Chapter 225: Test Firing (3/3)

"Of course there are prizes!" Fang Qi opened the wall cabinet, revealing briefcases of various sizes resting quietly within, their surfaces gleaming with a subtle metallic luster.

He reached in, retrieving the largest, elongated briefcase and setting it open, drawing almost everyone in the room into a tight, expectant circle.

"So this is the actual AWP sniper rifle?" The barrel, the scope, and every intricate component lay disassembled and nestled within the case; beside them rested twenty brass-colored bullets, their elongated casings instilling an immediate, skin-crawling sense of dread at first glance.

Nalan Mingxue, drawing upon the firearms expertise she had acquired from Resident Evil, assembled the weapon almost instantly, her hands feeling its immense, heavy heft.

Peering through the optic, she found her vision suddenly pulled close, the distant scenery magnified sharply behind the steady lines of the crosshairs.

Beside her, Su Tianji retrieved her own team's prize, assembling and chambering it with a fluid, seamless grace born from countless hours spent in the game.

Even without ammunition, as the muzzle swept across the room, many in the crowd instinctively took several steps back.

Liang Shi and his companions had never experienced such reverence; to have competed on the same stage as these grand cultivators and nobles and still secure third place was a feat beyond their wildest dreams.

He fondled the Desert Eagle in his hands with profound affection, only for a teammate to snatch it away moments later to marvel at it with wide-eyed wonder.

"Furthermore," Fang Qi said, pulling several trophies from the cabinet and handing them to the top placers, "for those in the Diablo individual tournament, please submit your desired equipment list to me. They will be distributed tomorrow."

"The craftsmanship... is simply exquisite!" The onlookers murmured in collective envy.

"Look at this! The internal gears! The handiwork!" Junyangzi had finally managed to borrow the AK from Su Tianji, examining it closely. "This method of fabrication must rely heavily on mechanism arts, shouldn't it? Every seam fits perfectly! Truly a work of divine craftsmanship!"

Li Hanran nodded in agreement. "Indeed, it is far more refined than anything we have previously made. This style of artifact forging seems to combine mechanical components with chemical reactions similar to those used in alchemy. To achieve such a state entirely without the engraving of arrays—in certain aspects, they surpass us by far."

"If nothing else," Nalan Mingxue thought, a sharp chill running through her mind, "if some array formations were engraved onto these sniper rounds, it wouldn't be impossible for a well-trained ordinary person to assassinate a Martial Grandmaster from a kilometer away."

Unlike the sniper rifle, the assault rifle Su Tianji received clearly came with several spare magazines; she glanced around and asked, "Boss, can we test it out?"

The entire crowd instantly retreated in a massive circle, falling utterly silent.

"How exactly do you want to test it?" Fang Qi's face darkened with exasperation. "Were you planning to spray a round of bullets inside my shop?"

"Let's step outside," Li Hanran suggested. "I happen to have an artifact testing target and an artifact testing stone with me."

"...As expected of someone who runs an artifact shop," Fang Qi muttered.

Almost everyone swarmed outside in a frantic rush, watching as Li Hanran retrieved a smooth, black stone tablet from his storage artifact. "A low-tier artifact testing stone. Give it a try."

Da-da-da-da-da-da!

"Holy crap!" Song Qingfeng and the others stared at the muzzle flashing with fire, their eyes filled with a mixture of intense excitement and fierce jealousy.

"A real AK! A real AK!" The shop already boasted plenty of Resident Evil and Counter-Strike players, meaning there was no shortage of firearms enthusiasts; witnessing this scene, nearly all of them shouted in pure exhilaration.

"The testing stone was pierced right through!"

"I want one so badly..." Ji Yu and her companions watched with envious eyes; their recent firearms training had turned them into absolute gun enthusiasts as well.

"Such excellent items—I must find a way to get a few of these into the palace later!" Ji Wu watched with a stirred heart, though the memory of his Royal Team failing to even make the top eight brought a pang of regret. "Next tournament, my Dajin Royal Team will definitely take the crown!"

