Hogwarts: I'm the only cultivator here!

Because there were plenty of bullets, and he could use magic to load the magazines without having to manually press each bullet, and the gun could be easily replaced if the barrel got too hot, Ye Feng had no intention of saving any bullets.

Since I don't know your location, I won't look for you anymore. I'll just use a saturation attack. In less than a minute, the grove where Ron was hiding became completely bare. Looking around, there wasn't a single tree root or blade of grass taller than 20 centimeters.

Ron, who had used invisibility magic to hide outside the woods beforehand, couldn't help but swallow hard as he watched the scene unfold before him.

"Luckily I have enough talismans, otherwise, after this barrage, I'm sure you would have been turned into mincemeat. This thing is really terrifying."

"No wonder Father is so fascinated by Muggle products. These things do have a strong appeal, and the Muggle world is not at all like what those people say. They are not ignorant or weak at all; on the contrary, they are likely to be very powerful."

In fact, Ron's guess was correct. If the wizarding world really angered the Muggle world they were talking about, then with the weapons that Muggles currently have, it might not even take half a day to flatten the wizarding world. After all, blowing up a small village or town would probably only take about ten shells, without even needing to use missiles.

Artillery shells are only considered the ground floor of heavy weapons among firearms, only slightly better than machine guns and anti-aircraft guns. In the Muggle world, the truly powerful weapons are tanks, airplanes, and missiles.

Of course, this is the timeline of the Harry Potter world in the 1990s. If we push further back, these things may still have the same names, but their power and such may have completely changed. So magic may be very powerful, but their circle is still too small compared to the entire human population of the world.

However, this is not a problem that Ron needs to consider. What he needs to consider now is how to defeat Ye Feng with magic, and invisibility magic is a good starting point.

"I should have thought of it earlier."

"Without talismans or magic, and given the distance, if I become invisible, Ye Feng won't be able to find me. If I find where he's hiding and then quietly approach him, I'll win this match!"

With this in mind, Ron quickly circled around from outside the woods toward where Ye Feng had been hiding. The reason for hiding outside the woods was that the invisibility was just ordinary optical invisibility. Although he could not be seen, he was still actually there, so he would touch various things as he moved.

Ye Feng, who doesn't use magic or talismans, might not be able to see his invisible self, but he can definitely see the grass and trees swaying after he touches them. So Ron left the forest and circled around from the outside.

As it turned out, Ron's idea was very correct. After discovering that Ron had disappeared and that the woods were not shaking abnormally, Ye Feng's expression became much more serious. He assumed that Ron had hidden himself after the initial glance and was not moving, so he also lay still, trying to outwit the air.

Chapter 173 Winning is Losing

Ye Feng used to be a big fan of video games, and he especially liked playing sniper games. He enjoyed the feeling of waiting for the opponent to jump out and then killing them with a single shot. So when he found out that Ron still wanted to play hide-and-seek with him, Ye Feng was very excited.

However, after a while, he realized something was wrong. Based on his understanding of Ron, this guy didn't seem like someone who could keep his composure. In other words, the guy might not be playing hide-and-seek with him, but had already gone around to the outside.

Ye Feng: <(｀^?)>

"I'm furious!"

"You Ron, you actually ran away! I've been fighting with thin air for so long!"

"Since you're so lacking in martial ethics, then don't blame me!"

Ron, who had already quietly crept to the other side of the woods and was less than twenty meters from where Ye Feng was hiding: (O_O)?

Just as Ron was carefully searching for Ye Feng and cautiously walking into the woods, Ye Feng flipped his right hand and pulled out a tactical helmet, a scene that Ron happened to witness.

Ron: [?_??] (キ｀?Д??)!!

"You're cheating!!!"

Seeing that Ye Feng was actually cheating, Ron immediately raised his wand and pointed it at Ye Feng. At this moment, Ye Feng, who had already put on his helmet, quickly scanned the area. When he scanned the location of Ron, he suddenly rolled over. Almost at the same time, the sound of a spell for Ron to fall unconscious rang out.

"boom!"

The moment Ron's voice rang out, Ye Feng didn't hesitate for a moment. He raised his gun, aimed, and pulled the trigger in one smooth motion. However, because of the talisman, Ron still firmly released the stun spell. Unfortunately, he was startled by Ye Feng's quick reaction and the sound of the gunshot, and his hand trembled, causing the spell to go astray.

What makes a gun superior to magic? Naturally, it's easy to use, powerful, accurate, and has a high attack frequency, requiring no pre-cast animation. Therefore, when the two sides clashed head-on and Ron failed to take down Ye Feng immediately, he had already lost halfway.

However, Ron also has an advantage: his margin for error is higher than Ye Feng's, who cannot use talismans. He can fail a few times, or even a dozen times, but as long as he successfully hits Ye Feng once, he is considered successful.

