Chapter 41: War Hammer Headshot

The shopkeeper of the craftsman's shop immediately perked up, hurriedly stood, and asked, "Sir, would you like to buy a war hammer?"

He carefully sized up Lei En's physique—tall and robust, with a steady gait; although he lacked exaggerated muscles, his build was compact and hefty, giving a strong sense of pressure when standing before him.

He was clearly a transcendent.

The shopkeeper saw Lei En nod, turned, and took the war hammer down from the wall, looking rather strained.

Lei En deftly took the war hammer, and his eyes lit up; the hammer's weight was just right, fitting perfectly in his hand.

He examined it closely: the hammer was forged entirely from a dark‑gold metal, its appearance plain yet attractive; the head resembled an ordinary octagonal hammer, roughly rectangular, slightly larger in volume, with a few simple decorative motifs etched on the surface, but no runes.

The handle was about as long as his arm, divided into three sections, carved with rhombic anti‑slip scales, and ending in an egg‑sized metal ball to balance the hammer's center of gravity.

The black war hammer bore a hint of dark gold, and its total weight was around one hundred twenty pounds.

Although a bit heavier than he had expected, Lei En found it comfortable to wield, and after training his strength could still increase, making the one hundred twenty pounds just right.

With the metal's tactile feedback, Lei En knew the hammer's structure like the back of his hand; the forging craftsmanship was excellent, with no internal metal fatigue, no surface flaws, and a head hard enough—truly the pinnacle of what a mechanical craftsman could achieve.

Of course, it wasn't an enchanted weapon, so it wouldn't be especially valuable.

"Shopkeeper, how much for this war hammer?" Lei En decided it was the one, and asked the price.

The shopkeeper replied bluntly, "Six Gold Shields."

"That's so expensive!"

Lei En was surprised, suspecting the seller might be trying to rip him off.

A fine non‑enchanted weapon, unless made of intrinsically valuable material, wouldn't be that pricey; selling for two or three Gold Shields at most would already be good.

The octagonal hammer he bought here before, used on construction sites, cost only three silver crowns, that is, sixty copper coins.

But this war hammer's price was a hundredfold higher!

Seeing Lei En seem displeased, the shopkeeper quickly explained, "Sir, this war hammer wasn't forged from ordinary material; I mixed black iron with over twenty pounds of refined gold, smelted it into a solid block of refined iron, and that allowed me to craft this refined‑iron war hammer."

"You should know the price of refined gold, sir," the shopkeeper asked, fearing Lei En might not understand.

Lei En nodded; refined gold is one of Ai Lun E Si's most precious metals, perhaps also the densest.

Twenty pounds of refined gold sounds heavy, but its volume is about half a finger's length, valued at roughly three Gold Shields.

Because it's so expensive, pure refined‑gold war hammers are rare and almost impossible for anyone to swing, so mixing refined gold with iron to make refined iron is a common practice for weapon forging.

This war hammer contains twenty pounds of refined gold, which is why it's so heavy.

With refined‑iron material plus the craftsman's labor cost, selling this war hammer for six Gold Shields isn't pricey; it's a relatively fair price.

Lei En stopped haggling and cheerfully paid to purchase it.

Having made a big deal, the shopkeeper gladly took the money and then gifted Lei En a pair of leather buckles.

The leather buckles were slung diagonally on his body; a metal hook at the back of the shoulder could hold the hammer's head, while the handle dangled diagonally at his waist. Lei En only needed to reach behind with his right hand, grasp the long handle, and push upward to detach the hammer into his hand—extremely convenient.

Lei En tried it several times and was very satisfied with the sturdy leather buckles.

Carrying the war hammer back to his apartment, he swung it in his hand; the hammer, over a hundred pounds, felt natural to wield,

and he quickly adapted.

"This refined‑iron war hammer should stay with me for a long time,"

Lei En set the hammer down, freshened up, and went to bed to rest.

In the middle of the night, he woke up.

Silently he got up, put on a newly bought black outfit, donned his hat, slung the war hammer behind him, and left the apartment without a sound.

Late at night, the city was quiet; the gas streetlights on both sides were out, and only a hazy moonlight illuminated the city.

Lei En activated the Voice of All Things, sprinted down the street, occasionally stopping to slip into alleys, evading passing pedestrians and night patrol squads.

The route was clear, and he quickly crossed the bridge into the Silver Star District.

Lei En had long memorized the route, heading south along the Fei Lei Ge Lun River, using buildings to block the spirit‑demon eye atop the tower, remaining unseen.

Soon after, Lei En arrived outside a house not far from the riverbank.

He looked up at Wu Shi Ta; it was two or three kilometers from the tower, appearing as a faint vertical black silhouette against the night sky, yet the light beaming from its top was very conspicuous, still within its surveillance range, and any major disturbance would be spotted instantly.

"We must strike swiftly and quietly, without making much noise."

Lei En focused his mind, listening; inside the house there were two heartbeats, one far stronger than a normal person's—a hallmark of a melee transcendent.

He recognized the rhythm; it was the fighter Huo Gen.

