The sniper rifle in Wang Xuan's hands was very heavy, something ordinary people would struggle to even lift, let alone run swiftly with it while maintaining steady aim.
The camouflage on his protective suit automatically changed color, merging Wang Xuan with the environment as he peered through the high-magnification scope, searching for the enemy's presence.
To snipe him, a great shooting point was required, high and with a clear view. Besides those skyscrapers a thousand meters away, the enemy had no other options.
Following the corridor, Wang Xuan ascended the main office building of the Immortal Martial Combat Hall, swiftly reaching the rooftop, his actions both quick and concealed.
The barrel of his gun kept moving, searching through the windows of distant skyscrapers, and soon Wang Xuan identified several suspicious points.
Located within University City, the Immortal Martial Combat Hall was surrounded by several universities, each with main teaching buildings not less than fifty or sixty meters tall.
Each floor had over a dozen rooms, and each room had three windows, some with curtains drawn, others fully visible.
An hour ago, three young men in their twenties, carrying violin cases, had entered the university's teaching building, appearing as ordinary students rehearsing for some performance.
It was common for students to borrow classrooms for rehearsal in universities, making it unsurprising and bringing no suspicions.
However, no one knew their violin cases hid sniper rifles and that they were assassins, tasked with killing Wang Xuan.
Spread across different rooms on various floors, they communicated through earpieces, setting up sniping points, watching the Immortal Martial Combat Hall, waiting for Wang Xuan to appear on some path.
"Long, the person that just appeared seems to be the target," one said to another, codenamed Long, Hu, and Leopard.
"Indeed, but he noticed something was wrong and hid immediately. I think we've been exposed," Long replied.
"Should we leave?" the third man asked. Judging by appearances, all were in their early twenties, but their voices sounded closer to thirty.
A sniper's worst fear is being discovered before taking the shot, losing the advantage of knowing the enemy's position while remaining hidden.
"Let's wait a bit longer. Even if he knows something is wrong, he won't know our location," Long expressed full confidence in their hiding capabilities.
Since joining the Assassin Alliance, they had completed scores of missions, sniping adversaries with ease. Even if one bullet missed, two others would follow instantly.
They kept monitoring every movement within sight, analyzing every silhouette. There would only be one chance to shoot, as experts were stationed at the Immortal Martial Combat Hall.
Half an hour passed, Wang Xuan's figure nowhere to be seen. Leopard grew impatient, leaned against a wall, lit a cigarette, and started smoking.
After a while, he flicked the cigarette butt, stretched his body to invigorate his tendons and bones, and repositioned himself with the sniper rifle to search for the target again.
A thousand meters away, Wang Xuan's finger brushed the trigger, rapidly locking onto the target. With a "bang" sound, a bullet shot out of the barrel.
The immense recoil was transmitted to Wang Xuan's arms, but it did not affect him in the slightest. The supersonic bullet crossed a kilometer in a breath, heading towards a window of a teaching building.
With a "puff," the bullet pierced through the scope, penetrating a head, which exploded like a shattered watermelon.
Though greatly depleted of energy, the bullet went on to create a fist-sized hole in the wall behind after killing one.
If it had been closer, the wall would likely have been penetrated entirely.
The loud gunfire inevitably caught the others' attention, but when Long alerted them, Leopard had already ceased responding. The two cursed and aimed at the spot where Wang Xuan had been.
Slithering on the ground like a snake, Wang Xuan moved several meters away within seconds, leaping off the roof and disappearing from sight.
Long and Hu were naturally furious, as their long-time partner had suddenly died, especially at the hands of their target.
"That person is our target, right?" Hu asked.
"Indeed," Long responded through gritted teeth, not expecting Wang Xuan to also be a sniper, with such precise marksmanship, killing with just one shot.
He couldn't fathom how Wang Xuan discovered and located their shooting points so quickly.
"This place is no longer safe. We should leave," Hu calmly stated.
Long questioned, "What about the mission and Leopard's body?"
"Life is more important than anything," Hu replied, packing up and placing the sniper rifle back into the violin case, knowing they needed to blend into the crowd swiftly, as people from the Immortal Martial Combat Hall could arrive at any moment.
Descending the building, Wang Xuan noticed Chen Qingniu grabbing his wine flask, a sword hanging by his waist. Although he no longer practiced swordsmanship, he never abandoned it, the wine gourd ever remaining by his side.
