"What the hell are you?!"

Liu Xing blinked several times. Her voice was a strange overlap of audible sound and a telepathic echo in his mind. He suspected she or one of her followers possessed some kind of dangerous mental attack. Still, her words were what confused him.

"What do you mean?" Liu Xing said as he willed his sword to unleash a crescent attack toward the fire dragon, then fired several bullets his gun had gathered at it. "I'm a human."

Wasn't it obvious? Did she think he resembled a spirit beast more than a human?

"Then why are you so confusing?" she said. A snarling demonic cultivator with clawed hands lunged at her, but a man jumped in front of her and unleashed a green projectile from his palm. When the projectile hit the demonic cultivator's face, vines and roots instantly bloomed across his skin, and a tree began to sprout from his head. He screamed, his expression terrified as he clawed at the growing tree, but another man beheaded the demonic cultivator from behind. "Are you an enemy or an ally?"

"Didn't you see what I'm doing here?" Liu Xing shouted as he kicked the fiery beard and chin of a demonic cultivator, lifting him from the ground. He activated a normal Lightning Palm on his left hand and hit the man's chest with a palm strike so forceful his hand emerged from his back. "I'm trying to help."

Liu Xing glanced at her more carefully and realized how confused she was. Her eyes darted around as if trying to decipher an invisible puzzle, and she pressed both hands to her stomach as if fighting a wave of pain. He didn't understand why the woman looked like that, and more importantly, who she was. He knew that her group, as well as the man enveloped by a blue aura fighting in tandem with his sword against the fire dragon, was the one hunted by the dragon.

As he moved left and right using his shield, slashing and beheading demonic cultivators, he realized the numbers of demonic cultivators had been reduced significantly. Corpses from allies and enemies alike littered the battlefield. Blood flooded the ground, and the crater where he had destroyed the tree was now a shallow, bloody pool filled with bodies. The mist had intensified, reducing visibility to less than ten meters. Incessant, grating whispers and angry sounds echoed within it, driving the demonic cultivators into a deeper frenzy.

"This cannot continue," Liu Xing muttered. As time passed, the mist would grow thicker, to the point that he wouldn't be able to see at all. If this mist was like the one Wang Mian had used, it would become incredibly dangerous. The sources of the mist had to be destroyed, along with the dragon and whoever was behind it.

"What's your name?" A voice sounded in his mind. He instantly looked around and found the woman pressing her stomach looking at him, guarded by several concerned cultivators.

"My name is Liu Xing," he said slowly, unsure if she would hear his spoken answer. When he saw her silhouette nod, he continued. "I'm a disciple of the Purple Moon Sect."

"Purple Moon Sect?" Her eyes widened, then hardened. A flicker of emotions—anger, doubt, then confusion again—crossed her face. After several seconds, as enraged and bestial demonic cultivators rushed at her, she finally inhaled deeply and nodded. "You're an ally," she said, her head looking around at the carnage. "You're the missing piece."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow at her last comment. What did she mean he was the missing piece? Still, it wasn't important right now. At least she didn't see him as an enemy. Also, since she seemed to be the leader of this group, it was wise to give her the information he had about the mist.

Liu Xing spun, stepped onto a surprisingly intact, blood-coated boulder, and shot toward her group. He saw a demonic cultivator emerge from the ground, its stone-covered hands reaching for her feet. He summoned his shield and accelerated while simultaneously willing his gun to turn, tilt down, and fire a Lightning Palm bullet downward. When the bolt hit the target, electricity paralyzed the emerging hands, and the lady and her guards looked down in surprise. At that moment, Liu Xing arrived right above the group. He rotated his body upside down, summoned his shield, and kicked off it to propel himself downward. He shot toward the still-buried and paralyzed enemy, his lightning blade stretched out below him. The blade then stabbed down between the two stone hands, and he knew without a doubt it had pierced his head.

As Liu Xing landed on the ground with a thud, he pulled his lightning blade free and looked toward the still-surprised lady. "I have important information, one that can increase our chances of winning."

The lady was surprised for a moment, and then nodded. "Do tell."

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"This mist is not natural. I suspect it is a technique from a formidable demonic cultivator."

"We know about that," the lady nodded. "She is called Bewitching Princess, one of the elders of the Nether Lotus Sect."

"Is that it?" the man to her side said with a hint of disdain.

Liu Xing frowned and looked at him for a moment. He was a man who looked young, like someone who had just turned twenty, yet the way he talked and carried himself made Liu Xing know he was much older. He decided to ignore his veiled disdain.

