A Pawn's Passage

The damage done by the Grade-B Series One Dragon Eye Bullet varied depending on the target. While it could only graze Feng Bo’s skin, at most penetrating his flesh without reaching his bones, a single shot would likely reduce an ordinary person into a cloud of blood mist.

It was akin to the story of the pony crossing the river—the squirrel found the river deep, but the ox found it shallow. Ultimately, the pony had to test for itself whether the waters were as deep or shallow as described.

At this moment, Qi Xuansu was like the pony in the fable, testing out what the Grade-B Series One Dragon Eye Bullet could do to him.

As the bullet grazed Qi Xuansu’s cheek, it did not just leave a long bloody mark; it tore a gash so deep that his teeth were visible. This was with his qi shield activated and his resilient physique of a Martial Arts Practitioner. In this situation, a physically weak Diviner might have already lost their entire face.

Qi Xuansu had no choice but to flee, frustrated by the lack of suitable cover that prevented an immediate counterattack. After all, the Grade-B Series One Dragon Eye Bullet paired with the Sun-Shooting Rifle could penetrate walls over 3 meters thick unless reinforced by formations.

If the gunner were skilled, predicting positions and shooting through walls would not be difficult.

Even though Qi Xuansu possessed extraordinary regenerative abilities and would not die from a single shot, he had no intention of taking a bullet unnecessarily. He zigzagged through the area as he fled.

Fortunately, Zhenwu Temple was built to resemble a Jiangnan garden, with pavilions, corridors, buildings, rockeries, and bamboo groves. While these could not stop the Grade-B Series One Dragon Eye Bullet, they did obscure the gunners’ vision and concealed Qi Xuansu’s movements, making it hard for the pursuers to predict his position.

Using his knowledge of Zhenwu Temple to his advantage, Qi Xuansu quickly disappeared into a side hall.

The raid had gone far too smoothly. Zhenwu Temple, reputed to be heavily guarded, had proven shockingly vulnerable.

Moreover, Qi Xuansu’s continuous retreat without fighting back made his pursuers grow careless. Without further thought, they rushed into the hall after him.

As soon as the group entered the side hall, they were met with a blade. The man in front let out a cry, but before he could react, his head was cleaved into two halves.

The others immediately raised their rifles and fired, but they missed their target.

It turned out that after entering the side hall, Qi Xuansu had positioned himself above the doorway. As it was a hall, the doorframe was exceptionally high, about 4.5 meters. When the group entered, Qi Xuansu hooked his legs over the frame, hung upside down, and delivered a lethal slash.

After the slash, Qi Xuansu used his leg strength to return to his original position, avoiding the onslaught of gunfire.

He did not need to be faster than the bullets—just faster than the gunners’ reactions and trigger pulls.

Using leg strength to propel the entire body might be difficult for ordinary people, but for a Guizhen-stage Martial Arts Practitioner, it was exceedingly simple.

This was the advantage of refined blood qi. A Martial Arts Practitioner’s strength could rival that of a dragon or elephant, yet their body size and weight remained as that of an ordinary person. Thus, using the strength of a dragon or elephant to move an ordinary person’s weight was effortlessly easy.

The opposite of Martial Arts Practitioners was Bhikkhus, who also focused on condensing blood qi but not refining it. This led to their exceptionally large bodies. The more abundant their blood qi, the larger and heavier their bodies became. As a Xiantian Being, it was manageable, but once they became Heavenly Beings, their size could resemble small mountains.

If Qi Xuansu were a Bhikkhu instead of a Martial Arts Practitioner, such a maneuver would be nearly impossible—not due to lack of strength, but because the doorframe could not support such body weight.

Monk Denghua, whom Qi Xuansu encountered earlier, and Marshal Tianpeng were both Bhikkhus.

The pursuers did not dare to enter the hall recklessly again. Since the Grade-B Series One Dragon Eye Bullets were too expensive to waste indiscriminately, they could only get into a defensive formation, pointing their long rifles upward as they cautiously advanced into the hall.

Taking advantage of this moment, Qi Xuansu had already disappeared.

The leading gunner felt deeply frustrated but dared not underestimate their opponent or act rashly again. He could only order his subordinates to proceed with caution.

They immediately formed a circular formation, each aiming their Sun-Shooting Rifles in a different direction. One man in the center was specifically tasked with watching any movement from above as they advanced slowly.

At this moment, Qi Xuansu was hiding in the shadows among the overhead beams, his gaze solemn.