"Let me try!" Liang Shi had always wanted a firearm, never expecting this dream to miraculously come true; he gripped the Desert Eagle tightly, his arm strength sufficient to hold the weapon steady with a single hand.

Boom!

A massive gunshot rang out, causing everyone's eyes to light up. "The power is incredible!"

The members of the Lingyun No. 2 Team, who had placed a bitter fourth, watched these prizes with an agonizing sense of frustration.

They had been so close!

"Make way! Make way!" At that moment, Lin Shao, Xu Luo, and the others shouted triumphantly. "Let us witness the power of the sniper rifle!"

Nalan Mingxue shouldered the rifle, taking steady aim.

Everyone instinctively scattered backward.

A deafening roar shattered the air, and the pitch-black testing stone instantly snapped into two pieces; where the bullet had torn through, a massive crater remained amidst a shower of flying debris.

Most of the people present stared at the sheer destruction, clicking their tongues in amazement.

"Young Master Xiao, what do you think?" Mu Donglai asked from the side.

"This young master asserts that if I ran into this thing, I'd be thoroughly done for!" Xiao Yulv stared fixedly at the firearms in their hands. "Could you lend it to this young master for a try?"

After all, he spent every single day watching Counter-Strike from behind Su Tianji, yet he had never actually touched a gun.

"Sister Fenghua!" He quickly approached Fenghua, who was currently admiring her AK with deep affection, and said eagerly, "Could you let your younger brother take a look?"

"Ahem," Fang Qi cleared his throat. "Those blacklisted by this shop..."

"Boss? He's not allowed to see it?" Fenghua immediately pulled the gun back, her face turning to one of utter disdain. "Apologies, you can't look at it."

Xiao Yulv nearly snapped, glaring at Fang Qi through gritted teeth. "...Boss, you are going too far!"

Fang Qi patted his own head. "Apologies, I remembered incorrectly. The prizes have already been given out; they are no longer within the jurisdiction of the shop's rules."

"Really?!" Xiao Yulv said in disbelief.

"Hahahahaha!" Xiao Yulv immediately snatched and hugged the AK that was still in Fenghua's hands, laughing uproariously. "This young master can finally play with a gun too!"

"It's just a single firearm, what is there to make such a fuss about?" Nalan Hongwu walked out of the shop, stuffing the registered prize list into Fang Qi's hand.

He gestured toward Nalan Mingxue. "Come, come! Girl Xue, fire a couple of shots, let this old man test its might!"

"Boom!"

With a massive roar, Nalan Mingxue fired a shot without a moment's hesitation.

"Holy crap, she actually shot!"

Fang Qi's face twitched.

Nalan Hongwu's incredibly profound Martial Qi instantly condensed into a thick, invisible wall of air directly in front of him.

"Hehe! Kid Fang! It still can't do anything to this old man!" Nalan Hongwu glared triumphantly at Fang Qi.

"Holy crap!"

"Incredible!"

"Catching a bullet with bare hands!"

"And it's a sniper bullet at that!"

Fang Qi's face remained dark. "Go catch an atomic bomb if you're so capable."

Son of a gun.

Junyangzi watched from the side with great amusement. "It is enough! It is enough! This is still without any engraved array formations. Once it is engraved and infused with attributes like 'Ignore Defense,' 'Freeze Target,' or 'Slow Target,' we shall try again then."

"Is there anything I wouldn't dare to try?" Nalan Hongwu snorted coldly without mercy. "When the time comes, let this old man be the first to test its power!"

...

By this time, Lan Mo finally felt a sense of relief; the Wuwei Daoist Alliance had at least secured a prize, even if it wasn't won by his own Blue Flame Sect.

Furthermore, the Bu Family and the entire network of cultivator aristocratic families within Dajin were deeply intertwined with the Wuwei Daoist Alliance, with many having joined its ranks long ago. If they could unite and cooperate fully, breaking the existing power structure might not be entirely impossible.

Most importantly, he saw the opportunity to take a step further.

This was precisely why Lan Mo had suppressed any unrest even when the Wuwei Daoist Alliance faced a total blockade.