Chapter 15: Three Arrows Strike

Shadow Blade saw Ji Xinghuo returning and looked surprised.

His determination to kill Ji Xinghuo wasn’t affected though.

Eye contact was made briefly. He didn’t know why he’d been spotted by a weaker anomaly, but he had to silence him. Otherwise, if the police were alerted, the swordsman from the ‘Sword Bureau’ would arrive soon, making escape impossible.

“You dare to aim a bow at me? Ridiculous!”

Contempt filled Shadow Blade’s eyes.

What he didn’t realize was that the world Ji Xinghuo saw was entirely different from his. No one on Earth had ever viewed the world from this perspective before.

The entire world slowed down!

Ji Xinghuo felt as if he’d pressed a slow-motion button, slowing time’s passage by dozens of times. More accurately, his thoughts had quickened dozens of times.

Images in his field of vision played out frame by frame.

Every detail of everything was crystal clear.

His brain worked like a super high-speed quantum computer, processing vast amounts of information in an instant—information that normally took minutes or even hours to understand.

He saw the tiny ridges on the cement street, chaotic like sandpaper’s surface;

Streetlights emitted beams, each very distinct. It had rained recently, and countless droplets in the air formed a Tyndall effect visible only under the streetlights;

Recently trimmed golden privets on the roadside glistened, their rough cut edges and lingering water droplets reflecting the neon lights;

In the distance, people in a skyscraper’s banquet hall were clinking glasses;

Ji Xinghuo could even discern from the lip movements that one was urging another to drink.

“Not drinking means you don’t respect me!”

These scenes and pieces of information flashed through Ji Xinghuo’s mind, finally locking onto Shadow Blade. His appearance, traits, and motion were fully revealed in Ji Xinghuo’s eyes.

Distance 105 meters, speed 29 meters per second.

He bore sixteen cuts, all made by the same type of sharp, thin blade;

The deepest wound was on the outer side of his left leg, likely reaching the bone, slowing him down considerably;

Excessive blood loss made his face pale, his pupils slightly dilated, limbs and body slightly uncoordinated, probably affected by a nerve toxin;

He moved silently, a technique known as ‘Silent Step’；

The faint light on his hand was an invisible blade, Shadow Blade’s core anomaly ‘Shadow Blade’;

His merging into the darkness was ‘Shadow Evade’;

His steps were quick and delicate, indicating a unique rhythm, a habit from ‘Tracing Step’;

As he ran, a barely visible shadow trailed behind him, hinting at the imminent release of ‘Afterimage’.

Five anomalies. He was at least a super anomaly!

Ji Xinghuo remained fearless.

At this moment, he didn’t even conceive the idea of fear. He felt like a god in this state!

Omniscient and omnipotent!

Holding his compound bow, virtual lights leaped from the void, forming a translucent line from the arrow tip to his rapidly approaching foe.

This line was his shooting trajectory. Unhappened yet, but the result was known!

As the arrow moved, various possibilities presented themselves.

Ji Xinghuo quickly adjusted his aim—eyes, throat, heart. None would threaten his foe easily dodged or deflected.

If hit non-vitally, it wouldn’t be lethal, and his own death would follow.

Layers of light and shadow intermingled in his vision, countless pieces of information and possibilities unfolding incomprehensibly.

Finally, the scene settled!

Ji Xinghuo released the first arrow, aiming not at the enemy but a billboard 90 meters away on the roadside.

His practice arrow, made of carbon-aluminum, was exceptionally light. To suit the high-powered bow, it was weighted to 35 grams.

Swoosh…

With a whistle, the arrow pierced the billboard’s casing, striking the internal capacitor, causing an instant short circuit and a chain reaction.

Boom!

The five-meter-high billboard exploded.

One side of glass shattered into countless pieces, scattering around. Several broken wires fell to the ground, sparking.

It had rained recently, so a thin layer of water covered the ground.

At that moment, Shadow Blade neared the puddle.

Reacting swiftly, he dared not risk stepping on potentially electrified ground, quickly sidestepping to hug the building’s wall as he continued his approach towards Ji Xinghuo.

Ji Xinghuo stood just outside the door, also close to the wall.

He released the second arrow.

But it was misaimed.

At least, in Shadow Blade’s eyes, the arrow’s path deviated half a meter to the left, clearly missing him. Thus, he ignored it.

“After all, just a junior anomaly. Having the courage to face me is commendable.”

“A performance drop is normal.”

Shadow Blade thought so, moving tens of meters closer within moments.

His eyes locked on the young man with the bow, who had already nocked a third arrow, aiming slightly down at his chest. He seemed unaware of the actual situation. Even if this arrow hit, it wouldn’t kill him.

