Quick to fire

“Quick to fire” is Yuan Guang’s compact expression of identity and action. Repeated at two turning points, it links the instinctive knowledge he draws from being a living firearm to his final decision to transform and fire with almost no qi left.

Meaning and First Use

During his fight with Slash, Yuan Guang recognizes that Slash’s sword can cut through anything it touches, but remains a metal weapon that armor-ignoring bullets can pass through. Those bullets, however, cannot harm a Third Coil cultivator and above on their own. Recalling Arc’s advice that bullets can carry multiple effects, Yuan Guang tries to combine armor-ignoring power with an explosive charge.

As he cycles qi through his inner circuits and recites the sutra chant engraved into his being, Yuan Guang tells himself, “I am a gun.” The phrase “Quick to fire” follows as part of the instinctive knowledge he attributes to being a living firearm. It accompanies an immediate experiment: he fires a stream from his minigun arm, giving the projectiles different qi frequencies in pursuit of the needed combination. Most fail. Some pass through Slash’s defense but flatten against his invulnerable skin; others are cut apart by Slash’s katana. The expression therefore marks readiness, not effortless success: Yuan acts quickly, but still has to learn how to make his bullets effective.

Return at the Final Confrontation

The phrase returns when Yuan Guang faces The Gun with Revolver beside him. Yuan states, “I am a gun,” then repeats, “Quick to fire.” Revolver has a revolver pressed against his skull; the blank and Yuan’s shot both bounce off his temple. Yuan answers by recognizing that trying to kill The Gun while expecting to survive is futile because The Gun feeds on murder and revenge. With his time limited, Yuan sees reasons to act in the people he hopes to protect, including Holster, Orient, Arc, and Revolver, and in the peace he hopes to offer the dead and the hope he hopes to offer the living.

When Revolver says he has rarely reached three out of six shots and that the fourth is always death, Yuan agrees and gathers what remains of his qi. He invokes Gun Demon Incarnation, spending his last strength to shed his human flesh and become the living firearm he has understood himself to be. With enough qi for only one shot and the Authority threatening to kill one of them at any moment, there is no room for another attempt. He declares himself The Gun’s opponent and swears on the bullet that once gave him life.

Significance

The recurrence changes the phrase from a practical cue into a declaration of commitment. In the earlier fight, “Quick to fire” accompanies trial and error: Yuan seeks a combination capable of overcoming Slash’s defenses. At the final confrontation, the same language precedes an irreversible transformation and a single remaining shot. Its force comes from that contrast: speed alone cannot guarantee success, but Yuan’s readiness to act becomes decisive when delay would leave no chance to choose.