Chapter 206.1: A Way Out Part 1

The battle inside the mall was in full swing. With Horsey serving as the tank, Ji Liu’s attacking patterns grew even more ferocious, and the sounds of honking and loud laughter rang out without end. On the other end of the radio, Ji Jue almost spoke up several times, only to stop himself.

Seriously. How have those two become buddies already? That fast?

Life really was strange. You never knew when you could end up making a ridiculously unlikely friend. If the situation had been different and time had allowed it, Ji Liu would have probably been slinging an arm around Horsey’s shoulders by now. At this point, they were even making plans to get a massage together someday.

No, snap out of it, Horsey. When I say massage, I don't mean a deep-cleaning and detailing package. There won’t be any engine maintenance! No one is going to change your oil either!

Ji Jue sighed. He couldn’t help wanting to cover his face.

Horsey used to be such a good kid, and all it thought about every day was white cut chicken. How had it fallen so quickly after coming into contact with society? Indeed, nothing corrupted a good kid faster than the Swarm.

Ji Jue reached out and took another bullet from Lou Feng, then loaded it into the chamber.

The pitch-black bullet gave off a strange chill. Just holding it in his hand made waves of cold seep into his skin. In less than a few seconds, under the permeation of Spirit Morph, the single bullet had been granted terrifying destructive power.

“How did you do that?” Ji Jue asked curiously.

“It’s the workshop’s secret. No comment.” Lou Feng habitually put on his sour face, guarding the secret with absolute vigilance.

“Hm?”

Ji Jue paused. The moment Pacifier manifested, the spirit matter fluctuations of the Dissociation Technique spread through it, reading the traces left behind. His eyes immediately lit up.

Ah, so that’s it.

Using Exquisite Work as the foundation, it harmonized the properties of physical substance and spirit matter, fusing Lou Feng’s spirit matter and physical matter into one. The property transformation brought about by Spirit Morph had therefore been imprinted onto the mercury itself, producing an exaggerated effect akin to enhancement.

It was practically like turning stone into gold. This was truly an outstanding use of Elevation.

It really was a workshop secret. The principle was easy enough to understand, but every step of the process depended on the user's mastery over their abilities. Since it involved both Exquisite Work and Spirit Morph, there was no way he could simply copy such a convenient technique.

Still, if he could get his hands on spirit matter that had undergone a different kind of qualitative transformation, Pacifier could produce a knockoff version...

“What the hell are you doing?!” Standing beside Ji Jue, Lou Feng’s eyelids twitch violently, his face contorting. His fists were clenched harder than even Jiang Xuan’s.

Seriously? You’re analyzing it, reading it, and reverse engineering it right in front of me without even trying to hide it?!

“Sorry. Couldn't help myself...” Ji Jue flashed an awkward smile and swiftly loaded the bullet into the chamber. Even then, he could still feel Lou Feng’s resentful stare boring into his back like needles.

For a moment, he couldn’t help but sigh. Nothing hurt quite like comparing people. An Ran was so much better. He infused sword qi into things quickly and efficiently, never refused whenever Ji Jue asked for help, had the sweetest smile, and had even protected Ji Jue before, unlike Lou Feng, who was always wearing a scowl and was always thinking about stabbing him in the back.

Ji Jue had been away from Cliff City for who knew how many days now. He missed An Ran.

“Well, a substitute is still a substitute. At least it’ll do in a pinch,” Ji Jue muttered wistfully.

For some reason, even though Lou Feng couldn’t understand what Ji Jue was talking about, he still got mad. No matter how he looked at this bastard, he seemed like he was up to no good. If this kept up, Lou Feng was afraid he’d cave in Ji Jue’s skull before the Heretic Cult ever got the chance.

Ji Jue pulled the bolt and said, “All right, stop glaring. I’m not freeloading off you. Let me show you a little trick.”

