569: Chapter 569 I've rested enough; time to get down to business.

Early the next morning, sunlight squeezed through the cracks in the window lattices, painting long, slender golden lines on the bluestone floor.

Xu Ruyu opened his eyes; the Moonstone had already gone out, and dawn had arrived.

He turned his head to see Xiao Nianyin still sleeping beside him, her long hair scattered across the pillow. The quilt only covered her up to her shoulders, revealing a section of her arm marked with several faint red streaks—marks left by his grip the previous night.

He reached out and pulled the quilt up slightly to cover her shoulders.

Xiao Nianyin moved slightly, her brows furrowing a bit, but she didn't open her eyes.

"Awake?" Xu Ruyu asked.

"Not awake."

Her voice was slightly raspy, a result of the passionate gasps from the night before.

Xu Ruyu smiled and got up to get dressed.

As he was tying his belt, Xiao Nianyin rolled over and wrapped the quilt even tighter around herself, leaving only a small section of her ice-blue hair tips visible.

"You don't have anything to do today, right?"

He asked.

Xiao Nianyin's voice came from under the quilt, muffled: "I have things to do."

"What things?"

"Sleep."

After Xu Ruyu finished dressing, he walked to the bedside, leaned down, and kissed the top of her head.

"Then sleep. I'm going to get busy."

Xiao Nianyin didn't answer.

Her breathing quickly became steady again.

Xu Ruyu walked out of Ningyin Hall. The sunlight was a bit dazzling, so he squinted as he headed toward the Martial Arts Arena.

On the Martial Arts Arena, over three hundred Hehuan Sect Disciples had already assembled.

They stood in small groups; some were still yawning, some were rubbing bruises from the previous night's scuffles, and others were discussing something in low voices.

The Grand Elder stood at the very front, with Hua Xunhuan on his left and Granny Liu on his right.

Leng Ningshuang stood in the front row of the Disciples, along with Zhao Yan, Ning Caihe, and Qingyan. Seeing Xu Ruyu approach, everyone fell silent simultaneously.

The Grand Elder stepped forward and cupped his hands, saying, "Sect Master, you've arrived."

Xu Ruyu nodded and walked onto the high platform in the center of the Martial Arts Arena.

That was where the former Hehuan Sect Leader used to give speeches. The platform wasn't large, but it stood high, providing a far-reaching view.

Standing on the platform, his gaze swept across the three hundred-plus faces below.

"Are you all well-rested?"

He asked.

"Yes!"

A few loud-mouthed Disciples shouted back.

"It's fine if you aren't," Xu Ruyu smiled. "Today's work isn't tiring; it's mainly for fun."

A low murmur of discussion broke out below the stage.

Zhao Yan scratched his head and asked the Grand Elder, "What does the Sect Master mean by 'fun'?"

The Grand Elder shook his head; he didn't know either.

Xu Ruyu began pulling things out of his storage ring.

The first item was a qi-breaking gun. Its body was slender, and the dark silver metallic surface was covered in intricate Array Pattern.

He held the gun up so everyone could see it.

"This, you've seen before. Zhou Daniu, come here."

Zhou Daniu squeezed out of the crowd and ran onto the platform.

His face still had bruises from last night's fight, but his eyes were bright as stars.

He took the qi-breaking gun, skillfully flipped the safety, and checked the energy slot in one smooth motion.

"Do you still remember how to use it?"

Xu Ruyu asked.

"I remember!" Zhou Daniu grinned. "You taught me when we were with the Taihu Clan."

Xu Ruyu nodded and pulled a second item from the storage ring.

It was a sniper rifle twice as long as the qi-breaking gun, with a slender barrel equipped with a scope ground from transparent crystal.

He handed it to Li Ergou, who was nearby.

"The Chuanyang Gun, capable of taking a life from five hundred yards.

You used it back with the Taihu Clan, remember?"

Li Ergou's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly took it.

"I remember, I remember! Sect Master, are we doing target practice again today?"

Xu Ruyu didn't answer, continuing to pull items out.

One Thunder Roar Cannon, then three more—he moved them one by one from the storage ring, lining them up neatly on one side of the platform.

The barrels were thick enough to fit a fist inside, and the cannon bodies were dense with Array Pattern, gleaming with a cold, eerie light in the sun.

Zhao Tiezhu's eyes went wide, and he swallowed hard.

"Sect Master, these cannons... can we use them today too?"

Xu Ruyu gave him a smiling glance.

"There will be plenty of places where I'll need you."

Next, he produced six sets of Source Energy Armor. The dark silver plates glinted in the sun, complete with chest plates, bracers, greaves, and combat boots.

