章 33: Chapter 15: Killing with Three Arrows
Shadow Blade saw Ji Xinghuo return and showed a look of surprise on his face.
However, that did not affect his determination to kill Ji Xinghuo.
During that glance just now, although he didn't know why he had been spotted by a weak Mutant, he had to silence him regardless, for once an alert was raised, the Sword Bureau's swordsmen would arrive immediately, and he would have no chance of escape.
"To think you would dare aim a bow at me, how ridiculous!"
Contempt filled Shadow Blade's eyes.
However, what he didn't know was that the world as seen through Ji Xinghuo's eyes at that moment was drastically different from what he saw, even unprecedented on Earth from such a perspective.
The entire world had slowed down!
Ji Xinghuo felt as if he had hit a slow-motion button; the passage of time seemed to decelerate by dozens of times. To be precise, his thinking had accelerated by dozens of times.
The scenes in his vision played out frame by frame.
Every single detail of everything was crystal clear.
His brain operated like an ultra-high-speed quantum computer, processing vast amounts of information in an instant that would normally take minutes or even hours to comprehend.
He saw the slight irregularities on the concrete street surface, chaotic in texture, akin to sandpaper;
the light emitted by the street lamps, each beam distinct, and since it had just rained not long ago, countless tiny water droplets floated in the air, creating a localized Tyndall effect invisible to the average person;
the freshly pruned "Golden Privet" at the roadside, the gold-colored leaves with rough cut edges, the water droplets still on them reflecting neon lights;
In the distance, on one floor of a skyscraper which was a banquet hall, people were toasting and mingling;
Ji Xinghuo could even, by reading lips, tell one man was coaxing another to drink.
"Refusing to drink is refusing to give me face!"
All these images and pieces of information flashed through Ji Xinghuo's mind, finally locking onto the figure of Shadow Blade. At that moment, his appearance, features, and movement were fully exposed before Ji Xinghuo's eyes.
Distance 105 meters, speed 29 meters per second.
He has sixteen wounds, all cut by an extremely sharp and thin blade;
The deepest wound is on the outside of his left leg, possibly reaching the bone, significantly reducing his speed;
Excessive blood loss was making his face pallid, his pupils slightly dilated, and there was a certain degree of incoordination between his limbs and body, likely the effect of a type of neurotoxin;
His running was silent, the effect of "Silent Skill";
The faint glow gathered in his hand was an invisible blade, Shadow Blade's core ability "Shadow Blade";
The blending into darkness was "Shadow Escape";
His steps were delirately quick with a unique swaying rhythm, a habit from "Mysterious Footsteps" he had acquired;
Sprinting fast, he trailed a barely visible shadow behind him, like a flow of dark light ready to burst at any moment, a sign of "Afterimage" about to be released.
Five abilities, he must be at least a Super Mutant!
Ji Xinghuo was utterly fearless.
In that moment, there was no concept of fear in his mind, he only felt like he was a god in this state!
Omniscient and omnipotent!
With the composite bow in hand, Ji Xinghuo felt a series of illusory lights leap from the void, as if guided by the river of time, forming a translucent line extending from the arrowhead, pointing towards the oncoming enemy.
This line delineated his shooting trajectory; it hadn't happened yet, but he already knew the result!
As the arrow moved, different possibilities unfolded.
Ji Xinghuo swiftly changed the shooting position several times, eyes, throat, heart, but none posed a threat to his opponent, who would either easily dodge or deflect the arrows. If he hit a non-vital spot, it would not be fatal, and he would then be killed.
The view flickered with overlapping lights and shadows, countless pieces of information and possibilities unfolded in an incomprehensible way.
Finally, the image froze!
Ji Xinghuo shot the first arrow, the target being an advertising billboard more than 90 meters away at the roadside.
His practice arrow, made of carbon-aluminum composite material, was exceptionally light, designed to be 35 grams to match the high poundage of the powerful bow.
Whoosh...
A soft whistle sounded as the arrow pierced through the billboard's casing, hitting the internal capacitor, instantly triggering an electrical surge and setting off a chain reaction.
Bang!
The over five-meter-tall billboard exploded.
One side turned into countless shards of glass that scattered everywhere, several broken wires fell to the ground, sparking flashes of electricity.
It had just rained recently, leaving a thin layer of running water on the ground.
Just then, Shadow Blade approached the puddle.
He reacted swiftly, unwilling to risk stepping on potentially electrified ground, his figure flickered around it, moving closer to the building wall as he continued his pursuit of Ji Xinghuo.
Ji Xinghuo stood outside the gateway, also against the wall.
He shot the second arrow.
But it went astray.
At least in Shadow Blade's eyes, the trajectory of the arrow deviated to the left by half a meter, making it impossible to hit him, so he ignored it.
"To stand up to me as just a Primary Level Mutant is already commendable."
"It's normal to perform poorly in such a case."
Thinking this, Shadow Blade closed another several meters in an instant.
His gaze locked on the young man holding the bow, whose composite bow was already set with a third arrow, the head lowered, aiming at his chest, seemingly not fully grasping the situation. Even if this arrow hit the chest, he would not die.
"You're about to die."
His "Shadow Blade" appeared tangible, pulsating with ghostly light.
