IMMORTALITY STARTS WITH A GUN

In his past life, he had lived in a city plagued by severe air pollution, where stars were rarely visible. He had gone camping once or twice in less polluted areas with his friends, but he had never witnessed such a breathtaking display of stars. The sky was a canvas filled with shimmering lights, resembling pearls scattered across a dark ocean. He knew nothing of star constellations, yet he couldn't help but wonder how people connected the celestial dots to form recognizable shapes.

"Probably just some bored guy like me," he muttered to himself.

As he watched the stars, he wondered if this world existed in the same universe as Earth. If he were to become an immortal and travel among the stars, would he eventually find his way back to Earth? He doubted the possibility. Surely, if cultivators could reach Earth, someone from this world would have already done so and claimed it for themselves.

He pondered these thoughts for hours before he heard a rustling sound nearby and snapped his head toward the noise. In a bush not far from his mushroom shelter, a snake lay coiled, its eyes as red as blood and its scales as dark as night. When he realized the snake emitted black smoke just like Mo Yan, he stood up and began cycling his qi. The snake's appearance was likely no coincidence. The black smoke remained unknown, but he realized it was significant.

While Liu Xing observed the snake, Mo Yan suddenly leapt from inside the mushroom, launching himself like a wolf pouncing on its prey. Despite emitting black smoke, the snake was not a spirit beast, but just a normal animal. It couldn't react quickly enough as Mo Yan grabbed its head and ripped it apart, splitting the creature in two. Mo Yan promptly began devouring the snake, eating it like a starving man slurping noodles. His eyes were bloodshot red, blood streamed down his chin, and with the dark smoke growing denser around him and his breath forming white mist in the cool air, he looked terrifying, like a demon ripped straight from a nightmare.

"What's happening? What's happening?" Pu He called out from inside the mushroom.

"Where's Mo Yan?" Han Zhong shouted.

"He's outside," Liu Xing responded, his eyes narrowed.

The three of them watched in stunned silence as Mo Yan devoured the snake like a madman consuming the most exquisite meal imaginable.

"That snake Mo Yan is eating is also emitting black smoke," Liu Xing said. "Pu He, did Mo Yan ever attack or eat another animal while you were chasing him?"

"No, he just ran around and tried to chase senior sister Yan Yu," Pu He replied. "He never attacked anything, let alone eat something so savagely like this."

"We should stop him," Han Zhong declared.

Liu Xing nodded. Whatever that black smoke was, he now realized it's a problem. He cycled his qi and jumped from the top of the mushroom, preparing to summon his gun upon landing near the bush.

While Mo Yan devoured the snake, the black smoke intensified until it obscured Liu Xing's view. He felt certain Mo Yan's body was undergoing a transformation. Where he once could have easily defeated Mo Yan, he no longer dared to underestimate him. He took a step, then two, then three. Sensing the rising danger, he summoned his gun and willed it to become invisible.

When they were only meters apart, Mo Yan suddenly snapped his head toward him. His blood-red eyes locked onto him, and then Mo Yan smiled—a genuine smile, like a child receiving the most wonderful gift. The blood staining his face, his clothes, and the ground around him made him look like a demon risen from a nightmare.

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"Thank you for your help," Mo Yan said, glancing at Pu He, Han Zhong, and then at Liu Xing. "Without the three of you, I don't know what would have happened to this body. My technique is perfect if used in a good vessel, but this body is trash and the side effects of my technique cause this vessel to be mad. Most of the time, even when I successfully control a new body, it's already damaged, but thanks to you it's still intact!"

He burst into laughter, a deep, scratchy sound that was a stark contrast to the voice of the man who had tried to rob him. As Mo Yan continued laughing, a chilling conclusion formed in his mind. Mo Yan's body was possessed by something!

"Who are you, and what is that smoke surrounding you?" Liu Xing demanded.

"Who I am is none of your concern, and the smoke is none of your business either. Still, the three of you have been instrumental in securing my new body, even if it is trash. So, I'll let you live. Goodbye."

With that, he jumped into the night sky. His leap was so powerful it cracked and broke the ground beneath him. Moments later, Mo Yan halted mid-air, gravity beginning to pull him down, but then his body transformed into black smoke. The black smoke was incredibly dark and dense against the backdrop of the star-filled sky and it took the form of a cloud and moved with such speed it appeared to be driven by a fierce wind.

"Mo Yan!" Pu He shouted after him.

"Damn it, what's happening now? Why was Mo Yan speaking like that? Why did he suddenly disappear?" Han Zhong exclaimed.

"He's possessed by someone," Liu Xing stated.

Watching the smoke vanish—no, that darkness vanish—Liu Xing felt his heart race. There was a distinct possibility it was the darkness Nui had warned him about, and even if it wasn't, he needed to confront it to know it for sure.

"I'll go catch him," Liu Xing declared. "You two can head back or try to follow."

He activated the Lightning Cloak, electricity coursing through his body. He kicked off the ground, shooting himself toward a large branch. The world blurred around him, but he knew precisely where the branch was. He landed on it, kicked it until the branch exploded under the force and propelled forward. Though the darkness was fast, he felt confident he could pursue it. He jumped from branch to mushroom to branch, zigzagging through the trees and giant mushrooms like a streak of purplish-blue lightning.

As he moved, he deeply pondered the being that had possessed Mo Yan. While he didn't have the whole picture, he realized the being was a cultivator who practiced a peculiar cultivation technique. What was certain was that it possessed bodies and moved from vessel to vessel.

Pu He and Han Zhong had mentioned that Mo Yan seemed to be chasing Yan Yu but had moved in strange directions, as if searching for something—and that conjecture now seemed accurate. He had likely been searching for that snake with the black smoke, and upon finding it, had devoured it and absorbed it. From this information, he understood that this cultivator's goal was likely to reclaim his old body and power. To do so, he had probably been seeking another of his vessels so he could devour the darkness and recover—or, since Mo Yan's body was considered trash, he might be seeking a better vessel. Perhaps both.

Whether Liu Xing was right or wrong, one thing was certain. He needed to catch this guy to learn more about the darkness. He hoped it was merely a unique cultivation method and not something terrible that could threaten worlds.

He continued jumping and running, and after a while, he finally began to close the distance to the black cloud. The cloud flew swiftly above the forest canopy, remaining distinct even amidst the blur of his speed. He aimed his gun at the black cloud and, without hesitation, pulled the trigger repeatedly. Six bullets flew toward the black cloud. These were standard, transparent projectiles. When the bullets struck the black cloud, they passed right through it and created momentary holes, but these closed almost immediately.

"Interesting technique or treasure," the voice taunted, "but you're dumb if you think you can shoot a cloud!"

Liu Xing's lips tightened into a thin line. He reloaded his gun, infused the bullets with Exploding Fist technique and fired again. When the bullets struck the cloud, he expected explosions, but they only created temporary holes that quickly closed. Moments later, the sound of six distant explosions echoed through the forest.

"Didn't I tell you that you can't shoot me?"

Hearing the taunt, Liu Xing calmed his mind. He realized the voice was right—he couldn't shoot or punch a cloud. The only way to capture mist was to imprison it, whether with a treasure or a specialized technique, and he possessed neither.

"Damn it, he's a bad matchup for me," Liu Xing muttered.

Still, he had to capture this guy. He felt a strong premonition that if he allowed it to escape, something terrible would happen in the future. He needed to find a solution, and brute force seemed like his only option.

"I need to try everything I can and hope something works."