“That’s not the same!” Song Zining growled. He paced about nearby in apparent agitation.
“I’ve already made the Wolf King pay, and he will continue to do so,” Qianye replied.
The two seemed to have switched roles. Now it was Qianye who had to keep consoling Song Zining.
The latter had become irritable all of a sudden. “You don’t understand! You don’t need to worry about this matter, I’ll handle it. If I don’t let them see my power, they’ll keep thinking this is a land of hidden experts.”
Astonished, Qianye broke into laughter. “You can’t even beat Fatty Ji, to speak nothing of the Wolf King. What are you going to do? Throw away your life?”
“And you can beat them!?”
“I can beat Fatty Ji.”
“You!” Song Zining was stoppered up as his face turned red. Individual fighting power was always the seventh young master’s weak point. He was always one step behind Qianye, yet even a small gap would be magnified hundreds of times in battle.
Qianye’s provocation actually calmed Song Zining down. He threw his backpack to Qianye with a glare and said, “This is for you to protect your puny life with. Don’t get yourself killed while I’m momentarily distracted.”
The backpack was oddly heavy. Qianye had to put in a bit of force to grab the bag properly.
“What’s this?”
“Just open it and you’ll see.”
Qianye unzipped the backpack and found that it was full of origin gun parts. Most importantly, the Pointer Monarch’s gun barrel was also in it.
Could it be that Song Zining had actually completed assembling the weapon in such a short time? Qianye was pleasantly surprised.
Qianye was already a master in origin gun mechanics—he picked up the components and knew how to install them at a glance. His hands moved like the wind, and a long origin rifle was soon assembled amidst crisp clicking sounds.
This gun had a lusterless deep grey color, heavy yet exquisitely crafted. The origin array within had merged perfectly with the vein of the original metal. The craftsmanship was simply divine, clearly the work of a grandmaster. Comparatively, old man Cui Yuanhai was one level inferior.
The entire gun was made of sturdy metal, so its weight was naturally quite shocking. Ordinary people wouldn’t even be able to strap a gun weighing hundreds of kilograms onto their backs.
As long as the marksman could deal with the weight, the other aspects of its design were highly advantageous. The best part was its endurance since it could be used even in adverse environments like the neutral lands. Additionally, the gun body itself was a weapon, with the stock of the rifle being only slightly weaker than East Peak. Even an arachne could hardly stand a direct smash.
Besides, only such an all-alloy design could bring out the full extent of the Pointer Monarch’s gun barrel.
Qianye studied the gun repeatedly, and the more he looked at it, the less he wanted to put it back down. This weapon was practically tailored for him—from its length to its shape, everything felt just right for his usual combat habits; even the abnormal weight might be a deliberate design.
Qianye was used to wielding East Peak and could handle a weapon hundreds of kilograms in weight with relative ease. But the weight of a weapon couldn’t be underestimated—without limitations in this parameter, the craftsman could apply various special materials and abilities an ordinary firearm would never possess. This was the only way to bring out the best of that gun barrel.
On the gun body was a string of flamboyant calligraphy: Heartgrave. That was the name of the gun, a description that perfectly reflected the Pointer Monarch’s mood that day. Qianye was startled upon seeing the name. He unknowingly recalled Nighteye and that near-impossible objective he had set out to accomplish for her.
His commitment to this goal was perhaps more or less an attempt to forget his despair.
The name Heartgrave was indeed beautiful, but it was somewhat deficient in power. It lacked the silent tyrannical intent and feeling of mortal dejection. Then again, the calligraphy was Song Zining’s handicraft—no matter how talented the seventh young master was, it was only natural that he couldn’t compare to the Pointer Monarch’s will back in the year.
Qianye put Heartgrave down reluctantly after a lengthy period of observation. If he absolutely had to find some fault with the gun, it was that it had only managed to bring out the barrel’s full power and not improve upon it.
Qianye sighed regretfully, but after some thought, he felt that his judgment was somewhat unwarranted. This gun barrel was already at grade nine and fairly close on the heels of a grand magnum. Of course, close was the extent of it—it could never be equal. If this grade-nine Heartgrave were to go any higher, it would become a Grand Magnum.
This was something even the Pointer Monarch had failed to do back in the year, so how could Song Zining be able to accomplish it?
In any case, Heartgrave reaching grade nine was already a pleasant surprise in and of itself. Qianye loved it immensely and simply didn’t want to put it down.
Heartgrave’s firepower was sufficient and its consumption was fitting of a grade-nine weapon, perhaps even more efficient. Qianye tried injecting his origin power, but the weapon was completely unresponsive even after absorbing a constant stream of energy.
Heartgrave absorbed a good portion of Qianye’s origin power in the blink of an eye. Only then was the gun barrel activated and the origin array came alive.
Qianye stopped the test at this point because he could already tell that a single shot would drain him entirely.
