Artifact

If he could, Wang Jixuan actually wanted to keep cultivating in this wooden cabin forever.

There was Ye Zi, clever and sensible, who especially "loved" doing housework, along with a group of lively, adorable little ones and all kinds of books.

Of course, most importantly, there was the pure spiritual energy.

But at this moment, the Upper City's plan to wipe out the Black Fire Gang and the Black Fire Gang's Shedding Skin plan were both steadily advancing, while this landlady's identity was simply far too complicated.

Fortunately, the children Old Madam Kong had adopted had nothing to do with the Black Fire Gang.

Not only that.

According to Zhou Zhengde's investigation, the orphans who had left this wooden cabin over the past thirty-odd years were evenly scattered throughout every corner of the Lower City. Five-sixths of them had no connection to the Black Fire Gang.

Among these orphans, the one doing best now was "Old Goat" Thomas.

The orphans who had left the cabin at different times played different roles in different areas of the Lower City. They kept in contact and helped each other, showing signs of becoming a new organization.

Wang Jixuan also caught a whiff of something unusual in all this.

Before the Black Fire Gang began its Shedding Skin, he had to deal with a D-Class Psionicist first, then return to the wooden cabin and wait for the Black Fire Gang to shed its skin, killing everyone who entered the cabin through the Underground Passage.

Including Old Madam Kong.

Trying to kill a D-Class Psionicist while the Black Fire Gang was on full alert would be quite difficult.

For that reason, Wang Jixuan waited another seven days and nights, thinking of ways to speed up his cultivation while waiting for Zhou Zhengde's new supplies to arrive.

The agreed time, the agreed place.

Wang Jixuan appeared at the supply point in a black Combat Suit and a large black helmet.

He once again noticed the two members of the "Head of Internal Affairs Guard Team" hiding in a corner more than ten meters away. These past few supply drops had basically all been delivered by those two brothers.

This time, the supply crate was a cello case.

Wang Jixuan expanded his Spiritual Sense to its limit and slowly approached the case. If his Spiritual Sense sensed even the slightest danger, he would activate the Divine Movement Talismans pasted to his legs and flee at once.

Click.

The cello case's clasps opened on their own, revealing a dazzling assortment of individual weapons.

Daoist Wang carefully inspected everything, picked up the case, turned, and leaped away. After two or three jumps, he vanished from the sight of the two men in the corner.

The two brothers each took out a Text Exchanger, entered the same message, and tapped send.

Ding ding.

At the 13th Floor Security Office, Zhou Zhengde, who had been dozing in his chair, immediately sat upright upon hearing the sound and grabbed the Text Exchanger beside him.

Buzz, buzz.

Inside a vehicle with flickering spots of light on its window, several slender fingers toyed with a Text Exchanger, carefully reading the message on its screen.

[Supplies retrieved.]

In the faint glow of the pale green screen, the woman's red lips pressed together slightly.

About ten minutes later.

At an abandoned Tin House in the buffer zone between the Black Fire Gang and Wanlijin.

Daoist Wang's secret hideout, Number Two.

[01: You're making your move tonight?]

[02: Mm. I've received the equipment you sent.]

[01: I've pushed things as hard as I can on my end. The gang coalition will need at least another week to establish an effective Command System. Wanlijin and Hellfire have already sealed off the Black Fire Gang's borders. A six-hundred-man Cleansing Force has entered the forty-fifth floor.]

[02: The Black Fire Gang's core leadership won't wait for disaster to fall on them. They'll definitely act ahead of time. My targets are their BOSS and the six core leaders.]

Wang Jixuan looked at the red battery icon in the upper-right corner of the square screen.

[02: This thing is almost out of power.]

[01: I brought you new batteries. Replace them later.]

[02: Anyway, don't worry. My target this time is the Psionicist named An Qian. Are you sure no new Psionicists have entered the Lower City?]

[01: Every entrance and exit is guarded by the Cleansing Force. I shamelessly requested a great deal of outside support for this. I hired a large number of gang members to investigate around the outskirts of Black Fire Gang territory, and I used the panic within the Black Fire Gang to bribe several mid-level cadres. I can confirm that there are currently two D-Class and one E-Class.]

[02: Good. Once I take out one D-Class, I can wait at the wooden cabin for the rabbit.]

[01: Are you really going to kill your landlady?]

[02: What else? If the chief culprit isn't removed, should I leave her alive so she can rise again from the ashes? ...The shutdown countdown has begun.]

A flashing countdown appeared on the screen.

This Text Exchanger's screen soon went dark.

Wang Jixuan solemnly placed the thing back atop his two sets of casual clothes.

It really is more convenient than a Message Jade Talisman.

Then he softly drew a breath and began checking the equipment on his body.