Ye Feng, on the other hand, couldn't use talismans or magic because he was currently just an 'ordinary person'. So even if he hit Ron more than ten times, he wouldn't succeed if he couldn't break through Ron's defense. Moreover, if he couldn't dodge even one of Ron's spells, he would fail.

In other words, Ron is a warrior with high attack and thick shield but low attack speed and extremely low evasion, while Ye Feng is a fragile archer with low attack, fast attack speed, and blood wave. So Ron can fail many times, but he only needs to 'touch' Ye Feng before Ye Feng runs out of his defensive talismans, and he will win.

Therefore, after seeing Ron while wearing the infrared tactical helmet, Ye Feng opened fire frantically to suppress Ron. While suppressing Ron, he also kept increasing the distance. Otherwise, he would not be able to beat Ron, who was wearing a shield, in close combat. Even though Ron was worried about running out of talismans, he kept dodging, so hitting him was basically a matter of faith.

"Click~"

Suddenly, the gun in Ye Feng's hand made a blank shot. This was the sound of the firing pin hitting empty air after all the bullets had been fired. The moment Ye Feng heard this sound, he realized something was wrong, because he had not yet completely distanced himself from Ron.

Although Ron had never handled firearms before, he could sense that Ye Feng had suddenly stopped firing, so he immediately stood up and frantically cast spells in Ye Feng's direction.

Magic has a significant advantage over firearms: it's somewhat subjective. It doesn't require perfect aiming; you only need to aim at the approximate location to hit the target with a high degree of accuracy. This is because it contains a trace of the caster's spiritual will, giving it a certain degree of 'tracking' effect.

Besides, this thing is unaffected by Earth's gravity or wind speed, and it can hit exactly where you point it without missing. So even though Ye Feng dodged very quickly and used the surrounding vegetation as cover, he was almost hit by Ron's magic several times.

"Damn it! I should have brought more guns and fewer bullets." With a low curse, Ye Feng clicked the full magazine back into the gun and pulled the bolt to chamber a round.

Of course, Ye Feng has quite a few guns in his spatial ring, but as a 'sniper', he also has his own 'dignity'. He would never do something as tasteless as pulling out a Gatling gun after being approached by a mage. He said he would use the sniper rifle in his hand, and that means he would only use the sniper rifle!

"Lumos!"

"Depend on!"

Ye Feng, who had just reloaded his bullets and was about to retaliate fiercely, was hit by Ron's 'flash'. Although the screen didn't go completely white like in a game, he couldn't see clearly for the time being. Moreover, Ron seemed to have realized how to interfere with Ye Feng and prevent him from finding his location.

"Flames are raging! Flames are raging! Flames are raging! And it's still raging!!!"

"Hahahaha... Ye Feng, I won this competition! Get ready to cook for me for three weeks!"

Using raging flames to obscure Ye Feng's vision and prevent him from seeing where he was, and then using the flames to block Ye Feng's hiding place, Ron let out a villainous, arrogant laugh.

Ye Feng: ( ￣┏＿┓￣)

Seeing the fire growing larger in the woods, Ye Feng glanced at the pockets on Ron's body and behind him, then finally gave up resisting, letting Ron fire a bullet into his body, declaring victory. But Ye Feng didn't feel like he had lost, because…

"Mr. Weasley, could you please tell me what you are doing?"

Ron: 0ДQ

“Dumbledore… Headmaster…”

"Um, can you tell me what you're doing? Why are you setting this forest ablaze?"

"And Ye Feng, could you tell me what that is? If I'm not mistaken, it's a Muggle product, isn't it?"

"The Ministry of Magic has a clear rule that wizards are not allowed to use Muggle items while in the wizarding world. Mr. Ye Feng, what am I supposed to do?"

Ye Feng: (((;???;)))

"Wait, Headmaster Dumbledore, please put out this fire so I can think of a way to argue, oh no, explain."

Dumbledore: (￣ェ￣;)

Although it was frustrating, Ron's several consecutive blazing fires had indeed set the forest ablaze, so it was necessary to extinguish the fires before dealing with the two unfortunate children. Therefore, Dumbledore had to put aside the fire for the time being and use magic to put it out; otherwise, once the fire was fully blazing, it would be difficult for him to extinguish it by himself.

Chapter 174 Schrödinger's Victory and Defeat

It has to be said that magic is convenient. The fire that had already started and spread to a radius of twenty or thirty meters was extinguished by Dumbledore simply raising his hand and saying "extinguish the fire." Ye Feng immediately thought of a reason to argue, or rather, to explain.

"Here's the thing, Headmaster Dumbledore, although the gun in my hand looks a lot like a weapon called Barrett in the Muggle world, it's not actually like that."

"You see, the original Barrett had a strong recoil and made a loud noise, so I modified its stock with shock absorption and other recoil-reducing features, and I also added features like Silence, Rapid Cooling, and Durability to its barrel."

"So although it may look like an ordinary Muggle gun, it is actually a genuine magical item."

