While Ye Xuanhan tried to instill fear in Han Jiulao, Han Jiulao raged at Ye Xuanyuan, and Han Guilin observed from afar, trying to gather more information from their shouts and anger, Liu Xing, who would be affected by this fight later, currently sat cross-legged on top of his upside-down turtle. Behind him, the women huddled, not daring to breathe freely, afraid of offending Liu Xing. He reckoned this cold and uncomfortable situation would continue for several more hours. After all, they had just departed, and later, when they became more comfortable, they would begin to chat and do something to pass the time.

The turtle statue soared through the sky like a plane, though its upside-down position would have baffled anyone who saw it. The reason for this position was simple. The turtle's shell was like a hill. While not a problem for a short flight, it would have become uncomfortable later, so he had flipped it. All of them now sat on the turtle's belly, which, while not perfect, was at least even.

As he sat cross-legged and maintained a bubble of qi that shielded the passengers from the harsh wind, he closed his eyes and began to meditate, though not using his usual method of meditation. Instead, he employed the Flowing Meditation Method. He did not dare to submerge himself into his consciousness, even though he wanted to, afraid the barrier might shatter or his turtle might fall. Instead, he created a hole in his consciousness, expanded it, and peered into it, directly at the black creature inside his consciousness that worked very hard to pollute it. He had actually spent almost an hour observing and trying to rid himself of the creature, delaying their departure, but even now, he could not get rid of it.

This black creature, its three eyes darting around as if assessing the world, had somehow anchored itself to his consciousness. He had tried to yank it from its place, but it was so stalwart he feared the fabric of his consciousness would tear if he yanked too hard. He had tried to summon his gun inside his consciousness, thinking his gun could absorb it—and indeed, it could—but doing so made him howl in agony, as if someone were gouging out his eyeballs, so he had willed the gun to stop.

He had been thinking non-stop about how to get rid of the black creature, and he had one idea worth trying. Truth be told, the idea was similar to before: instead of using the gun to absorb the creature instantly, he would let the gun absorb it slowly.

"Alright," Liu Xing nodded, trying to brace himself. "Let's do it."

Though a little afraid of repeating the previous pain, he knew he needed to face it; otherwise, this mark would live forever in his consciousness, exposing him to danger and polluting its clean, white expanse.

With an act of will, he materialized the gun inside his consciousness. Instantly, a mote of light appeared right beside the black creature. Seeing the mote of light, he remembered that when he was creating a second core, it had moved, as if orbiting something unseen. Currently, however, the gun—or rather, the mote of light—was like a small, stable star in the sky. As the mote of light appeared, the orbits of his two cores shifted slightly, which was not a problem. Then, he willed the mote of light to transform into the form of the gun, which the mote of light obeyed easily. The gun hovered right beside the black creature, its tip aimed at it. The creature, in turn, focused its three eyes on the gun.

Willing the gun to transform from a mote of light into its gun form inside his consciousness was new, but it did not feel unnatural. While the shape of his gun in its purest form was a mote of light, the gun was also its natural shape.

Liu Xing inhaled deeply, braced himself, and willed the gun to begin absorbing—not the creature directly, but the black smoke polluting the area near it. His gun neither vibrated nor moved, yet the smoke instantly rushed toward it as if the gun were a black hole. He braced for the pain. While he felt quite uncomfortable, as if his body were pressed by a giant hand, it was not unbearable.

He let out a sigh of relief. While this did not address the black creature directly, it was a good start. His plan regarding this black creature was simple: since he could not yank or destroy it swiftly, he needed to grind it down slowly.

As the gun absorbed the smoke, and as he began to grow accustomed to the pressing sensation that covered him, his mind began to wander.

This black creature was troublesome, but the most troubling aspect was the revelation that came with it.

This black creature was undoubtedly made from the darkness. This darkness had been popping up in his life quite a lot recently. Even though he needed to search for it, he had never actually gone out of his way to do so. Instead, he stumbled upon it again and again. Ji Dongyang, Wei Yi, that Twelve Sun Armor—all of that had happened by happenstance, which made his stomach twist. How could every place he visited harbor a demonic cultivator who wielded this darkness?

He could think of two explanations for it. One was that perhaps the gun had some attraction to the darkness itself. It was a far-fetched theory, but not impossible. After all, Nui, a being capable of crossing between worlds to meet with him, had given him the gun. If Nui had made the gun, then surely something like a force of attraction was not out of reach.

Thinking that this might be true made his stomach twist a little, because it felt as if Nui were manipulating him. Sure, if this theory were correct, then perhaps the gun nudged him here and there lightly, but even then, it still counted as manipulation.

Inhaling deeply, he thought about Nui. This friend of his was somewhat mysterious, but he was also kind, always there for him, and trustworthy. He was a guy who was always there, reassuring, and helpful. Could Nui manipulate him? Sure, with the power Nui wielded, perhaps he could, even as a mere fragment. But would he?

The answer was undoubtedly no.

Did that mean the gun did not manipulate him?

He thought for a moment, trying to think this one question through thoroughly. As far as he knew, the gun was a mindless tool. The gun could not talk, nor did he feel it influence his mind. While the gun was somewhat mysterious, he was quite sure this theory was too far-fetched. He could not think of a single instance where wielding the gun had influenced his mind.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

This left his second theory, which was actually simpler and perhaps closer to the truth. Yet, this theory had quite worrisome implications.

The theory was simple.

Perhaps the darkness was not as uncommon as he thought.

Liu Xing decided to open his eyes. Nothing obstructed his view, so he could see the water rushing below him. The wind howled gently—reduced by the simple qi bubble he had constructed—and the clouds above floated slowly across the sky.

He turned his head and saw the huddled women trying to remain as still as possible. When some met his eyes, they flinched slightly and lowered their heads, as if afraid of offending him.