He turned, left the small house, and darted into the darkness.

He raced along the dark stretches beside the gang border, charging toward the Black Fire Gang's territory, which remained fully illuminated like a world of light.

City of Rebirth.

Though the entire territory was illuminated and under high alert, the Black Fire Gang, with fewer than a thousand lackeys left and panic spreading through its ranks, could not inspect every corner of its territory at all times.

They still controlled the streets leading in and out of the City of Rebirth, repeatedly sweeping certain key areas with searchlights. Dozens of drones circled beneath the low "sky." These drones were equipped with automatic weapons and would fire directly upon finding suspicious targets. Several elite snipers were also stationed across the major zones, holding high ground and ready to support any location.

All of this posed a certain threat to Wang Jixuan's operation tonight.

However, after being influenced by the Black Fire Gang BOSS's collection of books, Daoist Wang was no longer the man he had once been.

His Train of Thought for combat had broadened considerably.

Wang Jixuan moved through the darkness, continuously racing along the edges of Black Fire Gang territory and entering and exiting corners that looked guarded but had in reality merely been swept by light.

If his tracks were outlined with fluorescent dye, one would see that within two hours, his footprints had covered one-third of the Black Fire Gang's outer defensive line.

Once Wang Jixuan felt sufficiently prepared, he slipped onto a small building near the spire again and sat quietly behind a low wall, waiting for the huge beam of a searchlight to sweep over his head.

Time to move!

Wang Jixuan rose and leaped backward, sending five miniature grenades flying from his hand!

Wrapped in clumps of aura, they shot toward the third-floor windows of the spire!

Bang—boom!

A violent explosion erupted on the third floor of the spire, physically blasting apart several unfortunate men responsible for keeping watch.

A piercing alarm rang out through the City of Rebirth.

Wang Jixuan did not dare delay. He lowered his head and charged forward, running toward the Black Fire Gang border without looking back!

Drones rapidly gave chase, and the shouts from every direction were quickly drowned out by gunfire.

Two figures leaped from the top floor of the spire. One slammed heavily into the street, took a few cushioning steps, and then broke into a full sprint. The other figure...

Was floating in the air?

Wang Jixuan caught the sight from the corner of his eye, and his Dao Heart trembled.

Only a Golden Core Realm cultivator could fly through the air. Was this the Golden Core Realm?

Wang Jixuan looked closely, then relaxed completely.

The middle-aged woman hovering in midair, like a celestial maiden descending from the heavens, with several smooth spheres floating around her, had an elegant flying posture—but her speed was only slightly faster than an ordinary person running.

That was his target today.

The Psionicist, An Qian!

While running, Wang Jixuan leaped and flipped, evading several streams of bullets sweeping toward him. His body accelerated, then accelerated again, crashing into an unoccupied Residential Building.

He began sensing, counting silently, counting down.

Three, two, one.

Wang Jixuan's joined Sword Fingers slashed swiftly through the air!

Within a hundred-meter-diameter area, pink talismans simultaneously lit up at narrow points that were unavoidable paths for the thugs rushing toward this location.

The stick-on explosive packs attached behind the talismans were waiting for their fate.

[Technique: Hundred Talismans, One Trigger!]

Detonate!

Boom—

More than a hundred fireballs erupted simultaneously across two nearby blocks!

The massive explosions kicked up intersecting waves of air, greatly dimming the streets nearby!

Without checking on the screams breaking out everywhere, Wang Jixuan leaped from the second floor of the Residential Building and continued racing toward the City of Rebirth's border like a cheetah.

Whoosh!

What a fast sound of something tearing through the air!

A stream of aura ran through Wang Jixuan's entire body, and his speeding form shifted sideways.

A silver-white nail sliced past his cheek, scraping away a bit of skin.

Thud!

The nail easily penetrated a concrete building.

From the corner of his eye, Wang Jixuan saw D-Class Psionicist An Qian spreading open her right hand a hundred meters away. The two spheres behind her opened on their own, revealing countless fine silver alloy nails within.

Strands of her long hair floated one by one. Her tall, slender figure and indifferent face seemed to proclaim that she was the true ruler of this world.

Whoosh!

More than ten thin nails shot toward him.

The gathering drones fired wildly.

Wang Jixuan remained unhurried. He drew in a breath internally and activated four talismans externally, charging forward dozens of meters without much danger before leaping into the Black Fire Gang thug stronghold he had bombed earlier, using the building to shield himself from the attacks around him.

This was the escape route he had studied for a week.

Boom!

The small building of the stronghold suddenly shook!

A grenade launcher?

Having learned some basic knowledge of buildings and weapons, Wang Jixuan was not flustered in the slightest. He kept to his rhythm, replaced the Divine Movement Talismans, sensed, and waited.

