Wang Xiaole understands the current situation and also knows the deep intentions of the young girl.

It seems that the girl intends to deny reality by offering herself an excuse; she wants to erase certain unpleasant memories as if they never happened, completely wiping them from her mind.

She is truly considerate. Unfortunately, many times accepting others' good intentions is more difficult than accepting reality.

Wang Xiaole understands: he can pretend to be ignorant, shamelessly putting this matter behind him, as long as he does so, there will still be a place for him within the Knights.

Is this result really good? He is the consort of Dibiles, and although he has clashed with the people of the Knights due to his friend and various unexpected events, he has never forgotten his original identity and has never equated Ye Chuxue and his disciple.

When nothing is happening, he can go on expeditions with the Knights, gossip with female knights from enemy countries. However, when something does happen, he must return to his original position and fulfill his responsibilities according to his status.

This realization is the only reason that drives him to speak the following words:

"Can Xiaoye lend me that gun?"

As he said those words, Wang Xiaole instinctively touched his back and found that the thing was still there, then he let out a long sigh of relief. He was glad to have the habit of carrying a sword with him.

"Xiaojun wants to use that gun to activate the teleportation array that my sister set up?"

The Knights can travel to other places in a short time through teleportation; the only way to use those military teleportation arrays is to fire a bullet from the magic gun which would activate it. That's why Wang Xiaole wanted to take the gun.

But here comes the question: assuming Wang Xiaole's action goes smoothly, he really manages to take the gun without being noticed, successfully triggers the teleportation array, what does he plan to do next?

Ye Chuxue knows the answer to this question, which is why after his inquiry, she gives her personal response:

"I won't give Xiaojun the gun now, maybe after the war is over, I might lend you the gun for a few days."

"Is that so? Xiaoye is really stubborn," Wang Xiaole said, pressing his hand against his forehead, with a troubled expression but a smile blooming on his face.

"When it comes to stubbornness, isn't Xiaojun the same?" Ye Chuxue's expression was hidden behind a mask, but her eyes did hold a hint of amusement.

Clang!

Crack!

It's unclear who struck first, who was quicker; the only thing that can be confirmed is that at the moment the long sword pierced through, a bullet shot out from the gun.

In the eyes of the girl, she felt that she had acted first; since the opponent had already fired a shot, "Xiaojun" could naturally counterattack.

However, the young man had a different idea; he felt that he should be the one to play the villain. Only if he did so, "Xiaoye" could launch a serious offensive.

Both of them had not given up on each other. Even though they were enemies itching to fight, Ye Chuxue still wished that the young man in front of her would stay by her side, and Wang Xiaole was not willing to trouble the girl and make her worried about him.

Both cared for each other, unwilling to make a move against the other, but at that moment, they had no choice but to fight.

In the blink of an eye, Wang Xiaole used his sword to cut the first bullet in half. Not to mention how symmetrical the cut was, at least he could guarantee that the insides of those two "fragments" were as smooth as a mirror.

It was more difficult to cut a bullet than to split an arrow, based on their past fighting experience, Ye Chuxue was surprised that she had been thwarted in this way for the first time.

Of course, the opponent's performance was not unexpected, it was even necessary. If not, why would she later shoot another bullet?

Based on her understanding of Wang Xiaole, she judged that he would defend himself; temporarily defending was beneficial as it reserved the power of the attack and prepared for the decisive strike.

That's what Wang Xiaole thought and what he did. He momentarily halted his charging momentum, raised the long sword to stabilize his balance, and set up a defensive stance with his blade.

The bullet did not change its trajectory and shot straight ahead, soon making contact with the blade. In the next second, there was no sound of collision, the bullet did not hit any physical object, but instead passed through the sword, heading straight for Wang Xiaole.

This incredible scene seemed to prove that the bullet was disintegrating, as if magic were not involved. Reality did not leave Wang Xiaole much time to think, testing his reaction greatly in the following moments.

Just before the bullet hit him, he released his defensive posture, grabbed the sword hilt, and chopped down from the inside; if this action was seen alone, an observer unaware of the situation might mistakenly think he was preparing to harm himself.

With a crisp sound, the sharp edge of the sword cut the bullet, but the sword that was swung out could not be retracted so easily. To avoid being injured unexpectedly, at that moment, he moved his left hand downward to his right wrist and struck upwards, deflecting the trajectory of the black sword's swing.

