But the bullet didn't hit him right away.
The instant his hairs stood on end, Chen Xuan experienced an extraordinarily strange sensation. The person before him seemed to move in slow motion. He could even see the burst of flame from the muzzle and the projectile flying out of the barrel. More precisely, the thing looked more like a finely crafted syringe; he could clearly make out the short needle at its tip and the feather-like stabilizing fins fanned out at its tail!
This was the effect of the Divine Eye Method!
Excellent. Just as he'd hoped, it let him enter the divine-sight state the moment he sensed danger!
Chen Xuan summoned every ounce of strength he had and condensed his first qi sword, placing it directly in the bullet's path. Unlike the Spirit Sword Technique, the Thousand Thoughts Sword didn't need to be attached to any physical object. It could take shape out of thin air; it was a physical object in its own right, much like the flying swords in the Immortal Arts that could claim an enemy's head from a hundred paces away. The only difference was that it had no independent intelligence.
The divine-sight state lasted only about half a second, but that was enough.
A faint clang rang out, and sparks flew.
The bullet had been stopped dead by his sword!
Joan of Arc hadn't even figured out what had just happened.
"Your Excellency Divine Envoy? What was that...?"
A rush of confidence welled up inside Chen Xuan! He'd actually intercepted a bullet. How insanely cool was that?
He'd known how to use these abilities from the moment he'd acquired them, but imagining them in his mind and using them in a real fight were two entirely different things. From the moment his opponent had attacked to the moment he'd successfully intercepted the bullet, less than a second had passed. Yet now he could clearly hear his own heart pounding, and feel the faint dizziness brought on by the surge of adrenaline.
The worst part was that he still had to look completely composed. Neither the dignity of the Lord God's messenger nor that of the mysterious shopkeeper allowed him to start shouting and flailing around.
"So this is what you used to seal Joan of Arc's abilities?" Chen Xuan summoned another sword with a flick of his hand. They hovered on either side of him. Three was his limit, but for now two swords were the most he could handle nimbly. "Too slow for me, unfortunately."
It wasn't a boast. It was a psychological attack.
The witch's expression turned serious.
She dropped her staff and pulled a revolver from beneath her cloak.
Chen Xuan stared at her in disbelief. Seriously? You brought that thing to the Middle Ages?
It only had four chambers, but judging by its barrel, which was as thick as a wrist, the rounds it fired had to be at least the size of grenades!
At the same time, Joan of Arc snatched up the chain attached to her shackles and charged at the witch. Even an ordinary chain, enhanced by the Spirit Sword Technique, was no less dangerous than a sharp cleaver.
"Die, evil witch!"
It was two against one. They had the advantage.
And so what if the other woman was firing grenades? Chen Xuan's thoughts raced. Those things left the barrel far more slowly than bullets, and they needed an impact to detonate. He could easily cut one down while it was still in flight.
With a soft thump, a large, round projectile flew out of the muzzle.
This time, Chen Xuan deliberately entered the divine-sight state. Just as he'd expected, the large-caliber projectile was much slower, and his opponent had fired a little wide. There was no way its trajectory would hit him. So all he had to do was step away from its path while sending one qi sword toward the witch's chest, keeping the other in reserve...
But in the next instant, the witch vanished from where she stood and appeared right in front of him! They were so close he could almost feel her breath.
How could that be?
Chen Xuan's mind went blank.
Neither of his qi swords could protect him in time. He watched helplessly as she raised her leg and swept it toward his neck!
His body reacted almost on instinct. He raised his right arm in front of his head, and her powerful kick slammed into his elbow, sending him flying!
Chen Xuan heard a sharp crack.
His forearm had broken.
That kick had sent him three or four meters through the air. He smashed through the bars of the cage, tumbled across the floor, and didn't stop until he hit the wall to one side!
Could a human really be that strong?
Chen Xuan felt his blood and qi roiling. He nearly threw up. A normal person would have been paralyzed from the neck down by that blow, but the Mind Method protected him. The Heaven Cloud Skill circulating through his body not only stopped all internal bleeding but also minimized the pain of his broken bone.
He could even feel a great deal of qi swirling around his injured arm, as if it were trying to force the bone back into place.
The witch clearly had no intention of giving him time to catch his breath.
After kicking him, she charged toward where he had landed.
Chen Xuan turned his qi sword around and sent it straight toward himself!