“That’s right, Headmaster Dumbledore.” Ye Feng’s tone became quite confident as he said this, which almost convinced Dumbledore.

Admittedly, even if what Ye Feng said is true, it still doesn't change the fact that the core of this gun, namely the activation system, has not changed at all. It is still a weapon that relies on gunpowder as a propellant to fire bullets, rather than something driven by magic. Therefore, whether it can be considered a magical artifact is still debatable.

Therefore, Ye Feng's gun was confiscated, along with the guns of Zhang Qiu and his group who were happily hunting ducks.

Of course, since it was Grindelwald who confiscated their guns, Ye Feng found that one was missing when they got them back. Dumbledore also noticed but didn't say anything. In any case, whether or not these things were handed over to the Ministry of Magic was up to him, so it didn't matter if Grindelwald took one to play with.

"Given that your duel today nearly caused a forest fire, we are now confiscating your modified firearms, Ye Feng. Do you have any objections?"

Ye Feng: (￣へ￣)

Dumbledore: Hmm?

Seeing that Ye Feng was unwilling and remained silent, Dumbledore couldn't help but glare at him. Only then did Ye Feng reluctantly respond.

Ye Feng: Agreed!

Ye Feng spent three days modifying this, but now Dumbledore has taken it all away. Although he still has various guns and heavy weapons in his spatial ring, they are all unmodified, so Ye Feng is quite unhappy.

However, their competition did almost cause a forest fire, so Ye Feng had no choice but to admit his mistake. As for whether he would continue to modify these guns and play with them in the future, of course he would. After all, Dumbledore had only confiscated the guns from him, not stopped him from playing with them.

Dumbledore knew what Ye Feng was thinking just by looking at him, because he knew this guy all too well. But he didn't say anything, because Ye Feng wouldn't change his mind just by being verbally reprimanded. You had to give him real substance, which was the school rules.

Ye Feng only abides by things that are explicitly prohibited. Otherwise, as long as he finds it fun, he won't care about anything else. After all, he doesn't see any danger in these things, and he has the ability to take responsibility for and resolve a series of subsequent problems.

Seeing Ye Feng like this, Ye Feng didn't say anything but turned to look at Ron.

Compared to Ye Feng, Ron is the one who is really giving him a headache, because it was a full three weeks of cooking time that Ye Feng had promised. This was a 'good thing' that even Dumbledore couldn't help but be tempted by. So he was thinking about how to deal with it in a way that would teach Ron a lesson and make him feel that it was reasonable.

As for Ye Feng, we can discuss and formulate some school rules later. As long as there are school rules, Ye Feng will not blatantly break the rules again, and at least it won't cause such a commotion that can be heard throughout the academy.

Dumbledore then watched Ron fall into deep thought.

Ron: (ΩДΩ)

Feeling Dumbledore's 'terrifying gaze', Ron was almost scared to death.

After all, Dumbledore was the headmaster, and as a famous pure-blood family in the wizarding world, a family that had attended Hogwarts for generations, Ron had grown up listening to the legends of Dumbledore since childhood. Therefore, Ron had a natural awe for Dumbledore, unlike Ye Feng, who did not regard Dumbledore as the headmaster at all.

So when Dumbledore watched him lost in thought, Ron instantly felt as if a mountain was pressing down on him, making it hard for him to breathe.

Just as Ron was about to succumb to the pressure and kneel down to beg for forgiveness, Dumbledore finally came up with a solution. He slowly began, "Ron..."

Ron: "Headmaster Dumbledore, I know I was wrong! Please don't expel me. Besides, this has nothing to do with Ye Feng. I started the fire. If you want to punish someone, punish me alone."

Dumbledore: ...

Ye Feng: ...

Ye Feng: Although I was quite touched that you took on all the burdens, you chickened out too quickly, didn't you? Dumbledore hasn't even said anything yet.

Dumbledore: This kid is pretty good. He's brave and responsible, and he's willing to sacrifice himself for his friends. He's just a little timid and a bit simple-minded.

Seeing Ron like this, Dumbledore was both relieved and speechless, while Harry and the others looked at Ron with more respect, after all, who wouldn't want their good friend to be a reliable person?

Ron, noticing the gazes of the others, especially his sister Ginny, instinctively straightened his back; he had lived up to the Weasley name this time. However, the thought of being punished by Dumbledore caused him to bend over again.

Dumbledore: ...

"We'd better announce his punishment quickly, or this silly boy will be scared out of his wits if we keep dragging this on." Dumbledore finally spoke as he thought to himself.

“Ron, I’m pleased that you’re willing to take responsibility, but you did almost set the forest on fire. So I’ve decided to punish you by deducting two weeks of your three-week reward for arbitrarily assigning Ye Feng to cook. These two weeks of assignment rights will be given as a reward for the best student performance in the following week. Do you have any objections?”

Ron: Σ(?д?lll) ゛('◇')?

"Just...that's it?"

Dumbledore: Oh? You think it's too light?