His palm swept across the gun. Fine strands of illusory spirit matter light appeared between his fingers, weaving together like tiny ribbons of neon and aurora before sinking into the weapon. It made no sound at all, yet it sent a chill down the spine.

It was as though the slumbering shell of a beast had been given a soul, or as though the switch had been flipped on an engine built for slaughter. Something stirred within the rifle. An aura flashed, like the icy gaze of a predator watching from the shadows of distant mountains, piercing straight into the soul.

The spirit awakening was complete. The heavy sniper rifle remained as silent as stone, but then a familiar voice sounded within his perception, clear as day.

“At your service, sir.Adjusting firing parameters and compensating for wind speed...”

Ji Jue lowered his eyes to the calculations Xu Guan had sent over on the notebook beside him and watched as the rifle’s scope made minute adjustments on its own. In an instant, the unfamiliar weapon synchronized with him completely.

Calibration complete.

Finally, Ji Jue told it, “Exterminate them all. Leave no survivors.”

“Understood.”

The gun jolted, kicking up countless specks of dust. A thunderous crack ripped through the night, but before the sound could spread, it was sealed away by telekinesis, dissolving into the air.

A blazing streak shot from the barrel. The vaporized mercury left behind a trail, like a sword thrust through the air, crossing several hundred meters before effortlessly piercing the outer wall of the mall.

Right in front of Jiang Xuan, the opponent who had been locked in a desperate struggle with him suddenly burst into a splash of crimson. The armor-piercing round tore through him with overwhelming force, reducing his entire upper body to pulp. A second later, an icy chill erupted from the bullet, freezing even the splattering blood into glittering shards of ice. When the frozen lower half of the corpse hit the ground, it shattered like stone.

Clack!

Ji Jue worked the bolt. The glowing shell casing sprang free, clinking onto the ground as another round slid into the chamber.

He took aim. A second streak of silver shot forth, punching through four concrete floors before blowing apart the figure hiding behind a corridor pillar into a cloud of frozen crystal dust.

Clack!

At the sound of the second shell casing hitting the floor, Lou Feng’s face twitched. Then came the third sound, the fourth, and the fifth...

A grief-stricken, furious roar echoed from inside the mall. The towering giant of molten lava that had risen from the ground staggered backward as though struck again and again by an invisible sledgehammer. Every flash of silver left gaping holes through the layers of lava and stone covering its face, while frost spread rapidly from each wound.

The giant struggled with all his might, unleashing a ferocious barrage of attacks in an attempt to break free from Ji Xue’s relentless pursuit, but he couldn’t shake off that bizarre figure moving at an unbelievable speed, nor could he dodge sniper fire that came from seemingly nowhere.

The defensive power of the Ruins Path at the peak of the Metamorphosis Realm was unleashed in full. Fresh layers of molten rock and stone regenerated as quickly as they were destroyed. He hurled torrents of fire and shell-like masses of molten lava in every direction.

Yet none of it could touch his opponent, nor could it protect him. In his terror, he raised his arm and tried to shield his face, but just then, he felt a terrifying cold that sank deep into his bones.

Boom!

Its massive left arm, thick as a pillar, was blasted clean off at the shoulder and crashed to the ground. The blazing heat and molten glow vanished almost instantly beneath a spreading layer of frost before the severed limb shattered into countless fragments.

Then came his right arm. Before he could even swing it, it was cut in two, and lava gushed out like blood.

Boom!

A mercury bullet tore through the air and struck him squarely in the face, boring through iron and stone alike. The impact forced the giant to stagger backward, his head snapping up violently.

Then came the second shot, the third, the fourth, seemingly never-ending.

Ji Jue checked the battlefield map as Xu Guan updated it in real time, relaying targeting data directly to the rifle. With each incoming stream of information, he made minute adjustments to his aim. His hands, enhanced by Flawless Craft, were steadier than the steadiest gimbal imaginable, lacking even the slightest tremor or deviation.