The hundred talismans detonated!

Violent explosions erupted again, flipping more than a dozen crude drones and several pickup trucks at once.

Using the explosions as cover, Wang Jixuan unexpectedly darted out from the same direction through which he had entered the small building, as if he intended to rush back toward the spire.

Bang!

The sound of a small-caliber Sniper Rifle rang out!

The enemy sniper was in position!

Another urgent sound of something slicing through the air came hurtling toward him!

Unknown-material thin nails almost traced the outline of Wang Jixuan's body.

As Wang Jixuan charged forward, his body swayed from side to side. Twenty-four Adamantine Talismans lit up simultaneously, barely deflecting two of the thin nails.

In that instant of evasion, Wang Jixuan saw the small skateboard beneath An Qian's feet.

And An Qian saw the trace of mockery and disdain at the corner of Wang Jixuan's mouth.

What gave him the right to look down on her?

What right did he have to be disdainful!

This military Psionicist whose energy analysis was only E-Class!

An Qian spread all ten fingers and held her breath. The pieces of rubble scattered by the earlier explosions rose into the air at once.

"Everyone, get the hell out of my way!"

An Qian's rebuke echoed everywhere.

She abruptly raised her hand, then smashed it downward. Countless fragments of stone, carrying the lethality of bullets, blanketed the area Wang Jixuan was racing through!

The bodies of more than ten gang thugs in that area—the ones charging the fastest—simultaneously burst into Blood Mist!

Windowpanes everywhere shattered at once!

Wang Jixuan let out a scream... to fool An Qian.

The Combat Suit he wore had been obtained by Zhou Zhengde at great expense. On top of that, the twenty-four Adamantine Talismans were still effective, and his Dao body had been steadily strengthened through the washing of spiritual energy over time. The stones striking him caused only slight pain.

Even so.

Wang Jixuan secretly crushed a blood packet, splashing it across the back of his Combat Suit. After several leaps, he rushed beyond the edge of the lighting and entered the last "harbor" before leaving the illuminated area.

It was a low, single-story house.

Wen Heisen had already arrived. Swollen into a two-and-a-half-meter-tall monster of muscles and fascia, he charged into the house carrying a heavy machine gun.

Whoosh! Whoosh whoosh!

"Ah!"

Wen Heisen screamed as his body flew backward like a cannonball. A shoeprint-shaped section of his left arm had been destroyed, while his right shoulder bore a penetrating wound!

[Artifact: Bone-Piercing Nails]!

After ambushing Wen Heisen, Wang Jixuan did not wait around. He kicked apart a barrier in the corner and rushed along the small tunnel he had discovered here earlier, speeding toward the outskirts of Black Fire Gang territory.

He regretted that he had failed to kill Wen Heisen outright.

That old demon truly carried a great deal of baleful aura.

But it did not matter. His main target today, An Qian, was already slowly approaching the single-story house.

Because the tunnel was low and narrow, Wang Jixuan could no longer care about appearances. He could only use both hands and feet as four Divine Movement Talismans rapidly exhausted their spiritual power.

Though his movements were awkward, he was indeed fast. In just a few breaths, he rushed out of the tunnel, emerged inside a small building beyond the Black Fire Gang border, smashed through a window, and leaped onto the second floor.

Rapid gunfire came from ahead as the Black Fire Gang began pouring firepower into that single-story house.

Wang Jixuan lay atop a roof more than forty meters away, watching An Qian as his left hand violently flung out three Bone-Piercing Nails.

The Bone-Piercing Nails were carved with restrictions and stored aura. Their primary refining material was Blade Beast exoskeletons.

They began flying, though not especially fast. When they were still ten meters from An Qian, Wang Jixuan could no longer accurately control the three Bone-Piercing Nails and could only trigger the restrictions on them himself.

Screech! Screech screech!

Piercing sounds tore through the darkness as three Bone-Piercing Nails shot toward An Qian's forehead.

An Qian suddenly turned around. Her indifferent expression gained a hint of shock as her slender left hand rose and strange patterns appeared on her forehead.

Psionic Shield!

The Bone-Piercing Nails that came hurtling in—nails capable of piercing Wen Heisen's demonic body—barely stopped before An Qian's hand, trembling violently.

Mockery surfaced on An Qian's face.

That's all?

Then she lowered her left hand and looked toward the source from which the Bone-Piercing Nails had shot, her gaze suddenly catching a red glint.

It seemed to be the red light of an automatic targeting sight.

[Magical Artifact: Squad AMR-22 Anti-Materiel Sniper Rifle]

Wang Jixuan lay prone behind the thirty-centimeter automatic scope, his Dao heart unwavering as he pulled the trigger.

Thump!