These people did not resemble lone thugs recruited by the Heavenly Court. Instead, they looked like a well-trained Black Robes unit. Not to mention, they were equipped with Sun-Shooting Rifles and the Grade-B Series One Dragon Eye Bullet—both highly desirable items for Qi Xuansu. Even at cost price, such equipment would cost at least 10,000 Taiping coins.

Clearly, these attackers had spared no expense, intending to kill with a single move.

If Qi Xuansu had the cultivation of a Heavenly Being, he could charge out against the Sun-Shooting Rifles. Unfortunately, he was far from that level and had to rely on his wits to get out of this impossible situation.

The best way to deal with firearms, especially long rifles, was close combat.

Qi Xuansu waited until the group was directly beneath him before leaping down.

Although one of them had been keeping their rifle aimed upward and fired the moment they saw Qi Xuansu, the bullet only hit Qi Xuansu’s shoulder due to his sudden descent and falling trajectory.

In the next moment, Qi Xuansu’s descending blade split the shooter in two from head to toe.

With this, Qi Xuansu landed right at the center of the circular formation, surrounded by Heavenly Court members on all sides.

The others immediately reacted, turning their rifles toward Qi Xuansu. However, in his current position, a missed shot would likely injure their own comrades. Even if they hit Qi Xuansu, the powerful penetration of the Grade-B Series One Dragon Eye Bullet could pass through his body and still harm their comrades. If they all fired simultaneously, Qi Xuansu would surely die, but so would half of their group.

Thus, no one dared to fire immediately and hesitated for a moment.

In that brief moment of hesitation, Qi Xuansu launched his attack, stabbing the man in front of him straight through the heart and twisting his blade.

The second man turned his rifle toward Qi Xuansu. But at such close range, Qi Xuansu grabbed the sturdy barrel directly, pointing the muzzle upward and causing a misfire.

Qi Xuansu then pulled the rifle forward, using the gunner as a shield. Another attacker tried to smash him with the butt of the rifle, but he underestimated Qi Xuansu. With a slight tilt of his head, Qi Xuansu trapped the rifle butt between his neck and shoulder, immobilizing it. He then raised his leg and kicked the man’s crotch. Whether the man would survive was uncertain, but he was certainly made a eunuch.

At that moment, a gunshot rang out. The leader of the group decisively chose to fire, the bullet piercing through his comrade whom Qi Xuansu was using as a shield, hitting its real target.

A gaping hole exploded in the man’s abdomen, so large that Qi Xuansu could be seen through it. The man was undoubtedly dead.

However, this diminished the power of the Grade-B Series One Dragon Eye Bullet, leaving only a finger-sized wound on Qi Xuansu that passed clean through his body.

The leader was not satisfied and prepared to fire again. Although the Sun-Shooting Rifle had a magazine for multiple rounds to save reload time, it could not fire consecutively, requiring a brief interval between shots.

It was during this brief interval that he lost his chance to fire a second shot.

After being hit, Qi Xuansu immediately threw Flying Shadow like a concealed weapon. A cold light gleamed, followed by the top half of the leader’s head falling off with a clean cut.

Qi Xuansu did not pause for a moment. Discarding the man who had a gaping hole in the abdomen, Qi Xuansu threw a Grade-B Series One Phoenix Eye Bullet at the farther targets, forcing them to retreat. He then closed the distance to the nearer ones, attacking with the full power of the Tantai Fist Intention.

In close combat, the long rifle’s advantages were rendered useless. Even if they tried to aim at Qi Xuansu, his swift movements, such as a shoulder push, elbow strike, or hook, would knock the muzzle off target. At this point, the Sun-Shooting Rifle was no better than a metal rod, albeit a sturdy one that could not be broken.

Some attempted to fire from a distance but missed Qi Xuansu, accidentally killing a comrade instead. As such, they dared not shoot recklessly again.

For them, it was shameful to harm their comrades while not injuring the enemy.

In the blink of an eye, two attackers could not withstand Qi Xuansu’s assault and fell to the ground. Without a second glance, Qi Xuansu stomped hard, crushing one man’s chest and the other’s head.

By now, eight of them were dead, including the unlucky man whom Qi Xuansu had kicked in the crotch and the leader, leaving only three standing.

The three remaining pursuers exchanged terrified glances, unable to hide their shock.

Eleven Xiantian-Beings with Sun-Shooting Rifles had encircled Qi Xuansu. The worst outcome they had anticipated was letting Qi Xuansu break through and escape. How had it come to this, where they were nearly wiped out instead?