He had Sun Xiaohua, Zhou Xiaolian, and a few other female Disciples put them on. They had worn them before at Tianyin Mountain and were quite proficient.

"Put on the armor and activate the Array Pattern. Don't turn on all the functions yet; just test the basic protection," Xu Ruyu instructed.

Once everything was ready, Xu Ruyu stood on the platform and pointed toward the flowing light screen in the distance.

"Do you see those people?"

Everyone followed his finger.

Inside the light screen, over a thousand Cultivators from the Righteous Path Alliance were crowded onto the field. Some were standing, some sitting, some lying down—all of them looking listless.

They had spent the entire night struggling, trying every method to break the array, but nothing worked.

They had only quieted down near dawn. Now, most were slumped on the ground, too tired to move or even speak.

"I see them," Zhou Daniu said.

"That light screen has them trapped," Li Ergou added.

Xu Ruyu nodded.

"Starting today, they are your targets."

The Martial Arts Arena fell silent.

It wasn't the silence of fear, but the silence of being stunned, as if they had misheard.

Xu Ruyu repeated himself: "I said, targets. Take your guns and shoot at them. Just don't kill them."

Zhao Yan was the first to react.

"Sect Master, you mean... use those people for practice?"

"Yes."

Zhao Yan grinned, revealing a full row of white teeth.

"This is good, very good! I've long found those people an eyesore!"

Li Ergou held the Chuanyang Gun, weighing it in his hands and gauging the distance to those inside the light screen. He turned to ask Xu Ruyu, "Sect Master, what if we accidentally kill them?"

"If they die, it's a workplace accident," Xu Ruyu said. "When we negotiate the price with their Sects later, we'll just charge an extra funeral fee."

Li Ergou chuckled and asked no more.

The Grand Elder was somewhat worried and walked to Xu Ruyu's side, lowering his voice.

"Sect Master, is this a bit too... those people from the Righteous Path Alliance do have their own Sects after all. If we really kill them..."

Xu Ruyu patted his shoulder.

"Grand Elder, have you gone soft? Did you forget how they treated us at the Tianyan Sect? They wanted to wipe us all out, leaving no one alive.

We are only using them as targets for gun practice now; that's already very merciful."

The Grand Elder opened his mouth but said nothing more.

Xu Ruyu turned back to face the crowd below the platform.

"Everyone, listen up.

Those with Spiritual Artifacts, take them out. Those without, watch for now. We will take turns; everyone will get a chance.

The targets are those people inside the light screen. You can hit them anywhere, just avoid vitals and don't kill them.

Whoever kills someone gets no dinner tonight."

Zhou Daniu was the first to raise his gun.

He aimed the qi-breaking gun at a standing Cultivator inside the light screen.

The man was wearing a white Daoist robe, clearly a Disciple of the North Pole Ice Soul Palace.

Xu Ruyu nodded, signaling him to begin.

Zhou Daniu pulled the trigger.

Bang!

A beam of pale golden light shot from the muzzle, so fast its trajectory was nearly invisible. It instantly passed through the light screen—the screen reacted to internal attacks but seemed to offer no resistance to attacks from the outside.

The golden light pillar accurately struck the man's shoulder.

The white-robed Cultivator screamed, clutching his shoulder as he fell to the ground. Blood seeped through his fingers, and he rolled in agony.

The Hehuan Sect Disciples outside the Martial Arts Arena erupted in cheers.

"A hit! Zhou Daniu hit him!"

Zhou Daniu grinned and waved back at the crowd.

"Watch closely, boys!"

He fired another shot, this time hitting another Cultivator's thigh.

That man had been crouching on the ground doing something unknown; when hit, he faceplanted and clutched his leg, howling.

His nearby Sect brothers were thrown into a panic, looking around wildly, unable to tell where the attack had come from.

They couldn't see the people outside the light screen; they could only see the murky light screen flowing slightly.

The people outside, however, could see everything inside clearly, like watching rabbits in a cage.

Not to be outdone, Li Ergou set up his Chuanyang Gun and aimed carefully through the scope.

His target was an elderly man sitting cross-legged in meditation, who looked like an Elder of the Tianxuan Sect based on his attire.

The distance was about four hundred yards; the wind was coming from the left, drifting slightly to the right.

His finger rested on the trigger as he adjusted his breathing, steady and calm.

Bang!

A beam thinner, brighter, and sharper than that of the qi-breaking gun shot from the muzzle, piercing the light screen and hitting exactly one inch beside the old man's crossed legs.

It wasn't a miss; Li Ergou had missed on purpose.

Stone chips flew. The old man snapped his eyes open, his face turning deathly pale as he sprang up from the ground, looking around frantically but seeing nothing.

"A miss?"

A nearby Disciple asked.