"Not only that, but I also know this mist has multiple sources. The crater over there," he looked to the side, "was one of them. It was a mummy buried in the ground. Destroying it stopped the mist from spreading in that area. There are four other sources spewing mist, so destroying them would probably make the mist disappear."

"It wouldn't disappear," said a man behind the lady. He was the one who shot the projectile that grew into a tree. He wore a dark green robe and had striking green eyes. He, too, looked at Liu Xing with a hint of disdain, though he at least tried to be polite. "This mist is the Bewitching Princess's. As long as she's alive, the mist won't be gone."

"Lady Oracle," a man took a step toward him. This man was carrying a sword in his right hand. "Are you saying that this little disciple who merely has two cores is the missing piece? The one that will allow us to win this fight? Him?"

Liu Xing raised his right eyebrow. He realized that he.. was being underestimated. It was odd. Hadn't they seen him zipping around like lightning, killing demonic cultivators left and right? He shook his head and centered his mind, trying to digest the information he had received. In the end, he still thought destroying the sources of the mist was important.

"Perhaps you're right; the mist won't be gone entirely even if we destroy the sources, but it would at least weaken this Bewitching Princess."

"We're wasting too much time talking," the one with the green robe said. "We should kill that creature instead." He pointed to the fire dragon, which was still being fought by the man with the blue aura and his stone blade. "It's by far the most dangerous foe on this battlefield. And you, you can help, but don't mess something up, or else..."

Now, even a threat. Did these people really not want his help?

"No," Lady Oracle shook her head. "What you said is true, but what he said about the mist is also true. My gut feeling tells me that splitting up is the correct decision."

"Then it's decided," the one with the green robe nodded, then looked toward Liu Xing. "You deal with the mist, we deal with Elder Wutian—"

At that moment, Lady Oracle grimaced, as if in pain. "No, that wouldn't work. Instead," she blinked several times, as if flabbergasted, "instead, we are the ones that need to deal with the mist, while he," she looked at him blankly, as if she couldn't believe it, "he alone can deal with that fire creature. Yes, that is the correct decision."

Liu Xing looked around, gauging the expressions of her guards. They looked at each other, then at him. Their eyes narrowed, their expressions making him feel like a suspected thief. It was a look he rarely received. As a Purple Moon Sect disciple, from a great sect, people were usually polite to him as long as they weren't trying to rob or kill him. Seeing this, he strongly suspected there was something behind their expressions, and he decided to ask them about it later.

"Alright, if you say so, Lady Oracle," the man with the dark green robe said.

"What about Lan Haisen?"

Lady Oracle answered, "Transmit my thoughts to him."

Liu Xing could feel the man to her side cycle his qi and emit it from his body. He shot a glance toward the dragon and its opponent. Not long after, the man with the blue aura was snarling like a dog before he jumped back several times toward them.

"Damn it! I almost won against that fire worm. Why do I need to disengage?"

"Bear with it, Lan Haishen," the man with the green robe said. "We won't be led astray by following her direction."

Liu Xing could feel the man he suspected had a technique to transmit thoughts doing something, and instantly, the man called Lan Haishen snapped his head toward him and snarled. "So you're a Purple Moon Sect disciple, huh? Bastard, the moment you betray us, I will make sure to rip your body apart. Be grateful that Lady Oracle vouched for you!"

"I came here to help. If you don't trust me, that's alright."

Inside, he was quite annoyed by their treatment. A thought flashed in his mind to retrieve the woman inside the temple and just go away, letting them deal with this problem alone. Still, he wasn't petty enough to do so. Thus far, only this particular group was hostile toward him. The others were not. Moreover, he wanted to help and use this opportunity to become stronger and advance further in his cultivation. As long as they didn't attack or hinder him, he was alright with not making any friends.

"Then, let me handle that dragon," Liu Xing said.

"Don't be too cocky," Lan Haishen sneered. "The best thing you can do is stall until we come back after destroying the sources of the mist. It's a good thing that a benevolent senior is helping us contain this mess. Without his treasure's help," he looked at Liu Xing's stone blade, which was fighting the fire dragon alone, then looked to the side toward a fire-enveloped demonic cultivator with its head blown up, "you wouldn't last a single minute fighting that."

Liu Xing blinked. He suddenly realized they still didn't know the stone blade, the gun, and the shark—wherever it was—were his. They thought his weapons were treasures controlled by some mysterious elder.

Liu Xing flashed a mirthless smile at Lan Haishen. "We will see," he said, and then he leaped toward the fire dragon.

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