The Statue Summoning Technique was mysterious. Not only was it unencrypted, but it also required the user to sign a contract. The technique allowed the summoner to call upon three statues, though Liu Xing had rarely used it as intended. The shield he often employed as a foothold, the turtle he used defensively, and the mysterious woman statue which he had once used as a lure, only for it to be destroyed, become an abomination, and finally die, leaving him a stone blade—were testaments to his unconventional way to use them.

Surely, the technique's creator would have resented Liu Xing's approach.

Currently, he was using the shield for its intended purpose, but since it wasn't proving effective, he needed to revert to his usual tactic. Using it as a platform.

As Liu Xing fell toward the ship's inside, where dozens of women huddled, their eyes wide with terror, wood chips and debris raining down around him, he dismissed the shield and performed two actions simultaneously. First, he resummoned the shield directly beneath his feet. Second, he activated his necklace, sending stable qi rushing to protect his face. He completed both actions in a fraction of a second.

Just as he finished, the laser slammed into his face, impacting the spiraling yellow lines that marked his skin. It felt like a punch—not powerful, but definitely noticeable. Liu Xing encased the shield with his own qi to halt its downward momentum, and the effort worked. Still, just in case, he wrapped several women directly below him in qi and shoved them aside, causing them to shriek as they were knocked away like pinballs.

As the condensed qi attack began to lessen, his shield landed gently among the huddled women. When the assault finally receded, he looked around and realized at least thirty women were crammed into the space. Some had tanned skin, suggesting they spent considerable time outdoors, while others were so pale they looked as if they had never performed manual labor. Some wore high-quality clothes; others were clad in dirty, worn garments. They were terrified, some rubbing their heads as if struck, but none appeared wounded and he noted the absence of elderly women or children.

He sighed in relief. He suddenly realized he had become so accustomed to using the shield as a foothold that employing it defensively felt strange. His shield certainly possessed the capability to withstand that condensed qi attack; after all, it could remain airborne even when he kicked it with full force. Yet, when used as a shield, it had felt weak and needed his support.

Liu Xing shook his head, dismissing the unnecessary thought. He was in the middle of a fight and needed to focus. Still, he couldn't help but feel pissed. The red-haired man likely wanted to save some of the people trapped here, yet that spirit beast—the man's supposed ally—had launched a careless attack that not only forced Liu Xing to intervene but also jeopardized his stealth.

As this thought crossed his mind, the red-haired man peeked through the hole above. Liu Xing was still invisible, but the yellow lines on his face and the shield were not. Only an incompetent moron would fail to realize someone was present. Yet, the red-haired man seemed to dismiss him and the shield, scanning the area before sighing in relief. "Thank heavens I stopped the attack in time!"

Liu Xing wanted to voice his displeasure when a shout reverberated through the air. The source was Han Jiulao, who flew above, black flames encasing his feet and hands. "Senior Hou Qiang! I will avenge you! I will kill a thousand people to honor your death!"

The red-haired man turned and pointed at Han Jiulao. "Go, Whaley! Attack that bastard! How dare he dodge and endanger my sister?!"

Then, another shout echoed. Liu Xing didn't see the shouter but knew it was Wei Shuren. "Bastard, how dare you attack me! Prepare to die!"

"Go! Sharkey!" The red-haired man turned again, pointing toward Wei Shuren.

Liu Xing dismissed his shield and the stable qi around his face while also willing his stone blade to become invisible again. Truly unseen once more, he leaped out of the inside of the ship. Landing outside, he saw the white whale spirit beast shooting condensed qi blasts as it chased Han Jiulao, while the shark harassed Wei Shuren like a persistent wasp aiming for his eyes.

"Wei Shuren, now that Senior Hou Qiang is dead, I'll openly tell you that you're the person I hate most in the world," Han Jiulao suddenly said mid-flight.

Liu Xing glanced aside, seeing Hou Qiang's corpse lying nearby, blood gushing from the severed neck. The decapitated head lay with eyes wide in surprise, coincidentally staring straight at him. Liu Xing felt no remorse for killing the man, only a sliver of regret that he had been forced to use the stone blade swiftly instead of his gun.