He turned his head to the front and rubbed his chin.

The second theory was simpler and more reasonable, but it also meant there were many, many cultivators who wielded the darkness. Since Han Jiulao evidently had it, he could assume other demonic cultivators from the Nether Lotus Sect also possessed it. Hell, perhaps each and every elder and inner disciple there had it. This would mean all of them would be strengthened by the darkness and possess invisibility on top of it. Fighting them would be troublesome.

Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, he was quite certain he would meet other people from the Nether Lotus Sect. When that happened, and if he met another person who wielded the darkness, then he would have proof his second theory was correct.

"What if it's actually rare though?" he muttered.

Did that mean his first theory was true? He pondered it for a moment and shook his head again. It was not necessarily true. Sure, perhaps it was not a coincidence he stumbled upon the darkness time and time again, but that did not mean Nui manipulated him. After all, another force governed coincidence in this world.

Heaven and fate.

He thought and thought for several more minutes, until he finally sighed.

Pondering the nature of coincidences and wildly theorizing would not help him much. Whether something manipulated coincidence or the darkness was truly not that uncommon, what he needed to do remained the same. After all, he had decided to help his friends, and he intended to become a legend along the way. Becoming an Immortal was also on the table, and if this coincidence would help him achieve all his goals, then he would not only welcome it but perhaps even thank it.

A hint of uneasiness still lingered deep in his heart, but he decided to shove it aside for now and focus on his tasks: ridding himself of the mark on his consciousness, reaching the nearby island to let the women go their way, and then flying straight to Water Tower City to find the Heaven Severing Pill.

As the gun absorbed the darkness spreading from the black creature inside his consciousness, he pondered for a bit whether to increase the gun's pull. Then, after a moment, he decided to do just that and willed the gun to pull more and more smoke from the black creature. If before the gun had been like a simple filter trying to absorb the pollutant, now it was like a maw trying to pull the pollutant into its mouth. As he did that, he felt a little pain deep inside his consciousness, like being stabbed by a small needle. Finding he could shrug off this pain, he increased the gun's suction a little more. When he decided the pain had intensified but was still bearable, he maintained it.

A few moments passed, and by then, he had actually grown used to the pain. Inside his consciousness, the black creature was slowly but surely absorbed by the gun, as if it were a thing made of hardened dirt, and a strong wind chipped at it, carrying the dust into the gun's mouth. Happy because the gun was successful in its task, he observed it for a little while until he was satisfied.

"I think that's done," he murmured.

While the mark itself still existed, it was just a matter of time before it was truly absorbed by his gun. At the current pace, he could get rid of the mark fully in around two days. It might take longer if he decided to rest a little, but not by too much.

Liu Xing then suddenly heard murmurs and chatter from behind him. Though their voices were soft, out of fear of him, his ears easily picked up their conversation. When he heard it, he realized something fundamental he had forgotten about the women.

They were mortals, all of them, which meant they had normal needs, like water, food, and daily sleep. Also, since they did not have full authority over their bodies, they sometimes needed to use the bathroom. The topic that had begun their chatter was such a necessity, raised by the youngest person in the group.

"Mom," she whispered, "I cannot hold it any longer, I need to pee."

The mom was, of course, troubled. They were, after all, currently riding a flying turtle statue owned by a terrifying cultivator.

Liu Xing sighed and turned his body, making all the women flinch. But while most showed cautious expressions, two of them were a little different. The teen looked at him with red cheeks, as if embarrassed, while the woman wearing a blue dress—the leader of this group—looked at him resolutely. In the end, the leader broached the subject.

"Esteemed cultivator," she said calmly. "A being such as yourself might already know about her... trouble, and so, I humbly beg you to pardon her... us, to use a portion of your... vehicle to—"

"You can do as you please," he cut her off. "Once upon a time, I was a mortal too, so I can understand something basic like that. Just make sure to wash properly."

The teen's face turned as red as a boiled lobster.

"Thank you," the leader lowered her head. "It's just, aside from the clothes we wear, we have nothing else. No food, no water, nothing. So, if the esteemed cultivator is willing, we beg you to share some of your rations with us."

Liu Xing nodded. Fortunately, Yang Suyin and Emperor Yang Jinyan had given him quite a lot of resources. Spirit stones, talismans, some treasures, clothes, and even some water and jerky. A cultivator at the Core Splitting realm did not need to eat as often, but it was better to be prepared. Yang Suyin, in particular, had given him quite a lot of random items, from lock picks to history of Twelve Sun Empire and Twelve Sun Armor, even some women's dresses, which actually came in handy now.

He brought some of the necessities out from his spatial bag. They thanked him, and the teen, though extremely embarrassed, went to the far side of his turtle and did her business there, with her mother guarding her. Then, since her clothes were dirty, she changed, which promptly made the other women gush, as it seemed the pink dress she now wore, while a bit too big, was of such high quality.

After that, the atmosphere atop the upside-down turtle brightened somewhat, and Liu Xing sighed in relief.

Escorting them to the nearby island was more troublesome than he had thought, but hopefully, their journey together would end soon.

As he thought this, a little anxiety suddenly spread in his stomach. He did not know where this anxiety came from, but his gut feeling told him that escorting them would not be as straightforward as it seemed. Liu Xing shoved that anxiety to the back of his mind and instead tried to find another productive activity while his gun ground down the mark and his turtle flew them toward the nearby island.

For a moment, he thought about what he wanted to do, and a while later, he nodded, his lips forming an excited smile.

"I think I want to experiment with my techniques," he muttered. Especially his Eye of Lightning technique.

Thus far, he had activated this technique manually. Even then, it was extremely useful, and he was supremely curious about what would happen if he used the gun to enhance it.

But soon, he encountered a problem.

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