A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 351: Arcane Alchemy (I)

Among the many firearms, guns were undoubtedly the most common and practical ones. The development of guns in the East and the West were also different.

Due to the flourishing maritime trade and close exchanges between the East and the West, the development of firearms in the Eastern Continent was largely influenced by the Western Continent. An example would be the percussion lock firearm that was invented by the Western Continent and later spread to the Eastern Continent.

Later, there were obvious differences in the areas of development between the two sides. The Western Continent emphasized the importance of the firearm itself, while the Eastern Continent believed that the projectiles fired were the key.

As a result, the two sides embarked on a completely different path of development. Firearms in the Western Continent gradually trended toward abandoning projectiles, while firearms in the Eastern Continent continued to improve on projectiles, treating firearms as mere tools to launch them.

Due to this, the Eastern Continent quickly transitioned from cast lead balls that were separated from the gunpowder to paper cartridges and then later to metal cartridges. At the same time, various talismans were inscribed onto the casing. Some bullets were also crafted as talismans.

The high-grade talismans were not limited to talisman paper and could take on other forms. For example, formations were essentially magnified versions of talismans. The best talismans could even develop sentience, just like living beings. Talismans could even be implanted in the human body.

The Daoist concept of projectiles was a continuation of its talisman philosophy.

Therefore, the main potency of the Divine Dragon Pistol and the Green Bird Pistol did not come from the firearm itself but from the projectiles loaded into them. In a sense, the Divine Dragon Pistol was only developed to better adapt to the Dragon Eye Series ammunition. Due to the sheer firepower of the Dragon Eye Series ammunition, the Divine Dragon Pistol was designed to be a single-shot gun rather than a repeating rifle.

The West did not use talismans, so they did not think that projectiles were indispensable. Instead, they constantly tried to eliminate the existence of projectiles, their efforts bearing great success. For example, some of the best guns from the Western Continent shot out flames or ordinary projectiles, which were not as powerful as talisman-inscribed projectiles. But Western guns could do just as much damage due to the sheer quantity of bullets they could fire continuously.

The gun in Wang Baoyue’s hand used projectiles and could be fired continuously. Although it was not as powerful as the Divine Dragon Pistol loaded with a Grade-B Series Two Dragon Eye Bullet, it saved the user precious reloading time, which could make a world of difference in close combat.

Facing the gun in Wang Baoyue’s hand, Qi Xuansu knew that he had no time to dodge, so he simply lunged at his opponent.

Bang—!

The muzzle flash was blinding.

A cluster of blood bloomed on Qi Xuansu’s chest, but this did not affect his forward momentum. He even whipped out his short sword that he had previously concealed in his long and wide sleeves.

Wang Baoyue was startled, as he expected this Martial Arts Practitioner to be affected by this gunshot even if the latter had self-healing abilities. After all, it still took time for a Martial Arts Practitioner’s wounds to heal, and before a full recovery, they should be hindered to a certain extent.

Having successfully struck Qi Xuansu in the chest at close range, Wang Baoyue expected the bullet to create a wound that expanded within his opponent’s body before coming out from the back. Even if a Martial Arts Practitioner had a strong physique and would not die on the spot from this gunshot, they should temporarily lose the ability to move.

An ordinary person would have been thrown back from the impact of this gunshot, but Qi Xuansu’s body only swayed slightly, barely affected by it.

To Wang Baoyue’s surprise, the projectile did not penetrate through Qi Xuansu’s body. Instead, the projectile was stuck briefly before being spat out from Qi Xuansu’s chest the way it entered. This control of muscle contraction was a special ability of Guizhen-stage Martial Arts Practitioners.

In fact, even if Qi Xuansu was only at the Kunlun stage, this gunshot would not have killed him because he had an Auxiliary Heart worth tens of thousands of Taiping coins that could not be easily destroyed with a bullet. To put it bluntly, even if Qi Xuansu was incinerated by the Phoenix Eye Bomb, his Auxiliary Heart would have still been intact.

Wang Baoyue fired at Qi Xuansu’s heart, which was like striking impenetrable armor.

Qi Xuansu was not discouraged when the Seven Phoenix Feathers failed to pierce Wang Baoyue’s wrist. Instead, Qi Xuansu got the idea to chop off his opponent’s hand to stop the latter from using a gun.