Against a stronger foe, the Shadow Blade would need to be applied to a dagger or short sword to exert its maximum lethality, but opposite was just a Primary Level Mutant, a casual thrust from the Shadow Blade could puncture him through, easily slicing through the throat.
Ding...
Shadow Blade suddenly heard a collision.
The source of the sound was near; out of the corner of his eye, he saw an arrow brush against the wall on his left, improbably change direction, drop in elevation, and strike his left knee.
It was the very arrow that had just missed!
This was entirely beyond his expectation. The point where the arrow collided with the wall was only two to three meters away from him, giving him no chance to react.
The arrow lodged in his knee, penetrating several centimeters, and a wave of intense pain surged instantly.
"Ugh..."
Shadow Blade groaned. The arrow had aggravated the injury on the outside of his left leg, rendering the leg entirely powerless, and his body involuntarily lunged forward over ten meters, nearly falling over.
He barely managed to maintain his balance, and before he could even feel relieved, he looked up to see his assailant.
A diamond-shaped black dot rapidly enlarged in his vision.
Thump!
The third arrow struck his right eye and instantly penetrated his brain, with half the arrowhead protruding from the back of his skull.
Under the force of inertia, Shadow Blade's body continued to rush forward, rolling several meters upon hitting the ground and coming to a stop just a few steps away from Ji Xinghuo.
Ji Xinghuo calmly watched the motionless corpse, confirming he was dead.
"Huff!"
He suddenly gasped for air, uncontrollably exiting the powerful state induced by activating the Wanxiang Star Pupil.
Immediately, a stabbing pain erupted in his head, and both his physical and mental strength plummeted to their nadir, leaving his body feeling entirely drained, both tired and dizzy.
"Ugh..."
Ji Xinghuo leaned against the wall, vomiting the barbecue he had just eaten.
This wasn't because it was his first time killing someone; he felt nothing regarding that. The vomiting was due to a physiological reaction caused by dizziness in his brain, beyond his control. As he vomited, he heard his heart beating wildly, finally feeling a wave of fear afterward.
And all this, just because I took an extra glance at you...
"What happened with the Wanxiang Star Pupil just now?"
Recalling the event, Ji Xinghuo's first action was to open the interface of the Wanxiang Star Pupil, where he immediately noticed something unusual.
[Wanxiang Star Pupil Master: Ji Xinghuo]
[Race: Human from Earth]
[Rank: Primary Level Mutant]
[Star Power: 1/56]
[Ability: Thousand Spirit Skillful Hand (First Level 10/47)]
[Spiritual Origin Ability: 137]
Ji Xinghuo was stunned.
When he had shot the enemy dead, he had seen something resembling a mist-like energy, ephemeral and varied in shape, detach from the body. It disappeared in a flash, and it seemed like something had been added to his brain – it was the Spiritual Origin Ability!
The very Spiritual Origin Ability that he had long studied yet failed to understand had suddenly become his!
"Do I need to kill to gain Spiritual Origin Ability?"
Ji Xinghuo was first shocked, then his thoughts became complex, but now was not the time to explore the purposes of the Spiritual Origin Ability.
He immediately used his phone to call the police.
By tapping a few alert messages, he could manage the operation. The Security Department would locate his coordinates via the phone and arrive promptly.
Meanwhile, someone had noticed the scene at the entrance of the building and, terrified, had turned and run away.
Ji Xinghuo examined the corpse on the ground.
He still felt a residual fright. A Super Mutant, and he had killed him!
Suddenly, he noticed an object next to the body, likely something that had fallen out of a pocket during the desperate rolling before death. It was a crystal, transparent and colorless, irregular in shape, with sharp edges. Just by looking at it, he sensed a profuse "activity," causing a slight distortion in the surrounding air.
This activity was Ether Energy, very familiar.
"Alien Species?"
Ji Xinghuo felt a sense of déjà vu towards the crystal, recognizing it, yet not entirely, unable to recall fully.
Without doubt, it was an extremely powerful Alien Species!
After pondering, he still decided to pick it up.
The crystal was light, almost imperceptible in weight. Its interior was completely transparent. If not for its unique activity, it could easily have been mistaken for a broken glass shard if discarded on the street.
Its texture was not as hard as imagined, possessing a slight elasticity yet very tough, like a jelly.
Ji Xinghuo focused intently on observing it.
Suddenly, the interface of the Wanxiang Star Pupil automatically popped up in his vision, displaying information he had never seen before.
[Alien Species: Rotating Magnetic Field]
[Grade: Transcendent]
[Fusion Success Rate: 99%]
[Can it be Upgraded: Yes]
Ji Xinghuo's pupils involuntarily dilated, his hand holding the crystal trembling slightly.
Not only was he astounded by the fact the crystal in his hand was a Transcendent grade Alien Species, but he was even more shocked by the functionality of the Wanxiang Star Pupil, which could directly display the information of the Alien Species!
Ji Xinghuo stood there stunned, unable to recover for a long time.
Not until he heard a roaring sound overhead did he look up to see a mid-sized Sky Fighter hovering above the apartment building. The hatch on the belly of the craft opened, and a shining figure flew out, plummeting rapidly toward his position.
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