Chapter 194 The Will to Kill

The sharpshooter stared at my body, seemingly observing for any weaknesses.

Even a layman like me can see that this sharpshooter, like Zhu Shi, has undergone extensive combat training and possesses a wealth of combat experience. Just seeing him standing there makes me feel helpless. As for me, and I'm not being modest, I have countless weaknesses. It might be more difficult to pinpoint the most fatal flaw in me.

Even though I don't rely as much on skill as other witchers in terms of innate abilities, my skill deficiencies still occasionally become apparent when facing enemies.

Zhu Shi seemed to tense up as well. Her eyes sharpened unconsciously, and her gaze swept over the spear, perhaps trying to find any possible weaknesses in the opponent.

The sharpshooter didn't even glance at Zhu Shi, but instead looked down at the blood gushing from his severed right shoulder, then unleashed a surge of magical power. Silver light emanated from his right shoulder, weaving the shape of his arm like countless threads.

A silver spear emerged from the radiance and was firmly grasped by his right arm, which was formed from silver light.

He turned to me and said again, "Hand over that girl."

"Who's behind you? Is it the Great Impermanence?" I asked. "Which Great Impermanence?"

"Great Impermanence... Hmph, you really know how to fantasize. I only speak for myself." He smirked. "This matter isn't even worthy of Great Impermanence's attention."

I didn't turn around to look at Zhu Shi, but she should know I could see her. Even without releasing the "fireflies," in my fire elemental form, I could clearly perceive everything in the surrounding area. Her gaze turned solemn, and she silently took out her phone, opened a text messaging app, and typed two words—"lies."

In other words, the sharpshooter's backers are indeed unpredictable.

It's even possible that his attack on Mazao was instigated by Da Wuchang.

Everything is heading in the worst possible direction that I predicted in my past conversations with Mr. Zhu.

What exactly is the Great Impermanence coveting about Asahi? Is it really because another blessed cultivator from the apocalypse did something terrible, causing Asahi, who also comes from the apocalypse, to be caught in the crossfire? Or is it simply because Asahi's jinx constitution is causing trouble again, even affecting the Great Impermanence to the point of mental instability, and bringing strange disasters upon Asahi?

Suddenly, a possibility occurred to me. A jinx constitution—could it be because of this jinx constitution?

Like me, the Great Impermanence must confront the mysterious effect of mutual repulsion between themselves and the supernatural world. To anchor themselves, I rely on building relationships with Asahi, while the Great Impermanence's method is to forge enough connections within the supernatural world. Regardless of whether the latter can guarantee absolute safety, with the arrival of the Fantian Incident, the supernatural world merges with secular society, and the consequences of mutual repulsion with the supernatural become increasingly severe. The Great Impermanence will likely seek more methods to anchor themselves.

My method and the Great Impermanence's method are not contradictory. Just as I can try to make connections in the strange world in the future, the Great Impermanence can also seek out Ma Zao.

Therefore, if I had to say what about Ma Zao that would warrant Da Wuchang's attention and make him disregard his dignity and send someone to take action, this is the only thing I can think of.

The problem is, the information about Asahi's jinx constitution shouldn't have been leaked yet, so why would the Great Impermanence pay attention to this? Could it be that "Asahi of this era" also has the same constitution, and that the relevant information has been exposed to the Great Impermanence?

However, according to the information I have, Asahaya of this era should be completely cut off from the supernatural world... No, since she suffers from amnesia, perhaps it can't be said that she's completely cut off, but at least before this, she was...

Also, since the Great Impermanence wants it so much, why doesn't he just come and snatch it himself?

Could it be that, just like in the past, there is more than one person targeting Asa, forming a confrontational relationship? Or is it because there has been this mutual restraint at the top level from the beginning that different factions have been sabotaging each other in the Asa matter?

Ma Zao, you're really popular.

“This is my last piece of advice to you—” Sharpshooter said threateningly, “hand over that girl.”

“You’d better really be doing this for the last time, or it won’t just be one arm that’s turned to charcoal,” I said.

"You think I can't kill you?" he said in an extremely sinister voice. "Or do you think that level of attack just now was my full strength? If I wanted to, I could kill you anytime."

"So you have even more powerful moves? Then hurry up and use them. After you use them, you can die."

As I spoke, I waved to his still-burning severed arm not far away.