Thus, Qi Xuansu injected some qi into Qing Yuan, which glowed with sword light. Paired with his brute strength as a Martial Arts Practitioner, Qi Xuansu was capable of splitting solid steel blocks.

However, Qi Xuansu did not expect to actually strike metal.

Clunk—!

With a flash of sword light, Wang Baoyue’s gun-wielding hand fell to the floor along with his gun.

Wang Baoyue’s hand turned out to be a prosthetic made of an unknown metal alloy. Qi Xuansu finally understood why the Seven Phoenix Feathers failed to pierce his opponent’s wrist.

What was even more shocking was the large black hole of a muzzle behind the severed hand. There was no blood and gore that Qi Xuansu had expected.

It turned out that Wang Baoyue’s arm was also a prosthetic, but it was modified into an arm cannon.

The next moment, the fiery red muzzle flash bloomed from the arm cannon, accompanied by an explosion that rocked the ironclad ship.

Black smoke billowed from the huge hole in the wall of the room. The Grand Canal outside became visible from where they were standing.

“Have you ever heard of Arcane Alchemy from the West?” Wang Baoyue leaned over and picked up the large-caliber gun he used earlier with his other hand.

Qi Xuansu barely managed to dodge the blast, and he was still reeling from the shock.

Though Qi Xuansu was an experienced fighter who could face most opponents with ease and a steady mind, this was only limited to the Eastern Continent.

He knew nothing about the ways of the Western Continent. Back then, during Tiangang Hall’s mission to Night Mountain, Qi Xuansu only managed to kill the weakened vampire Desmond because he had help from the Holy Court’s Bishop Arthur, who was a demon hunter.

Qi Xuansu had never seen a prosthetic arm that doubled as a cannon before.

At this time, Wang Baoyue pointed at Qi Xuansu again.

The Western Continent did not have talismans, but they had alchemy and arcanum. These were two distinct concepts of Western wizardry with completely different foundational theories and systems.

It was not until a great sage discovered that alchemy and arcanum could be integrated into the human body to reach a balance that this new concept of Arcane Alchemy emerged and developed rapidly in the West.

Arcane Alchemy was under the control of the Arcane Council. Its counterpart was the Divine Runes, which was controlled by the Holy Court. Although the Holy Court was the dominant authority in the West, the Arcane Council should not be underestimated. The relationship between the two was somewhat similar to the relationship between the Daoist Order and the Buddhist School in the East.

Wang Baoyue’s arm was transformed into a cannon and connected to his body. The arm cannon was like a living being that did not require any ammunition because it directly consumed one’s innate qi, magical power, and blood qi.

Compared with spells that needed the drawing of talismans or chanting of curses, an arm cannon was undoubtedly a faster and more direct form of attack. It also had an amplifying effect because the power of a cannon was far more intense than ordinary sword qi and fist intention.

However, this kind of modification would cost an arm, literally and figuratively, so not everyone could afford it. For reference, the cheapest bionic weapon after conversion from the Eagle silver coin was at least tens of thousands of Taiping coins.

Qi Xuansu originally wanted to capture Wang Baoyue alive, so he did not kill the pirate immediately. However, he miscalculated the situation and ended up in this passive position because he did not expect Wang Baoyue to have such an impressive weapon.

The loud blast of artillery resounded above the Grand Canal, with black smoke rising from the hole in the wall.

Qi Xuansu jumped out of the room through the hole in the wall and into the river below.

Wang Baoyue stood at the edge of the blasted cabin and raised his arm cannon to shoot at Qi Xuansu again.

A huge splash of water exploded on the river’s surface, filling the air with white vapor.

Qi Xuansu was nowhere to be seen.

At this moment, Xu Kou finally arrived. He kicked open the door and attacked Wang Baoyue, who was standing at the edge of the gap and firing shots into the water.

The moment Wang Baoyue felt a rush of wind coming from behind, he quickly turned around and shot Xu Kou in the head.

At the critical moment, Xu Kou did a backflip, narrowly escaping the shot.

However, this shot blew up the door and the wall, the shockwave deforming the metal door frame.

Xu Kou was also thrown back by the aftershock.

Fortunately, Xu Kou was also a Martial Arts Practitioner, so his injuries were not serious.

By the time Xu Kou stood up and looked over, Wang Baoyue had already disappeared amidst the smoke and dust.