His opponent was now between him and the sword. If she didn't dodge, she might still press her advantage, but she'd have to take a sword strike.
The same strange thing happened again.
Just as the qi sword was about to hit her, she vanished and reappeared more than ten meters away. The sword continued on without slowing and plunged straight into Chen Xuan.
A smug smile appeared on the witch's face.
But it quickly faded.
She saw Chen Xuan get to his feet as if nothing had happened, half a sword-shaped shadow still protruding from his chest.
The sword was made of my qi. Stabbing myself just returned it to me. Did she really think I'd kill myself for her? Chen Xuan cursed inwardly. What a sneaky move!
But how had she teleported?
The Divine Eye Method only let him observe things in detail for half a second, sure, but that didn't mean the naked eye couldn't even catch her movements, did it?
By now, Chen Xuan felt more excited than ever. This was way more thrilling than sitting in front of a computer playing a game! His adrenaline was surging, making his hands tremble slightly, yet his mind had never been clearer.
He'd assumed that the witch couldn't match Joan of Arc in a head-on fight. Now he realized how wrong he'd been! Joan of Arc couldn't keep up with the witch's movements at all. In the time it had taken Joan of Arc to raise her arm and swing her chain once, the witch had already kicked him and teleported twice!
"Looks like your reflexes aren't all that impressive. You can dodge bullets, but not my legs." The witch raised her revolver grenade launcher again.
What, was she trying to psych him out too?
Chen Xuan realized he had to choose: should he use his half-second of divine sight before she fired, or save it for her next attack?
If he was even a fraction of a second too slow, he'd have to take the grenade head-on. But then again, had that really been a grenade? The first one had been split in half by his qi sword, but judging by the fragments, it seemed rather too complicated to be one.
She knew her gun was useless against him, so why did she still fire before every attack? Or was it... just a feint?
Chen Xuan calmly brushed the dust off his clothes. "Actually, I let you get close on purpose."
"What?"
"If I don't let you show what you can do up close, how am I supposed to judge whether your abilities are worth taking?" he said unhurriedly. "You could get close ten more times and still wouldn't stand a chance. Joan of Arc, stay right there. She can't hurt me."
Joan of Arc paused, then nodded earnestly. "I understand."
The red-haired witch's face turned cold, and she pulled the trigger without hesitation!
Chen Xuan had mocked her and told Joan of Arc to stand aside and watch just to provoke her into trying again. Following the same pattern as before, he sent one sword toward the witch and kept the other hovering in midair, ready. But this time, he didn't use the Divine Eye Method right away. He waited until the muzzle flashed before entering the divine-sight state!
By the time he could make out the projectile's trajectory, it was less than half a body-length away.
At that distance, he couldn't possibly dodge it, no matter how fast he moved!
Just then, the witch vanished. The qi sword he'd sent at her missed, and he sensed a faint trace of qi coming from the projectile.
So that was it!
A flash of insight crossed Chen Xuan's mind! These things she fired weren't merely weapons; they were special markers. The witch could switch places with them, making it look as if she had suddenly vanished! When she'd appeared right in front of him earlier, she'd switched places with the syringe she'd fired at the very beginning.
Was this her ability?
She'd definitely use the same trick again. The projectile was in an even better position than last time, and she probably thought he wasn't good at close-quarters combat.
In other words, the projectile about to hit him would be replaced by the witch!
Chen Xuan didn't need to dodge. He still had a third qi sword in reserve! All he had to do was summon it and hold it in front of himself. The witch would impale herself on its blade.
The instant the thought crossed his mind, a third sword took shape!
But the projectile didn't turn into the witch. It collided with the qi sword and exploded with a thunderous boom!
Wait, that thing really could explode?
With a deafening blast, Chen Xuan was hurled against the wall again. Fortunately, the projectile seemed to be some kind of shaped-charge round, and the qi sword had absorbed most of the energy.
The woman had switched places, but not with the grenade she'd just fired!
"You can only see what's about to happen for a very short time, can't you?" Her cold voice came from behind him. "When I kicked you, I left you a little souvenir too, but it seems you didn't notice."
The red-haired witch had appeared behind Chen Xuan at some point. Holding a dagger in one hand, she drove it cleanly into his upper back, an absolutely vital spot. The blow could damage both his lungs and his heart, while also suppressing the target's instinct to fight back.
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