Bang! Bang!
Xu Mu backpedaled while firing at Lin Yan.
Boom!
Lin Yan swept his arm; the air in front of him cracked with a sonic pop, batting both bullets aside.
He looked at Xu Mu with a hint of scorn. "Do you think holding that thing makes you invincible?"
"I've never thought that."
Xu Mu popped his storage space at his side and swapped magazines at top speed.
"As the Mercenary King, here's a fun fact," Lin Yan said coolly. "Water's resistance is eight hundred times that of air. Most small-caliber rounds can't travel a meter in a straight line underwater."
"What are you getting at?" Xu Mu narrowed his eyes.
"What you probably can't grasp: the Gang Qi I release resists even more than water." Lin Yan crooked a finger, contempt in his gaze. "Come on. I'll stand still."
Bang bang bang…
Xu Mu didn't hesitate—he dumped the mag.
Lin Yan flared his Gang Qi. As the bullets entered its range, they slowed…
Clang clang clang…
His hands blurred into afterimages; with his daggers, he sliced the rounds apart.
Xu Mu wasn't surprised. If an expert constantly releases Gang Qi as a barrier, bullets become hard to kill with. Even large calibers can be deflected.
That's why he hadn't shot the bearded brute head-on earlier—he'd struck while the man wasn't emitting Qi.
"Despairing yet, Xu Mu?" Lin Yan stalked forward, voice vicious. "Too late. You die today. Not even Jesus can save you—because I said so."
Swish!
He exploded forward.
Xu Mu let his arms hang loose, eyes locked on the approaching Lin Yan.
Lin Yan sneered. Looked like Xu Mu had given up—understandable. To a "normal" man, a monster bullets couldn't kill was beyond comprehension.
In a blink, Lin Yan reached him—his dagger flashed across Xu Mu's throat—
—but Xu Mu vanished from in front of him, reappearing at Lin Yan's flank. His own dagger thrust for Lin Yan's neck.
Lin Yan's eyes flared. Tricked!
Too late to defend—
Swish!
Just as he moved to evade, his foot slipped. He tumbled, rolled along the ground, and narrowly escaped the stab.
[Fate Power −50]
Black lettering popped above Lin Yan's head.
Xu Mu had feigned weakness to launch a sudden kill. Even if it didn't kill, it should have maimed him—
but that freak slip had saved his life.
Xu Mu eyed him. As expected of the male lead.
Still, he'd learned the faster way to deal with protagonists: crush them with raw power. Each brush with death bleeds their Fate Power. Once it falls back to normal human levels, they can be killed.
"Xu Mu… you've been hiding deep," Lin Yan panted. Without that lucky break, he'd be seriously hurt if not dead.
"I haven't hidden a thing. I never said I wasn't a martial artist," Xu Mu replied, shrugging as he stowed the Desert Eagle. Against Lin Yan, guns were pointless.
"Heh. Fine. Then hear this—what you saw just now was my last opening."
As Lin Yan spoke, red motes gleamed from the pores on his face and hands.
Shff!
In an instant he was in front of Xu Mu, every strike laced with explosive Qi. The air boomed with each blow.
The twin daggers in his hands moved like extended fingers—quick, precise, alive.
Ka-ka-ka…
Steel met steel. Lin Yan spun like a top, aiming for Xu Mu's vitals every time. Xu Mu yielded step by step, parrying each attack.
Suddenly, catching a gap, Xu Mu snapped out a palm—
Zheng!
A dark-red longsword erupted from his palm.
At first, when he'd only used basic Gang Qi emission, his phantom blade had been colorless, like water.
Facing Lin Yan, he didn't hold back—pushing into the Mystic Art Realm, his sword took on the hue of his Qi.
Lin Yan stared, stunned. He crossed his daggers and barked, "Blazing Cross!"
Whoosh!
Twin blades carved a rotating red cross.
Boom!
Cross met sword; the rippling backlash fractured trees within ten meters. Leaves and branches fell like rain.
Lin Yan's face twisted—and he bolted.
"Aren't you here to kill me? What, scared now?" Xu Mu gave chase. This was his chance; if Lin Yan lived, he'd target Xu Mu's family next.
Running, Lin Yan yanked a backpack from the ground, spun, and drew a broken sword half a meter long.
Swish!
He slashed at Xu Mu. Xu Mu brought up his dagger to block—
Crack!
The dagger snapped in two.
Xu Mu cursed inwardly. So this is the protagonist—can't beat me, so he pulls out artifacts.
Then he remembered: he'd once drawn a lost longsword, too.
He slid back, scooped a handful of leaves to mask the motion, popped open his storage space, and drew his blade—a jet-black sword with a guard like twin demon horns, wicked and imposing.
Lin Yan swung again. Xu Mu met him head-on.
Ka!
Steel clashed—neither yielded.
[Fate Power −20]
Lin Yan's eyes went wide. Rage surged. His "divine blade," a chance treasure that cut iron like mud, was being matched by Xu Mu's random pickup?
Since going abroad as a mercenary, he'd carved his way forward. When had he ever been this stifled?
"Damn you, Xu Mu! You're dead!" he snarled, pulling out a red pill and swallowing it.
Rumble!
Power surged off him in waves. His eyes bloodshot, breath ragged, saliva stringing from his mouth.
The red motes from his pores multiplied—no longer dots but a sheet of crimson light coating his skin.
Swish!
He charged like a madman and swung. Xu Mu met the blow—and his arms went numb. The force blasted him backward.
Crash!
He smashed through a tree and landed in a crouch, stunned—
and before he could rise, Lin Yan was already on him.
Whizz, whizz, whizz!
Steel spikes shot in from the distance. Lin Yan flicked a glance and swept his sword—the terrifying force swatted them aside.
Dai Xingluo hadn't even spoken before Lin Yan blurred to her and slammed a fist into her chest.
"Pff—!"
She spewed blood, her body rocketing like a shell.
Boom!
She hit a boulder hard—twice wounded in a heartbeat.
"G… gege…"
Her hand lifted toward Xu Mu, then fell limply as she collapsed. Blood slicked the stone behind her.
Xu Mu froze, mind blank. Didn't she realize this fight was far beyond her reach? You, a vicious 'villain,' saving me—what for!?
He didn't shout. Watching Lin Yan close in, he let the killing intent fill him. "Did you think you're the only one who can power up?"
Boom!
Xu Mu's Qi roared outward. Under his skin, intricate red spirit-vein lines lit up, their glow visible through the flesh.
From every joint, fine crimson filaments drifted into the air—each tethered at one end to his body, the other wafting free.
He looked like a marionette strung with living wires.
This was a Heaven-rank technique—Spirit-Vein Armament!