11 The Deliberate Failure of an Assassination and the Inevitable Triumph of a Speech (Part Two)

Smoke rose as nearly a hundred modified guns fired simultaneously. Wei Wuji, having just survived the ordeal of the Dissociation Spell, dared not be careless. He first repeated an old trick, deploying the Shift of Heaven and Earth from the Arts of the Mysterious Gate. But he immediately realized his mistake. These three volleys amounted to nearly ninety bullets—each individually less powerful than the previous trio’s attack, but combined, they were no less formidable. Fired from over ninety different angles, these bullets forced him to his limits. The Shift of Heaven and Earth technique, which relied on a talisman array to analyze the trajectory and energy properties of attacks through the innate Eight Trigrams, was meant to redirect or absorb assaults within a manageable threshold.

The first wave of ninety-odd bullets did not exceed what Wei Wuji could bear. His spiritual senses barely managed to calculate the trajectories and impact points before the bullets left their muzzles. With a burst of magical power, he caused all the bullets to abruptly change direction less than a meter from him, colliding with one another in midair before falling as a heap of twisted metal.

But the real danger lay ahead. As soon as the first three ranks of soldiers finished firing, they swiftly retreated, replaced by another three ranks who raised their dark gun barrels toward him.

Wei Wuji was appalled. He now knew the full extent of these weapons’ power—far inferior to the Dissociation Spell, and even if caught off guard, a few shots would sting like a wasp, but no more. Continuous volleys, however, could be deadly, and though he came from the Daoist tradition and did not claim mercy as openly as the Awakened of the Peacock Dynasty, he had no desire for needless bloodshed.

His flying sword had been reduced to ashes in the thunder tribulation, so he had to call upon other powers. With a thunderous cry, his body was enveloped in a golden radiance and lifted into the air. Had anyone been able to see through his clothes at that moment, they would have witnessed a strange sight: at his lower abdomen, a translucent orb the size of a fist pulsed with radiant golden light, revealing no internal organs, only this luminous pellet.

The second volley was even fiercer—at least a hundred and twenty guns targeted the ascending Wei Wuji. Before his escaping light reached maximum speed, he was, for the moment, a sitting duck and could only curse his misfortune.

The officer directing the assault was unnerved as well. After the first ninety shots, not a hair on the intruder’s head was harmed. The second wave, with over a hundred bullets, seemed unreliable. With a wave of his hand, he ordered the third rank to fire before the second had finished, and these soldiers used weapons distinctly superior to the previous ones. Their bullets were gray-black, crafted from Ackerman metal, and inscribed with arcane runes.

Wei Wuji, drawing on the power of the golden core within his lower dantian, forced himself into the air. Among Daoists, flight was usually achieved by riding a sword—a method that, while not fast at lower levels, consumed little spiritual energy and was ideal for travel. But when a sword or similar artifact was unavailable, only those who had reached at least the golden core stage could achieve true flight by relying on their internal power.

Now, by channeling his golden core, Wei Wuji produced an escaping light that not only buoyed him upward, shielding him from the fierce winds and cold of high altitude, but also granted formidable resistance to various types of damage. Ordinary flames or ice could no longer harm him, though such flight consumed the energy stored in his core, so he rarely resorted to it.

The third volley came mere seconds after the second, but its bullets were far more potent: not only did they strike with greater force, but upon hitting Wei Wuji’s escaping light, they unleashed a secondary magical attack—reminiscent of the spells he encountered earlier in the great hall. Though less powerful than the Dissociation Spell, they surpassed ordinary gunfire, combining both physical and magical harm. Most daunting was their sheer number—this round alone matched the total of the previous two.

Within his escaping light, Wei Wuji extended his forefinger and traced true Daoist sigils. His protective shield, battered by successive volleys, had faded to a thinness like worn paper, threatening to vanish entirely. If it failed, he would have to endure the enchanted bullets with his own body and would plummet from the sky.

Fortunately, the spells conjured by his Daoist seals reinforced his defenses in time. A mountain-shaped barrier manifested outside his escaping light, absorbing the hail of bullets. Seizing the moment, Wei Wuji continued his ascent, channeling energy into his escaping light until its golden glow shone bright once more.

The officer, seeing the escaping light re-ignite, veins bulging in frustration, understood the stakes: one man had stormed the Prime Minister’s speech, and hundreds of guns could not bring him down. Should he escape, disgrace and dismissal would surely follow.

Wei Wuji ascended at least two hundred meters before the mountain-like shield was finally worn away by the enchanted bullets, and even the escaping light began to flicker under the relentless assault. Yet he managed to break free, his escaping light hovering at three hundred meters as he gazed downward, hoping that the Republic would now feel some measure of apprehension.

Twisting his body, Wei Wuji let out a long, resonant cry. His escaping light trailed behind him like a comet’s tail as he streaked toward the southwest.

Such an incident during a speech was disastrous, but a skilled politician knows how to turn calamity into opportunity. And Hualenheit was such a man.

Unshaken by Wei Wuji’s sudden attack, he had deftly evaded harm—as, indeed, Wei Wuji had intended, not wishing to injure him and thereby revealing mercy. The women magicians from the Ladies’ Academy cast layers of defensive spells upon Hualenheit, and with over a dozen enchantments, even Wei Wuji would have struggled to harm him.

The secret agents responsible for security clustered around the Prime Minister. The chief, sweating profusely, could not persuade him to leave the hall.

Hualenheit brushed aside the agents and strode to center stage. The beleaguered agents followed, forming a human shield with their bodies, eyes scanning the crowd for any renewed threat.

Hualenheit raised his hands to calm the noisy assembly: “Everyone, do not panic. The assailant has fled, but outside awaits a net from which there is no escape. Justice will triumph over evil. I deeply apologize for frightening you, for making you share this storm that certain people wish upon me. But we should thank this criminal.”

By this time, Wei Wuji had escaped the hall. The chaos subsided under the agents’ guidance, and the audience grew quiet, listening as Hualenheit continued:

“Because he has shown us: Citizens of Landia, for justice, for fairness, for democracy, for freedom—we must defend our homeland. In the face of evil, we must not retreat. Darkness and evil will not halt at our withdrawal; on the contrary, they will only press closer. Only by taking up arms, by striking back, can we force them to yield.”

The hall fell silent, then erupted in thunderous applause.

And so, the evil, shadowed Wei Wuji had truly been repelled by hundreds of modified guns and enchanted bullets, his escaping light nearly shattered.

PS: For the reader asking about thunder tribulation—thunder tribulation does not necessarily mean ascension. In the setting of this novel, there is no Immortal Realm (and if there were, it would surely be the center of some grand conspiracy—remember that). Everything takes place in the material world, though beings from other planes have already appeared in the Treasure arc. Thunder tribulation is tied to the setting of Huaguo, and this book may or may not address it explicitly. If you’re interested, I’ll have characters discuss it in passing later on. In short, I don’t believe thunder tribulation in xianxia novels must always be a preparation for ascension—it may simply be a test from Heaven itself.