The other heartbeat was much weaker, likely an ordinary woman. The two were close together, as if cuddling and sharing a bed in the upstairs bedroom.

Lei En hesitated briefly; having seen Huo Gen before, he was determined to kill him without delay.

Even though he had just become a transcendent today, he would rush through the night to act, cutting off future trouble.

But the ordinary person sleeping with Huo Gen—unknown relationship, possibly an evil god's follower—must be identified before acting, to avoid killing an innocent.

Of course, all this was under the premise of his own safety.

If the opponent threatened his life, regardless of who they were, he wouldn't hold back.

Lei En waited patiently for over ten minutes; their breathing was steady, with only occasional turning over, indicating deep sleep.

He locked onto Huo Gen's breath and stepped closer to the house.

Even if Huo Gen was asleep, Lei En couldn't be sure whether he would sense the conflict mark and be startled awake when the mark fell within his detection range.

As the distance shortened, the bedroom remained silent.

Lei En vaulted over a low wall, landed softly, took the war hammer from behind, and now the straight‑line distance to Huo Gen was under fifteen meters.

"It seems evil god's followers fear the conflict mark's detection range is less than fifteen meters, not a hundred,"

"Of course, it could also be that he's simply asleep and senses nothing."

Lei En speculated that, for him, a smaller detection distance was better, reducing the chance of being noticed by evil god's followers.

The first‑floor doors and windows were tightly shut, so he couldn't enter; he cautiously circled to the side of the house, leapt lightly, grabbed the balcony edge, and scrambled up.

Guided by his phone's gyroscope, his movements were perfectly precise, making no sound at all.

From the balcony I entered the room; here there is only a wall separating it from Huo Gen's bedroom.

Inside the bedroom, that strong, powerful heartbeat suddenly quickened, the breathing became rapid for a moment, clearly unnaturally so.

"He's awake!"

Lei En immediately sensed the change, without hesitation, slammed his foot down, crushing the wooden floor, and his whole body slammed straight into the wall.

With a boom, Lei En burst through the wall and appeared inside Huo Gen's bedroom.

He had already locked onto Huo Gen's position; after bursting out of the wall, he swung his war hammer, striking directly at the figure on the bed.

Bang!

The whole bed shattered into pieces, yet it did not hit Huo Gen.

Huo Gen reacted extremely fast, rolling out half a step ahead, his whole body springing up like a coil; his feet stepped several times on the wall beside the bed, like an agile cat, climbing to the ceiling, quickly flipping over and diving straight down onto Lei En.

"Ah…"

The woman in her sleep was startled awake, fell to the ground, and let out a terrified scream.

Lei En saw she was just an ordinary person and knocked her out with a casual palm.

At this moment Huo Gen had already flashed to the front; he wore only shorts, his whole body rippled with muscle, fists clenched, faint currents of Qi flowing beneath his muscles, concentrating in his fists, breaking the air with a crisp snap.

A fierce punch wind surged forward.

Lei En remained calm, lifted the hammer handle upward, perfectly blocking Huo Gen's fist.

At the instant of impact, Huo Gen's fist unleashed several times its normal force, the duration extremely brief, yet producing a startling effect.

Lei En's palm went numb, and his body involuntarily stepped back half a step.

In comparison, the recoil force on Huo Gen was greater; his whole body was flung back, crashing into the wall.

His eyes filled with astonishment; he had already used his full strength in that punch, intending to knock the enemy's war hammer from his hand, but the opponent only stepped back half a step and suffered no injury.

"What a formidable power!"

A thought flashed through Huo Gen's mind, yet he felt no hint of fear; under the influence of the "Balance" Element, he instantly readjusted his posture and turned to strike the enemy again.

If he can kill this person and seize the Conflict Mark, he will obtain a divine blessing!

A fighter's way to victory lies in close‑quarters combat: striking fast against the slow, entangling up close, leaving the opponent no chance to react, no matter how many techniques they have.

As Huo Gen advanced, his steps swayed rapidly left and right, attempting to create an illusion of attack perspective.

"This move is interesting."

Lei En was not fooled; a thought stirred in his mind, and he pretended to look the wrong way, swinging the war hammer to his front left.

Whoosh, the heavy war hammer tore through the air with a fierce whoosh, yet missed the target.

Bang!

Huo Gen appeared on the right, delivering a solid punch under Lei En's ribs, producing a muffled thud.

His internal Qi surged explosively, a smug smile spreading across his face as if he already saw the victory of killing the enemy. A fighter's instantaneous burst of power, even an Iron Guard cannot withstand; a single punch will surely cause serious injury.

Yet in the next second, Huo Gen's smile froze.

Where his fist struck, the clothing turned to fragments, revealing a dark gray metallic sheen; a sharp pain shot through his hand, as if he had hit not a human body but a steel plate.

In the darkness, he could not discern Lei En's current appearance; his entire skin turned dim, even his hair became hard as rods, like a steel statue.

In the flash of a lightning strike, the prepared Lei En pivoted half a turn, redirecting the war hammer from the left to the right, the hammerhead striking Huo Gen's head dead center.

Snap!

Fresh blood splattered, and Lei En seemed to hear the sound of a watermelon cracking.