"Did you shoot? Did you hit?" Chen Qingniu inquired.
"Headshot. Dead beyond dead," Zhou Wu remarked. He knew the instant Wang Xuan fired, also spotting the two a kilometer away.
Wang Xuan put away the sniper, coldly stating, "I will kill them."
"Heading out?" Zhou Wu asked.
"Heading out."
Thus, the three departed, swiftly arriving overhead where Long and Hu were with their floating car.
Long and Hu reacted quickly, blending with students and leaving the area, aware of the task's dangers but lured by its bountiful rewards.
On a shady path, they spotted Wang Xuan ahead, tall and formidable, unmistakably their target.
Exchanging glances, they dropped their violin cases and charged at Wang Xuan, executing a two-pronged attack, assaulting from both left and right.
Bam!
A punch and a kick landed on Wang Xuan, but he didn't budge an inch. Gripping the punch and kick with his hands, he remarked coldly, "In marksmanship, you are no match for me. In hand-to-hand combat, you fall even further behind!"
Despite being in the Muscle Strengthening and Skin Refining Realms, at close range, they were negligible. Wang Xuan could easily disregard their attacks.
Fueled by anger, Wang Xuan unleashed his power, twirling the two like pinwheels, producing a whooshing sound, snapping their tendons and bones.
Suddenly releasing them, the pair shot away like arrows, tracing a parabolic arc before crashing twenty to thirty meters away, immediately coughing blood, with their internal organs evidently shattered from the impact.
Their injuries were akin to being hit by a speeding truck, leaving them on the brink of death.
Slowly advancing, Wang Xuan overlooked the dying pair, devoid of pity. Anyone wishing to kill him deserved to die!
With a flick of his toe, their temples were struck heavily, eyes wide open, bloodshot with web-like red lines, their breaths ceasing momentarily.
"I'll wrap things up here. Three assassins came for you; they deserved death, and you might even collect a bounty of several hundred thousand," Chen Qingniu chuckled.
Life can sometimes be more fragile than people imagine.
In the dormitory, as Wang Xuan's boiling blood gradually cooled and his anger subsided, he felt little fluctuation from having killed three people, as calm as a cold, sharp blade.
Dialing the phone, Wang Xuan spoke to Leng Feng from the Hunting Team, "I encountered assassins. Can you check if there's a bounty on me?"
Leng Feng was taken aback but acted swiftly, finding the desired information on the dark web. Shortly, he replied, "Yes, someone has placed a bounty of one hundred million in the Assassin Alliance for your head, with a two-day deadline. You need to stay safe; there could be dozens of assassins waiting around you."
The Assassin Alliance, one of the two leading assassin organizations on the Mother Star, was led by the Assassin Emperor, who had launched a renowned attack against an external Immortal before achieving immortality, nearly succeeding.
"How to resolve this?" Wang Xuan asked.
"Join the Assassin Alliance, and the bounty on you will be nullified," Leng Feng immediately suggested. In fact, he had long wanted to recruit Wang Xuan into the assassin's domain, given Wang Xuan's strong talent, especially in marksmanship.
...
At the edge of Leaping Tiger Ravine in Meiling, a portal appeared, flickering like a mirage, standing twenty stories high, imbued with an ancient and distant aura.
Surrounding this portal, nearly a hundred Earth Immortals from Celestial Sword Mountain and the Immortal Martial Combat Hall faced off, eyes filled with animosity, tension palpable as though a battle could erupt at any moment.
A sword light descended from the sky, landing immediately on the ground as Fang Shan flicked his sleeve, gazing into the distance and casually saying, "He the Sixth, come out."
He the Sixth's figure appeared atop the mountain out of thin air, still puffing on his smoking pipe, enveloping himself in smoke with each puff.
In the midst of numerous Earth Immortals, the two men set up a small table, preparing drinks, with a chessboard laid out with hundreds of rows and thousands of pieces.
"I remember thirty years ago we played a game that ended in a draw, but you left before it could finish. I've kept the game ever since. Shall we continue?" He the Sixth proposed.
"Very well, let's see how much your Heart Power has progressed; make sure it's not just muscles you've built," Fang Shan teased, never forgetting losing a move to He the Sixth before.
Thus, the two elderly men leisurely sipped tea and placed their chess pieces in front of the tense camps ready for conflict.