IMMORTALITY STARTS WITH A GUN

When the light vanished, Liu Xing opened his eyes. He tried to look around, but his invisible turtle statue suddenly hit something, making it shake and lurch, resulting in the cries of his friends. The impact was hard enough to throw several people into the air. For a few moments, they became visible, blood trickling from their bandaged stumps, before Liu Xing willed the invisibility to swallow them again.

Liu Xing looked around. He was neither in the sky nor above the sea. His upside-down turtle statue was lying on the ground with its head smashed against a cliff. Rocks, earth, and shallow-rooted plants tumbled down from the cliff due to the impact. Instantly, his heart beat faster. Panic set in as he recognized the place. This small cliff was not far from their camp; he had to pass this area to get to Water Tower City. To confirm his suspicion, he looked to his right. A small trail snaked between a moss-covered boulder and a large tree. He pressed his lips together. That path led to Water Tower City. Their camp was in the other direction. They had been teleported back to the island they had just left!

"Welcome back!" A melodious, cheerful voice echoed through the clearing. A man emerged from behind a tree, seemingly to surprise them. His black robe was drenched in blood, yet he looked comfortable, as if he were accustomed to being covered in blood. Foul, nauseating qi—red and malicious—swirled around him like an aura of vaporized blood. In that instant, Liu Xing knew that this was the man who had led the Nether Lotus Sect against his people.

Behind him, the women were invisible again, and nothing was visible of Liu Xing aside from the gushing black smoke, yet the man looked straight into his eyes. It was as if he could see Liu Xing's eyes that were colored with shades of anxiety. Liu Xing gripped his stone blade and his gun. He estimated the man was still a Core Splitting cultivator, the same realm as himself, though perhaps in the late stages and close to breaking through to the Sun Refining realm. However, the man's aura was heavy. Liu Xing's instincts screamed a warning; he had a feeling this man was stronger than his cultivation realm suggested.

"I said, welcome back'" he repeated.

Liu Xing shut his mouth.

"Not a chatty type, huh?" he smiled. "Let's see if you can stay still when I finally rip the innards from your guts!"

In that instant, like a starting gun, both Liu Xing and his opponent moved.

Liu Xing kicked the ground hard, launching himself toward the blood-drenched man. The moment his feet left the turtle statue, the invisibility came undone, revealing Qing Yuan, Su Nian, Fang Ruxue, and the others. Liu Xing didn't want to expose them, but he judged this man was a threat he could not handle by staying on the defensive.

Upon seeing the revealed people, the man laughed cheerfully but then frowned. "How dare you damage my women!" he shouted as he cocked his fist and punched at Liu Xing.

Liu Xing, still invisible and gushing black smoke from his stomach, snarled as he slashed down with his stone blade. "Those are my words."

The fist and the stone blade met in midair. For a fraction of a second, they were locked in place before the man pulled his hand back, ducked, and launched an uppercut. Liu Xing summoned his shield and kicked it. The turtle statue vanished, and the women and Qing Yuan fell to the ground as Liu Xing rotated in the air. Now directly above the man, he aimed his gun down, activated his Lightning Palm Technique, let the gun absorb the power, and pulled the trigger. A blue bolt shot from a short distance toward the man's forehead. But instead of dodging, the man moved his hand as if to swat a fly. When the attack landed on his hand, ropes of electricity bound him, making him widen his eyes and freeze in place.

"Die!" Liu Xing shouted as he used his shield to maneuver behind the man. With all the power he had, he swung his stone blade horizontally, intending to behead the man. When the blade hit the man's neck, Liu Xing could feel how tough it was. It was not like cutting skin, flesh, and bone, but like slashing hard stone. The blade bit deep, but instead of severing the head, the force of the swing lifted the man's feet off the ground and threw him to the side like a cannonball.

"Bastard!" The man shouted as he was thrown through the air, blood trailing behind him. Before he could fly too far, however, the red aura swirling around him formed into a qi construct that looked like a rotten red hand. The hand dragged along the ground, slowing his momentum until he could plant his feet firmly.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

The man touched his bleeding neck. "This hurts, as expected of a disciple from a great sect. Your attacks are heavy and vicious. But your opponent this time is me, Ye Xuanhan, so prepare to die!"

As he finished speaking, he launched himself toward Liu Xing, creating a thunderous boom that upturned the earth and sent dust swirling behind him. His speed was tremendous. So, Liu Xing activated his Lightning Cloak Technique, let it be absorbed by his gun, and then reabsorbed it into his body before he, too, shot forward, unleashing a horizontal slash at the man. The blade was invisible, but the man who called himself Ye Xuanhan swept his hand to the side, deflecting it as if he could see it perfectly. Not stopping, Liu Xing pointed his gun and pulled the trigger. A Lightning Palm bullet sped toward its mark. Knowing the effect of the attack, Ye Xuanhan willed the rotting hand construct to swat the bullet away. The bullet exploded, and ropes of electricity spread out, but they failed to paralyze him.