“You’re about to die.”

His ‘Shadow Blade’, tangible now, pulsated with a faint light.

Against a stronger opponent, the Shadow Blade would need to attach to a dagger or short sword to maximize its lethality. But the opponent was just a junior anomaly; a casual stab could pierce right through and easily slit the throat.

Ting…

Suddenly, Shadow Blade heard a collision.

Coming from very close, he saw with the corner of his eye an arrow altering its trajectory after striking a nearby wall, descending to hit his left knee.

It was the arrow he had just ignored!

This was completely unexpected. The collision point with the wall was only two or three meters away, giving him no time to react.

The arrow lodged in his knee, penetrating a few centimeters, causing sudden intense pain.

“Uh…”

Shadow Blade grunted, driven by the pain in his left leg’s earlier wound. His entire leg refused to bear weight, throwing his body off balance and nearly causing a fall.

Struggling to maintain balance and not even having time to feel relief, he looked up to see his foe.

A diamond-shaped black spot rapidly enlarged in his vision.

The third arrow struck his right eye, instantly piercing through the brain. Half the arrow emerged from the back of his head.

Under the momentum, Shadow Blade’s body continued to lurch forward, eventually collapsing and rolling a few meters, stopping just short of Ji Xinghuo.

Ji Xinghuo watched calmly as the lifeless body confirmed his death.

“Phew!”

He suddenly gasped for air, uncontrollably exiting the strong state opened by the ‘All-Seeing Star Pupil’.

Instantly, his head throbbed, and both physical and mental energies plummeted to all-time lows, leaving him feeling drained and dizzy.

“Ugh…”

Leaning against the wall, Ji Xinghuo vomited the barbecue he had just eaten.

It wasn’t due to his first killing; he felt nothing. The vomiting was due to dizziness from his brain, beyond his control. As he vomited, he heard his heart pounding, finally feeling a wave of fear.

And all this was because I looked your way just once more…

“What was the All-Seeing Star Pupil earlier?”

Recalling the event, Ji Xinghuo first checked the interface of the All-Seeing Star Pupil, noticing something unusual.

【All-Seeing Star Pupil Owner: Ji Xinghuo】

【Species: Earth Human】

【Rank: Junior Anomaly】

【Star Power: 1/56】

【Anomaly: Thousand Clever Hands (Level 1, 10/47)】

【Spiritual Source Energy: 137】

Ji Xinghuo was stunned.

During the enemy’s killing, he saw something detach from the body—like mist, morphing and vanishing quickly, while his mind seemed to gain something—it turned out to be Spiritual Source Energy!

The Spiritual Source Energy he had studied for long suddenly manifested!

“Does killing yield Spiritual Source Energy?”

Initially shocked, Ji Xinghuo’s thoughts grew complex. Now wasn’t the time to ponder the uses of Spiritual Source Energy.

He immediately used his phone to call the police.

With a few clicks on the warning messages, the operation was set in motion. The Security Department would locate his phone coordinates and arrive shortly.

People already noticed the situation at the building entrance and turned to run.

Ji Xinghuo observed the corpse on the ground.

He still felt residual unease; he had killed a super anomaly!

Suddenly, he noticed an object by the corpse, likely falling out of a pocket during the death roll. The item was a crystal, clear and irregular in shape with sharp edges. Just looking at it conveyed a sense of abundant ‘activity’, causing slight air distortions around it.

This was ether energy, very familiar.

“An anomaly?”

The crystal seemed familiar to Ji Xinghuo, yet slightly different. He couldn’t remember precisely at the moment.

He was sure it must be a particularly powerful anomaly!

After pondering, he bent down to pick it up.

The crystal was light, nearly weightless. If not for its unique activity, it would look just like shattered glass on the roadside.

Its texture wasn’t as hard as he imagined, slightly elastic yet tough, like a jellybean.

Ji Xinghuo examined it intently.

Suddenly, the interface of the All-Seeing Star Pupil popped up in his vision, displaying previously unseen information.

【Anomaly: Rotating Magnetic Field】

【Grade: Transcendent】

【Fusion Success Rate: 99%】

【Eligible for Upgrade: Yes】

Ji Xinghuo’s pupils dilated, his hand holding the crystal trembled slightly.

Shocked not only because the crystal was a transcendent-grade anomaly but also by the newfound capabilities of the All-Seeing Star Pupil—it could directly display anomaly information!

Ji Xinghuo stood rooted to the spot, taking a long time to recover his senses.

Just then, he heard a rumbling above, looked up, and saw a medium-sized aerospace fighter hovering above the apartment building. The belly hatch opened, and a shining figure descended rapidly from the sky towards him.