Chapter Nine: Blades and Guns

The Tiger Zen Blade was enormous, measuring a full 1.2 meters in length. Its weight was a staggering 36 jin.

It is worth noting here that a standard weapon for an average adult male typically weighs between three and five jin. Ancient soldiers carried weapons within this same three-to-five-jin range; anything heavier would be cumbersome and difficult to wield effectively.

How Guan Yunchang could wield a Green Dragon Crescent Blade weighing 72 jin leaves only two possibilities: either the legends are exaggerated, or Guan Yunchang was a martial artist of extraordinary caliber. Naturally, the latter is highly probable. After all, martial arts have existed since ancient times; it stands to reason that a general who carved a path across the battlefield and left his name in history would be a superhuman fighter.

For a normal adult, five jin is the upper limit for a weapon; any heavier, and it loses its agility. Shen Ye’s strength, however, is eight times that of an average adult. In practical terms, he can handle a weapon weighing around 40 jin before it becomes unwieldy. While he had previously lifted a marble table weighing over 200 jin, that was merely a momentary burst of explosive power. He could not possibly brandish such a table for long—not unless he reached a higher level as a knight-errant, where his strength would be several times greater than it is now.

The Tiger Zen Blade, weighing 36 jin and appearing as a solid, pitch-black mass, was a truly intimidating sight. Standing 1.8 meters tall with a well-muscled build, Shen Ye looked equally formidable as he carried it.

Huaniu Hospital was a semi-underground facility engaged in illicit activities, and it naturally employed security guards. These men usually maintained order and prevented outsiders from entering. Seeing Shen Ye, they immediately blocked his path.

"What do you want?"
"Go on, get out of here. We aren't taking patients."

Shen Ye activated his Eye of Justice to assess the two thugs.

"Liu Zhuo, thug, involved in brawls and fighting. Sin value: 3."
"Fang Xiong, thug, frequently involved in brawls and fighting. Sin value: 3.5."

Neither reached a sin value of five, meaning they fell outside the threshold of those he would execute. However, they were hardly good people, so a little discipline was in order.

Seeing that Shen Ye had no intention of leaving, one of the thugs pulled out a steel pipe, striking a pose as if to say he would beat him if he didn't clear off. "Are you leaving or not?"

"Leaving? What kind of joke is that?" A smile curled at the corners of Shen Ye’s lips.

He swung the Tiger Zen Blade downward.

BOOM!

The 36-jin black blade descended with high velocity. It was as if he were a god destroying all who stood in his way. The two thugs—one holding a steel pipe, the other still smoking—were stunned. The one with the pipe stared at his flimsy weapon, while the smoker watched the black blade whistling toward him, both their minds freezing in an instant. They let out shrill cries and tried to flee for their lives.

But Shen Ye’s blade was far too fast; there was no chance for them to escape.

With a loud *thwack*, the blade struck both of them. Fortunately, Shen Ye had no intention of killing them, so he used the back of the blade. Even so, the sheer force shattered their breastbones. They were sent flying through the air, slamming against the wall before dropping to the ground. They coughed up a spray of blood and immediately lost consciousness.

...

"Bang!" A gunshot rang out.

Shen Ye was hit in the chest. Someone had been lying in ambush!

A middle-aged man wearing a vest and sporting a thin mustache emerged from a corner. His right hand casually twirled his handgun, spinning it expertly around his trigger finger. It was a Colt Python revolver—a double-action pistol that could also be fired single-action by pulling back the hammer, with a cylinder that swung out to the left for unloading and reloading. The firing mechanism could be tuned by a professional gunsmith to make the trigger pull lighter. With a 102mm barrel, this pistol was renowned for its precision and was even used in shooting competitions.

The man in the gray vest spat on the ground. "Pah. Just a rookie who thinks a few days of martial arts practice makes the world his playground. This is the modern age. There’s a thing called a handgun—it’s specifically designed to keep low-to-mid-level martial artists like you in check."

"Oh, there’s another one," the man said, raising his pistol toward Lu Yi, who was trailing behind.

Lu Yi immediately dove for cover, reaching for his own gun to return fire. His heart was filled with immense shock. Shen Ye, a greenhorn fresh to the martial world, had already been shot; he was a useless rookie. But he was the grandson of Captain Shen, so he had to be saved.

Just as Lu Yi was despairing, he noticed that Shen Ye was still standing where he was, neither retreating nor collapsing.

Shen Ye had indeed been hit by the bullet.

To put it plainly: generally, any martial artist at the "three-bag" level or higher can react to a gunman standing face-to-face, provided the distance isn't too short. After all, it takes time for a gunman to pull the trigger, and that delay gives a martial artist time to react. A key standard for being considered a "three-bag" expert is the ability to dodge gunfire from a distance of three meters.

However, if a gunman hides in the shadows and fires before you even know they are there, the speed of the bullet makes it very easy to get hit. Unless you are exceptionally lucky, you are almost certain to be struck. Thus, even "three-bag" to "six-bag" martial artists dread ambushes.

But Shen Ye was an exception. He had always been vastly different from ordinary martial artists; he was a creature of pure stats. His constitution was seven times that of a normal adult male, and his defense was likewise seven times higher. Even a strong "five-bag" martial artist, without the use of internal energy, would be lucky to have two or three times the constitution and defense of an average person.

A normal human’s bones are quite hard, but with a sevenfold increase in defense, their hardness is no less than steel. Even a bullet could not shatter Shen Ye’s bones. Of course, Shen Ye’s flesh and blood were also seven times harder than an average person’s; while tough, a bullet could still penetrate slightly.

But note: only slightly.

The gunman’s ambush shot had hit Shen Ye square in the chest, but the bullet had only penetrated halfway. The tail end of the slug remained stuck, unable to push any further. This was the effect of Shen Ye’s incredibly powerful attribute points.

Of course, this was also because the power of a handgun is limited. If it were a heavy machine gun, given the intensity and density of its fire, Shen Ye would have a high probability of dying even with his current stats, as heavy machine guns can tear through steel plating.

Shen Ye wasn't foolish enough to stand and tank heavy machine gun fire; he would use his spider silk to escape, taking only a few minor wounds if necessary.

As his attributes continued to rise, the threat posed by firearms would only continue to diminish.

The man in the vest and Lu Yi watched, stunned, as Shen Ye remained standing without even a drop of blood appearing. They looked closer and realized that while the bullet had indeed struck Shen Ye's chest, only the tip had entered his body, with the rest of the casing protruding from his skin.

Their eyes grew wider than goose eggs, and their mouths hung open in disbelief.

This! This! This!

How was this possible? How could anyone be shot and have the bullet fail to fully penetrate their body? Was he human, or some kind of ancient monster?

(Ancient ordinary soldiers typically carried weapons in the three-to-five-jin range.)