The flames burning fiercely on the severed arm moved without wind, flying towards me and merging into my body. As the flames were absorbed by my body, the soul wound caused by the "guaranteed hit and pierce" power of the divine spear began to heal rapidly.

That little bit of flame didn't seem enough, so I summoned a large amount of flame within my soul to heal the wound. In an instant, the soul wound vanished completely.

To be honest, I was just trying it out on the spot. Healing soul wounds is definitely much more difficult than healing physical wounds. In the past, I've only used this method to heal the minor injuries Chenlong caused me, and it's not certain that it can easily heal the wounds caused by the divine spear. But in reality, the healing was actually quite simple. It seems that healing the soul isn't much more difficult than healing this fire elemental body.

I don't actually hold a grudge against the sharpshooter for injuring me. Although the wound was extremely painful, I wanted to linger on it a little longer, to savor the "wounds of battle." However, since he mentioned an even more powerful technique, I wanted to be fully prepared for it.

But the sharpshooter seemed to realize what had happened to me.

Having lost an arm in the previous exchange, he stared in disbelief at me, now completely unharmed.

"You...you...!"

He muttered to himself as if he couldn't accept it, then glared at Lu Youxun again with hatred, before a look of hesitation appeared on his face.

Finally, he lowered his stance, and the silver spear disappeared with him.

He seems to have given up.

Although some of my expectations were dashed, this still met my needs. He was likely a confidant of some powerful being, just like the other Great Completion Realm cultivators. Killing him would undoubtedly anger the Great Being behind him and bring about my annihilation.

However, I can't believe he's completely given up on attacking Asahi; at most, he just thinks a violent assault isn't worthwhile at this moment. He's probably planning a more insidious way to deal with Asahi. I still can't suppress the urge to kill him.

Besides, the idea of ​​hesitating to kill someone simply because I'm afraid of angering the Great Impermanence is something I don't really like.

Since Mr. Zhu said he could sever ties with the Zhu family, I have no more worries. Although opposing the Great Impermanence might implicate Ma Zao, who is close to me, the Great Impermanence himself may have been eyeing Ma Zao from the beginning. Perhaps it's no longer a matter of whether the Great Impermanence will be angry.

If I had to pinpoint anything inappropriate, it would be the timing. I haven't yet rescued Chang'an from the Humanitarian Division's secret outpost, and the young girl Lu Chan is still preparing for my upcoming battle with Chenlong. If I were to clash with the Divine Spear and its backer, the Great Impermanence, at this critical juncture, everything at the Humanitarian Division's secret outpost would be ruined.

—Okay, I've made up my mind.

First, rescue Chang'an, then kill this guy who dared to attack Ma Zao.

Then I'll meet force with force, and if disaster strikes, I'll fight it out. If I can't win, I'll run; if I can't run, I'll die. Before I die, I'll try my best to get Ma away. Although dying would be a pity, this was the adventure I chose, and I'm willing to accept all the successes and failures on this path.

As I made this decision, Sharpshooter seemed to sense something, and his face turned extremely gloomy.

"—You want to kill me?"

"As long as you stay there quietly, I won't kill you for now," I said.

"How arrogant..."

He seemed to have his own thoughts. Instead of confronting me directly, he adopted a businesslike demeanor and looked around expressionlessly.

Most of the buildings in the Luoshan office had been blasted away and demolished, and we could see the scene outside. A group of figures appeared in the distance; they were a group of witchers in black uniforms—my eyesight has improved, and I could tell they were witchers at a glance.

It was already night, and the men in black wandered in like a ghostly army.

"They are the elite Impermanence who will be in charge of the raid in this mission, a total of fifty people. They will be led by three high-ranking Impermanence, divided into three teams, with me as the core combat force," the sharpshooter said businesslike. "Also, Lu Chan, I've brought you the 'item that can bear the soul burden in place of the user' that you requested before. What are your plans next?"

Seeing that the other party had entered a cooperative state, Lu Youxun explained his plan. First, he would destroy the independent reality space, then the Divine Spear would lead the attack on the Humanitarian Division's forces that had returned to reality. Although they were currently stuck at Chenlong's hurdle, they could overcome it tonight if all went smoothly.

The sharpshooter turned around and scrutinized me.

“I’ve already read all the intelligence you sent before. Do you want to defeat Chenlong?” he asked.

"So what?" I retorted.

After a moment's thought, he said in a definitive tone, "You can't do anything to Chenlong."

(End of this chapter)