IMMORTALITY STARTS WITH A GUN

In the shallow cave below, a tiger with orange and black stripes slept. Liu Xing hid behind a bush, his gun aimed at the tiger's head. He blended into his surroundings like a chameleon; normal animals would not sense his presence, and certainly not a sleeping tiger. He pulled the trigger. The bullet flew toward its target and created a small hole in the creature's forehead. Blood gushed, but the animal remained sound asleep, permanently.

Exhaling deeply, he concluded his latest experiment. He now understood the full capability of his invisibility.

This ability was useful, but it possessed a few drawbacks.

First, the ability was slow. Several breaths were necessary for him to transition from visible to completely invisible.

Second, the ability only activated when he aimed at a creature he deemed dangerous. Although he was a cultivator at the Lock Opening fifth stage and could easily kill that tiger, his instincts as a human from Earth still triggered fear to dangerous animals such as tigers, snakes, and bears. Earlier, when he had aimed at a wild goat and willed himself invisible, he fully recognized the goat was not dangerous, and the invisibility failed to activate.

The third drawback was that he could only maintain invisibility while holding the gun. If he let go of the gun or dismissed it, the invisibility ended abruptly.

Fortunately, his invisibility remained active even while he moved, which made these drawbacks manageable.

Reloading the gun with his qi, he resumed his hunt. With his experiments on normal animals complete, it was time to seek out spirit beasts.

As he jumped to a branch and climbed higher, he noticed the approaching dusk. Night would soon fall, and it would bring more dangerous beasts to roam the forest. Undeterred, he focused on sensing the qi around him. The qi in the air felt like a mist—cold and wet against his skin—though he knew it was not actual water. It was purely the sensation of qi.

Following the threads of dense qi deeper into the forest, He tracked the energy. Spirit beasts preferred areas rich in qi, so these concentrations would lead him to his target.

When darkness fully descended, he entered a section of forest where the trees stood far apart, like introverts avoiding contact with their neighbors. This environment allowed the grass below to grow tall, nearly reaching his waist. The qi here was thick, almost tangible. Above, the moon hung in the sky like a lone blind eye, illuminating the forest. Despite the limited light, He could see his surroundings with surprising clarity.

"There must be a spirit beast here," he thought. He hoped it would not be too powerful, though he felt ready regardless.

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He extended his senses into the area around him. In his past missions, he had slain several spirit beasts and memorized their qi signatures. Unlike human cultivators, spirit beasts possessed qi that felt raw, prickly, and powerful. Closing his eyes, he detected such an aura rapidly approaching. He was not surprised. While some spirit beasts were as dumb as rocks, others possessed keen intelligence and could sense other qi signatures. Without doubt, his presence had already attracted one.

Opening his eyes, he focused on the base of a tree a hundred meters away. A mantis-like creature stood there, its palm-sized yellow eyes gleaming, sickle-like arms, and a body coated in blood-red. Its antennae swung wildly, and its body twitched like a compressed spring poised to launch. He summoned his gun and took his stance. Danger crawled up his spine, and cold sweat poured down his back. This beast matched his strength. Though spirit beasts and humans cultivated differently, he sensed this giant red mantis was at the Lock Opening fourth stage. Despite being a realm lower, its raw power rivaled his own.

A gentle wind stirred the grass, making it sway like a dancer hearing music beyond human comprehension. He focused on his opponent, feeling as if he stood on a tightrope above an endless void.

The mantis launched forward like a cannonball. He pulled the trigger, and the bullet struck the beast's head. Its head snapped back as if struck by a powerful punch, but no hole appeared. He couldn't one-shot this creature. Landing before him, the mantis swung its sickles in an attempt to split him in half. He focused qi in his feet and leaped backward. Mid-air, he fired repeatedly. Bullets pinged against the creature's body but failed to penetrate its tough exoskeleton.

He jumped back repeatedly, zigzagging through the grass while the mantis pursued, its arms slashing ceaselessly. As he moved, he activated the gun's invisibility ability. Gradually, the invisibility began to spread. Sensing his thinning presence, the spirit beast intensified its assault.

Under the solitary moon, a deadly dance unfolded. The mantis moved with incredible speed, its reach extensive, each swing potentially fatal. He maintained absolute focus while monitoring his surroundings to evade attacks. He darted here and there, occasionally using trees for cover, but the spirit beast reduced each to splinters, their falling echoing through the cold night.

As he jumped onto a branch, he had barely touched down when the spirit beast followed him, its arms slicing through the branch. As he fell with the severed branch, the mantis used the tree as a springboard and launched toward him, its arms closing like scissors. He caught the gleam in the spirit beast's eyes and understood its assumption of victory. In mid-air, evasion was impossible.

Gritting his teeth, he fired once more. The bullet struck its forehead, snapping its head back, but its arms still slashed toward him. He released his right hand from the gun, maintaining his grip with only his left, and attempted to summon electricity to his palm. At this range, his Lightning Palm strike should prove more effective than bullets. But when he channeled the technique, no electricity came. Instead, he felt his qi concentrate in the gun's chamber, as if forming an electrical bullet. Adrenaline surged through him, slowing his perception of time. Though he did not understand this development, he knew what he had to do.

The mantis's scythes glinted in the moonlight, reflecting his image imperfectly. With superhuman speed, He aimed his gun at the mantis's face and pulled the trigger one-handed. Without recoil, with barely a whisper, a lightning bullet streaked from his gun toward the mantis.