Upon seeing this, Liu Xing swung his stone blade diagonally, aiming for the man's shoulder. The invisible blade whistled through the air, but Ye Xuanhan ducked under it and punched straight toward Liu Xing's chest as if trying to rip through his chest and spine. Liu Xing dodged. The punch grazed his arm as he swept his blade downward, aiming to split the man's head in two. Ye Xuanhan directed the qi construct's hands to catch the blade. The force was enough for the blade's edge to touch his forehead, but it did not cut any deeper.

The man smiled wildly at him. "Interesting! You are the first—"

Liu Xing pulled his stone blade out of the qi construct's grip, jumped backward, and shot a Lightning Palm bullet straight at Ye Xuanhan's chest. From this distance, he expected it to explode into ropes of electricity and paralyze him. However, before it could reach his chest, another qi construct manifested there. It was red and shaped like a rotting hand. When the bullet hit the open palm of this construct, the projectile exploded on impact but failed to paralyze its target.

As he landed, Liu Xing gnashed his teeth and glanced toward Qing Yuan, who was gathering their friends near the cliff. He could not prolong this fight. Right now, his only opponent was Ye Xuanhan, but he knew the man had not come to the island alone. When his cohorts arrived, securing victory would be difficult.

"You know, I've heard many rumors that people from the great sects are strong."

Liu Xing snapped his head forward. The red, rotten hand that had formed on Ye Xuanhan's chest moved to his left, while the hand that had caught his sword moved to his right. A moment ago, both hands seemed attached to Ye Xuanhan, but now a head rose from behind him, as if a second person had been there all along. Both rotting hands were connected to it. The head looked like a corpse, with rotting skin and empty eye sockets, and it was slightly transparent. It had no feet, just the floating upper body of a qi construct. Liu Xing pressed his lips together. He suspected this was not the full extent of Ye Xuanhan's technique. If the fight was prolonged, it would be like fighting two opponents at once.

"However, aside from that rat, Wen Zhui, I've never come across another person from the Purple Moon Sect. I always wondered how I would fare against you all, but I think I can kill you. You're not overwhelmingly strong, after all," he laughed.

Liu Xing ignored him. He didn't care about the man's opinion of the Purple Moon Sect and didn't believe his boast that he could be killed so easily. However, the name Wen Zhui gave him pause. The name was familiar, but the details eluded him. He pushed the thought aside; it wasn't important right now.

Knowing time was of the essence, Liu Xing cycled his qi to strengthen his Lightning Cloak Technique and launched himself at Ye Xuanhan again, firing four Lightning Palm bullets from his gun. Ye Xuanhan charged forward, using his qi construct to deflect all four bullets while throwing punches. Liu Xing summoned his shield and kicked off it to maneuver aside. Now to Ye Xuanhan's left, he summoned the shield again and thrust his stone blade forward. Ye Xuanhan pulled his body away. The blade missed his arm by centimeters. He launched himself at Liu Xing, his fists coated in a red aura and a fiendish smile on his face.

Liu Xing summoned his shield into the path of the fist. He activated his Exploding Lightning Missile Technique and allowed the gun to absorb it. A fraction of a second later, he pulled the trigger six times and willing the bullets to curve and attack from Ye Xuanhan's right. The punch landed on his shield with a deep thud, throwing it back toward Liu Xing. Liu Xing jumped into the air, channeling potent qi into his stone blade and making it glow purple. He didn't have time to conceal the glow with invisibility, but it didn't matter. Ye Xuanhan's construct moved to shield its master and crossed its arms over its chest, protecting him from the Exploding Lightning Missiles. When the missiles hit the construct, six explosions erupted, throwing Ye Xuanhan to the side like a cannonball with a surprised scream escaping his lips.

Without stopping, Liu Xing spun in midair, swung his stone blade horizontally, and released a crescent of purple qi toward Ye Xuanhan. The man stopped his momentum in midair by using his qi construct as a wall. He formed a glowing red qi sword in his right hand and charged at the incoming attack.

"I'll kill you!" he shouted as he slashed at the crescent of purple qi, trying to split it in two.

With sharp eyes and cold intent, Liu Xing summoned his shield and launched himself toward Ye Xuanhan. It was not he who would die today. He would kill this bastard. This was the leader of the men who had severed his friends' limbs, and Liu Xing vowed he would pay for it.