"But, while I despise you, Senior Hou Qiang believed in both of us! He wanted us to work together! I hate that. I don't want to work with you. But his killer is still among us, and I will never stop until I find and kill the bastard who murdered him. You feel the same, right?!" Han Jiulao shouted, dodging left and right to evade the white whale's attacks.

"Don't compare your respect for Senior Hou Qiang with mine!" Wei Shuren shouted back, finally managing to slap the small shark away. "My burning desire for revenge dwarfs yours! I'll sacrifice ten thousand people for him!"

Wei Shuren lunged toward the red-haired man, hands outstretched as if intending to strangle him. The red-haired man's eyes widened, his body trembling, but he balled his fists and braced himself for the attack. What a stupid move, Liu Xing thought. The man was only in the early stage of the Lock Opening realm, with no more than three locks opened, yet he intended to fight Wei Shuren directly. Liu Xing decided it was time to intervene again. He raised his gun and fired another Lightning Palm bullet.

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The bolt shot through the air. Wei Shuren saw it coming and dodged aside. The bolt passed his right side, fluttering strands of his long hair. Wasting no time, he ran toward him, right hand gripping the invisible stone blade tightly. Since he didn't want to be seen, he couldn't kick off the floor with full force, but he was still fast. In moments, he reached Wei Shuren, who was facing away, glaring at the red-haired man with undisguised hatred.

Liu Xing seized the opportunity and swung his stone blade horizontally, like a woodsman felling a tree. His enemy's long hair seemed to wriggle, detecting the attack an instant too late.

Before Wei Shuren could react, the stone blade sliced through his hair, slashed across his waist, and cleanly split him in two. His eyes, hidden behind his long hair, widened in shock. Before death could claim him, Liu Xing activated the Exploding Fist technique, jabbed his gun barrel into Wei Shuren's open mouth, and fired an Exploding Fist bullet down his throat. When the bullet detonated, Wei Shuren's head exploded in a shower of gore, splashing Liu Xing and the ship's deck with thick, red blood that smelled oddly rotten, unlike fresh blood. Then, his upper and lower body halves thudded onto the deck. Though they landed near each other, a clear gap separated them, proof the body had been thoroughly severed.

"Wei Shuren!" Han Jiulao shrieked from the air.

Liu Xing decided to undo his invisibility, revealing his form, soaked in Wei Shuren's blood. When he appeared, Han Jiulao stared at him as if seeing a devil out of this world. His eyes bulged as if ready to pop from their sockets, veins standing out on his face like writhing worms. He let out a blood-curdling scream, the sound filled with the agony of someone who had just witnessed the massacre of his entire family.

"Didn't you hate that guy?" Liu Xing asked calmly.

He cycled his qi, not employing any specific technique, but projecting it outward as raw pressure. And stared at Han Jiulao with sharp eyes. He was sure a technique existed to project intimidation more effectively, but this would suffice for now. Though Liu Xing was merely at the second stage of the Core Splitting realm, even a moron could sense his power. As the pressure radiated outwards, Han Jiulao's eyes narrowed. The red-haired man inhaled sharply, as if the air had grown heavy and faint whimpers sounded from inside the ship. Liu Xing wanted to kill Han Jiulao then and there and return the kidnapped women, but first, there were things he needed to know.

What was the Nether Lotus Sect? And why were they kidnapping mortal girls?

"Who are you?" Han Jiulao asked. "Do you understand what you've done?"

"My name is Liu Xing," he replied. "And I understand I've killed two kidnappers from a sect called the Nether Lotus Sect."

Han Jiulao snorted. "What I hear only confirms you don't know who the hell you're messing with. Me, Wei Shuren, and Senior Hou Qiang were elders of the Nether Lotus Sect. By killing two of us, you've been marked as an enemy of the sect. From now on, you'll be hunted like a dog. There's no place safe from us!" His face contorted with anger, and the black fire bathing him flared larger for a moment, as if doused in gasoline.