Qianye’s origin power intensity was close to crystallization despite only having four vortices. Taking only quantity into account, the origin power in his four origin vortices was almost twice the amount compared to other champions. Even then, a Heartgrave shot would drain him almost completely. The consumption of this rifle was extraordinary.
With this gun in hand, Qianye was now like a tiger with wings. The combined power of Heartgrave and the Wings of Inception would be unimaginable.
Just as Qianye was placing the weapon into Andruil’s space, he heard a familiar voice behind him. “This engine is quite miraculous. Who would’ve thought he’d actually be able to do it. Mm, this must be the control port, I think? With this, the Martyr’s Palace will change owners!”
Qianye glanced back in shock, just in time to find a girl standing in front of the Earth Dragon’s heart and gazing intently at the engine inside of it. At this point, the engine cover had been opened to reveal a moving part inside. And from the looks of it, she was about to reach out to touch it.
“Stop!” Shocked out of his wits, he instinctively flashed behind the girl and reached out to grab her!
The girl’s silhouette was as illusory as a bubble projection. She turned about lithely and leaned back, meeting Qianye’s eyes with a spurious smile.
It was actually Ji Tianqing!
Greatly astonished, Qianye did his best to stop his forward momentum. He planted his feet firmly in the ground, literally sinking into the floorboards before coming to a stop. At this point, his fingers were almost near Ji Tianqing’s chest. Just a bit lower and he would’ve grabbed something plump.
Qianye had finally managed to contain his force, but Ji Tianqing, that lass, just had to court disaster. She actually took a deep breath at this time.
It was no longer important whether she was about to unleash an earth-shattering killing move or scream. What’s important was that her chest puffed up, straight into Qianye’s fingers.
Then, the lass’ final move was a startling cry, “Molester!!!”
Qianye felt his vision grow dark and almost collapsed on the spot. He pulled his hands back and said with a serious expression, “No.”
Ji Tianqing pulled on Qianye’s hands and shouted, “You refuse to admit!? The material evidence is here!”
“T-That’s my hand.”
“Yes! What did it do just now? What is criminal evidence if this isn’t one?”
Qianye had interacted with Ji Tianqing for a fair length of time, but he had never realized how sharp her tongue was. He simply had no way to retort.
“Wait, Tianqing, speak nicely if you have anything to say. Why are you here?”
“Because... I have a military order!”
Qianye knew something was wrong. “What order?”
“Here it is!” Ji Tianqing fished out a sheet of paper and waved it in front of Qianye.
Qianye was startled. This special paper was specifically used for issuing military orders—not something that could be forged—but it was completely blank!
Seeing Qianye’s strange expression, the complacent-looking Ji Tianqing found that something was wrong. She flipped the page about and immediately became quite embarrassed.
But then again, when was she ever easy to deal with? Out came her brush, flying swiftly over the paper until a military order was produced on the spot. Afterward, she produced a small bronze seal, blew on it, and stamped the order with a bang.
“There you go!” Ji Tianqing looked immensely proud of herself.
Qianye received the order and saw the words: “Imperial Colonel Ji Tianqing is hereby ordered to travel to the neutral lands and assume the post of Qianye’s aide-de-camp, effective immediately.”
This aide-de-camp again. It was just that her military rank had changed from major to colonel.
Qianye didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. When his gaze fell on a corner of the paper, though, he almost jumped up in shock.
The ancient characters carved on the seal read: The pointer doth seek the dao.
This was the seal of the Pointer Monarch!
Looking at the size of the seal, it was probably the monarch’s personal seal. Normally, this kind of seal wouldn’t be used on military orders, but due to his status, any form of his signature would have the same effect.
Qianye glanced hesitantly at the military order and then back at Ji Tianqing. “Don’t tell me this seal is genuine?”
“Of course it is.”
She answered as if it were completely proper and inevitable—Qianye instinctively knew that she was speaking the truth. This meant that the Pointer Monarch’s personal seal was indeed in her hands. At this point, things had gotten fairly complicated.
“I’m no longer a citizen of the empire. This order isn’t the right one to use on me.”
Ji Tianqing smiled innocently. “I guess, but the seal on the paper is the Pointer Monarch’s seal. Won’t it be inappropriate if you don’t accept it?”
The threat in her words was obvious. Qianye could choose not to accept an imperial order, but how could he dare to refuse the Pointer Monarch’s?
But accepting this kind of order was simply too awkward. Qianye pointed at the seal and asked, “Where did you get it? The Pointer Monarch wouldn’t just let anyone take his personal seal to the neutral lands, would he?”
“I stole it.” Ji Tianqing was quite honest.
“Stole it…” Qianye was speechless. He shook the military order and said, “Since it was stolen, then this order…”
“Of course it’s effective!” Ji Tianqing cut him short. Then she said with a scheming smile, “The old man is sensitive about his prestige, he’ll never admit to his seal being stolen. So, this order is definitely genuine!”
“... Fine, you win.”
“I’ve never lost before!”