At the moment his right wrist slightly shook, the sword grazed the edge of his chin, swiftly moving upwards. During this process, he stomped heavily on the ground with both feet, continuing the interrupted movement, and swiftly arriving in front of Ye Chuxue.

After analyzing the situation of their move-countermoves, Wang Xiaole thought deeply: when the previous attempt to cut the bullet with a solid sword was successful, there were no unexpected incidents during the counterattack.

He had not overlooked anything during the attack and defense, knowing that the two shots were the same; if there was to find a difference, it could only lie in himself.

To the self that had intercepted the two bullets, he carefully considered, in fact, two different approaches had been taken consecutively.

The difference between attacking and defending caused the bullets themselves to change...

He thought of a possibility: when facing the bullets fired from the magic gun, one cannot defend, but must attack directly!

Having learned from the lesson just now, he decided to change his fighting style, transitioning from a dual offense and defense mode to a primarily offensive one.

After switching to holding the sword with both hands, Ye Chuxue controlled thin threads radiating a faint glow wrapped around herself; these threads caused her clothes to sink in and formed a layer of impenetrable defense around her body, more effective than any decorative armor based on the pure holy power covering her whole body.

Boom!

The descending sword momentum fell upon her, shattering the ground beneath her body without granting the tiles the dignity of breaking apart, turning them into a layer of powder.

In a normal situation, facing such a strike head-on, the best outcome would be to instantly lose consciousness and collapse like mud on the ground.

But Ye Chuxue was different; she was one of the top combatants in the entire Inran Empire.

As the impact dispersed, numerous threads broke apart one by one, signaling the disruption of the girl's defense; nevertheless, viewed from another angle, the force of the sword and the external defense she created roughly canceled each other out.

After using up all the threads she carried with her, Ye Chuxue's defensive weaponry was reduced to only the magic gun; yet, she had more attacking methods at her disposal.

Wang Xiaole discerned the fighting style of this part of the Eastern continent from Ye Chuxue's battle mode.

In both the western and eastern parts of the continent, wizards were in the majority; although there were individuals not proficient in that art, honing their magic skills was indeed the current trend.

However, having a commonality does not mean that the fighting styles of the East are entirely the same as those of the West.

To be precise: people in the Western continent were adept at using both magic and weapons; whereas those in the Eastern continent excelled in magic and holy power.

The former could use holy power skillfully, but to maximize its potential, they needed the assistance of their weapons; individuals like Wang Xiaole were accustomed to infusing holy power into their weapons during battle or using that power in a direct manner through brute force.

On the other hand, the latter saw their weaponry as supplementary tools, relying more on the direct application of holy power to overwhelm opponents in combat; individuals like Ye Chuxue exemplified this approach.

Even when all her controlled threads were destroyed, the enhanced holy power in those threads was not entirely depleted.

Wang Xiaole's previous action seemed to have disrupted an external container; even if it succeeded, it wouldn't have had much impact on what was contained within.

A slight smile curved Ye Chuxue's lips, and she tightened her fingers, altering the form of the holy power through a motion of her own body.

From behind her slender shoulders, layer upon layer of white halo enveloped her, as if a majestic dragon soaring at the top of the heavens was fully spreading its wings at that moment.

Maintaining his sword stance, Wang Xiaole swung his blade downwards for the second time.

Clang!

Immediately after, he heard a crisp sound; after the strike, the two dragon wings behind Ye Chuxue, arranged in a crossed manner, temporarily blocked the attack.

The reason why it was stated as 'blocked' was due to the sharpness of the black long sword exceeding the girl's expectations, enough to make her believe that if nothing was done, the dragon wings would be sliced apart seconds later.

Luckily, she had prepared to counterattack at the moment she initiated her defense. She still had a lot of spare holy power she could control; part of it gathered beneath the dragon wings, morphing into a thick tail covered with scales, resembling a long dragon tail.

Whoosh!

Ye Chuxue lowered her body, directing the dragon tail pointedly towards the direction of the sword's edge.

In a split second, Wang Xiaole responded; he raised a leg firmly rooted on the ground, and in the subsequent control of his leg's weight, he heavily stamped upon the surface of the dragon wing as if he was stepping the ground.

Utilizing the weighty force, he twisted his body, causing the blade to slice aside as he rotated.

During the rotation, the sharp blade made contact with the sweeping tail, sparking real sparks as a result.

Observing the current situation, Ye Chuxue proceeded according to the impromptu plan, once again lifting up the magic gun.