Invincible through Touching Corpses

After parting ways with Fang Tianhe, Lin Xinghai sent Gao Mountain a message, asking to meet at a bar.

Soon after, the Mountain and Sea Mercenary Corps’s recruitment station also closed for the day.

Five minutes later, Lin Xinghai was in a small booth at the bar when he saw Gao Mountain and the others walk in.

"How many people did we recruit today?" Lin Xinghai asked.

"The morning was fine, but your Mercenary Corps started recruiting in the afternoon. With the benefits you’re offering, you’re barely leaving any room for First Level Mercenary Corps like us to survive! Fortunately, our standards aren’t as high, so we managed to snag a few people. We recruited 20 in total today." Though Gao Mountain was complaining, he couldn’t hide the smile on his face.

After all, including their original members, their Mercenary Corps now had 30 people. They weren’t far from their recruitment goal of 50.

"Excellent! Tell them to assemble at 8 AM sharp tomorrow. We’ll head out early," Lin Xinghai said with a nod.

"Yes, yes, of course!" Gao Mountain agreed readily, his excitement palpable.

Of course, he knew his social graces. Once his excitement subsided, he quickly extended an invitation. "Brother Lin, you haven’t eaten yet, have you? Why don’t we grab a bite together? I can book a restaurant."

"No need, I already have plans for dinner. However, to build some hype for you all for tomorrow, I’m planning to challenge the shooting leaderboard right now. You can come and watch if you’re interested." As he spoke, Lin Xinghai stood up.

’With my current Gun Technique, taking first place will be a breeze. I didn’t do it before because I was worried about standing out too much and drawing unwanted attention.’

’But now that I’ve met the Great Elder, I don’t have to worry about that anymore. I can take first place on the shooting leaderboard and add another layer of prestige to my name.’

’After all, not every mercenary has seen me in action. In that case, they’ll naturally trust the official rankings more.’

Hearing Lin Xinghai’s words, the eyes of Gao Mountain, Ling Xiu, and the others immediately lit up.

Gao Mountain was especially thrilled. He had missed Lin Xinghai’s last attempt on the shooting leaderboard, so he was delighted to have the chance to witness him take first place this time.

The group immediately got up and went to the third floor of the Mercenary Guild.

As it happened, the attendant they met this time was Zhuang Qiao, the same one who had helped them before.

"Ah! You’re the Divine Sharpshooter, Lin Xinghai." Only a few days had passed, so of course, Zhuang Qiao hadn’t forgotten this newcomer who had risen like a comet.

"That’s me," Lin Xinghai said, nodding with a smile. "I’m here to challenge the shooting leaderboard again."

He took out his Identity Card, ready for her to deduct the Points.

"Divine Sharpshooters don’t have to pay any Points. I’ll take you to the special-grade training ground right now," Zhuang Qiao said, leading the way.

The group followed closely behind, knowing the way. Soon, the training ground was activated. Lin Xinghai picked up two Tearing Rifles, gave them a quick inspection, and once he confirmed everything was in order, he started immediately.

Lin Xinghai breezed through the first four stages of the challenge without any difficulty. It wasn’t until the fifth stage that his expression grew a little more serious.

The others, however, were much more nervous. They all knew that last time, Lin Xinghai had made it 67% of the way through the fifth stage.

The current number one, Tang Zhuofei, had reached 76%. Whether Lin Xinghai could surpass him would all come down to this.

As the fifth stage was about to begin, Lin Xinghai finally released his Perception Power.

During his last challenge, he hadn’t understood any techniques for applying his Perception Power. He could only use it as an aid to get a rough sense of the iron balls’ positions.

But now, the entire shooting range was rendered in perfect detail under the blanket of his Perception Power. It was so powerful it could even penetrate the layers of mechanisms to lock onto the metal balls before they were even launched.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Lin Xinghai fired both guns with a casual air, his shots carrying a sense of rhythm and cadence.

Now that he had broken his second Genetic Lock, his reaction speed could perfectly keep pace with his thoughts, even with a metal ball flying out every 0.3 seconds.

The stage progress advanced rapidly: 10%... 30%... 70%.

By this point, the spectators were involuntarily holding their breath, not daring to blink for fear of missing the crucial moment.

When the progress bar surpassed 76%, Ling Xiu and the others couldn’t help but cheer for Lin Xinghai.

Even though they all felt that Lin Xinghai must have been confident of taking first place to even attempt the challenge, speculation was one thing, but witnessing it with their own eyes was something else entirely.

Just as their cheers died down, they saw that Lin Xinghai had already cleared the fifth stage.

"No need for a break. Start the sixth stage," Lin Xinghai said after reloading.

"O-Okay," Zhuang Qiao stammered.

Soon, the countdown for the sixth stage began. The spectators, like Gao Mountain and Ling Xiu, seemed even more nervous than Lin Xinghai himself.

After all, with every passing second, they felt like they were witnessing history in the making.

As the countdown ended, an iron ball shot out from an opening. Compared to the ping-pong-ball-sized targets of the fifth stage, the balls in the sixth stage were a size smaller—only about as big as a thumb. Their launch speed was also faster, with a new ball appearing every 0.2 seconds.

Furthermore, the magnetic fields on the walls were also shifting more rapidly, causing the balls to move more erratically before they hit the ground.

Yet none of this seemed to affect Lin Xinghai in the slightest. Every bullet he fired seemed to have eyes of its own, unerringly striking a metal ball.

The continuous sound of gunfire filled the air. The spectators felt like they were watching a masterclass in gunmanship.

By the time they snapped out of their daze, Lin Xinghai had already cleared the sixth stage.

When they heard Lin Xinghai ask to start the seventh stage, everyone felt breathless.

It was one thing for Lin Xinghai to take first place on the shooting leaderboard, but it was another thing entirely to do so by surpassing the previous record by a whole stage.

This would be an absolutely demoralizing record; it was unlikely anyone would ever be able to beat it.

The seventh stage began. The fired metal balls were now only the size of a green bean, and their speed had doubled again. There was only a 0.1-second window to react between when a ball was launched and when it landed, and the interval between launches was just as short.

Under these conditions, while Lin Xinghai’s Perception Power could lock onto the metal balls, he faced the same problem as his last challenge: the speed at which he could pull the trigger simply couldn’t keep up with the speed at which the balls were being launched.

This wasn’t just a matter of Lin Xinghai’s muscle reaction time; it also involved the mechanical limits of the firearms. After all, they weren’t designed to be fired at such a high frequency.

If he wanted a faster rate of fire, he could just switch to automatic mode.

However, in automatic mode, with his current Gun Technique, he wouldn’t be able to control each individual bullet.

Therefore, to clear the seventh stage, he would likely have to wait until he advanced to the Blood Qi Realm. At that point, his Perception Power would undergo a qualitative transformation, allowing him to use Intermediate Shooting Skill to control the trajectory of his bullets.

Ultimately, when the stage progress reached 13%, Lin Xinghai had used up his three chances for error, and the challenge ended.

After Lin Xinghai left the special-grade training ground, news of his score began to spread quietly. The effect was like dropping a depth charge into a placid lake.