and the duel began.

·
—A bullet that can kill with a single shot cannot be without limits.

For two days, Chu Hengkong had been pondering the shot that killed the stone demon. He had unleashed the strange blade, fired the bullet, and the stone demon was dead—the process was clear and obvious, but the mechanism of death remained unclear. He decided to stop obsessing over the cause and instead consider other possible solutions.

For example, why didn't Shakespeare reveal the Blood Lance when he faced off against him?

For example, why didn't Shakes use that bullet when the stone goblin first appeared?
Regarding the second question, Vande offered a conjecture. The mechanism of that deadly bullet was similar to "poison"; if the stone demon quickly severed the wound, it might have lost its effectiveness, which is why it waited until the last moment to act. As for the first question, Chu Heng vaguely realized the answer. The first thing he did upon encountering Shax was…

Create a protective armor to deflect bullets.

Upon closer reflection, it's clear that after that, Shax focused on breaking through the Qi Armor, ultimately resorting to the Ghost Shot, whose principles were unknown. Such concern about armor is unlike his usual style, unless this was precisely the method he feared.

The Bizarre Blade is the third point of the Path of Floating Light; no matter how powerful it is, it will always have its limitations. The bullet was already a deadly poison, so it shouldn't be as effective against anything other than living beings. The Qi Armor, capable of withstanding most attacks, is likely the nemesis of this move.

Therefore, Chu Hengkong simply abandoned concealment and went into battle fully equipped with his protective qi armor. He knew his guess might not be correct, and the truth might be far off, but it didn't matter. Compared to a reconnaissance battle where one had to hide, this kind of duel was more in line with his character.

"The earthquake the day before yesterday..." "Those men over there are terrifying." "The city government is still..." "If I had known this would happen, I would have gone out to sea." Complaints. Discussions. A cat-themed billboard damaged in the epicenter. Unrepaired streetlights flashing.

Chu Hengkong walked silently down the street, no sound of breathing beneath his helmet. Scents, the wind, the subtle vibrations in the air. His aura, like tentacles, preyed for information, searching for the only anomaly within range.

……tread.

Was it footsteps? Or the sound of typing? The air currents sent an illusory vibration into my ears. The pedestrians vanished, the environment blurred, unwanted information flowed away like water, and an extremely concentrated mental state formed a cone-shaped space.

He suddenly swung his arm, unleashing a thunderous whip into the void! Blue flames burned on his tentacles!

The sound barrier, broken, spread, revealing swirling blue rings from the flames. Transparent bullets emerged from the scorching flames. Shax's first move was "Ghost Shot," but Chu Hengkong, prepared, countered it. The mechanism of Ghost Shot is to trigger the demonic power sealed within the bullet; a higher-level Ambition Fire is enough to make it visible.

The bullet, originally aimed at the head, was drastically deflected by the lightning whip, its trajectory veering towards the right chest. Chu Hengkong twisted his body to dodge. The Immortal Machine had perfectly calculated the bullet's trajectory, providing ample room to evade even with the sudden change in movement. But then, the bullet abruptly changed direction, turning towards his throat like an unpredictable demon!
Double Transformation: Demon Shooting

The poison of the Gu Deer Flower, the slime of the illusory demon, and a third of obsession, plus the sand of the Calamity-type Stone Golem. This is the first bullet that Shax has carefully crafted. The ghostly shot triggered by demonic materials is a smokescreen; the true purpose is the Stone Golem's demonic shot, which is born from the dust of nothingness.

It pierced through the armor, still retaining its ethereal quality, and hurtled towards Chu Hengkong's throat. But then, the armor protecting his throat dissipated on its own, and a hand blocked the bullet as it materialized. The assassin didn't have enough time to draw his weapon, so he grabbed at the bullet with his bare hands.

Blood gushed out like arrows, shooting into the air with a deafening roar. Those still reeling from the sonic boom looked up to see a man in armor standing silently, one hand clutching his throat. Blood continued to gush from his hand, leading onlookers to almost believe his throat had been pierced by a bullet. But the assassin removed his hand; there was only a graze on his throat.

A bright red gash ran across the back of his hand, from his palm all the way to his elbow, transforming into a brown bullet that had just fallen. The protective aura armor on his arm faithfully served its purpose; although it couldn't completely deflect the attack due to the ghostly properties, it protected his vitals. Chu Hengkong flattened the bullet, channeling his power, and the Undying and Indestructible Technique immediately activated, but this time, the invincible secret technique failed to work.

Grit glittered within the wound, each grain resembling a vicious claw. The grit, imbued with the magic of the stone demon, hindered healing, even preventing the protective armor from fully covering the wound. Shax's first shot had worked; he was about to carve a fatal breach into his enemy!

I see. Good idea.

The Serpent of Sacrifice laughed, casually tossing the bullet into the distance. The next instant, he leaped into the air, unleashing explosive power from fifteen minutes of circulating Qi, granting him incredible speed to traverse the city. 6 kilometers, 4 kilometers, 3 kilometers—the distance closed in an instant, and he could see the sniper's face.

The first shot hit, but it also revealed Shax's location. Only by catching this shot could he find his opponent!

(End of this chapter)