"Is that so?" Liu Xing said simply, a reply that made Han Jiulao's veins pop. Inwardly, Liu Xing remained calm, but after Han Jiulao mentioned being marked, he mentally scanned his own body. He could feel a strange sensation near his gut—likely the mark Han Jiulao spoke of—but he ignored it for now. He needed confirmation about something else.

"Insolent! I will kill you and refine a pill from your body!"

"You can try," Liu Xing said calmly, "but do you think you can win? After all, I killed your senior and your friend as easily as cutting down saplings. And you misunderstand our situation. I did not reveal myself because I want to spare you. I just want to ask you a few questions first. Is the Nether Lotus Cult a demonic cult? And what were you planning to do with the women downstairs?"

Liu Xing cycled his qi faster, and the pressure projecting from him grew heavier. Surprisingly, an answer came not from Han Jiulao, but from the red-haired man.

"Senior," he said with a quiver in his voice, "they are indeed a demonic sect now, but they weren't in the past. The Wild Tide Region formerly had hundreds of nations, but starting about a year ago, the Nether Lotus Sect attacked and tried to subjugate us. Currently, half the Wild Tide Region is under their control."

Liu Xing turned to the red-haired man, who gulped nervously. Liu Xing raised an eyebrow. "A demonic sect invaded hundreds of nations?"

"That's right," the man nodded.

Liu Xing pinched his chin. His mind stumbled for a moment. A demonic sect trying to take over the entire Wild Tide Region and had already succeeded with half of it? That couldn't be true, could it? After all, the Wild Tide Region was under the Purple Moon Sect's influence. Surely his sect wouldn't let a demonic sect operate so freely. "What about the Purple Moon Sect?"

Upon hearing the question, the red-haired man couldn't help but snarl. "They're supporting the Nether Lotus Sect!"

"Yes!" Han Jiulao shouted from the air. . "Our sect is supported by the Purple Moon Sect! They know this Wild Tide Region is rotten and needs someone capable to lead it. Hence, they support us."

"That's not true." Liu Xing stated flatly. He was only an outer disciple of the Purple Moon Sect and didn't have detailed information about all its movements, but he felt certain he would know if the sect were backing a demonic one. Something that significant wouldn't go unnoticed. The elders would discuss it, the inner disciples would whisper about it, and even the outer disciples would hear rumors. Moreover, the consequences would be enormous. If the Purple Moon Sect truly supported a demonic sect, the other four great sects would use it as justification to declare war openly. His sect wasn't the cleanest, it housed plenty of despicable people, but supporting a demonic sect seemed unthinkable.

"It seems reality is beginning to settle in, eh?" Han Jiulao gloated. "Yes. Not only will you be hunted by our Nether Lotus Sect, but you'll also become an enemy of the Purple Moon Sect!"

Liu Xing ignored the declaration and pressed on with his other question. "The women below, what were you intending to do with them?"

He spared a glance at the red-haired man, but instead of answering, the man shot a hateful glare at Han Jiulao.

"What we do with them is none of your business," Han Jiulao sneered. He began to cycle his qi differently. The shift was subtle, as if he were trying to conceal the activation of a technique. "But, since you're a dead man walking, I suppose I can tell you this little secret. Our Patriarch and his son are peerless geniuses, but they're... eccentric. Sometimes they say they need a specific herb found only in some shabby mortal garden; sometimes they need a fire cultivator of a specific stage, age, and birthplace; sometimes, they ask for a bowl of cheap noodles from a small stall run by a mortal at least fifty years old... and many other odd requests. We happily follow these orders. After all, the rewards are great, and our Patriarch and the Young Master advance at insane speeds. The women on this ship are the same. They're merely things our Patriarch wanted. Although," he smiled lecherously, "there are rumors our Young Master fancies mortal girls. An odd taste, eh? Personally, I prefer cultivators. They don't... break... so easily."

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